Hudson-Smith bids to end 100-year wait as Korda tees off at Olympics

Matthew Hudson-Smith, of Britain, right, crosses the finish line in his men's 400-meters semifinal at the 2024 Summer Olympics Tuesday in Saint-Denis, France. (AP)
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Updated 07 August 2024
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Hudson-Smith bids to end 100-year wait as Korda tees off at Olympics

  • The 29-year-old has arrived in Paris in peak form, clocking a blistering 43.74sec at last month’s London Diamond League — the fastest time in the world this year
  • Moroccan hero Soufiane El Bakkali will defend his 3000m steeplechase crown and bid to become only the third Arab to win double Olympic gold

PARIS: Matthew Hudson-Smith will attempt to become Britain’s first Olympic men’s 400m champion in 100 years on Wednesday, while women’s golf star Nelly Korda begins the defense of her title.

Victory would represent a huge achievement for Hudson-Smith who was at a personal low after being isolated in the US during the COVID pandemic, racking up huge medical bills as he recovered from a torn hamstring and Achilles.

The 29-year-old has arrived in Paris in peak form, clocking a blistering 43.74sec at last month’s London Diamond League — the fastest time in the world this year.

Hudson-Smith qualified for the final by easing to victory in his semifinal on Tuesday.

However, one of his major threats is the man who beat him in the Commonwealth Games final, Zambia’s Muzala Samukonga, an unpredictable runner who looked good in the heats.

Also on the track, Moroccan hero Soufiane El Bakkali will defend his 3000m steeplechase crown and bid to become only the third Arab to win double Olympic gold.

“Thanks to all the experience I have, I know how to manage pressure,” said the two-time world champion, who eased through his heat in first place.

The women’s pole vault and men’s discus medals will be decided in the field events at the Stade de France.

World No. 1 Korda starts her attempt to be the first double Olympic golf champion but will need to arrest a recent drop in form.

The American became the first LPGA Tour player to win six titles in a single season since 2013 in the space of just seven tournaments earlier this year, but then suffered three successive cuts.

“The game of golf is a funny game,” Korda told reporters ahead of the first round.

“Sometimes you feel on top of the world and in a matter of a couple seconds, you just feel like you’re on the bottom of the sea.”

Japan’s US Open champion Yuka Saso, two-time Olympic medalist Lydia Ko and home hope Celine Boutier are also among the medal favorites at Le Golf National.

In the boxing ring, Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting is aiming to follow in the footsteps of Imane Khelif, after the pair were at the center of a gender controversy, by reaching a gold-medal bout.

Algerian Khelif, who beat Janjaem Suwannapheng of Thailand in the semifinals of the 66kg division on Tuesday, is guaranteed at least silver in Paris.

The International Boxing Association disqualified Khelif and Lin from last year’s world championships after failing gender eligibility tests.

The IOC cleared the two experienced female boxers to compete and Lin faces Turkiye’s Esra Yildiz Kahraman in the semifinals of the women’s 57kg event in the first fight of the evening at Roland Garros.

The team pursuit golds are up for grabs in the velodrome, with new world-record holders Australia going up against Britain in the men’s final, while New Zealand were the fastest qualifiers for the women’s first round.

The final day of skateboarding at the Place de la Concorde sees 51-year-old Briton Andrew Macdonald compete in the men’s park, the day after 14-year-old Arisa Trew of Australia won the women’s final.

China will be hoping for a late gold rush in weightlifting, which gets under way, to aid their battle at the top of the medals table with the US.

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Boxing stars Anthony Joshua and Daniel Dubois face off at Tower Bridge in London

Updated 16 September 2024
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Boxing stars Anthony Joshua and Daniel Dubois face off at Tower Bridge in London

  • Dubois currently holds the IBF belt, but Joshua will be looking to become a three-time world champion in the division

LONDON: Fans got their first glimpse of two of the biggest names in boxing four days ahead of the highly anticipated Riyadh Season Card Wembley Edition fight between Anthony Joshua and Daniel Dubois on Monday.

Joshua and Dubois faced off for the first time at a media event held near the iconic London landmark of Tower Bridge.

(AN Photo/Hasenin Fadhel)

It was the first event in a week of build-up for a night of boxing at Wembley Stadium on Saturday, where the two British boxers will fight it out for the International Boxing Federation heavyweight title.

Dubois currently holds the belt, but Joshua will be looking to become a three-time world champion in the division.

(AN Photo/Hasenin Fadhel)

The event is the first Riyadh Season boxing event to be held in the UK and the second time outside Saudi Arabia following the success of the first event in Los Angeles in August.

Also on Monday, Anthony Cacace and Josh Warrington faced off, who are set to fight for the IBF super featherweight title.

(Supplied/GEA/Riyadh Season)

Fans also got to see Joshua Buatsi and Willie Hutchinson, who will compete for the World Boxing Organization interim light heavyweight title, face off.

They also saw Tyler Denny who fights Hamzah Sheeraz, Mark Chamberlain who takes on Josh Padley, and a face-off between Josh Kelly and Ismael Davis, who stepped in to replace Liam Smith after Smith sustained an injury.


Bayern set sights on dream home Champions League final

Updated 16 September 2024
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Bayern set sights on dream home Champions League final

  • “Something big is coming,” Neuer told reporters ahead of Tuesday’s opening clash with Dinamo Zagreb at home
  • “The most important thing is the final in Munich. We want to go there and everything else is secondary”

BERLIN: Bayern captain Manuel Neuer said Monday his side were fully focused on the Champions League season, with this year’s final to be held at Munich’s Allianz Arena.
“Something big is coming,” Neuer told reporters ahead of Tuesday’s opening clash with Dinamo Zagreb at home.
“The most important thing is the final in Munich. We want to go there and everything else is secondary.
“We know what this final means to the city, the fans and the players. Our motivation is simply very high.”
Six-time European champions Bayern come into the season after their first trophyless campaign in 11 seasons, with Xabi Alonso’s Bayer Leverkusen winning a league and cup double.
In the Champions League, Bayern were eliminated in the semifinals by eventual winners Real Madrid, who beat Borussia Dortmund 2-0 at Wembley to lift the trophy.
Neuer and fellow Bayern veteran Thomas Mueller, who both won the 2013 and 2020 Champions League finals, are the only two players in the squad to remember the 2012 home final, which they lost on penalties to Premier League side Chelsea.
Mueller went on social media on Monday, telling followers “the road to Munich starts tomorrow.
“I’m very excited. Let’s enjoy the best football in Europe.”
Manager Vincent Kompany, set to coach his first match in the Champions League, told reporters “the fans can dream.”
“The most important thing for me is that we show it on the pitch. We have a difficult game tomorrow. The important thing is that we play well and win tomorrow.”
Bayern have won every one of their Champions League openers since 2002 when they lost 3-2 to Deportivo La Coruna, which was the prelude to their first and only group stage elimination.


European Cup-winning former Villa striker Shaw dies aged 63

Updated 16 September 2024
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European Cup-winning former Villa striker Shaw dies aged 63

  • The forward died after recently going into hospital following a head injury suffered in a fall
  • “Aston Villa Football Club is deeply shocked and profoundly saddened to learn that Gary Shaw, one of our European Cup-winning heroes, has passed away,” a statement said

LONDON: Former Aston Villa striker Gary Shaw, who helped the club to their shock European Cup triumph in 1982, died on Monday aged 63.
Shaw was a member of the Villa side that won the First Division title in 1981 and then memorably stunned German giants Bayern Munich in the European Cup final 12 months later.
The forward died after recently going into hospital following a head injury suffered in a fall.
“Aston Villa Football Club is deeply shocked and profoundly saddened to learn that Gary Shaw, one of our European Cup-winning heroes, has passed away,” a statement said.
“Gary was one of our own, a talented striker who delighted supporters with his goalscoring exploits which helped fire Villa to success in the 1980s. Individual accolades would also follow for a player who was idolized by many on the terraces.


“He passed away peacefully earlier today surrounded by his family, who asked Aston Villa to release a statement on their behalf.”
Shaw’s death came on the eve of Villa’s first match in the Champions League for 41 years.
Unai Emery’s side face Young Boys in Switzerland on Tuesday and the Villa manager urged his team to win the match in tribute to Shaw.
“My condolences to the family and all the supporters at Villa,” said Emery, whose team will wear black armbands for the fixture in Bern.
“We have a memory always, in our training ground a picture of 1982 and the European Cup. He was a protagonist of that. My condolences to them.
“Yes, I think it’s sad and we can use it as motivation.”
Shaw joined Villa as an apprentice and went on to score 79 times in 213 appearances, including 20 goals in their 1981 title-winning campaign.
He was named PFA Young Player of the Year after Villa’s first English title since 1910.
Shaw scored three goals in Villa’s run to European Cup glory, including a crucial quarter-final strike against Dynamo Kiev.
Peter Withe’s winner against Bayern in Rotterdam lifted the team to previously unimaginable heights, with Birmingham-born Shaw savouring the triumph more than most.
Yet within a year of Villa’s epic victory, Shaw suffered a knee injury in a match against Nottingham Forest that curtailed his progress and ultimately saw him retire from the game after six operations.
He left the club in 1988 for spells in Denmark and Austria, before ending his career in 1992 after short stints at Walsall, Kilmarnock and Shrewsbury.
Shaw later worked as a statistical analyst and a matchday ambassador for Villa.


Tunisia's Jabeur to miss rest of year with injury

Updated 16 September 2024
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Tunisia's Jabeur to miss rest of year with injury

  • Jabeur missed the recent US Open due to the injury

PARIS: Ons Jabeur will miss the rest of the 2024 WTA season with a shoulder injury, the Tunisian announced on Monday.
The three-time Grand Slam runner-up has struggled for form and fitness this year, slipping to 22nd in the world rankings.
Jabeur missed the recent US Open due to the injury and has not played since a heavy defeat by Naomi Osaka in Toronto in early August.
“This year has been extremely hard for me and as athletes, we know that recovery is part of the journey,” she said on social media.
“Due to my ongoing shoulder injury, my medical team and I’ve made the difficult decision to step off the tennis circuit for the rest of the season.”
The 30-year-old said she would be back on court for the start of the 2025 campaign in Australia.


Simba say goalkeeper attacked after CAF Cup match in Libya

Updated 16 September 2024
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Simba say goalkeeper attacked after CAF Cup match in Libya

  • “It was scary. I saw Aishi being struck for no reason by a policeman and bottles and other objects hurled at our players,” said the official
  • “Aishi is shaken but okay. He is receiving treatment in the changing room“

JOHANNESBURG: Aishi Manula, the goalkeeper of Tanzanian club Simba, was struck by a policeman after a stormy CAF Confederation Cup qualifier in Libya on Sunday, an official from the visiting team told AFP.
The second round, first leg against Al Ahly Tripoli ended 0-0 in a packed 45,000-seat Tripoli stadium and Simba players dashed for cover at full-time as plastic bottles were flung at them.
“It was scary. I saw Aishi being struck for no reason by a policeman and bottles and other objects hurled at our players,” said the official, who requested anonymity.
“Aishi is shaken but okay. He is receiving treatment in the changing room. I also witnessed some Ahly players attacking the referee and his assistants.”
Both clubs are regular CAF competition campaigners with Ahly making a ninth appearance in the African equivalent of the UEFA Europa League and Simba a seventh.
Simba are considered potential title challengers in the Confederation Cup, which has been dominated by north African clubs with 16 titles from 21 editions.
Zamalek of Egypt are the current title-holders after edging Renaissance Berkane of Morocco on away goals in the last final.
South African coach Fadlu Davids recently took charge of the Dar es Salaam outfit after being assistant coach of Moroccan league and cup double winners Raja Casablanca last season.
Another first leg in Libya produced a thriller with Al Hilal Benghazi snatching a 3-2 victory over Al Masry of Egypt after trailing twice in the eastern city.
Salah Mohsen put Masry ahead in each half, but two goals from Mohammed al Shiteewi, either side of one from Faisal al Badri, set up an intriguing September 22 return match in Alexandria.
Dynamos of Zimbabwe look set to reach the group stage for the first time, at the third attempt, after a 1-0 win over Orapa United of Botswana in Francistown.
But the most popular club in the southern Africa nation left it late to build an aggregate lead as Valentine Kadonzvo scored with just two minutes of regular time remaining.
Zimbabwe have no international-standard stadium so Dynamos must play Orapa twice in neighboring Botswana.
Burundi outfit Rukinzo are in a similar situation to Dynamos with no suitable venue in the landlocked central African nation.
They opted to face record three-time Confederation Cup winners CS Sfaxien twice in Tunisia, and did well to restrict the home side to a 1-0 win through an early Mohamed ‘Cristo’ Dhaoui goal.