LONDON: A man has been arrested after England Test captain Ben Stokes’ home was burgled while he was on tour in Pakistan, police said Friday.
Stokes said his wife and two children were at home in County Durham, in northeast England, during the break-in by “masked” burglars on the evening of October 17, when valuables were taken.
Durham Police said a 32-year-old man had been arrested on suspicion of burglary. He has since been bailed.
Stokes was in Pakistan for a Test series when the incident occurred.
He said items stolen included a medal he received after he was recognized in the 2020 New Year Honours list, for helping England win the World Cup the year before.
Describing the break-in on his personal X account, Stokes posted images of the items taken from his home including a Christian Dior handbag, a gold ring with England cricket insignia and bracelets.
“By far the worst thing about this crime is that it was carried out whilst my wife and two young children were in the house,” the 33-year-old wrote.
“Thankfully, none of my family came to any physical harm. Understandably, however, the experience has had an impact on their emotional and mental state.
“All we can think about is how much worse this situation could have been.”
England lost their Test series in Pakistan 2-1.
Man arrested after Ben Stokes’ home raided by masked gang
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Man arrested after Ben Stokes’ home raided by masked gang
- England captain was in Pakistan for a Test series when the incident occurred
- Stolen items include a medal received after England won the 2019 World Cup
World No. 1 Sabalenka looking to hold off Swiatek at WTA Finals in Riyadh
- Belarusian surpassed her Polish rival last week in the world rankings
- World’s Top 8 singles players and doubles teams commemorated the event in the historic district of Diriyah
RIYADH: Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek are set to battle for the year-end No. 1 ranking, which will be decided at this week’s WTA Finals in Riyadh.
Sabalenka “unexpectedly” recaptured the top spot last week after Iga Swiatek dropped points for not fulfilling mandatory tournament requirements this season, and enters the competition in Saudi Arabia as the No. 1 seed.
The Belarusian, however, is more concerned about ending the year at the summit of the rankings, and wants to avoid last season’s scenario, where she surrendered the position in the closing week of her campaign as Swiatek clinched the WTA Finals title.
Sabalenka has had an incredible 2024, which included two Grand Slam title runs at the Australian Open and US Open. She secured a third consecutive Wuhan trophy last month and said that she was surprised when she learned she had snatched the world No. 1 ranking from Swiatek before the WTA Finals.
“I was like, ‘How, what happened? Where did she lose those 100 points?’ I didn’t expect that,” Sabalenka told reporters in Riyadh on the eve of her Saturday opener against Zheng Qinwen.
“I woke up that morning and my boyfriend was like, ‘Congrats, you became world No. 1.’ I was like, ‘What? I didn’t do anything,’ kind of like in that moment. I was like, ‘Whatever, I’ll take it.’”
Sabalenka holds a comfortable 1,046-point advantage over her Polish rival in the rankings, which means Swiatek must defend her WTA Finals title to have any chance of clinching the year-end No. 1 spot.
“I want to finish the year as No. 1, then I’ll be OK. I’ll be more confident in saying I’m world No. 1, not just because someone lost 100 points,” said the 26-year-old Sabalenka.
Swiatek arrives in Riyadh having not played since her US Open quarter-final exit early September. The five-time grand slam champion parted ways with her coach of three years Tomasz Wiktorowski and decided to skip the Asian swing to focus on finding a new mentor.
She announced two weeks ago that she had hired Naomi Osaka’s former coach Wim Fissette, and they will debut their partnership in Riyadh this fortnight.
Swiatek said that she does not feel rusty coming into the tournament, and practiced with Sabalenka at the King Saud University Indoor Arena ahead of this weekend’s start.
“I am determined, I want to play my best game here and win this,” Swiatek said.
“It was nice just to practice with Aryna because we haven’t done that probably since 2022. It was a really good practice and she’s a great player and she also deserves to be world No. 1. But for sure I’m going to fight for me to be in that place.”
Meanwhile, world No. 5 Elena Rybakina revealed that she has hired Novak Djokovic’s former coach Goran Ivanizevic and that they will begin working together during the offseason, in preparation for 2025.
Rybakina split with her coach of five years Stefano Vukov ahead of the US Open and has been battling health issues, including insomnia and a back injury. The Kazakhstani big-server has played only two matches since Wimbledon, and will be making her first appearance since September, when she withdrew ahead of her US Open second round.
“It’s not easy to start after this break. But I’m happy with the work we did in the last two weeks. Of course, I’m not maybe at my 100 percent. I’m just looking forward and happy to be healthy now and start playing,” the former Wimbledon champion said.
Zheng is perhaps the most in-form player in the field at the moment. The Olympic gold medallist has put together a 28-4 win-loss record since Wimbledon, including a 12-2 run through the Asian swing, which she wrapped up with a title triumph in Tokyo last week.
The first Chinese player since Li Na in 2013 to qualify for the WTA Finals, Zheng has a tough task ahead of her as she opens her campaign against Sabalenka, a player who has defeated her four times in the past 14 months.
“The trickiest part for me right now is how to really find a way to break through the wall and trying to beat her,” Zheng said.
“Because the last match (in the Wuhan final), I was obviously closer but if I’m able to really do something good, try to hold my serve well or try to break her earlier in the match, and try to find a way to win, I think that’s the most important. Because I feel the level is there, everything is there, but you have to show it during the match.”
On the eve of the 53rd WTA Finals, the best eight singles players and best eight doubles teams came together in the historic district of Diriyah to commemorate the season-ending tournament coming to Saudi Arabia for the first time.
The WTA Finals will begin a three-year stint in Riyadh on Saturday and will conclude on Nov. 9.
Saudi female driver Dania Akeel, Stephane Duple stun rivals to lead Qatar International Baja
- Akeel’s stage win meant a female driver led the Baja for the first time in history
LUSAIL, Qatar: Saudi female driver Dania Akeel and her French navigator Stephane Duple delivered a stunning performance to lead the car category after a dramatic day’s action at the Qatar International Baja on Friday.
The Overdrive Racing Toyota Hilux crew won the opening stage and then ceded time to their main rivals through the second one but did enough to take a lead of 92.9 seconds into the night halt. As a result, they lead all the crews in the FIA Middle East Baja Cup.
Akeel said: “That’s it! This is our first stage win overall. I had a great time. Stephane was amazing. The cap was changing. The stage was fast, twisty, rocky and a really nice sector by the sea. That was really steep for the first time. That was really good training. We are in a perfect position for tomorrow. It’s going to be a really fun ride.”
Denis Krotov and Konstantin Zhiltsov hold second and lead the FIA World Baja Cup crews in their new petrol-engine X-Raid Mini JCW Rally 3.0i, while the Portuguese pairing of Joao Ferreira and Filipe Palmeiro are third overall and lead the SSV section in a Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo RR.
Krotov’s X-Raid team manager Tobias Quandt said: “It was a nice day for us for testing. Our engine is still in development, but we are on a pretty good level. It’s a nice fight and a nice race. Denis had one puncture on the first stage, but he did a good job, and we are super happy to have him back in the team.”
Ferreira said: “The stages were very fast. It was very difficult navigation. I have never seen anything like this. It is very difficult to see the tracks and the junctions. We finish without any problems and Filipe did an amazing job from the navigation side. We are third and leading SSV. We are very happy.”
Joao Dias came home in fourth place in the second of the Santag Racing Can-Ams in the SSV section, and Saudi Arabia’s Mooaz Hariri moved ahead of Czech driver Miroslav Zapletal to snatch fifth in his Can-Am. Khalid Al-Jafla leads the Challenger section in his eighth-placed Taurus T3 Max.
Kuwait’s Abdullah Al-Shatti (Kawasaki) and Saudi Arabia’s Hani Al-Noumesi topped the motorcycle and quad times after the second stage of the FIM event where several riders missed vital route waypoints with the tricky navigation across the deceptive desert terrain.
FIA entrants tackled a pair of 123.91 km and 122.50 km special stages on the northwestern side of Qatar, while the motorcycle and quad riders competed over just one special of 256.42 km.
Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah started the opening stage 10th on the road behind his brother Khalifa. Krotov was first out with the burden on co-driver Zhiltsov to master the tricky navigation from the front of the field.
Both Mohammed Al-Atteya and FIA Middle East Baja Cup leader Ahmed Al-Kuwari stopped for several costly minutes early in the first stage. Al-Atteya returned to the stage start and later retired, as Abdullah Al-Rabban was also delayed and Ibrahim Al-Muhanna (engine), Camelia Liparoti and Stefano Marrini (three punctures) fell by the wayside.
Krotov stopped to change a puncture near the end of the opening stage north of the Tamim Airbase and to the east of the Khawzan Road and the delay undid all his hard work. He carded a target time of 1 hour 22 minutes and 06.1 seconds, but the stoppage was costly and Akeel beat him by 5 minutes 36.6 seconds.
Akeel, Krotov and Ferreira duly claimed the quickest times to take the leading three places in the Baja. Challenger front-runner Al-Attiyah slotted into fourth ahead of his brother Khalifa. Akeel’s stage win meant a female driver led the Baja for the first time in history.
Stage 2 covered the tracks that the bikers had taken on the first half of their stage in the morning, but the northwesterly wind had intensified. Krotov began to pass the tailenders from the motorcycle race on the run north and he eventually stopped the clocks in 1 hour 9 minutes and 24.7 seconds to win the stage and reduce Akeel’s overnight lead to 1 minute and 32.9 seconds.
The run north along the coast proved costly for the host nation’s hopes of victory. Both Al-Attiyah (loss of engine oil) and his brother Khalifa (broken engine) were sidelined, Ahmad Al-Mohannadi damaged the rear right-hand corner of his Taurus in an accident, but Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari overcame hefty delays with electrical woes and fuel pressure issues to finish over 90 minutes behind his rivals. Khalifa Saleh Al-Attiyah will not restart on Saturday.
Pia Babnik cards successive 65s to lead Aramco Team Series in Riyadh
- Slovenian sits atop the leaderboard after a seven-under-par on day two at Riyadh Golf Club
- Chiara Tamburlini makes history as the first team captain to win successive events, after victory in Shenzhen
RIYADH: Consistency has been the name of the game for Slovenian Pia Babnik, as back-to-back bogey free rounds of seven-under-par sees her atop the leaderboard of the Aramco Team Series presented by PIF — Riyadh.
It is a remarkable turnaround for Babnik, who only last week finished up +19 on the Ladies European Tour in India at the Hero Women’s Indian Open.
Her round at the Golf Saudi-organized event included a sensational 18 greens in regulation round Riyadh Golf Club, marking a performance to be proud of for the winner of the Aramco Team Series presented by PIF in Jeddah in 2021.
The round of the day, however, went the way of Fatima Fernandez Cano, who carded a blemish free 10-under-par score of 62 — even going close to equaling the course record of 61, set by Alison Lee in 2023.
Fernandez Cano struggled with injuries last year and almost called it quits and, if not for the help of her doctor, would certainly not be celebrating today’s stellar round.
“In the end, it was just two nerves that were trapped in my right forearm,” the Spaniard said. “The only problem is I took forever to figure out what was wrong with it, because it would only happen when the muscle was contracted.
“I almost stepped away from the game, I was ready to quit. But I went to see one final doctor, and luckily, he knew what to do. It’s been a rollercoaster.”
Despite a bogey early on in her round, England’s Charley Hull rebounded to record a five-under-par score of 67 — aided by a brilliant back nine in which she sunk five birdies to keep her in touching distance of the top.
Meanwhile, it was victory for captain Chiara Tamburlini and her group in the team element of the event — wrapping up the title with ease after a net score of -42 across the first two days of the tournament.
The Swiss rookie, who is in pole position to claim the LET Order Of Merit, becomes the first captain in the series to win the team event in successive events, following her win in Shenzhen at the start of October.
Tamburlini was keen to heap praise on the team spirit in the group, particularly their amateur Tenniel Chu, vice-chairman of Mission Hills Group — the host of the previous event in Shenzhen — who was prophetic on the first tee.
“Tenniel was incredible,” said the victorious captain. “I had met him in China at Mission Hills, and we were joking about the trophy. He said: ‘I don’t see your name on there yet, but it’s fine, they can just do it twice back-to-back,’ and he was right!”
Her group, made up of English starlet Mimi Rhodes and France’s Anne-Charlotte Mora, set an additional record — the largest margin of victory in the team event, an incredible ten strokes.
“It feels pretty cool to have done something that no one has done before,” Tamburlini said. “I just love this format. I think it’s so much fun to play for a team. It’s easy to keep pushing and the format of counting birdies, it’s really motivating. I think it suits my game well to play aggressive and go for the pins.”
Elsewhere, German Helen Briem moved into contention with a second straight day of five-under-par, tied in fifth behind Luna Salbron, who sits in third place on 11-under-par.
This is the final of this season’s five $1 million Aramco Team Series presented by PIF tournaments on the Ladies European Tour, all organized by Golf Saudi, who seek to grow the game of golf domestically and around the world by hosting elite-level golf events.
Saudi Arabia showcases FIFA World Cup bid at AFC conference in Seoul
- SAFF’s President Yasser Al-Misehal highlights international backing
LONDON: The Saudi Arabian Football Federation presented its bid to host the 2034 FIFA World Cup at an Asian Football Confederation conference in Seoul on Friday.
The event, for member associations and regional associations’ presidents and general secretaries, saw Saudi Arabia highlight its position as a potential World Cup host, the Saudi Press Agency reported.
SAFF’s President Yasser Al-Misehal spoke of international backing for Saudi Arabia’s proposal, noting the “unprecedented historical support from over 170 federations.”
Al-Misehal added that the endorsement emphasized the confidence the global community had in the Kingdom’s capabilities to host the World Cup, a venture he described as “a dream come true” for Saudi football enthusiasts who had passionately supported the sport for years.
The event also featured SAFF’s Secretary-General Ibrahim Al-Qasim, who offered a presentation to football experts and pioneers which stressed Saudi Arabia’s capacity to host the World Cup.
Under the proposed new format, Saudi Arabia would be the sole country to organize the 2034 tournament, underscoring its infrastructural capabilities and commitment to delivering a world-class sporting experience, he said.
The AFC conference, which began on Wednesday, was attended by FIFA’s President Gianni Infantino, AFC’s President Salman bin Ibrahim Al-Khalifa, and national and regional federation leaders.
The decision on the hosts for the 2034 World Cup will be announced at FIFA’s Extraordinary General Assembly on Dec. 11.
Al-Misehal expressed optimism about Saudi Arabia’s prospects, adding that football fans across Asia and beyond were eagerly awaiting FIFA’s decision.
Netflix releases teaser for documentary series on Saudi Pro League
- ‘Saudi Pro League: Kickoff’ will be released on Nov. 21
RIYADH: Netflix will launch its latest sports doc series, “Saudi Pro League: Kickoff,” on Nov. 21, the streaming platform revealed in a short teaser.
The docuseries will take football fans behind the scenes of a league with the ambition to become one of the top leagues in the world.
The six-episode series, produced by Whisper, delves into the journey of five Saudi football clubs, Al Nassr, Al Hilal, Al Ittihad, Al Ahli and Al Etiffaq, as they compete to be crowned Saudi Pro League champions.
Well-known international players such as Cristiano Ronaldo (Al-Nassr), Neymar (Al-Hilal), Karim Benzema (Al-Ittihad) and Ettifaq coach Steven Gerrard, as well as great Saudi players such as Salem Al-Dawsari (Al-Hilal), Feras Al-Buraikan (Al-Ahli), Talal Haji (Al-Ittihad), and Abdulrahman Ghareeb (Al-Nassr), all make appearances, describing their journeys, challenges, failures and triumphs throughout the 2023-2024 season.
Beyond the pitch, fans will witness the Saudi Pro League’s vision of transformation unfold, as international legends join the league and make a profound impact on the clubs, the competition and the Saudi football stars.
Featuring exclusive interviews from some of the world’s best players, managers and commentators, along with in-depth stories and highlights from the campaign, the series will offer fans backstage access to the developments shaping the future of the Saudi Pro League.
