KUALA LUMPUR: Nour El Sherbini stormed back from a two-game deficit to defeat top seed Laura Massaro and become the youngest-ever women’s squash world champion on Saturday.
The 20-year-old Egyptian’s victory at the PSA World Women’s Championship in Malaysia also vaults her past Massaro into the sport’s No.1 ranking.
“I’m dreaming right now, I didn’t imagine I could win this match,” said El Sherbini.
She had looked like a champion all week.
In the quarterfinals she crushed Nicol David — the defending world champ who had dominated the sport over the past decade — ending the Malaysian’s bid for a ninth world title.
She then swatted aside her compatriot Nouran Gohar in the semifinals to set up a rematch of the 2013 final that was won by Massaro.
Massaro seemed headed for her second world championship as El Sherbini, appearing rattled, committed several unforced errors and questioned the officials’ decisions in dropping the first two games 6-11 and 4-11.
But she recovered in the third with a series of devastating volleys and held Massaro off 11-3, 11-5, 11-8 in the last three games.
“Me and Laura’s games have always finished in five games. This time was going to be my turn and I was confident knowing that I was playing good,” El Sherbini said.
Massaro paid credit to El Sherbini after the match.
“It’s amazing for her to have come back from two games down. I will take this defeat on the chin and return stronger,” she said.
El Sherbini’s defeat of David earlier in the week left the Malaysian’s hometown fans stunned and provided further evidence that her decade-long dominance of the game may be over.
The Malaysian has a record eight world championships but has suffered a dip in form over the past year. In September she surrendered her phenomenal nine-year stranglehold on the world’s No.1 ranking.
But David expressed confidence that she could stay among the sport’s elite despite falling to a previously unthinkable world No.5, and she shot down speculation that she may consider retiring soon.
“Disappointed — but not even close to retirement,” she tweeted late Thursday after her loss.
No world championship was held in 2015 after the event was suddenly called off in December amid controversy, with its previous promoter claiming security concerns in Malaysia prevented it being staged.
Malaysian officials denied any security threat and accused the promoters of a ploy to secure more financial support.
El Sherbini is world squash champion
El Sherbini is world squash champion
Serena says she would have received 20-year ban if she failed drug tests like Sinner
- Former world number one Simona Halep was also banned despite denying knowingly taking the banned drug roxadustat
Sinner accepted a three-month ban in February following an agreement with the World Anti-Doping Agency, which challenged an independent tribunal’s decision to clear him of wrongdoing after two positive tests for the anabolic agent clostebol.
“I love the guy, love this game,” Williams, who retired in 2022 after winning 23 Grand Slam trophies, told Time Magazine.
“He’s great for the sport. I’ve been put down so much, I don’t want to bring anyone down. Men’s tennis needs him.
“(But) if I did that, I would have gotten 20 years. Let’s be honest. I would have gotten Grand Slams taken away from me.”
Reuters has contacted Sinner’s team and WADA for comment.
Reigning Australian Open and US Open champion Sinner, whose ban will end on May 4, has always maintained his innocence though his case raised questions about whether he had received preferential treatment from the authorities.
Iga Swiatek’s case also caused some surprise with the women’s world number two accepting a one-month suspension in November after testing positive for the banned substance trimetazidine.
Former world number one Simona Halep was also banned despite denying knowingly taking the banned drug roxadustat and her four-year suspension was cut to nine months in 2024 after an appeal at sport’s highest court.
Williams also said she took extra care with what she put into her body during her career in case she ingested something that got her in trouble.
Playing elder sister tougher than facing top-ranked players for Mirra Andreeva
- Mirra had beaten the likes of world No. 1 and 2 Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek en route to the Indian Wells title last month, but the 17-year-old said it was tougher to focus when her elder sister is on the other side of the net
- Mirra will next play compatriot Ekaterina Alexandrova in the last 16
STUTTGART: Russian teenager Mirra Andreeva has beaten the world’s best players to move up to world No. 7 but on Wednesday she beat a player who had got the better of her for years — her elder sister Erika.
The Andreeva sisters were drawn against each other at the Stuttgart Open but any hopes of witnessing an absorbing sibling rivalry were put to bed when Erika, 20, was forced to retire with a knee injury while trailing 6-2 1-0.
Mirra had beaten the likes of world No. 1 and 2 Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek en route to the Indian Wells title last month, but the 17-year-old said it was tougher to focus when her elder sister is on the other side of the net.
“For me, 75 percent-80 percent is about my mental preparation, because you’re also not just focusing on yourself and you’re not focusing on how to beat her, but you’re also focusing (on her) — does she feel good? I don’t know,” Mirra told reporters.
“I wonder, how does she feel? What are we going to do after the match? How is it going to be? All those thoughts.
“Me, I don’t just focus on myself, but I also focus on kind of paying more attention to her. This makes the match more difficult for me... To really just focus on myself, it’s almost impossible when I play against her.”
The two had met once before in Wuhan last year where Erika — who is now 90 rungs below Mirra in the rankings — triumphed in straight sets.
Mirra said she knew Erika was struggling with her knee as they are sharing a room, but also revelled in beating her for the first time — even though the victory did not come under ideal circumstances.
“We played a couple of times on the practices when we were younger, and actually, until Wuhan last year, we never ever played an official match. So we were always playing a couple of games on the practices or a couple of tiebreaks,” Mirra said.
“But most of the time, of course she has, like a 90 percent win (record) against me and this is actually the first time I really won a set against her.
“I just know that, of course, if she would feel her 100 percent, the score would be completely different and the match would be different as well. But I’m sure that we have a lot of time to play and to show the great level of tennis.”
She will next play compatriot Ekaterina Alexandrova in the last 16.
Newcastle rout Palace 5-0 to move into 3rd place in Premier League
- Newcastle jumped above Nottingham Forest and within four points of second-place Arsenal, and look in good shape for a return to the Champions League next season
- The dominant display will have made for good viewing for Newcastle manager Eddie Howe, who is recovering in the hospital after being diagnosed with pneumonia
LONDON: Newcastle thrashed Crystal Palace 5-0 Wednesday for their second big win in four days and climbed to third place in the Premier League.
Four of the goals came in the first half at St. James’ Park, through Jacob Murphy, Harvey Barnes, Fabian Schar as well as an unfortunate own-goal by Marc Guehi. Sandwiched between them was a lazily taken penalty for Palace by Eberechi Eze that was saved by Newcastle goalkeeper Nick Pope.
Alexander Isak added a fifth goal in the 58th minute — for his 21st of the campaign — as Newcastle followed up their 4-1 hammering of Manchester United on Sunday to make it six wins in a row in all competitions. That streak included a victory over Liverpool in the English League Cup final for a first major trophy in 70 years.
Newcastle jumped above Nottingham Forest and within four points of second-place Arsenal, and look in good shape for a return to the Champions League next season. The Premier League will have five representatives and Newcastle is five points clear of sixth-place Chelsea with six games remaining.
The dominant display will have made for good viewing for Newcastle manager Eddie Howe, who is recovering in the hospital after being diagnosed with pneumonia.
Howe also missed the Man United match — and Newcastle are doing just fine without him at the moment.
“Everyone has shared texts with him (Howe) and he’s on the road to recovery,” said Murphy, who had the goal of the night with a fierce, rising drive from an acute angle to set Newcastle on its way.
“We’re missing him but once again I think we put a performance in that he’d be really proud of.”
Palace conceded five goals for the second straight game, having lost 5-2 at Manchester City on Saturday.
“We’ve changed nothing but things aren’t working anymore,” Palace manager Oliver Glasner said. “We have to be very honest — we’re Crystal Palace and if we don’t perform at our top level, Newcastle and Manchester City are better than us.”
Things might have been different had Eze converted the penalty — awarded after Pope missed the ball when attempting to punch clear and barged into Palace defender Chris Richards — when the score was 1-0.
Instead, Pope went the right way and flopped on Eze’s weak spot kick.
“When he scores, no one says anything,” Guehi said of Eze. “It happens. We just have to move on.”
Arsenal defeat Real Madrid to reach Champions League semis
- The breaks in play, along with Arsenal’s dallying at every opportunity, disrupted Madrid’s momentum and they struggled to threaten Gunners stopper David Raya
MADRID: Arsenal staved off Champions League holders Real Madrid’s superstars and rich history of unlikely comebacks to snatch a 2-1 victory on Wednesday and reach the semifinals with a superb 5-1 aggregate triumph.
The Gunners’ 3-0 quarter-final first leg triumph last week gave them a vital cushion in the Spanish capital as they made the final four for the first time since 2009, where they will face Paris Saint-Germain.
Bukayo Saka, who missed a first-half penalty, sent Arsenal ahead and although Vinicius Junior levelled the 15-time winners were never close to making up the deficit.
Gabriel Martinelli rubbed salt in their wounds with a stoppage-time winner for Arsenal, who have never lifted the Champions League trophy.
Los Blancos, far more brittle than when they won a Champions League and La Liga double last season, were convinced they could turn the game around but created too little against Arsenal’s tight defense.
The Premier League side held their nerve to reach the semifinals for only the third time in their history.
Kylian Mbappe chested home in the opening stages but was clearly offside, with the forward gesturing to the crowd to turn up the volume to create the fabled aura which helps Madrid pull off near-impossible feats at the Santiago Bernabeu.
David Alaba was booked for hacking down Saka as Madrid tried to add the grit they badly lacked in their first leg demolition in London, and the Arsenal winger also had a drive fielded well by Thibaut Courtois.
Arsenal were awarded a penalty seemingly out of the blue when the VAR booth instructed French referee Francois Letexier to review an incident from an earlier corner.
Raul Asencio pulled back Arsenal forward Mikel Merino in the area and Letexier pointed to the spot, to the bemusement of the home crowd.
Saka stepped up to take it but his poorly-executed Panenka, skewing off to the left, was saved by Courtois.
It spurred Real Madrid on and soon they had a penalty of their own, when Mbappe hit the turf after Declan Rice tussled with him.
However after a lengthy VAR review Letexier was called to take a second look and he then decided Arsenal’s two-goal first leg hero Rice had not fouled the French superstar.
The breaks in play, along with Arsenal’s dallying at every opportunity, disrupted Madrid’s momentum and they struggled to threaten Gunners stopper David Raya.
For all of Madrid’s bluster the goalkeeper did not need to make a save in the first half, while Courtois stopped three shots, including a Martinelli effort from a tight angle in added time, of which there was plenty after the VAR reviews.
On the hour mark Carlo Ancelotti took action with a triple change, including replacing the quiet Rodrygo with teen starlet Endrick, and bringing on Dani Ceballos against his former side.
Martin Odegaard, also facing his former employers whom he joined as a ‘wonderkid’ a decade ago, helped forge Arsenal’s opening goal after 65 minutes.
The Norwegian linked with Merino, who slipped Saka in behind and the Englishman made amends for his penalty blunder with an ice-cool dinked finish.
Four goals ahead in the tie Arsenal thought their work was done, with defender William Saliba not concentrating on the edge of his box in possession.
Vinicius stole the ball away from him and beat the out-of-position Raya to level, two minutes after Saka’s opener.
Madrid’s increasingly slim hopes were dashed when Mbappe limped off with an ankle problem with 15 minutes remaining, and Martinelli made sure with a cool finish after Merino set him up.
Inter hold off Bayern to reach Champions League last four
- Italian champions Inter will face Barcelona in the semis
MILAN, Italy: Inter Milan reached the semifinals of the Champions League on Wednesday after drawing 2-2 with Bayern Munich to win a pulsating last-eight tie 4-3 on aggregate.
Italian champions Inter will face Barcelona in the semis after goals in the space of three minutes from captain Lautaro Martinez and Benjamin Pavard canceled out a Harry Kane strike for Bayern which levelled the tie in the 52nd minute.
Eric Dier’s looping header in the 75th minute earned Bayern a draw on the night in soaking and blustery Milan but that wasn’t enough for Vincent Kompany’s side to continue their bid to be crowned Kings of Europe for a seventh time.
Simone Inzaghi’s side came through in awful conditions at the San Siro where a combination of heavy rain and driving winds affected both teams’ ability to play their best football, but added uncertainty and tension to an already highly-charged occasion.
Inter are still on for a repeat of the Serie A, Champions League and Italian Cup treble won under Jose Mourinho in 2010, as they are also three points ahead of Napoli in Italy’s top flight and face AC Milan in the semifinals of the domestic cup.
And Wednesday’s win showed that Inter are more than capable or reaching the final of Europe’s elite club competition, as they did two years ago when they were narrowly beaten by Manchester City.
Bayern had won all three of their previous Champions League away matches at Inter, but after Pavard crashed home his first goal for the club in the 61st minute there was no way back for the injury-hit Bundesliga leaders.
Inter will also benefit from playing the second leg of their showdown with Barca, who they beat in the semifinals on their way to victory in Madrid 15 years ago, at the San Siro.
The hosts didn’t come alive until their fans, who had been sat and stood in silence for the first 20 minutes in protest at ticket prices, burst loudly in song.
By that time the wind had picked up so much that one Inter cross almost swung back out of the penalty box, but even with the wind in their faces the hosts were on the up.
Thuram just failed to get a touch on Francesco Acerbi’s scuffed finish in the 29th minute, and moments later Hakan Calhanoglu crashed powerful shot just wide of the upright.
Bayern reacted and pushed Inter back into their own area for the final minutes of the opening half, but a combination of the conditions, desperate defending and poor finishing kept the match scoreless at the break.
Inter started the second half the stronger but Kane levelled the tie with a brilliantly taken goal, shifting onto his right and drilling a low shot through Federico Dimarco’s leg’s and past Yann Sommer.
Just moments before Kane had rookie Bayern goalkeeper to thank for stopping him scoring an own goal, but not long afterwards Martinez re-established Inter’s advantage when he controlled Dimarco’s corner and lashed home.
And Pavard decided the tie three minutes later with a bullet header against his former club from another corner, sending the San Siro wild with delight.
That wasn’t it though as Dier moved Bayern back to within a goal of extra-time, but when Sommer smothered Kane’s header in stoppage time Inter’s treble dream was kept alive.
