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BERLIN: The late arrival of a quartet of Premier League stars is set to give Germany a timely boost as head coach Joachim Loew looks to fix his misfiring side in their final preparations for Euro 2020. The Chelsea trio of Champions League winners Timo Werner, Kai Havertz and Antonio Ruediger, as well as Manchester City midfielder Ilkay Gundogan, had all joined the squad by Thursday. They were given extra time off after Saturday's European final. Their arrival boosts the Loew's side, who

BARCELONA: Ronald Koeman will remain as Barcelona coach next season after the club agreed to honour his contract, president Joan Laporta said on Thursday (Jun 3). Koeman, who was appointed on a two-year deal last August by Laporta's predecessor Josep Maria Bartomeu, led Barca to victory in the Copa del Rey in his first season in charge. But the Catalans suffered an embarrassing 5-2 aggregate defeat to Paris St Germain in the last 16 of the Champions League and finished a disappointing third

SHANGHAI: A decade ago, more than 110 million people tuned in from China to watch Li Na become the first Asian-born player to win a Grand Slam singles title. But now she is rarely seen on TV or in the country's media. Her big breakthrough for Chinese and Asian tennis at the 2011 French Open was followed by a second major at the Australian Open in 2014 before Li tearfully called it quits later that year. Now 39, Li is only seen fleetingly

RIYADH: Singapore returned to World Cup and Asian Cup qualifying action after more than 18 months on Thursday (Jun 3) with a 4-0 loss to Palestine. The second round of joint qualification for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar and the 2023 AFC Asian Cup in China has resumed after a lengthy delay caused by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Palestine raced to a three-nil lead in the first half at the King Fahd International Stadium, prompting Singapore head coach Tatsuma Yoshida to

Valtteri Bottas said he raised concerns about Mercedes' pit stops ahead of last month's Monaco Grand Prix which saw the Formula One champions fail to remove a wheel from his car, forcing the Finn's retirement from second place. Bottas, whose arrival in Azerbaijan for this weekend's sixth round of the season was delayed by travel disruption, told reporters on Thursday that what happened was not a complete surprise. The stuck wheel was eventually removed at the factory in England some 43 hours after

TOKYO: The president of the Tokyo 2020 organising committee ruled out a cancellation or further postponement of the Olympics as doubts swirled among host cities and medical professionals whether the event can be held safely amid the pandemic. Public opinion polls in Japan have consistently shown that a majority want the Games cancelled or put off yet again after being delayed by one year because of the coronavirus crisis. A majority of the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly feel the same way, the Tokyo Shimbun

Taking a hard line with elite athletes – that they are contractually bound to show up before the media - can backfire when there is anxiety among the best performers, says a psychologist. QUEENSLAND: Japanese tennis star Naomi Osaka took a stand this week that called attention to the mental health of professional athletes. She refused to conduct interviews with the media after her matches at the French Open, citing concerns over her own mental well-being. And, in return, the tennis authorities fined

WASHINGTON: A US congressional commission on Tuesday (Jun 1) called on American basketball stars to end endorsements of Chinese sportswear firms that use cotton grown in China's Xinjiang region, warning against complicity in forced labour they say takes place there. In a letter to the National Basketball Players Association, the chairs of the bipartisan Congressional-Executive Commission on China said more than a dozen NBA players had deals with the China-based ANTA, Li-Ning and Peak sportswear firms prior to the publication of recent Western

BEIJING: China's Olympic gold medallists Zhang Ning, Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng have been inducted into the Badminton World Federation's Hall of Fame, the sport's governing body said on Wednesday (Jun 2). Zhang won gold in the women's singles at the 2004 and 2008 Olympics and was crowned world champion in 2003. Cai and Fu are the only men's doubles pair to have won four world titles. They also won Olympic gold at London in 2012. BWF President Poul-Erik Hoyer said the trio

SINGAPORE: A Singaporean teen on Wednesday (Jun 2) admitted to harassing English Premier League footballer Neal Maupay by threatening to kill the Brighton & Hove Albion forward and his family in online messages sent last year. Derek Ng De Ren, 19, was in Singapore when he sent the threats to Maupay via Instagram direct message, according to court documents. The court heard that Ng was a junior college student and watched the game between Arsenal and Brighton on television around 10pm on Jun

BARCELONA: Barcelona on Tuesday (Jun 1) confirmed that Manchester City defender Eric Garcia would join them on Jul 1 when his contract with the Premier League champions expires. Garcia will return to his boyhood club on a deal until the end of the 2025-26 campaign after three years at City and follows striker Sergio Aguero in making the switch from Manchester to the Camp Nou. Barca said they had included a €400 million (US$489.52 million) buyout clause in the 20-year-old Garcia's contract. The

MADRID: Spain's Olympic women's singles Badminton champion Carolina Marin confirmed on Tuesday (Jun 1) that she is unable to defend her crown in Tokyo due to a knee injury. Marin, a five-time European and three-time world champion who beat Pusarla Venkata Sindhu of India to claim gold at the Rio de Janeiro Games in 2016, said she has torn her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and both meniscus in her left knee. "After examinations during the weekend and the medical consultation, I confirm that

OTA, Japan: Australia's softball team became the first athletes to arrive in Japan for the Olympics on Tuesday (Jun 1), in a major step forward for the pandemic-postponed Games as organisers battle COVID-19 fears. The arrival offered a taste of the strict biosecurity measures that the Games will entail. All members of the delegation are vaccinated, but they still had to be tested before travel and on arrival. They filed off the plane sporting masks and green and gold uniforms, escorted by greeters

TOKYO: Japanese fans and public figures rallied in support of tennis star Naomi Osaka on Tuesday (Jun 1), offering sympathy after she withdrew from the French Open and opened up about her battles with depression. The four-time Grand Slam winner's career is followed closely in Japan and the controversy in Paris, which followed her refusal to attend press conferences, led news bulletins on Tuesday. Reaction in Japan was largely sympathetic, with one Twitter user urging Osaka to "take a good, long break". "I

PARIS: Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas overcame a sluggish start to reach the second round of the French Open with a 7-6(6), 6-3, 6-1 victory over France's Jeremy Chardy on Sunday (May 30). The fifth seed, who extended his winning run on clay to five matches after clinching the title in Lyon last week, was in trouble in the opening set in an empty court Philippe Chatrier after spectators were sent home under a 9pm local time curfew before making his superiority count. Tsitsipas, who

BRUSSELS: Thierry Henry is rejoining Belgium’s coaching staff for the European Championship where he will serve again as one of coach Roberto Martinez’s assistants, the Belgian football association said on Sunday (May 30). Henry, 43, worked on Martinez’s staff from mid-2016 until just after the World Cup in Russia, where Belgium finished third. The former World cup winner then went to Monaco as coach and later to Montreal Impact in Major League Soccer before returning to working as a television pundit in Britain.

LOS ANGELES: Chris Paul overcame an injured shoulder and Jae Crowder busted out of a playoff slump Sunday (May 30) as the Phoenix Suns took a 100-92 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers, who lost Anthony Davis to another injury. Paul had 18 points and nine assists while Crowder delivered 17 points as half a dozen players finished in double figures for the Suns, who clawed their way level at 2-2 in the Western Conference best-of-seven playoff series against the reigning NBA champions.

WASHINGTON: Jason Kokrak held off home-region hero Jordan Spieth down the final holes Sunday (May 31) to win the US PGA Tour Charles Schwab Challenge by two strokes. The 36-year-old American fired a level par 70 in Sunday's final round to finish 72 holes on 14-under 266 at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas. Kokrak stumbled with bogeys at the par-4 15th and par-3 16th but closed with back-to-back pars to deny Spieth, who had ended a four-year win drought last month

Kyle Larson put on a show in primetime on Sunday as he streaked to a dominating victory in Sunday's crown-jewel Coca-Cola 600 NASCAR Cup Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Larson led 327 of 400 laps, won three of four stages and beat runner-up Hendrick Motorsports teammate Chase Elliott to the finish line by more than 10 seconds. "Feels good," Larson said after getting his first Cup win at the 1.5-mile CMS oval. "It was not easy. I felt like I had to

Iga Swiatek returns to the scene of her biggest triumph on Monday when she starts her French Open defence against unseeded Kaja Juvan, while Serena Williams will resume her quest for a 24th major in the night session on Court Philippe Chatrier. Swiatek, who turns 20 on Monday, was catapulted into the spotlight at Roland Garros last year when she became Poland's first Grand Slam singles champion and the youngest woman to capture the title in Paris since Monica Seles in 1992. She