Sports

KIAWAH ISLAND, South Carolina: Four-times major winner Brooks Koepka recovered from a shaky start to grab a share of the early first-round lead at the PGA Championship on Thursday with defending champion Collin Morikawa lurking one back. Playing the more difficult back nine first at the windswept Ocean course, Koepka got his day off to a stumbling start with a double bogey but gathered himself to card a stellar three-under 69 and join Keegan Bradley and Norwegian Viktor Hovland atop the leaderboard. "It

LONDON: The BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament in Indian Wells, California that was scheduled to be held in March will now take place in October, the ATP said on Thursday. The dual ATP-WTA hardcourt event was planned for March 8-21 but was postponed due to COVID-19 concerns, the second consecutive year the tournament was impacted. Popularly known as the "fifth major" after the four Grand Slams, the 2020 Masters 1000 tournament was the first major professional sporting event in the United States to

LONDON: Local hero Charles Leclerc went from last to first on home town streets to lead a stunning Ferrari one-two in a red-flagged second Monaco Grand Prix practice on Thursday. The 23-year-old Monegasque, born and bred in the Mediterranean principality, lapped the metal-fenced layout with a best time of one minute 11.684 seconds in the afternoon session. Leclerc, who has yet to score a point on home territory, had managed only four laps in the morning sunshine before being sidelined by a gearbox

LONDON: Charles Leclerc has yet to score a point in his home Monaco Grand Prix but, with two retirements followed by no race in 2020 due to the pandemic, the Ferrari driver is due a change of fortune this weekend. The 23-year-old, who grew up watching the cars race around the harbourside track and took the school bus along roads familiar to every Formula One fan, was excited at the prospect on Wednesday. "I love it, but I've had a bit of a

KIAWAH ISLAND, South Carolina: Bryson DeChambeau has dismantled courses with his prodigious length off the tee and he expects more of the same as he stares down the longest one in major championship history at this week's PGA Championship. World number five DeChambeau said that while his length off the tee will be an advantage at the 7,876-yard Kiawah Island Ocean Course his biggest edge on the field will be if he can hit it straight and control the flight of balls in

BURNLEY, England: Liverpool moved into the Champions League qualifying spots after a 3-0 win at Burnley on Wednesday took them above Leicester City and into fourth place with one round of Premier League matches remaining. Roberto Firmino struck two minutes before halftime and a Nathaniel Phillips header made it 2-0 in the 52nd minute before a superb late strike from Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain secured a fourth straight win. The victory moves Liverpool onto 66 points, ahead of fifth-placed Leicester on goal difference while Chelsea

KIAWAH ISLAND, United States: Rangefinders will make their major debut at next week's PGA Championship, aimed at speeding the pace of play even as several top golfers worry it will do nothing or cause slowdowns instead. The golf tech distance-measuring devices, using lasers or GPS systems, were approved last February for majors sanctioned by the PGA of America but remain banned for US PGA Tour rounds. "We're always interested in methods that may help improve the flow of play during our championships," PGA

LOS ANGELES: LeBron James made a successful return from injury as the Los Angeles Lakers kept alive their hopes of an automatic NBA playoff spot with a 122-115 victory over the Indiana Pacers on Saturday (May 15). James finished with 24 points while Anthony Davis led the scoring with 28 as the Lakers served notice that they have no intention of surrendering their NBA crown without a fight as the postseason approaches. Saturday's victory means that the Lakers can still secure the sixth

Juan Cuadrado scored a double as Juventus kept their Champions League qualification hopes alive with a 3-2 win over Serie A champions Inter Milan on Saturday despite spending most of the second half with 10 men. The result lifted Andrea Pirlo's side into fourth place with one game remaining, although Napoli will knock the Turin club back into fifth if they beat Fiorentina on Sunday. Both sides were awarded first-half penalties in a game dominated by VAR decisions. Cristiano Ronaldo scored on the

LONDON: Spotify CEO and founder Daniel Ek said on Saturday (May 15) an offer to buy Premier League Arsenal had been rejected by owner Stan Kroenke's family. Ek took to Twitter to issue a statement correcting "inaccurate reports" that he had not made a bid. "This week an offer was made to both Josh Kroenke and their bankers that included fan ownership, representation at the board and a golden share for the supporters," the Swede said. "They replied that they don't need the

LONDON: Leicester players Hamza Choudhury and Wesley Fofana showed support for the Palestinians after winning the FA Cup final on Saturday (May 15). English midfielder Choudhury and French defender Fofana were seen holding a Palestinian flag. Choudhury had the flagged draped over his shoulders as he collected his winner's medal after beating Chelsea 1-0. Tens of thousands of protesters marched in support of Palestinians on Saturday in major European cities including London, Berlin, Madrid and Paris, as the worst violence in years raged

Youri Tielemans struck a sensational winner to clinch Leicester City their first FA Cup in a 1-0 victory over Chelsea, in front of 21,000 fans at Wembley - with Ben Chilwell's 89th-minute effort ruled out by VAR for offside. It was the biggest gathering of supporters inside a stadium since the coronavirus pandemic began - and they were treated to incredible drama in the 140th FA Cup final. Leicester fans had the perfect view as Tielemans fired a brilliant shot into the top

Miami: Qatar national football team will take part in the CONCACAF Gold Cup 2021 as a guest participant for being the AFC Asian Cup Champion. The tournament will be played in 11 cities across eight different US metropolitan areas, with the final taking place at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on August 2. Qatar is selected in Group D (based in Houston, Texas, BBVA Stadium), the first match will kick off on July 13 against Panama, before Honduras takes on Grenada. On July

Ferran Torres scored a hat-trick as champions Manchester City beat Newcastle United 4-3 to set a record for consecutive Premier League away wins on Friday (May 14) with their 12th victory on the road. With Pep Guardiola's City having already bagged the title and Newcastle safe, there was nothing riding on the fixture but it served up some rich entertainment with Spaniard Torres especially enjoying himself at St James' Park. City dominated early on but Newcastle took the lead against the run of

The French race at Le Castellet will now be on Jun 20, kicking off a "triple header" of three grands prix on successive weekends, the Liberty Media-owned sport said in a statement on Friday (May 14). The Red Bull Ring will host the newly-inserted Styrian Grand Prix on Jun 27 and the Austrian Grand Prix on its original Jul 4 date. "We were all looking forward to racing in Turkey but the travel restrictions in place have meant we are not able to

LONDON: Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp said he has enjoyed chasing teams throughout his career as the battle to qualify for next season's Champions League goes down to the final three games of the season. Liverpool moved within four points of fourth-placed Chelsea with a game in hand after Thursday's (May 13) 4-2 Premier League victory over Manchester United. The Merseyside club were already crowned champions at this stage last season but Klopp said he still enjoys playing catch-up to the sides ahead of

LONDON: Thomas Tuchel said he would lead an "angry" Chelsea into Saturday's (May 15) FA Cup final after defeat by Arsenal dented their Premier League top-four hopes. The Blues boss admitted preparations for the match against Leicester at Wembley would be made easier by his team's frustrations following Wednesday's 1-0 defeat. "We all feel that anger on ourselves on the missed opportunity and the performance that night against Arsenal," he said on Friday. "So it's a good thing, in that it's easy to

LONDON: Arsenal's Brazilian defender David Luiz will leave the Premier league club at the end of the season, according to British media reports on Friday. The 34-year-old has been at Arsenal for two seasons after joining from London rivals Chelsea where he won the league title, Champions League and two FA Cups. He also won the FA Cup with Arsenal last season. Sky Sports and the BBC said the decision was made after Luiz, who is sidelined by a hamstring injury and has

ROME: World number one Novak Djokovic's quarter-final match against Stefanos Tsitsipas has been pushed back until Saturday after play was suspended because of rain on Friday. Monte Carlo winner Tsitsipas was leading defending champion 6-4, 2-1 when the match was interrupted for a second time at the Foro Italico. The match was first halted for 3 hours 30 minutes with the fifth seed leading 4-3 before heavy rain hit the Italian capital. Play resumed at 16:45 GMT, enough time for Tsitsipas to close

A petition calling for the cancellation of the Tokyo Olympics which garnered 350,000 signatures in nine days was submitted to organisers on Friday, reflecting growing public opposition to the event as a fourth wave of COVID-19 infections sweeps Japan. "Stop Tokyo Olympics" campaign organiser Kenji Utsunomiya said the global festival of sport - already postponed from 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic - should take place only when Japan can welcome visitors and athletes wholeheartedly. "We are not in that situation and therefore