Sports

MADRID: So often over the years Barcelona and Real Madrid have fought it out between themselves for the Liga title, cruising to 95-plus points while everyone else battles to be the best of the rest. However, with 10 games to go this season, Atletico Madrid sit top of the table in what looks like a year when 85 points might be enough to secure the silverware. It is set to be the closest-run title race for some time, with just six points separating

TOKYO: Osaka prefectural governor Hirofumi Yoshimura said on Thursday (Apr 1) the Olympic torch relay in the city of Osaka should be cancelled amid a sharp rise in COVID-19 cases. Yoshimura had sounded the alarm the previous day that a jump in new coronavirus cases in Osaka was raising fears the western Japanese metropolis was entering a fresh wave of infections that could become its worst yet. The prefecture, which had just emerged from a COVID-19 state of emergency a month ago, reported

LONDON: Barcelona advanced to the last four of the women's Champions League with a 4-2 aggregate victory over Manchester City after a 2-1 defeat in the second leg of their quarter-final at the City Academy Stadium on Wednesday. City came into the game with a 3-0 deficit after losing the away leg, played in Monza because of travel restrictions, but they began brightly and pulled back a goal when Janine Beckie prodded home in the 20th minute after Barca had failed to clear

LONDON: Eden Park in Auckland will host the opening game of the 2023 women's World Cup with the final taking place in Stadium Australia in Sydney, soccer's world governing body FIFA said on Wednesday as it announced the nine host cities for the tournament. Adelaide, Brisbane, Dunedin, Hamilton, Melbourne, Perth and Wellington were the other seven cities in Australia and New Zealand selected to host matches. Australia and New Zealand will host one semi-final each with the full schedule to be announced later

LONDON: The England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) will look at the possibility of using COVID-19 passports to allow fans to return to stadiums for the upcoming domestic season, the governing body's managing director of county cricket Neil Snowball said. The new County Championship season will begin on ApR 8 with games initially being played without spectators. May 17 has been pencilled in as the date when the largest outdoor seated venues can allow up to 10,000 people or a quarter of capacity,

LONDON: Naomi Osaka had grown so accustomed to dominating that she was not immediately sure what lessons to take after her 23-match winning streak came to an abrupt end in quarter-final action at the Miami Open on Wednesday (Mar 31). Osaka, the reigning US Open and Australian Open champion whose last loss came in February 2020, was beaten 6-0 6-4 by Greek 23rd seed Maria Sakkari. "I feel like even if you're not playing great you should still find ways to win. I'm

SARAJEVO: Antoine Griezmann struck again as France extended their World Cup qualifying Group D lead to four points with an unconvincing 1-0 away win against Bosnia on Wednesday (Mar 31). Griezmann, who scored in last Wednesday's opening game against Ukraine, put the world champions on seven points from three games. Ukraine, who were held to a 1-1 home draw by Kazakhstan, have three points with Finland on two points from two matches. Bosnia, who have not won in their last 11 outings, lie

LONDON: Harry Maguire smashed home a late winner as England laboured to a 2-1 victory over Poland in World Cup qualifying on Wednesday (Mar 31) after an error by John Stones nearly cost the hosts all three points. Maguire swivelled and smashed home a knock-down from a corner in the 85th minute to maintain England's perfect start to their Group I campaign. England had dominated the majority of the match at Wembley, taking the lead after 19 minutes when Harry Kane fired home

DUISBURG, Germany: Germany's performance was dubbed "embarrassing" after they suffered their first World Cup qualifying defeat for 20 years in a humiliating 2-1 home loss to North Macedonia which heaped pressure on coach Joachim Loew. "The disappointment is huge," said a crest-fallen Loew after the final whistle in Duisburg on Wednesday. "This is a set-back. There were a lot of mistakes and we didn't find a way to break down the deep-standing North Macedonians. "We also let them counter-attack and had no grip

Gareth Bale has praised Wales caretaker coach Robert Page for keeping the team focused despite off-the-field distractions and securing a "massive win" over the Czech Republic in a 2022 World Cup qualifier. Manchester United forward Daniel James's goal secured a 1-0 win over the Czechs on Tuesday (Mar 30). The victory moved Wales up to third place in Group E, one point behind the Czech Republic in second and four adrift of leaders Belgium, having played one game fewer than both. It was

LONDON: Amnesty International said on Wednesday (Mar 31) it hopes England will join other countries in protesting against the conditions of migrant labourers in Qatar ahead of the 2022 World Cup there. Players from Germany, the Netherlands and Norway wore shirts before World Cup qualifiers voicing concern over human rights in Qatar, following a report last month in Britain's Guardian newspaper that at least 6,500 migrant workers had died in Qatar in the decade since it won the right to stage the event.

Japan coach Hajime Moriyasu praised his side's ruthlessness after they recorded their biggest win in World Cup qualifying with Tuesday's (Mar 30) 14-0 thrashing of Mongolia. The win fell one goal short of matching their all-time record, a 15-0 victory over the Philippines in Olympic qualifying in 1967, but Moriyasu was delighted with the way his side took Mongolia apart in the Group F match behind closed doors at Chiba's Fukuda Denshi Arena. The players were focused on what they could accomplish rather

MIAMI, Florida: After players at the Miami Open expressed a reluctance to get the COVID-19 vaccine, the women's tennis governing body said on Tuesday (Mar 30) it would educate athletes and encourage them to get the shot. After fourth round wins on Monday, Ukrainian Elina Svitolina and Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka had aired concerns about how quickly the vaccines had been rolled out and said they would wait before deciding whether to get one. Svitolina added that getting the vaccine made no sense since

TOKYO: A Japanese karate champion who will compete at the Tokyo Olympics testified before an ethics commission on Wednesday (Mar 31), alleging that a federation official hit her in the face with a bamboo sword. Ayumi Uekusa, who will compete in the women's over 61kg kumite category as karate makes its Olympic debut this summer, said she was the victim of a bullying campaign by Masao Kagawa, the technical director of the Japan Karatedo Federation. It is the latest "power harassment" scandal to

LEUVEN: Belgium's second-string used the opportunity of a rare start to impress coach Roberto Martinez as they thumped Belarus 8-0 in their World Cup qualifier on Tuesday. With Martinez warning players were under scrutiny for places in the Euro 2020 squad, Michy Batshuayi, Hans Vanaken (2), Leandro Trossard (2), Jeremy Doku, Denis Praet and Christian Benteke all scored as the likes of Kevin De Bruyne, Romelu Lukaku and Dries Mertens were given the night off. It lifted Belgium to seven points from three

KUALA LUMPUR: A Myanmar footballer who plays for a Malaysian club has been hit with a one-match ban for flashing the three-finger salute used by anti-coup protesters during a game, an official said on Tuesday (Mar 30). Hein Htet Aung, who plays for second-division side Selangor FC II, made the political gesture during a match against PDRM FC earlier this month. A picture of him flashing the symbol went viral, and he was found to have broken rules prohibiting offensive gestures or language,

Indian batsman Shreyas Iyer has been ruled out of the Indian Premier League (IPL) season after injuring his left shoulder during India’s one-day international series with England, his franchise the Delhi Capitals announced on Tuesday. Wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant will captain the side in Iyer’s absence, the Capitals added. Iyer sustained the injury while diving to stop a shot by England opener Jonny Bairstow and India’s cricket board BCCI said he had partially dislocated his shoulder. “Shreyas Iyer has been ruled out of the

DEBRECEN, Hungary - World Cup hosts Qatar continued their impressive run as they drew 1-1 with struggling Ireland in Debrecen on Tuesday. Ireland were hoping to bounce back from their humiliating defeat by Luxembourg in their Group A World Cup qualifier at the weekend and took the lead in the first half through James McClean’s deflected strike. But Mohammed Muntari levelled for a lively Qatar side with a fine finish early in the second half. The non-competitive Group A game was originally scheduled

SYDNEY - Australia is confident all of its athletes will be vaccinated against COVID-19 before they head off to the Tokyo Olympics, Chef de Mission Ian Chesterman said at the unveiling of the uniforms for the Games on Wednesday. Vaccination is not a prerequisite for athletes competing in the delayed Games but Chesterman said it was “common sense” to add a “layer of safety” around the delegation and ensure they did not bring the virus home with them. “We are very confident that

Players at the Miami Open on Monday expressed little love for COVID-19 vaccines, with many saying they want more information before getting a shot. Seventh seeded Aryna Sabalenka expressed more concern over the vaccine than her quarterfinal opponent number one Ash Barty while fifth seed Elina Svitolina said she was inclined to take the advice of friends and wait. “So far I don’t really trust it,” Sabalenka told reporters following her fourth round 6-1 6-2 mugging of Marketa Vondrousova. “It’s tough to say,