Other Sports

BUENOS AIRES: Argentina have cancelled their final World Cup warm-up match against Israel scheduled for this Saturday in Jerusalem, striker Gonzalo Higuain said on Tuesday. “They’ve finally done the right thing,” Higuain said in an interview with ESPN, confirming reports the game had been canceled following political pressure. The match in Jerusalem’s Teddy Kollek Stadium was to be Argentina’s final ...

KARACHI: Pakistan’s prominent golfer Hamza Amin is looking forward to playing among the region’s top golfers as he tees off at this week’s $300,000 Thailand Open. Hamza, 30, is currently the only Pakistani golfer on Asian Tour and has been representing the country in different tournaments. Thailand Open is also a sort of a comeback tournament for Hamza, who last ...

PARIS: Garbine Muguruza roared into the French Open semi-finals with a 6-2, 6-1 demolition job of Maria Sharapova on Wednesday. The predicted battle royal between the two former champions never materialised on a muggy Court Philippe Chatrier as Spaniard Muguruza dominated from start to finish. Sharapova looked nervous from the beginning and was never allowed to settle as Muguruza posted ...

Novak Djokovic is out of the French Open after Italy’s Marco Cecchinato beat him to reach the semi-finals in a huge shock in Paris. Djokovic, 31, saved three match points and missed three set points before the world number 72 finally won 6-3 7-6 (7-4) 1-6 7-6 (13-11). Cecchinato, 25, had never won a main-draw match at a Grand Slam ...

Liverpool goalkeeper Loris Karius, whose two major blunders helped Real Madrid win the Champions League final, suffered a concussion during the match which could have affected his performance, US doctors said on Monday. Karius was blamed for two of the Spanish side’s goals in Real’s 3-1 victory in Kiev on May 26 and Liverpool sent the German to see specialists ...

Scottish superbike rider Adam Lyon was killed in a crash during the Supersport 1 competition at the Isle of Man TT races, organisers said on Monday. The 26-year-old was making his debut in the race and crashed after the 28th mile of the course on the third lap. “ACU Events Ltd wishes to pass on their deepest sympathy to Adam’s ...

Iran will play their first match on 15 June against Morocco at Saint Petersburg Stadium Nine days ahead of the opening match of FIFA World Cup Russia, Iran became the first team to arrive in Russia as they touched down today at 20:26 local time at Moscow’s Vnukovo International Airport. “Being in Russia is a dream come true for Iranian ...

Ten-time French Open champion Rafael Nadal moved into the 2018 quarter-finals with a 6-3 6-2 7-6 (7-4) victory over Germany’s Maximilian Marterer. Nadal, 32, lost his opening service game and trailed 2-0 in the first set in Paris before recovering well. He broke Marterer’s serve early in the second set and fought back from 3-1 down in the third for ...

BARCELONA: Brazil talisman Neymar returned in style with a dazzling goal in a 2-0 World Cup warm-up win over Croatia and Spain goalkeeper David de Gea made a rare error in his team’s 1-1 draw with Switzerland on Sunday. Peru captain Paolo Guerrero celebrated his reprieve from a doping ban by scoring twice in a 3-0 victory over Saudi Arabia ...

Elite footballers face ever-increasing physical and mental demands, with a faster-paced game and long, gruelling seasons. In a World Cup year, how does a player make it to June fit and fired up? It is actually quite difficult, the experts say, and requires an army of dedicated specialists tracking and carefully engineering each athlete´s mental and physical condition. Research shows ...