Articles by "Sport"
Showing posts with label Sport. Show all posts

at December 06, 2017 0
DBliss Post Sport
Russia's ice hockey forward Ilya Kovalchuk has told TASS news agency that he believes Russian athletes should go to the Olympics. (AFP/File / Alexander NEMENOV)

Russia on Wednesday reacted with disappointment but no great surprise after the country was banned from the Winter Olympic Games, while President Vladimir Putin was yet to comment on a possible boycott.

Russia was banned Tuesday from the 2018 Winter Games by the International Olympic Committee over its state-orchestrated doping programme, but clean Russian athletes will be allowed to compete under an Olympic flag.

Putin was set to make a speech in Moscow later Wednesday in which he was expected to give his view on the International Olympic Committee's decision. So far the Kremlin has not commented.

The head of Russia's Olympic Committee, Alexander Zhukov, told the IOC on Tuesday that punishing clean athletes was "unjust and immoral".

Russian media expressed regret at the decision while welcoming the possibility of some athletes participating, albeit under tight restrictions.

"It's very hard to take accusations and punishments. But the fate of our athletes and preserving our place in the Olympic family is more important," wrote the Sport Express daily.

"Can't get by without Russia," the pro-Kremlin Izvestia daily headlined its front page, stressing that "Russian Olympic athletes will defend the honour of the Motherland under any banner."

"Will Russia be at the Olympics but without a flag?" Sport Express newspaper headlined its front page, calling the decision "unprecedented".

It slammed the IOC decision as "very harsh and in some ways even humiliating for Russia," citing the life bans on attending the games for ex-sports minister Vitaly Mutko, now first deputy prime minister.

Nevertheless the IOC President Thomas Bach "left the door open for Russia" by allowing athletes to participate in some form, even with the word "Russia" on their uniforms, the newspaper wrote.

Some top sports figures agreed, with ice hockey forward Ilya Kovalchuk telling TASS state news agency: "We must go to the Olympics. Refusing is surrender."

Pole vault star Yelena Isinbayeva told TASS: "Addressing our athletes, I want to say that they should absolutely not despair and should continue training for the games."

Pro-Kremlin media focused on discrediting Grigory Rodchenkov, the whistleblower who gave evidence of a state-controlled doping programme in which he played a central role.

Rodchenkov has been living in hiding in the United States since lifting the lid on the intricate workings of the state-supported scheme to cheat athletes at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.

"Grigory Rodchenkov is the perfect traitor," wrote tabloid daily Komsomolskaya Pravda.

It said the IOC's actions proved that "you can destroy a whole Olympic country on the basis of indirect evidence and a single witness who was under a criminal investigation and has been treated in a psychiatric hospital."
Read more »

at December 05, 2017 0
Abdulrahman's style of play has been compared to that of Lionel Messi

By John McAuley | BBC Asian football writer

He has almost a million Instagram followers, shared the front cover of a computer game with Neymar and once had a trial with Manchester City.

They call him "the Arabian Messi" and his trademark hair has been copied by fans all over the region.

Is Omar Abdulrahman the best footballer you've never heard of?

What's his story then?

The 26-year-old attacking midfielder plays his football for United Arab Emirates club side Al Ain and the Emirati national team.

This year, FourFourTwo Asia named him ahead of Tottenham's Son Heung-min and Leicester's Shinji Okazaki as Asia's best player.

He made the three-man shortlist for Asian Player of the Year for the past three seasons, winning in 2016. Last week he lost out to Syrian Omar Khribin for the 2017 award.

You may have spotted his silky skills and at the 2012 London Olympics,where Daniel Sturridge told him he was talented enough to play in Europe, Luis Suarez asked to swaps shirts and Ryan Giggs sought him out after their match against Great Britain to pass him his jersey.

And the combination of a YouTube library of skills and his David Luiz-style hair has turned him into a superstar in Asia, on and off the pitch.

Neymar, Zidane, Davids, Luiz and a viral Panenka

In the UAE he adorns billboards, advertising major brands and has a sponsorship deal with Nike.

Abdulrahman was on the front cover of the Middle East version of Pro Evolution Soccer 2016, alongside Neymar. As part of the video game's promotion, he recorded a video for YouTube performing tricks with the F2 Freestylers. It has close to five million views.

He also went viral last December when, playing as a guest for Saudi Arabia's Al Ahli against Barcelona in a friendly, in Qatar, he dinked a 'Panenka' penalty past Jordi Masip in the Barcelona goal. It mirrored his effort in a penalty shootout against Japan in the 2015 Asian Cup quarter-final.

Highlights of a 2015 five-a-side tournament in Dubai, where he played against Zinedine Zidane, Edgar Davids and Michel Salgado, have attracted 2.4m views on YouTube.

"I loved to watch Zinedine Zidane, he made football look so simple," Abdulrahman told FourFourTwo. "I wanted to try to copy what I saw from him on the pitch."  blue Button
Read more »

at December 05, 2017 0
DBliss Post Sport
Tiger Woods made an impressive return, finishing eight under par in a share of ninth place at the Hero Challenge

By Iain Carter | BBC golf correspondent

Christmas came early for the game of golf last week, with Tiger Woods' successful return in the Bahamas the perfect present for anyone who considers themselves a fan of the sport.

Tellingly, the physical challenge of completing four competitive rounds for the first time in a year was not the issue for the former world number one. It was all about the standard of his game after a 301-day absence from competition.

And while his performance was not perfect, to finish the Hero Challenge eight under par in a share of ninth place was highly encouraging.

Yes, this was a fun, season-ending shootout with a field limited to only 18 competitors, but Woods still beat PGA Tour player of the year Justin Thomas, world number one Dustin Johnson and the US Open champion Brooks Koepka.

Woods fired rounds of 69, 68, 75 and 68 and had two eagles, 17 birdies and only one double bogey. Albany is a resort course and there are far tougher golfing tests but realistically Woods could not have asked for more from his return.

"Some of the shots he hit, I just thought that's vintage Tiger," European Ryder Cup star Chris Wood told BBC Sport.

"You can see the speed in the swing and that's the biggest thing. In the final round he hit a two iron over the back of the green, pitching it 250 yards. He's doing something right there isn't he?"

Woods' putting stroke also looked very assured and the only apparent weaknesses occurred with some touch shots around the greens that went awry.

"Those are the sort of things, when you come back after a break, your golfing brain takes a couple of rounds to get back into it," Wood pointed out.

"I thought there were so many positives for him last week and I think he'd be over the moon with that performance."

And the 2016 winner of the PGA Championship is thrilled that golf's biggest personality is back in the game. Wood says it was his near namesake who inspired him to take up the sport.

"I grew up with him, he won his first Masters when I was 10 years old," Wood said.

"I think for anybody of my generation, there's been a void in the last two, three, four years when Tiger's not been there. It's just not been the same.

"You watch last week and not just me but so many people on Twitter were making so many comments and non golfers as well.  blue Button
Read more »

at December 04, 2017 0
DBliss Post Sport
Gareth Southgate is the right man ‘to take us through the next few tournaments’, says the FA’s chief executive, Martin Glenn. Photograph: Kai Pfaffenbach/Reuters

England manager Gareth Southgate has been told his job is safe even if his side lose every game at next year's World Cup in Russia.

Southgate oversaw a successful qualification campaign for the finals, where England will face Belgium, Tunisia and Panama in the group stage.

FA chief executive Martin Glenn says the manager will retain his position "for the next few tournaments".

"We have a long-term plan. You've seen some of the fruits of it," Glenn said.

Southgate, 47, took charge of England on a permanent basis 12 months ago, signing a four-year contract.

"Long-term plans are hard to defend when the short-term results go against you," added Glenn, who was quoted in several national newspapers.

"He's not looking at Russia as a free pass. The World Cup's a really important staging post for our development, I think.

"We go out there wanting to win it but also being realistic. No-one wants to have a bad World Cup but we're confident he's the right guy to take us through for the next few tournaments."

England's future hopes have been buoyed by age-group successes this year, including Under-17 and Under-20 World Cup victories, and Glenn says having a long-term vision is the way forward.

"We're going to do it in a way that's sustainable," he said.

"We know that worked for the Germans and we know that worked for the Spanish, so we're just repeating things they've done with our own emphasis on it."

Spain were crowned 2010 World Cup and 2012 European champions during manager Vicente del Bosque's eight-year spell as manager, while Germany boss Joachim Low has been in the job 11 years during which time he has led them to 2014 World Cup victory and runner-up spot at the 2008 Euros.
Read more »
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)