Change of opponent for Saudi fighter Al-Qahtani after PFL MENA weigh-ins

Saudi's Abdullah Al-Qahtani will face Jordan’s Yazeed Hasanain as PFL MENA launches in Riyadh. (Supplied/PFL)
Saudi's Abdullah Al-Qahtani will face Jordan’s Yazeed Hasanain as PFL MENA launches in Riyadh. (Supplied/PFL)
Short Url
Updated 09 May 2024
Follow

Change of opponent for Saudi fighter Al-Qahtani after PFL MENA weigh-ins

Change of opponent for Saudi fighter Al-Qahtani after PFL MENA weigh-ins
  • Abdullah Al-Qahtani meets Jordan’s Yazeed Hasanain in the featherweight main event
  • Ali Taleb faces Nawras Abzakh in the bantamweight co-main event

RIYADH: The Professional Fighters League begins the historic inaugural season of PFL MENA (Middle East and North Africa) on Saturday at the Green Halls in Riyadh, with bantamweight and featherweight fighters from the region going head to head.

In the main event, Saudi Arabia’s Abdullah Al-Qahtani is now set to meet Jordan’s Yazeed Hasanain after Taha Bendaoud did not make the contracted weight. Al-Qahtani weighed in at 66 kg, while Hasanain weighed 66.4 kg.

In the co-main event, Iraq’s Ali Taleb faces Jordan’s Nawras Abzakh in a bantamweight contest. Taleb weighed in at 60.5 kg with Abzakh tipping the scales at 61.4 kg.

Maraoune Bellagouit weighed in at 66.1 kg and now faces Mido Mohamed, who weighed in at 65.8 kg. Bellagouit’s original opponent Motaz Askar was not medically cleared by the commission to compete.

Hattan Alsaif, the first female from Saudi Arabia to sign with a major Mixed Martial Arts promotion, makes her highly anticipated PFL SmartCage debut against Egypt’s Nada Faheem. Alsaif weighed in at 47.1 kg while Faheem was 47.9 kg.

PFL MENA fight card:

Featherweight bout: Abdullah Al-Qahtani vs. Yazeed Hasanain

Bantamweight bout: Ali Taleb vs. Nawras Abzakh

Bantamweight bout: Xavier Alaoui  vs. Rachid El Hazoume

Featherweight bout: Islam Reda vs. Adam Meskini

Bantamweight bout: Tariq Ismail vs. Jalal Al Daaja

Bantamweight bout: Elias Boudegzdame vs. Hassan Mandour

Women’s atomweight bout, amateur: Hattan Alsaif vs. Nada Faheem

Featherweight bout: Maraoune Bellagouit vs. Mido Mohamed

Featherweight bout: Ahmed Tarek vs. Abdelrahman Alhyasat

Flyweight bout, amateur: Malik Basahel vs. Harsh Pandya


Frankfurt drop Marmoush against Dortmund, confirm Man City talks

Frankfurt drop Marmoush against Dortmund, confirm Man City talks
Updated 27 sec ago
Follow

Frankfurt drop Marmoush against Dortmund, confirm Man City talks

Frankfurt drop Marmoush against Dortmund, confirm Man City talks
  • Marmoush has been heavily linked with a winter move to City after a stellar first half of the season.
  • The 25-year-old has scored 15 goals in 17 league games

BERLIN: Eintracht Frankfurt on Friday left forward Omar Marmoush out of their matchday squad for the home clash with Borussia Dortmund due to “transfer talks” with Manchester City.
Marmoush has been heavily linked with a winter move to City after a stellar first half of the season.
The 25-year-old has scored 15 goals in 17 league games, one fewer than leader Harry Kane, and laid on 10 assists.
“Eintracht Frankfurt is currently in talks with another club for the transfer of Omar Marmoush. The player is therefore not part of the team today,” the club wrote on social media just hours before the Dortmund clash.


Speaking with DAZN before the game, Frankfurt sporting director Markus Kroesche confirmed Marmoush was set “to leave us in the direction of Manchester City.”
“It looks like Omar will be leaving us and that’s why he’s not in the squad.
“We’ve been in regular discussions with Manchester City for the past few days.”
The Egyptian arrived in Frankfurt on a free transfer from Wolfsburg in the summer of 2023.
German and international media reported the struggling English champions, who sit 12 points behind leaders Liverpool in the Premier League, are set to pay up to 80 million euros ($82 million) for Marmoush.


Shakeel and Rizwan lead Pakistan recovery in fog-hit first Test against West Indies

Shakeel and Rizwan lead Pakistan recovery in fog-hit first Test against West Indies
Updated 17 January 2025
Follow

Shakeel and Rizwan lead Pakistan recovery in fog-hit first Test against West Indies

Shakeel and Rizwan lead Pakistan recovery in fog-hit first Test against West Indies
  • Bad light in Multan ended play with just 41.3 overs bowled, with the hosts on 143-4
  • Shakeel and Rizwan added 97 after coming together with Pakistan in trouble at 46-4

MULTAN: Saud Shakeel and Mohammad Rizwan hit unbeaten half-centuries to lead a Pakistan fightback in the first Test against the West Indies on Friday as the hosts reached 143-4 at the close of a fog-hit opening day.
When bad light in Multan ended play with just 41.3 overs bowled, Shakeel was on 56 for his ninth half-century and Rizwan was 51 not out for his 11th.
The pair added 97 after coming together with Pakistan in real trouble at 46-4.
The left-right combination of Shakeel and Rizwan negotiated the three-spinner West Indies attack with aplomb after fast bowler Jayden Seales initially left the home team struggling.
“This pitch is tough to bat on,” said Rizwan.
“We batted with caution and just took advantage of loose balls. It’s tough to judge what should be a good total, but we will target 300 plus.”
Sensing the dry and grassless Multan Stadium pitch will be tricky for batting on the last two days — and with spin set to play a major role — the home team opted to bat after winning the toss.
But play was delayed because of early morning fog compounded by poor air quality, resulting in limited visibility and wiping out the first session.
Shakeel has so far cracked four boundaries while Rizwan has seven hits to the fence.
Seales finished with 3-21 off 10 overs.
“My aim was to build pressure and get wickets,” he said. “I sense spin will play a major role on this pitch going forward.”
Both teams started with three spinners and just one frontline fast bowler, and the tourists opened the bowling with left-arm spinner Gudakesh Motie alongside Seales.
It was Seales who provided the breakthrough, forcing an edge off debutant Muhammad Hurraira to wicketkeeper Tevin Imlach in the sixth over. Hurraira scored six.
Three overs later, Motie dismissed skipper Shan Masood off a faint edge to the wicketkeeper for 11, before Seales trapped Kamran Ghulam leg-before with a sharp incoming delivery for five.
It became 46-4 when Babar Azam edged Seales behind the wicket for eight, continuing a poor run of scores at home for Pakistan’s premier batter.
The two-match series is part of the World Test Championship. Pakistan currently rank eighth and the West Indies ninth and last.


Belgium sack national team coach Tedesco

Belgium sack national team coach Tedesco
Updated 17 January 2025
Follow

Belgium sack national team coach Tedesco

Belgium sack national team coach Tedesco
  • Tedesco was appointed in February 2023 to replace Roberto Martinez and rebuild the squad as the country’s “golden generation” departed
  • Tedesco’s team qualified for Euro 2024 but were eliminated in the last 16 by France

BRUSSELS: Belgium’s football association on Friday announced the sacking of national team coach Domenico Tedesco after disappointing performances at Euro 2024 and in the Nations League.
“Unfortunately, the Red Devils did not perform as we hoped at Euro 2024, just as they did in the next Nations League campaign,” the football association (RBFA) said on their website.
Tedesco was appointed in February 2023 to replace Roberto Martinez and rebuild the squad as the country’s “golden generation” departed.
Tedesco’s team qualified for Euro 2024 but were eliminated in the last 16 by France, who then beat Belgium twice more in the Nations League as the Red Devils finished third in their group.
They face a relegation play-off against Ukraine in March.
“I was always proud to be the coach of the Red Devils, we achieved great things together,” Tedesco said.
“This team is still at the beginning of its development and will cause a sensation in the coming years. I wish the players, the great employees of the federation and the fans all the best from the bottom of my heart.”
Five members of Tedesco’s support staff and coaching team were also fired.
“Domenico made an excellent start as national coach and proved that there are still great things possible, even after the send-off of the previous generation,” said RBFA CEO Peter Willems.
“He has integrated a number of young players into the team, and his successor can build on this. We would like to thank him and his team for the pleasant cooperation, their hard work and dedication, and wish them all the best for the future.”
The RBFA did not announce a timetable for appointing a successor but Belgian media named Frenchmen Rudi Garcia and Thierry Henry as leading candidates.
Belgium kick off their 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign with a trip to North Macedonia in June.


Djokovic suggests ‘nice dancers’ should come on court between sets

Djokovic suggests ‘nice dancers’ should come on court between sets
Updated 17 January 2025
Follow

Djokovic suggests ‘nice dancers’ should come on court between sets

Djokovic suggests ‘nice dancers’ should come on court between sets
  • Some light mid-match entertainment might also help fans and players relax, he said.
  • “I think that we should try to look to connect more with the younger people“

MELBOURNE: Novak Djokovic said on Friday that tennis needs to be “more fun” and suggested dancers should be brought on court during breaks.
The Serbian veteran said while the sport had a proud history and tradition, it had been slow in keeping pace with a new generation that does not have “a great attention span.”
He was commenting after admitting he got “hot-headed” with elements of the crowd during his Australian Open third-round win against 26th seed Tomas Machac.
Some light mid-match entertainment might also help fans and players relax, he said.
“I think that we should try to look to connect more with the younger people,” he said. “I want to see a little bit more entertainment.
“For example, why wouldn’t we consider doing something between the sets like the Super Bowl or, I don’t know, the NBA?
“When there is a timeout, they have, you know, dancers come in and this and that. I wouldn’t have a problem with that.
“Nice dancers, there for a few minutes more break so I can relax my nerves and think about something else.
“I feel like it would bring more fun elements and entertainment to tennis, that we know has been quite traditional and maybe conservative in some things.”
Djokovic, who is bidding for a record 25th Grand Slam title in Melbourne, said he respected the traditions of Wimbledon too much to suggest it should occur at the All England Club.
But he was open to new concepts being introduced elsewhere.
“With Wimbledon I wouldn’t change much. I would keep it as it is because it’s so unique, all white and strawberries and cream and everything about it is just so elegant and classy,” he said.
“But all the others, US Open, I mean, in USA, you guys know very well what entertainment is about.
“So I’m up for it, just like maybe gradual changes.
“Dancers first.”


Haaland signs new Manchester City deal until 2034

Haaland signs new Manchester City deal until 2034
Updated 17 January 2025
Follow

Haaland signs new Manchester City deal until 2034

Haaland signs new Manchester City deal until 2034
  • The Norwegian joined City from Borussia Dortmund in 2022 and has scored 111 goals in 126 games for the club

LONDON: Erling Haaland has signed a new 9.5-year deal at Manchester City that will keep him at the Etihad until 2034, the Premier League champions announced on Friday.
The 24-year-old striker’s existing deal was due to expire in June 2027 but he has now committed his future to the club for the next decade.
The Norwegian joined City from Borussia Dortmund in 2022 and has scored 111 goals in 126 games for the club.
“I am really happy to have signed my new contract and to be able to look forward to spending even more time at this great club,” said Haaland.
“Manchester City is a special club, full of fantastic people with amazing supporters, and it’s the type of environment that helps bring the best out of everybody.
City’s outgoing director of football Txiki Begiristain said: “Everyone at the club is absolutely delighted that Erling has signed his new contract.
“The fact he is signed for so long demonstrates our commitment to him as a player, and his love of this club.
“He has made an incredible impact already in his time here and his amazing numbers and records speak for themselves.”