Enugu loss ends Nigerian CAF Champions League challenge

Enugu Rangers were eliminated from the CAF Champions League after losing 3-1 away to Angolan club Sagrada Esperanca on Sunday. (Courtesy: Enugu Rangers)

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Updated 21 sec ago

AFP

September 23, 2024 02:34

Enugu loss ends Nigerian CAF Champions League challenge

Enugu trailed 2-0 during the first half in Luanda against rivals playing 850 kilometers (530 miles) from their Dundo base because the ground there does not meet international standards

Updated 21 sec ago

AFP

September 23, 2024 02:34

JOHANNESBURG: Enugu Rangers were eliminated from the CAF Champions League after losing 3-1 away to Angolan club Sagrada Esperanca on Sunday, leaving Nigeria with no representative in the group stage.
Rangers went out 3-2 on aggregate after building a one-goal lead in the first leg of the second round qualifier last weekend.
The Nigerians have competed in the Champions League four times and never made it to the mini-league phase, where prize money kicks in with $800,000 (715,000 euros) for qualifiers this season.
Enugu trailed 2-0 during the first half in Luanda against rivals playing 850 kilometers (530 miles) from their Dundo base because the ground there does not meet international standards.
Anayor Ogbonna then netted before half-time for Rangers, bringing the clubs level on aggregate at 2-2, but edging Enugu ahead on away goals.
Jaime Pimpao scored the only goal of the second half on 67 minutes to put Sagrada two goals ahead again in the second leg, and they retained that advantage to seal the fate of Enugu.
The other Nigerian qualifiers for the premier African club competition this season, Remo Stars, lost to Moroccan side FAR Rabat in the first round last month.
Sagrada reached the group stage once in three previous appearances and their qualification comes after the surprise failure of fellow Angolans Petro Luanda to be among the 16 survivors.
Petro were held 0-0 at home by Maniema Union from the Democratic Republic of Congo on Saturday and lost 2-1 on aggregate.
Malian club Djoliba created history after winning 1-0 away to Togolese outfit ASKO Kara in Lome and progressing 2-0 on aggregate.
At the 12th attempt, the Bamako team became the first club from the west African nation to reach the group phase of the Champions League.
Former champions Stade Abidjan of the Ivory Coast, back in the competition after a 54-year absence, FAR Rabat and Al Hilal of Sudan also qualified on Sunday.

Barca rout Villarreal but Ter Stegen hurt, Atletico draw at Rayo

Updated 23 September 2024

AFP

September 23, 2024 02:04

Barca rout Villarreal but Ter Stegen hurt, Atletico draw at Rayo

Flick gave Eric Garcia another start in defensive midfield despite his early red card against Monaco in the Champions League midweek defeat

Updated 23 September 2024

AFP

September 23, 2024 02:04

BARCELONA: Robert Lewandowski and Raphinha struck twice each as La Liga leaders Barcelona romped to a 5-1 win at Villarreal on Sunday but were left fearing a “huge” knee injury to goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen.
Atletico Madrid, fourth, were held to a 1-1 draw at city rivals Rayo Vallecano as Conor Gallagher netted his second goal for the Rojiblancos.
Barcelona’s sixth league triumph in six games was marred by Ter Stegen being taken off on a stretcher after falling awkwardly having collected a cross, with early reports suggesting he could miss the rest of the season.
“I think it will be a huge injury, when he laid down on the field... you can see it directly,” Barcelona coach Hansi Flick told DAZN.
Lewandowski netted Barcelona’s first two goals and later missed a penalty in a thoroughly entertaining battle on Spain’s east coast at Villarreal’s Estadio de la Ceramica.
Ayoze Perez pulled his team back into the game shortly before half-time and the previously unbeaten hosts had two goals disallowed, with Pablo Torre and Raphinha’s strikes cementing Barcelona’s victory.
After second-placed Real Madrid thrashed Espanyol 4-1 on Saturday the Catalans were able to restore a four-point lead on the champions.
“It’s very important for us that we played a game away from home, we scored five goals and in the end we have three points,” said Lewandowski.
“In the end it doesn’t matter how, as long as we win that’s perfect.”
Flick gave Eric Garcia another start in defensive midfield despite his early red card against Monaco in the Champions League midweek defeat.
The German coach also started reserve team players Gerard Martin and Sergi Dominguez, as well as playmaker Torre in place of the injured Dani Olmo.
Teenage star Lamine Yamal hit the post early on before Lewandowski slotted home in the 20th minute after Torre slipped him in.
Villarreal goalkeeper Diego Conde did well to keep out a bundled effort from the Polish striker but Lewandowski pounced after 35 minutes for his second.
Conde saved Garcia’s header well but the former Bayern Munich hitman converted the rebound with an acrobatic finish from close range.
It was his sixth La Liga goal of the season, taking him two clear of Real Madrid’s Kylian Mbappe in Spain’s golden boot race.
Villarreal were frequently threatening on the counter and Perez gave them a lifeline after the electric Nicolas Pepe set him up.
Ter Stegen thwarted Pepe with a sensational save one-on-one before half-time but the German Barca captain was soon stricken as he fell badly after catching a corner before the break and was replaced by Inaki Pena.
Pepe finished brilliantly early in the second half but his effort was disallowed for a marginal offside call, and Yeremy Pino hit the bar with a header as Marcelino Garcia Toral’s side drove Barcelona back.
Torre extended Barca’s lead with a deflected strike from the edge of the box, a killer blow given Villarreal’s momentum.
Lewandowski hit the post from the spot after Eric Bailly scythed down Yamal and Villarreal’s Thierno Barry had a goal ruled out for offside.
Raphinha ended any hopes of a home comeback, first with a deflected shot and then finishing after a superb Yamal pass left him with just Conde to beat.
“(Ter Stegen) is a very special and important person in the dressing room, this victory is 100 percent for him,” Raphinha told DAZN.
Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois wrote Ter Stegen a message on social media platform X.
“It hurt me a lot to see you leave the pitch like that,” wrote the Belgian stopper.
“I hope you can recover soon and we see you again in goal.”
In a Madrid derby clash Diego Simeone’s unbeaten Atletico could not find a way past Rayo Vallecano.
Rayo’s Isi Palazon slammed home from close range after 35 minutes and the goal was eventually given after initially being ruled offside.
However Gallagher finished neatly from the edge of the box early in the second half when Alexander Sorloth fed the England international.
“(At half-time Simeone) told us we all had to run, these days anyone who is not running here cannot play,” Atletico captain Koke told Movistar.
“We had chances to get the winner but it wasn’t to be.”
Athletic Bilbao overtook Atletico to move into third with a 3-1 win against Celta Vigo.

Topics: La Liga Barca villarreal

Chess-Governing body FIDE upholds ban on Russian, Belarusian players

Updated 23 September 2024

Reuters

September 23, 2024 01:37

Chess-Governing body FIDE upholds ban on Russian, Belarusian players

Updated 23 September 2024

Reuters

September 23, 2024 01:37

Chess governing body FIDE’s general assembly on Sunday upheld a ban on Russian and Belarusian players imposed after Moscow invaded Ukraine in February 2022, while backing a move to consider easing restrictions on disabled and junior players.
The Ukrainian government, the US State Department and players including former world champion Magnus Carlsen and members of the Ukraine Olympic team had urged chess federations to reject an initial motion by Kyrgyzstan to fully reinstate the two nations.
In the end, delegates from 66 countries supported a last-minute proposal by the FIDE Council to consult the International Olympic Committee (IOC) about letting some players and teams from Russia and Belarus, such as those with disabilities or children aged under 12, return to international events.
“We believe this approach upholds FIDE’s commitment to inclusivity while respecting the international framework,” the organization’s deputy president and also a former world champion Viswanathan Anand told the assembly before the ballot.
Forty-one delegates voted not to readmit the players, 21 countries favored lifting the ban entirely and 27 abstained or were absent.
The FIDE Council is an oversight body chaired by FIDE president and former Russian deputy prime minister Arkady Dvorkovich, who has strived to avoid criticism in both Russia and the West.
Russian chess federation president Andrey Filatov told local media on Sunday that Dvorkovich was buying time for fear of sanctions from Ukraine and the United States.
In line with the IOC’s stance on the two countries, Russian and Belarusian players including 2021 and 2023 world championship runner-up Ian Nepomniachtchi are allowed to participate in international events under a neutral flag.
Sunday’s vote avoided setting a dangerous precedent by breaking with the IOC, but FIDE should act more energetically toward Russia and Belarus, Pieter Heine Nielsen, Carlsen’s former coach and a frequent critic of FIDE, told Reuters.
“We’re talking within the last two years, more than a thousand chess events in occupied Ukraine by Russia ... There was no words discussed about how do we force Russia to stop these events,” Nielsen said.
The FIDE General Assembly was held over the weekend in Budapest alongside the 45th Chess Olympiad, the world’s largest chess team event with almost 2,000 participants.
World championship challenger Gukesh Dommaraju and his teammates from India won gold in both the open and women’s sections of the event.

Topics: FIDE

‘Impossible’: Alcaraz shoots down Federer comparisons after Laver Cup win

Updated 23 September 2024

AFP

September 23, 2024 01:04

‘Impossible’: Alcaraz shoots down Federer comparisons after Laver Cup win

The 21-year-old Spaniard, playing in the tournament for the first time, beat American Taylor Fritz 6-2, 7-5 to win the tournament in Berlin

Updated 23 September 2024

AFP

September 23, 2024 01:04

BERLIN: Carlos Alcaraz shot down comparisons with 20-time Grand Slam winner Roger Federer moments after his victory over Taylor Fritz won the Laver Cup for Team Europe on Sunday.
The 21-year-old Spaniard, playing in the tournament for the first time, beat American Taylor Fritz 6-2, 7-5 to win the tournament in Berlin.
Team Europe had lost the past two events and needed a come-from-behind victory from local player Alexander Zverev against Frances Tiafoe, 6-7(5/7), 7-5, 10-5, to send the tournament to the final match between Alcaraz and Fritz.
After his win, the four-time Grand Slam winner was compared to peak Federer, but Alcaraz said such a comparison was “impossible.”
“I’m too far away from that level,” he said. “I hope I’ll reach it one day, but it’s really impossible.”
Alcaraz, who won the French Open and Wimbledon this season, had not played the event before.
“It’s great. We can feel proud, all of us. I’m really happy. All of us did a pretty good job over the days. It’s been a top one,” the Spaniard added.
“We almost lost, but Sasha (Zverev) came with some really good tennis and gave me a chance to win the Laver Cup.”
The world number three won Sunday’s opening match, a doubles clash alongside Casper Ruud, 6-2, 7-6 (8/6), to help put his side on course to lift the Laver Cup for the fifth time.
Alcaraz said he found it more difficult to watch matches with his Team Europe colleagues than to actually take to the court, saying “the nerves were killing us.”
“It’s really difficult to watch the matches from outside. I was trying to stay away a bit, watching on TV in the locker-room, trying to support from there.
“The nerves were there.”

Topics: Laver Cup Carlos Alcaraz Taylor Fritz

Surging Ko claims LPGA Queen City crown in spectacular style

Updated 23 September 2024

AFP

September 23, 2024 00:45

Surging Ko claims LPGA Queen City crown in spectacular style

Former teen phenom Ko’s victory was her third LPGA title of 2024

Updated 23 September 2024

AFP

September 23, 2024 00:45

OS ANGELES, United States: Lydia Ko continued her late-season surge on Sunday, firing a sensational nine-under par 63 to win the US LPGA Queen City Championship by five strokes on the heels of her Olympic and British Open triumphs.
New Zealand’s Ko started the day two shots behind Thailand’s Atthaya “Jeeno” Thitikul, but she seized control with an eagle at the 11th and powered to victory with a 23-under par total of 265.
She had seven birdies and no bogeys at TPC River’s Bend near Cincinnati, Ohio, where Jeeno started strong with a birdie and an eagle on the front nine but just couldn’t keep pace coming in.
“It has been pretty surreal,” Ko said of the last two months, which saw her complete her collection of Olympic medals — and secure her place in the LPGA Hall of Fame — with her Olympic triumph in Paris.
She followed that with her first major title in eight years at the Women’s British Open at St. Andrews.
“After having three weeks off (I was) not entirely sure what it was going to be like,” she said. “To have a round like this to cap off a win is pretty special.”
Ko drained a 15-foot birdie putt at the 10th to pull level with Jeeno, and made another 15-footer for eagle at the 11th to take a two-shot lead as the Thai player was unable to capitalize on the par-five.
Jeeno pulled back a stroke with a long birdie at the par-three 12th, but there was another two-shot swing at the 13th, where Ko’s superb second shot left her an eight-footer for birdie as Jeeno missed the green on the way to a bogey.
Ko got up and down for birdie at the 15th and punctuated the win with a birdie at the par-five 18th.
Jeeno carded a two-under par 70, but her pursuit of a fourth LPGA title — her first in an individual stroke play event since 2022 — was further doomed by bogeys at the 15th and 17th.
Her 18-under par total of 270 gave her solo second ahead of South Korean Ryu Hae-ran, who carded a five-under 67 for 271.
Former teen phenom Ko’s victory was her third LPGA title of 2024. She also won the Tournament of Champions to start the year.
Her 22 titles are seven more than any other active LPGA player and the 27-year-old said her resurgent season has her reconsidering her career goals.
“It’s always been a goal of mine to do the career Grand Slam, but I just thought that would be so out there,” said Ko, who needs the US Open and Women’s PGA Championship to complete her collection of major titles.
“But, you know, I feel like I’ve already been part of this fairytale, so why not?”

Topics: LPGA Queen City Championship Lydia Ko LPGA

Haddad Maia roars back to beat Kasatkina in final

Updated 22 September 2024

AFP

September 22, 2024 23:22

Haddad Maia roars back to beat Kasatkina in final

No. 3 seed Haddad Maia lost the opening set but turned the tide in the second, before going on to close out the match in a gutsy performance

Updated 22 September 2024

AFP

September 22, 2024 23:22

SEOUL: Brazil’s Beatriz Haddad Maia won the fourth title of her career with a furious fightback to beat Russian top seed Daria Kasatkina 1-6, 6-4, 6-1 in Sunday’s Korea Open final.

No. 3 seed Haddad Maia lost the opening set in just 26 minutes but turned the tide in the second, before going on to close out the match in a gutsy performance in Seoul.

It was the world No. 17’s first title since June 2022. “I know that tennis changes everything very fast,” said Haddad Maia.

“I was competing better at the end of the second set and then my tennis appeared. I finished in the way that I wanted and I think I deserved this win.”

Kasatkina, ranked 13, has now lost four of her five finals this year. She said “losing in the final can feel worse than losing in the first round.”

“It’s tough, especially being up in the final, but she definitely raised the level after the first set,” said Kasatkina. “The match was pretty good but then she was better in the third set.”

Neither player had dropped a set on their way to the Seoul decider and both played two matches on Saturday, after heavy rain wiped out the previous day’s play.

Kasatkina won her quarter-final after opponent Emma Raducanu retired injured after the first set.

Kasatkina broke Haddad Maia twice on the way to winning the first set.

She broke her opponent again in the first game of the second set and held serve, before Haddad Maia began to threaten for the first time in the match.

The momentum shifted when the 28-year-old Haddad Maia broke back midway through the second set and then took the lead for the first time.

The Brazilian argued a call with the umpire but kept her cool to take the second set.

“I was just trying to play every point,” she said. “I was improving and I think that was the key, to be calm and just play tennis.”

Haddad Maia went a break up in the third and stayed ahead as Kasatkina began to crumble.

Haddad Maia broke again and closed out the final when Kasatkina hit a return long.

“I feel stronger, I feel that I’m very competitive now,” said Haddad Maia.

“I’m in a good moment, ready for the next week. I feel that I’m doing very good things, working hard.

“Let’s see what the end of the season brings to me,” she added.

The Korea Open was being played as a WTA 500 tournament for the first time.

It was hit by a string of last-minute withdrawals including world No. 1 Iga Swiatek, US Open runner-up Jessica Pegula and former Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina.

Topics: Korea Open Beatriz Haddad Maia Daria Kasatkina

Enugu loss ends Nigerian CAF Champions League challenge

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Enugu loss ends Nigerian CAF Champions League challenge

Enugu loss ends Nigerian CAF Champions League challenge

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