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14 SPORTS
Saturday, 13 October, 2018
FedeReR FIRes To joIn djokovIC In shanghaI semIs Shanghai
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AgencIes
OGER Federer blazed into the Shanghai Masters semi-finals with a 6-4, 7-6 (7/4) victory over Kei Nishikori as the Swiss great's title defence belatedly caught fire on Friday. The 20-time Grand Slam champion and top seed will meet 13th seed Borna Coric on Saturday after the Croatian defeated unseeded Australian Matthew Ebden 7-5, 6-4. The other semi-final tees up Novak Djokovic against young German star Alexander Zverev, just the second time they will have met. The 37-year-old Federer was forced to battle through the first two matches of his title defence, first to Daniil Medvedev and then Roberto Bautista Agut. He put Nishikori under the cosh immediately, breaking the eighth seed in the first game of both sets, though the Japanese did well to recover and force the second-set tie break. Djokovic said that he was relishing facing "top player" Zverev after the 14time Grand Slam champion beat Kevin
Anderson 7-6 (7/1), 6-3. Djokovic saved set point in the opener before taking control of the tie break and the second set to dump out the South African seventh seed. The 31-year-old from Serbia is in blistering form, winning Wimbledon, the Cincinnati Masters and US Open in recent months, after having elbow surgery in February. The second seed is desperate to grab
19 charged in Belgium football fraud probe
injured Rafael Nadal's year-end number one ranking. Djokovic and Zverev met on clay in the final of the Rome Masters in May last year, the 21-year-old German winning 64, 6-3. Djokovic, who endured a turbulent last season with injury and off-court issues, said they were "both different players" now. "I wasn't -- I feel like -- playing as
ICC launches Women's T20I Team Rankings
Belgian prosecutors have charged 19 suspects and detained nine in a massive fraud and match-fixing scandal that has mired Belgium's elite league in scandal, they said on Friday. The charges came after police on Wednesday carried out a massive operation in Belgium, arresting 29 people, 10 of which were released without charges. Among the detained were at least three players' agents, a referee, and a top executive from a major football club, a statement from prosecutors said. Mogi Bayat, portrayed in the media as Belgium's most powerful sports agent, was charged with money laundering and conspiracy, the statement said. Bayat was detained pending his next hearing, as were fellow agents Dejan Veljkovic and Karim Mejjati, who were questioned this week as part of the operation targeting Belgium's football elite. Referee Bart Vertenten was also charged with conspiracy and arrested, while former Anderlecht club lawyer Laurent Denis was charged for both conspiracy and money laundering. On Thursday, another referee, Sebastien Delferiere, was charged but
was immediately released on parole. Vertenten and Delferiere were suspended on Thursday with immediate effect by the Belgian Football Federation. The charges against referees are part of a probe into suspected matchfixing by Veljkovic in a failed effort to save formerly top-tier KV Mechelen from relegation to the second division. Club Brugge coach Ivan Leko, whose team is playing in the Champion's League, was charged with money laundering on Thursday and released. Hearings before the judge were held throughout night with former Anderlecht boss Herman Van Holsbeeck released without charges. The operation led to a total of 60 police searches on Wednesday, including the headquarters of leading clubs in the Belgian first division, with Club Brugge, Anderlecht, Standard Liege and Genk among them.
national jr Badminton Championship moves into semis LAHORE: Abdullah from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and three players; Tayyab Shafiq, Muqsit Amir and Raja Zulqarnain from Punjab roared into the Boys U18 Semi-finals of the National Junior Badminton Championship after winning their respective matches, here at the Nishtar Park Sports Complex on Friday. All the players moved into the last four with ease and comfort posting simple victories. In the Girls Single U18, Amal Munib and Laiba Masoud from Punjab, Alja Tariq from Balochistan and Meerab Bhandara from Punjab breezed into the semi-finals. In the Girls Single U-16 Miss Sumaiya Tariq (Balochistan), Mehrun Nisa (Punjab), Dina Shahzad (Islamabad), and Zainab Chaudhry (Punjab) sailed into the semifinals. All the players had smooth sailing to the next round as upset was recorded. APP
Shanghai AgencIes
Alexander Zverev weighed in on the debate about players' use of towels Friday, saying those who wipe down after every point are "ridiculous" and do it for superstition, not sweat. There has been much discussion at the Shanghai Masters this week about the issue after Fernando Verdasco berated a ball boy at the Shenzhen Open for failing to bring his towel fast enough. Roger Federer told reporters in Shanghai earlier this week that ball boys and girls -- who are unpaid volunteers -should be given as much respect as anyone else. There have been calls for towel rails to be placed at the back of courts so ball kids do not have to bring the sweaty towels to players every few minutes, when they wipe their faces and hands between points. That system will be tried out at the Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan next month. "There are some players -- some American players, some other players -- that go for the towel literally after every single point," said the 21-year-old German prodigy Zverev. "That's a bit ridiculous, in my perspective. "You serve an ace or a double fault, or your opponent serves an ace, and the poor ball kid has to keep running for the towel just because it's a superstition and it's not a use because you're sweating too much or something like that. "I mean, some players literally use it as superstition. That's not the purpose for it."
Real Madrid says it will sue over Ronaldo 'rape' saga report
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The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Friday launched a global ICC Women’s T20I Team Rankings as it continues to drive the growth of the game through the shortest format. Three-time ICC Women’s World Twenty20 champions Australia lead the inaugural 46-team table, which follows the decision earlier this year to award international status to all T20 matches between member countries. Scotland are the top-ranked Associate Member in 11th, while Thailand take 12th place in the first table following some good performances of late, including a win over Sri Lanka in the Asia Cup earlier this year. All women’s T20 matches between members have international status since the Asia Cup in June and the new rankings system will help teams gauge where they stand in the shortest format of the game. Teams will have to play six T20I matches in the previous three to four years to remain on the rankings table. The system moves away from the combined rankings in place earlier and there is now a separate ICC Women’s ODI Team Rankings table with 10 teams, in line with the men’s rankings, which are separate for each format.
Real Madrid said Thursday it had filed a lawsuit against a Portuguese newspaper that wrote the Spanish giants pushed Cristiano Ronaldo to hush up an alleged rape case. Real said it had taken legal action against Correio da Manha after the paper reported Wednesday that "Real Madrid pressured him to sign" a non-disclosure accord and pay compensation to his accuser, Kathryn Mayorga. "Real Madrid has absolutely no knowledge of any of the information that the newspaper published with regard to the player Cristiano Ronaldo, and therefore the club could not have taken action on a matter of which it had no knowledge," the club said in a statement. Ronaldo, 33, who left Real Madrid over the summer to join Italian champions Juventus in deal worth 100 million euros, has been in turmoil since a case involving rape allegations against him, dating back to 2009, was reopened by Las Vegas police last week. The case was originally closed after Ronaldo signed a confidentiality agreement in 2010 with Mayorga, a former model now aged 34, who received a payoff in return for her silence. Mayorga alleged that she had been raped on June 13, 2009, just days after Ronaldo had signed a contract with Real
bruSSelS AgencIes
well as I'm playing today," he warned. "But also he has improved a lot and he has established himself as a top player. "It's going to be definitely a close match." Touted as a potential future multiple Grand Slam winner, fourth seed Zverev eased past Kyle Edmund to reach his first Shanghai semi-final. The 6-4, 6-4 victory over the 11thseeded Briton seals Zverev's place in the season-ending ATP Finals in London next month, which bring together the top eight men. The top four players in the world -Nadal, Federer, Djokovic and Juan Martin del Potro -- had already qualified for London. Zverev is ranked fifth. Zverev, now under the tutelage of Ivan Lendl, said he is pleased with his overall progress, even if a maiden Grand Slam remains elusive. "I think every year you feel more mature. Every year you spend on tour, you feel kind of different," he said. "Last year was the first time I kind of broke through to the top 10 and was a top-five player. "It's always easier to get there -but then staying there is always the tougher part."
Zverev blames 'superstition' for 'ridiculous' use of towels
Madrid in a mega transfer deal from Manchester United. The Portuguese newspaper reported that Real, wishing to avoid scandal, pressed Ronaldo to pay compensation to Mayorga to hush up the affair. Ronaldo's lawyer insisted Wednesday the player did not rape the woman in a Las Vegas hotel and that their sexual encounter was "completely consensual." "Once again, for the avoidance of doubt, Cristiano Ronaldo's position has always been, and continues to be, that what happened in 2009 in Las Vegas was completely consensual," lawyer Peter Christiansen said in a statement. Ronaldo freely admits signing the nondisclosure accord but his lawyer insisted he simply wished to put an end to the allegations. Christiansen also said that documents reproduced by media outlets in recent days purportedly quoting the player and including details of the non-disclosure accord involving a payment of 375,000 dollars to his accuser were false. He said "documents that allegedly contain statements by Cristiano Ronaldo and were reproduced in the media are pure invention." Der Spiegel, the German magazine which published the story released a statement which said, in part: "Our story is carefully researched. We have hundreds of documents from different sources that substantiate our reporting."
Klopp desperate to end Liverpool trophy drought lonDon AgencIes
Jurgen Klopp says he does not want to be remembered as the "fun" Liverpool manager who failed to win silverware as expectations rise that the club can break their long trophy drought. The German manager celebrated his three-year anniversary at Anfield this week but has not tasted success despite taking the club to three finals. He has lost his past six finals since winning his first with Borussia Dortmund in 2012. At his presentation as Reds boss in October 2015 he pledged to win a "title" within four years. But after three trophy near-misses, the last in May's Champions League final against Real Madrid, he admits he does not know when that claim will come to fruition. Liverpool's last major trophy was
the League Cup in 2012 but they have not been English champions since 1990. "I have said it a few times: I have no
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idea when we will win something but I'm sure this club will win something," he said in an interview with Premier
League Productions. "I don't know when so let's have the best times of our lives until then." Klopp added: "Nobody wants to look back in 10 or 20 years and say 'So the best time we had without winning anything was when Klopp was here. It was so funny and all that stuff." Liverpool have been touted as Manchester City's closest challengers for the Premier League this season and are currently level with Pep Guardiola's side and Chelsea on 18 points after eight matches, having yet to be defeated in the league. "If you think about it, we are maybe in the best moment for ages but a few other clubs are the same and they made the same steps so that makes it really hard," Klopp said. "It looks like we are really on a good way and the only thing I can guarantee is that we constantly develop."