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Courtois slams 'disrespectful' anxiety reports

Published in Soccer
Friday, 11 October 2019 04:02

Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois has said reports claiming he suffered from anxiety are "disrespectful."

Courtois, 27, was replaced at half time in Madrid's 2-2 Champions League draw against Club Brugge, and reports suggested he was replaced due to anxiety.

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Madrid issued a statement denying the claims and the ex-Chelsea goalkeeper has spoken about the situation for the first time.

"I know what it means to be an elite player," he said. "I'm very happy and I don't have anxiety problems.

"Responsibility from the media is required to not publish lies and nonsense about things like that because at the end of the day, there are people who really suffer from those problems.

"I think it's disrespectful to the player and to the people who are really suffering."

Courtois also missed Madrid's 4-2 victory over Granada in La Liga four days later, but said he was unavailable due to illness.

"I feel good now," Courtois added. "It was a strong bout of flu, and not pleasant at all.

"Now I have recovered and was able to train almost all of Monday and Tuesday with the team, and did the entire session on Wednesday.

"I feel strong again, and had lost a few kilos too."

Courtois was part of the Belgium team to become the first side through to Euro 2020 after a 9-0 win against San Marino on Thursday.

Testing day for hosts, major names depart

Published in Table Tennis
Thursday, 10 October 2019 18:26

Early farewells, the German stars were not alone; notably in the opening round of the women’s singles event, as many seeds progressed as departed.

Men’s Singles: Round One

…………Chinese Taipei’s Lin Yun-Ju, the no.8 seed, was the biggest name to fall; he was beaten by Korea Republic’s Jeoung Youngsik (11-8, 4-11, 8-11, 11-6, 11-8, 8-11, 11-7).

…………Dimitrij Ovtcharov, the no.10 seed, experienced defeat at the hands of China’s Yu Ziyang (7-11, 12-10, 11-9, 11-7, 10-12, 6-11, 11-8), the 2014 World junior champion.

…………China’s Wang Chuqin maintained his outstanding run of form; the 19 year old accounted for Korea Republic’s Jang Woojin, the no.12 seed (11-8, 11-8, 11-8, 11-8).

…………Impressive, China’s Yan An beat Hong Kong’s Wong Chun Ting, the no.14 seed (10-12, 11-6, 11-5, 9-11, 11-4, 11-3).

…………The winner in 2001and 2005, Vladimir Samsonov of Belarus beat England’s Liam Pitchford, the no.16 seed (11-7, 4-11, 11-4, 8-11, 12-10, 12-14, 11-8).

…………China’s Xu Xin, the top seed, reversed the decision of earlier in the year at the Liebherr 2019 World Championships, he extracted revenge by overcoming Frenchman, Simon Gauzy (11-4, 6-11, 11-13, 11-5, 11-3).

Women’s Singles: Round One

…………China’s Wang Yidi, the winner earlier this year in Hong Kong, beat Japan’s Miu Hirano, the no.6 seed (7-11, 11-8, 11-4, 11-3, 11-7).

…………Japan’s Miyu Kato upset the order of merit, she ousted Chinese Taipei’s Cheng I-Ching, the no.7 seed (11-5, 11-9, 2-11, 11-8, 5-11, 11-9).

…………Shan Xiaona gladdened the hearts of the host nation, she overcame Hong Kong’s Doo Hoi Kem, the no.8 seed (11-9, 12-10, 9-11, 11-8, 11-8).

…………Zhang Rui added to Chinese success, she prevailed against Korea Republic’s Suh Hyowon, the no.11 seed (11-8, 7-11, 11-4, 11-1, 11-4).

…………The reigning World junior champion, China’s Qian Tanyi upset the order of merit; she eventually overcame Austria’s Sofia Polcanova, the no.12 seed (11-6, 6-11, 9-11, 6-11, 11-2, 11-7, 11-5).

…………Russia’s Olga Vorobeva caused arguably the biggest shock of the round; she halted the aspirations of Romania’s Bernadette Szocs, the no.13 seed (11-9, 11-9, 11-9, 4-11, 13-11).

…………Korea Republic’s Jeon Jihee dented German hopes, she beat Petrissa Solja (11-1, 11-7, 10-12, 6-11, 11-7, 17-15).

…………Monaco’s Yang Xiaoxin displayed her talents against defensive play, she overcame Han Ying, the no.16 seed (8-11, 11-8, 4-11, 11-9, 11-5, 5-11, 13-11).

…………Singapore’s Feng Tianwei reversed the decisions at the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games; the no.9 seed, she prevailed against India’s Manika Batra (11-9, 13-11, 11-4, 11-3).

Men’s Doubles: Round One

…………Benedikt Duda and Qiu Dang delighted the home supporters, they accounted for Hong Kong’s Ho Kwan Kit and Lam Siu Hang, the no.7 seeds (11-4, 15-13, 12-10).

Women’s Doubles: Round One

…………Chinese Taipei’s Chen Szu-Yu and Cheng Hsien-Tu upset the pecking order; they overcame the combination of Slovakia’s Barbora Balazova and the Czech Republic’s Hana Matelova, the no.6 seeds (11-6, 9-11, 11-9, 11-8).

…………Austria’s Sofia Polcanova and Bernadette Szocs were in harmony; they ousted Hong Kong’s Doo Hoi Kem and Lee Ho Ching, the no.5 seeds (11-8, 11-7, 11-4).

Mixed Doubles: Round One

…………Disappointment for Patrick Franziska and Petrissa Solja, the no.8 seeds, they lost to Japan’s Tomokazu Harimoto and Hina Hayata (8-11, 12-10, 12-10, 11-9).

…………Wang Chuqin and Chinese national team colleague, Wang Manyu, established a quick understanding; they defeated Ho Kwan Kit and Lee Ho Ching, the no.6 seeds (11-7, 11-8, 12-10).

…………In some eyes favourites for gold but not seeded, Xu Xin and Sun Yingsha beat Austria’s Stefan Fegerl and Sofia Polcanova, the no.5 seeds (11-1, 11-2, 11-4).

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Day Two: 2019 ITTF World Tour Platinum German Open

Published in Table Tennis
Friday, 11 October 2019 01:00
Straight wins to start the day

China’s Wang Chuqin and Wang Manyu had a splendid victory to start the day here in Bremen, as they coasted to win 3-0 against Slovakian pairing Lubomir Pistej and Barbora Balazova (11-9, 11-9, 12-10).

Meanwhile, Chinese Taipei’s Lin Yun-Ju and Chen I-Ching followed suit as they ousted Korea Republic’s fan favorite duo of Jeon Jihee and Lee Sangsu in straight games (11-5, 11-4, 11-9).

Who will make the finals??
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Camille Serme sinks Amanda Sobhy to halt home hopes in Philly

Published in Squash
Thursday, 10 October 2019 23:35

Camille Serme (left) sets up her shot against Amanda Sobhy

‘I tried to make the rallies long and hard’ says former champion
By SEAN REUTHE – Squash Mad Correspondent

French No.2 seed Camille Serme put in an immaculate performance to defeat the only American player left in the FS Investments U.S. Open Squash Championships draw, Amanda Sobhy, to book her place in the semi-finals of the PSA Platinum tournament taking place at Philadelphia’s Drexel University.

The match was a repeat of last month’s Open de France final, which Serme won 3-1 to claim a sixth successive win over the Boston-based World No.8, and the Frenchwoman was methodical and deadly accurate as she dismantled Sobhy to win by an 11-2, 11-4, 11-5 margin in just 24 minutes.

Sobhy has been carrying an adductor injury throughout the event and, despite a spirited showing, the 26-year-old was unable to really get stuck into her opponent and made a succession of errors as Serme dominated proceedings to set up a semi-final fixture with World No.5 Nouran Gohar.

“I know Amanda has been struggling a little bit with her leg, it’s not easy to know that and play your best,” said 2017 U.S. Open champion Serme.

“It was a great battle in France, she played really well. She’s very strong physically and I always try and play on that with Amanda to make the rallies really long and make it as long as I can. Even if she is going to win the point, I try to make it hard for her.

“I haven’t played Nouran since June at the World Tour Finals, so I’m really looking forward to this match. It will be a tough match and I’m very happy to be back in the semis of this tournament.”

Serme and Gohar will contest a repeat of the British Open final – which went the way of Gohar – although Serme did gain a measure of revenge in their most recent meeting, which came in the last four of the CIB PSA World Tour Finals.

Gohar will appear in her first U.S. Open semi-final after she defeated last year’s semi-finalist Tesni Evans in straight games. The Cairo-born 22-year-old was firing on all cylinders as she established her renowned hard-hitting style of play on the match right from the off, and Evans could not stop the flow of winners as the Egyptian triumphed 11-8, 11-5, 11-5 in 34 minutes.

“They say third time lucky, but for me it’s four,” said Gohar. “I started playing the U.S. Open when I was 15 years old and it was my first World Series event. I remember I was playing with Joelle King when she was World No.4, before the injury, and I was so excited to be on court and practicing and everything, so to be in the semi-finals now is unbelievable.”

Nouran Gohar (foreground) in action against Tesni Evans

Defending champion Mohamed ElShorbagy continued his title defence as he defeated New Zealand’s Paul Coll to reach a sixth consecutive U.S. Open semi-final. The pair were both unbeaten this season heading into this match, and they played out an electrifying 60-minute encounter in front of a packed house at Drexel University.

ElShorbagy took the opening two games on the tie-break after some gruelling rallies, with Coll unable to make the most of two game ball opportunities in the second. That proved crucial as ElShorbagy outplayed the Kiwi in the third and final game to record a fifth successive win over the World No.5.

Mohamed ElShorbagy celebrates victory over Paul Coll

ElShorbagy has fond memories of the tournament after title wins in 2014, 2016 and 2018, claiming the World No.1 spot for the first time after the first of those victories. The 28-year-old will now have the opportunity to reach the final of this tournament for a third time in a row, winning 12-10, 14-12, 11-5 to set up a last four meeting with World No.3 Tarek Momen.

“Playing Paul is always going to be tough,” ElShorbagy said. “You have to accept before you go on court with him that you are going to go through a physical war with him before you can try to beat him. I had to have courage and go for more winners. I didn’t volley as much as I would have liked in the match and I didn’t go as short but I went for it in the tie-breaks and luckily it paid off.”

ElShorbagy beat Momen in the final of the Oracle NetSuite Open last week and the latter will look to avenge that defeat after coming back from a game down to defeat 2018 runner-up Simon Rösner.

Their head-to-head record stood at five wins apiece heading into the match and, while Rösner showed some good touches to take a one-game advantage, he soon tired, allowing Momen to grow into the match as he completed 8-11, 11-8, 11-3, 11-3 victory to reach his first U.S. Open semi-final.

Tarek Momen (right) gets down low to the ball against Simon Rosner

“Getting to my first semi-final here is special,” said Momen. “I’ve always wanted to do well here, but I’ve never reached the semi-final. The closest I came was last year when I was match ball up in the fifth but lost it in the tie-break, so it’s good that I have gone one step further, and hopefully I continue to go further into the tournament.”

The U.S. Open semi-finals will take place at 17:30 today (Friday October 11) with all four top seeds in action in the women’s event, while No.7 seed Diego Elias is the surprise semi-finalist in the men’s after he beat No.4 seed Karim Abdel Gawad in the quarter-finals on Tuesday night.

Live coverage will be shown on SQUASHTV (rest of world), Eurosport Player (Europe only) and the official Facebook page of the PSA World Tour (Indian subcontinent only).

FS Investments US Open 2019, Daskalakis Athletic Center, Drexel University, Philadelphia, USA. (PSA World Tour Platinum: Equal prize money of $185,500 for both men and women).

Men’s Quarter-Finals (Bottom Half):
[3] Tarek Momen (EGY) bt [5] Simon Rösner (GER) 3-1: 8-11, 11-8, 11-3, 11-3 (54m)
[2] Mohamed ElShorbagy (EGY) bt [6] Paul Coll (NZL) 3-0: 12-10, 14-12, 11-5 (60m)

Men’s Semi-Finals (Today, October 11):
[1] Ali Farag (EGY) v [7] Diego Elias (PER)
[3] Tarek Momen (EGY) v [2] Mohamed ElShorbagy (EGY)

Women’s Quarter-Finals (Bottom Half):
[3] Nouran Gohar (EGY) bt [8] Tesni Evans (WAL) 3-0: 11-8, 11-5, 11-5 (34m)
[2] Camille Serme (FRA) bt [7] Amanda Sobhy (USA) 3-0: 11-2, 11-4, 11-5 (24m)

Women’s Semi-Finals (Today, October 11):
[1] Raneem El Welily (EGY) v [4] Nour El Tayeb (EGY)
[3] Nouran Gohar (EGY) v [2] Camille Serme (FRA) 

Report by  SEAN REUTHE (PSA). Edited by ALAN THATCHER.

Pictures courtesy of PSA 

Posted on October 11, 2019

Japan coach Jamie Joseph says his team are desperate to face Scotland at the Rugby World Cup on Sunday, and believes the Brave Blossoms deserve more respect for their unbeaten campaign so far.

Typhoon Hagibis has already forced two matches to be cancelled, with the hosts' pivotal Pool A clash against the Scots in Yokohama also in the balance.

A cancellation would see Japan progress to the quarter-finals.

"I'd like to remind people it hasn't been a fluke," Joseph said.

"We have played and won three Test matches, and that has put us in the best position in our pool.

"It has been a lot of hard work by a lot of people. This team has been in camp for 240 days this year alone.

"Everyone in our squad - players and staff - wants to play the Test match."

'We are motivated by greatness - not embarrassment'

The Scotland camp are unhappy at the lack of contingency planning from tournament organisers, with Gregor Townsend's side facing elimination in the event of a cancellation.

The Scottish Rugby Union are also said to be considering legal action if the decisive clash doesn't go ahead.

"I think the key difference here between us and Scotland is we are driven and supported by the whole country," Joseph added.

"My team is motivated by achieving something that is great - not avoiding an embarrassment.

"All the media reports in the last few days are about an uncontrollable thing like the typhoon - and [the coverage] has really lost its way.

"The reports I have read are about legal proceedings, but what I'm saying is it's a huge Test match for our team and I feel that we have the most to lose as we are in the best position to top the pool.

"We all want to earn the right to be considered one of the elite teams in the world.

"It's important for us to wake up on Monday morning and understand that [either] we are a worthy top eight team or we are not quite good enough."

'We are an amateur rugby team'

Joseph has also pointed out the disparity between the resources of his side compared to Tier One outfits like Scotland.

"Whilst the majority of my players are professional in their companies, we are an amateur rugby team," he said.

"When our players are in camp with Japan they do not get paid - or they get about 100 bucks a day. I will let you make the comparisons to the other teams."

With Hagibis expected to wreak havoc in Tokyo and surrounding areas on Saturday, a decision will be made on Sunday morning as regards whether Japan against Scotland will go ahead, with Scotland boss Townsend saying he has faith that the match will be able to proceed as planned.

Tipuric to lead Wales as Gatland makes 13 changes for Uruguay

Published in Rugby
Thursday, 10 October 2019 20:02

Flanker Justin Tipuric will captain Wales as head coach Warren Gatland makes 13 changes for their final World Cup pool match against Uruguay.

Centre Hadleigh Parkes and wing Josh Adams are the only players remaining from Wednesday's win over Fiji.

Lock Adam Beard makes his first World Cup appearance after recovering from appendix surgery.

Wales have already achieved quarter-final qualification and need two points to finish top of Pool D.

Wales were always planning to make changes for this fixture, given the tight turnaround from Wednesday's bonus-point victory against Fiji.

The need to rotate the squad was compounded by the number of injuries picked up during that match, with fly-half Dan Biggar and centre Jonathan Davies forced off the field in Oita.

Gatland said George North carried an ankle knock into the Fiji game and the need to rest him contributed to Adams again starting despite the latter suffering a dead leg in that match.

Adams switches from the left to right wing with Hallam Amos making his first tournament appearance at 11.

Lock Bradley Davies, hooker Ryan Elias and scrum-half Aled Davies also earn their first taste of action in Japan.

Injuries and rotation mean Wales have chosen scrum-halves Gareth Davies and Tomos Williams as their only backs on the bench, alongside six forwards.

That means there will be no specialist fly-half cover for Rhys Patchell, who starts at 10 in Biggar's absence.

Gatland has suggested the cover will come from Parkes, who has limited experience of playing professional rugby at fly-half, or Amos, who has never played at 10 in his senior career.

The replacement scrum-halves might also be asked to cover the fly-half position.

The Wales coach says having four days between the Fiji and Uruguay games has enforced "a bit of a juggling act" and selection discussions included asking flanker James Davies to play in the backs.

"We knew that right from the start we were going to expose a few players," said Gatland.

"I spoke before the World Cup [to say] we would probably go into this game with only one 10 anyway so we are looking for cover there as well.

"It's been hard with the short turnaround, but we have a forward pack that are all fresh and pretty excited and they are looking forward to the opportunity.

"The message to the players for the game against Uruguay is the door is not shut. There are opportunities for players to go out there and impress and stake a claim for the quarter-finals."

Flankers as backs?

Gatland added: "We spoke about whether we could have put James Davies in the backs. He has a lot of sevens experience and Justin (Tipuric) is also pretty comfortable playing in the wider channels as well.

"We are confident we have cover with players and being able to move around if we need to do that.

"We have had two players back up in Hadleigh Parkes and Josh Adams.

"Ideally we would have liked to have given Josh a rest, but that has not been the case and that's why we have ended up going for a 6-2 split with two nines covering the backs.

"Gareth (Davies) went onto the wing at the end of the Fiji game and did a good job for us. We have two quality nines who can cover different positions."

Wales: Halfpenny; Adams, Watkin, Parkes, Amos; Patchell, A Davies; Smith, Elias, Lewis, B Davies, Beard, Shingler, Tipuric (capt), Wainwright.

Replacements: Dee, Carre, W Jones, Ball, Moriarty, James Davies, T Williams, G Davies.

Scottish Rugby believes it has a legal case against the game's governing body as it seeks to ensure their decisive World Cup match with Japan goes ahead.

World Rugby will make a decision on Sunday morning about whether the match in Yokohama can go ahead as the host nation prepares for Typhoon Hagibis.

It has already cancelled two Saturday games and declared them a draw, but a repeat could mean Scotland's exit.

But SRU chief executive Mark Dodson says "legal opinion unravels" its case.

Gregor Townsend's side lie third behind Ireland and Japan in Pool A and must beat the hosts - and take four more points than them - to progress to the quarter-final stage unless the Irish lose to Samoa.

World Rugby rules state that "where a pool match cannot be commenced on the day in which it is scheduled, it shall not be postponed to the following day and shall be considered as cancelled. In such situations, the result shall be allocated two points each and no score registered".

"For World Rugby to simply state that the game has to be cancelled goes against the whole sporting integrity of the tournament," Dodson told the Today programme on BBC Radio 4.

"World Rugby have pointed us back to the participation agreement and that it is clearly stated there. We've had a legal opinion and then we've taken a leading sports QC opinion in London that challenges that and unravels the World Rugby case."

World Rugby hopes the worst of the typhoon will have passed by Sunday and that the game will go ahead, but Dodson is angered by its refusal to consider moving the game to another time or venue.

"We've been preparing for this tournament now for the last four years, our guys are over 100 days in camp, we've played three games already and the fourth game in this particular case is pivotal," he added.

"My view is that we're not going to let Scotland be the collateral damage for a decision that was taken in haste."

Scotland captain Stuart McInally has been dropped for Sunday's under-threat crucial World Cup Pool A decider against Japan.

His place at hooker is taken by Fraser Brown, who started in the back row in the win over Russia.

Wings Darcy Graham and Tommy Seymour are the only two other survivors from that much-changed side.

Seymour - replacing the injured Sean Maitland - and Brown are the only ones who did not start against Samoa.

Scrum-half Greig Laidlaw will captain the side in McInally's absence.

More to follow.

Crafton Standing By For Menard At Talladega

Published in Racing
Thursday, 10 October 2019 18:16

TALLADEGA, Ala. – Wood Brothers Racing announced Thursday that two-time NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series champion Matt Crafton will be on stand-by for Paul Menard during Sunday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series event at Talladega Superspeedway.

Menard, who has had ongoing soreness and pain with his neck, plans to practice, qualify and start Sunday’s race. Crafton will practice the No. 21 Menards/Tarkett Ford Mustang on Friday to get acclimated to the car.

“Due to neck issues I’ve been battling, and talking it over with my wife, team and doctors, I’ve made the decision to be sure Matt (Crafton) is prepared to finish out the race for me if needed,” said Menard. “I’m a race car driver and a competitor, but I also need to be smart and take care of myself for my family. As I want what is best for the Wood Brothers and my 21 family, I know Matt can get in there if need be and mix it up and will do a great job.”

Crafton has made one Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series start during his career, driving the No. 18 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing in the Daytona 500 in 2015 after Kyle Busch was injured in the NASCAR Xfinity Series race the day before.

Typhoon Forces Japanese Grand Prix Change

Published in Racing
Thursday, 10 October 2019 18:21

SUZUKA, Japan – Typhoon Hagabis has forced officials to make a major schedule change for the Japanese Grand Prix at the Suzuka Int’l Racing Course.

With Hagabis expected to bare down on the track Saturday, the decision was made to cancel all of Saturday’s planned track activity for the Japanese Grand Prix.

The revised schedule will feature Formula One qualifying on 10 a.m. local time Sunday morning, with the Japanese Grand Prix scheduled to follow at 2 p.m. local time. There will not be a third practice session, with Friday’s two practice sessions the only on-track time for teams ahead of Sunday’s qualifying and race.

“As a result of the predicted impact of Typhoon Hagibis on the Formula One Japanese Grand Prix 2019, Mobilityland and the Japanese Automobile Federation (JAF) have decided to cancel all activities scheduled to take place on Saturday, 12 October,” read a statement from series officials.

“The FIA and Formula One support this decision in the interest of safety for the spectators, competitors and everyone at the Suzuka Circuit.”

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