SOCCER
Matching socks delay start
A top-of-the table English Women’s Soccer League (WSL) game between Arsenal and Chelsea with a crowd of nearly 33,000 had a delayed kick-off on Friday because the teams had matching socks, forcing referee Rebecca Welch to delay the start. Arsenal Women ended up going into the Chelsea megastore at Stamford Bridge and buying black socks. They used tape to try and hide the Chelsea and Nike logos. Arsenal’s kit is made by Adidas. They started 30 minutes late. “Clearly it’s a human error, a mistake, but it’s embarrassing,” former England international Karen Carney, who played for both clubs, told Sky Sports. “This is a massive crowd, a massive game. It’s a simple thing, a kit, and we have got it wrong. People make mistakes, but the game does not need this and it’s frustrating. It does not look good for the game.” WSL leaders Chelsea won 3-1.
Photo: Reuters
CRICKET
Wade retires from Tests
Former Australia Test wicketkeeper Matthew Wade has called time on the red-ball game, but will continue playing the shorter formats. The 36-year-old made the announcement late on Friday ahead of the Sheffield Shield final next week, when his native Tasmania meet Western Australia in what will be his 166th and last first-class match. “There certainly isn’t [an element of]: ‘I’m not playing well enough or I don’t feel I can contribute enough,’” he said. “It’s more the younger players have managed to shove me out the door.” Wade, who played 36 Tests as a wicketkeeper and specialist batter from 2012 to 2021, will continue to be available for one-day and T20 cricket.
EQUESTRIAN
Shane Rose hurt in fall
Australian three-time Olympic medalist Shane Rose was seriously injured in a heavy fall this week that could end his hopes of competing in a fourth Olympic Games in Paris this year. The 50-year-old team eventer and his horse Virgil all but secured qualification for the Olympics by winning an event in New Zealand last weekend, but fell during a cross-country session on Thursday. “As the saying goes peacock one day, feather duster the next,” his team said on Facebook on Friday. “Thankfully his horse was not injured in the fall. Shane is currently in ICU with a badly broken femur and a fractured pelvis and ribs. He also suffered a heavy concussion. Shane had surgery this morning to stabilize the femur and pelvis. While the timing is unfortunate we are hopeful there is adequate time for him to recover and still be able to continue his preparation schedule for the Paris Olympics Games.” Rose has twice qualified for the Olympics, but been unable to compete. In 1996, his horse went lame on arrival in the US for the Atlanta Olympics, and in 2012, his mount All Luck sustained a shoulder injury that prevented him from competing at the London Games. Despite his past misfortune, Rose won team silver medals at the 2008 Beijing and 2021 Tokyo Olympics as well as a bronze in Rio de Janeiro in 2016.
ANFIELD BLUES: Kylian Mbappe arrived at Anfield on a run of 21 goals in 17 games, but he managed just three attempts in the match, none of them hitting the target Kylian Mbappe has been nearly unstoppable this season, but he hit a roadblock in their UEFA Champions League match at Anfield on Tuesday. For the second year running, the Real Madrid forward had a night to forget at Merseyside as Liverpool won 1-0. Mbappe looked a shadow of the player who has been tearing defenses apart all season. “We were lacking that threat in the final third,” said Madrid coach Xabi Alonso, without naming Mbappe individually. The FIFA World Cup winner for France rarely looked capable of finding a breakthrough against a Liverpool team who have been so defensively fragile for much of the
LOCAL SUCCESS: In the doubles, Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia defeated Italians Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini in straight sets Elena Rybakina on Monday punched her ticket to the WTA Finals last four with an impressive 3-6, 6-1, 6-0 victory over second seed Iga Swiatek in round-robin play in Riyadh. After cruising past Amanda Anisimova in her opener on Saturday, Rybakina claimed her second win of the week to guarantee herself top spot in the Serena Williams Group. Anisimova on Monday rallied back from a set and a break down to triumph 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 in her all-American battle with seventh seed Madison Keys, who has been eliminated from the competition. “Madi was playing so well, it was quite a battle out there,”
Erling Haaland on Sunday scored twice to propel Manchester City up to second in the English Premier League with a 3-1 win over AFC Bournemouth. The Cherries started the day in second thanks to the longest unbeaten run in the English top flight, but Andoni Iraola’s side were undone by the scintillating form of the Norwegian striker, who took his tally to 13 Premier League goals in 10 games. Haaland’s relentless streak is maintaining City’s title challenge as they reduced the gap to leaders Arsenal back to six points and edged one point ahead of Liverpool, who they face at the weekend. “Important
For almost 30 minutes, Vitomir Maricic did not take a breath. Face down in a pool, surrounded by anxious onlookers, the Croatian freediver fought spasming pain to redefine what doctors thought was possible. When he finally surfaced, he had smashed the previous Guinness World Record for the longest breath-hold underwater by nearly five minutes. However, even with the help of pure oxygen before the attempt, it had pushed him to the limit. “Everything was difficult, just overwhelming,” Maricic, 40, told reporters, reflecting on the record-breaking day on June 14. “When I dive, I completely disconnect from everything, as if I’m not even there.
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