SOCCER
Real Madrid celebrate title
Real Madrid yesterday celebrated its La Liga title with fans, meeting with government officials and parading through the streets of the capital. Madrid clinched its 36th league title last weekend, with four rounds to spare, but it could not celebrate the triumph right away because it still had to play the second leg of the UEFA Champions League semi-finals. Madrid rallied with two late goals by striker Joselu to defeat Bayern Munich 2-1 on Wednesday at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, advancing 3-2 on aggregate to the final against Borussia Dortmund on June 1 in London. “I’m sure that in three weeks we will be back here,” Madrid midfielder Toni Kroos said, while addressing the crowd yesterday.
OLYMPICS
Torch relay has issue
The Paris Olympics torch relay had its first glitch on Saturday when the cauldron, which is lit at the end of each day, stubbornly refused to ignite. On the third stage of its 78-day journey at Manosque to the north of Marseille, French swimmer Ophelie-Cyrielle Etienne, a bronze medalist from the 2012 Olympics in London, twice tried without success to ignite the cauldron with the flame. Officials said there was a technical problem even though the cauldron had been lit successfully on the two previous evenings in Marseille and Toulon. The torch relay, which would reach Paris in time for the opening ceremony on July 26, had taken place without incident on Saturday as it made its way through the rural and mountainous setting of Alpes-de-Haute-Provence.
BOXING
Lomachenko wins title
Ukrainian boxing great Vasiliy Lomachenko clinched the International Boxing Federation (IBF) lightweight world title yesterday after producing a supreme performance to stop Australian George Kambosos in the 11th round in Perth, Australia. In the main event at a sold-out 15,000 RAC Arena, heavy favorite Lomachenko defied the rowdy home crowd and dominated throughout. Lomachenko left the Australian bloodied and sealed the belt in the 11th round after dropping Kambosos several times before the fight was stopped by the referee. It was the first IBF lightweight belt in the glittering career of former World Boxing Association and World Boxing Council lightweight champion Lomachenko, who has also won world titles featherweight and super featherweight.
SOCCER
Al-Hilal win 19th title
Cristiano Ronaldo and Al-Nassr missed out on the Saudi Pro League title for the second consecutive season when Al-Hilal on Saturday defeated Al-Hazm 4-1 and clinched first place. Two goals from Aleksandar Mitrovic, signed from Fulham in the English Premier League in the summer last year, did the damage. Sergej Milinkovic-Savic scored and an own goal from Ahmed Al-Juwaid completed the win for Al-Hilal. Al-Hilal collected a record-extending 19th league title. It was 12 points ahead of Riyadh rival Al-Nassr with three games remaining. Ronaldo is still set to top the goal-scoring chart. On Friday, he notched his 33rd goal in a 3-2 win at Al-Okhdood and was nine clear of Mitrovic in second. The five-time Ballon d’Or winner is just a goal behind the league record set by Abderrazak Hamdallah in 2019.
Carlos Alcaraz on Monday powered into the French Open second round with a resounding win to start his title defense, while world No. 1 Jannik Sinner and three-time defending women’s champion Iga Swiatek also progressed at Roland Garros. Four-time Grand Slam champion Alcaraz struck 31 winners in a 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 victory over Italian qualifier Giulio Zeppieri and is to face Hungary’s Fabian Marozsan in round two. Alcaraz is now on an eight-match winning streak at the French Open and also took Olympic silver at Roland Garros last year, losing the final to Novak Djokovic. “The first round is never
TIGHT FINISH: Napoli only needed to do the same as or better than Inter, who won their game against Como 2-0 on the same day, leaving Napoli with a one-point lead The two players who Antonio Conte wanted more than any others secured Napoli their second Serie A title in three years on Friday. Scott McTominay scored with an acrobatic bicycle kick before halftime and Romelu Lukaku doubled the lead with a solo goal after the break in the decisive 2-0 home win over Cagliari. Conte became the first coach to win the Italian championship with three different teams. “Everyone contributed to this — but the coach most of all,” Napoli captain Giovanni Di Lorenzo said. “Napoli needed him to get back on top. He’s phenomenal.” Comparing it to his three Serie A titles won
The journey of Taiwan’s badminton mixed doubles duo Ye Hong-wei and Nicole Chan at the Malaysia Masters in Kuala Lumpur came to an end in the semi-finals yesterday after they suffered a 2-0 loss to China’s Feng Yanzhe and Huang Dongping. Ye, 25, and Chan, 20, teamed up last year and are currently ranked No. 23 in the world. The Taiwanese shuttlers took on China’s second seeds in the mixed doubles event, but proved no match for Feng and Huang, losing the match 10-21, 7-21. In the first half of the first game, the pairings were neck and neck at 6-7 until Ye
SSC Napoli coach Antonio Conte has dragged the team back from disaster and restored them to the top of Italian Serie A, but his future at the Scudetto winners is in doubt even after a triumphant season. The fiery 55-year-old has exceeded preseason expectations and bolstered his reputation as a serial winner by guiding Napoli to their fourth Scudetto, and second in three seasons. However, he might well be on his way in the summer after just one season at the helm as his charged relationship with Napoli owner Aurelio De Laurentiis has simmered throughout the campaign. Conte has said
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