SOCCER
Man City duo honored
Manchester City duo Phil Foden and Khadija Shaw on Tuesday were voted the men’s and women’s player of the year in English soccer for last season at the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) awards. The 24-year-old Foden helped City win a fourth consecutive Premier League title, scoring 19 times and providing eight assists. Shaw was the top scorer in the Women’s Super League (WSL) as the Jamaican forward netted 21 goals, although City lost the title on goal difference to Chelsea. Foden and Shaw also won the equivalent award from the Football Writers’ Association, which is voted on by journalists. The PFA winners are selected by professional players. Chelsea attacking midfielder Cole Palmer was voted the men’s PFA young player of the year, with Manchester United midfielder Grace Clinton winning the women’s prize after her performances on loan at Tottenham Hotspur last season. Palmer was second only to City’s Erling Haaland in the Premier League scoring charts with 22 goals and also had more assists than any other Chelsea player, with 11. Haaland won the men’s player of the year award last year. Clinton contributed four goals and four assists in 20 WSL appearances.
Photo: AP
SOCCER
Villarreal sign ’keeper
Villarreal have signed Brazilian goalkeeper Luiz Junior from Portuguese club Famalicao on a six-year deal, the La Liga side announced on Tuesday. The clubs did not disclose the transfer fee, but Spanish media reported that Villarreal paid about 12 million euros (US$13 million) for the 23-year-old. “At an impressive 1.93 meters, he is quick between the posts, he is able to dominate aerial duels and has excellent reflexes — all of which make him a very talented goalkeeper with a big future,” Villarreal said in a statement. Luiz Junior made 140 appearances for Famalicao since joining their academy at the age of 18. He is to replace Filip Jorgensen at Villareal, who joined Chelsea last month on a seven-year contract.
CRICKET
BCB names new president
The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) yesterday named former captain Faruque Ahmed as president after the resignation of Nazmul Hassan, a close ally of ousted Bangladeshi prime minister Sheikh Hasina. Nazmul, who also served as Bangladeshi minister of sports during Hasina’s 15 years in office, wrote to the BCB to resign, board chief executive officer Nizam Uddin Chowdhury told reporters. “His wish was granted,” he said. Chowdhury said that Faruque was elected by the board’s directors and “took charge immediately.” Nazmul had been BCB president since 2012, serving multiple terms, with his last tenure scheduled to end next year. Faruque briefly captained Bangladesh in the 1994 ICC Trophy in Kenya and played seven one-day internationals. He retired from the national team after the Cricket World Cup in 1999. He also held the position of national chief selector from 2005 to 2014.
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
The Minnesota Timberwolves, with so many promising performances spoiled by late mistakes fresh in their memory bank, sure timed this strong finish well. Jaden McDaniels scored a career playoff-high 30 points and spearheaded Minnesota’s stifling defense on an ailing Luka Doncic, and the Timberwolves beat the Los Angeles Lakers 116-104 to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven Western Conference first-round series in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Friday night. “Jaden never looks tired. He looks like he could play 48 minutes,” said teammate Anthony Edwards, who had 29 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. Julius Randle added 22 points for the Wolves, who outscored
Inter’s defense of their Italian Serie A title was hit with a setback on Sunday as they lost 1-0 at home to AS Roma, while Scott McTominay netted a brace as SSC Napoli beat Torino 2-0 to go top of the table. No fixtures were played on Friday or Saturday because of the funeral of Pope Francis in Rome, meaning the full round of Serie A matches took place on Sunday and yesterday. Matias Soule’s first-half strike for Roma knocked Inter off top spot earlier in the day before new Napoli opened up a three-point buffer with victory in Sunday’s
Ethiopia’s Tigst Assefa yesterday set a women’s only world record of 2 hours, 15 minutes, 50 seconds as she won the London Marathon, while Kenya’s Sabastian Sawe put a star-studded men’s field to the sword. For 28-year-old Assefa it was ample compensation for finishing runner-up in London and the Paris Olympics last year — especially as bitter Dutch rival, the Ethiopia-born Sifan Hassan, finished third. Assefa dropped Kenya’s Joyciline Jepkosgei as the race, played out in blazing sunshine and with thousands lining the route, entered its business end. She came home almost three minutes clear of the Kenyan. Hassan, who beat her in
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