SOCCER
Bundesliga frustration
Bochum and Heidenheim are both staring relegation in the face after the struggling teams drew 0-0 in a tense Bundesliga encounter on Friday. A defeat would have condemned bottom club Bochum to the drop, but a point means it survives at least one more week. The Ruhr side remained last in the Bundesliga, equal on points with Kiel. The result was equally frustrating for Heidenheim, which remained third from bottom, four points above Bochum and Kiel, but four behind Hoffenheim, which has a game in hand.
SOCCER
Jesus leaves Al-Hilal
Jorge Jesus has left his position as Al-Hilal head coach by mutual consent, the Saudi Arabian soccer team announced yesterday. The departure of the 70-year-old veteran coach comes just four days after Al-Hilal lost the semi-final of the AFC Champions League Elite to Saudi Arabian rival Al-Ahli. Last season, Jesus, who was appointed in July 2023, led Al-Hilal on a world-record winning streak of 34 games as the Riyadh club won a record 19th Saudi Pro League title. This season, the club is six points behind leader Al-Ittihad with just five games remaining. Mohammed Al-Shalhoub is to take temporary control of the team, but it has been reported that a foreign coach would be appointed before the four-time Asian champions take on Real Madrid in its opening game of the FIFA Club World Cup on June 18.
HURDLING
Almost world records
Olympic champion Masai Russell scorched to victory with the second-fastest 100m hurdles time in history at the Grand Slam Track meeting in Miami yesterday, clocking a world leading 12.17s. The 24-year-old American star finished just ahead of compatriot Tia Jones, who was second at 12.19s — the third-fastest time in history. Russell and Jones, who benefited from a strong following wind which was just on the legal threshold of +2.0 m/s, only narrowly missed out on Tobi Amusan’s world record of 12.12s set at the World Championships in Eugene in 2022. Russell’s time was also a new US record, and also a significant improvement on her previous season best of 12.62s set in Gainesville, Florida, last month.
SOCCER
De Bruyne’s farewell goal
Kevin De Bruyne scored in his penultimate game at Etihad Stadium as Manchester City beat Wolverhampton 1-0 on Friday to climb to third in the Premier League and boost their chances of Champions League qualification. Pep Guardiola’s men, who are unbeaten in seven successive league games, provisionally climbed one spot with 64 points after 35 games. Wolves, who saw their remarkable run of six successive victories end, are 13th. Wolves had the better chances in a nervy first half before City broke the deadlock in the 35th minute when Jeremy Doku worked the ball down the left before cutting it back sharply from the left-hand side to De Bruyne who side-footed it home. The 33-year-old announced last month that he would leave the club when his contract expires at the end of the season, making Friday his second-last game. De Bruyne, who has battled injuries the past two seasons, had expressed surprise that he had not been offered a contract extension by City, saying he still had plenty to give.
SSC Napoli’s Italian Serie A title hopes suffered a late setback on Sunday when they were held to a 2-2 draw at home against Genoa, setting up a thrilling season finale with closest rivals Inter just one point behind. The hosts remain top with 78 points, holding a slim lead over Inter, who won 2-0 at Torino earlier on Sunday, with two rounds remaining. To make matters worse for Napoli, midfielder Stanislav Lobotka, struggling with an ankle injury, was forced off just minutes after the match began. Scott McTominay delivered a perfect pass into the box where Romelu Lukaku got
Harry Kane opened the scoring ahead of lifting his first career silverware as Bayern Munich beat Borussia Moenchengladbach 2-0, with veteran Thomas Mueller playing his last home game for the club. Bayern officially won the title on May 4 when defending champions Bayer Leverkusen were held to a 2-2 draw at Freiburg, but were presented with the Bundesliga shield in front of their home fans at full-time. Dripping wet after being showered with beer by teammates, Kane said the title win was “an incredible feeling,” and hoped it would be “the first of many.” “It’s been lot of hard work, a lot of
Taiwanese e-sports veteran Lin “ET” Chia-hung yesterday successfully defended his King of Fighters XV title at this year’s Evolution Championship Series: Japan (EVO Japan), securing his second consecutive championship. Lin claimed victory with a 3-1 win over Japanese pro gamer “mok” in the grand final, repeating his earlier 3-1 win against the same opponent in the winners’ final. The 40-year-old earned a ￥1 million (US$6,897) cash prize at the two-day tournament, which drew 294 competitors. Mok, Lin’s toughest rival in the bracket, took home ￥400,000 as runner-up. Lin remains undefeated in match sets against mok in King of Fighters XV, holding a 10-0 record,
Batting great Virat Kohli yesterday announced his immediate retirement from Test cricket, just days before India name their squad for a tour to England. Kohli, who scored 9,230 runs in 123 matches at an average of 46.85, posted his decision on Instagram five days after India captain Rohit Sharma called time on his own Test career. Since making his debut in 2011, Kohli struck 30 hundreds and 31 fifties with a highest score of 254 not out, mainly batting at number four in the order. “It’s been 14 years since I first wore the baggy blue in Test cricket,” the
RSS