Category Archives: SPORTS

Rafael Nadal said early Wednesday he had left a sporting and personal ‘legacy’ after retiring from professional tennis, as tributes flooded in for the 22-time Grand Slam winner. The 38-year-old’s glittering and historic career came to a close as Netherlands defeated Spain in the Davis Cup and Nadal gave an emotional speech that ran over 10 minutes long to more than 10,000 fans in Malaga. After 23 years in the game and many struggles with injury, Nadal retires as the second-most successful men’s singles player of all time. “I leave with the peace of mind that I have left a legacy, which I really feel is not just a sporting one but a personal one,” Nadal said at his retirement ceremony. “I understand that the love I have received, if

A scrappy goal by Omaatla Kebatho proved priceless as it gave minnows Botswana a shock 1-1 draw away to seven-time champions Egypt on Tuesday, and 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualification. Mozambique won 2-1 in Guinea-Bissau and hosts Tanzania edged Guinea 1-0 to also secure places at the biennial African football showpiece, which Morocco will stage from December 21 next year. The other 21 places had been taken before the final 13 qualifiers were played on Tuesday, and four-time winners Ghana will be the shock absentees after finishing last in Group F. Needing a point to ensure qualification from Group C, Botswana seemingly stood little chance of achieving that goal in Cairo against Egypt, 110 places higher in the world rankings. Although lacking resting captain Mohamed Salah, already-qualified Egypt would

LIV Golf’s Sergio Garcia is set to rejoin the DP World Tour for the 2025 season as he seeks to play at next year’s Ryder Cup. Garcia, 44, who is the event’s record points scorer, wants to match Lee Westwood and Sir Nick Faldo’s European record of 11 appearances at the biennial competition. However, in order for that to happen, the Spaniard has had to settle the outstanding substantial fines – reported to be over £1m – imposed on him by the tour for his previous defection to play LIV events, and he will also have to serve a suspension. A spokesman for the Europe-based DP World Tour confirmed former Masters winner Garcia submitted an application to return to the membership before the 17 November deadline. European players wishing to

War-torn Sudan and Benin qualified on Monday for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations, while there was heartbreak for Rwanda as they shocked Nigeria 2-1 only to lose out. Sudan drew 0-0 with Group F winners Angola in Benghazi to finish runners-up and claim the second qualifying place. The Sudanese finished with eight points, one more than Niger, who upset depleted former champions Ghana 2-1 in Accra. It was even closer in Group D with Benin, who held Libya 0-0 in Tripoli, pipping Rwanda on head-to-head records after both finished with eight points, three less than table-toppers Nigeria. Benin owe their place in Morocco from December 21 next year to a superior goal difference. Last month, they trounced Rwanda 3-0 at home and lost 2-1 away. Having changed eight of

Jannik Sinner won the ATP Finals on Sunday after beating Taylor Fritz 6-4, 6-4 to claim his first title at the season-ending event in Turin. Italian Sinner’s triumph on home soil was the latest moment of glory in a near-perfect year in which the 23-year-old won eight tournaments, including his debut Grand Slam victories at the Australian and US Opens. “It’s amazing, it’s my first title in Italy and it means so much to me,” said Sinner. “It’s something very special. I just tried to understand what works best for each opponent, trying to play my best possible tennis. That was the key. “It was a very high level tournament from my side. At times, I couldn’t have played better, so I am very happy.” World number one Sinner again

Jones sends Miocic into retirement with a brutal back kick to the ribs on UFC 309 fight night in New York. Jon Jones has cemented his position as arguably the greatest mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter of all time by pulling off a stunning knockout of Stipe Miocic to retain his heavyweight belt at the UFC 309 fight night. The 37-year-old American looked fully in control throughout the main event at Madison Square Garden on Saturday, preventing his opponent from leveraging his boxing skills and finishing with a brutal heel to the body that left Miocic on the canvas clutching his ribs. “That body shot man, no matter how tough you are, the liver’s the liver,” a jubilant Jones said in the cage following his victory. In the aftermath, 42-year-old

Netherlands outclassed Hungary with a 4-0 victory in their winner-takes-all Nations League encounter on Saturday while Germany hammered Bosnia and Hercegovina 7-0. Netherlands and Hungary went into the match tied on five points each and with the winner set to join Germany in ensuring their progress from Group A3 to the quarter-finals. First-half penalties by Wout Weghorst and Cody Gakpo sent the Oranje on their way, before Denzel Dumfries and Teun Koopmeiners made the game safe in the second period. The match at the Johan Cruyff Arena was briefly interrupted in the seventh minute following a medical emergency on the Hungarian bench. The referee stopped play for some 10 minutes while Hungary’s assistant coach Adam Szalai received treatment, shielded from view by huddled players and staff members, as well as

Ghana’s Black Stars would be in battle in Lu­anda, Angola today aiming to achieve an apparent impossible feat in the qualifiers of the 2025 AFCON in Morocco. With two matches to end the qualifiers, the Black Stars are third in Group I that has Angola securing qualification with their top position, followed by Sudan led by Kwesi Appiah. Niger have proven to be the whipping boys of the group and are winless in the four matches played so far. They have just a point after holding the Black Stars. Members of the Black Stars technical team on arrival in Luanda Ghana’s only chance of quali­fication is placed in the hope that the Black Stars win the last two matches while Sudan lose theirs against the same opposition. The fact is

A showdown between former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson and social media influencer-turned-fighter Jake Paul on Friday is the latest one-two punch from Netflix, as the media giant hopes to cash in on sports’ sprint to streaming. The intergenerational showdown has all the makings of a crossover hit, with 58-year-old Tyson bringing in the old guard and 27-year-old Paul, who achieved early fame on YouTube, appealing to the younger, screen-toting social media junkies. Available to all of Netflix’s more than 280 million subscribers for no additional fee, it could be a welcome change for American boxing fans accustomed to shelling out extra to watch marquee matches on long-time broadcaster HBO. “The trend in all sports right now is moving some of their properties to streaming,” said Bob Dorfman, a veteran San Francisco-based sports

A late equaliser from Victor Osimhen stamped Nigeria’s ticket for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations on Thursday while Tunisia also booked their place with a 3-2 win over Madagascar. In spite of not playing on Thursday, other results also saw South Africa, Gabon and Uganda secure places at the 24-nation showcase of African football, which kicks off in Morocco on December 21 next year. Sudan missed a chance to qualify after a shock 4-0 loss to Niger — a result which offered a glimmer of hope to Ghana ahead of a must-win match in Angola on Friday. Nigeria were trailing against Benin in Group D before reigning African Footballer of the Year Osimhen equalised nine minutes from time to secure a 1-1 draw in Abidjan. Mohamed Tijani had put Benin

Lee Carsley’s reign as England’s interim manager has not been without its obstacles, but the most impressive performance of his reign may just have made the road to succession a lot smoother for incoming coach Thomas Tuchel. The low point of Carsley’s time in charge, which will end after the Uefa Nations League meeting with the Republic Of Ireland at Wembley on Sunday, was the fiasco of the home defeat to Greece in October, a loss mainly engineered by his own madcap, non-striker, team selection. Redemption and revenge for Carsley, along with a list of positives he can hand over to Tuchel, came in the shape this stylish win here in Greece, where the vast crowd inside Athens’ Olympic Stadium was silent – not to mention largely absent – by

Fred Kerley has aimed a jibe at Kenyan sprinter Ferdinand Omanyala, questioning his status as Africa’s fastest man The Olympic bronze medallist is one of the fastest sprinters in the world and holds one world title Omanyala is Africa’s fastest man, with a record of 9.77 seconds set in 2021 at the Kip Keino Classic Former 100m world champion Fred Kerley appeared to aim a jibe at Africa’s fastest man, Ferdinand Omanyala. The 2024 Olympics bronze medallist has raced Omanyala in Kenya a couple of times and come up short. Omanyala remains the fastest man in Africa, but his performances on the biggest stages have been underwhelming. Ferdinand Omanyala reached the semis at the 2024 Paris Olympics, while Fred Kerley won a bronze medal. Photo by Andrzej Iwanczuk/NurPhoto.Source: Getty Images

Who: Australia vs Pakistan What: Three-match T20 international series When: November 14, 16 and 18 Where: Brisbane, Sydney and Hobart How to follow: Al Jazeera’s live text and photo coverage for each game begins at 05:00 GMT. Pakistan arrived in Australia for their limited-overs tour on the back of a tumultuous period off-the-field, which saw the departure of Gary Kirsten as the team’s white-ball coach and the change of the team’s leadership. The highly-rated South African coach resigned after a series of behind-the-scenes changes and a power struggle with the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). Jason Gillespie, Pakistan’s Test team coach, took charge of the team for the tour of Australia and Mohammad Rizwan was appointed the country’s white-ball captain following Babar Azam’s resignation. Despite off-field ruckus and a historically poor