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Despite being in contention for the Serie A title for the first time in a decade after a 2-1 victory at AS Roma on Sunday, AC Milan's main priority stays aiming for next season's Champions League, according to coach Stefano Pioli. The Rossoneri led the league standings until two weeks ago, and their exciting victory in Rome on Sunday ensured that the four-point difference between them and Inter did not widen any further. Moving eight points ahead of Roma in the fifth position,

LIVERPOOL: Everton boosted their bid to earn a top-four finish in the Premier League as Richarlison sealed a 1-0 win against struggling Southampton on Monday (Mar 1). Carlo Ancelotti's side won for the first time in six home league games thanks to Richarlison's early goal. Everton's last success at Goodison Park had come against Arsenal just before Christmas, but ending a run of three consecutive home league defeats lifted them to within two points of fourth-placed West Ham. The seventh-placed Toffees have a

AHMEDABAD: India will go into the fourth and final Test against a spin-scarred England on Thursday (Mar 4) needing only a draw to win the series, which will also seal their spot in the June final of the inaugural World Test Championship against New Zealand. England made a bright start to the four-Test series, stunning India with a 227-run victory in the opener in Chennai, but then faltered as the hosts regrouped and took a 2-1 lead with comprehensive wins in the second

SINGAPORE: AIA Singapore will continue to be the title sponsor of the Singapore Premier League (SPL) until the 2022 season, with an option to extend the sponsorship for a further three years beyond that, the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) said in a media release on Tuesday (Mar 2). The renewal “reflects the continued growth of the SPL and commitment of both FAS and AIA to developing local football talents”, FAS said. AIA has been the title sponsor of the SPL, Singapore’s only

Since Australian legspinner Fawad Ahmed showed symptoms for COVID-19 and was placed in isolation. Pakistan Super League match was postponed on Monday. The Pakistan Cricket Board rescheduled the match between Islamabad United and Quetta Gladiators for Tuesday after it was initially postponed by two hours. According to the PCB, all existing Islamabad United players and the entire Quetta Gladiators squad screened negative. Ahmed took 1-40 against Peshawar Zalmi on Saturday in his only performance in the PSL this season. Islamabad was defeated by

The Qatar Table Tennis Association (QTTA) and Iran's national table tennis organization entered into a partnership yesterday. The contract was signed on the sidelines of the WTT Middle East Center, which is taking place at Lusail Sports Hall. At a signing ceremony witnessed by other representatives from the two organizations, QTTA President Khalil Al Mohannadi joined Mehrdad Ali Gardashi, President of the Iranian Table Tennis Federation. Al Mohannadi shared his pleasure at Gardashi's and the Iran team's participation at the WTT Middle East

The much-awaited World Table Tennis (WTT) Middle East Center started with a three-day qualification draw for the Contender series at the Lusail Multipurpose Hall yesterday. A total of 298 participants from 66 countries are participating in the games, as the sport makes a victorious comeback to the world arena. The Forum has two levels in the current WTT event system, with players playing in a WTT Contender event one week and then going on to a WTT Star Contender event the next. In

England Rugby has condemned social media abuse directed at its players after Ellis Genge said he had been sent death threats following the Six Nations defeat by Wales in Cardiff. England prop Genge was sent abuse after footage showed him failing to clap Wales players off the pitch on Saturday after the hosts won 40-24. England Rugby urged "true rugby fans" to stand against abuse. "Respect is a core value of rugby," the statement said. "Yesterday we lost to Wales who deserved their

American Collin Morikawa hit a three-under-par final round of 69 to win the WGC-Workday Championship by three shots at The Concession in Florida. The 24-year-old led by two overnight and, after bogeying the second, carded four birdies to win on 18 under. Norway's Viktor Hovland finished with a 67 to end joint second on 15 under with Americans Brooks Koepka and Billy Horschel, who both shot two-under 70s. Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy closed with a 71 to finish on 12 under. McIlroy was

LONDON: Pep Guardiola says Manchester City have no time to soak up the plaudits during their record-breaking run as the Premier League leaders chase an unprecedented quadruple. City have set a record for an English top-flight team after reeling off 20 successive victories in all competitions. It is the third-best winning streak among teams in Europe's leading five leagues, behind only Bayern Munich's 23 in a row in 2020 and Real Madrid's 22 successive victories in 2014. City are 12 points clear at

Catalan police say they have made four arrests after searching the offices of Spanish side Barcelona. The identity of those involved have not yet been confirmed by police, who said their investigation is continuing. The police operation was conducted on Monday after an investigation into financial issues at Barcelona. Those issues are thought to be related to the 'Barcagate' scandal in 2020 when the club denied hiring a firm to attack their own players on social media. The club's presidential elections take place

Alexander Bublik continued his impressive start to 2021 on Saturday, as he defeated Radu Albot 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 at the Singapore Tennis Open. Bublik claimed 87 per cent of his service points in the decider (20/23) and struck 12 aces to reach his second final of the year. The Kazakhstani, who retired from last month’s Antalya Open final with a right ankle injury, now owns a 9-3 record in 2021. “[Radu] won three points in the third set on my serve, which means I served great,” said Bublik. After

Chris Gayle has been recalled to play for West Indies for first time in two years, while senior fast bowler Fidel Edwards is back in the national squad after a nine-year hiatus. Both Gayle, who is 41 years old and Edwards, who turned 39 this month, have been named in West Indies' squad for the three-match T20I series against Sri Lanka, which will be played between March 3-7 at the Coolidge Cricket Ground in Antigua, which will be making its international debut. Gayle arrived in Antigua

India Legends will play their first match against Bangladesh Legends on March 5 and Sri Lanka Legends start their campaign against West Indies Legends on March 6. Former India cricketers Yusuf Pathan, Naman Ojha and Vinay Kumar, all of whom recently announced their retirements, will feature in the India Legends team in the 'Road Safety World Series' starting here on March 5. Former Sri Lankan swashbuckling opener Sanath Jayasuriya, who is remembered for the vital role he played in the team's 1996 ODI

As Al Sadd kept the Qatar Cup title with a 2-0 win over Al Duhail in the final at Abdullah Bin Khalifa Stadium, the dreaded striker Baghdad Bounedjah scored a brace. Al Sadd won the second award in the tournament yesterday, after its relaunch under the new name in 2014. That was also the Wolves' 74th overall title when they lived up to their idol’s name in front of socially-disconnected fans against The Red Knights. Bounedjah, who also scored a brace in last

Chris Woakes has left the England camp but is set to feature in ODI series; the 31-year-old has not played a Test match this winter; Jasprit Bumrah will not play for India due to personal reasons Chris Woakes has returned home as part of England's rotation policy despite not playing any part in the four-match Test series in India, the team confirmed on Saturday. England's approach has been to rest and rotate their multi-format players throughout their India tour to reduce the strain

India will be without fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah for the fourth and final Test against England after his request to be released from the squad for personal reasons was accepted by the BCCI; India need to avoid defeat to reach the World Test Championship final Jasprit Bumrah has been released from India's squad for the fourth and final Test against England for personal reasons. The Indian team issued a statement accepting Bumrah's withdrawal, and confirming he will not be replaced in the squad.

TOKYO: The Tokyo Olympics should take place before a live audience, Japan's new Olympics chief has said, despite concerns about hosting the Games during a global pandemic. Seiko Hashimoto, who became the Tokyo 2020 president last week, told Japanese media the Games should have spectators just like other major sports hosting events before fans, although in limited numbers. Any final decision will depend on the coronavirus pandemic, she said in an interview conducted on Friday (Feb 26) and published on Saturday. "When we

BOSTON - The Celtics -- already mired in a three-game losing streak, and having lost eight of their past 11 games -- found themselves down 18-4 five minutes into Friday night's game against the Indiana Pacers. It was the kind of performance that, had fans been allowed into TD Garden, would've been met with a hearty round of boos. But rather than resigning himself, and his team, to another ugly loss in a stretch full of them, Kemba Walker put the Celtics on

Caster Semenya, the South African Olympic champion runner, has appealed to the European Court of Human Rights to end "discriminatory" testosterone limits imposed on female athletes. Semenya is hyperandrogenous -- meaning she has naturally high levels of the male sex hormone -- and is fighting against new rules introduced in 2019 by track and field's governing body World Athletics (previously known as the IAAF) that regulate levels of the hormone in female athletes. World Athletics said the rules were about "leveling the playing