Traditional paper cranes and some of the latest technology are on offer as Japan seeks to promote itself as the host of the next Olympic Games in 2020, with organisers hoping to inherit the enthusiasm and fervour of Pyeongchang 2018 hosts. Tokyo will host the summer games for the second time, following the tremendously successful 1964 Olympics, and organisers have brought a large delegation to Pyeongchang to learn how to host them successfully. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will also arrive in South Korea on Friday to attend the opening ceremonies. But on Thursday it was all about introducing the fun side of Japan at the Tokyo 2020 Japan House, which opens to the public as the Games officially get going on Friday. On offer were cameras allowing visitors to imprint their face on paper used to make traditional folded cranes and others that create life-size avatars that then romp through typical Tokyo street scenes on a huge screen. “We will see an unprecedented run of three consecutive Olympics in Asia - Pyeongchang 2018, Tokyo in 2020 and Beijing in 2022 - a chance for all Asia to cooperate to make these fun,” said Yukihiro Nunomura, Chief Operating Officer at Tokyo 2020.
“Pyeongchang will start this off and we expect this to be a huge success and that this baton can then be passed to Tokyo, so we inherit their enthusiasm and fervour.” The Tokyo 2020 games will be Japan’s fourth run at the Olympics. Besides Tokyo in 1964, it has hosted the Winter Games twice - Sapporo in 1972 and Nagano in 1998. Tokyo planners have struggled with surging costs and construction delays, especially with the new national stadium, but the International Olympic Committee has repeatedly said it is pleased with how preparations are going.
LONDON: Chelsea's troubled season hit a new low on Monday as the Premier League champions crashed to a 4-1 defeat at Watford that heaped fresh pressure on beleaguered boss Antonio Conte. Less than a year after being hailed as the mastermind of Chelsea's title triumph, Conte appears destined to become the latest high-profile boss to pay the price for failing to satisfy ruthless Blues owner Roman Abramovich. With fourth-placed Chelsea trailing 19 points behind leaders Manchester City, Abramovich is reported to be considering replacements for Conte, with former Barcelona coach Luis Enrique strongly linked with the job. Here is a look at the reasons for Chelsea's collapse: The champagne corks had barely finished popping at the end of Chelsea's title celebrations in May before Conte bizarrely lost his cool and set off down a path that now looks certain to end with his exit. Misjudging his power base, Conte felt winning the league should allow him much more say in who came and went from his squad -- and first in his sights was notorious malcontent Diego Costa.
Infuriated by Costa's mood swings and an attempt to engineer a move to China, Conte decided to sell the Spain striker even though his goals had been instrumental in the title success. But he hadn't reckoned on Costa going public with a text message from Conte telling him he is not in his plans for next season, a move that prompted the Chelsea boss to exile his forward from the squad. The situation quickly disintegrated as Costa refused to train with the reserves, leaving Chelsea struggling to find a buyer. Abramovich was said to be furious and, although Costa eventually got his wish to join Atletico Madrid, the Italian has been on a collision course with the club's hierarchy ever since. The breakdown in relations manifested itself in Conte dragging out negotiations over a new contract and when he eventually signed the improved terms, tellingly it didn't include an extension. Already grumbling about his lack of influence over transfers and complaining that Chelsea weren't spending as much as their rivals, Conte was livid when Abramovich sanctioned Nemanja Matic's switch to Manchester United. It didn't help that technical director Michael Emenalo left the club, leaving Marina Granovskaia, a close Abramovich aide, in charge of transfer deals, much to Conte's chagrin. Engaging in a petty feud with Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho only added to the perception that Conte was unravelling as Chelsea failed to keep pace with City in the title race. "That's the type of wretched result and performance that gets managers the sack," Henry Winter, chief football writer of The Times, said of the rout at Watford. Yet Conte has never seemed settled in England, with his family only joining him this year, and he seems unruffled by the prospect of leaving. "I'm not worried. I can be the Chelsea coach or not. What is the problem? My soul is clear," he said after the Watford game. From the very first day of the season, Chelsea, reflecting their manager's discontent, have seemed totally out of sync on the pitch. A shock 3-2 home defeat against Burnley on the opening weekend foreshadowed the problems to come, with Conte claiming it could take four years to build a team capable of consistently winning silverware. That downbeat assessment hardly inspired Conte's players, who were already reported to be chafing at his demanding training sessions and intense personality. A 3-0 loss at Roma in the Champions League in October exposed more fault lines in a team suddenly bereft of confidence, with the problems exacerbated by David Luiz clashing with the Italian after the defender criticised his tactics. Adding to Conte's woes, Tiemoue Bakayoko, signed from Monaco to fill the defensive midfield role vacated by Matic, has endured a dismal season, while Alvaro Morta, the Spain striker brought to replace Costa, has been inconsistent in front of goal and lacks his predecessor's intimidating physical presence. Numerous hamstring injuries to Chelsea players this season have led some to question whether Conte's training methods are culpable, yet he complained that the club had signed too many players, rather than investing their money in marquee recruits like City and Manchester United.
LONDON: World number one Rafael Nadal has confirmed he will play in the Wimbledon warm-up event at Queen's Club later this year. Nadal has missed the grass-court tournament in west London for the last two years after suffering a wrist injury in 2016 and then prioritising rest after his French Open victory in 2017. But the Spaniard, who won the Queen's title in 2008, intends to participate in this year's event, which begins on June 18. "I am very excited to communicate that I am going to come to Queen's in 2018," Nadal said. "It is going to be the 10th anniversary of my victory in 2008, it's a great memory, winning there and three weeks later winning Wimbledon. "It was an unforgettable year. I am very excited to be coming back and playing Queen's again."
Nadal's best performances at Wimbledon have always come after he has played at Queen's. He reached the Wimbledon final five times between 2006 and 2011, winning in 2008 and 2010, and making the quarter-finals at Queen's prior to each of those appearances at the All England Club. Stephen Farrow, Queen's tournament director, said: "We are delighted that Rafa is planning to return to The Queen's Club in 2018. "His run ten years ago, when he won at Roland Garros, Queen's and Wimbledon, will never be forgotten. "To see him back at the top of the world rankings a decade later is a testament to his greatness and desire to achieve even more." Nadal was forced to retire from his Australian Open quarter-final against Marin Cilic because of a thigh injury. But he said this week he could return to action at the Mexican Open in Acapulco at the end of the month. Former Wimbledon champion Andy Murray has a contract to play Queen's for the rest of his career and is hoping to use the tournament to mark the start of his return from hip surgery in January.
ZEIST: Ronald Koeman has been appointed as coach of the Netherlands national team up to and including the 2022 World Cup, the Dutch football association (KNVB) announced. The 54-year-old former international defender is the seventh coach in eight years for the Dutch team, who were runners-up at the 2010 World Cup and finished third in Brazil four years later but failed to qualify for the 2018 finals in Russia. He will be expected to help the Dutch to qualify for the next European Championship in 2020 and World Cup two years thereafter, reviving the team's fortunes in the process. Koeman, who earned 78 caps for the Netherlands, succeeds Dick Advocaat, who had been brought in midway through last year after the sacking of Danny Blind in March.
His first assignment will be a friendly against England at the Amsterdam Arena on March 23, followed by a meeting with Portugal in Geneva three days later. The Dutch are helping the two Russia-bound teams prepare for this year's World Cup. Koeman has been out of work since being dismissed by Everton last October after a poor run of form in the Premier League. He did, however, enjoy significant success as a club coach in his homeland winning three Eredivisie titles - two with Ajax Amsterdam (2001-02, 2003-04) and one with PSV Eindhoven (2006-07). He has also coached Vitesse Arnhem, Benfica, Valencia, AZ Alkmaar, Feyenoord and Southampton. His coaching career began as an assistant to Guus Hiddink with the Dutch side in 1997 but he left after a year to take up a similar role under Louis van Gaal at Barcelona. Former Dutch international Kees van Wonderen will be Koeman's assistant with Patrick Lodewijks as goalkeeper coach.
OSLO: Golf, cricket and soccer are suffering from wetter weather linked to climate change in Britain, the nation which laid down the modern rules for the games, a study said on Wednesday. More downpours meant pitches and fairways were more likely to be soggy or unplayable while sea level rise was also aggravating erosion of coastal golf courses in Scotland, such as Montrose which dates back to 1562, it said. The Climate Coalition, of 130 non-governmental groups in Britain, said its report underscored that warming threatens sports beyond those dependent on snow and ice on display at this month’s Pyeongchang Olympics. A main problem is that six of the seven wettest years on record in Britain have been since 2000, said Piers Forster, a professor of climate change at the University of Leeds who contributed to the study. “Britain is particularly susceptible to storms coming in from the North Atlantic,” he told Reuters. Rain, extreme weather and erosion meant “cancelled football matches, flooded cricket grounds and golf courses crumbling into the sea,” it said. Steve Isaac, director of golf course management at the R&A, the governing body for golf outside the United States and Mexico, said in the report that he reckoned golf was “more impacted by climate change than any sport aside from skiing”.
Coastal golf courses were suffering from storm surges and a rise in sea levels, caused by a melt of ice from Greenland to the Himalayas. Montrose, for instance, has moved tees and fairways inland because of erosion, said Chris Curnin, director at the Montrose Golf Links. Dredging and natural shifts in the North Sea explained some of the erosion, of 70 metres in places. “Climate change and rising seas are accelerating the retreat,” he told Reuters. U.S. President Donald Trump, who doubts that greenhouse gas emissions are the prime driver of climate change, owns two courses in Scotland. The England and Wales Cricket Board said it was suffering from less predictable weather. Twenty seven percent of England’s home One Day Internationals were played with reduced overs since 2000 due to rain disruptions, the study said. And for soccer, extreme weather events caused the cancellation of 25 Football League fixtures during the 2015-16 season, the study said. It did not give comparisons to other years.
PYEONGCHANG: Record revenues from the Tokyo 2020 Olympics sponsorship programme have edged closer to $3.0 billion with more partners expected, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said on Wednesday. Tokyo has eclipsed all of its Olympic predecessors in terms of sponsorship proceeds by almost three times and the IOC’s coordination commission chief for the 2020 Games, John Coates, praised overall progress. “Tokyo continues to show positive progress and meeting key milestones,” Coates told the IOC session in Pyeongchang ahead of the 2018 Winter Olympics. He said new venue projects were also proceeding according to plan with the first such arena -- for badminton -- having opened late last year. Sponsorship revenues had now topped $2.91 billion, Coates said, calling the programme “extraordinarily successful”.
“There are 47 partners in total, 15 in tier one, 29 in tier two and three in tier three. $2.91 billion of national sponsorship and there is more to come,” he said. “It is a pleasure dealing with this local organising committee,” he said. The London 2012 Games raised roughly $1.1 billion, while Rio de Janeiro in 2016 claimed it had slightly surpassed London, but final accounts are sketchy given investigations into corruption linked to Olympics projects in Brazil. Tokyo initially struggled with preparations after being awarded the Games in 2013, scrapping plans for an expensive new stadium, reducing a ballooning budget from more than $26 billion to $16.8 billion and dealing with a number of environmental issues.
Berlin: Bayern Munich dismantled third-tier Paderborn to sweep into the German Cup semi-finals with a thumping 6-0 win on Tuesday. The lower league side, who suffered successive relegations after playing in the Bundesliga three years ago, began brightly but were swiftly outclassed by visiting Bayern, who have won the competition a record 18 times. Kingsley Coman gave Bayern the lead after 19 minutes, sweeping home from close range after Arjen Robben had missed his kick, and the France forward then teed up Robert Lewandowski with a delightful pass for the second. Bayern effectively ended Paderborn’s resistance four minutes before halftime when a beautiful long ball from Mats Hummels found Joshua Kimmich, who beat the keeper at his near post with a calm finish.
Bayern landed a further blow 10 minutes into the second half when Corentin Tolisso headed home unmarked from a corner. Robben curled the ball home from the edge of the area and then tapped in from close range to complete an emphatic win late on. Bayer Leverkusen also reached the last four after fighting back from 2-0 down to beat Werder Bremen 4-2 after extra time. Max Kruse and Aron Johannsson had given Bremen a two-goal lead inside seven minutes, but Julian Brandt scored either side of halftime to drag Leverkusen back into the match. Karim Bellarabi and Kai Havertz then scored late in extra time to complete a superb turnaround. The semi-final lineup will be completed on Wednesday when last year’s runners-up Eintracht Frankfurt host Mainz 05 and VfL Wolfsburg visit Schalke 04 in the remaining quarter-final ties.
SEOUL: A group of 280 North Koreans arrived in South Korea on Wednesday, one of the largest peacetime crossings of the inter-Korean border, to spur on athletes from the two Koreas at the Winter Olympics starting Friday. The delegation, made up mostly of a 229-member cheer squad, reached a border checkpoint by bus at around 0030 GMT, Seoul’s Unification Ministry said. In addition to the cheering squad, there were 26 taekwondo performers, 21 journalists and four North Korean Olympics committee members, including Sports Minister Kim Il-guk, the Unification Ministry said. After security controls the group left for the Olympics venue in the alpine resort town of Pyeongchang. Their arrival comes a day after a North Korean ferry crossed the border carrying a 140-strong orchestra to perform during the Games. Aside from the sports officials, the group will be housed at Inje Speedium Hotel & Resort, a four-star luxury hotel roughly two-hours drive from the Olympic venue in Pyeongchang. Days before the group’s arrival, workers at Inje Speedium had placed banners around the premises welcoming the North Koreans, reading “We are one” and “welcome”.
Police have been deployed to enforce safety at the resort. The members of North Korea’s Olympics committee are expected to stay at the Pyeongchang Holiday Inn, a subsidiary of InterContinental Hotels Group. The taekwondo performance team is scheduled to hold four shows during their stay in South Korea. Two demonstrations will be held near Pyeongchang, while the team will travel to the capital Seoul for the remaining two. During their Seoul visit, home will be the five-star Grand Walkerhill for the North Koreans, which overlooks the Han River and previously hosted American celebrities like Michael Jackson and Paris Hilton. After the art troupe arrived on Tuesday in a ferry, which is also being used as accommodation, North Korea has asked South Korea to provide oil to refuel the vessel, the Unification Ministry said on Wednesday. Oil is a sensitive item and has taken center stage in global efforts to curb Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile programs, with Washington calling for a drastic cut in energy supplies to the isolated country. North Korea has virtually no domestic oil production, and has traditionally imported its fuel demand from China and Russia. In December, the U.N. Security Council unanimously imposed new sanctions on the North, seeking to ban nearly 90 percent of refined petroleum exports to the country by capping them at 500,000 barrels a year. “There was a request for oil support during our discussions with the North after the ship arrived, and we’re reviewing it now”, ministry spokesman Baik Tae-hyun told a news briefing in Seoul. Asked about concerns that South Korea was making exceptions to the sanctions, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said it was important not to let up pressure. “We must not be fooled by North Korea’s ‘smile diplomacy,” he told a news conference in Tokyo. The orchestra is scheduled to perform at Gangneung, near Pyeongchang, on Thursday and in Seoul on Sunday. As the ferry was docked at a South Korean port, it was greeted by angry protesters who held large photos of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un with black crosses drawn through them. Pyongyang’s state media lashed out at the rallies as a “never-to-be-condoned farce of confrontation with fellow countrymen”.
New Delhi: BCCI acting president C. K.Khanna on Monday wrote to all the board members seeking their suggestions on shifting the national cricket board's headquarters from the iconic Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai to Bengaluru once the National Cricket Academy (NCA) takes shape in the next couple of years. The BCCI has now got its own land -- a huge 40 acre plot on the outskirts of the Garden City where a state of the art NCA will be built with five-star lodging facility. Khanna, in his letter has sought suggestions from all the members so that it can be brought up at the governing body meeting. "People are of strong view that present administrative premises of the Board do not have adequate and appropriate office infrastructure nor is there any further scope of expansion," Khanna wrote in his letter.
"I strongly suggest that since BCCI has acquired 40 acres of land at Bengaluru which is in the close vicinity of airport for its most ambitious project of NCA, this whole land can be used optimally along with NCA," he wrote. The acting president wants all the meetings to be held at its upcoming new set-up, where the members can also put up, thereby cutting down on hotel costs. Also a part of the premises can be rented out for commercial activities. "BCCI also uses a part of this land to build a new state of the art headquarter. "This plot after earmarking major part of the land for NCA on the advice of experts, may also be used for BCCI's new office and residential accommodation, after assessing the need for various categories of guests that are likely to use the same such as our own Board officials, affiliated states officials, VIP guests, cricketers and others," the letter added.
Moscow: The purpose of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) commissions decision to bar acquitted Russian athletes from the Winter Olympics in South Korea is to cause political harm to Russia, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said on Monday. The IOC earlier issued a statement declining a request to send invitations to the Games to 13 Russian athletes and two coaches, who had been cleared by the Swiss-based court, reports Tass news agency. "The IOC's commission made a disgraceful decision. It was unfair and unlawful. Also, it was immoral and politicized. By prohibiting our athletes, whose rights were restored by the court of arbitration, created especially for settling such disputes, the IOC's commission trampled down the Olympic Charter and elementary principles of law," Medvedev said on his Facebook page. "Unproven guilt spells innocence. It is up to the court to make the final decision. This time a decision was made by a group of people who placed themselves above the court, the IOC, the athletes and the fans. The purpose of this decision is very far away from sports. Its aim is to cause political harm to our country," Medvedev said.
Medvedev agreed the IOC had the right to decide who of the athletes should be invited to the Olympics. "But how can one explain the fact that those who face no legal charges and whose guilt was not proven in court are not invited? This approach runs counter to the fundamental basics of law. Not to mention the risk of ruining the careers of people who dedicated their whole life to sport," Medvedev said. "Doping has nothing to do with that," he said. "Talking about that further on is laughable." "It might be possible to somehow tolerate a biased doping investigation targeted against one country, Russia, but the commission's decision to defy a verdict pronounced by a court for sport is beyond one's grasp," Medvedev said. "The result will be a long-term one." "First, business gained the upper hand over the testament of Pierre de Coubertin in the IOC. Now politics has overpowered law and decency," Medvedev said.
Madrid: Formula 1 is to swap its recently scrapped grid girls programme, which for years saw promotional female models accompany drivers at the stages before and after a race, with grid kids, a move that will incorporate youth competitors as mascots, according to a statement on Monday. In a statement, director of Formula 1's commercial operations, Sean Bratches, said the new initiative would allow racing competitors currently in karting or junior formulae levels a chance to stand alongside their heroes on the grid as they prepare for Grand Prix races, reports Efe. "This will be an extraordinary moment for these youngsters: imagine, standing beside their heroes, watch as they prepare to race, the elite of the elite in motorsport, to be there, alongside them in those precious few minutes just before the start," Bratches said. "What better way to inspire the next generation of Formula 1 heroes," he added, hoping that the move will boost the popularity among F1's young followers.
Bratches a week ago announced an end to the use of grid girls in all competitions starting with the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne on March 25, on the basis that it was outdated and no longer resonated with the F1 brand. Grid girls traditionally undertook a variety of promotional activities during a Grand Prix event and would accompany the winning drivers on the podium during the awards ceremony. Jean Todd, president of the International Automobile Federation (FIA), the world motorsport governing body which is to work in partnership with Formula 1 in the grid kids scheme, also said the initiative would give young drivers a goal to aim for. "Formula 1 is the pinnacle of motorsport and the dream of every young racer competing the junior series that make up the FIA's single-seater pyramid, from karting all the way to F1," he said. "We are therefore delighted to bring that dream a little closer by giving the future champions of our sport the opportunity to stand alongside their heroes on the grid in the build-up to the race start," he added.
CHARLOTTE: Former USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar was sentenced to an additional 40 to 125 years in prison on Monday for molesting young female gymnasts, capping weeks of horrifying testimony from nearly 200 victims about his decades of abuse. Nassar, who previously received a 40-to-175-year sentence in Ingham County, Michigan, for sexual assault, was sentenced in neighboring Eaton County on Monday on a second set of charges. He is also serving a 60-year federal term for child pornography convictions. The doctor offered a brief apology to his victims on Monday, saying, “The visions of your testimonies will forever be present in my thoughts.” But Eaton County Circuit Judge Janice Cunningham said Nassar had again suggested in a pre-sentencing interview with authorities that his conduct was legitimate medical treatment. “I am not convinced that you truly understand that what you did was wrong, and the devastating impact that you have had on the victims, their families and friends,” she told Nassar. “Clearly you are in denial. You don’t get it.” As Cunningham delivered Nassar’s sentence on Monday, Rachael Denhollander, the first woman to make her allegations of abuse public in 2016, smiled broadly and squeezed her husband’s hand. After Nassar was led out in handcuffs, a parade of victims lined up to hug and thank Denhollander.
“I‘m just ready for it to be over,” Bailey Lorencen, who was abused by Nassar as a preteen gymnast, told Reuters. “It’s finally done.” “SOULS OF LITTLE CHILDREN” Athletes were drawn to Nassar for treatment due to his reputation as the go-to doctor for Olympic gymnasts. He disguised his digital penetration of victims as “intravaginal adjustment,” a legitimate treatment sometimes used to relieve pain. In both Ingham and Eaton counties, girls and women gave wrenching and powerful accounts of how Nassar abused them, sometimes with their own parents present in the exam room. Many said they spoke out to heal their own wounds and prevent future sexual abuse, many choosing to testify only after watching fellow survivors express a sense of catharsis. Friday’s hearing was briefly interrupted when Randall Margraves, whose three daughters were all Nassar victims, tried to attack Nassar in the courtroom before being tackled by officers. Prosecutors have said there are approximately 265 known victims in total, including Olympic gold medalists like McKayla Maroney and Aly Raisman. The scandal surrounding Nassar has reverberated far beyond the sports world, sparking various investigations into why the U.S. Olympic Committee, sport governing body USA Gymnastics, and Michigan State University, where he also worked, failed to investigate complaints about him going back years. High-level officials at USA Gymnastics and Michigan State have been forced to resign in recent weeks. The U.S. Olympic Committee has launched an investigation into its own conduct as well as that of USA Gymnastics. Cunningham noted the institutional failures that permitted Nassar to continue molesting girls even after several victims allegedly told coaches, trainers, Michigan State and a local police department about his abuse. “It is unfathomable how many victims would have been spared had authorities acted upon the complaints received years ago,” she said. Many of the victims have filed lawsuits against USA Gymnastics and Michigan State, accusing them of ignoring complaints against Nassar. Denhollander harshly criticized the university, which has moved to dismiss the litigation on grounds the school cannot be held legally liable for Nassar’s actions. “They have put institutional protectionism ahead and above the souls of little children,” she said. The school has expressed sympathy for the victims and vowed to cooperate with an investigation by the Michigan attorney general’s office. Larissa Boyce told her coach in 1997 that she believed Nassar’s actions were wrong but she was warned to keep silent. She had been convinced his treatment was legitimate until the wave of allegations made her realize she had been right. “It took so long to get here because people don’t want to believe little girls,” she told Reuters after the sentencing. “It speaks to the power of power and friendship to protect criminals. Nobody wanted to believe Larry was like this. Now everyone knows.”
