London: Newcastle United’s manager Rafa Benitez would have taken a victory against just about anyone on Sunday, such was his side’s predicament, but a 1-0 win over Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United would have tasted that bit sweeter. Huddersfield Town’s 4-1 home victory over Bournemouth earlier in the day meant Newcastle started their home clash against United in the Premier League’s bottom three. Yet they responded with a gritty display, riding their luck at times to take the points courtesy of Matt Ritchie’s 65th-minute winner which propelled them from 18th to 13th. The result also left second-placed United a whopping 16 points behind leaders Manchester City and looking anxiously over their shoulders in what looks like becoming a tense battle for the remaining Champions League places. Tottenham Hotspur’s 1-0 victory over Arsenal on Saturday had lifted the north London club to within four points of United and Liverpool sliced the gap to two after Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah scored in a nonchalant 2-0 win at Southampton in Sunday’s late kickoff. Fifth-placed Chelsea can move to within three points of United with victory at West Brom on Monday.
There was a warm handshake between Benitez and Mourinho when the final whistle sounded at a tumultuous St James’ Park to confirm Newcastle’s first home league win since October. But their previous history has been marked by frostiness -- a result of former Liverpool manager Benitez twice getting the better of Mourinho’s Chelsea in Champions League semi-finals. The fact that they have both managed Chelsea, Real Madrid and Inter Milan, with Mourinho enjoying a superior record, meant Benitez’s triumph on Sunday, only his second in the Premier League against Mourinho, had added meaning. Ritchie rifled a shot past David De Gea in the 65th minute to punish a profligate United side who wasted several good chances with Anthony Martial and Alexis Sanchez culpable. Newcastle dug deep for their manager and debutant keeper Martin Dubravka made several superb saves. “They fought like animals,” Mourinho said of Benitez’s side. “Newcastle’s players gave the sacrifices all managers like to see. Were they lucky? Yes. But sometimes you deserve that luck. They fought for their lives and that’s a beautiful thing.” TOO SLICK Martial was denied by a great save from Dubravka and had two efforts cleared off the line after the break. Sanchez inexplicably failed to fire into an empty net after rounding Dubravka, shortly before Ritchie struck the winner. “We had games in the past when we conceded late. We got lucky with some shots, but we showed the character, the commitment and the desire today,” Benitez said. Liverpool were too slick for a feeble Southampton as they condemned the south coast side to a place in the bottom three. Salah punished a mistake and squared for Firmino to score in the seventh minute and the livewire Egyptian then stroked home the second before halftime after a snappy passing move. United have 56 points, Liverpool 54 and Tottenham 52 with Chelsea on 50. It is equally tight at the bottom where the so-called trap door is looking more like a revolving door. Huddersfield escaped the bottom three on Sunday as they snapped a five-game losing sequence. Alex Pritchard fired Huddersfield in front after seven minutes and although Junior Stanislas levelled, the hosts were ahead again before the break thanks to Steve Mounie’s 27th-minute header from Aaron Mooy’s delivery.
Polish President Andrzej Duda and his wife, Agata Kornhauser Duda, have met Polish sportspeople at the Olympic village in Pyeongchang. Several dozen Poles, among them the country's top figure ice skaters, bobsledders and cross-country skiers, also met presidential aide Krzysztof Szczerski, Polish Ambassador to South Korea Piotr Ostaszewski, Sports Minister Witold Bańka and Polish Olympic Committee chief Andrzej Kraśnicki. “The president told competitors that he was cheering for them and wished them new personal bests,” the Polish Olympic team's spokesman, Henryk Urbaś, said.
“The presidential couple said they were happy to be in Pyeongchang and were impressed by the mood,” Urbaś added. The Polish first couple watched the Opening Ceremony of the Winter Olympics from the stands at Pyeongchang on Friday and are set to watch ski jumpers, including Poland's Kamil Stoch, a gold medal winner at the Sochi games, in flight on Saturday.
JOHANNESBURG: Indian captain Virat Kohli lamented two crucial errors which effectively cost his team a chance of wrapping up the series in the fourth one-day international against South Africa at the Wanderers Stadium on Saturday. "You have to take your chances in this game," said Kohli after David Miller escaped twice in one over at a time when India seemed to have taken control. South Africa chased down a rain-reduced target of 202 in 28 overs with five wickets and 15 balls to spare to keep alive their hopes of sharing the six-match series after losing the first three games. But the home team's chances looked slim when returning star AB de Villiers was fourth man out with 100 runs still needed and only 67 balls remaining. In the next over David Miller, on six, was dropped by Shreyas Iyer at deep square leg off leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal. Back on strike in the same over he missed a sweep and was bowled -- only to be recalled when a replay showed Chahal had sent down a no-ball.
Miller went on to hit 39 and shared a quickfire stand of 72 with Heinrich Klaasen, whose 43 not out off 27 balls earned him the man of the match award. Two weather interruptions played a key role. India were 200 for two, with Shikhar Dhawan on 107 not out when the threat of lightning caused a stoppage after 34.2 overs. Dhawan added only two runs after the resumption and India lost five wickets for 89 runs to finish with a slightly disappointing 289 for seven. South Africa were 43 for one after 7.2 overs when lightning, followed by rain, caused a lengthy delay. They came came back needing another 159 runs off 20.4 overs. "It basically became a T20 game," said Kohli. "We did not grab our chances so we did not deserve to win." Indian spinners Chahal and left-armer Kuldeep Yadav, who took 21 wickets between them in the first three matches, conceded a combined 119 runs off 11.3 overs on Saturday as they struggled to control a wet ball against aggressive batting. "It was nice to put some pressure on the Indians. The message today was to put fear aside," said South African captain Aiden Markram. Kohli, the star of a series in which India hold an unbeatable 3-0 lead, played another valuable innings, hitting 75 in a second-wicket stand of 178 with Dhawan. His 83-ball innings took Kohli to 393 runs for a series in which he has only been dismissed twice. It was the third successive big partnership between Dhawan and Kohli. They put on an unbeaten 93 in chasing down a small target in the second match in Centurion and added 140 in setting up a win in the third match in Cape Town. This time, though, it was the left-handed Dhawan who made the biggest contribution, hitting his 13th ODI century in his 100th match in the format. His 109 runs were scored off 105 balls, with ten fours and two sixes.
Polish ski jumping star Kamil Stoch and his teammate Stefan Hula have finished fourth and fifth respectively at the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang in the Normal Hill event. Germany's Andreas Wellinger grabbed the gold with a total of 259.3 points, followed by Norwegians Johann Andre Forfang (250.9 points) and Robert Johansson (249.7 points). Poland's Maciej Kot came 19th while his countryman Dawid Kubacki did not qualify for the final round.
Polish ski jumpers will compete in the large hill event next Saturday and in the team event on Monday, February 19. In the run-up to the Olympics, Polish officials had named ski jumping as the country's big hope for honours in South Korea.
Cristiano Ronaldo bagged a hat-trick as Real Madrid thrashed Real Sociedad 5-2 in La Liga on Saturday to warm up for their Champions League clash with Paris St Germain in style. Atletico Madrid saw off Malaga 1-0 in a tight game to provisionally close the gap on leaders Barcelona to six points. Real’s big victory over Sociedad took them third above Valencia but they trail Barcelona by 16 points as they turn their attention to the defence of their Champions League title against PSG at the Bernabeu on Wednesday. Zinedine Zidane rested Casemiro and Gareth Bale with one eye on that, but the Welsh winger’s replacement Lucas Vazquez took full advantage when he headed home Ronaldo’s cross after 49 seconds. Karim Benzema struck the post with a low effort as he failed to break his scoring drought, the French striker is now without a league goal since November, as Real pressed to add to their advantage.
They did just that after 27 minutes when a brilliant turn by Asensio unlocked Sociedad’s defence and Marcelo crossed for Ronaldo to slam home from close range. Toni Kroos curled home the third from outside the area and Ronaldo headed home Luka Modric’s corner in a four-minute spell before the interval. The Portuguese forward completed his treble after Geronimo Rulli beat away substitute Bale’s long-range effort. Jon Bautista and Asier Illaramendi netted consolation goals for Real Sociedad. “Today from the first minute the team came out to play football, to keep the ball, to press the opponent and steal it high up, and there was a big difference,” Real captain Sergio Ramos said. ”Then in front of goal we were more accurate (than in recent games). I’d be lying to you if I said that we weren’t thinking about PSG. ”Against them we play for our season, (here) we could have continued to press but we couldn’t keep up that rhythm for 90 minutes. We knew how to rest ourselves. “The objective was to gain confidence and that is what we did today.” In Malaga, second-placed Atletico went ahead almost instantly when Antoine Griezmann capitalised on Saul Niguez’s deflected strike falling at his feet close to goal. Jan Oblak saved a Roberto Rosales free kick in the second half as Atletico kept their opponents at bay to earn a narrow victory in typical fashion. Malaga, rooted to the bottom of the table, have picked up two points in their last eight games.
Venus Williams and CoCo Vandeweghe won the opening singles matches to give holders the United States a commanding 2-0 lead in their Fed Cup World Group opener against the Netherlands in Asheville, North Carolina on Saturday. Williams, with younger sister Serena watching on from the sidelines after being selected for the team, struck first with a 6-1 6-4 victory over Arantxa Rus on the indoor hard court. After racing through the opening set, Williams was made to work in the second where the first five games all ended in service breaks. Williams finally saved a break point in the sixth game and held serve for the first time in the second set.
“It’s never easy and it’s always a challenge,” Williams said after beating her 124th-ranked opponent. “On paper, today I looked like I should win but it was a battle and I‘m glad to get through that.” With the win, Williams joined Billie Jean King, Chris Evert and Lindsay Davenport as the only American women to win 20 or more Fed Cup singles matches. World number 17 Vandeweghe battled back for a 4-6 7-6(6) 6-3 victory over world number 108 Richel Hogenkamp to put the Americans one win away from the April 21-22 semi-finals. Hogenkamp won four consecutive games to take the opener but Vandeweghe levelled the match with an ace on her fourth set point, triggering a massive fist pump and show of emotion that few expected from what initially appeared to be a mismatch. Vandeweghe charged home in the decisive set to give her side a comfortable lead heading into Sunday’s reverse singles and doubles closer. Serena Williams, who has not played a competitive match since she won the Australian Open title last year, will team up with Lauren Davis in a doubles match that will be played even if the U.S. clinch the tie earlier. Elsewhere, the Czech Republic, winners in five of the last seven years, ended day one of their tie in Prague against Switzerland 2-0 ahead after Petra Kvitova beat Viktorija Golubic in three sets before Barbara Strycova eased past Belinda Bencic. Belarus were locked at 1-1 with Germany in Minsk while hosts France and Belgium were also level going into Sunday’s action.
Pyeongchang Winter Olympics organisers confirmed on Sunday that the Games had fallen victim to a cyber attack during Friday’s opening ceremony, but they refused to reveal the source. The Games’ systems, including the internet and television services, were affected by the hack two days ago but organisers said it had not compromised any critical part of their operations. “Maintaining secure operations is our purpose,” said International Olympic Committee (IOC) spokesman Mark Adams. “We are not going to comment on the issue. It is one we are dealing with. We are making sure our systems are secure and they are secure.” Asked if organisers knew who was behind the attack, Adams said: “I certainly don’t know. But best international practice says that you don’t talk about an attack.”
The Winter Games are being staged only 80km (50 miles) from the border with North Korea, which is technically still at war with the South since their 1950-1953 war ended in a truce rather than a peace treaty. The two teams marched together at an Olympics opening ceremony for the first time since 2006. South Korea has been using the Pyeongchang Games to break the ice with the reclusive North, which has been trading nuclear threats with the United States recently. “All issues were resolved and recovered yesterday morning,” Pyeongchang organising committee spokesman Sung Baik-you told reporters. “We know the cause of the problem but that kind of issues occurs frequently during the Games. We decided with the IOC we are not going to reveal the source (of the attack),” he told reporters. Russia, which has been banned from the Games for doping, said days before the opening ceremony that any allegations linking Russian hackers to attacks on the infrastructure connected to the Pyeongchang Olympic Games were unfounded. “We know that Western media are planning pseudo-investigations on the theme of ‘Russian fingerprints’ in hacking attacks on information resources related to the hosting of the Winter Olympic Games in the Republic of Korea,” Russia’s foreign ministry said. “Of course, no evidence will be presented to the world.” Cyber security researchers said in January they had found early indications that Russia-based hackers may be planning attacks against anti-doping and Olympic organisations in retaliation for Russia’s exclusion from the Pyeongchang Games.
Conservative activists tore photos of North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un and attempted to burn its national flag in demonstrations here on Saturday against Pyongyang's participation in the PyeongChang Winter Olympics. A flurry of demonstrations took place on the streets as Kim's sister and other high-ranking officials visited the presidential office and North Korean art troupe Samjiyon Orchestra arrived in Seoul to perform on Sunday, Yonhap news agency reported. Some 800 anti-North Korean protesters marched and staged street performances in front of the Deoksu Palace in central Seoul, condemning the North Korean leader and President Moon Jae-in, who they regard as too soft on the North. Photos of Kim Jong-un and North Korea's national flags were seen damaged and in tatters. Some were holding up a ripped-up "Korean Unification" flag, which was used when athletes from South and North Korea made a joint entrance at the opening ceremony of the PyeongChang Olympics on Friday night. Some people tried to burn the North Korean national flag, but were contained by police. "You are fired. Get out of here Korea," one protester, wearing a mask of US President Donald Trump, shouted at a protester wearing a mask of the South Korean President.
Three people playing the roles of President Moon, the North Korean leader and Kim Yong-nam, North Korea's ceremonial head of state, respectively, walked in silence, tied to each other by a rope. Similar demonstrations took place sporadically around the city. The protests took place as Kim Jong-un, in a message delivered by his sister Kim Yo-jong, invited Moon to Pyongyang at the "earliest date" possible for what will be a third inter-Korean summit.
PYEONGCHANG: Russia’s team for the Pyeongchang Olympics could be as formidable as previous ones even though the government says it was decimated by an International Olympic Committee (IOC) decision to bar man of its medal hopefuls. Data compiled by Reuters suggests that, at least on paper, the team for this month’s Winter Olympic Games is as strong as past ones even without notable contenders such as excluded short track speed skater Viktor Ahn, a six-time Olympic gold medalist. The IOC banned Russia from the Games over a doping scandal. All but one of the 169 athletes that were cleared to compete are taking part in Pyeongchang as neutral Olympic Athletes from Russia. A further 47 banned coaches and athletes, including Ahn, had appealed the IOC decision but on Friday their appeals were dismissed by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). Nevertheless, fourteen of the athletes taking part are medal winners at the most recent world championships in their respective disciplines. That includes two golds, individually or in relay and team pursuits events. The Russian team at the 2010 Vancouver Games had 179 members, according to the IOC. These athletes had won 13 world championship medals heading into those Games, including three golds. At Vancouver they came away with three gold, five silver and seven bronze medals.
“I think it’s a fair comparison,” said Brian Cazeneuve, who makes Olympic podium predictions for Sports Illustrated magazine. “Given that those (the Vancouver Games) were not perceived as being very successful Olympics for them, it gives you an idea of what they will be expected to do now.” Wins at previous world championships or Olympics offer no safeguard against upsets and injuries that influence performance. But the presence of several world championship and Olympic medalists suggests that some will end up on the podium. The Russians competing in Pyeongchang won seven medals at the previous games in 2014 in the southern Russian city of Sochi, including four golds. The Russians who competed in Vancouver won eight medals at the 2006 Turin Olympics, including three golds. The Reuters examination of Russia’s 2018 Olympians’ results did not focus on the Sochi Games, over which Russia has faced allegations of orchestrating one of the biggest doping cover up schemes in sport. At those Games, Russia had a team of 225 athletes, according to the IOC. Given that this number is more than the country would have sent to an Olympics abroad, and home teams tend to do well, the success Russia has had at those Games cannot easily be compared to that at other Olympics. “Home teams always tend to do a little bit better. You’re still going to get more, for instance, South Korean medalists probably this time than you would another time for obvious reasons: home eating, home training, familiarity with the venues and so forth,” said Cazeneuve. Russia won 33 medals, including 13 golds, in Sochi. Then the IOC stripped Russia of 13 medals, including four golds. CAS last week reinstated the results of 28 athletes who had appealed the IOC’s decision. CAS also overturned their lifetime bans although they were still not invited to compete in Pyeongchang by the IOC. Russian President Vladimir Putin welcomed the ruling. “It confirms our position on the fact that the vast majority of our athletes are clean,” he told reporters on Feb 1. Putin added that Russia still needed to continue its fight against doping along with the World Anti-Doping Agency. Russia has vehemently denied the existence of a state-sponsored doping program in the country, as revealed in WADA-commissioned reports. Reuters also excluded hockey and curling from the calculation. The comparison in team sports is less exact because some members might have won medals in previous competitions but others may not. BAFFLED The IOC banned Russia over what it called the “systematic manipulation” of the anti-doping testing system at the 2014 Sochi Games. It left the door open for athletes without a history of doping to compete at its invitation without the Russian tricolor, national emblems or anthem. Last month it released a list of 17 factors that were used to determine which Russians would be invited to the Games. The selection of some and the exclusion of others has left athletes and some international sports bodies baffled as to how the IOC compiled the list. Speaking to reporters last month, short track speed skater Sofia Prosvirnova said the invitation process had been “a lottery” while former National Hockey League (NHL) player Ilya Kovalchuk said the exclusion of some athletes had been “completely unfair.” International sports organizations say the IOC selection criteria should have been made public sooner than they were. “The disappointment for us is that it is not transparent,” Graeme Steel, chief executive of iNADO, an umbrella group that includes the world’s leading anti-doping agencies, told Reuters. “We can’t see what has enabled those athletes to demonstrate that they are clean. As it stands at the moment, we can’t verify how they’ve gotten there.” The IOC did not answer questions about criticism of the selection process. It said in a statement to Reuters: “The result came after intensive weeks of work by the Independent Invitation Review Panel members, in which they went into detailed consideration of each individual athlete.” Russian officials are upset that Ahn, biathlete Anton Shipulin and other top competitors have been excluded and their appeals rejected. It will not have enough athletes for relays in certain events. Speed skater Olga Graf, who won two bronze in Sochi, said last month that she had turned down the IOC invitation to compete. She was the only Russian athlete to reject the IOC invitation. Graf said the exclusion of several team mates would prevent Olympic Athletes from Russia from contending for a medal in the team pursuit event. Cazeneuve initially projected Russia would win two gold medals in Pyeongchang, close to the three in Vancouver. He projected Russia’s teenage figure skater Alina Zagitova and speed skater Denis Yuskov would win gold. But Yuskov was not invited by the IOC and CAS on Thursday determined its ad hoc division in Pyeongchang lacked jurisdiction to deal with the case. “The result is bizarre: a delegation of ‘Olympic Athletes from Russia’ little different in number than recent Russian Winter Olympic Teams,” said Joseph de Pencier, the former CEO of iNADO who continues to work in anti-doping.
LONDON: Harry Kane’s 101st Premier League goal was the difference as Tottenham Hotspur earned a 1-0 win over Arsenal, to continue their fine recent form in north London derbies in front of a Premier League record crowd at Wembley on Saturday. Both teams struggled to get going in the first half, but the contest burst into life straight after the interval, with Kane heading in his seventh goal in seven matches against Arsenal to break the deadlock in the 49th minute. Arsenal almost snatched a point at the death, but substitute Alexandre Lacazette fired wide, and in truth, the margin of victory should have been greater, as Spurs wasted several chances to double their advantage in front of a crowd of 83,222.
None the less, the hosts hung on for the victory that enables them to leapfrog both Liverpool and Chelsea -- who do not play until Sunday and Monday respectively -- into third place, seven points clear of sixth-placed Arsenal, who have now beaten Spurs just once in eight league games.
American skier Lindsey Vonn burst into tears during her arrival press conference at the Winter Olympics on Friday when asked about the passing of her grandfather. Vonn’s 88-year-old grandfather Don Kildow passed away last month and the skier has spoken several times of his importance in her life. Kildow served in the U.S. military in Korea during the war in the country in the 1950s.
Asked by a reporter how his memory resonated with her now she was in Korea, Vonn said: ”It’s really hard. I wish you hadn’t said it. It’s really hard for me not to cry. “I want so badly to do well for him. I miss him so much, he has been such a big part of my life and I really had hoped that he would be alive to see me,” she said in tears after pausing. “But I know that he is going to help me and I am going to win for him.” Vonn, who is the most successful woman skier on the World Cup circuit with 81 career victories, is looking to repeat her downhill gold from Vancouver in 2010 after missing out in Sochi four years ago due to injury.
PYEONGCHANG: At an Olympic dinner reception designed to break the ice between two nations still technically at war, the dessert said it all. Dark chocolate tempered in the shape of barbed wire lay over a map of the Korean peninsula rendered in thin blue chocolate, a representation of the heavily militarised border that separates Games host South Korea and its old enemy in the North. The guests, including leaders of North and South, were invited to pour melted white chocolate on top - and the barbed wire would dissolve. The dessert, called “A Plate of Hope”, was what South Korean President Moon Jae-in planned to serve his dozen VIP guests, which were to include U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics’ pre-opening party on Friday. But Pence had other ideas. He left the reception after just a few minutes, skipping the hopeful dessert and a potentially awkward encounter with North Korea’s nominal head of state, Kim Yong Nam. “South Korea has some difficult homework to solve regarding some countries,” Moon told the gathering of some 200 VIPs at the reception before Pence arrived.
“There are some who would not want to be in the same room together if it wasn’t for the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics. But what is more important than anything is that we are together.” Pence arrived at the reception late and had planned to leave directly after a photo session but Moon asked him to “come and say hello to friends”, Moon’s presidential spokesman said. Pence came to the table and shook hands with all of the VIPs on the head table except Kim Yong Nam, and left the reception five minutes later. Unlike Pence, fellow attendee Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe did shake hands with Kim Yong Nam, the South’s presidential Blue House said. Pence’s absence undid some careful organising, according to a seating diagram provided by a South Korean government source and protocol experts. The early plan showed Pence, with his wife to the left and Moon to his right, seated across the round table from Kim, who was nestled between U.N. Secretary General António Guterres and International Olympics Committee President Thomas Bach’s wife. Abe, also a staunch critic of the North Korean regime, was to sit opposite Moon, between Guterres and Han Zheng, a member of China’s Politburo Standing Committee. Other guests at the top table included Moon’s wife, and the German president and his wife. “The seating arrangement shows traces of the organisers’ agony,” said a former South Korean chief of protocol who reviewed the early draft of the seating arrangement. In a such a setting, the host nation would usually arrange seating by the alphabetical order of country names or the length of terms the guests had served, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter. The work-around showed the host had adopted the principle that “no one should be uncomfortable with the person sitting next to them”, with those from international organisations playing a buffer role, the official said. As it was, the two spaces set aside for Pence and his wife were left empty and seats for others were shuffled to more closely match normal protocols. A source in the Moon administration said Pence’s absence at the reception was a “mere bump” in an otherwise successful diplomatic event.
