American artistic swimmer Anita Alvarez was in danger of drowning after losing consciousness in the pool at the world championships in Budapest on Wednesday before being rescued by her coach Andrea Fuentes.
Spaniard Fuentes, a four-time Olympic medalist in synchronized swimming, jumped into the pool after she saw Alvarez sink to the bottom at the end of her solo free final routine.
She was given medical attention beside the pool before being taken away on a stretcher.
It was the second time Fuentes has had to rescue Alvarez after she leapt into the pool during an Olympic qualification event last year and pulled her to safety along with the American’s swim partner Lindi Schroeder.
“Anita is much better, she is already at her best. It was a good scare, to be honest,” Fuentes told Spanish newspaper Marca on Wednesday.
“I jumped into the water again because I saw that no one, no lifeguard, was jumping in. I got a little scared because she wasn’t breathing, but now she’s fine. She has to rest.”
In a statement on the US Artistic Swimming Instagram page, Fuentes said 25-year-old Alvarez would be assessed by doctors on Thursday before a decision was made on her participation in Friday’s team event.
US swimmer Alvarez saved from drowning by coach
https://arab.news/6b9x7
US swimmer Alvarez saved from drowning by coach
- It was the second time coach Andrea Fuentes has had to rescue artistic swimmer Anita Alvarez
Newcastle United in dark over Sandro Tonali ban — but Eddie Howe pleads for FA leniency
- ‘Player needs help — not further punishment,’ says Magpies head coach
- Tonali weighs up response to fresh charges as April 5 deadline looms
NEWCASTLE: Newcastle United boss Eddie Howe says he does not know if Sandro Tonali could face a betting ban extension after the Football Association slapped the Italian with further charges.
This week the 23-year-old, who has not kicked a ball since October due to his original ban, was hit with 50 fresh charges about bets placed between August and October, during his time in England.
Tonali is currently serving a 10-month worldwide ban from football after admitting guilt in betting while a player at AC Milan and Brescia. The new charges address his time as a Premier League player.
And while head coach Howe does not know if the FA will look to extend any ban beyond his current August 27, 2024, return date, he hopes they will be lenient for the sake of the player, especially given the charges do not date after he was called in for questioning by Italian authorities.
Howe thinks the player needs help — not further punishment for his battle with addiction.
“We don’t know (what will happen), is the honest answer,” said Howe when quizzed by press at the club’s Benton training base ahead of the visit of West Ham United to St. James’ Park this weekend. “But I certainly hope for Sandro that there are no further consequences.
“He has suffered during this period. He has sought help, he’s been very honest. He has admitted he has an issue, and I think the best thing for Sandro would be to resume his career having taken his punishment and having learned a lot of lessons from this.
“That illness was there and people should look at it that way and not, ‘Let’s throw the book at him and let’s punish him even further’, because I don’t think that gets to the root of the problem. We need to protect all our players because this is something that’s open to everybody and becoming a bigger problem in society, so this isn’t just a problem for Sandro.
“If that ban was extended, we’d still be feeling that pain and so would Sandro, because he wants to play football, and he is in a good place, doing well off the pitch. I think he should be allowed the chance to move forward with his career. I will be hugely disappointed if that ban was extended.”
Newcastle United signed Tonali from Milan in the summer for around $65 million, not knowing that he could be hit by a ban. Does Howe feel let down by his midfielder?
“I don’t feel let down,” he said. “Sandro has an illness. If this was associated with another form of illness, I think there would be a lot more sympathy and understanding. That illness did not stop the minute he moved to England. That illness was still there.
“It was only when everything that had happened — instantly he was very apologetic and sorry for what he had done — that he needed help. We have tried, along with Sandro’s representatives and his family, to get him the help that he needs to recover from this. This is something that won’t go away for him, so he has regular meetings in Italy and in England to deal with the problems that he has.”
The hiding of the addiction has drawn many to question the role of outgoing sporting director Dan Ashworth, whose task it was to make sure due diligence was carried out on any new signings.
Howe has sympathy with all parties in that regard. He said: “When someone has something they want to hide on a personal level from their closest family, there is no way a football club could have known,” he said.
“I think this could happen to any club at any time. Even for us in the future, you just don’t know. It’s very difficult to dig that deep if someone wants to hide something. We will endeavour to do everything possible to ensure in any future transfer there are no problems like this again.”
Tonali has until April 5 to respond to the 50 charges. While it is not known what course of action the FA will seek to take should a guilty plea be entered, it is possible the ban will run concurrently to the one he is serving now. This would see the player still remain on course for an August return to football.
Liverpool target Xabi Alonso says staying as Leverkusen coach
- The 42-year-old Spaniard has Leverkusen on course for a trophy treble, including their first ever German league crown
- “Last week I had a meeting when I informed (Leverkusen’s directors) of my decision to continue being coach of Bayer Leverkusen”
MUNICH: Xabi Alonso, who was seen by many as Liverpool’s top target to replace Jurgen Klopp as their manager, said on Friday he is staying at Bundesliga leaders Bayer Leverkusen next season.
The 42-year-old Spaniard has Leverkusen on course for a trophy treble, including their first ever German league crown.
“It’s been a season of speculation regarding my future,” Alonso told a press conference.
“Up till now we have been busy and focused on the season and I wanted to reflect during the international break and take a decision.
“Last week I had a meeting when I informed (Leverkusen’s directors) of my decision to continue being coach of Bayer Leverkusen.”
Alonso said he was still developing as a coach and he felt Leverkusen, his first senior team coaching post, is the best place for him to continue growing.
“At the moment this is the right place for me to develop as a coach, I am a young coach,” he said.
“Right now this is the right place. I have to thank the management.
“The club had been supportive and I feel respected by all departments.”
Alonso has a contract until 2026 but had been linked with moves to Liverpool, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich, all clubs where he spent time as a player, having done a stunning job at runaway Bundesliga leaders Leverkusen.
Leverkusen are unbeaten this term with 34 victories and four draws and are 10 points clear of Bayern Munich and on track for their first ever Bundesliga title with eight games remaining this season.
The former Spain midfielder, who was a member of the side that won the Euro in 2008 and 2012 as well as the 2010 World Cup, is aiming to complete a treble.
Aside from topping the table they are in the final four of the German Cup and the quarter-finals of the Europa League and could potentially meet Liverpool in the final.
Alonso’s coaching experience was limited to the Real Sociedad B team when he was appointed Leverkusen coach in October 2022, but he showed he had natural talent as a coach as he saved them from relegation.
With Alonso out of the race to replace Klopp the frontrunners are believed to be Sporting Lisbon head coach Ruben Amorim and Brighton’s Italian manager Roberto De Zerbi.
De Zerbi can further impress his potential employers on Sunday as he takes his side to Liverpool and is yet to come off second best against Klopp in four meetings.
Speaking in Liverpool after Alonso had made his announcement, Klopp said he understood his decision.
“He is doing an incredible job there. Leverkusen has a good team and they will probably keep the team together,” Klopp said.
“That’s a possibility and not all years it is like that. So I understand that he wants to do that.”
Klopp shocked the football world when he announced in January he would be standing down from the Liverpool job after a hugely successful nine-year stay.
In 2020 he delivered their first league title since 1990, a year after landing the 2019 Champions League.
Alonso preferred not to comment directly about the Liverpool vacancy or indeed Bayern Munich, who were hoping to attract him to replace Thomas Tuchel, who is leaving at the end of the season.
Tuchel’s departure is a consequence of Alonso’s success — should Leverkusen hold their nerve and lift the Bundesliga trophy it will bring to an end Bayern’s run of 11 successive league crowns.
“I think it wouldn’t be correct of me to talk about other clubs when they are in this situation,” said Alonso, who remains a devoted Liverpool fan and encouraged his son to be one as well.
“For sure there are clubs I have a strong link, I play there. So I respect them. But it’s not correct for me to talk about them right now.
“It’s more that the conviction I am in the right place at Bayer Leverkusen and I want to keep growing with the club, growing with the players.
“I am at this stage in my young career. I had to feel the decision was in a natural way and that’s why I have taken it.”
Howzat! Saudi cricket league expands to build national side
RIYADH: With the popularity of cricket growing in Saudi Arabia, the sport’s league is expanding with the aim of establishing a professional league system and building a formidable national side that can qualify for the World Cup, not just win regional tournaments.
The sport has undoubtedly flourished with the Saudi Arabian Cricket Federation lining up a series of programs, gaining sponsorships and strong patronage. The Saudi team won the ACC Men’s Challenger Cup this year and the inaugural one last year in Bangkok.
The Challenger Cup is the first staging post in the Asian Cricket Council’s restructured three-tier pathway toward its top tournament — the Asia Cup.
The Saudi cricket team will now play the ACC Men’s Premier Cup, a tournament that provides a qualification pathway toward the next Asia Cup.
In an exclusive interview with Arab News, Kabir Khan, technical director for the Saudi cricket league system, said: “Our biggest cricket league is the National Cricket Championship (NCC), in which all clubs associated with the SACF participate. We are now going to restructure the tournament to build a formidable side that can qualify for the world cup.”
In the opening NCC in 2021, cricket teams across Saudi Arabia battled it out to be crowned National Cricket Champions. The Saudi Sports for All Federation and the SACF joined forces to launch the Kingdom’s largest-ever cricket tournament with the participation of 369 teams and 15 cricket associations.
In the second NCC last year, more than 400 teams participated, and now a total of about 500 teams will play the new format of the biggest cricket championship in the Kingdom, Khan said.
“Previously, leagues were being played with each region having their own champions, but now top teams from all regions will qualify for the grand finale and the top four teams will play the semi-final, two will qualify to the final, and ultimately one is to be crowned as the winner of the NCC,” he told Arab News.
“First there will be inter-club matches where all 500 teams will participate that have about 15,000 registered players. Then it will be followed by inter-associations matches and finally inter-region matches,” Khan said.
According to the SACF, the cricket associations affiliated with the federation include: Western Province Cricket Association (WPCA) and Jeddah Cricket Association (JCA) in Jeddah, Riyadh Cricket Association (RCA) and Riyadh Cricket League (RCL) in Riyadh, Eastern Province Cricket Association (EPCA) and Eastern Region Cricket Association (ERCA) in Dammam, Jubail Cricket Association (JCA) in Jubail, Al-Qassim Cricket League (AQCL) and Al-Qassim Super League (AQSL) in Al-Qassim, Jazan Premier Cricket League (JPCL) and Jazan Region Cricket Association (JRCA) in Jazan, Madinah Munawwarah Cricket Association (MMCA) in Madinah, Aseer Cricket League (ACL) in Abha and Najran Cricket Association (NCA) in Najran. All of them have dozens of club teams playing under their banner, and each association has 20 players registered with them.
Khan told Arab News that there are six regions — Riyadh, Jeddah, Dammam, Makkah, Madinah and Yanbu — each having 20 players with them.
“Thus a tournament beginning with 15,000 players will reach 120 players at the final stage — inter-region matches, this includes the playing 11 and the extra players for replacement, through step-by-step filtration based on points table,” he said.
“RCA, RCL, WPCA and EPCA are the biggest leagues in terms of club membership. However, we do not have a ranking system for the domestic league.”
Khan said: “At the basic level, cemented or concrete pitches are available where cricket is played. There are more than 100 cricket grounds across the Kingdom. In Riyadh itself there are about 25 grounds. These are all sandy grounds. Only Yanbu has a grass cricket ground. As we aim to restructure the system, we will change the cement pitches to a turf pitch.”
Turf cricket pitches are the traditional choice, and revered for their natural playing characteristics.
Khan, who is also the head coach of the Saudi cricket team, said that the SACF’s target was to make the Kingdom a world-class cricketing destination in line with Saudi Vision 2030.
The SACF was established in 2020 with 12 associations, and had registered more than 6,000 players in its first year.
Rahat Ali Chaudhry, team manager at the federation, told Arab News: “The matches are mostly T20 and 40 overs played round the year. The 40-overs matches are mostly played in Riyadh and Dammam, the rest of the associations mostly play the T20 format.”
Due to the searing heat during the summer, there is a two-month break for players in Riyadh in June and July, he said.
Saudi Arabia is currently placed 31 in the ICC T20 ranking and is seeking an ODI ranking.
Team Abu Dhabi switch drivers to rest Comparato in Vietnam
- UAE’s Rashed Al-Qemzi steps in for young Italian as Stark gives Victory pole position
QUY NHON: Emirati driver Rashed Al-Qemzi will replace Alberto Comparato in the Team Abu Dhabi line-up for the rest of the inaugural Grand Prix of Bình Định-Vietnam race weekend.
The young Italian crashed at the start of the second qualifying session for Sunday’s second round of the UIM F1H2O World Championship, with his boat badly damaged after it barrel-rolled.
Comparato was uninjured but shaken by the accident, and Team Abu Dhabi manager Guido Cappellini took the decision to rest him. Al-Qemzi will now drive the team’s spare boat in Saturday morning’s sprint races ahead of the following day’s Grand Prix on Thi Nai Bay.
Al-Qemzi, who secured his fourth UIM F2 World Championship title last season, is no stranger to the F1H2O series. Sunday will see his 11th race start, with Victory Team’s Erik Stark in pole position.
Stark edged out reigning world champion Jonas Andersson in the six-boat qualifying shootout, while Sharjah Team’s first round winner in Indonesia, Rusty Wyatt, went through in fourth.
Al-Qemzi will be aiming to fight back from 10th place on Sunday after missing out on the final qualifying phase. His cousin, Rashed, will step in to join him as he did last season in Sardinia and Sharjah.
Before his crash, Comparato underlined his potential when he recovered from engine failure on the first lap of free practice to set the third fastest lap time.
Cappellini, a 10-time world champion, has no doubt that veteran Al-Qemzi and Comparato will be a powerful combination as the championship progresses.
“Of course, I have enough experience to be able to help Alberto settle into the team,” he said. “But Thani is also very good from that point of view. In fact, Thani is the best team-mate Alberto could ever have, and together they’re working in one direction to give their best for the team.”
Cappellini, who has guided Team Abu Dhabi to 17 world championship titles since taking charge in 2015, also welcomed the addition of another destination for the series.
“Vietnam is the second race in Asia and this is another new venue, which is very good for the team, and for Formula One in general,” he said.
Dubai’s historic Euroleague Basketball winners now head to Berlin
- Adidas Next Generation Tournament Qualifier took place for the first time at Coca-Cola Arena from March 22-24
- Ratiopharm Ulm emerged victorious to secure a spot at the 2024 ANGT finals in Berlin from May 24-26
DUBAI: The Euroleague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament made history in Dubai as the first such contest at the Coca-Cola Arena from March 22 to 24, and now Berlin beckons for the winners in May.
The event marked a significant milestone in Dubai’s basketball scene, featuring eight teams representing over 25 nationalities, with Dubai contributing nine, including the local heroes Falcons Academy.
Ratiopharm Ulm clinched victory over Zalgiris Kaunas 89-84 in the final to secure a spot in the final four in Berlin from May 24 to 26, while Adidas Next Generation Team finished third. Ratiopharm Ulm’s Noah Essengue was awarded the title of Most-Valued Player.
The tournament in Dubai — hosted by Falcons Academy — marked the first time a qualifier has been hosted in the Middle East, and outside of continental Europe. This has highlighted Dubai’s growing involvement in the global basketball sports arena.
The tournament featured a three-point shootout and slam-dunk contest and was sponsored by DMCC, La Gazzetta dela Sport, Phoenix Capital, Nirvana Tourism, MARCA, and the longstanding partnership with adidas spanning over a decade.
The tournament also received significant support from the Dubai Sports Council, the UAE Basketball Association, Dubai Holding and the Coca-Cola Arena.