Football
Filipe Luis set for Atletico return
Brazilian left back Filipe Luis ( below ) is set to return to Atletico Madrid just one year after leaving the Spanish club to join Chelsea.
Reports in both Spain and England say the two clubs have agreed on a fee of around 22 million euros, about the same Chelsea paid to sign the defender a year ago.IANS
Jones ready to fight for United place
Manchester United defender Phil Jones is relishing the prospect of having to fight for his starting place after a wave of high-calibre new signings at Old Trafford and the possibility of more to follow.
Jones is adamant that he welcomes the internal jostling for a starting berth. “It’s great,” Jones said.
“That’s what you relish as a footballer. You want to test yourself against the best players you can play with.
“We’ve got that this year and I look forward to it.”AFP
Savic signs for Atletico from Fiorentina
Montenegrin international defender Stefan Savic ( above ) signed for Spanish side Atletico Madrid from Serie A outfit Fiorentina on Monday, the buying club announced.
The 24-year-old – who won the English Premier League title with Manchester City in 2012 – signed a five year contract for a fee reported to be around 9million euros by Italian media.AFP
FIFA sets election date as Blatter finally rules himself out
FIFA chiefs on Monday recommended proposals to reform the scandal tainted world football body and a special election on February 26 to replace president Sepp Blatter who finally declared he will not be a candidate.AFP
Henderson will blossom as Liverpool captain says Rodgers
Jordan Henderson will become an even better player this season despite the additional responsibility of captaining Liverpool, according to the club’s manager Brendan Rodgers.
“When I was aware that Stevie was going I wanted to look at somebody who would be a great ambassador for Liverpool on and off the pitch,” he said.
“Jordan was one I thought about and once I saw him grow and develop as vice-captain, I felt sure he could be a captain.
“I told him to do it his way and have his own ideas and I think he’ll have an outstanding year and really blossom with the captaincy.”Reuters
Cycling
Thomas survives frightening crash as Plaza wins stage
Britain’s Geraint Thomas survived a terrifying crash on a hair-raising descent as Ruben Plaza ( below ) won Monday’s 16th stage of the Tour de France.
Chris Froome finished in an elite group of favourites to maintain his 3min 10sec lead over Nairo Quintana but his teammate Thomas came close to disaster on the 201km ride from Bourg-de-Peage to Gap.AFP
Hockey
van Ass claims being ‘fired’, Batra denies
India chief coach Paul van Ass on Monday claimed that he has been sacked by Hockey India (HI), but its president Narinder Batra maintained there has been no termination of the Dutchman’s contract and a decision in the matter will be taken this weekend.
The development comes in after the two had an altercation during the Hockey World League (HWL) Semi-Final after India’s quarterfinal win over Malaysia in Antwerp on July 1. IANS
KABADDI
Telugu Titans rally to outclass Puneri Paltan
Trailing in the first half by a solitary point, Telugu Titans came up with a strong second half showing to outclass Puneri Paltan 45-24 to notch their second win on the trot in the Star Sports Pro Kabaddi League on Monday.
Later, hosts and last year’s runners-up U Mumba notched up their third win on the trot by outsmarting Patna Pirates 25-20. The Mumbai outfit led 17-10 at half-time.
Once again it was their superior raiding from captain Anup Kumar (7 points including 6 in raids, right above ), Shabeer Bapu (5)and Rishank Devadiga (4) that did the trick for U Mumba.PTI
Swimming
China’s Sun set for four events in Kazan
China’s controversial Olympic swimming champion Sun Yang ( below ) will probably compete in four events at the world championships starting in Russia this week, a report said on Monday, a year after a secret three-month doping ban.AFP
