Tennis
Sharapova out of Rio as CAS delays doping decision
The Court of Arbitration for Sport said on Monday it has put back its ruling on the two-year doping ban for Maria Sharapova ( below ) for two months to September, ruling the tennis superstar out of the Rio Olympics.
The 29-year-old Russian tested positive for the banned medication meldonium during January’s Australian Open, in a severe blow to her reputation.
If the ban is upheld it would almost certainly end one of sport’s most celebrated and high-profile careers.
“Maria Sharapova and the International Tennis Federation (ITF) have agreed to defer the CAS decision until September 2016,” said a CAS statement.AFP
Football
Ancelotti vows to keep Bayern on the attack
Bayern Munich’s new coach Carlo Ancelotti ( below ) said on Monday he would stick to his predecessor Pep Guardiola’s offensive strategy for the Bundesliga giants, pledging to “try to win every competition”.
“I come after a fantastic manager ... and I will try to follow (him with) good football, and offensive football,” Ancelotti said in his first press conference as head coach of the German champions.
“I’m not here to do a revolution. The job that Guardiola made was fantastic and I would like to follow his style,” stressed Ancelotti, who, like the Spaniard, spoke in German at the beginning of his first press meeting, having taken a language crash course.AFP
Griezmann named best player of Euro 2016
UEFA on Monday named French forward and tournament top scorer Antoine Griezmann ( right above ) as the best player of Euro 2016, a day after the hosts’ 1-0 final defeat to Portugal.
“Antoine Griezmann was a threat in every game he played. He works hard for his team and possesses technique, vision and quality finishing,” said UEFA chief technical officer Ioan Lupescu, who led the panel that picked the striker.AFP
Deschamps to stay for France World Cup campaign
Didier Deschamps ( left above ) will remain as coach of France and lead them into the looming 2018 World Cup qualifying campaign despite their stunning upset by Portugal in the European Championship final.
But the 47-year-old, who won the World Cup and European Championship as captain of France, has no intention of quitting. “It is lined up like that. I am not going to think about myself,” he said.AFP
Pelle leaves Southampton for China
Italy striker Graziano Pelle has joined Chinese side Shandong Luneng from Southampton for an undisclosed fee, the Premier League club announced on Monday.AFP
Athletics
Three more athletes, including Maheswary, qualify for Olympics
Three track and field athletes, including veteran triple jumper Renjith Maheswary ( below ), on Monday booked Rio Olympics berths with brilliant performances in the 4th Indian Grand Prix here.
Maheswary and Dharambir Singh (200m) shattered national records while Jinson Johnson ran the second fastest ever 800m race by an Indian to better Rio qualification marks on a dramatic day at Sree Kanteerava Stadium.
27-year-old Haryana lad Dharambir clocked 20.45 secs that not only bettered the Rio qualification mark of 20.50 secs but also improved his own national mark of 20.66 secs set at the Asian Championships in China last year.PTI
