MONZA: Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton set a track record at the Italian Grand Prix as he clinched a record-extending 94th pole position, nudging Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas into second place by just 0.069 seconds on Saturday.
But Ferrari’s troubles went from bad to worse as both cars failed to qualify inside the top 10 at the team's home circuit for the first time since 1984, with Sebastian Vettel not even making it out of Q1.
Hamilton looks on course to extend his championship lead, which stands at 47 points from Red Bull rival Max Verstappen and 50 from Bottas.
Bottas and Hamilton exchanged track records in qualifying at the Temple of Speed. McLaren driver Carlos Sainz — who moves to Ferrari next year — was third, 0.808 behind the British driver and just ahead of Sergio Perez and Verstappen.
Things went from terrible to abysmal for Ferrari. Charles Leclerc qualified 13th and has little chance of repeating last year when he won from pole position to end the team’s nine-year wait for victory at Monza.
Vettel finished 17th after being hampered by traffic on his final lap.
Earlier, Bottas led third and final practice.
Bottas was 0.229 faster than Sainz and 0.323 quicker than Lando Norris after an impressive showing from the McLaren pair.
The session was interrupted about 10 minutes from the end after a mechanical problem with Daniel Ricciardo’s Renault, with the cars managing to come out for a final flying lap.
Hamilton was fifth fastest but survived a fright at the end, with the Mercedes driver swerving at speed on the approach to the Parabolica corner to avoid two cars going slowly side by side.
No action was taken by the stewards.
Lewis Hamilton takes Italian Grand Prix pole, Ferrari struggle again
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Lewis Hamilton takes Italian Grand Prix pole, Ferrari struggle again
- Hamilton looks on course to extend his championship lead, which stands at 47 points from Red Bull rival Max Verstappen and 50 from Bottas
Reus begins farewell tour while Bayern stumble in Stuttgart
It was a particularly emotional afternoon for Reus, who had announced on Friday that after 12 years at Dortmund he would leave at the end of the season
BERLIN: Marco Reus scored what could be his last ever goal for Borussia Dortmund in a 5-1 win over Augsburg on Saturday, while Bayern Munich stumbled to a 3-1 defeat away to Stuttgart ahead of their Champions League clash with Real Madrid.
Late goals from South Korea’s Jeong Woo-yeong and the DRC’s Silas Katompa Mvumpa saw Bayern suffer their first defeat in Stuttgart since 2007.
Stuttgart took the lead with a smash-and-grab goal just before the half-hour mark, Leonidas Stergiou prodding home after a dainty chip over the back line from Deniz Undav.
Bayern then equalized in controversial circumstances, after Stuttgart captain Waldemar Anton conceded a penalty with a very light challenge on Serge Gnabry.
Harry Kane converted the resulting penalty, taking his season tally to 36 goals, moving to within just four of Robert Lewandowski’s Bundesliga record.
But an 83rd minute header from Jeong put Stuttgart back in front before Silas sealed the win in stoppage time.
While Bayern head to Madrid with their tails between their legs, fellow Champions League semifinalists Dortmund were in fine form ahead of their trip to Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday.
It was a particularly emotional afternoon for Reus, who had announced on Friday that after 12 years at Dortmund he would leave at the end of the season.
Youssoufa Moukoko gave Dortmund the lead early on, flicking the ball in from close range after some chaotic defending from Augsburg.
Donyell Malen doubled the lead on 20 minutes, heading home and in swinging corner from English winger Jamie Bynoe-Gittens.
Moukoko added another from a corner shortly afterwards, before Ruben Vargas pulled one back for Augsburg against the run of play.
Dortmund remained unfazed, however, and Reus soon made it 4-1 with an elegant chip over goalkeeper Alexander Meyer.
Reus then set up Felix Nmecha for Dortmund’s fifth in the second half, and hit the bar himself before leaving the pitch to standing ovations on 65 minutes.
Elsewhere, Wolfsburg moved closer to safety with a 3-0 home win over Darmstadt while Werder Bremen were held 2-2 at home to Borussia Moenchengladbach.
Two goals from Nick Woltemade saw Bremen come from behind after Robin Hack’s early opener for Gladbach, but the visitors snatched a point when Florian Neuhaus smashed a late penalty into the top corner.
Two early goals from Patrick Wimmer and Jonas Wind and a late strike from Vaclav Cerny saw Wolfsburg cruise past already relegated Darmstadt.
Ralph Hasenhuettl’s side are now nine points clear of the relegation play-off place, having played one more game than fellow strugglers Mainz.
Al-Huda club shines at Kingdom Under-15 Fencing Championship
- Noor Al-Miskin takes gold medal in epee category
- Mohammed Dawood claims top spot with saber
RIYADH: The Kingdom Fencing Championship for male fencers under the age of 15, known as the Diamond Round, came to an end on May 4. A total of 142 fencers from 20 clubs participated in the championship at the Fencing Hall in Prince Saud bin Jalawi Sports City in Dammam..
Mohammed Bou Ali, the vice president of the Saudi Fencing Federation, presented the winners with their medals.
Noor Al-Miskin from Al-Huda club clinched the gold medal in the epee category, with Abdulaziz Al-Fida from Al-Nasser club taking silver and Salem Al-Muhri from Al-Baha club securing bronze.
In the saber competition, Mohammed Dawood of Al-Huda club took the gold medal, while his teammate Ali Al-Omani claimed silver, and Abdullah Al-Ubeed from Al-Adala club received bronze.
In the foil competition, Yassin Diaa Al-Haq from Al-Ahli club won the gold medal. Mohammed Al-Hajji from Al-Khaleej club earned the silver, and Rakan Al-Ghanam from Al-Nasser club finished in third place.
Ipswich promoted to Premier League for first time in 22 years
- Leeds needed an Ipswich defeat coupled with victory over Southampton to leap into the top two
- Ipswich’s most famous fan Ed Sheeran, who sponsors the club’s shirts, was not in attendance
LONDON: Ipswich returned to the Premier League for the first time in 22 years after beating Huddersfield 2-0 to secure promotion from the Championship on Saturday.
Goals from Wes Burns and Omari Hutchinson ensured the Tractor Boys became just the fourth side in the Premier League era to go from the third to the top tier via consecutive promotions.
Leeds needed an Ipswich defeat coupled with victory over Southampton to leap into the top two.
But Daniel Farke’s men lost 2-1 to Saints at Elland Road, meaning he will come up against old club Norwich in the playoff semifinals.
Ipswich’s most famous fan Ed Sheeran, who sponsors the club’s shirts, was not in attendance for wild scenes of celebration at Portman Road as fans poured on to the pitch and lit blue flares at full-time.
The Suffolk club, which was sold to American investors for just £40 million ($50 million), will now pocket at least £200 million in television revenue in the coming years.
Huddersfield had already been realistically relegated prior to Saturday due to their vastly inferior goal difference compared to their rivals at the bottom.
Burns settled any nerves among the home support when he fired low into the bottom corner on 27 minutes.
On-loan Chelsea winger Hutchinson has been one of the stars of Ipswich’s season and made sure Kieran McKenna’s men could relax by smashing home a second just three minutes into the second half.
Ipswich could face a fight just to hold on to the highly-rated McKenna, a former first team coach at Manchester United.
The 37-year-old Northern Irishman has been linked with a move to Brighton should Roberto De Zerbi leave the Seagulls.
West Brom beat Preston 3-0 to secure their playoff place and will face Southampton.
There was also drama at the bottom of the table as Birmingham were relegated in their first season with NFL legend Tom Brady as a minority owner of the club.
A 1-0 win over Norwich was not enough to save the Blues.
Blackburn spoiled Leicester’s title party with a 2-0 win at the King Power to survive and deny the Foxes amassing 100 points.
Plymouth ended Hull’s playoff hopes with a 1-0 win to hold off Birmingham by a point.
Saudi taekwondo athlete Donia Abu Taleb wins Best Arab Achievement Award
- Taleb, the first Saudi athlete to directly qualify for the Paris 2024 Olympics, receives honor from Egyptian sports minister
- Saudi Taekwondo Federation named Best Arab Federation in recognition of its achievements both locally and internationally
RIYADH: Saudi taekwondo standout Donia Abu Taleb has been honored with the Best Arab Achievement Award at a ceremony in Cairo celebrating the achievements of Arab athletes.
About 40 athletes from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the UAE, Tunisia, Jordan, Algeria, Qatar and Morocco were honored, along with businessmen from various Arab countries.
Egypt’s Minister of Youths and Sports, Ashraf Subhi, handed the recognition to Taleb, the first Saudi athlete to directly qualify for the Paris 2024 Olympics.
The Saudi Taekwondo Federation was also awarded the Best Arab Federation in recognition of its achievements both locally and internationally, particularly Taleb’s qualification for the Paris Olympics.
Mohammed Al-Shehri, executive director of the federation, accepted the award on behalf of the sports group.
Japan beats Uzbekistan in stoppage time in U23 Asian Cup final
- Substitute Fuki Yamada broke the deadlock in the first minute of stoppage time
AL-RAYYAN, Qatar: Japan left it late to win its second Under-23 Asian Cup after beating Uzbekistan 1-0 in the final on Friday.
Substitute Fuki Yamada broke the deadlock in the first minute of stoppage time at Jassim bin Hamad Stadium and Japan goalkeeper Leo Kokubo saved a penalty to preserve the lead.
Uzbekistan, the 2018 champion, almost took an incredible lead just before halftime. Ruslanbek Jiyanov, just inside the Japanese half, tried to send a long cross into the area but, instead, the flight of the ball deceived Kokubo and bounced off the crossbar.
For the goal, Ryotaro Araki backheeled the ball to Yamada just outside the area, and he fired low into the left corner.
Just five minutes later, Uzbekistan was awarded a penalty after a VAR review when Hiroki Sekine handled in the area. Kokubo made a diving save to his right to push out Umarali Rakhmonaliev’s powerful shot.
Both finalists and third-placed Iran also qualified for Paris Olympics men’s football. Fourth-placed Indonesia has one more chance to make it to a first Olympics since 1956 with a playoff against Guinea next Thursday.
