Ex-Olympic champ Li Xue Rui bids adieu to int’l badminton
New Delhi: Former Olympic champion Li Xue Rui has announced her retirement from international badminton. In an article published on its official website on Thursday, the Badminton World Federation (BWF) said that Li, who finished with 14 Superseries titles, will be remembered as an attacking player with a never-say-die spirit. The 28-year-old won the gold medal in London Olympics in 2012 where she defeated Wang Yihan in the final in three games. Li, who was adjudged the BWF Female Player of the Year in 2013, was among the most dominant players of her time before an injury at the Rio Olympics disrupted her career. Her first major success was at the Asia Championships in 2010, when as a 19-year-old she beat Saina Nehwal and compatriot Liu Xin on way to the title. Her first Superseries title was won at the All England of 2012, when she beat compatriot Wang Yihan in the final. Following a stellar season in 2012, Li was favourite to win her first world title when she reached the final of the World Championships the following year, on home soil in Guangzhou. (IANS)
UEFA bans Ajax, Eintracht from selling match tickets
Nyon (Switzerland): UEFA has banned Ajax and Eintracht Frankfurt from selling tickets to fans for games in London next month as punishment for disorder. UEFA’s disciplinary panel punished Ajax on Thursday for crowd disturbances and damage to the stadium in a 3-0 Champions League win at Valencia this month. That means there won’t be an away section for Ajax at its next away game, at Chelsea on Nov. 5. In a similar case, Eintracht is banned from selling tickets to Europa League games at Standard Liege on November 7 and Arsenal on November 28. Both clubs had suspended punishments after incidents last season activated for the repeat offenses. Ajax was fined 68,000 euros ($75,500) for various charges and ordered to compensate Valencia. UEFA also put Ajax on probation for another year. Eintracht must compensate Vitoria Guimaraes for damage in Portugal on October 3. Dinamo Zagreb was also threatened with a future ticket sales ban. UEFA put the club on one year of probation after fans caused disruption and damage at Manchester City in the Champions League this month. Dinamo was fined 20,000 euros ($20,250) and told to compensate City. The English champion was fined 15,750 euros ($15,950) for a charge of fans throwing objects. Other clubs fined by the UEFA disciplinary panel Thursday, included: Liverpool, 10,000 euros ($10,125) for a fan on the field; Borussia Dortmund, 29,875 euros ($30,250) for damage and throwing objects; Vitoria Guimaraes, 50,000 euros ($50,600) for throwing objects and lighting fireworks. (AP)
Protest against CL reforms
London: Chelsea manager Frank Lampard believes the Champions League format should not be changed if the quality of the competition is to be maintained. Proposals that could have seen promotion and relegation from the Champions League and the group stage of the 32-team competition extended to guarantee more games for those involved have been scrapped due to a lack of support from clubs across the continent. Lampard, who won the Champions League with Chelsea in 2011/12 and is managing the Blues in this season’s competition, thinks putting extra demands on players will water down the quality of the tournament. “If you ask me can you play more European games, I personally don’t know where you fit them in amongst our busy schedule,” said the former England international. “I would find it hard with the players to keep the quality level and the freshness within them. “I liked the format, personally, as a player and as a manager now,” Frank Lampard said. (AFP)