Monaco reach French Cup semis with win over Amiens
MONACO, Feb 9: Monaco progressed to the French Cup semifinals by defeating second-tier side Amiens 2-0 on Tuesday with goals from Aurelien Tchouameni and Kevin Volland. Monaco was the heavy favorite and was in control throughout. Tchouameni, a France midfielder with seven caps, put Monaco in the driver’s seat after five minutes with a half-volley from a poorly cleared corner kick. The goal spurred the visitors on but Amiens forward Aliou Badji missed a couple of chances to level while Chadrac Akolo had a goal disallowed for an offside position. Volland made it 2-0 from close range in the 54th from teenager Maghnes Akliouche’s assist. (AP)
Belgian club Gent condemn violence after player’s arrest
BRUSSELS, Feb 9: Gent condemned violence against women on Tuesday after the Belgian soccer club was criticized for not taking a strong enough public stance following the arrest of a team player. Gent said it cannot publicly comment on the content of Ilombe Mboyo’s case. He was detained last month for an alleged assault on a woman and has not featured with the team since. The club insisted that under no circumstances did it accept violence against women. “In any case, in the event of a subsequent incident, any person involved in the club who misbehaves in this respect will be excluded,” Gent said. Mboyo is a former Belgium international who returned to Gent last summer. (AP)
McLaren sign Lando Norris to 4-year contract extension
London, Feb 9: Formula One team McLaren signed rising star Lando Norris to a four-year contract extension that locks the young British driver in through the 2025 season. The 22-year-old Norris is entering his fourth full season of F1 competition. His progression has been steady improving from 11th in the standings in 2019 as a rookie to sixth overall last season, highlighted by four podium finishes, his first career pole and first 31 laps led of his F1 career. Zak Brown, head of McLaren Racing, believes Norris can someday be an F1 champion. The opportunity to extend our relationship with Lando reflects not only our commitment but our belief and confidence in his talent,” Andreas Seidl, the McLaren team principal, said Wednesday. (AP)
SAI to hold national trials for wrestling, judo from Feb 14
New Delhi, Feb 9: The Sports Authority of India (SAI) will hold selection trials for wrestling and judo from February 14 and 15 respectively at its National Centres of Excellence (NCoEs) across the country. While the wrestling trials will take place at SAI’s Sonepat, Lucknow, and Mumbai centres, judo trials will take place in NCoE Imphal and Bhopal. Sonepat will be the venue of the men’s freestyle and greco roman trials from February 14 to 16, while the women’s wrestling events will take place in Lucknow on February 16 and 17, the SAI said. (PTI)
Rodionov upsets 6th seed Maxime Cressy in Dallas
Dallas, Feb 9: Qualifier Jurij Rodionov of Austria defeated sixth-seeded American Maxime Cressy of 7-6(3), 4-6, 6-1 to advance to the round of 16 at the inaugural Dallas Open. Paris-born Cressy was the first of the eight seeded players to lose his match. The only other seeded player on the courts was No. 7 Marcos Giron of Thousand Oaks, Calif. Giron, another former UCLA Bruin, defeated countryman Tennys Sandgren 6-4, 6-4. (AP)