Israeli team hands over home-field advantage to play Nations League
Nyon (Switzerland), Nov 10: Israel’s national team in women’s football on Thursday forfeited home-field advantage to opponents in two upcoming Nations League games as it seeks neutral venues during the war with Hamas. UEFA said Israel’s games against Kazakhstan and Armenia intended to be home and away will now be played as double-headers in the capital cities Astana and Yerevan, respectively, between November 23 and December 2. UEFA said a third “home” game for the Israeli women, against Estonia, will be played December 5 at the home of Hungarian club Puskás Akadémia. That stadium is in the village of Felcsút closely tied to the country’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. It also will stage two key European Championship qualifying games next week for the Israeli men’s team. Israel has five games to play in its Women’s Nations League third-tier group after starting in September with a 5-0 win at Estonia. Israel will play Kazakhstan on November 23 and November 26, then Armenia on November 29 and December 2. Only the November 26 game will be played without fans, UEFA said. (AP)
James Maddison out of England squad because of ankle injury
London, Nov 10: Tottenham midfielder James Maddison has been withdrawn from the England squad for the upcoming European Championship qualifiers because of an ankle injury. The playmaker was injured in the first half of Tottenham’s 4-1 loss to Chelsea in the Premier League on Monday. Spurs confirmed on Friday that Maddison “will remain at Hotspur Way for rehabilitation with the club’s medical staff.” England hosts Malta on November 17 and plays in North Macedonia three days later. The Three Lions have already qualified for next year’s tournament in Germany. Tottenham plays at Wolverhampton on Saturday. Ange Postecoglou’s team trails league-leading Manchester City by one point. Also, Tottenham forward Richarlison has undergone surgery on his groin, the club said. Tottenham did not say how long Richarlison would be out of action, but that he would immediately start his rehabilitation with the club’s medical staff before “returning to training in the coming weeks.” (AP)
Villarreal part ways with second coach of season after Pacheta exit
Madrid, Nov 10: Villarreal parted ways with its second coach of the season by announcing the departure of José “Pacheta” Rojo on Friday. Villarreal only managed five wins in 12 games across all competitions since Pacheta took over. He replaced Quique Setién in September after the club lost three of its first four games to start the season. Villarreal is 13th in the 20-team La Liga after winning three games. It finished fifth last season under Setién and reached the UEFA Champions League semifinals in 2022 under Unai Emery. It has underperformed this season despite having a talented attacking squad featuring striker Gerard Moreno, forward Yéremy Pino and midfielder Álex Baena – all occasional Spain players – along with Argentina right-back Juan Foyth. The club said that sports director Miguel Ángel Tena would serve as caretaker coach for Sunday’s game at Atletico Madrid. Pacheta’s exit came a day after his team struggled to beat Maccabi Haifa 2-1 in the UEFA Europa League. After the game, Pacheta acknowledged his team was not clicking. (AP)
Three Indian archers in fray to
secure Paris Olympics berths
Bangkok, Nov 10: Veteran Tarundeep Rai, his young Army colleague Dhiraj Bommadevara and Ankita Bhakat were the three Indian archers who remained in the fray to clinch individual Olympic quotas from the Continental Qualifications Tournament here on Friday. Dhiraj, who qualified as the top seed, along with Rai and Ankita, advanced to their respective quarterfinals. Dhiraj downed Sahedov Ezizmuhammet of Turkmenistan 6-0, and Singapore’s Li Yue Long 6-0 en route to the quarters. Second seed Rai eliminated Hong Kong’s Chun Kit Wan 6-0, and in the pre quarters he defeated Ruman Shana 6-2. In the women’s section, Ankita was second seed and got past Sonam Dema of Bhutan 6-0, Pia Elizabeth Angela Bidaure 6-5 en route to the last-eight. The tournament offers two quotas each (to the finalists) in the men’s and women’s recurve sections and this is the penultimate Olympic qualifications event. (PTI)
Natl Billiards & Snooker C’ships
to begin in Chennai on Nov 21
Chennai, Nov 10: The upcoming National Billiards & Snooker Championships is set to take place from November 21 at the Nehru Indoor Stadium here. It will be the 90th edition of the national championship and the first edition to be held in the city since 2011. The event will be held for over 30 days and conclude on December 25, with around 1,500 cueists across formats and age groups expected to participate. It would also include the likes of Aditya Mehta, Rafath Habib, Vidya Pillai, Brijesh Damani, Shrikrishna Suryanarayan and Anupama Ramachandran. The divisions expected at the event are Senior billiards & snooker for men and women, Masters snooker, 6 Reds Snooker for men and women and sub-junior and junior billiards & snooker for boys and girls. “If you consider snooker in Europe, it is making more money than cricket, while the prize money too is quite high, nearly at par with Wimbledon tennis, which is GBP 2,50,000,” Tamil Nadu Billiards and Snooker Association vice-president Rajmohan said. Billiards and snooker are yet to make it to the Olympics, and Rajmohan said efforts are being made to ensure that it is included. (PTI)
Krishna Khaitan memorial
badminton tourney from Nov 14
Chandigarh, Nov 10: The 30th edition of Krishna Khaitan Memorial All India Junior Ranking badminton tournament will be held at Tau Devi Lal multipurpose indoor stadium in Panchkula from November 14-20. Express Shuttle Club Trust, under the aegis of Haryana Badminton Association, is organising the event with a total prize pool of Rs 4 lakh. Tournament will be played under the following age categories – Under-19 years (boys and girls singles and doubles), mixed doubles Under-19, tournament director Sanjiv Sachdeva, said here on Friday. The qualifying rounds will be held from November 14-16. All top junior players of the country will beparticipating in the tournament, he said, while adding that this is a major ranking badminton tournament. (PTI)