Wolves loan Portuguese striker Silva to Scottish club Rangers
Wolverhampton, Dec 29: Wolverhampton sent Fabio Silva on loan to Scottish club Rangers to give the Portuguese striker some game time ahead of a possible permanent move away from Molineux in the offseason. It will be the 21-year-old Silva’s third loan spell away from Wolves since joining the club in September 2020. He has previously been at Anderlecht in Belgium and PSV Eindhoven in the Netherlands. Silva has started three Premier League games this season, and none since September. “This is a simple one – Fabio needs to play,” Wolves sporting director Matt Hobbs said. “He’s not getting enough opportunities here, so it’s a chance to go out and score goals and we’ll look at the future in the summer. Rangers don’t have a buying option, but hopefully he plays and scores goals and we’ll see where we’re at in the summer. “He’s a young centre forward and because of his move, we sometimes think he’s older than he is. A lot of centre forwards take time to understand their game, find confidence and their role within a team. That comes with experience, and you have to play games.” (AP)
Madrid extend Ancelotti’s contract until 2026 after Brazil’s interest
Madrid, Dec 29: Real Madrid has extended Carlo Ancelotti’s contract until 2026, seemingly ending Brazil’s hopes of hiring him as the new national team coach. Ancelotti had been linked with a move to Brazil for the past several months, with the president of the Brazilian football confederation publicly expressing his desire to hire the Italian coach. But Ancelotti had said all along that he would like to remain at Madrid. His current contract with Madrid was set to expire at the end of this season. This is Ancelotti’s second stint with Madrid. He had previously coached the club from 2013-15, having returned in 2021. Ancelotti has won 10 titles with Madrid, including two Champions Leagues and one Spanish league. Ancelotti has been linked to Brazil’s men’s team since Tite stepped down as its coach after a disappointing World Cup. (AP)
WFI office moved out of Brij Bhushan’s residence
New Delhi, Dec 29: The Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) on Friday moved its office out of the residence of its former president and BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, after the sports ministry had recently raised serious objections to it. “The WFI will operate from a new address in New Delhi after vacating Brij Bhushan’s premises,” a source told PTI on condition of anonymity. The new WFI office is located in the Hari Nagar area of New Delhi. The ministry, while suspending the newly-formed WFI panel under president Sanjay Singh on December 24, three days after he was elected its head, had cited the office running from Brij Bhushan’s residence as one of the reasons for taking the stringent action. (PTI)
GMs Prasanna, Chakkravarthy, Laxman headline Chennai Open
Chennai, Dec 29: Indian Grandmasters Vishnu Prasanna, Deepan Chakkravarthy and RR Laxman will headline a strong field in the 2023 Chennai Open International Grandmaster Chess Tournament which starts here from December 31. The tournament, which ends on January 7, 2024, has attracted over 320 entries, including 28 foreign players. India’s Aronyak Ghosh (Elo 2545) is the top seed while Russian GM Savchenko Boris (Elo 2505) is seeded second. The Chennai Open is the third of the six GM competitions in India after the Meghalaya Open and Madurai Open, while Indore Open, Bengaluru Open and Bhubaneswar Open will follow this tournament. (PTI)
Oz Open increase prize money
Melbourne, Dec 29: Australian Open tennis officials have announced an increase in prize money by 10 million Australian dollars (USD 6.8 million) for the upcoming tournament which begins on January 14 at Melbourne Park. Tournament director Craig Tiley said in a statement Friday that the Grand Slam tournament will now offer 86.5 Australian dollars (USD58.4 million) in total prize money. (AP)