Verstappen pips Norris to top spot, Hamilton breaks podium drought
Barcelona, June 23: Max Verstappen has won the Spanish Grand Prix marking his seventh victory out of the ten races that have taken place during the 2024/25 season. It was Lando Norris who started the race at pole but lost the lead in the very first corner when he went too wide trying to block a charging Verstappen giving surprise contender George Russell the space to move from P4 to P1. Lando Norris fell to P3 just seconds later and fell behind the Red Bull. Verstappen went on to overtake the Mercedes in the third lap and secured a marginable lead that ultimately secured the second consecutive win for the three-time world champion. Despite the poor start Lando was in the thick of the action. He engaged in brilliant wheel to wheel action with Russell and a P2 finish for the British driver also secured the trophy for Driver of the Day for the Mclaren star. Lewis Hamilton recently spoke on the improvement of performance in the car after recent upgrades which was on full display on the day as he overtook his Mercedes teammate to secure a P3 finish in what was the seven-time World Champion’s 198th podium finish and his first since the Mexico GP last season. (IANS)
Andy Murray ruled out of Wimbledon after back surgery
New Delhi, June 23: wo-time Wimbledon champion Andy Murray has been ruled out of the upcoming Wimbledon after undergoing a surgical procedure to remove a spinal cyst, the ATP said on Sunday. “After an operation on a spinal cyst, Andy Murray is sadly out of Wimbledon. Rest up and recover Andy, we’ll miss seeing you there,” the ATP wrote on ‘X’. Earlier, he withdrew from Queen’s Club Championships due to same injury while trailing 4-1 in the first set of his second-round match against Jordan Thompson on Wednesday. Murray’s participation in the French Open deteriorated the existing problem, preventing him from competing at Wimbledon, the site of two of his three Grand Slam victories. After undergoing hip resurfacing surgery in 2019, the 37-year-old reemerged on the tennis court. However, he has found it difficult to get past the knockout stages of the major events and most recently had to battle with an ankle injury he suffered at the Miami Open in March. (IANS)
Football Leaks hacker claims he has proofs of Man City FFP breach
New Delhi, June 23: The large cloud that hangs above the heads of Manchester City’s period of dominance grows even darker as the hacker behind the ‘Football Leaks scandal’ Rui Pinto has claimed he has handed five hard drives to French and German authorities with millions of documents which will find ‘criminal relevancy’ against the club. Manchester City have 115 financial fair play FFP charges for failure to provide accurate financial information. These charges include failure to provide accurate details for player and manager payments, failure to comply with UEFA’s rules including Financial Fair Play, breaching Premier League’s PSR rules, failure to cooperate with Premier League investigations and are expected to face a hearing for alleged financial irregularities. The Portuguese national Pinto has been under witness protection since 2020. Despite being found guilty of attempted extortion and unauthorised access to data. He received a four-year suspended sentence from a Portuguese court last year and avoided prison. He is currently in a safe-house and attended the OffShore-Alert Marbella Conference via video call, The Sun reports. “The Man City releases showed amounts of money being paid into by the club that were not mentioned to the football authorities. These documents form part of the Premier League investigation into City. I have now handed five hard drives to French and German authorities with millions of documents, including more on City and I have described what is on each. I am confident they will find criminal relevancy,” the 35-year old was quoted by The Sun. “We have been approached by investigators to share information regarding Manchester City that has not been released before. “We haven’t released the information yet but we have a massive file of Manchester City-related documents that has yet to be released. The files will be published at some point, we cannot say when but we will do it,” added Pinto’s legal representative. (IANS)
Sabalenka and Jabeur the latest to retire from matches in Berlin
Berlin, June 23: Aryna Sabalenka and Ons Jabeur retired from their respective quarterfinals in the Berlin Ladies Open. The second-seeded Sabalenka was trailing Anna Kalinskaya 5-1 at the grass-court event when she stopped playing because of shoulder pain. Jabeur had just lost a first-set tiebreaker to Coco Gauff – 7-6 (9) – when she exited with an illness. They’re just the latest on the list of injured or ill players, nine days before the start of Wimbledon. Elena Rybakina, the 2022 Wimbledon champion, retired from her quarterfinal on Friday, apparently ill. Marketa Vondrousova, last year’s Wimbledon champion, retired from her match because of a leg injury. First-round play begins at Wimbledon on July 1. Several quarterfinals were pushed to Saturday because of rain. Following Sabalenka’s exit, Kalinskaya moved on to Victoria Azarenka and beat the former No. 1 player 6-1, 6-7 (3), 6-1 to earn a spot in Sunday’s final. No. 5 Jessica Pegula was leading doubles partner and No. 2 Gauff 7-5, 6-6 (3-1) when rain suspended their semifinal. The match will resume on Sunday. (AP)