BBC Local News: North East Wales -- Kings scrum-half Rudi van Rooyen says the Port Elizabeth-based squad is excited by a possible move into the Pro12. Reported by BBC Local News 9 hours ago.

South African scrum-half Rudi van Rooyen says he and his Kings team-mates are excited by a possible move to the Pro12. Reported by BBC News 10 hours ago.

Patch Kings Park, NY -- Also: Missing dog returns after nine months, Mosul reclaimed and hero teen saves life. Reported by Patch 10 hours ago.

Young & Co's Brewery has enjoyed a boost in sales driven by the recent better-than-expected weather - but the group's chairman slammed the government for making life difficult for the pub sector. 

Revenues were up 10.8 per cent in the first 13 weeks of the year, and up 8.6 per cent on a like-for-like basis, the firm said in a statement released ahead of its annual general meeting today. 

Shares in the group dipped 1.3 per cent in early trading.

"The dry and warm weather in April and the longest continuous hot spell in June for over 40 years has particularly benefitted our beautiful gardens and river based pubs," said Youngs' chairman Stephen Goodyear.

Youngs has "set the bar higher... while the economic environment is becoming more challenging", he continued. 

"Nor is the government making life much easier for our sector, with additional cost pressures from increased business rates, the National Living Wage, the Apprenticeship Levy and the general uncertainty created first by Brexit and more recently by the outcome of the General Election," Goodyear said.

"However, I am confident that the expertise and energy that exists throughout Young's and our very deliberate strategic positioning gives us the armoury to continue our outperformance of the sector. We operate very much at the premium end of the sector and the resilience of this segment's customer base has, so far, been encouraging.

"Consumers, when they do go out, are looking for an experience and going to a Young's pub is seen as an affordable lifestyle choice - a treat but not an extravagance. Long may that continue."

He added that the company was benefitting from four acquisitions made last year. Since the start of the year, Youngs has exchanged on the Bull, in Bracknell, which will open in September and also transferred three tenanted pubs into its managed house estate: the Hope & Anchor (Brixton), Kings Arms (Wandsworth) and the Grove (Camberwell).

"These additions, along with other investments made in our existing estate last year, will provide a helpful tailwind for continued growth," said Goodyear. Reported by City A.M. 10 hours ago.

Super Boxing League, India's first professional boxing league commenced in the capital this Friday. The inaugural match was between Delhi Gladiators and Haryana Warriors on Friday, July 7, 2017.
To support the Delhi team, co-owner and actor Sushant Singh Rajput was seen cheering for his team. The Bollywood ace was also seen interacting with two-time world champion professional boxer, Amir Khan and CEO & Founder of SBL, Bill Dosanjh.

Sushant Singh Rajput was overjoyed on the very first victory of the SBL for his team as they beat the Haryana Warriors 12-6, after which he was seen congratulating his team.
The first fight weekend saw even bigger names attend the Super Boxing League as veteran actor Suniel Shetty was present to support his team Bahubali Boxers on Sunday night. Even though his team could not start their league campaign with a win, it was just one Knock Out victory, which was the eventual deciding factor between the two teams.

The actor was rather disheartened with the loss but encouraged his team for the upcoming matches. Actress Daisy Shah was also spotted at the venue as she was supporting the North East Tigers.

She was elated with joy when she saw Tigers' captain Asha Roka, Knock Out her opponent inside just a minute, which proved to be the difference between the two teams on the night.

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Former Australia captain Michael Clarke is not a very hands-on dad, it seems. The former batsman's wife Kyly, who gave birth to their daughter Kelsey-Lee in 2015, has revealed that Michael tries to escape changing the nappies of their 19-month-old baby girl, Kelsey-Lee.

However, the former cricketer's attempt goes in vain almost always as his wife ensures he does his bit in their suburban home at Sydney.

"When Michael is home, he changes her nappies. Sometimes I'll hear, 'Honey, I think she might have gone to the toilet'. And I'm like, 'Honey, I think you know where the nappies are!'" Kyly (35) told the Daily Telegraph recently.

Kelsey was born five weeks premature and Kyly still fears for her little one. "There's always this underlying concern. Is this or that going to affect her as she grows. Michael and I have been lucky enough that Kelsey-Lee has grown into a healthy and happy child. But that's not always the circumstance for a lot of parents," she added.

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England cricketers are well aware they must avoid falling into the trap which has cost South Africa fast bowler Kagiso Rabada his place in this week's Trent Bridge Test.

Coach Trevor Bayliss claims he has no need to impress on them the dangers of transgressing - as Rabada did when swearing after dismissing Ben Stokes at Lord's - and running the risk of incurring a ban.*Trevor Bayliss*

Rabada's offence helped to rule him out in Nottingham, where the Proteas will try to fight back after their 211-run defeat at Lord's on Sunday. England's Ben Stokes is in a similarly position, having been disciplined in India last winter. Asked if he needs to warn his players, Bayliss said: "I don't have to tell them. They know it - but in the heat of the moment, they cannot be careful. I think most of the players, as long as the umpires and match referees are consistent across the board with every series that goes on, will fully understand."

Bayliss added: "In this age, when the microphones are right there and the ICC are trying to crack down on it, then fair enough. If those types of messages are going into lounge rooms and you've got kids seeing and hearing that type of language... I know the ICC are trying to crack down on it, because of that.

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Wimbledon defended shunting top women players onto the outside courts yesterday, saying the big four of men's tennis were the marquee matches demanded by broadcasters and spectators.

Andy Murray and Roger Federer's matches were put on the 15,000-seater Centre Court, with Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic on Court One on the second, when all the men's and women's last-16 matches are played on the same day. All England Club chief executive Richard Lewis said the nature of Wimbledon's Manic Monday — unique among the four Grand Slams in that all last-16 matches are played on the same day — meant big name players would not get on the main courts.

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British singer Ellie Goulding seems to have recovered from the exhaustion that forced her to take a break from the music scene. Goulding (30) was spotted sizzling in the sun with her Team GB rower boyfriend Casper Jopling.*Casper Jopling*

"They were having a great time jumping into the sea off the back of a boat. They looked totally relaxed," an eyewitness told British tabloid, Daily Mirror.

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An Afghan cricketer by the name of Shafiqullah Shafaq wowed everyone with his stellar performance in a local tournament of the aragon Nangarhar Champion Trophy.

The Afghan batsman smashed a 71-ball 214 runs with 21 sixes and 16 boundaries to his name. Shafiqullah's brilliant knock helped his team Khateez Cricket Academy post a huge total of 351. Waheedullah Shafaq, his teammate was nothing short of amazing with a score of 81 in just 31 balls. His team went on to win by a huge margin of 244 runs.

But since this was a local tournament Shafiqullah Shafaq's record will not be officially recognised. His international T20 highest score remains 51. That means West Indies' flamboyant batsman Chris Gayle can relax some more as his unbeaten 175 during the IPL tournament match between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Pune Warriors still remains the highest T20 score.

He made his debut in ODIs back in 2009.

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The Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) will certainly speak to Virat Kohli before announcing the new chief coach but they will only explain the rationale behind their decision and not seek his opinion on the matter.

"Let's get one thing straight. The final decision maker is the CAC and not Virat Kohli. When Sourav said that he will speak to Virat, he meant that once he is back from a break, he will be told what CAC feels about each candidate that they interviewed and why they are choosing a particular candidate," a senior BCCI official, privy to the development said.

"Virat's opinion will not be sought. But as a captain, he needs to know the rationale behind the appointment. So he will be kept in the loop," the official said.

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Angelo Mathews is reconsidering his role as Sri Lanka captain after the one-day series loss to Zimbabwe which he considers one of the lowest points in his career, the 30-year-old has said.

Sikandar Raza's stellar all-round display guided Zimbabwe to their first one-day international series win over hosts Sri Lanka with a nervous three-wicket victory in the fifth and final match at Hambantota on Monday.

Zimbabwe, ranked 11th, had never beaten Sri Lanka before this series and their triumph is all the more special after they lost to Scotland last month and were beaten by Afghanistan earlier this year.

"It's one of the lowest points in my career, and a hard one to swallow," Mathews said after the 3-2 series defeat.

"Everything went against us, from the toss to misreading the wicket. But there are no excuses. At the end of the day we were not good enough to beat them. They played better cricket."

Sri Lanka's form in the 50-over format has been dismal since the 2015 World Cup and they have suffered series defeats against England, South Africa, Australia and drew against Bangladesh at home. They also exited this year's Champions Trophy in the group stage.

"Still haven't thought about stepping down," Mathews said. "There's time. I'll give it a bit more thought and talk to the selectors. I haven't decided anything yet.

"We have not been consistent. The pressure is on all of us. The more we lose, the more pressure we are under. There is no solution for that and the only solution is winning. We try to win games, but we commit too many mistakes."

Sri Lanka, the 1996 world champions, have left the door open for West Indies to pip them in the race for automatic qualification for the 2019 World Cup in England and Wales.

The top eight ranked sides, including hosts England, will qualify directly with the rest having to go through a qualification tournament to make the 10-team event.

Sri Lanka are ranked eighth and will host India for a five-match series while West Indies, ranked a place below, play the same number of matches against England before the cutoff date of Sept. 30.

"We have an India series coming up, but before that, we have the test against Zimbabwe to talk about," Mathews said. "The Indian series will be even tougher.

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Dinesh Karthik rued the dropped catches that proved decisive in India's loss to the West Indies in a one-off T20 match. "If mis-hits go for sixes then you know it is Evins Lewis' day but he gave us two chances, we couldn't hold on to them.

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World famous footballers Ronaldinho and Ryan Giggs returned from Pakistan on Sunday night, expressing surprise at the "passion" for the game in a cricket-crazy country.

The two footballers were in Pakistan on a two-day visit with five other international stars to play in two exhibition matches in Karachi and Lahore organised by the Leisure League.

"I think the security was excellent and we thought that Pakistan was only a cricket loving nation but after our visit we know they are as passionate about football as well, Ronaldinho said through an interpreter in Lahore.

While the security arrangements for the footballers stay in Pakistan and the matches were manned by the Pakistan Army but the other organisational aspects of the matches came in for some criticism on the social media.

Pakistani cricketers, Azhar Ali and Hasan Ali, who visited the Fortress Stadium Lahore for the second match on Sunday, said the arrangements could have been better.

Leisure League and World Group of Companies put on sale ticket ranging from 2000 to 30,000 Pakistani rupees with many people complaining they couldn't get into the stadium in Karachi and then in Lahore due to organisational hassles.

Pakistan has been deprived off major international sporting events ever since terrorists attacked the Sri Lanka cricket team bus in Lahore in 2009.

Different sports bodies have made attempts to invite international players and teams to Pakistan including the Pakistan Cricket Board but with marginal success.

Giggs, the former Manchester United great, too was surprised at the passion for football in Pakistan.

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Irish Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) star Conor Mcgregor has revealed that he will star in a new documentary about his career. Mcgregor (28) posted a teaser trailer on his social media accounts, with clips of himself now and from his early career.

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Indian tennis player Sania Mirza and her women's doubles partner Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium were beaten by Slovakian Martina Hingis and Chan Yung-jan of Taiwan in a Round of 16 match of the Wimbledon here on Monday.

Hingis-Yung-jan defeated the 13th seeded pair 6-2, 6-4 in straight sets.

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Joe Root has thanked his England team for pulling together exactly as he asked in his first Test in charge at Lord's - and reminded them he wants the same thing in Nottingham.

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Defending champion Andy Murray reached a 10th successive Wimbledon quarter-final yesterday with a 7-6 (7/1), 6-4, 6-4 win over Benoit Paire of France. The world number one will face Sam Querrey, who he leads 7-1 in career meetings, for a place in the semi-finals. Only Roger Federer and Jimmy Connors (11 each) have reached more consecutive Wimbledon quarter-finals than Murray.

Murray, 30, progress is particularly noteworthy as he came into the tournament nursing a hip injury.

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German top seed Angelique Kerber bowed out of Wimbledon and will lose her World No. 1 status after a fourth-round defeat to Garbine Muguruza.

In a gripping clash on Court Two, Muguruza clinched a 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 victory to set up a quarter-final against Svetlana Kuznetsova.

Kerber and Muguruza have a shared experience of being beaten in the Wimbledon final by Serena Williams. Muguruza lost to the American in the 2015 title match, and Kerber fell to Williams last year. Romanian Simona Halep will become number one in the world if she reaches the semi-final stage. Should Halep not advance so far, Karolina Pliskova will become the new rankings leader. Kerber had struggled through to the last 16, surviving a major third-round scare against American Shelby Rogers who pushed her hard in three tough sets.*Spain's Garbine Muguruza*

She needed to reach the final to cling to the top ranking, but it was going to take more than sheer grit to see off Muguruza. Left-hander Kerber rose to the occasion by playing her sharpest tennis of the tournament in the first set but lost the second. After the pair traded breaks in the decider, with Kerber nudging ahead before being drawn back.

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Evergreen Roger Federer kept his quest for a record eighth Wimbledon crown on track on Monday, dispatching Grigor Dimitrov 6-4 6-2 6-4 in a match-up of classic styles that had the purists purring.

The Bulgarian 13th seed, nicknamed "Baby Fed" when he was a junior on the basis of a single-handed backhand as silkily smooth as the Swiss master's, looked sharp in the early exchanges.

It was close to mirror-image tennis as the two men exchanged searing groundstrokes, gliding to the Centre Court net when they saw an opening to dispatch clinical volleys.

But the difference between the greatest ever player on grass and the man who has struggled for years to emerge from his shadow told on the big points.

Third seed Federer, who missed the clay court season to better prepare for his favourite tournament, took a decisive lead in the ninth game, converting his third break point. The Swiss then served out the first set to love.

"(Dimitrov) did give me some opportunities ... but most important was for me to really focus on my game," Federer told the BBC after the match.

"I thought it was a terrific match and I didn't expect it to go that easy for me."

Now 26 and seeking his first win against Federer in six matches, Dimitrov sought to up the pace in the second set.

But as he did so the Bulgarian's error count also rose, and he conceded the second set on a break of serve, punctuating a double fault with two forehands that flew long.

That pattern continued in the third set as another forehand error from Dimitrov handed Federer victory on his second match point in just over an hour and a half.
The Swiss faces either Alexander Zverev or Milos Raonic in Wednesday's quarter-final.

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Luxembourg's Gilles Muller knocked off Spain's Rafael Nadal 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 4-6, 15-13 in an epic match in the round of 16 at Wimbledon here.

The 34-year-old Muller needed four hours and 48 minutes to pull off his second upset over the Spanish star at the All England Club on Monday, Efe news reported.

Muller stunned Nadal at Wimbledon in 2005, when the Spanish star was just 19.

The 31-year-old Nadal, who has won 15 Grand Slam singles titles, entered the match on a quest for his third title at Wimbledon after winning his 10th French Open title on June 11.

The Spanish star took the trophy home in 2008 and 2010, with his first title at the All England Club coming over Swiss great Roger Federer in a five-set thriller ranked by many observers as the greatest tennis match of all time.

Muller, the number 16 seed, entered Wimbledon with 10 wins on grass, the most of any man on the ATP Tour, and fresh off winning the title on grass at Hertogenbosch.

"I haven't actually realized what has just happened," the winner said afterward. "I am tired. I am glad it's over. I was already thinking about the match having to end and coming back tomorrow."

"It's just a great feeling to be winning that sort of match," Muller said.

Nadal said his opponent "played a great game".

"It was not my best match but I played against a very uncomfortable opponent. I did well to come back but made a few mistakes. It was a great feeling to have the support of the crowd, so sorry to them," the Spaniard said.

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The BCCI's Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) spent almost four hours at the Board's headquarters in Mumbai yesterday interviewing candidates for Team India's next head coach. Ravi Shastri, Lalchand Rajput, Tom Moody and Richard Pybus were interviewed via Skype at the Wankhede's Cricket Centre. Former India opener Virender Sehwag appeared in person to make his presentation to his ex-teammates Sourav Ganguly, VVS Laxman and Sachin Tendulkar (who joined them on Skype from London). Sehwag was present at the BCCI headquarters for nearly two hours. The final announcement will be made only after the CAC meets India captain Virat Kohli, currently on a vacation in the United States.

*Also Read: CAC is unaware of Virat Kohli wanting Ravi Shastri as India head coach**Virender Sehwag arrives for his interview at the BCCI HQ. Pic/Suresh Karkera*

"To be honest, what we heard from the coaches today is nothing different from last year. We need a few more days to talk to the players, especially the captain. Then, we will make the announcement because we feel that there is no hurry at the moment. Whoever gets the opportunity to be the coach will be there with the India team till the 2019 World Cup," Ganguly said during the press conference after the conclusion of the interviews yesterday.

*Also Read: Ganguly 'warns' Kohli, says he needs to understand how coaches operate*

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Lofty Croat Marin Cilic demolished Roberto Bautista Agut 6-2 6-2 6-2 at Wimbledon on Monday, doing the damage on distant Court 12 with his pounding serve and thumping forehand.

The 28-year-old seventh seed has reached the quarter-finals this year almost under the radar with straight-set victories over solid opponents Philipp Kohlschreiber, Florian Mayer and Steve Johnson, before downing Bautista Agut, who is ranked a healthy 19th in the world.

But the Spaniard looked way out of his depth against the 1.98m (6 ft 6 in) Cilic, who used every centimetre of his height on the fast surface to serve nine aces and whack 39 winners past his opponent, who stands 15 cm shorter.

"You have everywhere advantages and disadvantages," Cilic said of his size and reach. "(It's) just the way you take them and tennis is a game that is extremely complex and you can play it any way you want, so you have to obviously use your advantages well."

Court 12 is billed as a show court, but it is a small arena well to the south of the All England Club ground and away from the hurly burly of the central stages.
Cilic, a former U.S. Open champion, clearly thrived out of the limelight, wrapping up the match in a brisk one hour 40 minutes.

Bautista Agut tried everything, looking for tight angles on groundstrokes and attempting dropshots. He even tried to finish a long rally in the second set with a lob only to see Cilic jump up and win the point with a high backhand volley.

The in-form Croat, runner-up at the Queen's Club warm-up tournament last month, wobbled a little as he served for a place in the last eight, with the Spaniard saving three match points.

But Cilic sealed the match on the fourth with a big serve that Bautista Agut could only parry into the net.

It is the fourth time in a row that Cilic has reached the Wimbledon quarter-finals and he has rarely looked more comfortable.

"With all the parts of my game...the level is, I would say, quite solid," Cilic said.

"Considering that, (I'm) returning well, serving well. I'm moving on the court really good. So with everything, really satisfied."

Cilic has spent nearly a year with coach Jonas Bjorkman, who reached the Wimbledon semi-finals in 2006, and said the Swede had helped add "small pieces" to his game.

"He has helped me also a little bit with the mental attitude. We worked also on my serve as also on the other shots. I feel it's getting much more consistent now and also following up after the serve has been working so well."

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Not even missing a succession of match points stopped Jelena Ostapenko swinging her racket with brutal intent.

The French Open champion, who has shaken up women's tennis with her high-risk game, passed up seven chances to finish off Wimbledon opponent Elina Svitolina, but rather than go into her shell she merely took her aggressive game up a notch.

She eventually blasted her way into the quarter-finals for the first time with a 6-3 7-6(6) victory on Monday in which she struck a remarkable 42 winners and made 39 unforced errors.

To put those stats into perspective, her opponent, the Ukrainian fourth seed, hit 14 of each.

"I really needed to stay very aggressive to win the point," the Latvian told reporters. "Even the match points, the rallies were really long. I really had to go for it to win the match."

Ostapenko does not do defensive tennis and the idea that you might seek to win a point by waiting for your opponent to make a mistake is anathema to the hard-hitting Latvian.

The tactic seems to be working out well on Wimbledon's fast lawns. The 13th seed, who faces Venus Williams in the next round, is now just three matches away from completing what would be astonishing grand slam double.

That would put her in elite company as only Serena Williams has won the French Open and Wimbledon back-to-back since Steffi Graf achieved the feat in 1996.
This was only her second win against a top five-player, following her success against Simona Halep in the final at Roland Garros, and despite a brief wobble in the second set it never looked in doubt.

She broke in the opening game with one of many forehand winners and again for a 4-1 lead.

The weaknesses in her game were also apparent, however, and the error count was also swiftly mounting as Svitolina broke back following an Ostapenko double fault.

That was not the start of a comeback, however, and Ostapenko wrapped up the first set with another break before racing into a 5-2 lead in the second.

Against Venus, she will probably need to be more ruthless than she was in finishing off Svitolina.

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Emergence of some saucy pictures of Serbian tennis star Novak Djokovic partying with chef Lauren Von Der Pool have added fuel to the rumours of his marital problems with his wife Jelena Djokovic who is expecting their second child next month.

The celebrity chef Pool, 33, first met the former Wimbledon champion when she gave him dieting tips in 2012. A graduate of Le Cordon Bleu Los Angeles and Paris Culinary School has three pictures with Djokovic, 30, on Instagram.

One of them has her arms around Djokovic. Pool was first pictured partying with Djokovic at a ball in Perth, Australia, in 2012, a month before he won his third Australian Open title.*Novak Djokovic with wife Jelena*

Interestingly, when Djokovic, who is currently plying Wimbledon, won his third round match against Latvian Ernests Gulbis, Jelena was nowhere to be seen.

"Novak is a very cool guy, a very handsome man. I just helped him out with his diet and I wanted him to succeed, because he is really cool.

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Sikandar Raza starred with the bat and ball to help Zimbabwe edge out Sri Lanka by three wickets and clinch a historic series victory in the fifth ODI yesterday. Taking the series 3-2 in Hambantota, the 11th-ranked Zimbabwe registered their maiden series win in Sri Lanka and first overseas triumph in eight years.

Off-spinner Raza claimed three wickets to restrict the hosts to 203-8 after Zimbabwe elected to field first. He then anchored a tense chase with an unbeaten 27 as the visitors won with 71 balls to spare. Zimbabwe opener Hamilton Masakadza top-scored with a fluent 73 before rookie off-spinner Akila Dananjaya struck back with four wickets to rattle the Zimbabwe middle-order.

The visitors slipped from 137-1 to 175-7 — losing six wickets for 38 runs — but Raza and skipper Graeme Cremer (11 not out) hung on for an unbeaten 29-run stand as the underdogs erupted in celebrations. "Happy that Sikandar came to the party. It turned around very quickly but happy we pulled it off in the end," an elated Cremer said following their win. "This win is very special, fans must be jumping around back home. We knew we’re playing good enough cricket to put them under pressure."

Earlier the Pakistan-born Raza, who opened the bowling for the visiting side, returned with impressive figures of 3-21 at the Mahinda Rajapaksa International Stadium.

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Venus Williams became the oldest woman to reach the Wimbledon quarter-finals in 23 years when the 37-year-old beat Ana Konjuh in the fourth round yesterday. Williams, the US 10th seed, beat the Croatian 27th seed 6-3, 6-2 on Centre Court, becoming the oldest player to reach the Wimbledon quarter-finals since Martina Navratilova in 1994.

At 19, Konjuh was not even born when five-time champion Williams made her Wimbledon debut in 1997. Williams faces French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko in today's quarter-finals.

The task of taking on Ostapenko is one for which Williams may want to do her homework before their clash, after admitting she missed the Latvian's unexpected run to the Roland Garros title.

"I haven't seen her play a lot," said Williams. "I didn't watch any of the French when I was finished with it. I know she had an amazing moment there. She's riding on that momentum. It's just been such an amazing result for her. So I'm definitely really happy for her."

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Former finalist Tomas Berdych reached the last eight at Wimbledon after coming through a brutal five set tussle with Austrian Dominic Thiem on Monday.

Berdych, who lost to Rafa Nadal in the 2010 final, came through 6-3 6-7(1) 6-3 3-6 6-3 in a two-hour-and-52 minute encounter on Court Three against the world number eight.

The Czech, who reached the quarter-finals for the fifth time, will next face either three-times champion Novak Djokovic or Adrian Mannarino.

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The basic reason behind not announcing Team India's new coach yesterday was that the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) comprising Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman wanted to discuss with skipper Virat Kohli as to what kind of coach he wants to work with.

"All coaches have different methods. That is what the CAC wants to convey to Kohli and seek his views on the new coach," said a source.

The CAC wants everybody, support staff included, to support the new coach.

While it is believed that Kohli wants Ravi Shastri to come on board, the CAC has not been informed about the captain's choice.

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Zenon, Indian equine superstar Jacqueline's three-year-old son, who opened his winning account last month as reported by this paper on June 8, posted another sensational win at the Haydock racetrack in UK on Saturday.

The odds on the 7-to-2 second favourite, suddenly shot up to 1000-to-1 on the in-play market at Betfair.com when Zenon suddenly dropped back alarmingly to race a detached last, with only the final three furlongs to go. Betfair confirmed after the race that an anonymous lucky punter exploited the opportunity by placing 15 pounds at the four-digit odds for a massive 15,000 pounds (Rs 13 lakh approximately).

KN Dhunjibhoy, the Mumbai horse owner, who owns a stake in Zenon, said the win was "miraculous."

"I spoke to trainer John Gosden later. He said Zenon stumbled and lost his footing," said Dhunjibhoy, who singled out jockey Robert Tart for praise: "The lad showed great maturity when he stopped riding and allowed the horse to get back his rhythm, and then rode him with tremendous vigour for what clearly looked an impossible job."

Interestingly, with Zenon's victory, former BCCI boss Ajay Shirke tasted racing success in his first attempt as a horse owner. Ajay had recently purchased the Coolmore farm's share in the promising three-year-old. He now owns Zenon with his brother Vijay Shirke, Bergis Minoo Desai and Dhunjibhoy, the trio, who also owned Jacqueline.

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FC Pune City have made their first foreign signing with Uruguay's Emiliano Alfaro for the 2017 edition of the Indian Super League.

The South American striker, who had plied his trade in Uruguay, Italy and UAE, had also represented NorthEast United FC last season and in his 13 appearances for NEUFC scored five goals.

Announcing the signing, FC Pune City CEO Gaurav Modwel sounded upbeat with Alfaro's addition to his side.

"Alfaro is a forward with a penchant for finding back of the net. He is adept to lead line of attack for the team and his game awareness is something that we were very impressed with. I wish him all the best for his new stint and welcome him to FC Pune City," Modwel said.

Alfaro began his professional career with Uruguay's leading national premier division club Liverpool FC in 2006. After being the top-scorer at his club for two consecutive seasons, Alfaro got the national team call against Italy in a friendly match in 2011. This game brought him attention from Italian club Lazio.

Alfaro, after spending three seasons with Lazio, had a season-long stint both in and back home with Liverpool FC in 2014-15 where they won the Segunda Division title.

FC Pune City's head coach Antonio Habas said, "Alfaro is a complete player who we feel is rightly suited the style of football which we at FC Pune City like to play, that is attacking brand. He is very smart in making attacking moves and is also solid in defence when needed and I'm sure that's going to be an asset to the team."

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Defending champions Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy will hope for a turnaround in their fortune when they begin their campaign in the men's doubles competition of the Canada Open Grand Prix which begins with the qualifiers, here tomorrow.

Commonwealth Games champion Parupalli Kashyap and gaint-killer H S Prannoy will also hope to lay claim to their first title of the season when they begin their campaign at the Markin MacPhail Centre here.

It was double bonanza for India at the Canada Open last year when B Sai Praneeth and then Rio-bound Manu and Sumeeth clinched twin crowns.

While Praneeth has improved that showing with a maiden Super Series title at Singapore Open in April, Manu-Sumeeth seemed to have struggled with their form at the international circuit.

The third seeded duo have failed to cross the first round in most of the events that they have played this season and Manu-Sumeeth will look to correct those figures when they face Japanese combo of Kohei Gondo and Tatsuya Watanabe in the opening round.

In men's singles, 16th seed Kashyap have made a good return after recovering from a knee and shoulder injury. He looked in good touch at the Australian Open and would look to put his best foot forward when he takes on Peru's Daniel La Torre Regal.

Second seeded Prannoy was in rampaging form at Indonesia Super Series Premier, defeating Olympic silver and gold medallists - Lee Chong Wei and Chen Long respectively on successive days.

The 24-year-old will hope to continue his good run when he faces Mexico's Job Castillo in the opening round.

Among other Indians, Harsheel Dani will face 11th seeded Lucas Corvee of France, Lakhanee Sarang will take on a qualifier.

Abhishek Yelegar will also feature in the opening round on Wednesday.

In women's singles, National champion Rituparna Das and Ruthvika Shivani Gadde will lead the charge of the young bridage, comprising Reshma Karthik, Sri Krishna Priya Kudaravalli and Sai Uttejitha Rao Chukka.

Rituparna will face Japan's Haruko Suzuki, Ruthvika will meet Korea's Ga Eun Kim, Sai will take on Canada's Rachel Honderich, while Reshma and Sri Krishna will face qualifiers. Men's doubles pair of Francis Alwin and Tarun Kona will take on German combo of Daniel Benz and Andreas Heinz.

In women's doubles, Kuhoo Garg and Ningshi Block Hazarika will meet Bulgarian top seed Gabriela Stoeva and Stefani Stoeva, while eighth seed Meghana Jakkampudi and Poorvisha S Ram will face off against Japan's Arisa Higashino and Kie Nakanishi.

In mixed doubles event, Syed Modi Grand Prix Gold champion N Sikki Reddy and Pranaav Jerry Chopra will face Peru's Daniel La Torre Regal and Danica Nishimura.

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Former India captain and CAC member Sourav Ganguly on Monday sent out a terse message to Virat Kohli, saying the Indian captain will need to understand how coaches operate in the wake of his infamous fallout with Anil Kumble.

The three-member Cricket Advisory Committee comprising Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman besides Ganguly, has put the appointment of next India coach on hold despite completion of the interview process.

"Virat will need to understand how coaches operate. At the same time, you have to give credit to *Virat Kohli* that he has stayed out of the coach selection process. We will have a detailed chat with him once he is back from the West Indies," said *Sourav Ganguly*.

The CAC interviewed five candidates for the post of head coach and at the end of it said that they needed more time to
come to a final decision. Tendulkar joined in through video conference.

Ganguly made it clear that they are looking at the bigger picture for the next two years and will take a decision in the best interest of Indian cricket. 

"The process is done. All presentations were outstanding. We just want to talk more with people who matter. We all have to be on the same page. Whoever comes will be in charge till the 2019 World Cup. And we want to make sure there is no differences of opinion six months down the line." 

*Virender Sehwag*, *Ravi Shastri*, Lalchand Rajput, Tom Moody and Richard Pybus were the ones interviewed. 

Asked about the inputs taken from Kohli in the meetings during the Champions Trophy, Ganguly said, "That was on a different aspect. As I said, he has stayed out of the whole thing.

"We want to make sure we take the best possible decision for Indian cricket. The coach, captain and players are the ones who will take Indian cricket forward. The CAC goes out of the picture once the coach is selected."

Ganguly hinted that the coach will be picked before the Sri Lanka tour that begins with the first Test on July 26.

Kumble resigned from the head coach's post just after the ICC Champions Trophy final against Pakistan last month due to "untenable" differences with skipper Kohli. 

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*Dubai*: India's spin duo of Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin continued to sit at the top two positions in the ICC Test bowlers' rankings, released here today.

Jadeja is heading the table with 898 points while Ashwin is placed at the second spot with 865 points but none of the other Indian bowlers figure in the top-10 list.

In the all-rounders chart also, Jadeja and Ashwin remained static at second and third places respectively. As far as Indian batsmen are concerned, Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli have remained at fourth and fifth places.

KL Rahul climbed up a place to ninth spot in the batting table, which is continued to be headed by Australia's Steve Smith.

Meanwhile, England's Moeen Ali has received a rankings boost in both batsmen's and bowlers' list.

Ali was declared the player of the match at the Lord's Test, where England beat South Africa by 211 runs to go 1-0 up in the four-match series.

Ali contributed 87 and seven with the bat and bagged four for 59 and six for 53 as England romped to victory with more than a day to spare.

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Luis Suarez gatecrashed Barcelona star and teammate Lionel Messi’s honeymoon with his wife Antonela Roccuzzo, on the Caribbean island, St Bart’s.

The newly-weds were joined in by Luis Suarez and his wife Sofia Balbi and their children.

Luis Suarez posted this picture on Instagram of and captioned it: “Gracias por la visita. pasamos genial. Thank you for the visit. we had a great one @sofibalbi @antoroccuzzo88 @leomessi.”


 

Gracias por la visita 😜😜😜 pasamos genial 🍍🍍🍍 Thank you for the visit 😜😜😜 we had a great one 🍍🍍🍍@sofibalbi @antoroccuzzo88 @leomessi

A post shared by Luis Suarez (@luissuarez9) onJul 8, 2017 at 4:34pm PDT



But Lionel Messi took the visit rather sportingly and was seen smiling in the picture.

Lionel Messi himself posted a picture of him and his new bride Antonella on Instagram. Antonella looks sexy in a bikini. Messi simply captioned the photo: Honeymoon.


 

Honeymoon❤ï¸Â

A post shared by AntoRoccuzzo88 (@antoroccuzzo88) onJul 8, 2017 at 11:47am PDT



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Even though Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) cancelled the Dr HD Kanga League's opening matches yesterday due to shortage of heavy rain, some clubs refused to waste a day and instead played practice matches without facing any difficulties.

Parsee Gymkhana and PJ Hindu Gymkhana played a practice match on a bright day at Hindu Gymkhana.

Parsee Gymkhana's vice-president Khodadad Yezdegardi was surprised with MCA's decision, but admitted that the match gave his players good match practice.

"MCA's decision is ridiculous. The reason they cited to cancel matches is the worst anyone can give. If they are cancelling matches due to shortage of rain, then when is the ideal time to hold the league? This is really disgusting. All grounds are dry and ready for matches," Yezdegardi told mid-day yesterday.

"I got a letter from MCA a month ago and also a week back where they specifically mentioned to ensure that our ground is ready for today's game. If they are saying shortage of rain, then how are we going to play from October to May?" he asked.

Hindu Gymkhana secretary Merchant expressed the same feelings. "Last week, MCA asked me whether our ground is ready for the July 9 match and I gave them the green signal. All gymkhana grounds were ready for today's matches," he said.

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In a dramatic turn of events, the three-member Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) on Monday decided to put the appointment of next India coach on hold despite completion of the interview process.

The decision to withhold the appointment is a clear indication that Ravi Shastri is no longer a runaway favourite for the top job after Virender Sehwag appeared in person for the interview which went on for two hours.

It was revealed that five people including Shastri, Sehwag, Lalchand Rajput and Richard Pybus appeared for interview while Phil Simmons made himself unavailable.

The CAC comprises former captains Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly along with VVS Laxman. Tendulkar joined today's proceedings via skype as he is currently in London.

"We will hold on to the announcements as we need a few more days. We feel there is no hurry, the Sri Lanka tour is coming in a few days' time," Ganguly told mediapersons. 

Ganguly made it clear that they are looking at the bigger picture for the next two years and will take a decision in the best interest of Indian cricket.

Reiterating the policy of the BCCI, Ganguly stated that any appointment will be made till the World Cup. "Once we make this announcement, it has to be till the World Cup (2019)," said Ganguly.

Ganguly said that the presentations given by coaches on their roadmap for Indian cricket were no different from what they saw last year. "From what we have heard from the coaches, it is not different from last year. We will take a call in the due course of time. We are not in a hurry. Sri Lanka is a long tour. We want to make sure that everybody is in synchronisation.

"It's not me, Sachin, Amitabh ji (Chaudhary) or Rahul (Johri), who will play. It is the players who will be playing and the support staff will be there. Everybody should be in synchronisation," Ganguly said in a matter-of-fact manner.

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Indian cricket team led by Virat Kohli suffered a shocking loss to hosts West Indies in their one-off T20I at Sabina Park on Sunday and a lot had to do with their performance on the field.

Batting first, Team India posted a defendable target of 191 in their 20 overs. But it was not enough to hold the Windies off and little did they know that a below-par fielding performance would give opener Evin Lewis the innings of his life.

It all began in the sixth over when Evin Lewis was dropped by India's Mohammad Shami during a Bhuvneshwar Kumar over. After Evin Lewis hit the ball in the air, Virat Kohli and Mohammad Shami ran towards it. Just as Virat Kohli looked good enough to take it, Shami interfered and messed up a potential wicket.

Evin Lewis had a second scare when Kuldeep Yadav flighted a delivery to lure him into hitting a six. Evin Lewis could only get the end of his bat to the ball which led to a gift for team India, only for Dinesh Karthik to come in and drop it.

India did not stop there, as even the brilliant and quick Mahendra Singh Dhoni missed two stumpings, which included Marlon Samuels.

*Evin Lewis went on to smash a 62-ball unbeaten 125 runs* as West Indies chased down the target with 9 balls to spare.

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Former team director Ravi Shastri will be the front-runner when the three-member Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) meets here tomorrow to scrutinise candidates for the high-profile job of Indian men's cricket team coach.

For the record, BCCI received 10 CVs -- Shastri, Virender Sehwag, Tom Moody, Richard Pybus, Dodda Ganesh, Lalchand Rajput, Lance Klusener, Rakesh Sharma (Oman national team coach), Phil Simmons and Upendranath Bramhachari (engineer with no cricketing background).

It is learnt that the CAC will interview six of the 10 candidates. As per sources, the six likely candidates are Shastri, Sehwag, Moody, Simmons, Pybus and Rajput.

Klusener, as of now, may be kept on stand-by but has very little or no chance of getting the job.*Virender Sehwag*

The position had fallen vacant after former head coach and legendary spinner Anil Kumble resigned from the post before the West Indies series due to differences with skipper Virat Kohli.

After the Kumble-Kohli saga, the CAC will have to be prudent in its choice as the new coach will be given a two-year contract.

*Ravi Shastri* had initially not applied for the post but when the BCCI extended the deadline for acceptance of applications till July 9 (today), the former skipper jumped into the fray and suddenly became the hot favourite.

Given his cordial equation with Virat, Shastri, who had a successful tenure as team director with India reaching the 50 over World Cup semifinal, is the favourite.

However, it is still not clear what would be the view point of Sourav Ganguly, with whom Shastri had a very public spat with both taking potshots at each other.*Tom Moody*

Shastri had then alleged that Ganguly wasn't present when he was being interviewed via Skype. Ganguly had responded that had Shastri been serious, he should have appeared in person for the interview.

The other notable candidate is flamboyant opener Sehwag. Sehwag was a genius in his own rights, but his coaching credentials are yet to be proved.

A two-year stint as Kings XI Punjab mentor has not yielded the desired results.

Moody can't be totally ruled out because of his rich credentials as an international and franchise coach. He had coached Sri Lanka to the 2011 World Cup final and guided Sunrisers Hyderabad to an IPL triumph.

Moody had also appeared last year for an interview but lost out to Kumble, who was too big a name to be ignored.

What works for Moody is his calm demeanour and ability to work from behind the scenes.

In case Moody comes in, McDermott could be a good choice as bowling coach, though both are from the same country.

If Shastri is picked, then Bharath Arun will be back as bowling coach of the team.

Klusener has also applied for the post with some experience of coaching provincial sides in domestic leagues in South Africa.

Simmons has been a good coach for smaller teams like Afghanistan and Ireland. He had a stormy stint with the West Indies team as he had issues with regards to team selection.

*Also view photos: Virat Kohli vs Anil Kumble: The rift that led to Jumbo's departure*

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Skipper Virat Kohli was critical of India's performance against West Indies in the one-off T20, saying his team was sloppy with both the bat and ball and did not deserve to win.

Put into bat, India posted 190-6 on a batting belter but Evin Lewis blasted an unbeaten 125 off 62 balls with as many as 12 sixes and six fours as the reigning World T20 champions knocked off the runs in only 18.3 overs.

The Trinidad left-hander got a couple of reprieves with Mohammed Shami and Dinesh Karthik being the offenders.

"Even in the first innings, we could have added 25-30 extra. We were on course for 230. And in the field as well, we dropped a few chances and if you don't grab them you don't deserve to win," Kohli said after the match.

"If you give a good start up the order, one batsman has to bat through. I think Dinesh was good, but we needed someone to get 80-90 which a team needs in T20 cricket, I think.

"Then we didn't start well with the ball and didn't field well either. All these games are good feeders of how guys react to situations."

Kohli feels India's T20 team is still in a transition and there would be bad days but overall he was happy with the team's performance.

"West Indies have a good T20 team, they have carried on with the same team for a couple of years. And in experimental stage, we'd have up and downs. But we need to keep going. One game in the ODIs we lost, we won three convincingly," he said.

"T20s is anyone's game, and one game doesn't make a series according to me. Overall, we enjoyed the tour."

Happy to notch up a nine-wicket win over India, West Indies skipper Carlos Brathwaite said he was happy with the way his team expressed themselves on the field.

"Very happy. Yesterday we asked for the batters to go out and express themselves. I gave them the captain's incentive, whoever goes and gets a fifty gets half my match fee. We wanted to put smiles on the faces of the fans and that's what we come back to do," said Brathwaite.

"We wanted to wrestle the game back against them. We've seen the IPL, we know how Bhuvneshwar Kumar bowls at the death and we wanted to make him bowl more in the first few overs and that's a box ticked.

Brathwaite also heaped praise on Evin Lewis and Kestick Williams for their performance.

"Evin just played magnificently. He just played on, played through so big kudos to him. It was a good score on the board, but we always knew we could get it," he said.

"Kestick Williams has produced a fantastic performance, carries it on from Pakistan to Afghanistan and here. His figures might not reflect it, but he got Kohli out, the direct hit, and in the sixth over he had two new batsmen in and that certainly helped," he added.

Opener Evin Lewis, who was adjudged the Man of the Match for his unbeaten 62-ball 125, said he was not doing well in the last few ODIs but he always kept believing in himself.

"It was a good game. Quality bowlers, and once you get a hundred against a team like India, it's a good hundred. Five games in a row, in the ODIs, I didn't do well. But I kept believing in my ability and today I came out trumps," Lewis said.

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Fit-again Indian shuttler Sameer Verma was left disappointed after he was forced to withdraw from next week's Canada Open Grand Prix badminton tournament after failing to get visa on time.

"I have withdrawn from the Canada Open GP as I couldn't procure my visa in time, really disappointed as I was really looking forward to play at Calgary," Sameer wrote on his facebook page.

"As international athletes, I think we shouldn't be facing visa issues but again it is not something which I could do about it, will be playing US Open GPG next week, looking forward to another week of training before I leave."

Canada Open is scheduled to be held from July 11 to 16, while the US Open Grand Prix Gold will be held from July 19-23.

A former National champion Sameer, who had reached the finals of 2016 Hong Kong Super Series and clinched the Syed Modi Grand Prix Gold this year, had suffered a shoulder injury and couldn't participate at Indonesia and Australia Super Series last month.

"It has been a couple of tough months for me, had to withdraw from the Indonesia and Australia Open due to a shoulder injury. After about 6 weeks of rehabilitation, I am back on court," he wrote.

Interestingly, Commonwealth Games champion Parupalli Kashyap, HS Prannoy and N Sikki Reddy had to request the Ministry of External Affairs and Sports Ministry to receive their passports on time to travel to Canada.

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Mumbai batsman Rohit Sharma yesterday made a comeback in the Indian Test squad, replacing an out-of-form Karun Nair for the three-Test series against Sri Lanka starting July 26.

Opener KL Rahul has also recovered from his shoulder surgery and has retained his place in the side as the selectors showed consistency, which has been the hallmark of this committee over the past one year.

The three-member selection committee decided on a 16-member squad via tele-conference with 15 members, who were a part of India's fourth Test against Australia in Dharamsala, being retained.

Skipper Kohli had indicated* Rohit*'s return and that was precisely the reason why he was rested for the limited-overs series against West
Indies.

Before his injury, Rohit had scored a hat-trick of half-centuries against New Zealand and the policy of the committee has been to retain a player, who had to forego his place due to injury.

*Dip in fortunes for Nair*
Nair had gone off the boil after his triple century against England and could not even score a single half-century with scores of 26, 23 and 5 against Australia.
The national selection committee has named Karun the captain of the India A 'Test' side to South Africa, where he is expected to play both formats.

*Ishant back too*
The 16th member of the squad is third opener Abhinav Mukund, who made a comeback against Australia. The four pacers Ishant Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav and Mohammed Shami were automatic selections.

India will play the first Test at Galle from July 26, followed by second Test at Colombo from August 3 and the final Test at Kandy from August 12.

Meanwhile, former Team Director and India captain Ravi Shastri will be the front-runner when the three-member Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) meets today to scrutinise candidates for the high-profile job of Indian cricket team coach.

*Shastri favourite*
For the record, BCCI received 10 CVs — Shastri, Virender Sehwag, Tom Moody, Richard Pybus, Dodda Ganesh, Lalchand Rajput, Lance Klusener, Rakesh Sharma (Oman national team coach), Phil Simmons and Upendranath Bramhachari (engineer with no cricketing background).

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British athletics superstar Mo Farah eased to victory in the 3000 metres at the Diamond League meet in the London Stadium yesterday.

The 34-year-old - a quadruple Olympic and world champion having achieved the 5000 and 10000m double twice in both sporting showpieces - came home in 7 minutes 35.15 secs.*Jamaica's Elaine Thompson sprints to the 100m gold in London.*

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Romelu Lukaku has admitted he did not think twice about agreeing to join Man United when the opportunity arose, describing the Red Devils as the "biggest club in the world".

United announced on Saturday they had reached an agreement with Everton to sign the 24-year-old in a deal understood to be worth an initial £75million.

Lukaku, who has been on holiday in America, is now set to put the finishing touches on the switch.

The Belgium international admits he is grateful to have been given the chance to join United.

"It's the biggest club in the world. It's a club that's hungry to win the league again, to be dominant in the world again. This is the sort of opportunity that I always wanted since I was a child and when they came calling I didn't have to think twice."

United have yet to make any official announcement about Lukaku apart from confirming a fee had been agreed with Everton.

Mourinho has been looking for a striker to cover the loss of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and had been heavily linked with moves for Atletico Madrid's Antoine Griezmann, Andrea Belotti of Torino and Real Madrid's Alvaro Morata this summer. "I'm delighted to be part of their history. Who would say no to the biggest club in the world? The best stadium in England, the best fans, it's the perfect opportunity.

"I always said that I wanted to play for a team that was challenging for every trophy that is there, and I think Manchester United at the minute wants to be that dominant team, that dominant force."

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Renowned American dancer Julianne Hough tied the knot with National Hockey League (NHL) star Brooks Laich in front of 200 guests near Coeur d'Alene in the US on Saturday. The couple, who got engaged in August 2015, also had their two dogs Lexi and Harley incorporated in the ceremony, serving as ring bearers.

"I don't think I really necessarily dreamt about my wedding as a kid. But I know I will always cherish and remember it for the rest of my life," Hough (29) told People magazine.*Brooks Laich*

While Laich tried to keep the ceremony an intimate one, the Canadian free hockey agent couldn't help gush over his leading lady Hough, who is also a judge on American TV show Dancing With The Stars.

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Promising Madhya Pradesh fast bowler Avesh Khan has been selected for the coaching camp organised by Australian Cricket Academy in Brisbane from July 28 to August 15.

"It is with great pleasure that we inform you about the selection of Mr. Avesh Khan, promising fast bowler from MPCA, in the coaching camp organised by the Australian Cricket Academy, Brisbane, at its end for the period from 28 July to 15 August 2017," MPCA Secretary Milind Kanmadikar said in a release.

"This coaching-training camp is a result of MOU between MRF Pace Foundation (Chennai) and the Australian Cricket Academy on players exchange programme."

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Colombian Rigoberto Uran won a drama-filled ninth stage of the Tour de France yesterday as Australian Richie Porte and Briton Geraint Thomas crashed out.

Champion Chris Froome retained the yellow jersey after finishing the stage third, behind Frenchman Warren Barguil who missed out on victory in a photo-finish.

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Jermain Defoe paid an emotional tribute to "best friend" Bradley Lowery after his death from a rare form of cancer. The England striker struck up a close friendship with Bradley during his time at Sunderland. He died on Friday, aged six.

"I will always carry you in my heart. Goodbye my friend, gonna miss you lots. I feel so blessed God brought you into my life and has some amazing moments with you and for that I'm so grateful," Defoe wrote on his social media accounts.

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Valtteri Bottas held off Sebastian Vettel to take only his second-ever F1 win in a nail-biting finale to yesterday's Austrian GP. The Finn, who started from pole, crossed the line just 0.6 seconds ahead of the championship-leading Ferrari driver, who now leads the standings over Lewis Hamilton by 20 points.

The Briton finished fourth with Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo taking third spot. Bottas, who replaced the retired Nico Rosberg at Mercedes this year, last won in Russia in April. Then, as now, he beat Vettel to the line by just 0.6 seconds. Yesterday's win though was his first from pole position.

*Controversial start*
Bottas' win was built on a near-perfect getaway. His launch off the line was so good, his reaction to the lights going off timed at just 0.2 seconds, that he came under investigation from stewards for a jumped start but was cleared.

"I think it was the start of my life. I was just really on it today," said Bottas.

Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen finished fifth while Haas' Romain Grosjean was sixth.

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Khloe Kardashian has reportedly agreed to keep her relationship with NBA star Tristan Thompson away from her family show, Keeping Up With the Kardashians'.*Tristan Thompson*

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Ahead of Mali's FIFA U-17 World Cup group stage matches at the DY Patil Stadium here from October 6, the country's youth football head Sekou Sylla has heaped praise on the facility yesterday.

The stadium, which has a capacity of holding 45,300 spectators, will host six group stage matches along with one game each of the round of 16 and semi-final stages.

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Johanna Konta's coach Wim Fissette has revealed how he makes the British No. 1 learn tactics off-by-heart and recite them before her matches at Wimbledon. No player in the women's draw has won a higher percentage of first sets this year than Konta, who in nine grand slam ties has lost the opening frame just once. That was against Serena Williams at the Australian Open in January and even in her shock French Open loss to Su-wei Hsieh, Konta blitzed the first set 6-1.

Her fast starts are no fluke. Konta is prepared meticulously for her opponents by Fissette and expected to commit every detail of her game-plan to memory.

It means in the minutes before she walks out on Court One today, to face Caroline Garcia in the last 16, Konta will be reciting her strategy. "What we do at Wimbledon is I text her the game plan the night before and she reads it. It's quite a long message," Fissette said.

"There are tactical messages but also some mental messages of what I feel is important that day. Twenty minutes before the match she starts to warm up, which is quite intense, but five minutes before she goes out on court she repeats the messages back to me. She recites her intentions for the match and if something is missing I tell her she has forgotten it, especially if it's something important.

"You could say it is like a little exam and maybe a bit unusual but when she is 100 per cent clear about her intentions that is when Jo plays her best matches. There are matches sometimes when I feel she is not completely clear and that is when it gets tough."

The routine sounds intense but Fissette's pep-talks are rarely designed to fire Konta up. The Belgian has worked with Kim Clijsters, Victoria Azarenka, Sabine Lisicki and Simona Halep in the past, but says Konta likes to keep things light. "We all tell jokes. Everybody is different. When I worked with Azarenka, two hours before her match she is completely in her zone. In that time, we are definitely not talking anymore. With Kim she was very relaxed before matches, she would hug a baby nearby or play with a dog going past.

"Johanna is a bit like that. She is usually very relaxed as well and we often joke and laugh. It is good for her mindset."

Meanwhile, Garcia is enjoying the greatest grand slam success of her career as she prepares to face Konta — after enraging her Fed Cup teammates by quitting the France team. Imminent Wimbledon glory may await the 23-year-old Frenchwoman, who as a teenager was famously tipped as a future world number one by Andy Murray.

And if she beats Konta to earn a second successive quarter-final in a major, following her run to the same stage at the French Open, then Garcia's big career decision will look like spectacularly smart judgement.

Garcia has been denied the Centre Court appearance she craved for today's Wimbledon clash with Konta, after it was scheduled as the opening match on Court One.

"It'll be a really tough match. A British player at Wimbledon, that's never easy. It'll maybe be on Centre Court. I've never played there, I've never been in the stands," she said.

http://images.mid-day.com/images/2017/jul/Ali-Moeen-a-s.jpg

Moeen Ali's career-best bowling helped Joe Root start his tenure as Test captain with a resounding 211-run victory inside four days as 19 wickets fell in three remarkable sessions at Lord's.

Jonny Bairstow also bailed out England with a defiant half-century, after a collapse of seven wickets for 43 runs, and then kickstarted South Africa's descent to 119 all out with an athletic leg-side catch as their attempt to pull off the ground's second-highest run chase veered instead on to the fast track to defeat.

Spin then predictably did much of the damage on a decidedly helpful surface, as Moeen (six for 53) finished with a 10-wicket match haul and Liam Dawson did his bit too.

It was Root himself, however, who laid the foundations for success on captaincy debut with his first-innings 190 - 103 more than any other batsman managed for either side - as England put behind them the four consecutive defeats in India last winter which ended Alastair Cook's record-breaking era in charge.

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Imperial succession has remained an imperfect issue in the historical narrative of nations having such systems and the debate continues on which is the perfect system and how to codify them. There has never been any definite answer. The terminology to designate the system as imperial, monarchical, kings and queens and so on may differ but there is some common thread in all such systems on the succession debate.

Against this background, Japan’s case is special. There are kings, monarchs, dictators in some countries but Japan is the only country in the world where there is an Emperor, the current Emperor being the 125th one in succession. After the World War II, Emperor Hirohito, posthumously called as Showa, renounced his divine status and became the symbol of the nation under a democracy.

There are some critical challenges that Japan’s Imperial system is going to cope with in the future. In August 2016, in a television pre-recorded broadcast the current Emperor Akihito, aged 83, expressed his wish to abdicate as he was less confident of discharging his national duties because of old age. In the current Imperial House Law, there is no provision for abdication; an Emperor can only die before the Crown Prince is enthroned as the next Emperor.

The issue of succession has emerged as a challenge to the nation’s Imperial system because of two reasons. One, the number of successors to the throne currently is limited to three: Crown Prince Naruhito, his younger brother Prince Akishino and Akishino’s son Prince Hisahito who is 10 years of age. Once the Crown Prince Naruhito becomes the Emperor upon his father abdication, the lines of succession shall remain limited to only two.

Two, the succession to the Imperial throne has remained as patrilineal, which means female members are ineligible to occupy the throne. In order to widen the scope and increase the number in the lines of succession, laws could be amended by including female members making them eligible in the lines of succession and thus making the system both patrilineal and matrilineal. Changing the Imperial House Law is not easy. The conservative government of Abe Shinzo seems to be against this. There could be public disapproval as well.

In the present set-up, a female member loses her imperial status if married to a commoner and must leave the Imperial house. This has been the case and shall remain so in future. The latest case is that of Princess Mako, Prince Akishino’s eldest daughter, who has already chosen her soul mate Kei Komuro.

The Imperial Household Agency announced that the informal engagement ceremony shall be done on 8 July. This has been postponed to a later date as Princess Mako and Komuro expressed sorry at the national calamity caused by heavy rain in Kyushu resulting in the death of 22 people. Now, a new date for the informal engagement shall be announced at a later date. The official engagement shall be announced later when a separate betrothal rite, called “nosai no gi” is conducted at a formal ceremony.

After Mako’s engagement, the total number of the Imperial family will come down to 18, including the current Emperor Akihito.

Under the current system, what the Imperial family wants is immaterial. Any expression by the Emperor regarding his status and that of his relations is inherently political in nature. According to the Constitution, the symbolic head of the country is supposed to be above politics, or at least outside of it.

So, there has to be a political decision on whether to make females eligible to be in the lines of succession. Even Emperor Akihito’s wish to step down went through intense and prolonged political debate inside and outside of the Diet before a one-time abdication has been accepted. Whether this would set the precedent for the future if another such situation arises would remain in the realm of the unknowns.

Japanese media is restrained to disclose any information regarding the Imperial family unless they are authorised by the Imperial Household Agency and therefore expected to follow strict protocol. It is the Imperial Household Agency which controls all interactions with the palace. The life of the Imperial family is like caged prisoners, where the Emperor enjoys no real freedom and is expected to sit behind the curtain and pray for the nation. Simply put, he just remains literally as the symbol of the nation.
The current Heisei era started in January 1989 when Emperor Akihito assumed the Imperial Throne upon the death of his father Emperor Hirohito. When the current Crown Prince Naruhito is enthroned, possibly in 2018 as planned, a new era shall start. The government has to decide the name of the new era. The retired Emperor can then watch the next era in peace.

It would be the first abdication of the present Emperor Akihito in nearly 200 years, since that of the 119th Emperor Koukaku in 1817 during the Edo period (1603-1867). It will also be the first abdication not due to the demise of an Emperor since the previous Imperial House Law, enacted in the Meiji era (1868-1912), made the position of Emperor life-time tenure.

Changing the name of the era will have a wide-ranging effect on society, including modifications of computer systems so that banks, registering births and deaths, driving licence etc. are not too inconvenienced. In order to avoid such a possible situation, it would be necessary for the government to make the announcement of the new era name ahead of the abdication date.

The Emperor upon abdication shall assume the name of “joko” or retired Emperor and all acts of the Emperor performed as the symbol of the state will be transferred altogether to the new Emperor. As such, any confusion on “duality of symbol and authority” can be prevented between the new Emperor and a joko. The government is also expected to define the activities of the joko and pass a new special law for establishing new posts in the Imperial Household Agency, such as joko-shoku, who would be in charge of the affairs of the joko and jokogo, the title to be given to the Empress after the Emperor’s abdication.

We need to wait and see what new changes are made in the coming months to keep the Imperial system running and the institution’s symbolism is maintained.

*Professor (Dr.) Panda* is currently Indian Council for Cultural Relations India Chair Visiting Professor at Reitaku University, JAPAN. Disclaimer: The views expressed are author’s own and do not represent either of the ICCR or the Government of India. E-mail: rajaram.panda@gmail.com Reported by Eurasia Review 12 hours ago.

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The boss of Network Rail has sounded a fresh warning over major improvement work to the rail network this summer, which is set to lead to significant disruption to services for passengers across the capital.

Network Rail is aiming to complete a huge slug of a £50bn railway upgrade programme. Major track and signalling work will take place over the August 2017 bank holiday weekend and the four working days afterwards.

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For passengers planning a bank holiday getaway, there will be "significant changes" to train services out of London Bridge, London Euston, London Waterloo, London Liverpool Street and London Paddington.

A slew of London Waterloo platforms will be closed from Saturday 5 to Monday 28 August (platforms one to 10), with the closure extending up to platform 14 from Friday 25 to Monday 28 August.

Between Saturday 26 August and Saturday 2 September there will be no Southeastern services to or from London Bridge, Waterloo East and Charing Cross with Network Rail rebuilding London Bridge station and the surrounding railway.

On Saturday 26 and 27 August there will be no Southeastern trains at Cannon Street and Blackfriars and fewer Southern services to London Bridge. You can check further details on journeys during the disrupted period here.

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Mark Carne, Network Rail's chief executive, said: 



These huge investment projects now need several uninterrupted days to complete critical work.

We know there is never a good time to disrupt services to get this work done, but it does make sense to do so when fewer people are travelling. Bank holidays and the summer months can see up to 50 percent fewer passengers using the railway.

This vital investment will make the railway more reliable for years to come, while improving journeys for thousands of passengers. There will be major changes to services throughout August and the bank holiday weekend, so we strongly advise passengers to plan their journeys as early as possible.



*Which stations are affected when?*

· *London Waterloo*: Platforms 1-10 will be closed from Saturday 5 to Monday 28 August. On Friday 25 to Monday 28 August the closure extends to include platforms 1-14. Throughout the closure, there will be significant reductions services at some stations and several will be closed across the South West rail network.
· *London Bridge*: Between Saturday 26 August and Saturday 2 September, there will be no Southeastern services to or from London Bridge, Waterloo East and Charing Cross. Additionally, on Saturday 26 and Sunday 27 August there will be no Southeastern trains at Cannon Street and Blackfriars and fewer Southern services to London Bridge.
· *London Euston*: No trains will run to or from London Euston on Saturday 26 and Sunday 27 August
· *London Liverpool Street: *On Sunday 27 and Monday 28 August there will be no train services between London Liverpool Street and Shenfield / Ingatestone / Billericay / Barking.
· *London Paddington: *From Saturday 19 August to 15 September, services will be impacted on the Paddington to Wales route between Swindon and Bristol Parkway. Diversions for high speed trains and rail replacement services for local services will mean longer journey times.
· *Marylebone, Kings Cross, St Pancras and London Victoria stations* in London are all unaffected, but are likely to be busier than usual
· *Routes to UK airports *will be unaffected over the bank holiday weekend

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Crossrail 2 hopes were given a boost after it emerged Treasury minister Liz Truss has been given responsibility for Crossrail 2 last week.

Marking the first notable mention of Crossrail 2 by the government since the election, the rail project has appeared as part of Truss’ portfolio in her Treasury profile, since moving from her former position as justice secretary. The Treasury said the portfolios were updated last week.

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In her role as chief secretary to the Treasury, Truss is responsible for public expenditure, infrastructure spending, housing and planning, and roads. HS2 and Crossrail 2 are also both listed in her responsibilities, as they are associated with significant costs.

They also came under the umbrella of her predecessor David Gauke’s portfolio, but the inclusion of Crossrail 2 will be a positive signal for proponents of the scheme that the government is seriously considering the project's progression. Concerns had been raised by its omission from the Conservative manifesto and the Queen’s speech, as well as the snap General Election throwing its timeline off-track.

The rail link would serve stations throughout the south east, running from Wimbledon in the south west of the capital to Tottenham Hale in the north east. TfL forecasts the development will unlock 200,000 extra jobs and lead to the construction of 200,000 homes, as well as helping to address a predicted surge in crowding on London's transport system.

TfL provided a business and funding case to the department for transport (DfT) in March, and has been pushing for the go-ahead since, though discussions have been ongoing over funding for the project. 

London mayor Sadiq Khan will meet transport secretary Chris Grayling for crunch talks next week, with Crossrail 2 expected to be high on the agenda. The mayor's deputy for transport Val Shawcross said earlier this month that the Crossrail 2 team was hoping the government will be in a position to "give us some hints of direction" on the rail project's future when the talks take place.

A DfT spokesperson said: “As with all transport scheme proposals a thorough analysis is being carried out by the department to ensure it is a robust scheme.

“This includes examining whether the National Infrastructure Commission’s detailed recommendations on the scheme have been met.

“These considerations are part of a normal ongoing process, and the next steps and timescales will be decided as part of our analysis."

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