Sports

Ons Jabeur crashes out of French Open after loss to Coco Gauff

Published

4 weeks ago

June 5, 2024

The quest for a maiden Grand Slam title by Tunisian tennis star, Ons Jabeur, took another hit on Tuesday night as she was knocked out of the French Open quarter finals by American third seed, Coco Gauff, in what turned out to be an absorbing contest.

Gauf who is the current US Open champion, showed her maturity and mentality at Roland Garros to defeat the 8th seeded Jabeur win 4-6 6-2 6-3 and will play Polish top seed Iga Swiatek, who beat her in the 2022 final, in the last four on Thursday.

Court side reports on the match say after a superb opening set which was dominated by Jabeur, the “20-year-old Gauff continued to believe in her game and took advantage of her opponent’s level dipping.”

“Gauff was unable to convert a match point on Jabeur’s serve at 5-2 in the decider, and survived a break point at 5-3, before getting over the line when her opponent dumped an overhead long,” the report said.

“A passionate roar as Gauff celebrated in the middle of the court indicated the magnitude of the test she had come through.”

After the pulsating match, Gauff, however, gave credit to her opponent.

“She’s a tough opponent. I was trying to be more aggressive, she was playing really well and hitting a lot of winners – which I’m not used to.

“I got a little bit tight but I did what I needed to do.

“Whenever I’m not playing, I cheer for Ons too, so thank you guys for making it a great atmosphere. I like playing in atmospheres like this.

“I know you wanted her to win, but even when I was in the bathroom after the first set, I was thinking ‘this is really fun, win or lose’,” she told the crowd on Court Philippe Chatrier.

Jabeur who is a three-time major finalist, has endured a tough season because of a niggling knee injury and struggled for form before rediscovering her level at Roland Garros.

However, the 29-year-old was unable to sustain the pressure she put Gauff under after struggling to land as many first serves, and beginning to make rash decisions in her returning, was costly as Gauff turned the match around.

“The quarter-finals is not bad. I’ll take it,” said Jabeur.

“I’m trying to be less hard with myself and be proud with the way I was fighting.”

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Sports

South Africa succumbs to India in T20 World Cup finals

Published

5 hours ago

June 30, 2024

Isaac Dachen

South Africa’s unbeaten run to the final of the T20 World Cup was ended on Saturday by India which also ended their 13-year wait for a world title.

In the thrilling final match in Barbados, India fought back gallantly to beat the Proteas who needed 26 from 24 balls in pursuit of 177, but the wicket of Heinrich Klaasen for 52 from 27 swung a dramatic game in India’s favour.

The game looked done during Klaasen’s onslaught but Hardik removed him by finding a thin edge through to wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant.

Even as Klaasen slumped off, South Africa remained favourites.

The win was India’s second T20 title, having won the inaugural tournament in 2007, and first World Cup win in either format since the 2011 50-over competition.

And for South Africa, it was a horrible defeat that brought back all the pain of World Cups past after breezing through to the final without losing a single match.

India had so much in their favour, a team of superstars chosen from population of 1.4 billion and the largest proportion of the revenue generated in the game.

The Proteas, like India, had progressed to this point unbeaten and had come through a series of tight games and their semi-final win against Afghanistan was their first victory in the last four of a World Cup in eight attempts.

Arshdeep Singh conceded only four from the penultimate over, leaving Hardik Pandya to defend 16 from the last, while David Miller was sensationally caught by Suryakumar Yadav at long-off for 21 from the first ball before India closed out a seven-run win.

It sparked jubilant scenes among the India players and fans in Barbados, including superstar Virat Kohli, who dragged his side to 176-7 with 76 off 59.

The final result left Hardik was in tears as he was part of the Indian side that lost the 50-over World Cup final to Australia on home soil eight months ago.

In the end, up against some superb bowling from Jasprit Bumrah, who took 2-18 in a high-scoring game, they faltered again at the last.

In the final moments, Kagiso Rabada edged a four and Hardik bowled a wide, leaving eight needed from the last two balls before Radaba was caught at long-off.

Sports

CAS clears Tobi Amusan for Olympics, dismisses doping charges

Published

1 day ago

June 29, 2024

Isaac Dachen

Nigeria’s brightest chance of picking a medal at the upcoming 2024 Paris Olympics was rekindled after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) cleared 100m hurdles world record holder, Tobi Amusan, of a doping charge brought against her by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU).

With the clearance and dismissal of the appeal by AIU on Friday, Amusan is now free to run in the Paris Olympics.

Amusan was charged by the AIU in July 2023 with missing three anti-doping tests in 12 months but was cleared of the offence by the Disciplinary Tribunal of the sport’s governing body, World Athletics.

Following the decision of the Disciplinary Tribunal, World Athletics and the World Anti-Doping Agency appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport against the decision.

In clearing Amusan, CAS said in a statement that its panel unanimously acknowledged that the athlete committed two filing failures but did not confirm the existence of a missed test, alleged by WA and WADA, which would have been the third Whereabouts Failure committed within 12 months.

The 27-year-old Amusan is the current 100m hurdles world record holder in a time of 12.12 seconds she set at the world championships in Eugene, Oregon, in July 2022 and went on to win the title.