Viktor Gyokeres set the world alight at Sporting Lisbon after proving to be Brighton's biggest ever mistake... why Arsenal are throwing £70m at Europe's hottest striker
If the ball was played to him, too often he would fail to retain it. Given the chance to find a team-mate, he would regularly pick out a member of the opposition instead. Swans players were soon exchanging concerned glances. 'Who is this guy?' was the general gist.
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Daily Mail
8 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Wimbledon's line-calling technology fails again
Wimbledon suffered another embarrassing episode when the electronic line calling system malfunctioned in Taylor Fritz's quarter-final win over Karen Khachanov. Tournament organizers were forced to apologize on Sunday when the Hawk-Eye technology was accidentally switched off for one game in the fourth-round tie between Britain's Sonay Kartal and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. And All England Club chiefs were left red-faced again on Tuesday as 'fault' was erroneously called midway through a Fritz and Khachanov rally in the first game of the fourth set. Swedish umpire Louise Azemar-Engzell shouted 'stop' and halted the play, before making a phone call to colleagues from her chair. She then told the audience: 'Ladies and gentlemen, we will replay the last point due to a malfunction. The system is now working.' That prompted boos from the No 1 Court crowd, although neither player held the upper hand in the point and they replayed without protest. Fritz lost the point and went on to have his serve broken, but he recovered in the set to win the tie-break and seal a 6-3, 6-4, 1-6, 7-6 win. While it is not known what caused the malfunction on No 1 Court, it was another uncomfortable episode for the All England Club, who gave their full backing to the electronic line calling system on Monday. A 'thorough review' of the Kartal incident identified that a Hawk-Eye operator had accidentally switched off the ball-tracking technology by unticking a box. An All England Club spokesperson said on Monday: 'Our live ELC system relies on the cameras and technology working in harmony with the operators and review officials. 'We have conducted a thorough review of our systems and processes. What is clear is that the ball-tracking technology has been working optimally during The Championships. 'In this instance, there was a human error which deactivated the ball tracking cameras on part of the server's side of the court. Wimbledon claimed the error occurred because a ballboy was still running across the court when Fritz went to serve. The electronic line calling system does not work when more than two people are on the court for a singles match. A spokesperson said: 'The player's service motion began while the BBG was still crossing the net and therefore the system didn't recognize the start of the point. As such the Chair Umpire instructed the point be replayed.' Khachanov said: 'I'm more for line umpires, to be honest. The electronic line calls have to be very precise and no mistakes, but we've seen a couple. 'That's questionable why this is happening. Is it just like the error of the machine or what's the reason? 'Today there were a few calls that were very questionable if it's really touching the line or not. At the same time during one point, the machine called it just out during the rally. Sometimes it's scary to let machine do what they want. 'What can I do? I can argue, or I can be angry on it or just continue playing. It's not in my power. It's already happened. 'I need to kind of accept it, and that's it. It was not kind of super important point. 'If it would happen on a break point or deuce or maybe tiebreaker, you can get more mad.'
BreakingNews.ie
10 minutes ago
- BreakingNews.ie
Aryna Sabalenka avoids major shock with fightback win over Laura Siegemund
Top seed and title favourite Aryna Sabalenka survived an almighty scare against world number 104 Laura Siegemund before reaching the Wimbledon semi-finals. Sabalenka, the runaway world number one and a three-time grand slam champion, had not dropped a set on her way to the quarter-finals. Advertisement But 37-year-old Siegemund, who had never previously been beyond the second round, almost produced one of the all-time Centre Court shocks after taking the first set and then twice leading by a break in the decider. Comeback complete 🙌 World No.1 Aryna Sabalenka defeats Laura Siegemund 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 to reach her third #Wimbledon semi-final. — Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 8, 2025 However, Sabalenka kept her nerve and her emotions in check as she dug in for a 4-6 6-2 6-4 victory in just under three hours. 'I need some time to cool down and recover, she pushed me so much,' said Sabalenka. 'After the first set I was looking at my box and saying 'book the tickets, we're out of this place'.' Advertisement German women aged 37 have been the great disruptors of the English summer, with Tatiana Maria claiming a surprise win at Queen's Club before Siegemund's unlikely run here. Laura Siegemund was a break up in the decider (Ben Whitley/PA) A renowned doubles player, her game is built around slices, angles, drop shots and being nimble on her feet. But the two clubbing backhand winners with which she sealed two breaks of serve in the opening three games were straight from the Sabalenka playbook. It was a drop shot which brought up another break point, which was secured when an increasingly glum-looking Sabalenka went long, and when the Belarusian dumped a forehand into the net for the umpteenth time she found herself a set down for the first time this fortnight. Advertisement Sabalenka disappeared off court at the changeover, and when play resumed she moved a break up, only for Siegemund to claw it straight back. Siegemund was beginning to deploy the dark arts she has built a reputation for, taking an age between points as Sabalenka waited to serve. It was clearly irritating the 27-year-old, but she took her frustration out on the ball with some trademark power hitting eventually levelling the match – the first set Siegemund had dropped this Championships. Yet the underdog bit back in the deciding set, and when she broke for 4-3 she was two games away from a seismic shock. Advertisement However, Sabalenka broke back immediately and then roared with delight after putting away a smash on match point to reach the semi-finals for the 10th time in the last 11 grand slams.
BBC News
33 minutes ago
- BBC News
Penybont to keep 'knocking on the door'
Manager Rhys Griffiths "just felt nauseous" while waiting to discover whether his Penybont side would reach this season's Conference League. "There was so much riding on it," he said of May's Welsh Cup final between The New Saints and Connah's had spent the previous eight months trying to beat the Saints to the Cymru Premier they missed out, finishing second, Griffiths' men were left looking to TNS for a favour. The complex nature of Welsh football's European qualification meant Penybont needed TNS to beat the Nomads to ensure they would be in the Conference League first qualifying round once the best supported side in the Cymru Premier last season, streamed the final at their clubhouse in Bridgend, with fans and players rooting for the most successful team in domestic Welsh game went Penybont's way as TNS triumphed 2-1 - though the result was too tight for Griffiths' liking."I was just in some kind of haze, it was probably the most nervous I've been watching a football match, including ones I've managed and played in," he added. A couple of months on, Griffiths is preparing his team for Thursday's first qualifying round fist leg tie against Kauno Zalgiris in Lithuania (17:00 BST), with the second leg to follow at the Cardiff International Sports Campus seven days later. Griffiths is one of the most prolific goalscorers in Welsh domestic football history, having bagged a record seven consecutive Cymru Premier golden boot awards for Llanelli.A former fireman, he started his managerial career at Penybont in 2016, and has since guided the club to an unbeaten promotion season, five consecutive finishes in the Cymru Premier's European play-off places and on two European these achievements, his work at Penybont is not over."When we were trying to get out of the Cymru South competing with TNS seemed like a distant dream, but it is one now that is the next step for us," he said."As a club we have just got to make sure that we keep knocking on the door in a sustainable way." Will Guns N' Roses have an impact on the tie? Penybont's trip to Lithuania has been given an added complication thanks to some American rock first leg will be played at Central Stadium in Jonava, not Zalgiris' regular Darius and Girenas Stadium, because Guns N' Roses are playing there that way, Penybont fans - known as the Bont Bank - will travel in their usual numbers."I know people say it all the time but they're literally like a twelfth man," Penybont midfielder Owen Pritchard have changed in football since Griffiths scored a hat-trick in Llanelli's Intertoto Cup tie against another Lithuanian outfit, Vetra Vilnius, in 2007."I've played in Lithuania twice in the Uefa Cup when I was a bit younger and it's a lot easier [to prepare] now than it was then," Griffiths said."When I was playing you had to fly out to know anything [about the opposition]." Preparation is a lot easier now, thanks to technology, with Griffiths doing plenty of homework as he bids to deliver the victory which would set up a tie with Iceland's Valur or Estonia's Flora Tallinn in the next round."Two days after the draw I'd already watched them in three games," Griffiths years ago Zalgiris played TNS in the same competition, and were thumped 10-1 on has spoken to Anthony Limbrick, who was TNS boss at the time, as part of his preparation."He said to me they were a real threat, they had good players and they were a good team," Griffiths said. "Whilst he thought TNS deserved to win, he said 10-1 was probably unfair to them."Despite TNS' past success, Griffiths says Penybont are "clear underdogs" as they face a side featuring a number of Lithuanian internationals. "They're the seeded team, they're the team with I think 12 games in Europe [behind them] and we are the team with two," he added."They are the full-time team halfway through their league at the top, we are the team that has played two friendlies so far and are part-time."
