Cycling-Pogacar extends Tour lead with time trial victory
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The Star
19 minutes ago
- The Star
Soccer-Spain cruise into women's Euros semis with 2-0 win over Switzerland
Soccer Football - UEFA Women's Euro 2025 - Quarter Final - Spain v Switzerland - Stadion Wankdorf, Bern, Switzerland - July 18, 2025 Spain's Catalina Coll and Ona Batlle celebrate after the match REUTERS/Bernadett Szabo BERN (Reuters) -Spain forward Athenea del Castillo came off the bench to open the scoring and Claudia Pina added a superb second as they beat hosts Switzerland 2-0 on Friday to reach the women's Euro semi-finals, where they will face France or Germany. After a scoreless first half in which Mariona Caldentey missed a penalty, it took a moment of brilliance from Aitana Bonmati to break the deadlock for the world champions in the 66th minute, teeing up Athenea with an instinctive backheel for the substitute to guide the ball past Swiss keeper Livia Peng. Five minutes later, Pina doubled her side's advantage as Switzerland captain Lia Waelti was dispossessed just outside her own penalty area, and Pina curled a superb shot into the top corner before wheeling away in celebration. The drama continued right to the end, with Spain's Alexia Putellas missing a late penalty and Switzerland's Noelle Maritz shown a straight red card for a stoppage-time challenge asthe hosts exited the tournament having made it to the knockout stages for the first time. (Reporting by Philip O'Connor, editing by Ed Osmond)
The Star
an hour ago
- The Star
Golf-Fabulous Fitzpatrick fuels English hopes at Open after dazzling 66
Jul 18, 2025; Portrush, IRL; Matt Fitzpatrick tees off during the second round of The 153rd Open Championship golf tournament. Mandatory Credit: Mike Frey-Imagn Images PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland (Reuters) -Matt Fitzpatrick raised hopes of a first English winner of the British Open for 33 years with a masterful five-under-par 66 to move second at the halfway point at Royal Portrush on Friday. Many have come close since Nick Faldo lifted the Claret Jug for the third time in 1992, with the likes of Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter, Justin Rose and Tommy Fleetwood all falling just short. When Fitzpatrick curled a 23-foot par-saving putt into the hole at the 18th in late evening sunshine, it kept him top of the leaderboard on nine under and although he was dislodged by Scottie Scheffler he will head into the weekend with high hopes. "Giving myself an opportunity to win the golf tournament, but there's still a hell of a long way to go," the Sheffield-born world number 59 Fitzpatrick told reporters. "Obviously the aim of the game is to stay in it for as long as possible and hopefully you can pull away right at the death. "I'm 50% there. We'll see what the weekend brings." His weekend will start by going toe-to-toe with world number one Scheffler in the final pairing on Saturday after the American showed he meant business with a brilliant 64 on Friday, the lowest round of the week so far. It will be a formidable test for 2022 U.S. Open champion, whose best Open finish to date is a tie for 20th six years ago. Fitzpatrick, 30, said the English drought does not add any pressure on his shoulders, insisting three-time major winner Scheffler will be expected now to go on and claim his Open triumph. "He's going to have the expectation to go out and dominate. He's an exceptional player. He's world number one," Fitzpatrick said. "We're seeing Tiger-like stuff. "I think the pressure is for him to win the golf tournament. For me obviously I hope I'm going to have some more home support than him, but it's an exciting position for me to be in given where I was earlier this year." Fitzpatrick has not won since 2023 but after a slow start to this season appears to have emerged from his slump. He finished eighth at the PGA Championship and recorded top-10 placings in his last two events, including fourth at the Scottish Open last week. A first-round 67 gave Fitzpatrick a share of the overnight lead and on Friday he got on a roll with eight birdies firing right into contention. "I felt like every facet of my game was on today and I felt like I really played solid," he said. "To take advantage of the opportunities I had out there was obviously really positive." (Reporting by Martyn Herman, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
The Star
an hour ago
- The Star
Soccer-Holmberg receives support from Ibrahimovic after spot-kick miss
Soccer Football - Italian Super Cup - Final - Inter Milan v AC Milan - Al Awwal Park, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia - January 6, 2025 AC Milan senior advisor Zlatan Ibrahimovic is seen before the match REUTERS/Jennifer Lorenzini/File Photo BERN (Reuters) -Zlatan Ibrahimovic offered some words of support to teenaged defender Smilla Holmberg after her miss in Thursday's penalty shootout ended Sweden's Euro 2025 campaign in the quarter-finals following an astonishing defeat by England. Sweden were beaten 3-2 on penalties after 18-year-old Holmberg fired her effort high over the bar in an incredible shootout that featured 14 players taking spot kicks. Holmberg burst into tears after her miss as she headed back towards her crestfallen teammates but Swedish hero Ibrahimovic reached out to offer some comfort. "It was a sad daughter I held in my arms about an hour after the game," Holmberg's father Ola Persson told Swedish radio on Friday. "She is strong and she has received a lot of support from both the team, supporters, friends and relatives, she even got a text message from Zlatan here this morning." Sweden's record goal-scorer for the men's team is part-owner of Holmberg's Stockholm club Hammarby and the 43-year-old messaged the young defender to tell her to take the next penalty, and the next one, and to keep believingin herself. "The most important thing is that no-one defines a career by those misses; in fact, it's the opposite, you have to grow in those situations," Persson said. (Reporting by Philip O'Connor, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
