
Nepal women's team coach Patrick De Wilde resigns after differences with federation
The 61-year-old was appointed by the ANFA in June. His first major assignment with the side was the AFC Women's Asian Cup Qualifiers, in which Nepal lost out to Uzbekistan on penalties in a decisive fixture. In the other qualifiers, his side had beaten Laos and Sri Lanka comfortably, scoring a combined 17 goals against the two teams without conceding.
Soon after the qualifiers, De Wilde came out to the media to vent his frustrations around how the federation operated and meddled in his work.
Sportstar understands that the Belgium Pro Licence-holding coach will not continue his collaboration with ANFA over differences in their vision regarding the future development of women's football in the country.
ANFA had announced that De Wilde's tenure would last one year.
This was the Belgian's first stint of coaching a women's team. In his career of more than 20 years, he's coached clubs across Ukraine, China, Austria, and Tunisia and also coached national teams like Algeria, Hungary, and Lithuania.
Most recently, he assisted China's Under-23 team and was appointed as Nepal Super League outfit Kathmandu Rayzrs FC head coach, technical director, and international scout.
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Hindustan Times
36 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
Norris on pole as McLaren lock out front row at Belgian Grand Prix
Lando Norris resisted mounting pressure from his McLaren team-mate and series leader Oscar Piastri on Saturday to take pole position for the Belgian Grand Prix. HT Image The 25-year-old Briton, whose mother is Belgian, shrugged aside concerns over his struggles on Friday to clock a best lap in one minute and 40.562 seconds, beating Australian Piastri by 0.085 seconds as McLaren reeled off a convincing front row lock-out. It was his fourth pole this year and the 13th of his career. Charles Leclerc qualified third with a late improved lap enabling him to overhaul defending world champion Max Verstappen's best effort for Red Bull. Alex Albon was fifth for Williams ahead of Mercedes' George Russell, Yuki Tsunoda in the second Red Bull, Racing Bulls' rookies Isack Hadjar and Liam Lawson and Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto. Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton failed to make it out of the Q1 session for Ferrari and will start Sunday's 44-lap race from 16th on the grid in the company of Mercedes' mercurial rookie Kimi Antonelli, who was 18th with two-time champion Fernando Alonso 19th for Aston Martin. After victories in Austria and Britain, Norris will be seeking a third consecutive win to overhaul Piastri's nine-point lead in the title race. "It was a decent lap and I'm happy," said Norris. "Everyone was a bit worried after yesterday, but I wasn't that far off. "There were just a few little issues we had. I was confident that I could get back to the top." Piastri, who had been faster than Norris in Friday's action, said: "It's a bit disappointing. The second lap was coming together well and then I made a mistake into turn 14 and I lost a lot of time. The car was very good again, but it's about fine margins." Leclerc said he was surprised by his time. "I didn't expect it. We thought we were a lot more behind. We thought we had something more in the car with the upgrade, but it was a good lap. It takes time to maximise those upgrades." After a masterclass from Verstappen in the sprint race earlier, Red Bull chose to change his 'skinny' rear wing to a bigger high-downforce version in anticipation of Sunday bringing heavy rain to the sweeping Ardennes circuit. Norris found his pace to clock 1:41.010, six-tenths better than the Ferrari, followed by Piastri two-tenths down in second, the pair showing McLaren's intent under grey skies before a frantic finale during which Hamilton found a late survival lap which was promptly deleted for exceeding track limits. That left Gabriel Bortoleto 15th for Sauber and eliminated the Ferrari driver along with Alpine's Franco Colapinto, Mercedes' rookie Antonelli, who replaced Hamilton, and the two Aston Martins of Alonso and Lance Stroll. Q2 began with everyone on softs and Verstappen fastest, trimming Norris's time, before Piastri and Norris took over for the opening runs. The Dutchman chose not to run again, leaving the usual suspects a clear run to the top-10 shootout while the Haas pair Esteban Ocon and Oliver Bearman exited along with Alpine's Pierre Gasly, Hulkenberg and Sainz. Russell, who was stripped of victory last year because of an underweight car, was first out for Q3, but it was Verstappen again on top before the McLarens flexed their muscle, Norris beating Piastri by 0.189 on their first runs. Verstappen's final run on fresh softs was not enough to resist an improved lap from Leclerc as Piastri also failed to improve, leaving Norris to claim pole position. "Oh my god, that was really, really bad," said Verstappen, as a rise in track temperature subdued his performance. "Ideally, of course I would like to at least be P3, but fighting the McLarens will be very hard." "The wet around here, it's always very tricky," he added. "We have to wait and see how much rain is going to fall." str/mw Mercedes-Benz Group


The Hindu
2 hours ago
- The Hindu
Lewis Hamilton holds hands up after ‘unacceptable' qualifying at Belgian Grand Prix
Lewis Hamilton blamed himself and said he would apologise to Ferrari for an 'unacceptable' performance on Saturday after he suffered another qualifying flop, his second in two days, at the Belgian Grand Prix. The 40-year-old seven-time world champion, who was eliminated in first sprint qualifying on Friday when he spun at the chicane, repeated his disappointment as he qualified in a forlorn 16th place for Sunday's race. Team-mate Charles Leclerc qualified third after Hamilton had exceeded track limits in Q1 and had his best lap deleted. 'It was the same today as it was for the rest of the weekend,' said Hamilton. 'We made some changes and the car didn't feel terrible. 'It was tough for us. We had to put on our set of tyres just to try to get through Q1 so it's not great. 'From my side, I made a mistake so I've got to look internally and I've got to apologise to my team because that is just unacceptable to be out in both Q1s. It's a very poor performance from myself. 'I will start from where I am and see what I can do to achieve the best I can with what we have. This season has been a tricky one.' Hamilton has won the Belgian race five times including inheriting victory last year when his then-Mercedes team-mate George Russell was disqualified after winning in an underweight car. ALSO READ | Verstappen says, Horner's exit has no impact on his future plans Leclerc was upbeat and surprised to be third on the grid. 'I'm very happy today and it's strange to say that because it's still three-tenths and it's only third place, but I did not expect it,' he said. 'I think we thought we were quite a lot more behind (the McLarens). We knew we had something more in the car and obviously we had the upgrade this weekend, but we still struggled yesterday. 'I had a really good lap and I'm happy with the car. It takes time to maximise the upgrades that we put on the car.2 Hamilton's success last year was the last of his record 105 wins from 368 race starts in arguably the most successful career of all time, but since leaving Mercedes for Ferrari this year he has struggled and has yet to claim his first podium for the Italian team.

The Hindu
3 hours ago
- The Hindu
Belgian Grand Prix: Norris takes pole after Verstappen wins sprint
Lando Norris took pole position Saturday for Formula 1's Belgian Grand Prix after Max Verstappen won the sprint race earlier in the day. Norris set the fastest time early in the final session. His McLaren teammate and title rival Oscar Piastri couldn't quite beat it on his final run, taking second place, 0.085 of a second off Norris' pace. Charles Leclerc was third for Ferrari, with Verstappen fourth. The performance delighted Norris' mother Cisca, who is Belgian, as she made a heart gesture with her hands while watching from the McLaren garage. Norris is targeting his third straight win in a Grand Prix race and is the first McLaren driver on pole in Belgium since Jenson Button in 2012. 'The car has been been flying all weekend, Oscar has been doing a good job all weekend, so we're pushing each other a lot,' Norris said. 'It's tough because you see where your strengths and weaknesses are easily and you learn from each other quickly. It's a good but tough battle that we have at the minute.' Rain is expected for Sunday, setting up the prospect of another wet-weather battle between the two McLarens after Norris won a thrilling race at his home British Grand Prix. Norris said it could be a 'Silverstone-esque' race with plenty of chaos, or tricky conditions if only part of the circuit, the longest on the F1 calendar, gets wet and other areas stay dry. Hamilton struggles again Lewis Hamilton's disappointing weekend continued with 16th in qualifying after his best lap time was ruled out because he'd strayed off track. The day before, the Ferrari driver was 18th in qualifying for the sprint race following a spin. Hamilton had declared Thursday it was 'crunch time' after struggling for much of his first season with Ferrari. Verstappen's teammate Yuki Tsunoda is set to start eighth, his best qualifying result of an otherwise disappointing time since joining Red Bull after two races of the 2025 season. Verstappen's sprint win Verstappen overtook Piastri and drove '15 qualifying laps' to win the sprint race at the Belgian GP as Red Bull begins a new era without fired team principal Christian Horner. Verstappen surged past Piastri on the straight on the first lap. The Australian was close behind Verstappen for the rest of the 15-lap sprint race but couldn't find a way past the four-time champion. Norris, in the other McLaren, was third after retaking the place from Ferrari's Charles Leclerc and catching up to Piastri. 'You're keeping faster cars behind, so you have to drive over the limit of what you think is possible,' Verstappen said. 'Tire management is out of the window, so that's what's making it really difficult. I'm just doing 15 qualifying laps to try and keep them behind on a track where tire management is important.' It was Verstappen's first race win of any sort since the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix in May, and his first in a sprint since the United States Grand Prix last October. Piastri extends his lead over Norris in the standings to nine points from eight. Verstappen is third, 68 points off the lead. Leclerc held on to fourth and it was an impressive result for Haas, with Esteban Ocon fifth and Oliver Bearman seventh. Carlos Sainz, Jr. was sixth for Williams and Isack Hadjar took the final point for Racing Bulls in eighth.