Juve crash to humiliating defeat in Italy BARTY SAYS NO TO US OPEN OVER COVID
Milan, July 30: Juventus crashed to a humiliating
0-2 defeat at Cagliari on Wednesday, days after sealing their ninth consecutive Italian league title, prompting coach Maurizio Sarri to consider fielding his Under-23 team in Saturday’s finale to conserve resources ahead of their Champions League challenge.
Cagliari’s 20-year-old forward Luca Gagliano tapped in the opener eight minutes into his first Serie A match, beating veteran Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon to score his first top division goal.
And the young Italian then teed up Giovanni Simeone in first half stoppage time to give Cagliari their first win over top bracket Juventus in 11 years.
Cristiano Ronaldo missed the chance to keep pace with Serie A’s leading scorer Ciro Immobile, the Portuguese now four goals behind the Lazio forward’s tally of 35 with one match remaining.
The five-time Ballon d’Or winner had a goal ruled offside after 16 minutes and was denied twice by Cagliari goalkeeper Alessio Cragno as the
13th-placed Sardinians ended their eight-match winless run.
It was a worrying performance for Sarri’s side, who have won just two of their last seven games, with key forwards Paulo Dybala and Douglas Costa fighting for fitness ahead of the Champions League showdown with Lyon on August 7 in Turin, when they need to overturn a 10 first-leg deficit.
New Delhi, July 30: The Covid-19 pandemic continued to take a toll on international badminton with the game’s world governing body (BWF) on Wednesday cancelling four more tournaments, including the prestigious China Open and Japan Open, from its revamped 2020 calender. The four tournaments cancelled are Taipei Open (September 1-6), Korea Open (September 8-13), China Open (September 15-20) and Japan Open (September 22-27).
“These decisions to cancel tournaments are made in the best interest of the health of the players, spectators, volunteers and Member Associations. We are deeply disappointed to have to cancel tournaments, but feel that the well-being of everyone involved is most important at this time,” BWF Secretary General Thomas Lund said in a release. —
Syndey, July 30: World number one Ashleigh Barty pulled out of the US Open Thursday over “significant risks” from the Coronavirus pandemic in a major blow for the Grand Slam, which is scheduled to start in New York on August 31.
The Australian is the biggest name so far to withdraw from the tournament, with her decision coming as the United States marked a grim milestone when its Covid19 deaths topped 150,000. “My team and I have decided that we won’t be travelling to the US for the Western and Southern Open and the US Open this year,” she said in a statement to Australian media.
“I love both events so it was a difficult decision but there are still significant risks involved due to
COVID-19 and I don’t feel comfortable putting my team and I in that position.
“I wish the USTA all the best for the tournaments and look forward to being back in the US next year,” she added.
Her decision came despite the New York area keeping Coronavirus cases at a relatively low level since spiking in March and April while areas such as Florida, Texas and California have become hotspots.
It was not unexpected from Barty, who last month expressed concerns about the US Open going ahead, and she won plenty of support Thursday on social media for her “sensible” decision to give it a miss.
Barty, who surged to the top of the rankings last year and has stayed there since, said she would continue to monitor the situation.