Dusseldorf, July 2 (IANS) An unfortunate late own goal by Jan Vertonghen proved decisive as France edged past neighbours Belgium and into the quarterfinals of UEFA Euro 2024. Playing at the Dusseldorf Arena, France faced a tough fight from Belgium, but they rode their luck to seal a place in the last-eight stage.

France started the match as the favourite but the first real frisson came at the other end. Belgium had fallen into a pattern of waiting for counters, but it was from a dead ball that they nearly took the lead. Kevin De Bruyne arced a free-kick into the France box that evaded everyone and forced Mike Maignan – seeing the ball late – to scramble a save with his feet.

That presaged a positive spell from the Red Devils, who were nonetheless fortunate to end the first half level, Marcus Thuram heading narrowly wide from a Jules Kounde cross before Aurélien Tchouameni blazed over. Tchouameni had the first bite after the interval too, his shot from the edge of the area deflected by Wout Faes and batted away by Koen Casteels.

France were building pressure, but their attempts were mostly wayward and off-target. Thuram, Tchouameni, and Kylian Mbappe all sent efforts over and William Saliba screwed a shot wide after Romelu Lukaku had at least found the target for Belgium. The Roma forward tested Maignan with a fierce strike, and the France keeper was likewise equal to a De Bruyne drive.

The Red Devils looked like they might make France pay for their spurned chances – until the breakthrough finally came. Substitute Randal Kolo Muani was the instigator, turning in the area and beating Casteels with a shot that took a crucial deflection off Jan Vertonghen. Tough on Belgium, perhaps, but France had long threatened to strike and they can now look forward to the quarterfinals.

–IANS

bsk/

Turin, July 2 (IANS) Richard Carapaz grabbed the first yellow jersey of his career on Stage 3 at the Tour de France, but Monday’s finale in Turin was all about Biniam Girmay as the Eritrean created history in the sport’s biggest race. Girmay saw off a reduced bunch of sprinters in a messy finale to become the first Black African to win at the Tour, following up from his victory at the Giro d’Italia in 2022.

Biniam Girmay (Intermarche-Wanty) became the first Black African to win a stage at the Tour de France as he edged a chaotic sprint on Stage 3.

The road opened up gloriously for the Eritrean cyclist in the closing stages as he took victory ahead of Fernando Gaviria (Movistar) and Arnaud De Lie (Lotto Dstny). Girmay, who also won a stage at the Giro d’Italia in 2022, was overcome with emotion in his post-race interview.

A messy finale saw Alpecin-Deceuninck’s hopes to disintegrate when Mathieu van der Poel, Jasper Philipsen’s chief lead-out rider, suffered a mechanical, while a late crash split up a host of sprint trains — including Mark Cavendish’s Astana Qazaqstan ensemble.

A philosophical Cavendish confirmed he and his teammates were uninjured, but the crash split the peloton and a lead group of around 20 riders went clear to contest the sprint — including Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) who started the stage tied on time with overall leader Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates).

After starting with two hilly stages, this was the first chance for the sprinters to shine and even the intermediate sprint with well over 100km to go was hotly contested, hinting at the chaos that would ensue. Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) was first over the line there and was the first contender to open his sprint in the finale in the middle of the road with Gaviria and De Lie in tow, but Girmay stole up the right-hand side on the barriers and timed his kick perfectly as Pedersen tired.

Newly crowned Dutch national champion Dylan Groenewegen (Jayco AlUla) followed in his wake but couldn’t find a gap to launch and the Eritrean began his celebration before he crossed the line, hailing his victory as one for “all of Africa”.

Carapaz crossed the line 14 places behind and celebrated his own piece of history, becoming the first Ecuardian to don the yellow jersey thanks to a better aggregate stage finish position, though Pogacar didn’t seem too disappointed to lose the responsibility of leading the race. He remains on the same time as Carapaz, Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-Quick Step) and most importantly his Visma-Lease a Bike rival Jonas Vingegaard as their GC battle will recommence on the Col du Galibier tomorrow.

The frantic finish was a stark contrast to the rest of a sleepy Stage 3, the longest of the Tour de France that gave riders the chance to recover after an energy-sapping opening weekend.

–IANS

bsk/

Detroit (USA), July 1 (IANS) Akshay Bhatia three-putted on the 72nd hole and lost by one shot at the Rocket Mortgage Classic. Cam Davis, starting the day one behind overnight leaders Bhatia and Aaron Rai, carded 2-under 70 with a birdie on the 17th and a par on the 18th to set a clubhouse target of 18-under.

At the 18th tee, Bhatia, in the final group with Aaron Rai, was one-under for the day and had a total of 18-under. He needed a birdie to win and a par to get into the play-off. But he three-putted from 32 feet and his par putt failed to drop from six feet for a bogey and he fell to second with 72 in the final round and a total of 17-under.

Rai had four pars in his last four holes for a 72 and at 17-under he was also in a tie for second with the other two behind Davis Thompson (68) and Min Woo Lee (69).

Bhatia said, “It sucks. No other way to put it. I mean, just sucks.”

Bhatia hadn’t made a bogey through 54 holes but broke that run on the par-4 third earlier Sunday in Motown. He got that one back immediately, draining a 32-foot birdie on the very next hole. Bhatia added a birdie on the seventh to move to 18-under and was steady enough for the next 10 holes until the par-4 finishing hole. It was his first three-putt of the week and his first miss inside 6 feet.

Bhatia was looking for his second win of the season after capturing the Valero Texas Open in April. He also won last year’s Barracuda Championship while competing on Special Temporary Membership.

This was Bhatia’s third top-10 finish of the season and second in a row after finishing T5 at the Travelers Championship. He moves from No. 15 to No. 11 on the season-long FedExCup standings.

Bhatia entered the final round as the only player in the field without a bogey through 54 holes and made two bogeys in the final round.

–IANS

bsk/

London, July 1 (IANS) Returning to Wimbledon after a gap of five years, former World No.1 Naomi Osaka came through a difficult battle before reclaiming her winning ways on the lawns of London as she got the better of the 53rd-ranked Diane Parry of France in the first round of women’s singles here on Monday.

Top 10 players Maria Sakkari and Jasmine Paolini also kicked off their campaigns with first-round straight-sets wins on Monday. But Zheng Qinwen was the first Top 10 player to suffer a defeat this fortnight, losing to qualifier Lulu Sun of New Zealand.

Playing the grass-court major for the first time since 2019, Osaka posted a 6-1, 1-6, 6-4 victory over Parry. Four-time Grand Slam champion Osaka of Japan needed 1 hour and 32 minutes to hold off Parry and book her spot in the second round.

Osaka was down a break on two separate occasions in the third set before squeaking out the victory in her first career meeting with former top-ranked junior Parry. Osaka made her winning return one day before her daughter’s first birthday.

Osaka will have to wait until the end of the day to find out who her second-round opponent will be. She will meet the winner of the clash between No.19 seed Emma Navarro of the United States and former Top 15 player Wang Qiang of China.

Coming into this year, Osaka had only collected four main-draw wins at Wimbledon, her lowest total at any of the four majors. Osaka reached the third round in 2017 and 2018 but lost to Yulia Putintseva in the 2019 first round.

But Osaka, who returned to tour in January after being on maternity leave in 2023, had a solid grass-court showing ahead of this year’s Wimbledon. Osaka made the ‘s-Hertogenbosch quarterfinals three weeks ago before narrowly losing to fellow US Open champion Bianca Andreescu in a third-set tiebreak.

World No.123 Sun collected a 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 victory over No.8 seed Zheng, this year’s Australian Open runner-up. Sun took 1 hour and 57 minutes to fight back from the loss of the first set and clinch a spot in the second round.

It was a breakthrough victory for Sun in many ways. Not only was it the first Top 10 win of her career, it was her first win over a player ranked inside the Top 50. This was also her first Grand Slam main-draw victory, in just her second major main-draw appearance.

Additionally, Sun was nearly eliminated in qualifying last week. She had to save a match point in the second round of qualies before defeating Gabriela Knutson in a final-set 10-point tiebreak. The 23-year-old Sun is the first woman representing New Zealand to reach the second round of a Grand Slam since Marina Erakovic’s run to the Wimbledon third round in 2016.

Earlier, No.9 seed Sakkari of Greece clinched her spot in the second round with a 6-3, 6-1 victory over American qualifier McCartney Kessler. Sakkari needed 1 hour and 11 minutes to oust World No.119 Kessler.

It was an important Grand Slam victory for Sakkari. The Greek has already won 20 matches at the tour level this year, but she had lost in the first round at four of the last five Grand Slam events.

Sakkari is now a win away from making the third round of a Slam for the first time since the 2023 Australian Open. Her next opponent is Arantxa Rus of the Netherlands, who reached the second round of Wimbledon for the first time since 2012 by beating Yuan Yue 6-2, 6-3.

In another match, No.7 seed Paolini of Italy posted her first-ever main-draw victory at Wimbledon by defeating Spain’s Sara Sorribes Tormo 7-5, 6-3.

Roland Garros runner-up Paolini had lost in the first round of Wimbledon the last three years running, but she broke that duck by toppling 55th-ranked Sorribes Tormo in 1 hour and 37 minutes.

Coming into this year, Paolini had never won a main-draw match at any grass-court event on the Hologic WTA Tour. But the Italian carried her Roland Garros momentum into Eastbourne last week, where she won two matches on grass before falling to eventual champion Daria Kasatkina.

In Monday’s match, Paolini ground out a nearly hour-long first set, then built a 4-0 lead in the second set. Sorribes Tormo battled back on serve at 4-3, aiming to deny Paolini a maiden victory in London, but Paolini regrouped to win the next two games and advance.

Paolini’s next grass-court challenger will be Greet Minnen of Belgium after World No.80 Minnen ousted British hope Heather Watson 7-5, 6-4 on Monday. It will be the first meeting between Paolini and Minnen.

–IANS

bsk/

Rotkreuz (Switzerland), July 1 (IANS) Tvesa Malik’s stunning finish of 5-under in the last four holes and runner-up finish after losing a play-off at the Swiss Ladies Open, has still raised her confidence, as also her ranking on the Ladies European Tour. She had rounds of 68-68-66 and lost on the first play-off holes to England’s Alice Hewson. Tvesa is now 31st after being way behind earlier and a similar run should see her earn her card back for 2025.

The career-best runner-up finish also earned her a spot on the elite Aramco Series, which she last played in November 2022. Tvesa joins Diksha Dagar and Pranavi Urs, who took a week off. The Indian trio will be in action at the Aramco Series London, where Diksha was part of the winning team a couple of years ago.

This has been a season of resurrection for Tvesa, who at the start of 2024 won an event in South Africa on the Sunshine Tour. On the LET, this was her second Top-10 of the season after T-10 at Dormy Open in Helsingborg.

There are still more than 10 events on the LET and the trio, Tvesa, Diksha, and Pranavi, who share the same sponsor in Hero MotoCorp, are looking at picking some titles.

Tvesa, who got married to pro golfer Ajeetesh Sandhu before the start of the 2024 golfing season, is the third-placed Indian on LET this season after Diksha, who is 14th, and rookie Pranavi, who is 16th.

“I am playing well again, and this was so close to getting my first LET win, but I will take it as a positive that I fought so well at the finish in the final round with three birdies and an eagle in the last four holes. The play-off didn’t go my way, but the win is closer than ever before,” said Tvesa.

–IANS

bsk/