Sports Sunday, July 18, 2021 13 Istanbul awarded 2023 : SILVERSTONE Champions League final

DPA the 2021 UEFA Champions Berlin League final from Istanbul to Verstappen wins sprint Porto, it was decided to award Istanbul will finally get to the staging of the 2023 UEFA stage the Champions League Champions League final to the final in 2023, UEFA has an- Ataturk Olympic Stadium in nounced. Istanbul. The Ataturk Olympic Sta- “Furthermore, the Europe- race, will start on pole dium in Turkey was originally an club season kick-off event, due to put on Europe’s biggest which includes the draws for club match in 2020, only for the the group stage of the UEFA coronavirus pandemic to mean Champions League, UEFA the closing stages of the tourna- Europa League and UEFA ment were shifted to Lisbon. Europa Conference League The quarter-finals, semi-fi- will take place in Istanbul at nals and final were all played in the end of August both for the Portugal’s capital, with Istanbul 2021-22 and 2022-23 sea- awarded the 2021 final instead. sons.” UEFA said that Wemb- However, that too was tak- ley’s position as host venue for en away when UEFA moved the 2024 final was unaffected. the match between Chelsea It also said it had reached and Manchester City to Porto, “a settlement agreement” with this time because Turkey was Dublin and Bilbao after both on the United Kingdom’s trav- cities were unable to stage el red list amid the continuing Euro 2020 matches, as had Covid-19 health crisis. been the original plan. Supporters of the two Eng- They could not meet UE- Red Bull’s Dutch driver Max Ver- lish clubs would have been un- FA’s requirements on spec- stappen gestures after the sprint able to make the trip to Istan- tator numbers, owing to the session of British Grand Prix at bul, but restrictions on travel Covid-19 situation, but the in England on to Portugal were less stringent. governing body said it recog- Saturday. (AFP) Now UEFA’s executive nised “the efforts and financial committee has awarded the investment put by the two cit- DPA 2023 final to Istanbul, in the ies in preparing for the tourna- Berlin hope it will get to stage the ment”. game in two years’ time. Mu- It said Dublin would now Championship leader Max nich was due to host the game host the 2024 Europa League Verstappen of Red Bull won but will instead stage the 2025 final and Bilbao would stage the maiden Formula One final. both the 2025 Europa League sprint race ahead of Mercedes’ UEFA said in a statement: final and the 2024 Women’s on Satur- “Following the relocation of Champions League final. day and will start the British Grand Prix in pole position. Verstappen got a super start to move from second to first Red Bull’s Dutch driver (C) leads Mercedes’ British driver Lewis Hamilton (R) and Mercedes’ Finnish driver during and take the lead from seven- the sprint session of the Formula One British Grand Prix at Silverstone motor racing circuit in Silverstone, England on Saturday. (AFP) time world champion Hamil- ton. The Briton looked to fight “I gave everything today. back in the first laps but wasn’t Tomorrow we try again. It’s Starting Grid successful in his attempts. not good when you lose from Front row: (ESP/Alpine-Renault) (CAN/Aston Martin-Mercedes) The Dutchman then cruised P1. Every point counts,” Ham- Max Verstappen (NED/Red Bull-Honda) (GER/Aston Martin-Mercedes) 8th row: to victory and secured pole ilton said. Lewis Hamilton (GBR/Mercedes) 5th row: (ITA/Alfa Romeo-Ferrari) position for Sunday’s British Bottas added he and the 2nd row: George Russell (GBR/Williams-Mercedes) (JPN/AlphaTauri-Honda) Grand Prix as well as three team “tried to do something Valtteri Bottas (FIN/Mercedes) (FRA/Alpine-Renault) 9th row: (MON/Ferrari) 6th row: (CAN/Williams-Mercedes) points in the championship. different at the start but it 3rd row: Carlos Sainz (ESP/Ferrari) (GER/Haas-Ferrari) “I got off to a really good didn’t quite pay off” for them. (GBR/McLaren-Mercedes) (FRA/AlphaTauri-Honda) 10th row: start and that was a great fight “Today has shown us that (AUS/McLaren-Mercedes) 7th row: Nikita Mazepin (RUS/Haas-Ferrari) with Lewis early on. You could tomorrow isn’t going to be 4th row: Kimi Raikkonen (FIN/Alfa Romeo-Ferrari) Sergio Perez (MEX/Red Bull-Honda) see we were pushing hard as easy for any of the drivers,” he there was lot of blistering on said. a bizarre spin which dropped Williams’ George Russell in which sent the latter off the our tyres,” Verstappen said. Charles Leclerc will start him to the rear of the field. He ninth. track. In this trial qualifying for- Sunday’s race in fourth as he was then forced to retire the Russell, who had a sensa- A massive crowd was al- mat, the 17-lap sprint race sets held on to his starting sprint car in the final lap. tional qualifying session on lowed to attend a sold-out up the starting grid for the race position following early Two-time world champion Friday, faces a post-race in- Silverstone Circuit as F1 wel- Grand Prix and awards points threats from McLaren’s Lando Fernando Alonso of Alpine se- vestigation into a clash with comes back a full house for the to the first three drivers. Norris, who was fifth and had cured a start in seventh after Carlos Sainz of Ferrari. first time since the pandemic Hamilton will start the team-mate Daniel Ricciardo moving up from 11th. Team- Rookie Mick Schumacher began. main race in second, with right behind. mate Esteban Ocon finished of Haas was 18th. He and Hamilton praised his team-mate Valtteri Bottas in Not everything went well 10th behind Sebastian Vettel team-mate Nikita Mazepin home fans, saying, “Their en- third. for Red Bull. Sergio Perez had of Aston Martin in eight and had a contact in the first lap, ergy is amazing.” Kevin Durant’s quest for triple Olympic gold evin Durant is a bas- lence. In addition to winning coming together and trying ketball superstar whose back-to-back championships to find our identity,” Durant commitment to Team as a member of the Golden added. “We have so many USA has never wa- State Warriors in 2017 and great players that you can play vered. As he attempts 2018 (winning Finals MVP so many different ways, and Kto lead the U.S. men’s team on both occasions), Durant is we are indecisive at times on to a fourth successive Olym- an 11-time All-Star, four-time defence and offence. In the The German football federation (DFB) said on Twitter that defender pic championship in Tokyo, scoring champion, six-time midst of us figuring it out, Jordan Torunarigha was racially insulted by an opponent during the Durant has the opportunity All-NBA First Team selection, these teams are established match against Honduras in Wakayama, Japan, on Saturday. to claim his third gold medal - the 2008 NBA Rookie of the and they’re running their sets. and write himself into the his- Year and the 2014 NBA MVP. We’re working on our sets. tory books in the process. While the 2020-21 season The stars were kind of aligned Germany friendly ahead The United States’ men’s ended in disappointment for for us to lose early on.” basketball team got off to Durant as his Brooklyn Nets The USA righted the ship of Olympics suspended somewhat of a rough start in were eliminated from the play- in their third exhibition game their preparations for the To- offs in the Eastern Conference with a comprehensive 108-80 due to racist insults kyo 2020 Olympic Games, semifinals, the multi-dimen- victory over Argentina, with losing two of their three exhi- sional 208cm (6’10”) guard/ Durant and Bradley Beal lead- bition games. But in Kevin Du- forward put up an impressive Kevin Durant is introduced before an exhibition game against Nigeria ing all scorers with 17 points DPA coach added. rant - a two-time Olympic gold stat line of 26.9 points, 7.1 re- at Michelob ULTRA Arena ahead of the Tokyo Olympic Games on July each (Beal has since been ruled Tokyo Torunarigha’s club Her- medallist and NBA champion - bounds and 5.6 assists per 10, 2021 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (AFP) out of competing at the Games tha Berlin reacted on Twitter they possess one of the preem- game (all while shooting 53.7 after being placed in health The dress rehearsal of the saying: “This is the only right inent stars in world basketball. per cent from the field and 45.0 But for the Washington, mentators vehemently ex- and safety protocol on 14 July). German Olympic football decision!” Honduras said on However, the U.S. team per cent from three). His per- D.C. native, his participation pressed their panic following The U.S. men’s team has team ahead of the Summer Twitter the incident was a mis- that is heading to Tokyo - while formance this past campaign was never in doubt. the USA’s surprising 0-2 start one more exhibition game to Games in Tokyo was finished understanding on the pitch. jam-packed with elite NBA tal- has been quite the accomplish- With his latest Olympic se- to exhibition play after a stun- play in Las Vegas before leaving prematurely five minutes be- Kuntz compared this state- ent - is limited in Olympic ex- ment, considering Durant only lection, Durant has joined an ning loss to Nigeria and anoth- for Tokyo, vs Spain on 18 July. fore the end due to racist in- ment to when A student gets perience, with only three play- returned to action 18 months ultra-exclusive club as one of er defeat to Australia, Durant The game against Spain, sults. home with bad marks in a test. ers (including Durant) having after undergoing surgery for only four male players select- said the team “will get it right.” the world’s no.2 ranked team The German football fed- “I used to say to my moth- competed at past Games. a ruptured Achilles tendon, ed to three or more Olympic “It’s easy to say that af- and 2016 bronze medallists, eration (DFB) said on Twit- er: It was a misunderstanding And if Team USA are going which he suffered during Game teams (the other three are Car- ter two losses without any should provide a good indica- ter that defender Jordan between the teacher and me. to make good on their unof- 5 of the 2019 NBA Finals. melo Anthony, LeBron James context,” Durant told Yahoo tion of how much Team USA Torunarigha was racially in- We’d best leave that without ficial title ofO lympic favour- Evidently, Durant is back and David Robinson). At To- Sports. “Let’s just go down the has progressed since their two sulted by an opponent during comment.” Torunarigha was ites and secure a fourth con- to playing at a world-class level kyo 2020, he will not only roster of each team and you early losses and easy victory the match against Honduras already a victim of racist abuse secutive gold medal in Tokyo, just in time for the Olympic have the opportunity to sur- can find the answer. If you’re over Argentina (where they in Wakayama, Japan, on Sat- during a German Cup match in Durant will have to use all his Games. pass Anthony for most Olym- looking for NBA talent, those weren’t greatly tested). urday. February 2020 against Schal- skill and experience of inter- For Durant, winning on pic points by a male player in teams have it. Understand Of course, the real tests The German team left the ke, who were fined 50,000 national basketball to lead the the hardwood isn’t limited to U.S. basketball history (Du- where we’re at as a team and will start on 25 July in To- pitch together with the score euros (59,030 dollars) by the USA to glory. NBA courts. Including men’s rant sits on 311 points, just 25 then you can make assump- kyo, when the US’ Olympic at 1-1. The last test for coach DFB due to monkey chants The challenge, while great, national team training camps, behind Anthony’s 336), but he tions for yourself. campaign gets underway Stefan Kuntz’s side took place coming from the stands. is one the future Hall of Famer the 32-year-old has played on could also join Anthony as the “We do have all the best with their first game against behind closed doors. The German team could is well-suited for. 11 USA Basketball teams, win- only two male players in USA players in the league, but these France. And while Team USA “If one of our players is only travel to Japan with 15 When USA Basketball an- ning two Olympic gold med- Basketball history to win three national teams have NBA play- are under immense pressure racially insulted, it is not an field players and three goal- nounced the 12-man roster for als and the 2010 FIBA World Olympic gold medals. ers, too, who are now No. 1 op- to win a fourth gold medal as option for us to keep playing,” keepers after several players Tokyo 2020, Durant’s name Championship in the process. But before Durant can think tions and they’re used to play- the dominant nation in world Kuntz said. cancelled their participation stood out from his teammates Clearly, Durant has noth- about that particular record, ing that role internationally. basketball, Durant says he, his “He (Torunarigha) could in the Games. A squad of 22 - who themselves are excep- ing left to prove when it comes not to mention securing a third We’re still adjusting as a team, teammates and his coaches hardly contain himself, was players is allowed. tional players in their own to international ball, and sure- gold medal in Japan, he and his and that’s not making excuses. are ready for the challenge. terribly upset because he said Germany, who secured the right. ly no one would have given U.S. teammates must first clean There’s a lot of context people “We knew it wasn’t going he had been racially insulted silver medal at the Rio 2016 Since entering the NBA him grief if he had declined up some of the weaknesses that need to understand. We didn’t to be easy, and we’re prepared repeatedly. This violates our Olympics, start their Tokyo as the No.2 pick in the 2007 the invitation to play in Tokyo were laid bare in their pre- expect to lose a game, but losing to go to work. Our goal [of values, we’re completely tak- campaign against current draft, Durant has become a in favour of gaining some rest Olympic warmup games. games happen. We’ll get it right. winning gold] hasn’t changed. ing our player’s side,” the Olympic winners Brazil. paragon of basketball excel- this offseason. While many online com- “We’re a team that’s still We’ll be ready.” (Olympics.com)