ARAB TIMES, THURSDAY, JUNE 17, 2021 SPORTS 14 Brentford host Arsenal Kane in ‘spotlight’ as City open EPL title defense at Tottenham LONDON, June 16, (AP): Man- ahead of United, which opens its chester City will open the Premier campaign against fi erce rival Leeds League season with a trip to Tot- at Old Trafford. tenham as part of a tough start to Elsewhere on the opening week- the champions’ title defense. end, Brentford begins life back in The league’s 2021-22 schedule the top fl ight for the fi rst time in 75 was released Wednesday and threw years with a London derby at home up the intriguing prospect of Tot- to Arsenal, while Norwich hosts tenham striker Harry Kane playing Liverpool on its return to the Pre- in the opening round on Aug. 14 mier League. against his Chelsea is at home to Crystal current Palace, which is currently with- team, given out a manager while another team that City is looking for a new manager, Ever- one of the ton, hosts Southampton. clubs he’s been linked SOCCER to during the offseason. Kane’s Watford, the third promoted future is team, takes on Aston Villa. likely to be The Premier League concludes decided af- Kane on May 22 with City, Liverpool ter the Eu- and Chelsea all fi nishing with ropean Championship, where he is home games - against Villa, Wol- captaining England. verhampton and Watford, respec- City also has been scheduled to tively - while Manchester United play Arsenal, Leicester, Chelsea and visits Crystal Palace. Liverpool in its fi rst seven games of There are a number of early meet- the season, with the fi rst Manches- ings between the so-called ‘Big Six’ ter derby against United not coming clubs involved in the quickly aban- until the 11th round in the opening doned Super League project, with weekend of November. the weekend of Sept. 25-26 seeing Pep Guardiola’s team won the a repeat of the Champions League league by 12 points last season fi nal when City travels to Chelsea. Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy (88) tracks a shot by New York Islanders center Brock Nelson (29) during the third period in Game 2 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup semifi nal playoff series, on June 15, in Tampa, Florida. (AP) Grevers’ Olympic bid falls short Lightning top Isles in Outspoken King triumphs at swim trials OMAHA, Nebraska, June 16, (AP): Lilly King always seems cheats and muse on pretty much anything else that pops into to back up her big talk. her mind. Game 2 to ‘tie’ series King is headed back to the Olympics after a victory in the The entire night went largely as expected. Defending 100-meter breaststroke at the U.S. swimming trials, ensuring Olympic champion Ryan Murphy and former world record- she will have another big platform in Tokyo to rip into drug holder Regan Smith claimed the 100 backstroke events. Kucherov shines National team newcomer Kieran Women’s Open champion Saso Smith added a second race to his To- kyo program with a victory in the 200 TAMPA, Florida, June 16, McKeon wins 100 freestyle freestyle, two days after his triumph in (AP): Brayden Point and meets her ‘hero’ at Torrey Pines the 400 free. Ondrej Palat delivered early Katie Ledecky cruised through her SAN DIEGO, June 16, (AP): The jan- at Australian Olympic trials busiest day of the trials as the top qual- goals and NHL playoff scor- gled nerves were almost too much for ifi er in a pair of events. ing leader Nikita Kucherov Yuka Saso, and she didn’t even have a A world record-holder and another putter in her hand with the U.S. Wom- ADELAIDE, Australia, June 16, (AP): 200-meter individual medley, adding had three more assists to help Emma McKeon backed up her fastest that event to his 100-meter backstroke of the biggest trials favorites, King en’s Open on the line. powered to the fi nish of the 100 breast the Tampa Bay Lightning re- She was at Torrey Pines on Tuesday. time in the qualifying heats to win the in Tokyo. Larkin led from start to fi nish bound from a series-opening women’s 100-meter freestyle Wednes- and clocked the second-fastest time in in 1 minute, 4.79 seconds. She met Rory McIlroy. The 24-year-old from Evansville, loss and beat the New York “I didn’t know how to say, ‘Hi.’ But day at the Australian Olympic swim the world this year - 1 minute, 56.29 trials. seconds. Indiana, got a bit of a challenge from Islanders 4-2 in Game 2 of the he was so nice. He was so kind. He was Lydia Jacoby, who locked up the ex- so open,” Saso said. “When I asked him McKeon fi nished in a time of 52.35 Larkin was critical of his perfor- Stanley Cup semifi nals. seconds, with former world record hold- mance. pected second spot on the Olympic a question, he was so honest. I hope I team by fi nishing next in 1:05:28. Kucherov had his fourth game can ask him more advice.” er Cate Campbell second in 52.59 at the “I have a few things to work on, my with three or more points this South Australian Aquatic Centre. Both ’fl y was a bit long into the wall, the This would be Jacoby’s fi rst Olym- postseason, assisting on goals by qualifi ed for the 100 freestyle at the To- breast turn was a little sloppy, but they pics. GOLF kyo Olympics which begin July 23. are really minor things,” Larkin said. In addition to her well-documented Point, Palat and Victor Hedman. complaints about doping within the The defending champions im- “Medley ... you want to carry as much 2021 U.S. Women’s Open golf cham- Life has been a whirlwind for Saso speed from one stroke into the next and sport, King has boldly predicted the proved to 12-0 in games follow- pion Yuka Saso, of the Philippines, SWIMMING American women are capable of win- ing a playoff loss since start of since the 19-year-old Filipino won the the best way to do that is with power- poses with her champions trophy with U.S. Women’s Open two weeks ago ful turns.” ning every individual event in Tokyo last year’s title run. Rory McIlroy, of Northern Ireland, in a playoff at The Olympic Club. She McKeon won four medals at the Larkin earlier withdrew from the - a comment that will surely stir pas- Point scored a goal for the fi fth during a practice round of the U.S. has tried to model her swing after McIl- 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics - gold 200-meter backstroke to focus on the sions in the expected rivalry with the straight game, hiking his league-lead- Open Golf Championship, on June roy, and the four-time major champion and two silvers in relays and a bronze medley. The backstroke fi nal was won Australians. ing playoff total to 10. Palat put Tampa 15, at Torrey Pines Golf Course in served up a video message to her going in the 200 freestyle. by Tristan Hollard, the only swimmer Bay ahead for good with a second- San Diego. (AP) into the fi nal round. Mitch Larkin won the men’s to better the Olympic qualifying time. period goal that replays showed was Saso was at the U.S. Open with her SWIMMING scored with the Lightning having too into Game 3 Thursday night. trophy making the rounds, posing with many men on the ice. Point, pushed from behind by New U.S. Open champion Bryson DeCham- Murphy is going back to the Olym- pics to defend America’s dominance in York’s Adam Pelech, barreled into beau, meeting PGA champion Phil Mickelson. the men’s backstroke. ICE HOCKEY Varlamov at 6:50 of the fi rst period. The 25-year-old from Jacksonville, The Lightning star drew a penalty for Saso was nervous meeting her golf- ing idol, but she also showed off her Florida, held on to win the 100 back - Andrei Vasilevskiy, meanwhile, interference on the goalie, and the Is- the fi rst of two spots he hopes to claim landers wasted no time taking advan- engaging personality. stopped 24 of 26 shots for the Light- “I saw Phil activating his calves, and in his bid to pull off another backstroke ning, who entered Tuesday night facing tage of what Tampa Bay felt was a sweep at the Tokyo Games. questionable call. yeah, I saw Jordan Spieth,” she said. “I a series defi cit for the fi rst time since saw the great players. It’s been a great Matt Grevers, who won the 100 dropping Game 1 of last year’s Stanley Nelson’s goal from in front of the day, and I’m thinking to come back to- back at the 2012 London Games and Cup fi nal against the Dallas Stars. net tied it 1-1 just 20 seconds into the morrow morning before I fl y back to just missed making the U.S. team fi ve Hedman and Jan Rutta scored in the power play. Atlanta.” years ago, failed again in what was third period against Islanders goalie Ilya Sorokin replaced Varlamov for The ultimate goal was to meet McIl- surely his fi nal bid to make his third Semyon Varlamov, who missed a por- the remainder of the fi rst period.