May 11, 2021 Iranian archer Zahra Nemati was picked out of the 22 athletes nominated for the International Paralympic Committee’s Athletes’ Council elections 7 in August, varzesh3.com reported. Esteghlal’s Majidi takes blame for Zob Ahan defeat Sports Desk Esteghlal head coach Far- had Majidi took responsi- bility after his team fell to a shock 2-0 defeat at home against Zob Ahan at the Persian Gulf Pro League on Sunday. Vahid Mohammadza- deh’s superb header gave league struggler the lead with seven minutes into the game, before Milad Jahani stunned the Tehran-based Blues on the hour mark, fir- ing the ball into the top-left corner from the edge of the box. ISNA The result meant Maji- Esteghlal manager Farhad Majidi looks on as his team plays Zob Ahan at the Azadi Stadium, di’s men blew a golden op- Tehran, Iran, on May 9, 2021. portunity to close the gap on Sepahan and Persepolis after the top two in the table Farshid Esmaeili due to injury. settled for a 1-1 draw earlier in the day. Esteghlal will next play archrival Persepolis on Friday. Majidi also blamed his team’s fatigue, which stepped When asked if the prospect of the Tehran derby had in- into the game on the back of a hectic AFC Champions fluenced his team’s performance, Majidi said, “I, as the League group campaign. manager, wasn’t really thinking about the derby, but the “My team played a good football despite the physical injuries and suspensions forced us to play with a different conditions. We just missed our chances to score,” said lineup. As I said, the team performed well and I take full Majidi, who was without skipper Voria Ghafouri and responsibility for the defeat.” KIM KYUNG-HOON/REUTERS Sports Desk their vaccinations on May 2. where they would be administered by Iran is among the first countries to local officials and through domestic ran on Monday started the second protect its athletes against the virus vaccination programs. Davis drops 42 in Lakers win over Suns phase of vaccinations to protect the with less than three months before the Iran has already secured 60 quo- Iathletes against COVID-19 before event gets underway at the Japanese tas for the Olympics, with the latest heading to the Tokyo Olympics. capital. sealed by Ali Aqa-Mirzaei, who won Some 300 members of the Iranian The International Olympic Com- the men’s single kayak 1,000m con- squad at the Games will be injected mittee (IOC) president Thomas Bach test at the Asian qualifiers in Japan with the Chinese-made Sinopharm had said in November that the vacci- last Thursday. vaccines during the second phase of nation will not be mandatory for the Tokyo berths will still be up for the scheme, IRNA reported. Games, however IOC announced on grabs in karate, weightlifting, swim- Iranian athletes had received the Thursday that it had struck deals with ming, and taekwondo qualifiers. first doses of the vaccine on April 13, Pfizer and BioNTech, to distribute do- Tokyo 2020 Olympics, pushed while the country’s hopefuls for the nated doses of the vaccine to Games back by a year due to the coronavirus Paralympic Games also completed participants in their home countries, pandemic, will start on July 23. Pirlo insists he won’t resign after Milan hammers Juve Andrea Pirlo said that he will not stand great players, clearly something did not ule. On Wednesday, Pirlo’s team travels down from his role as Juventus head work.” to eighth-placed Sassuolo before hosting coach despite another major setback Inter, its fiercest rival and this season’s against AC Milan on Sunday. Bigger picture Serie A champion, next Saturday. The REUTERS Rookie boss Pirlo watched from the side- Coppa Italia final against Atalanta fol- Lakers forward Anthony Davis (3) is in action during an NBA victory over Suns in Los Angeles, CA, US, on May lines as the Bianconeri were dismantled 3-0 Juventus is now in grave danger of lows on May 19 before a final trip to mid- 9, 2021. at home by their rivals, goal.com reported. missing out on the Champions League table Bologna. The heavy loss came just a week after entirely next season. With three matches With Juve in financial difficulties, it Anthony Davis had 42 points and 12 rebounds and the RJ Barrett added 18 points and seven rebounds and Ju- Juventus had officially relinquished the of the season remaining, it is fifth in the can barely afford to miss out on the mon- Los Angeles Lakers made 13 shots from three-point lius Randle chipped in 14 points and 14 rebounds. Kawhi Serie A crown for the first time after nine league, three points behind both Atalanta ey-spinning Champions League, making range to overwhelm the Phoenix Suns in a 123-110 win Leonard topped the Clippers with 29 points but struggled successive titles. and Milan, as well as one back of Napoli. the next two weeks absolutely vital to its in Los Angeles. finding his shooting stroke, finishing 9-for-26 (34.6 per- Speaking to Sky Sports after the match, And Juventus faces a testing sched- hopes in the years ahead. Los Angeles avoided the three-game season sweep cent) from the field. Pirlo said, “Resign? No, I won’t step by Phoenix and remained one game behind the Portland With the win, New York remained the No. 4 seed in the aside. I took this role with a great deal of Trail Blazers for the No. 6 spot in the Western Conference Eastern Conference, while the Clippers maintained their enthusiasm amid certain difficulties. I am standings with four games left. The top six teams avoid the grip on the No. 3 seed in the West despite the loss. at the disposal of the club, there are still play-in tournament to reach the playoffs, Reuters reported. three games to go, so I will continue doing Los Angeles, which lost eight of its previous 10 Timberwolves 128 Magic 96 my work as long as I am allowed to. games, was without LeBron James, Kyle Kuzma and “I had a different project in my mind Dennis Schroder. After being out six weeks because of Karl-Anthony Towns and D’Angelo Russell each had and thought I would have a different an ankle injury, James has missed the last four games 27 points to lead Minnesota to a blowout win, marking group at my disposal. I had been working with the same injury. just the second time the Timberwolves have won in its on some concepts, but then I had to make Devin Booker finished with 21 points for the Suns, but previous 12 games in Orlando. changes in order to suit their characteris- he made only five of 14 shots from the field and missed The Timberwolves snapped a three-game losing streak tics and had to adapt. his only three-point attempt. Chris Paul had 13 points and improved to 7-5 over their past 12 games. The Magic “It’s not that this team is resistant to and 10 assists. dropped their third in a row in their home finale and went change, but if you have some things in 11-25 in Orlando this season. your mind and they become more diffi- Knicks 106 Clippers 100 It was an emotional Mother’s Day victory for Towns, cult with certain players. If I cannot get Minnesota’s two-time All-Star, who lost his mother to the best out of these players, that is my Derrick Rose contributed 25 points and eight assists COVID-19 last year. Towns, who also had nine rebounds fault and I certainly need to do better. off the bench and Reggie Bullock finished with 24 points and four assists, helped jump-start the Timberwolves as “If something didn’t go right, I take on 5-for-12 shooting from behind the arc as visiting New they used an early run to overwhelm the Magic and out- responsibility. This squad is made up of GETTY IMAGES York defeated Los Angeles. score them 74-44 by halftime. While debate has raged over whether the Tokyo Olympics Board, which next meets on Wednesday and again on June 8. should go ahead this year, the Australian city of Brisbane Brisbane edges closer to securing 2032 Olympics As a vice president, Coates sits on the Executive Board but has been moving closer to securing the hosting rights for will be recused from that vote, which will decide whether the the 2032 Summer Games – a deal that could be sealed as Committee’s Annual General Meeting. the AGM. “If we fell over, they would have an opportunity decision to award the Games to Brisbane will be put to a full early as July. Brisbane has been the beneficiary of new IOC rules on again.” session of the IOC. Influential Australian Olympic chief John Coates said bidding for the Olympics aimed at reducing the once astro- Last month’s commitment from the Australian govern- As a seasoned bid campaigner, Coates was cautious about at the weekend that the International Olympic Committee nomical cost of the process for aspirant cities. ment to split the infrastructure costs 50-50 with local govern- predictions that Brisbane could be declared hosts on July 20 (IOC) was completing due diligence on the bid before it was After it was identified as a “preferred candidate” in Feb- ment allowed Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk to at the IOC session in Tokyo ahead of the delayed 2020 Olym- presented to the body’s Executive Board, Reuters reported.