6 June 23, 2019 Bottas on Top in Final Iran Defeat Portugal, Earn Ninth French GP Practice LE CASTELLET, (Re- Mercedes have now been first uters) – Valtteri Bottas kept Mer- and second in all three practice Win at Nations League cedes on top in final practice for sessions and are favourites to the French Grand Prix on Sat- chalk up their eighth win of the ARDEBIL, Iran (Dispatches) – Iran defeated urday with Formula One cham- season on Sunday, and 10th in Portugal 3-1 to seize their ninth win at the 2019 pionship leader and team mate a row stretching back to Volleyball Nations League, in the Northwestern Lewis Hamilton a close second. last November. City of Ardebil, in Iran. Bottas, 29 points behind the Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was In the match, Igor Kolakovic’s men beat Por- Briton after seven races, lapped again best of the rest, as he was tugal (23-25, 27-25, 25-17, 25-18) in the first Le Castellet’s Paul Ricard cir- in both Friday sessions, and match of week four. cuit with a best time of one min- 0.446 seconds off the pace with Amir Ghafour scored 15 points for the Iranian ute 30.159 seconds. team mate Sebastian Vettel a team. Hamilton was 0.041 slower on close fourth. Team Melli, 2019 VNL table topper, will face a sunny morning in the south of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and France on Saturday and Sunday France. was fifth on the timesheets. respectively. The 2019 FIVB Volleyball Men’s Nations League is the second edition of the FIVB Vol- leyball Men’s Nations League, an annual inter- Egypt Beat in national men’s volleyball tournament contested by 16 national teams. Africa Cup of Nations Opener The competition is being held between May and July 2019 and the final round will take place in the Credit Union 1 Arena, Chicago, . This is the first edition of the World League Iran have maintained their dominance at the event, after defeating Portugal 3 sets to 1 in the or the Nations League to have the Final Round Northwestern City of Ardebil, in Iran. hosted in North America. Beat 2-1 to Reach Copa America Quarterfinals SALVADOR (AP) — Alexis uador from the penalty spot in Sanchez has scored a second- the 26th. half winner to give Chile a 2-1 Ecuador played the final win over Ecuador and a spot in minutes with a man down after the quarterfinals of the Copa defender Gabriel Achilier was America. sent off for a hard foul. Sanchez scored with a shot The victory gave Chile the from inside the area after a lead of Group C with six Trezeguet scored his fifth international goal to give Egypt a winning start corner kick in the 51st minute points, two more than sec- at the Arena Fonte Nova, se- ond-place Uruguay, which on CAIRO (Dispatches) - Hosts It got off to a spectacular start, curing the two-time defending Thursday drew 2-2 with Japan. Egypt made the ideal start to the Af- with the fans inside the 75,000 ca- champions in the last eight of The Japanese squad have one rica Cup of Nations by beating Zim- pacity Cairo International Stadium the South American tourna- point and Ecuador stayed with babwe in the opening game of the treated to an eye-catching opening ment. zero. tournament in Cairo. ceremony that featured giant pyra- Jose Pedro Fuenzalida put The top two teams in each Mahmoud Trezeguet scored the mids on the pitch, elegant dancers Chile ahead with a strike in Chile’s Alexis Sanchez celebrates after scoring his side’s second goal of the three groups advance, only goal of the game with a curled forming the shape of a pharaoh’s the eighth minute and Enner against Ecuador during a Copa America Group C soccer match at the along with the best two third- finished just before half time. face and culminating in a huge Valencia equalized for Ec- Arena Fonte Nova in Salvador, Brazil, June 21, 2019. place finishers. Liverpool forward Mo Salah fireworks display. came close to doubling his side’s But the game itself failed to lead in the second half but his low match that level of sparkle, with Federer Makes Semis But Zverev Goes Out drive was kept out by Zimbabwe Egypt dominating for large periods BRUSSELS (Dispatches) - 7-6 (7-3) to Goffin. keeper Edmore Sibanda. without troubling Sibanda in the survived a mid- Eight-time Wimbledon cham- Ovidy Karuru had Zimbabwe’s Zimbabwe goal often. match scare to beat Roberto pion Federer also dropped a set best chance with a 30-yard strike Salah was a lively presence in the Bautista Agut in the against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in late on. first half but put a number of ef- quarter-finals but world num- the second round. This year’s tournament is the big- forts wide of goal and while he did ber five was Home favourite Zverev, 22, gest Africa Cup of Nations ever manage to get one shot on target knocked out by Belgium’s Da- has struggled with a swollen with 24 teams, and the first to be before the interval it was a routine vid Goffin. knee after slipping and hurt- played in Europe’s summer. save for Sibanda. Federer, chasing a 10th Halle ing himself in the first round title, beat the Spaniard 6-3 4-6 and will hope to rediscover his 6-4 to reach the semi-finals for form and fitness in time for the FIFA Makes Penalty Shootout a 15th time. beginning of Wimbledon on 1 He faces Pierre-Hugues Her- July. Rule Change During World Cup bert next after 2018 champion Goffin will face Matteo Ber- Borna Coric had to retire be- rettini in the semi-finals after cause of a back injury. the Italian overcame Russian German Zverev served nine third seed Karen Khachanov Federer will attempt to win a ninth Wimbledon singles title in July double faults as he lost 3-6 6-1 6-2 7-6 (7-4). Riled-Up Pacquiao Taps Aggressive Streak for Thurman LOS ANGELES (AFP) - Veteran trainer Freddie Roach says Man- ny Pacquiao has rediscovered his aggressive streak as the one-month countdown to his battle with welterweight champion Keith Thurman got under way. Pacquiao has entered the final phase of training for the July 20 showdown with Thurman, arriving in Los Angeles last weekend to work under long-time trainer Roach at his famed Wild Card gym. The 40-year-old eight-division world champion has been riled Argentina’s Florencia Bonsegundo, left, shoots a penalty kick to score an by trash-talking from WBA champion Thurman ahead of the bout, equaliser goal during the Women’s World Cup Group D soccer match between with the undefeated American vowing to send Pacquiao into retire- Scotland and Argentina at in Paris, France, June 19, 2019. ment at Las Vegas’s MGM Grand next month. VALENCIENNES, France fringements, FIFA feared more Speaking to AFP at his Los Angeles home on Thursday, Pacquiao said Thurman’s remarks had fuelled his training camp. (AP) — The debut of video review goalkeepers could be penalized Asked for his response to Thurman’s retirement jibes, Pacquiao in women’s soccer is causing confu- — and sent off if it’s a second replied: “My response to him is we’ll see. He is giving me more sion and has pushed FIFA to make booking with no substitute al- motivation and determination to work hard and prove that it’s not Manny Pacquiao has rediscovered his aggressive streak for next month’s a rule change heading into the lowed during shootouts. But the true. world title showdown with Keith Thurman, trainer Freddie Roach says knockout phase of the World Cup. penalty kick will still be retaken. “I’m happy that he’s saying that ... It gives me inspiration to focus FIFA received approval from The International Football As- and do the best that I can in the ring.” Thurman’s comments. the game’s lawmaking body to sociation Board granted the tem- Pacquiao’s measured response contrasted with the assessment of “Manny’s motivated for all his fights and this time, this guy’s his inner circle. talking a little trash,” Roach said. suspend the rule that goalkeepers porary dispensation on Friday Former Australian heavyweight Justin Fortune, Pacquiao’s “So that helps. Manny has got a bit upset. He wants to win this must be shown yellow cards for which means goalkeepers can strength and conditioning coach, said the Filipino icon was “pissed one a little bit more than usual.” stepping off the goal-line during only be booked at the tournament off” by Thurman’s remarks. Pacquiao has carried that sense of grievance into his training ses- penalty shootouts. for stepping off the line with both “He’s said some pretty silly stuff,” Fortune said. sions. For the first time in several fights, Roach is wearing protec- With video assistant referees feet during a penalty kick in nor- Roach meanwhile told AFP that Pacquiao had been “upset” by tive padding around his torso during his mitt sessions. able to keep a closer eye on in- mal time.