April 15, 2021 Timberwolves and Nets players wore T-shirts calling for “liberty and justice for all” ahead of their NBA game on Tuesday, following the fatal 7 shooting of a black man by a police officer in Brooklyn, BBC reported. Iranians grab several GR medals With 100 days to go, Tokyo scrambles to stage pandemic Olympics at Asian Wrestling Championships When Japan won the bid to host the Olympic Games eight years ago, it billed Tokyo as a reliable and secure location, con- Sports Desk trasting it with rivals struggling with finances and political in- stability. ranian Greco-Roman wrestlers dominated the first But 100 days before the start of the Olympics, the organiz- day of the Asian Wrestling Championships in Almaty, ers face a deluge of challenges and growing uncertainty as the IKazakhstan, collecting five medals – including three pandemic rages around the world, affecting decisions on every- golds. thing from athlete safety to spectator numbers to ticket sales, On Tuesday, Pejman Poshtam, an Asian silver medalist Reuters reported. last year, was handed the men’s 77kg gold after his oppo- The biggest headache is the resurgent coronavirus, with nent Daler Rezazade of Tajikistan pulled out of the final countries like India and Brazil battling new variants and a contest with an injury. fresh rise in cases. In Japan, vaccinations have been the slowest “Thank God I was finally able to win the Asian cham- among developed economies, as Tokyo has lurched in and out pionships gold,” Poshtam said. of soft lockdowns. Infections are on the rise, and experts worry “I was at the Asian championships last year and lost the city is on the cusp of an “explosive” jump in cases. to the Kazak wrestler and won the silver. This time I am able to win the whole tournament so it is a special mo- ment. “The goal of every wrestler is to win a gold medal at the Olympics. That’s the same for me and this is a good start to that journey. I wrestled everyone with a lot of courage and I was successful.” Demeu Zhadrayev of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan’s Kairatbek Tugolbaev shared the third podium of the class. Nasser Alizadeh, representing Iran in the men’s 87kg weight class, beat Kyrgyz wrestler Atabek Azisbekov 3-1 for the country’s second gold of the afternoon. uww.org The joint-bronze medals went to Uzbekistan’s Rustam Assakalov and South Korean Lee Seung-hwan. In the men’s 63kg division, Meisam Delkhani had to Meanwhile, Iranian Pouya Dadmarz outpowered The final bout of the day saw Iran’s Ali-Akbar Yousefi settle for a silver after suffering a 8-3 defeat against Ka- Aslamdzhon Azizov to finish his campaign with a conso- overcome Kazakhstan’s Alimkhan Syzdykov by a 5-1 zakhstan’s Sultan Assetuly. lation bronze in the men’s 55kg class, alongside Nurmuk- scoreline for the 130kg gold, with South Korean Kim Huang Jui-chi of Chinese Taipei and South Korea’s hammet Abdullaev of Kyrgyzstan. Min-joon and Kyrgyzstan’s Murat Ramonov taking the Chung Han-jae finished with the bronze medals of the The 19-year-old Japanese Yu Shiotani beat Uzbeki- bronze medals. category. stan’s Ilkhom Bakhromov 17-7 in the final. KIM KYUNG-HOON/REUTERS The National Stadium, the main stadium of Tokyo 2020 Olympics and Paralympics, is pictured in Tokyo, Japan, on March 18, 2021. Sports Desk As a result, foreign spectators have been barred, parts of the Taremi’s wonder goal against Chelsea torch relay have been rerouted, and the organizers are yet to Mehdi Taremi’s spectacular strike against Chelsea at the decide what to do with the domestic audience. This has caused UEFA Champions League last eight was hailed as a candi- major challenges for sports venues and travel agencies, already date for the Puskas Award – awarded by FIFA to the scorer grappling with restrictions to block the virus. tipped for Puskas Award of the best goal of the calendar year. “The situation is constantly shifting. Even in the last few Porto striker, who came off the bench in the second half, months the coronavirus situation has changed massively, and scored with an astonishing overhead kick deep into stop- it will continue to do so, and it’s very challenging to continue page time as goalkeeper Edouard Mendy and Chelsea de- preparations when we don’t know what the situation will be fenders could only watch when the ball looped into the far in the future,” said Hidemasa Nakamura, the top organizing top corner. committee official overseeing logistical preparations for the Taremi’s stunner led Porto to a 1-0 victory on the night Games. but it proved too little too late for the Portuguese giant as it His team has created the first “playbook” with COVID coun- failed to overturn a first-leg 2-0 defeat against the London termeasures, including rules banning visits to shops and restau- club. rants. If visiting athletes break protocol, it could result in their This was Taremi’s second European goal – 17th across being barred from competing. all competitions – for Porto, after the Iranian international But Nakamura pledged to overcome the challenges as “one had scored during a 2-1 victory over Juventus in the first leg team” and told Reuters it was “important to show what we have of the previous round. now, receive feedback, and finalize the playbook step by step, “What. A. Goal!” wrote the official Tweeter account of not to have these discussions behind closed doors.” the UEFA Champions League, adding Taremi “becomes The next update to the rules is expected this month, he said. the first Iranian to score in the Champions League quarter- finals.” Real scramble British website Bleacher Report Football tweeted, “Nev- er forget that Mehdi Taremi scored this goal even though Nakamura said that the summer heat poses another obstacle Porto were knocked out”, while goal.com believes that the for Tokyo, and “there will be situations where it’s hard to bal- Iranian “scored the goal of the season in the Champions ance both heat and coronavirus countermeasures,” such as League”. when people in masks queue outside venues. B24 and Sporting Life Football, meanwhile, described Tokyo government official Yoichiro Hara, who oversees the goal as a “potential Puskas Award winning goal”. preparations on public roads around the venues, added that MARCELO DEL POZO/REUTERS Porto striker Mehdi Taremi (L) scores with an overhead kick during a 1-0 victory over Chelsea in the UEFA Champions League “Taremiiii, MAGIC, ART! No words!!!” was what Elev- “the symptoms of heat exhaustion can be similar to those of the at Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan, Seville, Spain, on April 13, 2021. en Portugal tweeted about the Iranian’s outrageous goal. coronavirus.” Hara said his team is considering whether medical staff at first-aid stations should wear full protective suits, but with the difficulty of gauging the prevalence of the virus in July and no decision yet on the number of spectators, they have been un- Flick mulls future after Bayern exits Champions League able to decide on how many stations are needed. Another challenge is the athletes’ village, expected to house 15,000 people from more than 200 countries to compete in 33 Bayern Munich head coach Hansi Flick admitted he is considering his future after the sports at 42 venues. The organizers have planned for 126,000 holder was knocked out of the Champions League by Paris Saint-Germain. volunteers to shepherd athletes and spectators around the city. Bayern’s 1-0 return-leg win in Paris on Tuesday was not enough to overturn last week’s “The medical system is already under strain. Our local health 3-2 first-leg defeat in Munich as PSG marched into the semifinals at the Germans’ ex- center can’t possibly take care of those athletes in the village,” pense, AFP reported. said Hideki Hayakawa, director of Olympic coordination unit “Everyone understands that I am thinking about my future,” Flick told Sky after Bay- at Tokyo’s Chuo ward, where the village is located. ern striker Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting scored the only goal on Tuesday. Hayakawa said that and other issues are still being negoti- Flick has been under noticeable strain in recent weeks with tensions running high be- ated with the Tokyo government. tween him and Bayern sports director Hasan Salihamidzic. At a ceremony on Wednesday to mark 100 days to the The 56-year-old Flick has also been tipped to become Germany’s next head coach Games, Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike said she was deter- when Joachim Loew steps down after the Euro 2020 finals this summer. mined to make the event a success despite difficulties. For now, Flick, whose Bayern contract runs until 2023, said he “first wants to process “The fight against an invisible enemy, the coronavirus, is the elimination” and “assess the situation. I also have my own ideas.” behind the one-year postponement (of the Tokyo Olympics Ultimately, a PSG side boasting the talent of Neymar and Kylian Mbappe was too good to 2021), and it has been a major ordeal for humanity,” Koike for a depleted Bayern team missing its injured topscorer Robert Lewandowksi. said. “I would like us to overcome the fight against the corona- Under Flick, Bayern won all six titles available in the last 12 months, defeating PSG in virus and make the Games a memorable event. last season’s Champions League final in Lisbon. Some local organizers complain that information from To- However, elimination from both the Champions League and German Cup, means only kyo has come slowly, and that they learn about key develop- the Bundesliga is still in play with leader Bayern five points clear and on course to win the ments from the media.