6 May 31, 2017 Esteghlal Knocked Out of Sarmayeh Bank Beat Rebisco-PSLa at Asian AFC Champions League Women’s Club Volleyball Championships TEHRAN (Dispatches) - fifth place tomorrow,” Alikhani Iran’s Sarmayeh Bank defeated said. the Philippines’ Rebisco-PSL 3-0 Maedeh Borhani charted a to- (25-23, 25-17, 29-27) at the 5th- tal of 17 points, with Mahdien 8th playoff match in the 2017 Khaje Kolaein contributing an- Asian Women’s Club Volleyball other 13 points for Sarmayeh Championships on Tuesday. Bank. The Iranian team will play Tai- Santiago was the top scorer for wan Power of Chinese Taipei on Rebisco-PSL with 14 points. Wednesday for the fifth place. The competition is being held Sarmayeh Bank’s captain in Ust-Kamenogorsk, Kazakh- Shabnam Alikhani shared her stan from May 25 to 31. TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Esteghlal added the fourth seven minutes comments after the match at the The tournament will serve as football team of Iran lost to the later before a long range attempt Boris Alexandrov Sports Pal- the Asian qualifiers for the 2018 UAE’s Al Ain 6-1 and failed to ad- from Abdulrahman made it into ace. FIVB Volleyball Women’s Club vance to the 2017 AFC Champions the bottom corner on the hour “This is a very important World Championship with the League quarter-final. mark. match as we want to complete It was a difficult match as the are just happy to win today and champion qualifying for the Caio’s first half double put Al Nassir Al Shamrani slammed the competition with fifth place. Philippines played well but we to have another chance to win world championship. Ain in command, the Brazilian home the sixth in the 76th minute. netting in the 27th and 33rd min- Kevah Rezaei claimed a conso- Wenger Agrees New Two-Year Arsenal Deal utes, before the floodgates opened lation for Esteghlal seven min- in the second half as Esteghlal utes from time when his free-kick LONDON (dispatches) - Arsenal official announcement on Wednes- Wenger led the Gunners to three silverware. It came as they beat Hull sought a way back into the tie. sneaked in at Khalid Eisa’s near boss Arsene Wenger has agreed a new day. The Gunners were fifth in the Premier League titles and four FA City to win the 2014 FA Cup, before Omar Abdulrahman scored from post. two-year contract, extending his 21- Premier League this season, the first Cups in his first nine seasons in winning the trophy again the fol- the tightest of angles in the 49th Esteghlal had defeated Al Ain year reign at the club. time they have finished outside the charge. In 2003-04, he became the lowing year. minute, while Lee Myung-joo 1-0 in the first leg. Wenger and club owner Stan top four since the Frenchman joined first manager since 1888-89 to lead Some Gunners fans turned on the Kroenke have met to determine the in 1996. a team through an entire top-flight 67-year-old Frenchman as a re- Frenchman’s future, with the deci- They finished 18 points behind season unbeaten. sult of their league performances sion relayed to directors at a Tues- champions Chelsea, but beat the But after winning the 2005 FA and they lost 10-2 on aggregate to Gitipasand Know Rival at AFC day board meeting. Blues 2-1 to win the FA Cup at Cup, they had to wait another nine Bayern Munich in the Champions Arsenal are planning to make an Wembley on Saturday. years - or 3,283 days - for their next League last 16 in March. Futsal Club Championship TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Sanaye Giti- third and fourth placing match. 2019 Tour De France to Start From Brussels pasand of Iran learned their rivals at Group A the AFC Futsal Club Championship Thai Son Nam FC (VIE) PARIS (Dispatches) - The 2019 Tour de France Grand Depart will take place “I’m very emotional, I hope I’ll still be alive,” said Merckx. Nicknamed Vietnam 2017 on Tuesday. AL DHAFRA FC (UAE) in Brussels to mark the 50th anniversary of five-time champion Eddy Merckx’s first ‘The Cannibal’, Merckx also won three world road race championships, In the tournament’s official draw VIC VIPERS FC (AUS) title. four Giro d’Italia titles, the 1973 Vuelta a Espana and claimed 19 victories which was held in Ho Chi Minh, FC EREM (KGZ) Belgian rider Merckx, 71, won six stages on his way to the 1969 title and across cycling’s five prestigious one-day ‘Monument’ races. Vietnam, Asia’s top fourteen futsal Group B holds the record for the most Tour de France stages wins, with 34. This year’s Tour begins in German city Dusseldorf on 1 July, after Lon- club teams discovered their oppo- NAFIT AL-WASAT (IRQ) Brussels has hosted the Grand Depart once before, in 1958, while 2019 don turned down the chance to host, while the 2018 edition starts in Vend- nents. AL RAYYAN SC (QAT) will be the fifth Tour start in Belgium. ee in Western France. The eighth edition of the tour- VAMOS FC (IDN) nament will take place in Ho Chi DISI INVEST (TJK) Minh, Vietnam from July 20 to 29. Group C Nadal Starts Quest for 10th French Open The group winners and runners- SHRIKER OSAKA (JPN) up from each group - eight teams in SANAYE GITI PASAND (IRN) Trophy With Comfortable Win total - will qualify for the quarter- SHENZHEN NANLING PARIS (Dispatches) - Rafael Nadal has Seventh seed Konta dominated the first final. TIELANG (CHN) kicked off his campaign for a record 10th set but eventually went down 1-6 7-6 (7- The four winners of the quarter- Group D French Open trophy with an easy win of 6-1, 2) 6-4 to Taiwanese Hsieh. final will then qualify for the semi- BLUE WAVE CHONBURI 6-4, 6-1 against host player Benoit Paire un- Konta, 26, has yet to win a match in the final, with the winners of those ad- (THA) der two hours in men’s singles first round. main draw at Roland Garros after three vancing to the final. The two losing FC ALMALYK (UZB) teams will face each other in the BANK OF BEIRUT FC (LIB) The fourth seed won 8 out of 18 break successive first-round losses. points, and was only contested in the sec- She will now head back to the UK and ond set, where he was broken twice by the Frenchman and trailed 3-1. hope for more success in the grass-court Manager Thomas Tuchel The Spanish star came back into the season. game to level the score at 4-4, before tak- Konta, who is ranked eighth in the Leaves Borussia Dortmund ing the next two games for a two-set lead. world, has also lost twice in qualifying “At the start, I always feel happy about in her five visits to Roland Garros. the victory. He’s an uncomfortable oppo- Her day was summed up by the final nent that already had some good victories game, in which she missed four chances this year,” said Nadal. to break back and stay in the match, one Nadal’s opponent in the second round through some Hsieh brilliance and an- will be Robin Haase of the Netherlands, other thanks to the cruellest of net cords. who defeated Australian Alex De Minaur The Taiwanese player clinched a re- 6-2, 6-3, 6-1. markable win when Konta’s return “It’s important to serve a little bit better than what I did today,” commented Nadal. Rafael Nadal of Spain hits a return during the found the net after two hours and 15 men’s singles first round match against Benoit minutes. Johanna Konta Suffers Shock Defeat Paire of France at the French Open Tennis Konta’s exit means there are no Brit- Tournament 2017 in Roland Garros, Paris, at Roland Garros ish women left in the singles draw at France, on May 29, 2017. Roland Garros, while Andy Murray and by world number 109 Hsieh Su-wei in Kyle Edmund play in the men’s draw In women sides, British number one Thomas Tuchel has left Borussia Dortmund three days after the first round of the French Open. Johanna Konta suffered a shock defeat later on Tuesday. winning the German Cup. DORTMUND (Dispatches) - April. Manager Thomas Tuchel has left In a statement, Dortmund said Ernesto Valverde Replaces Luis Enrique as Barcelona Manager Borussia Dortmund after two Tuchel’s departure was “in no BARCELONA (Dispatches) - Enrique led Barcelona to the years in charge, the Bundesliga way” related to a “disagreement Barcelona have appointed Ernes- treble in his first season, the do- club has said. between two people.” to Valverde as their head coach on mestic double in 2016 and the The 43-year-old took over fol- The announcement came after a two-year deal, with an option for Copa del Rey this year. lowing Jurgen Klopp’s departure talks between Tuchel and Watz- a third. Barca president Josep Maria in 2015. ke on Tuesday. Dortmund beat Eintracht Tuchel claims neither he nor Former Barca forward Val- Bartomeu praised 53-year-old Frankfurt to win the German his players were consulted about verde announced last week that Valverde’s “ability, judgement, Cup on Saturday and finished whether they should play the he was leaving Athletic Bilbao knowledge and experience”, third in the Bundesliga to qualify Champions League quarter-final after four years in charge. adding: “He promotes young for the Champions League.