Sports
Cristiano Ronaldo faces wait for Al Nassr debut after electrical fault at stadium
Cristiano Ronaldo faces a 24-hour wait to discover whether his debut for Al Nassr will be delayed until the end of January after the Saudi Arabian club’s league game against Al Tae’e on Thursday was postponed because of an electrical fault caused by heavy rain at Mrsool Park.
Al Nassr are attempting to reschedule the game for Friday, but a failure to do so will deny Ronaldo the chance to serve the first game of his two-match suspension.In a statement, Al Nassr said: “Due to heavy rain and weather conditions impacting the stadium’s electricity, we have been officially informed that tonight’s match against Al Tae’e is postponed for 24 hours.
“We apologise for any inconvenience caused to fans and wish everyone safe travels.”
Ronaldo, who signed a 2½-year deal worth $75 million a year at Al Nassr on Dec. 30, is pencilled in to make his debut for the Saudi Pro League side once he completes a two-match suspension imposed by the English Football Association in November for knocking a phone out of an Everton fan’s hand in a game with Manchester United at Goodison Park last season.
FIFA rules state that suspensions imposed by national associations must still be served by players in the event of a transfer to a different country before the ban has been completed. Ronaldo’s ban was confirmed after his United contract was cancelled during the World Cup.
With the 37-year-old unable to play against Al Tae’e or in the Jan. 14 fixture against Riyadh rivals Al Shabab, Ronaldo’s first opportunity to play for Al Nassr will be against Al-Ettifaq at Mrsool Park on Jan. 22.If the game against Al Tae’e cannot be rescheduled this month, however, Ronaldo’s suspension would then cover the games against Al Shabab and Al-Ettifaq, setting his debut for the Saudi Super Cup semifinal against Al Ittihad in Jeddah on Jan. 25.
(ESPN)
The Under 18 boys’ and girls’ doubles champions of the 110th Colombo Championships were found at the Sri Lanka Tennis Association clay courts on Thursday.
Sandithi Usgodaarachchi and Venuli Jayasinghe clinched the girls’ doubles title with a hard fought 2-1 win, while Ganuka Fernando and Rehan Gunawardhana won the boys’ doubles crown with a straight sets win.
Sandithi and Venuli beat Gehansa Methnadi and Dulkini Ranasinghe 6-4, 5-7, 10-7 in the final.
In the boys’ final Ganuka and Rehan beat Abdul Carder and Aahil Kaleel 7-6(5), 6-4.
Girls’ Under 18 doubles champions Sandithi Usgodaarachchi and Venuli Jayasinghe.
Under 18 semi-final results
Girls‘
Usgodaarachchi and Venuli Jayasinghe beat Nimasha Shehara and Arushi Thomas 6-2, 7-5.
Gehansa Methnadi and Dulkini Ranasinghe beat Diyansa de Silva and Lihini Jayakody 4-6, 7-6 (3), 10-5.
Boys’
Ganuka Fernando and Rehan Gunawardhana beat Binuk Silva and Karthi Udayachandran 6-4, 6-3.
Abdul Cader and Aahil Kaleel beat Bishman Balaratnarajah and Jamal Sabry 6-4, 6-2.
Pix by Kamal Wanniarchchi
Delhi Capitals’ (DC) signing of Bangladesh fast bowler Mustafizure Rahman for the remainder of IPL 2025 has hit a snag, with the BCB stating that it hasn’t been approached for a no-objection certificate (NOC).
Usually, the IPL only announces signings after a player has received an NOC from his home board. According to its CEO Nizamuddin Chowdhury, however, the BCB had yet to receive a request for one.
“Mustafizur is supposed to go with the team to the UAE according to the schedule,” Chowdhury told ESPNcricinfo on Wednesday. “We have not received any communication from IPL officials. I have also not received any such official communication from Mustafizur either.”
Mustafizur is part of the Bangladesh T20I squad that is due to play back-to-back away T20I series against UAE and Pakistan, both of which clash with the IPL. On Wednesday, hours after the IPL announced his signing as a replacement for Jake Fraser-McGurk, Mustafizur flew out to Dubai with the rest of Bangladesh’s squad.
Bangladesh are due to play two T20Is in the UAE on May 17 and 19, followed by five in Pakistan on May 25, 27 and 30, and June 1 and 3. Those two series are in conflict with the IPL; DC are set to play their last three league matches on May 18, 21 and 24, followed by the playoffs should they get there.
ESPNcricinfo has sought a response from DC on this development.
[Cricinfo]
Sprinter Aruna Dharshana who is undergoing treatments for an injury he sustained during the World Relays, is racing against time to recover for the Asian Athletics Championships which will be held in South Korea later this month.
The 400 metres specialist is one of the two sprinters slated to compete in the one lap race. He is also a key member of the men’s 4×400 metres and 4×400 metres mixed relays alongside Kalinga Kumarage.
“Currently Dharshana is undergoing treatments. We are hopeful that he will recover in time for the Asian Championships,” Dharshana’s coach Asanka Rajakaruna told ‘The Island’.
“Sri Lanka Athletics will conduct a fitness test before the Asian Championships. Hopefully he will be ready by that time,” said Rajakaruna.
Sri Lanka Athletics earlier said that a fitness test will be held to assess the strength of the 20 strong team selected for the biennial event.
Sri Lanka fielded only a mixed relay team for the recently held World Relays in Guangzhou, China where an injury to Dharshana cost them a chance to achieve a top performance and a probable ticket to the World Championships in Tokyo later this year.
Sri Lanka won a historic gold medal in the men’s 4×400 metres at the last edition of the Asian Athletics Championship in Bangkok Thailand where the team inclusive of Dharshana beat India to the second place with a new championship record time of 03:01.56 seconds.
Kalinga Kumarage who did the anchor leg and Dharshana are the only members from that gold winning team selected for the upcoming event.
Dharshana is the only Sri Lankan athlete to have clocked sub 45 seconds in the 400 metres after legendary Sugath Thilakaratne.
Dharshana and Kumarage hold the second and third places respectively in the list of fastest times achieved in the 400 metres by Sri Lankan athletes. Dharshana has a personal best of 44.99 seconds achieved during the last Olympic games.
by Reemus Fernando
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