Antonelli fastest again in crash-hit final practice

Madrid: Championship leader Kimi Antonelli stayed on top for Mercedes ahead of Ferrari's Charles Leclerc in Saturday's extended crash-hit third and final practice ahead of qualifying for the Spanish Grand Prix. sport-tr.bet

The 20-year-old Italian clocked a best lap in one minute and 32.797 seconds to outpace the Monegasque by 0.166 seconds ahead of both McLarens in a session that saw seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton slam into the barriers in the second Ferrari.

Hamilton's crash led to a red flag stoppage that lasted 54 minutes and rendered an extra quarter of an hour added, as the drivers' continued to explore the limits of the new high-risk Madring circuit, dubbed a 'car-killer' in many quarters.

In the end, Antonelli's pure talent took him clear again with Leclerc second ahead of Oscar Piastri and world champion Lando Norris with four-time champion Max Verstappen taking fifth for Red Bull in the final minutes.

George Russell was sixth in the second Mercedes, seven-tenths off his team-mate's pace, ahead of Liam Lawson in the second Red Bull, Nico Hulkenberg of Audi, Hamilton and Gabriel Bortoleto in the second Audi.

After a crash-free opening hour on Friday, the second produced one crash - for Racing Bulls' Arvid Lindblad, who returned to take 14th place, and the third delivered two as Oliver Bearman also hit the barriers in his Haas in the final minute.

After a slow start, Ferrari had joined the fray on softs and clocked immediate fastest laps before a hasty Hamilton slammed into the barriers.

The 41-year-old Briton locked up at the final corner after 24 minutes, breaking his front wing which was stuck under the car as he reversed successfully and began to return to the pits. The session was red-flagged.

Race engineer Carlo Santi realised and asked him to "stop in the safest place possible" but Hamilton was not keen to obey. He replied, saying "if I can make it back, I will. If not, I will do it safely".

Told he had a right front puncture and told again to stop, he finally pulled up, knowing he had ignored orders, driven in an unsafe condition and probably faced a penalty. It was, he knew, a bad incident for him.

With 15 minutes remaining, Race Control stopped the timer to allow a final quarter of an hour action once repairs were completed.

This was a rare occurrence as F1 does not usually allow for additional time, except for qualifying sessions, but it guaranteed a frantic finale for a sell-out crowd basking in the sun with the young Italian jousting with Leclerc.

London: Hull held free-scoring Chelsea 2-2 at Stamford Bridge to go third in the Premier League as Liverpool failed to find a way past struggling Fulham in a 0-0 draw on Saturday.

It was a familiar tale for Chelsea as the front three of Morgan Rogers, Joao Pedro and Cole Palmer dazzled, but the Blues were undone by an inability to defend.
In five games against top-flight opposition since Xabi Alonso took charge, Chelsea have scored 16 times and conceded 12.

Hull were the last side in the Premier League to concede, but after three clean sheets they were finally breached when Rogers drilled in at the near post on seven minutes.

Mohamed Belloumi took advantage of Chelsea's slackness at the back to blast home on the volley after Jorrel Hato got caught under a cross to the back post.

The Algerian winger then put Hull in front with a deflected strike after Emi Martinez failed to deal with a corner.

Pedro drilled a Palmer cross into the top corner to bring Chelsea level just after the hour mark.

But the home side could not find a winner as Hull's honeymoon back in the Premier League goes on with only defending champions Arsenal and Manchester City above them in the table.

"We have to be happy," said Hull boss Sergej Jakirovic. "It's a huge result for us."

Liverpool remain unbeaten under Andoni Iraola but there were boos at Anfield after Fulham picked up their first point under Alvaro Arbeloa.

Former Liverpool defender Arbeloa was reportedly fighting for his job after losing his first three league matches since arriving in west London from Real Madrid.

Yet a Liverpool forward line featuring three £100 million ($135 million) players in Bradley Barcola, Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak failed to click against the Cottagers' leaky defence.

"When you draw, especially at home, you can't be happy," said Iraola, who blamed fatigue after his side's Champions League exertions against Atletico Madrid on Wednesday.

"Today we lacked a bit of freshness and we did not do enough offensively to make the difference."

It was Fulham who had the better chances to take all three points as Gonzalo Garcia missed a glorious opportunity in the first half and Alisson Becker produced a brilliant save to deny Josh King the winner.

Liverpool climb to sixth but could find themselves already six points off the top should Arsenal win at Sunderland later on Saturday.

Aston Villa are rooted in the relegation zone after Nottingham Forest exacted revenge with a 2-1 win at Villa Park.

Villa beat their Midlands rivals in the Europa League semi-finals last season on their way to lifting a first trophy for 30 years.

Eyebrows were raised at the club record reported £45 million Forest paid Chelsea for Liam Delap after failing to make the grade at Stamford Bridge.

But Delap proved his worth with a long-range strike into the bottom corner to open the scoring.

Alysson levelled with Villa's first league goal of the season, but Igor Jesus secured Oliver Glasner's first win as Forest boss.

Glasner's old club Crystal Palace's poor start to the campaign continued with a 3-2 home defeat to Ipswich.

The visitors were aided by Axel Disasi's first half red card as Zian Flemming's first goal for the Tractor Boys snatched all three points in stoppage time.

Brentford remain unbeaten thanks to Kevin Schade's double in a 2-2 draw at Bournemouth.

The Cherries, by contrast, are yet to win in the Premier League under Marco Rose despite leading in all four games.

Tottenham are aiming to kickstart their league season with a first goal and win at home to Everton later.

Manchester United host local rivals City in the pick of Sunday's action.

Berlin: H.E. Jassim bin Rashid Al Buenain, Secretary General of the Qatar Olympic Committee and Vice Chairman of the Local Organizing Committee of the FIBA Basketball World Cup Qatar 2027, participated in the Women in Basketball Forum, hosted by FIBA in the German capital Berlin on Friday, bringing together leading figures, decision-makers and representatives from the sports, media and business sectors.

Al Buenain took part in a panel discussion titled “Beyond the Game: Building a Legacy for the Next Generation,” which explored future opportunities for basketball, ways to expand opportunities for women and girls in sport, and the role Qatar’s hosting of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2027 can play in supporting the development of the game and creating a sustainable legacy in Qatar and across the region.

During the session, Al Buenain stressed that hosting the FIBA Basketball World Cup Qatar 2027 represents an opportunity that goes beyond staging a major global sporting event, contributing to the growth of the game, encouraging future generations to take up basketball and broadening participation in Qatar and across the region.

He said: “Qatar 2027 is not about proving that Qatar can host another major sporting event; Qatar has already demonstrated that, repeatedly, over the past two decades. The real opportunity now is to show what happens when world-class infrastructure, experience and innovation come together, and stay together, long enough to become a lasting, mainstream legacy for basketball, for this region, and for the next generation.”

He also stressed that the true measure of the tournament’s success goes beyond the event itself to what it leaves behind once the final buzzer sounds. He highlighted the importance of building on Qatar’s world-class infrastructure, experience and capabilities, and leveraging the hosting of the tournament to support the long-term development of basketball, broaden opportunities for participation, and establish a lasting legacy for the game in Qatar, across the region and for future generations.

The Women in Basketball Forum explores the opportunities shaping the future of women’s basketball through a series of sessions and discussions addressing key drivers of growth across the sports ecosystem, including investment, leadership, media, fan engagement and commercial innovation, while highlighting the growing role of women’s basketball in shaping the future of sport.

شارك سعادة السيد جاسم بن راشد البوعينين، الأمين العام للجنة الأولمبية القطرية ونائب رئيس اللجنة المنظمة لكأس العالم لكرة السلة FIBA قطر 2027، في منتدى المرأة في كرة السلة، الذي نظمه الاتحاد الدولي لكرة السلة (FIBA) اليوم الجمعة في العاصمة الألمانية برلين، بمشاركة نخبة من القيادات وممثلي المؤسسات الرياضية والإعلامية والتجارية.

وشارك سعادته في جلسة نقاشية بعنوان بناء إرث للجيل القادم، تناولت الفرص المستقبلية المتاحة أمام كرة السلة، وسبل توسيع مشاركة المرأة والفتيات في الرياضة، إلى جانب الدور الذي يمكن أن تؤديه استضافة قطر لكأس العالم لكرة السلة FIBA قطر 2027 في دعم تطور اللعبة وبناء إرث مستدام في قطر والمنطقة.

وأكد سعادة السيد جاسم بن راشد البوعينين خلال الجلسة أن استضافة قطر لكأس العالم لكرة السلة FIBA قطر 2027 تمثل فرصة تتجاوز تنظيم بطولة عالمية كبرى، وتسهم في تعزيز انتشار هذه الرياضة، وتشجيع الأجيال القادمة على ممارستها، وتوسيع قاعدة المشاركة في كرة السلة.

وقال سعادته: «لا تتمثل أهمية كأس العالم لكرة السلة FIBA قطر 2027 في إثبات قدرة قطر على استضافة حدث رياضي كبير آخر، فقد أثبتت الدولة قدرتها على ذلك مرارًا على مدى العقدين الماضيين. وتكمن الفرصة الحقيقية اليوم في إظهار ما يمكن تحقيقه عندما تجتمع البنية التحتية عالمية المستوى والخبرات والابتكار، وتتكامل على نحو يرسخ إرثًا مستدامًا لكرة السلة في المنطقة وللجيل القادم».

وشدد سعادته على أن المقياس الحقيقي لنجاح البطولة يتجاوز الحدث نفسه، ليشمل ما تتركه من أثر بعد إطلاق الصافرة الأخيرة، مؤكدًا أهمية البناء على ما تمتلكه قطر من بنية تحتية وخبرات وإمكانات، والاستفادة من استضافة البطولة لدعم مسيرة كرة السلة على المدى الطويل، وتوسيع فرص المشاركة فيها، وترسيخ إرث مستدام للعبة في قطر والمنطقة وللأجيال القادمة.

ويبحث منتدى المرأة في كرة السلة الفرص التي ترسم مستقبل كرة السلة للسيدات، من خلال سلسلة من الجلسات والنقاشات التي تتناول محاور التطور في المنظومة الرياضية، بما في ذلك الاستثمار والإعلام والتفاعل الجماهيري والابتكار التجاري، إلى جانب تسليط الضوء على الدور المتنامي لكرة السلة للسيدات في رسم مستقبل الرياضة.

Berlin: Qatar has highlighted its plans to build a lasting basketball legacy ahead of the 2027 FIBA Basketball World Cup, due to be held in Doha.

Secretary-General of the Qatar Olympic Committee, HE Jassem bin Rashid Al Buainain, who is also the deputy chairman of the organizing committee for the tournament, spoke during a women's basketball forum in Berlin on building a legacy for the next generation.

He said hosting the tournament was an opportunity not only to stage a major international event but also to expand participation in basketball and encourage more young people to take up the sport.

Al Buainain said Qatar's focus was on using its infrastructure, expertise and innovation to create a sustainable legacy for basketball in Qatar and the wider region.

The session also examined ways to increase the participation of women and girls in sport and the role of major events in supporting the long-term development of women's basketball.

The Women in Basketball Forum, organized by FIBA in Berlin, brought together sports, media and business leaders to discuss the future of the women's game, including investment, media, fan engagement and commercial innovation.