New CONTACT US AT: WWE holds first-ever live event in...
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Sports ❘ 07 CONTACT US AT: 8351-9190, [email protected] Tuesday September 19, 2017 CHELSEA was held to a 0-0 draw for the first time in almost 20 months Sunday when Arse- nal produced the type of disci- plined display lacking during recent setbacks to frustrate the Premier League champion. Just like in the curtain-raiser to the season — when Arsenal beat Chelsea in the Community Shield — the west London club finished with 10 men. David Luiz was sent off in the 87th minute for a high, sliding chal- lenge on Sead Kolasinac. Asked about Chelsea’s fifth red card in eight matches, Chelsea manager Antonio Conte responded: “Do you think we are becoming bad?” The Italian did acknowledge: “It’s a situa- tion we need to improve.” It was the most explosive moment of a largely sedate lunchtime fixture with Arsenal transformed from the side that collapsed so meekly to lose 0-4 at Liverpool on top of a defeat to Stoke City. “I think we needed that, after Liverpool,” Arsenal midfielder Aaron Ramsey said. “We showed we wanted a result here today and we’ve got one. We have come here and struggled in recent years but we showed what we’re capable of, competing against the best. “We showed solidarity, that Gunners hold Blues to rare 0-0 tie Arsenal’s Shkodran Mustafi (second right) scores a goal against Chelsea that was disallowed during their English Premier League match at Stamford Bridge, London, on Sunday. SD-Agencies we can create chances against them, and on another day we might have nicked it.” Ramsey was given the free- dom to exploit pockets of space and waltz unchallenged through the defense just before halftime. Only the post denied Ramsey and record-signing Alexandre Lacazette couldn’t follow through with a goal. Although the Gunners lacked time to make the most of its man advantage, they still made Chel- sea settle for a goalless draw in the league for the first time since February 2016. Coming on top of the FA Cup final win over Chelsea in May and Community Shield success, Arsenal has the upper- hand in this London rivalry at the moment. “We feel we’re in a good place,” Ramsey said, “and now need to keep building on this.” Arsenal goalkeeper Petr Cech was rarely troubled on his return to Stamford Bridge where he won every major honor with Chelsea over 11 years. Collecting a couple of strikes from Pedro Rodriguez in the first half and a shot from Eden Hazard in the second half was about as testing as it got for Cech. (SD-Agencies) LEWIS HAMILTON profited from the chaos to win the Sin- gapore Grand Prix and extend his Formula One championship lead Sunday night, while title rival Sebastian Vettel lost huge ground after crashing out on the first lap. Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo prevented a Mercedes 1-2 by fin- ishing ahead of Valtteri Bottas, who placed third. Vettel can have little complaint as he seemed to cause the first- turn mayhem, despite starting from pole position. The crash caused a domino effect, taking out his Ferrari teammate Kimi Raikkonen, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and McLaren’s Fer- nando Alonso. Having started from fifth, on one of the toughest tracks in F1 for overtaking, Hamilton could not believe his luck. The field opened up perfectly for the British driver to seal his third straight win, seventh of the season and 60th overall. “I capitalized on the incident,” Hamilton said. “Who could have known that would happen?” He now has a commanding 28-point lead over Vettel with just six races remaining. For Ric- ciardo, it was a seventh podium in the past 10 races. Carlos Sainz Jr. secured a career-best fourth place for Toro Rosso, with Force India’s Sergio Perez in fifth. Vettel took pole with a super performance in qualifying, but his form didn’t translate to the race. Following a massive down- pour several hours beforehand, more heavy showers soaked the Marina Bay street circuit just before the race. The treacherous conditions might have made Vettel a bit nervous, even on a track where he holds the record with four wins. After making a hesitant start, the four-time F1 champion veered hastily left as he tried to counter Verstappen’s strong start. It was a needless move, and squeezed Verstappen and Raikkonen for room, causing them to collide on the inside. (SD-Agencies) Lewis Hamilton poses on the podium after winning the Singapore Grand Prix on Sunday night. SD-Agencies Hamilton wins in the rain as Vettel crashes JO-WILFRIED TSONGA clinched a Davis Cup semifinal victory for France against Serbia by defeating Dusan Lajovic 2-6, 6-2, 7-6 (5), 6-2 Sunday. France took an unassailable 3-1 lead and will face either Belgium or 28-time champion Australia in the final. The Aus- tralians led 2-1 in Brussels before yesterday’s reverse singles, with home favorite David Goffin taking Nick Kyrgios in the first match. France avenged its loss to Serbia in the 2010 final and qualified for its first final since losing to Switzerland in the title match three years ago. The French will play at home from Nov. 24 to 26 if Belgium wins, or travel to Australia. France won the last of its nine titles in 2001 against the Australians. “I’m relieved and happy,” said France captain Yannick Noah. “To win the Davis Cup is something extraordinary. Hope- fully I will be able to win it with theses lads.” Noah captained France to the 1991 and 1996 Davis Cup titles. As a player, he also won the French Open in 1983. (SD-Agencies) Tsonga sends France into Davis Cup final THE 12,737-seat Shenzhen Bay Sports Center was packed with enthusiastic fans Sunday night when U.S.-based World Wres- tling Entertainment (WWE) superstars brought their first- ever live event to the city. Local fan favorite John Cena, WWE Champion Jinder Mahal and United States Champion AJ Styles delivered a family-friendly blend of sport and entertain- ment, combining spectacular in-ring action with drama. “The audiences were thrilled,” said Hong Peng, a long-time WWE fan. “They cheered in English when the U.S. stars came onto the stage, just like what I have seen on TV.” Fans cheered at the WWE live debut of Big Boa from Beijing, who was recruited by WWE and entered a developmental contract following a tryout in Shanghai last summer. They also welcomed Tian Bing, the first Chinese signed to WWE’s developmental division. The inaugural WWE Live China event featured four Championship title holders, with SmackDown Tag Team Champions The New Day and SmackDown Women’s Cham- pion Natalya competing in spectacular matches. The show capped an action- packed day for the WWE super- stars in Shenzhen. Prior to the show, they enjoyed a range of activities, including a driving competition at the Mission Hills Golf Academy, a charity mini-golf game with WWE holds first-ever live event in SZ representatives of the Shenzhen Women & Children’s Develop- ment Foundation, and even a cook-off with kids from Broms- grove School Mission Hills. “Mission Hills, the largest golf club in the world, is excited and proud to partner with the world’s biggest name in sports-enter- tainment, WWE,” said Tenniel Chu, vice chairman of Mission Hills Group, which is an official partner of WWE Live China “We are proud to have worked together to bring the excitement and family-friendly entertain- ment of WWE Live to fans here in Shenzhen for the very first time.” Chu said he was also mulling future cooperation plans with WWE, including the possibility of building academies. Mission Hills already estab- lished golf and tennis academies in Shenzhen. The group opened a soccer academy this year, in cooperation with soccer power house Barcelona, and is build- ing a NBA school in Haikou. Also appearing at WWE Live China were Randy Orton, Rusev, Sami Zayn, Kevin Owens, Dolph Ziggler, Baron Corbin, Naomi, Charlotte Flair, Becky Lynch, Asuka, Tamina, Carmella, Lana, James Ellsworth, Luke Harper, Erick Rowan, Aiden English and WWE Rockstar Shinsuke Nakamura. In 2016, WWE announced an exclusive multi-year agree- ment with PP Sports to deliver its flagship shows, Raw and SmackDown, live in Chinese. Last month, WWE announced WWE Network is now avail- able in China for the first time since Aug. 18, launching exclusively on PP Sports as a subscription video-on-demand service featuring all WWE live pay-per-view events, including WrestleMania and the recent SummerSlam. (SD News) Superstar John Cena on the stage during WWE’s first-ever live event at the Shenzhen Bay Sports Center on Sunday night. Courtesy of Mission Hills Group
Transcript of New CONTACT US AT: WWE holds first-ever live event in...
Sports x 07CONTACT US AT: 8351-9190, [email protected]
Tuesday September 19, 2017
CHELSEA was held to a 0-0 draw for the fi rst time in almost 20 months Sunday when Arse-nal produced the type of disci-plined display lacking during recent setbacks to frustrate the Premier League champion.
Just like in the curtain-raiser to the season — when Arsenal beat Chelsea in the Community Shield — the west London club fi nished with 10 men. David Luiz was sent off in the 87th minute for a high, sliding chal-lenge on Sead Kolasinac.
Asked about Chelsea’s fi fth red card in eight matches, Chelsea manager Antonio Conte responded: “Do you think we are becoming bad?” The Italian did acknowledge: “It’s a situa-tion we need to improve.”
It was the most explosive moment of a largely sedate lunchtime fi xture with Arsenal transformed from the side that collapsed so meekly to lose 0-4 at Liverpool on top of a defeat to Stoke City. “I think we needed that, after Liverpool,” Arsenal midfi elder Aaron Ramsey said. “We showed we wanted a result here today and we’ve got one. We have come here and struggled in recent years but we showed what we’re capable of, competing against the best.
“We showed solidarity, that
Gunners hold Blues to rare 0-0 tie
Arsenal’s Shkodran Mustafi (second right) scores a goal against Chelsea that was disallowed during their English Premier League match at Stamford Bridge, London, on Sunday. SD-Agencies
we can create chances against them, and on another day we might have nicked it.”
Ramsey was given the free-dom to exploit pockets of space and waltz unchallenged through the defense just before halftime. Only the post denied Ramsey and record-signing Alexandre Lacazette couldn’t follow through with a goal.
Although the Gunners lacked time to make the most of its man advantage, they still made Chel-sea settle for a goalless draw in the league for the fi rst time since February 2016. Coming on top of the FA Cup fi nal win over Chelsea
in May and Community Shield success, Arsenal has the upper-hand in this London rivalry at the moment.
“We feel we’re in a good place,” Ramsey said, “and now need to keep building on this.”
Arsenal goalkeeper Petr Cech was rarely troubled on his return to Stamford Bridge where he won every major honor with Chelsea over 11 years. Collecting a couple of strikes from Pedro Rodriguez in the fi rst half and a shot from Eden Hazard in the second half was about as testing as it got for Cech. (SD-Agencies)
LEWIS HAMILTON profi ted from the chaos to win the Sin-gapore Grand Prix and extend his Formula One championship lead Sunday night, while title rival Sebastian Vettel lost huge ground after crashing out on the fi rst lap.
Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo prevented a Mercedes 1-2 by fi n-ishing ahead of Valtteri Bottas, who placed third.
Vettel can have little complaint as he seemed to cause the fi rst-turn mayhem, despite starting from pole position. The crash caused a domino effect, taking out his Ferrari teammate Kimi Raikkonen, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and McLaren’s Fer-nando Alonso.
Having started from fi fth, on one of the toughest tracks in F1 for overtaking, Hamilton could not believe his luck. The fi eld opened up perfectly for the British driver to seal his third straight win, seventh of the season and 60th overall.
“I capitalized on the incident,” Hamilton said. “Who could have known that would happen?”
He now has a commanding 28-point lead over Vettel with just six races remaining. For Ric-ciardo, it was a seventh podium in the past 10 races.
Carlos Sainz Jr. secured a career-best fourth place for Toro Rosso, with Force India’s Sergio Perez in fi fth.
Vettel took pole with a super performance in qualifying, but his form didn’t translate to the race.
Following a massive down-pour several hours beforehand, more heavy showers soaked the Marina Bay street circuit just before the race. The treacherous conditions might have made Vettel a bit nervous, even on a track where he holds the record with four wins.
After making a hesitant start, the four-time F1 champion veered hastily left as he tried to counter Verstappen’s strong start. It was a needless move, and squeezed Verstappen and Raikkonen for room, causing them to collide on the inside.
(SD-Agencies)
Lewis Hamilton poses on the podium after winning the Singapore Grand Prix on Sunday night. SD-Agencies
Hamilton wins in the rain as Vettel crashes
JO-WILFRIED TSONGA clinched a Davis Cup semifi nal victory for France against Serbia by defeating Dusan Lajovic 2-6, 6-2, 7-6 (5), 6-2 Sunday.
France took an unassailable 3-1 lead and will face either Belgium or 28-time champion Australia in the fi nal. The Aus-tralians led 2-1 in Brussels before yesterday’s reverse singles, with home favorite David Goffi n taking Nick Kyrgios in the fi rst match.
France avenged its loss to Serbia in the 2010 fi nal and qualifi ed for its fi rst fi nal since losing to Switzerland in the title match three years ago. The French will play at home from Nov. 24 to 26 if Belgium wins, or travel to Australia.
France won the last of its nine titles in 2001 against the Australians.
“I’m relieved and happy,” said France captain Yannick Noah. “To win the Davis Cup is something extraordinary. Hope-fully I will be able to win it with theses lads.”
Noah captained France to the 1991 and 1996 Davis Cup titles. As a player, he also won the French Open in 1983. (SD-Agencies)
Tsonga sends France into Davis Cup final
THE 12,737-seat Shenzhen Bay Sports Center was packed with enthusiastic fans Sunday night when U.S.-based World Wres-tling Entertainment (WWE) superstars brought their fi rst-ever live event to the city.
Local fan favorite John Cena, WWE Champion Jinder Mahal and United States Champion AJ Styles delivered a family-friendly blend of sport and entertain-ment, combining spectacular in-ring action with drama.
“The audiences were thrilled,” said Hong Peng, a long-time WWE fan. “They cheered in English when the U.S. stars came onto the stage, just like what I have seen on TV.”
Fans cheered at the WWE live debut of Big Boa from Beijing, who was recruited by WWE and entered a developmental contract following a tryout in Shanghai last summer. They also welcomed Tian Bing, the fi rst Chinese signed to WWE’s developmental division.
The inaugural WWE Live China event featured four Championship title holders, with SmackDown Tag Team Champions The New Day and SmackDown Women’s Cham-pion Natalya competing in spectacular matches.
The show capped an action-packed day for the WWE super-stars in Shenzhen.
Prior to the show, they enjoyed a range of activities, including a driving competition at the Mission Hills Golf Academy, a charity mini-golf game with
WWE holds first-ever live event in SZ
representatives of the Shenzhen Women & Children’s Develop-ment Foundation, and even a cook-off with kids from Broms-grove School Mission Hills.
“Mission Hills, the largest golf club in the world, is excited and proud to partner with the world’s biggest name in sports-enter-tainment, WWE,” said Tenniel
Chu, vice chairman of Mission Hills Group, which is an offi cial partner of WWE Live China
“We are proud to have worked together to bring the excitement and family-friendly entertain-ment of WWE Live to fans here in Shenzhen for the very fi rst time.”
Chu said he was also mulling future cooperation plans with WWE, including the possibility of building academies.
Mission Hills already estab-lished golf and tennis academies in Shenzhen. The group opened a soccer academy this year, in cooperation with soccer power house Barcelona, and is build-ing a NBA school in Haikou.
Also appearing at WWE Live China were Randy Orton, Rusev, Sami Zayn, Kevin Owens, Dolph Ziggler, Baron Corbin, Naomi, Charlotte Flair, Becky Lynch, Asuka, Tamina, Carmella, Lana, James Ellsworth, Luke Harper, Erick Rowan, Aiden English and WWE Rockstar Shinsuke Nakamura.
In 2016, WWE announced an exclusive multi-year agree-ment with PP Sports to deliver its fl agship shows, Raw and SmackDown, live in Chinese. Last month, WWE announced WWE Network is now avail-able in China for the fi rst time since Aug. 18, launching exclusively on PP Sports as a subscription video-on-demand service featuring all WWE live pay-per-view events, including WrestleMania and the recent SummerSlam. (SD News)
Superstar John Cena on the stage during WWE’s fi rst-ever live event at the Shenzhen Bay Sports Center on Sunday night. Courtesy of Mission Hills Group
