England hockey coach suffers heart attack

LONDON - England women's hockey coach Danny Kerry suffered a heart attack during the recent World League tournament in South Africa and will miss his team's defence of the European title next month. Kerry, who led Great Britain's women to gold medal glory at the 2016 Olympics, was admitted to Milpark Hospital last week after feeling unwell while at the World League semi-final in Johannesburg. The 46-year-old is now returning home but is not expected to be back at work until September, leaving assistant coach David Ralph in charge for the EuroHockey Championship in Amsterdam, which starts on August 18. "I would like to give my huge thanks and debt of gratitude to Dr Ramjee and the wonderful staff at Milpark for the exceptional care I received whilst in hospital," Kerry said.–AFP

 

Chinese Olympic champ He Zi retires at 26

BEIJING - Chinese Olympic diving champion He Zi has reluctantly retired aged 26 citing a nagging foot injury and her joy at expecting to become a mother this year. Zi said she had taken an 11-month break after the 2016 Rio Games. But she said on her Weibo microblogging account that her injury returned recently after a three-hour walk and she could not even step on the floor barefoot after staying home for five days. "Sometimes when I could not sleep at night I was always thinking about continuing training, but how? (The injury) relapses even when I walk. How can I continue a large amount of diving every day?" she wrote. "Don't ask me why I choose to leave this early under such good condition, or whether I would regret or feel pity, my only regret is that I have not fully demonstrated my value."–AFP

 

Ancelotti not in rush to decide on Sanches

SINGAPORE - Bayern Munich coach Carlo Ancelotti said Wednesday he would not be rushed into a decision about Renato Sanches's future and they would sit down together after the pre-season. It came after the Portuguese midfielder reportedly conceded Tuesday he was unhappy at Bayern and expressed an interest in AC Milan. The 19-year-old, who has had a poor first season at the German champions, told German media that he was not satisfied as he was not playing enough at Bayern. Both AC Milan and Manchester United have been rumoured to be chasing him. Speaking in Singapore where Bayern have been playing a series of pre-season games, Ancelotti said that "Renato is with us. "We said that after the pre-season together, we can make a decision. Yesterday Renato played very well and I hope he can continue to improve."–AFP

 

Heera, Abid enter Pak Open Tennis semis

LAHORE - Heera Ashiq and M Abid entered the Pakistan Open Tennis Championship men’s singles semifinals after defeating their respective opponents in the quarterfinals here at the PLTA tennis courts on Wednesday. Heera hammered Ahmad Ch 6-3, 6-1 while M Abid outpaced Mudassir Murtaza 6-1, 6-3. In the ladies singles, Ushna Sohail outclassed Malika Malik 6-1, 6-1 while Sara Mehboob routed Maha Saeed 6-3, 6-0 to breeze into the quarterfinals. In the men’s doubles, Waqas and Ahmad beat Yousaf Khan and Asad ullah 6-2, 6-4 to enter the semifinals. In the U-16 first round, Ahmed Kamil, Adil Khan, M Abdullah, Aqib Umer, Saif Ul Aziz, Nouman Aftab, Nalain Abbass, Ahmed, Subhan bin Salik, Ahmer Saeed, M Saeed, Sameer Ahmed won their respective matches and moved into the next round.–Staff Reporter

 

 

Swimming complex pre-launching ceremony

LAHORE - The pre-launching ceremony of the state-of-the-art Punjab International Swimming Complex will be held here on July 31. Sports events commemorating the independence of Pakistan will be held from August 1 to 14, wherein a four-day training camp for swimming will be initiated. World renowned British coach Nicholas Gillingham would provide training to both our coaches and swimmers. “Construction of the swimming pool has been completed, which is equipped with all the latest facilities and ranked among the most beautiful swimming pools in Pakistan. I congratulate Sports Board Punjab Director General Zulfiqar Ghumman and his team on a fine performance," secretary sports Punjab Nayyar Iqbal said at a press conference held here at the National Hockey Stadium on Wednesday.–Staff Reporter