The most important news from the sport.
Athletics: Ehammer wins thanks to last jump
Simon Ehammer is happy about his strong performance again in the long jump.
(sda) Simon Ehammer is responsible for the highlight from a Swiss point of view at the Lucerne Meeting of Top Athletics. The 22-year-old from Appenzeller wins the long jump.
As in the previous year, the weather gods were not kind to the organizers of Lucerne’s top athletics. Not only was it wet and cool, the wind didn’t play into the athletes’ hands either. That was all the more bitter in view of the great field.
Towards the end of the meeting, conditions got a little better. Ehammer took advantage of this: The third in the World Championships managed a jump of 8.00 m in the last attempt. That was just enough to win, the second-placed Jamaican Tajay Gayle came to 7.98 m. The Greek Olympic champion and European champion Miltiadis Tentoglou (7.94 ) was no longer able to push the European Championship runners-up from the top in the all-around. “It’s a great honor to beat him,” said Ehammer.
Despite the uncomfortable conditions, Mujinga Kambundji insisted on competing in the 100 and 200 m. In the supreme discipline, the European Championship runner-up finished sixth with a time of 11.54 seconds. Over half the track, Kambundji was fourth with 22.89 seconds. The newly crowned European champion over 200 m judged her race as “quite okay”, although she thought she would finish further up the field. “The two major events (WM and EM) cost a lot of energy,” says Kambundji.
Mujinga’s sister Ditaji, who is ten years younger than her and who won the bronze medal at the European Championships in the 100 m hurdles, finished eighth and last in her race. With 13.35 seconds, she was exactly as fast as Noemi Zbären in the B run.
Tennis: Golubic had no chance in the first round
Viktorija Golubic is still without a win at the US Open.
(sda) Viktorija Golubic fails to win in the main draw of the US Open on her sixth attempt. The 29-year-old from Zurich, who only qualified for the main draw, lost in the first round to the American Jessica Pegula, number 8, in just 65 minutes 2: 6, 2: 6.
Golubic was inferior in all respects to the Buffalo billionaire’s daughter in the third-biggest place at the facility in Flushing Meadows. She made twice as many unforced errors as Winner (20:10) and was never able to put Pegula under pressure. She also only got her serve through three times.
This ended the Grand Slam year in disappointment for last year’s Wimbledon quarterfinalist. In Australia, Paris and New York she lost in the first round, only just in Wimbledon she won a game.
Football: Renato Steffen from Wolfsburg to Lugano
Renato Steffen turns his back on the Bundesliga – and hopes for better prospects in the national team.
(sda) Swiss international Renato Steffen returns to Switzerland. The 30-year-old striker is now playing for FC Lugano. The native of Aargau agreed on a three-year contract with the Ticino team.
Steffen switched from FC Basel to Wolfsburg in the Bundesliga four and a half years ago. Before his two-season engagement in Basel, where he was twice Swiss champion and once cup winner, he worked for the Young Boys for two and a half years.
Steffen’s departure in Wolfsburg had recently become increasingly clear. Under the new coach Niko Kovac, he was sidelined in the Lower Saxony. For the previous four Bundesliga games, he was never in the squad. With Steffen, a second Swiss will leave Wolfsburg within a month. At the end of July, Kevin Mbabu moved to the Premier League to promoted Fulham.
Steffen hopes that the transfer to Ticino will give him better sporting prospects – also with regard to the World Cup in Qatar. He has played 25 international matches with the national team.
Football: Antony for 100 million euros from Ajax Amsterdam to Manchester United
Ajax Amsterdam have never received more money for a player than for Antony.
(sda) Shortly before the international transfer window closes in England on Thursday, Manchester United grabs it again. Brazilian winger Antony joins the English record champions from Ajax Amsterdam.
Like Argentina’s Lisandro Martinez, the 22-year-old, nine-time international, follows current United coach Erik ten Hag, under whom the duo has played together at Ajax for the past two seasons.
The transfer fee for Antony is said to be around 100 million euros. This makes the South American the most expensive Premier League signing this summer and the second most expensive in Manchester United’s history after Paul Pogba (€105m). Ajax Amsterdam have never sold a player for so much money.
Evenepoel wins Vuelta time trial
The spectators on the side of the road loudly cheer on the Belgian Evenepoel.
(sda) Remco Evenepoel extends his lead at the Vuelta. The 22-year-old Belgian wins the 30.9-kilometer time trial between Elche and Alicante with a 48-second lead over last year’s winner, Primoz Roglic. After his first stage win at the Vuelta, Evenepoel has a clear lead over his closest pursuers in the overall standings. Roglic is 2:41 minutes behind, third-placed Spaniard Enric Mas 3:03 minutes.
As expected, the Swiss did not play a major role in the 10th of 21 stages: Gino Mäder (42nd/3:37 back) and Sébastien Reichenbach (46th/3:58) finished just under the top 50. Mäder lost one in the overall classification place and is now 20th.
We continue on Wednesday with a stage without any major difficulties towards the beaches of Cabo de Gata in the very southeast of Spain. Evenepoel should not be challenged again until Thursday, when there is a 20-kilometer final climb to Peñas Blancas.
77th Tour of Spain (World Tour). 10th stage, time trial Elche – Alicante (30.9 km)
1. Remco Evenepoel (BEL) 33:18. 2. Primoz Roglic (SLO) 0:48 behind. 3. Remi Cavagna (FRA) 1:00. 4. Carlos Rodriguez (ESP) 1:22. 5. Pavel Sivakov (FRA) 1:27. 6.Lawson Craddock (USA) 1:37. Also: 10th Enric Mas (ESP) 1:51. 42. Gino Maeder (SUI) 3:37. 46. Sebastien Reichenbach (SUI) 3:58. 108. Fabian Lienhard (SUI) 5:27.
Overall ranking (10/21):
1. Evenepoel 34:35:50. 2. Roglic 2:41. 3Mas 3:03. 4. Rodriguez 3:55. 5. Simon Yates (GBR) 4:50. 6. Juan Ayuso (ESP) 4:53. Also: 20. Mäder 11:52. 33. Reichenbach 25:10. 142. Lienhard 2:08:13.
Tennis: Serena Williams wins first game at farewell tournament
Serena Williams is happy after her victory at the US Open.
(dpa) Serena Williams has once again postponed her departure from the big tennis stage. The 23-time Grand Slam tournament winner won at the start of the US Open on Tuesday night against Danka Kovinic from Montenegro 6: 3, 6: 3. At their expected farewell tournament, the long-standing world number one will meet number two seeded Anett Kontaveit from Estonia in the second round.
Williams announced her retirement as a competitive athlete three weeks ago. When she thinks about it, she feels “great pain. It’s the hardest thing I could ever imagine, »explained the soon to be 41-year-old American.
Tennis: Jil Teichmann no chance
Switzerland’s Jil Teichmann loses to China’s Zhang Shuai at the US Open.
(sda) Jil Teichmann and the US Open will not become friends. The Swiss seeded number 30 fails in the first round 4: 6, 2: 6 at the Chinese Zhang Shuai (WTA 36). At her fifth participation in New York, the Seelander lost for the third time in the first round and twice in the second.
Also for Alexander Ritschard (ATP 186) the US Open ends in the 1st round. As expected, the qualifier from the Canton of Zurich loses 6: 3, 6: 4, 3: 6, 6: 3 against the Canadian Félix Auger-Aliassime, seeded as number 6. As with his Grand Slam debut, he won a set but was not efficient enough to create an upset.
Football: Guillaume Hoarau announces his resignation
Guillaume Hoarau wrote a piece of club history for the Young Boys.
(sda) Guillaume Hoarau ended his professional career at the age of 38. The French announces this on Instagram.
The former striker from Paris Saint-Germain and five-time French international experienced his most successful time in sport in the dress of the Young Boys, with whom he became Swiss champion three times between 2014 and 2020. In the 2018/19 season he was also crowned top scorer in the Super League with 24 goals. In 171 games in the top Swiss league, he scored 109 goals.
After his expiring contract with the Bernese was not extended in summer 2020, Hoarau switched to FC Sion. There he only made 34 competitive appearances (12 goals) in two seasons. The tall centre-forward and amateur musician fought his last serious fight in March of this year when he played with the second team from Sitten in the Promotion League against YB II.
Football: Jeff Saibene new coach of Xamax
Xamax is Jeff Saibene’s fourth coaching station in Switzerland.
(sda) The day after the dismissal of head coach Andrea Binotto, Neuchâtel Xamax presented his successor. It’s Jeff Saibene.
The 53-year-old from Luxembourg has already worked in Switzerland in Thun, St. Gallen and Aarau. Most recently, after engagements in the 2nd and 3rd German Bundesliga, he worked in his home country.
After six Challenge League rounds, Xamax is pointless at the bottom of the table. On Saturday, Neuchâtel lost 3-1 at Bellinzona after a 1-0 lead at the break.