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Olympic champion swings to take a break due to thigh injury
6.26 pm: Bart Swings will not be participating in upcoming inline skating competitions. The Belgian, who won the gold medal in the mass start in long track speed skating at the Olympics in February, sustained a thigh injury.
“An ultrasound was taken today and the rupture turned out to be larger than initially expected,” said Swings, who ran in Geisingen earlier this week and in the marathon in Steenwijk. At Steenwijk he took his first win of the season. “Now I have to take some time to recover.”
Gilbert wins stage three of four days of Dunkirk
5:26 PM: Philip Gilbert won the third stage of four days of Dunkirk with a sprint win on the grueling finish at Mont-Sainte-Eloy. French classification leader Jason Teson came second after already winning Wednesday’s stage.
39-year-old Gilbert is the oldest driver to ever participate in a stage race. The heavy-duty finish suited Gilbert well, a short, steep hill. He started at the highest part of the hill and moved away from the rest. For the Belgian, it was his first win since September 2019.
Dutchman Arvid de Klein remains second in the standings after Tyson. Gilbert climbed to third with a win.
Chile files a complaint and wants to replace Ecuador in the World Cup
4.36 pm: The Chilean Football Association has filed a complaint against Ecuador with FIFA. Right-back Byron Castillo is said to have lied about his hometown and history. According to the Chilean federation, Castillo was born in Colombia rather than Ecuador, and is three years older than stated.
Castillo played eight Ecuadorean matches in the World Cup qualifiers. The Chilean federation now wants those results to be nullified and Ecuador out of the World Cup. “Serious irregularities in the registration of players are unacceptable, especially when it comes to the World Cup,” the Chilean federation said in a statement. “Fair play must prevail both on and off the field.”
Chile, which finished seventh in the South American World Cup qualifiers, wants to replace Ecuador in the World Cup. Ecuador is divided into a group with the Netherlands, Senegal and Qatar.
Castillo’s birthplace has been the subject of debate for years. Last year, the Ecuadorean judiciary finally ordered Castillo to issue a new birth certificate that states his place of birth in Ecuador. Only then was he called up to the national team for the World Cup qualifiers. We cannot take risks in international competitions,” said Carlos Mansour, vice president of the Ecuadorean Football Federation at the time.
International Zeman ends his football career 24 times
4:23 PM: Kelly Zeman will end her football career after this season. The 24-time international concluded her career at Ajax, where she has been playing since 2013. The 28-year-old Zeman, who plays as a midfielder, became European champion in 2017 with Orange.
Before her tenure at Ajax, Zeman played in Telstar. She was briefly loaned to SC Heerenveen by Ajax in 2021. At Ajax she became a two-time national champion and won the cup five times. Ajax is currently in second place with 3 points from Twente.
Zeman, who had less playing time, will now play for the Ajax women’s amateur team. This selection is made up of former Ajax Women’s players and former international players.
A serious knee injury to Dutch defender K V Mechelen Becker
3:26 pm: Dutch left back Lukas Becker from KV Mechelen has suffered a serious knee injury. He is expected to be out for six to nine months because he ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee.
The 29-year-old Becker has been playing for Mechelen since 2018. In the past he played in the Dutch league for Frisian club SC Cambuur and SC Heerenveen. In 2017, he replaced Heerenveen with a short-lived adventure in Cádiz, where he was taken by the Belgian club.
KV Mechelen finished seventh in the regular season and is in the playoffs for the Conference League. There are still four games to play.
Gerard Pique withdraws from Barcelona with injury
12.23 pm: Gerard Pique cannot play for Barcelona at the moment. The experienced defender suffers from a thigh injury. Barcelona’s medical staff cannot yet say how long he will be out. Barcelona will play an away game against Real Betis on Saturday and conclude La Liga with matches against Celta de Vigo (10 May), Getafe (15 May) and Villarreal (22 May).
Barcelona is number 2 in the Spanish league. The club will qualify for the new version of the Champions League if it finishes in the top four. Barcelona is 8 points ahead of Real Betis, who is currently number 5 in the standings.
Real Madrid secured the league title last Saturday.
Shereen Van Enroj For Longer With Baloise Trek Lions and Trek-Segafredo
11.57 am: Shereen Van Aneroy has extended her contract with the Baloise Trek Lions (cyclocross) and Trek-Segafredo (road cycling) for three years. The 20-year-old, who combines cyclocross with road cycling, is the European cyclocross champion in the U-23 category, finishing second in the World U-23 Championship. Van Anrooij is now suspended until the end of 2025.
“Cross training in Belgium, mentoring in domestic and foreign competitions, tips and tricks, among others, teammates Lars van der Haar and Lucinda Brand during competitions. All these things add up to make me feel at home in this environment and I can be completely myself, Van Anroy said about extending her contract.
Van Enroge booked her first professional win last winter in the US state of Iowa. She then became a European champion with promises in her country and finished second at the World Championships in Fayetteville, USA, behind her compatriot Buck Peters. On the road, it finished ninth on the Strade Bianche this spring.
The Greek Talon Track returns to the Masters Tournament in Rome
10.20 am: Talon Valentine will return to the Masters Tournament in Rome next weekend. The number 2 holder in the Netherlands has suffered a neck injury for several weeks. Training resumed last Saturday.
The 25-year-old Greek track, world number 57, has pulled out of the clay court tournaments in Barcelona, Munich and Madrid. He had been waiting for a win at the highest level in nearly three months. At the beginning of February, he reached the second round of the ABN AMRO World Tennis Championships in Rotterdam.
The Greek track will play in Rome in the qualifiers, Botic van de Zandschulp was directly accepted into the main tournament.
At the end of last year, the Greek track recorded a streak of 26 straight victories. He has only won four times this season.
Phoenix and Miami advance more strongly in the play-offs
07:31 AM: The Phoenix Suns basketball players also won their second game against the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA (Western Conference) semifinals. Devin Booker and Chris Paul had a big share of the home win (129-109). Booker scored 21 out of 30 points in the second half of the match. Paul was good at scoring 28 points and eight assists.
Luka Doncic scored 35 points for the Mavericks. The two teams will meet on Friday in Dallas for the third game. The first team to win four times advances to the next round. The Suns won the Western Conference last year and lost to the Milwaukee Bucks in the NBA Finals.
The Miami Heat advanced 2-0 in the Eastern Conference semifinals against the Philadelphia 76ers (119-103). Bam Adebayo scored 23 points for the winning team. Jimmy Butler contributed 22 points to the win. She will visit Miami Philadelphia on Friday after two home games.