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Gündogan returns to Manchester City FC

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Manchester City have completed a deal to re-sign Ilkay Gündogan from Barcelona.

The German midfielder has signed a one-year contract to return to the club he left for the Catalan giants in 2023.

The 33-year-old won 12 major trophies, including five Premier Leagues and the Champions League, in seven years during a hugely successful first spell at the Etihad Stadium.

“My seven years at Manchester City were a time of pure contentment for me, both on and off the pitch,” Gündogan said upon his return.

“I grew as a person and a player, developed a special relationship with the City fans and enjoyed amazing success. It was an exceptional period in my life.

“To have the opportunity to return here means so much. Everyone knows the respect I have for Pep – he is the best manager in the world.

“Working with him every day makes you a better player. You feel constantly challenged, which for any professional is exactly what you want. I cannot wait to work with him again,“he said.

Gündogan joined Barcelona on a free transfer in 2023 after captaining City to the treble in the final season of his first stint at the club.

He went on to become a mainstay of the Barcelona side but financial issues at the Camp Nou have reportedly hastened his exit after just one season.

It is thought Barcelona needed to release a high earner to allow them to register new signing Dani Olmo.

Gündogan, who first joined City from Borussia Dortmund in 2016, is the champions’ second signing of the summer transfer window following the arrival of Brazilian winger Savinho.

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He will give Guardiola, who did not want Gündogan to leave in the first place, another option having lost forward Julian Alvarez to Atletico Madrid.(dpa/NAN

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Teenager hands Djokovic shock defeat in Miami Open final

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Nineteen-year-old Czech Jakub Mensik beat his childhood idol Novak Djokovic 7-6(4) 7-6(4) in an upset for the ages on Sunday, claiming his first ATP title at the Miami Open.

Victory for Mensik meant he denied the former number one, Djokovic, his bid for a milestone 100th.

The 54th-ranked Mensik faced tough odds in only his second ATP final but harnessed his best weapon to subdue the 24-time major winner with 14 aces.

He collapsed onto the court, overcome with emotion, after sealing it with an unreturnable serve.

The oldest ever to reach a Masters 1000 final, 37-year-old Djokovic had hoped to join Jimmy Connors (109) and Roger Federer (103) as the only three men in the Open Era with 100 or more titles.

He however ran out of steam in the end.

“When I was young I started to play tennis because of you,” Mensik said to his opponent at the trophy ceremony.

“There is no harder task for a tennis player than to beat you in the finals of a tournament.”

Djokovic arrived on the court after several hours of rain delays with swelling near his right eye.

He appeared off-kilter as he handed Mensik a break with a clumsy shot out of bounds in the second game.

He slipped and fell in the fifth game, taking his time to get back up off the court.

This was as his legions of devoted fans in Hard Rock Stadium urged him on, and applied eye drops to his afflicted eye during the changeover.

The Serb levelled it in the seventh but boiled over with frustration as Mensik got off to a 5-0 head start in the tiebreak.

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He fumed at his box, where his former rival-turned-coach Andy Murray sat stone-faced.

The Czech held his nerve, meanwhile, and pumped his fist with satisfaction as he clinched the set with an overhead smash.

The two players battled toe-to-toe in a thrilling second set, where Mensik used his speed to his advantage to neutralise Djokovic’s fine drop shots at the net.

Djokovic had his veteran survival instincts on display as he fended off two break points in the fifth game.

But he gradually showed the wear-and-tear of the match before collapsing from exhaustion after a 21-shot rally in the tiebreak.

“It hurts me to admit it but you were better,” said Djokovic, who had previously invited Mensik to train with him after the then-16-year-old reached the Australian Open juniors final in 2022.

“In the clutch moments, you delivered the goods.”

The win capped a dream run through the tournament for Mensik, who upset third seed Taylor Fritz en route to the final.

“To be honest, I don’t know what to say. It feels incredible, obviously,” he said in on-court remarks.

The victory was made all the more sweet as Mensik said he nearly dropped out of the tournament an hour before his first match due to knee pain.

He gave his physio full credit for keeping his hopes alive.

“I came for treatment, needed a miracle,” said Mensik. “And because of him I stepped on the court and because of him I’m standing here.”(Reuters/NAN)

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Arsenal, Tottenham to play pre-season derby in Hong Kong

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The London rivals will play at the southern Chinese city’s new 50,000-capacity Kai Tak Stadium on July 31.

“Playing against Tottenham Hotspur in the magnificent new Kai Tak Stadium will be a great experience for both teams and supporters, and will be a very important part of our pre-season preparations ahead of the new season,” said Arsenal’s managing director Richard Garlick.

Liverpool will play Serie A giants Milan on July 26 at the same stadium.

It will be a replay of the classic 2005 Champions League final, which the Reds won on penalties after being 3-0 down at half-time.

Arne Slot’s Liverpool are likely to head to Hong Kong as Premier League champions — they are currently 12 points clear with nine games left.

Liverpool will also travel to Japan for the first time during pre-season, the club said, without giving dates.

Hong Kong this month officially opened a major $3.85 billion sports park with futuristic Kai Tak Stadium the centrepiece of it.

The stadium saw its first major event at the weekend when it hosted the Hong Kong Rugby Sevens with more than 110,000 spectators attending over three days.

It is all part of efforts to restore the city’s image, which took a battering after political protests and a Beijing-imposed national security law.

Visitor numbers to Hong Kong also plummeted during almost three years of strict Covid curbs and have only recently begun to recover.

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Nigerian Boxer ‘Success’ Olanrewaju Dies After Ring Collapse

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A Nigerian boxer, Segun “Success” Olanrewaju, has died after slumping during a boxing match in Ghana.

The Secretary-General of the Nigerian Boxing Board of Control (NBB of C), Remi Aboderin confirmed the death of the boxer on Sunday.

The 40-year-old boxer, nicknamed “Success”, stumbled to the canvas while fighting Jon Mbanugu, a Ghanian, at Fight Night 15 of the Ghana Professional Boxing League at Bukom Boxing Arena, Accra, on Saturday.

Olanrewaju was not punched or near his opponent when he collapsed violently in round three of the light-heavyweight bout.

The referee called the match immediately, and medical aid was ushered into the ring.

Olarenwaju died after he was rushed to Korle Bu Teaching Hospital.

Ther boxer was a former West African and national light-heavyweight champion.

He competed in 24 bouts with 13 wins, eight losses, and three draws.

In 2022, Chukwuemeka Igboanugo, another boxer, also died after suffering a technical knockout (TKO) in a bout at the National Sports Festival (NSF) in Delta.

Igboanugo died after he took a fatal blow to the nose and did not survive the hit.

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