Thai sprinters came up with a record-breaking performance to win the men’s 4×100 metres relay gold at the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Vietnam on Monday.
The relay quartet of Chayut Kongprasit, Sora-at Dabbang, Siripol Phanpae and Puripol Boonson broke the previous Games record set when Thailand had won the gold at the 2019 Games.
“Puripol, a 16-year-old who ran the final leg, helped the team achieve 38.58 seconds, breaking the previous record of 39.90 seconds,” the Athletic Association of Thailand said.
Malaysia and Singapore won the silver and bronze, respectively.
The manager of the Thai women’s football team, Nualphan Lamsam, might see a premature end to her Southeast Asian (SEA) Games campaign after getting injured in a freak accident.
Nualphan suffered a nose injury after accidentally getting hit on the nose by goalkeeper Kawin Thamsatchanan’s elbow before the match against Laos on Monday.
Nualphan, who also known as “Madam Pang”, however turned up to cheer her team at Thien Truong Stadium in Vietnam where Thailand beat Laos 1-0.
After the match, she posted a Facebook message that she would be going for an X-ray on Tuesday, adding that she would have to return to Thailand to receive treatment. The message had received more than 5,000 comments as of Tuesday.
She posted another Facebook message on Tuesday, saying that she is undergoing medical check-up at Bich Ngoc Hospital. She also thanked fans for their encouragement.
A hospital scan had shown that her nose was not broken, Nualphan said in a Facebook post on Tuesday afternoon. There was no blood and only bruising around the nose, she added.
She thanked Bangkok Hospital medics, the Thai ambassador to Vietnam, media outlets and football fans for their support.
Nualphan was appointed manager of Thailand’s national women’s football team in August 2021. She guided the team to victory in the 2020 AFF Championship.
Juventus squandered a 2-0 advantage to settle for a 2-2 draw with Lazio on Monday, which was also the last home game for Chiellini and Dybala.
Juventus duo Giorgio Chiellini and Paulo Dybala said goodbye to the home fans at Allianz Stadium as the Bianconeri fumbled a 2-0 advantage to settle for a 2-2 draw with Lazio on Monday.
Captain Chiellini had announced his departure and hinted at a move to Major League Soccer despite having one year left on his contract, while Dybala will be a free agent in the summer after his negotiations with the club collapsed, and his future is still shrouded in doubt.
Juve had secured fourth place before Monday, so the game turned out to be a more emotional one. Chiellini was subbed off in the 17th minute, a special arrangement to salute his 17 consecutive seasons in the Juve jersey, with the veteran receiving a standing ovation from the crowd.
FC Juventus
The home side raced into a 2-0 lead in the first half thanks to goals from Dusan Vlahovic and Alvaro Morata, but Lazio fought back through Alex Sandro’s own goal before Sergej Milinkovic-Savic scored the equalizer in the dying minutes. One point was enough for the Aquile to book a spot in next season’s Europa League.
After the final whistle, Dybala, who spent seven years in Turin, burst into tears in the farewell ceremony.
Also on Monday, Sampdoria dominated Fiorentina 4-1.
Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan travelled to Vietnam to cheer on Thai athletes competing in the 2021 Southeast Asian Games on Monday.
Prawit, who also heads the Olympic Committee of Thailand, was at Quang Ninh Gymnasium to see Thailand’s women beat Indonesia 3-0 in the preliminary round of the volleyball.
Prawit praised the Thai volleyball team for impressive performances in recent years that have made them a global force to be reckoned with.
He expressed hope that the Thailand men and women’s teams would win gold medals, saying Thai fans are rooting for them and will watch every match, especially the fan-favourite women spikers.
Prawit also thanked the Thailand Volleyball Association, including coaches and staff, for their efforts to secure gold at this SEA Games.
The gold medal match of the women’s volleyball will be held next Sunday (May 22).
On Monday evening, Prawit, who is also president of the Thailand Swimming Association, will travel to My Dinh Water Sports Stadium in Hanoi to support Thai swimmers as they compete for seven gold medals.
Thailand were second in the medals standings on Monday, with 27 golds, 24 silvers and 42 bronzes. Hosts Vietnam topped the standings with 68 gold, 46 silver and 42 bronze medals.
Pep Guardiola says his players will give ‘the game of their lives’ against Aston Villa and is urging the City fans to do the same.
City need to win the final game of the season next weekend to be assured of being crowned champions, and the boss wants the City fans to turn the streets of Manchester blue and give the game of their lives, too.
“We knew we had tough games,” said Guardiola.
“West Ham away after an exceptional performance against Wolves – we knew it – we needed four points – and now there is no debate about goal difference, and no debate about anything, we just have to just to win our game and if we don’t, Liverpool will be champions.
“I can assure you of something – in one week our stadium will be sold out, will give them our lives and they will give theirs, all together.
“To do this is an incredible privilege, after many years together. It is incredible.
“To have our chance with our people, to win one game to be champions. I’m looking forward to it.
“We are going to rest for two days, mentally disconnect and then we are going to train for three or four days and prepare for the game on Sunday.
“It will be tough, emotional and we have to analyse what we have to do to beat Aston Villa, but we will give everything that we have for 95 minutes to win, I’m pretty sure of that… everything that we have.”
Asked if this would be the sweetest Premier League title if City do win next Sunday, Pep replied: “Let me win it, then after I’ll explain how are my feelings. You ask me about feelings I don’t experience yet
“I have a feeling every time that every year it’s more and more difficult (to win the league), but at the same time we could not expect differently against a team (we are) fighting to win the Premier League with.
“One of, the most perfect teams I have seen in my life – against Liverpool – this Liverpool team, you can’t win the league three or four fixtures ago. It’s impossible.
“They fought, we fight and it is a big, big privilege to be at home and it’s in our hands… We will give everything.
“I said (to the players), ‘don’t be sad today, we did a really good performance’ and it’s fair against this opponent because both teams are too good and that’s why it’s like this.
“It’s in our hands. If they lose or win… it depends on us; do the most perfect game we possibly can do, all the people, all blue people in Manchester, go to the streets and go to the stadium because they know we are going to give everything to win that game and they will be so proud.”
Chelsea coach Thomas Tuchel said his side had to learn to be consistent winners after they lost the FA Cup Final on penalties to Liverpool on Saturday, and he said sanctions imposed on the club were making the task harder.
The London club have been in a state of turmoil in recent months after Russian owner Roman Abramovich put the club up for sale following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the British government then imposed strict controls on the club.
Tuchel said Liverpool and Premier League leaders Manchester City were winning matches week after week, showing the rewards of their long-term planning.
“They are very, very, very consistent and we are in the opposite situation at the moment, given the sanctions. Players are leaving,” the German said.
Antonio Rudiger, a lynchpin of Chelsea’s defence, will depart the club at the end of this season and fellow defender Andreas Christensen is also expected to go.
Tuchel turned around Chelsea’s fortunes dramatically when he replaced Frank Lampard as manager in January 2021 and he led the Blues to a Champions League triumph just four months later.
Chelsea made it to the FA Cup final in 2021, when they were beaten by Leicester City, as well as the League Cup final in February this year when they also lost to Liverpool on penalties.
But they have struggled to find their rhythm in the Premier League and they sit in third place, 19 points behind leaders Manchester City and 16 behind Liverpool.
“We can produce peak performances and we have the mentality in the club to shape the mentality of the players to have these peak performances,” he said.
“But over the last years Man City and Liverpool proved that you have to obviously deliver that on a level of consistency that we don’t have and we struggled with it.”
Tuchel said his side struggled in the first 15 minutes of Saturday’s encounter with Liverpool when the Reds missed a string of chances before they clawed their way back into the match which turned into an end-to-end contest.
He praised his players for stopping “maybe the most dangerous attacking team in the world” from scoring in two finals that both went to extra time in the space of three months.
Juergen Klopp’s relentless Liverpool beat Chelsea 6-5 on penalties in a fluctuating English FA Cup final on Saturday to stay on course for an unprecedented quadruple of trophies.
An absorbing Wembley showpiece had somehow ended 0-0 after extra time despite a raft of chances and near misses for both sides with fine performances from the two goalkeepers.
Substitute Kostas Tsimikas slotted the winning penalty after Chelsea captain Cesar Azpilicueta’s had hit the post and Alisson had saved Mason Mount’s effort.
Chelsea keeper Edouard Mendy had kept his side alive when he saved Senegal team mate Sadio Mane’s penalty but it proved to no avail as Liverpool lifted the trophy for the first time since 2006.
It was a carbon copy of the League Cup final in February, which Liverpool won 11-10 on penalties after that game also finished goalless.
“I’m really proud of my boys,” Liverpool manager Klopp said. “We are mentality monsters but there were mentality monsters in Chelsea colours as well — it was one penalty.
“Chelsea played outstanding but in the end there must be one winner and that was us today.”
Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp and his coaching team celebrate with the trophy after winning the FA Cup final REUTERS/Hannah Mckay
Saturday’s win means Liverpool have won 50% of their target for the season.
They are three points behind Manchester City in the Premier League race with two games to go and meet Real Madrid in the Champions League final on May 28.
“This is something that will give us even more confidence to keep on going in the Premier League and also for the Champions League final,” Alisson, who made a crucial save from Marcos Alonso in the first half, said.
For Chelsea it meant an unwelcome record of becoming the first side to lose three FA Cup finals in a row, after losing to Arsenal in 2020 and Leicester City last year.
Liverpool had the best of a pulsating first half with Luis Diaz close several times, before Chelsea came back in the second, with Alonso rattling the crossbar.
Klopp’s Liverpool enjoyed the greater possession and finished the 90 minutes on top, Diaz and Andrew Robertson both hitting the post in the final 10 minutes and the indefatigable Diaz whistling a shot just wide in the 90th.
Tired legs on a warm day contributed to a rather anticlimactic extra time with both sides appearing to have decided to take their chances in a shootout.
Sadly for Chelsea, as in February, it was a case of so near yet so far although manager Thomas Tuchel had no regrets.
“Like in the last final, the League Cup, no regrets. I told the team I was proud,” he told reporters. “We played 240 minutes in two finals against maybe the most dangerous attacking team in the world and it’s 0-0.”
“I was sure during the match the momentum was on our side but unfortunately I was not right.”
Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel reacts Action Images via Reuters/Peter Cziborra
The only blot on another memorable day for Liverpool was striker Mohamed Salah being withdrawn in the first half with an injury.
Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson was handed the Cup by Prince William to roars from the Liverpool fans while the Chelsea end had largely emptied.
“It’s a big moment for us, we haven’t been in this final for some time so to win it was special,” Henderson said.
The win was Liverpool’s eighth in the 150-year history of the FA Cup, drawing them level with Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur. Arsenal have won the most with 14.
As Manchester City look to all but end the Premier League title race with a win at West Ham United this weekend, coach Pep Guardiola wants his team to be remembered for its style.
Manchester City may appear to be a relentless winning-machine, but manager Pep Guardiola wants his side’s legacy to be that their period of Premier League dominance was “fun” as the team close in on their sixth title.
City lead the standings on 89 points, three ahead of Liverpool with two games to play. Thanks to their superior goal difference, a win against West Ham United on Sunday (May 15) would all but assure them of a second successive league triumph.
Despite amassing eight trophies during his tenure, Guardiola, who has yet to extend his contract beyond 2023, wants his side to be remembered for their style of play and sense of joy.
City’s title rivals Liverpool play the FA Cup final against Chelsea on Saturday (May 14) and won’t be in league action again until Tuesday (May 17) against Southampton.
By then, City could be six points ahead but Guardiola was not taking a win at West Ham for granted.
Liverpool’s Juergen Klopp says his squad is finally deep enough to contend for the FA Cup title as well as the league and continental competition while Chelsea’s Thomas Tuchel says much of the outcome will rely on luck and small margins in a rematch of the Carabao Cup final.
Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp said his squad was not deep enough to challenge for multiple trophies earlier in his reign as they look to end a long FA Cup drought in Saturday’s (May 14) final against Chelsea.
The Merseyside club advanced to the FA Cup final for the first time under Klopp, who took over at Anfield in 2015, and are chasing an unprecedented quadruple this season having already won the League Cup in February.
Liverpool, seven-times FA Cup winners, beat Manchester City to reach their 15th final – their first in 10 years – and have not lifted the trophy since 2006.
While Liverpool have won the Premier League and Champions League in previous seasons under Klopp, the German had not managed to lead them past the fifth round of the FA Cup before the current campaign.
Defensive midfielder Fabinho will miss the trip to London but Klopp said the Brazilian will be fit in time for the Champions League final later this month, when Liverpool take on Real Madrid in Paris on May 28.
Chelsea midfielders Mateo Kovacic and N’Golo Kante could feature in FA Cup final against Liverpool after manager Thomas Tuchel said this was the time of the season to take risks.
Kovacic, who had recently returned from injury, was on the receiving end of a reckless tackle from Leeds United winger Dan James, who was shown a straight red card for his challenge in Wednesday’s 3-0 Premier League win at Elland Road.
Tuchel, whose team are third in the league, said Chelsea want to give a “hard fight” to Liverpool.
“It will be down to margins, and it will be down to details within the match. We are facing one of the very best coaches and one of the very best teams in the world right now. It’s obvious and it’s proven over the last few years and in recent weeks and we’re up for the fight,” Tuchel told reporters on Friday (May 13).
The Thai women’s badminton team made its exit in the semi-finals of the TotalEnergies BWF Uber Cup on Friday at the Impact Arena.
Thailand lost to China 3-0. Thai ace Ratchanok Intanon lost 21-18, 21-12 to China’s Tokyo Olympics gold winner Chen Yu Fei, while Pornpawee Chochuwong lost the other singles to He Bing Jiao 21-15, 21-15.
The Chinese doubles pair of Chen Qing Chen and Jia Yi Fan fought back after losing the first game to pip the Thai duo of Jongkolphan Kititharakul and Rawinda Prajongjai 17-21, 21-13, 21-15.
Badminton Association of ThailandBadminton Association of ThailandBadminton Association of Thailand
In the other semi-final, South Korea blanked Japan 3-0.
Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp and his coaching team celebrate with the trophy after winning the FA Cup final REUTERS/Hannah Mckay
Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel reacts Action Images via Reuters/Peter Cziborra
Badminton Association of Thailand
Badminton Association of Thailand
Badminton Association of Thailand
SootinClaimon.Com 