Emery to leave PSG at season's end
PARIS • Paris Saint-Germain coach Unai Emery announced yesterday he would leave the French champions when his contract expires at the end of the season, after failing to make significant headway in the Champions League for the second successive campaign.
The Spaniard joined PSG in June 2016, replacing Laurent Blanc, and could still lead the club to a domestic treble.
PSG, who were crowned Ligue 1 winners on April 15 and have already lifted the League Cup, take on third division Les Herbiers in the French Cup final next month. But they lost to Real Madrid 2-5 on aggregate in the Champions League round of 16.
REUTERS
Lee takes on Momota in Asian semis
WUHAN • Malaysia's Lee Chong Wei took only 31 minutes to beat world No. 1 K. Srikanth of India in the quarter-finals of the Badminton Asia Championships in China yesterday.
Lee won in straight sets, 21-12, 21-15, to advance to the semi-finals at the Wuhan Sports Centre. The world No. 7 is scheduled to meet Japan's Kento Momota in the last four.
Third seed Chen Long of China also reached the semi-finals after coming back from one game down to eliminate Hong Kong's Angus Ng Ka Long 22-24, 21-15, 21-17. He plays India's H.S. Prannoy, who upset second seed Son Wan Ho of South Korea 18-21, 23-21, 21-12.
BERNAMA
Woods ready for next 2 PGA events
LOS ANGELES • Tiger Woods announced on Thursday that he will play the next two events on the PGA Tour - the Wells Fargo Championship in North Carolina and the Players Championship in Florida.
The Players Championship, which Woods has twice won, is widely considered the most prestigious outside the four Majors while the former world No. 1 lifted the Wells Fargo title in 2007.
REUTERS
Reds will support Gerrard's decision
LONDON • Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has said the English Premier League football club will back former captain Steven Gerrard in whatever decision he makes, after the BBC reported that he was the front runner to become the new manager of Rangers.
The 37-year-old, who retired in 2016, currently manages the Liverpool Under-18s and Rangers are second in the Scottish Premiership table, 10 points behind champions-elect Celtic.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
1,600 cases of drug violations
LONDON • There were nearly 1,600 anti-doping rules violations (ADRV) in 2016 involving athletes and support staff from 117 nationalities across 112 sports with athletics top of the list, the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) said in a report released on Thursday.
Wada added that a total of 229,514 samples were collected in 2016 and analysed by Wada-accredited laboratories resulting in 1,595 ADRVs. Of those, 1,326 were derived from adverse analytical findings and the remainder were from investigations and evidence-based intelligence into 248 violations committed by athletes and 21 by support staff.
REUTERS
