Sports

Federer, Djokovic Pay Tribute To Retiring Briton

Published

5 years ago

January 14, 2019

Swiss great Roger Federer hopes retiring Briton Andy Murray can finish his career “the way he wants” at Wimbledon later this year.
Meanwhile, world number one Novak Djokovic says he will carry “beautiful memories” from his time on and off court with the Scot.
Murray, 31, plans to retire after Wimbledon but admits the Australian Open could be his final tournament.
“The news has hit us top guys hard,” Federer, 37, said.
“I hope he can play a good Australian Open and he can keep playing beyond that.”
Although Federer is the defending champion at the Australian Open, and Djokovic goes into the tournament as the top seed, Murray’s impending retirement was – understandably – a prominent part of their first news conferences at Melbourne Park.
Murray has often been considered, alongside them and Rafael Nadal, as one of the ‘big four’ on the ATP Tour, even though he is well short of the Grand Slam victories recorded by his rivals.
Despite Federer turning 38 this year, and Nadal struggling with injury throughout his career, it is Murray who looks set to quit playing first after battling his hip injury for almost two years.
“I was disappointed and sad, a little bit shocked, to know now we’re going to lose him at some point,” said Federer, who has won an all-time record 20 Grand Slam singles titles.
“But we’re going to lose everybody at some point. It’s just now that it’s definite.”
In addition to his major titles, Murray also won two Olympic golds and 45 ATP tournaments, and led Britain to the 2015 Davis Cup.
“He won everything he wanted to win. Anybody would substitute their career with his,” added Federer.
“It’s a tough one, but on down the road he can look back on and be incredibly proud of everything he has achieved.”
Andy Murray was in tears as he spoke to journalists ahead of the Australian Open
Serbia’s Djokovic and Murray were born just a week apart in May 1987, meaning they grew up together on the junior circuit before moving on to the senior tour.
The pair have regularly battled for the biggest titles, with Murray beating Djokovic to claim his first Grand Slam at the 2012 US Open and then again to become the first British man to win Wimbledon in 77 years in 2013.
However, 14-time Slam champion Djokovic has triumphed in five other major finals, including four at Melbourne Park.
“I will carry beautiful memories from the court and off the court with him. We’ve played lots of epic matches,” said Djokovic, who starts against American qualifier Mitchell Krueger on Tuesday.
“To see him struggle so much and go through so much pain, it’s very sad and it hurts me as his long-time friend, colleague, rival.”
The pair played together in a practice match in Melbourne on Thursday, hours before Murray made his announcement the following morning, but Djokovic insisted he was not holding back against the Scot.
“It was very obvious for everyone, you didn’t need to be on court, to notice he’s struggling and not moving as well as he normally does,” he said.
Djokovic says he can relate “a little bit” to Murray’s predicament after having elbow surgery last year before recovering to win the Wimbledon and US Open titles.
“I think his injury of the hips is something certainly far worse than my injury, because it’s obviously something he’s been carrying for couple of years,” he said.
“He’s unable, even after surgery, to get back to the desired level.
“As an athlete, injury is probably the biggest obstacle and enemy that you can have.”

Sports

Expert Wants Parents To Enroll Children In Vector Programme

Published

4 days ago

April 22, 2024

The Tide

In a bid to have more young talented Nigerians to play professional football abroad, Johnny Ogbah, a sports lawyer and football intermediary, has called on parents to enroll their children in Vector Programme.
He stated that the programme is in conjunction with Conventry Football Club in United Kingdom (UK), saying that the programme includes academics where a child can acquire a degree.
Ogbah, made the call while addressing sports journalists recently in Port Harcourt, as the programme will admit students into Brooke College between the age of 11 and 18 Football Academy.
The major objective of Vector Programme is to give the young ones a career through sports and good education. The programme does not train people on football only but also other things that is related to sporting environment, he said.
According to him, more than 20 Nigerians have benefited from the programme on scholarship and most of them are now playing football in top clubs in Europe.
“Vector programme was poised to create an avenue to give people to play football to the highest level.
Apart from football the child can also have quality education. It will interest you to know that those in Vector programme play friendly games that attracts scouts from different countries and football clubs.
The programme doesn’t train you on only football but also train people on everything that is associated to sports”, Ogbah said.
The former Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) player further disclosed Vector programme pathways provides the practice opportunities that players need if they are to successfully graduate as a professional player.

By: Tonye Orabere

Sports

NLO: Khana FC Coach Blames Players For Missing Chances

Published

4 days ago

April 22, 2024

The Tide

The Head Coach of Khana FC in Khana Local Government Area of Rivers State, Sam Ledor, has blamed his players as they were unable to convert scoring chances.
According to him, if those chances created in their opening match against Jet Bomber FC at the ongoing Nation wide League One (NLO), in Omoku centre were converted, it would have given them victory.
Ledor, said this on Saturday in a chat with Tidesports shortly after they played goalless draw against Jet Bomber FC in their opening match in 2024 NLO Division in Omoku, Rivers State.
“ We created a lot of scoring chances but could not find the net”, he said.
He explained that playing goalless draw is not a bad result in football but in a competition like this, they need to score goals and win matches.
“ My brother, we missed a lot of scoring chances which is not good. I trainned my players on how to create chances and to convert them.
“ What is important in a competition is winning but as we did not lose the game, we will look forward for our next game.
“We will go back to the drawing board and correct the grey areas in our game and ensure we get better results in our next outing.
“Today’s game is gone, what we need to do is to make sure we win our next game,” he stated.
He pointed out that no game comes easy but the effort you put in will give good result. They tried their best today and the result was good for both teams but we need to win our next game.
“My opponents were also a good side; they tried all what they could but didn’t score also. It was a good game but my team needs to win games,” he added.

By: Kiadum Edookor

Sports

Wilkins Backs Rivers Hoopers To Spring Surprises At 2024 BAL

Published

4 days ago

April 22, 2024

The Tide

A French-American, John Walter Wilkins is confident Rivers Hoopers can make it to the playoff round of the 2024 Basketball Africa League (BAL).
Wilkins, who is the son of former NBA player Jeff Wilkins, linked up with his Hoopers teammates at the team’s training camp in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, ahead of the 2024 BAL Savannah Conference games, which tip off on Saturday, 4th May, 2024, in Dakar, Senegal.
Wilkins is no stranger to African basketball, having played for Moroccan sides AS Salé (2015-2016) and Ittihad Tanger (2017-2019), before leading Stade Malien to a third-place finish at BAL 2023.
Looking ahead to the 2024 BAL, Wilkins says the quality of basketball across Africa has improved, with the BAL requiring a high level of competitiveness, but backed Rivers Hoopers to spring a surprise at the tournament.
“It’s a really high level, a great competition; [it’s] one of the best I’ve played in since I’ve been in Africa. But we don’t need to be scared. We need to just attack the moment, be there, be present, and I think if we are confident in our abilities, we can surprise people,” he said.
Since its inaugural season in 2021, Nigerian teams have appeared twice at the BAL, with Rivers Hoopers playing in the inaugural edition of the tournament in 2021 and Kwara Falcons featuring at BAL 2023.
Despite failing to reach the playoffs on both previous occasions, Wilkins is optimistic that with the quality of players in the Hoopers squad as well as the recruitment done ahead of the BAL, Rivers Hoopers will be more competitive in this season’s BAL.
“I’m really optimistic. I know that those past years the teams from Nigeria didn’t do well, but I think with me, Kelvin [Amayo], Will [Perry], and the other guys, I think we can show the way, have some wins, and be more competitive,” he stated.
The Nigerian Champions were drawn in the Savannah Conference alongside former BAL Champions US Monastir (Tunisia), last year’s runners-up AS Douanes (Senegal), and APR (Rwanda).