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In the world of football, Jack Grealish’s home was targeted by burglars in Cheshire while he was playing for Manchester City against Everton in Merseyside. Indian Grandmaster Koneru Humpy clinched a silver medal in the women’s individual event at the World Rapid Chess Championship 2023, hosted in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.
Read below to learn details about these top stories and other happenings in the sporting world in the last 24 hours.
Football
Jack Grealish’s home gets targeted by burglars while playing for Manchester City in Premier League
The Manchester City midfielder Jack Grealish’s home in Cheshire was targeted by burglars while he was playing the Premier League match for the club against Everton in Merseyside. After calls for burglary were made, the police conducted a search supported by dogs and a helicopter of the area, finding no suspects, while the report from The Sun stated the jewellery and watches worth £1 million were stolen from Jack Grealish’s home.
Arsenal suffer first Premier League home loss of the season against West Ham
In their quest for the Premier League glory, Arsenal suffered their first home loss in the competition at the hands of West Ham by 2-0 at the halfway stage of the season. Tomas Soucek opened the scoring at the Emirates Stadium in the first half before Konstantinos Mavropanos doubled the lead for West Ham, which proved to be enough against a very good Arsenal side.
Roberto Firmino to leave Al-Ahli after playing for just six months: Reports
As per talkSPORT report, the Brazilian forward Roberto Firmino could leave Al-Ahli after playing for them for just six months following a move from the Premier League club Liverpool. It has been revealed that the 32-year-old has interest from Saudi Pro League sides like Al-Shabab, Al-Ittifaq and Al-Fateh, apart from the Turkish clubs, and Sheffield United from England.
Matthijs de Ligt of Bayern Munich attract interest from Arsenal: Reports
Arsenal are reportedly interested in Netherlands defender Matthijs de Ligt, who plays for Bayern Munich, but the deal is likely to happen in the summer transfer window as per the report from Athletic. Notably, Mikel Arteta, the manager of Arsenal, has addressed the series of injuries at the club currently, which have left them out of top-quality player options, especially in the defence and the central midfield areas.
Some major results in football are as under:
Premier League 2023-24
Brighton 4-2 Tottenham
Arsenal 0-2 West Ham
Saudi Pro League 2023-24
Al-Ittifaq 1-1 Al-Hazm
Al-Riyadh 1-0 Damak
Konstantinos Mavropanos refuses to celebrate winning header against Arsenal in Premier League
West Ham defender Konstantinos Mavropanos refused to celebrate his winning header against his former club Arsenal in a Premier League fixture. West Ham registered a 2-0 win over their counterparts in the London derby on December 29, Friday (IST). In the 55th minute of the game, David Moyes’ side doubled their lead, with the help of Mavropanos’ header.
After scoring the winning header for his side, the 26-year-old refused to celebrate against his former club. The Greek international preferred to celebrate silently though as he held his hands up. Mavropanos’ move came out of respect as he played eight games with the Gunners. Mavropanos left Arsenal in 2022 and joined Bundesliga outfit VfB Stuttgart. He moved back to England this summer and moved to the Hammers.
Chess
Koneru Humpy bags silver; Vidit Gujrathi finishes fourth at World Rapid Chess C’ship
Indian Grandmaster Koneru Humpy clinched a silver medal in the women’s individual event at the World Rapid Chess Championship 2023, hosted in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. The 36-year-old Indian lost to International Master Anastasia Bodnaruk of Russia in a tie-break sudden death on time to concede the title.
After winning her last-round game against Kateryna Lagno, Humpy was tied with Anastasia for the title triumph. Meanwhile, in the open section, Vidit Gujrathi finished fourth with nine points in 13 rounds. On the other hand, Magnus Carlsen successfully defended his title in the tournament. Bronze medal winner Yu Yangi also bagged nine points but was placed above the Indian due to a better tie-break score.
Tennis
Rafael Nadal makes special appearance at Queen Street Mall in Brisbane
Spanish tennis icon Rafael Nadal was surrounded by fans as he made a surprising appearance at the Queen Street Mall in Brisbane. The tennis wizard is set to return to action after his year-long hiatus due to a hip injury and surgery. The 37-year-old is set to make a comeback to the court at the ATP 250 and WTA 500 combined event, Brisbane International.
Since his injury in the second round of the Australian Open, which he lost to Mackenzie Donald earlier this year, Nadal faced several setbacks on his recovery path. Nadal landed in Brisbane earlier this week and recently met fans at the busy Queen Street Mall in Brisbane.
Roberto Bautista Agut rejects Carlos Alcaraz being called Rafael Nadal’s replacement
Roberto Bautista Agut rejected the idea of Carlos Alcaraz being called a suitable replacement for Rafael Nadal following his retirement. He said, “I think that talking about replacing Rafa is not fair either. Rafa is going to have an unmatched, brutal career, he is a special player.”
He added, "We should not make comparisons with the 'Big Three'. It is clear that Carlos is also one of the chosen ones, that he has many qualities and I hope he has a career as long-lasting and successful as theirs.” Agut went on to say, "He has powers, but then it has to be done. Races have to be managed well, work well and be well surrounded to do what Rafa, Federer and Djokovic have done.”
At the Olympics, there are no favourites: Satwik-Chirag aim for medal at Paris Olympics 2024
Indian badminton stars Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy aim for a podium finish at the Olympics 2024 in Paris while admitting that it won’t be easy. The famous Sat-Chi duo will begin 2024 with the Malaysia Open, the season-opening Super 1000 BWF World Tour event.
Satwik told Times of India, “Olympics are different compared to other tournaments. It is not easy. The feeling is also different compared to tournaments like the Super Series. At the Olympics, there are no favourites. It is about 16 top pairs, and every team will give it its all. There will be no easy matches, it is going to be tough.”
