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April 16, 2017
Shahrdari Varamin Claim
Asian Taekwondo Title
Iran’s Shahrdari Varamin won the Asian taekwondo Clubs Championship for the third time in a row.
TEHRAN (Press TV) - Iranian
men’s Shahrdari Varamin taekwondo club have clinched the
title at the 7th edition of Asian
Taekwondo Clubs Championships, defeating Shohadaye
Modafe Haram Sari in an allIranian final contest.
On Friday, the defending champion beat the opposite side 4-1 in
the title showdown at Seyed Rasoul Hosseini sports hall of Sari,
situated 275 kilometers north of
the Iranian capital city of Tehran.
Iran’s Moghavemat finished
in third place after overcoming
the Omani team 3-2 in the thirdplaced match.
The 7th edition of Asian Taekwondo Clubs Championships
kicked off in Sari, northern Iran,
on April 13, 2017, and finished
the following day.
The continental meet brought
together Shohadaye Modafe Haram Sari, Sahrdari Varami and
Moghavemat clubs from Iran,
Iraq’s Police and Electric Club,
Aryana of Afghanistan as well as
Oman and Pakistan taekwondo
teams.
On February 20, 2016, Shahrdari Varamin taekwondo club
claimed the title at the 6th edition of Asian Taekwondo Clubs
Championships in Sharjah, the
United Arab Emirates, having
collected five gold and three silver medals and tallied 50 points.
Kazakhstan snatched one gold,
one silver and one bronze medals to accumulate 37 points, and
finish as the vice champion.
Al-Nasr taekwondo club came
third with 13 points.
In the final round of the 5th
Asian Clubs Championships on
February 15, 2015, Shahrdari
Varamin club defeated Islamic
Azad University to stand atop
the podium.
Moghavemat club from Iran
also overcame Iraqi al-Basra and
landed in the third place.
Persepolis Among Top 10 in
Club Asia Ranking
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iran’s Persepolis are ninth in the current Club
Asia Ranking, released by footballdatabase.com.
Persepolis are champion of Iran
Professional League and represents
the Persian Gulf country in the AFC
Champions League.
Branko Ivankovic’s team sits ninth
in the ranking with 1533 points.
Al-Ahli of Saudi Arabia lead the
table with 1616 points, followed
by Jeonbuk from South Korea and
Saudi Arabia’s Al-Hilal.
Iran’s Esteghlal are 15th with
1525 points and Tractor Sazi sit
18th with 1502 points.
Real Madid has moved up three
spots to lead the Club World Ranking with 2044 points.
Persepolis rank 202 in the Club
World Ranking, while Esteghlal sit
in 220th place and Tractor Sazi are
257th.
Ramin Rezaeian Linked
With Panathinaikos
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iranian international defender Ramin Rezaeian
has been linked with a move to Greek
giant Panathinaikos.
According to Sport24.gr, following the eye-catching performances
of Karim Ansarifard and Masoud
Shojaei, the Greek football teams
have shown interest in signing the
Iranian player.
Panathinaikos has already linked
with Iranian players Mehdi Taremi
and Saeid Ezatolahi.
Rezaeian had reportedly reached
an agreement with Club Brugge but
his agent said that he will likely join
an Eredivisie team.
The 27-year-old player was forced
to leave Persepolis after a row
with the team’s head coach Branko
Ivankovic.
Rezaeian has made 17 appearances for Iran national football team
and scored two goals.
He was under contract with Persepolis until mid-2018.
Tottenham Keep Up Chelsea Chase
With 4-0 Rout of Bournemouth
Tractor Sazi Move Second in Iran Professional League
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Tractor Sazi of Tabriz have defeated Padideh
1-0 to go provisionally into second place in the Iran Professional League
(IPL).
Tractor Sazi edged past Padideh 1-0 in Mashhad’s Samen Sta-
dium thanks to Hadi Mohammadi’s 9th minute goal.
Moreover, Sanat Naft were held to a 1-1 draw by struggling Siahjamegan and Naft Tehran drew 2-2 with Foolad.
Esteghlal are third with 48 points with one game in hand as well.
Lyon, Besiktas Charged as UEFA Investigates Crowd Violence
BRUSSELS (Dispatches) - UEFA
has decided to launch an official
investigation into the violence at
Thursday night’s Europe League
match between hosts Lyon and Besiktas.
Thousands of French Turks made
the journey to Lyon’s new stadium
for the first leg, and many paraded
through the city centre with flares
ahead of the tie.
Locals accuse the Turks of starting the trouble, but there have also
been criticisms about the stadium
management, with questions asked
about why so many visiting fans
were allowed to crowd into one
area, forming a bloc.
The game could not begin on time
as fighting between the fans took
45 minutes to bring under control
with tear gas and police charges.
Besiktas fans in the top tier threw
objects onto the home fans below,
and armed Lyon fans also broke
into the visitors area to start fights.
Lyon have been hit by four UEFA
charges, Besiktas three.
Lyon are charged with setting off
of fireworks, blocking stairways,
insufficient organization and a pitch
invasion after a late winning goal.
Besiktas’ three charges relate to
the setting off of fireworks, the
throwing of objects and crowd disturbances.
Vettel Puts Ferrari on Top in Bahrain Practice
Ferrari Formula One driver Sebastian Vettel of Germany drives during
the first practice session of the Bahrain F1 Grand Prix.
LONDON (Reuters) - Ferrari’s
Sebastian Vettel was fastest in Bahrain Grand Prix practice with the
joint Formula One championship
leader comfortably quicker than
his Mercedes rival Lewis Hamilton
despite problems in the second session.
The four times world champion lapped 0.400 faster than Red
Bull’s Australian Daniel Ricciardo in the afternoon and then
pipped Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas
by 0.041 under the evening floodlights.
Hamilton, the triple champion
who won the previous race in
China after Vettel’s success in the
Australian opener and shares the
overall lead with 43 points, was
10th and fifth respectively.
Neither had a trouble free evening, however, with Vettel suffering what he called a “complete
shutdown” on his car with half an
hour to go.
The German was pushed into the
pits by marshals and returned to
the track 15 minutes later.
“It was not the best day for us,
we still need to improve the car...
On one lap it was OK. (on a)
long run we might be quite a bit
behind, but I am sure we can improve for tomorrow,” said Vettel.
Hamilton ran off the track after
being baulked by Nico Hulkenberg’s Renault.
“These drivers are just so dangerous,” the Briton said over the
team radio, with both drivers later
summoned to see the stewards.
Ricciardo was third in the evening with Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen fourth after his afternoon
session went up in smoke, with
the Finn abandoning his smoking
car and trudging off in the desert
heat.
The solitary walk through the
arid landscape in overalls and
helmet, before being collected by
a scooter, was an arresting sight -and also typical of a driver with
‘Iceman’ tattooed on his left arm.
“Walking through the desert in
37C heat. In full race suit. Helmet on. Only the Iceman is cool
enough to do it,” the official formula1.com website observed on
its Twitter feed.
While Raikkonen built up a
sweat, Vettel settled in at the top
of the timesheets with a best lap
of one minute 32.697 seconds. He
did 1:31.310 in the cooler evening conditions, with Raikkonen
fourth after an engine change.
Champions Mercedes had been
more focused on longer runs with
heavier fuel loads in the searing
afternoon heat, with Bottas only
14th.
They speeded up in the evening
and did more laps than anyone.
“It’s definitely tougher than before, driving in the heat with these
new cars. But I’m used to being in
a Finnish sauna, so it’s no problem,” commented Bottas.
LONDON (Euronews) - Tottenham Hotspur claimed a 12th consecutive Premier League home win with
a 4-0 rout of Bournemouth on Saturday to keep the pressure on leaders
Chelsea.
Two goals in three minutes from
Mousa Dembele and Son Heungmin put the hosts in complete control inside 20 minutes and Harry
Kane grabbed his 20th league goal
of the season shortly after halftime
as Spurs cut Chelsea’s lead to four
points. Chelsea travel to Manchester United on Sunday. Dembele
struck after 16 minutes, slamming
in a shot from six meters after
Christian Eriksen’s corner reached
him at the far post through a crowd
of players. Son fired through the
legs of keeper Artur Boruc after
racing into the area from Kane’s
flick. Kane, starting for the first
time since injuring his ankle last
month, wrapped up Tottenham’s
seventh successive league win after
48 minutes, turning Simon Francis
all too easily and firing low past
Boruc. It is the third season in a
row England forward Kane has
reached the 20-goal mark – a feat
previously only achieved by Alan
Shearer, Ruud van Nistlerooy and
Thierry Henry. Substitute Vincent
Janssen rounded off the action with
a fourth goal in stoppage time, the
Dutchman’s first Premier League
strike from open play since joining
last year. Bournemouth are seven
points above the relegation zone
before the later kickoffs and probably need one more victory to guarantee a third season of top-flight
football.
Golden State Warriors Seek
Redemption After Last
Year’s Finals Collapse
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Golden State Warriors enter the NBA playoffs
this weekend looking for redemption after last season’s shocking defeat in the
Finals, where the team blew a 3-1 lead to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the bestof-seven series.
Despite the unprecedented championship series collapse, expectations for
the Warriors to win the title this year are sky high, and for good reason.
In the offseason they added one of the league’s premier scorers, former
league Most Valuable Player Kevin Durant, who quickly adapted to the
team’s fast-paced and unselfish brand of basketball.
Despite an injury to Durant late in the season that kept him sidelined
for 19 games, the team finished with NBA’s best overall record, ensuring
home court advantage throughout the playoffs.
Durant returned to the starting lineup earlier this month and has shown
no sign of lingering problems from the knee injury, boosting the Warriors’
odds of winning. Westgate Las Vegas Superbook on Thursday listed the
Warriors as 1-2 favorites to bring Oakland their second championship trophy in three years. ESPN analyst and former NBA head coach Jeff Van
Gundy on Thursday anointed the Warriors the champions before the first
playoff game had even been played.