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SATURDAY
AS Monaco confirms Pocognoli as new trainer
8:41 PM: AS Monaco has appointed Sébastien Pocognoli as its new coach. The Belgian comes over from Union St-Gillis and is the successor to the dismissed Adi Hütter. He has signed a contract with the Ligue 1 club until June 2027.
Former AZ player Pocognoli led Union to its twelfth national title last season, the first in ninety years. In the Champions League, Pocognoli started this season strongly with a 3-1 win at PSV.
AS Monaco is fifth in Ligue 1, with 13 points after seven games. The loss at Lorient (3-1) and the draw against Nice (2-2) led to Hütter’s departure.
Sailing duo Lambriex/Van de Werken are already certain of a medal at the World Championships
7:03 PM: With the medal series still to go, the Dutchmen Bart Lambriex and Floris van de Werken have already secured a medal at the world championships in the Olympic 49er class. The three-time world champions occupied second place behind the Spanish Olympic champions Diego Botín and Florian Trittel.
At the World Championships in Cagliari, Italy, a new format is being experimented with, which may also be used at the Los Angeles Olympic Games. After two days of the usual scoring, the medal series will follow on Sunday, consisting of two races. In the latter, only the top four teams will play. In the system used for the first time, all four teams still have a chance of winning gold, while no one can lose more than one position in this final.
“We are indeed certain of a medal, but now that we are here we also want to win,” says Van de Werken in a press release. “We had undoubtedly signed for this position beforehand, but now that we are so close, we want more.”
Hockey players Kampong to second round of Euro Hockey League
1:58 p.m.: Kampong’s hockey players have reached the second round of the Euro Hockey League in Barcelona. The Utrecht club was too strong for the Spanish Real Club de Polo with 4-2.
The home team had still taken the lead, but thanks to goals from Duco Telgenkamp and Hidde Plantenga, the Utrecht team led 2-1 at half time. Telgenkamp also made it 3-1. After a counter goal by the Spaniards, Jip Janssen set the final score at 4-2.
Kampong will compete against Braxgata from Antwerp on Sunday for a place in next year’s final tournament (Final8). The team from Antwerp was much too strong for Western Wildcats from Wales: 7-0.
Bloemendaal will play against Irish Banbridge later on Saturday.
Figure skaters Danilova and Tsiba cancel Olympic qualification
12:00 noon: Dutch figure skating pair Daria Danilova and Michel Tsiba have withdrawn from an Olympic qualifying competition in Georgia. Tsiba has a shoulder injury.
Danilova and Tsiba made their first of two attempts in Tbilisi to qualify for the upcoming Winter Games in Milan. They started the short freestyle moderately on Friday with a score of 55.20. The free freestyle was scheduled for Saturday, but the pair will not appear at the start there.
Sports association NOC*NSF and the KNSB have decided that Tsiba and Danilova will retain their two qualification opportunities due to the exceptional situation. They will now make another attempt to achieve the required score of 173.89 at the Grand Prix in Osaka (Japan) on November 7 and 8. If that doesn’t work, the pair will aim for the Golden Spin competition to be held on December 5 and 6 in Zagreb (Croatia).
World champion Argentina without Lionel Messi beats Venezuela in an exhibition match
9:54 am: World football champion Argentina has won a friendly match against Venezuela 1-0 in Miami. Giovani Lo Celso scored the only goal in the 31st minute.
Lionel Messi watched from the stands. The Argentine star had trained in the preparation, but national coach Lionel Scaloni decided not to include him in the selection. There is therefore a chance that Messi will play with his club Inter Miami against Atlanta United on Saturday.
France without injured captain Mbappé against Iceland
9:50 am: France will miss captain Kylian Mbappé in the upcoming World Cup qualifier against Iceland. The star player has again injured his right ankle, reports the French Football Federation. Mbappé returns to his club Real Madrid to recover.
The attacker opened the score in the match against Azerbaijan (3-0) on Friday after a solo in the extra time of the first half. Shortly after the restart, his ankle suffered its first serious blow. In the final phase, a second kick followed on his already vulnerable ankle, after which Mbappé was replaced by Florian Thauvin.
National coach Didier Deschamps of France has a lack of attackers for Monday’s match against Iceland, as Ousmane Dembélé, Désiré Doué, Marcus Thuram and Bradley Barcola are also unavailable due to injuries.
FRIDAY
Short track speed skaters make it through the preliminary rounds of the first World Tour Montreal
11:14 p.m: The short trackers got through the preliminary rounds of the first competition of the World Tour well. Jens van ‘t Wout and Xandra Velzeboer qualified for all three distances for the competitions on Saturday and Sunday in Montreal, Canada. The two relay teams also reached the semi-finals and the mixed relay the final.
Michelle Velzeboer also passed the heats of the 500 and 1000 meters, Selma Poutsma through the 500 meters. Daan Kos reached the quarter-finals in the 1000 meters, Itzhak de Laat reached the semi-finals in the 1500 meters a day earlier.
The short trackers must qualify for the Olympic Games in the four events of the World Tour this autumn via the rankings of the individual distances. For the 500 and 1000 meters, the short trackers must be in the top 32, for the 1500 meters in the top 36. This means that a maximum of five short trackers per gender can qualify. The relay teams must finish in the top eight and the mixed relay must finish in the top 12.
Figure skaters Danilova and Tsiba started moderately in Tbilisi
7:58 PM: Figure skaters Daria Danilova and Michel Tsiba made a mediocre start in the short freestyle in their attempt to skate the required total points for Olympic qualification. With a score of 55.20, they were well below their recent personal best score of 62.69 at the CS Trialeti Trophy in Tbilisi.
The Dutch duo finished fifteenth at the World Championships in Boston in March. They thus met the international requirement (top 16) for an Olympic ticket, but the Dutch sports association NOC*NSF required a place in the top 14. To still receive a ticket for the Games in Milan next year, the couple must score a total of 173.89 points one more time at an international competition of their own choosing.
In Saturday’s free freestyle, Danilova and Tsiba now have to score a total of 118.69 points to reach the required total. If that doesn’t work, the couple will have a second chance later.
Spain without Barcelona midfielder Olmo in World Cup qualifiers
3.40 pm: Spain cannot call on midfielder Dani Olmo during the upcoming World Cup qualifiers with Georgia and Bulgaria. The 27-year-old FC Barcelona player is struggling with a muscle injury in his left leg and is returning to his club.
Spain will play Georgia in Elche on Saturday, after which the team will face Bulgaria in Valladolid three days later. The formation of national coach Luis de la Fuente has 6 points after two games. Spain can secure a ticket for the World Cup with two victories in the coming days, if other results in the group turn out favorably.
Swiatek crashes hard against Paolini in Wuhan
2:32 PM: Iga Swiatek failed to reach the semi-finals of the Wuhan tennis tournament. The Polish number 2 in the world rankings lost hard in China against the Italian Jasmine Paolini: 1-6 2-6.
Paolini (29) had lost all of his previous six matches against Swiatek, including last year’s Roland Garros final. In Wuhan, however, the global number 8 started impressively. She allowed Swiatek only three points in the first four games and then broke her opponent again. In the second set she was broken once, but she made three breaks in return.
Paolini will meet American Coco Gauff in the semi-finals. The world number 3 defeated Germany’s Laura Siegemund 6-3 6-0.
Michele Pirro replaces injured MotoGP champion Marc Máquez in Australia
1:08 PM: Motorcycle rider Michele Pirro will replace the injured world champion Marc Márquez with the Ducati factory team during the Australian Grand Prix in the MotoGP next week. The team announced this on Friday.
Máquez suffered a fracture in his right shoulder during the Indonesian Grand Prix on Sunday. The 32-year-old Spaniard therefore misses two grands prix, in Australia and Malaysia. It is not yet known whether Pirro, who is currently a test driver for Ducati, will also take care of the Malaysian Grand Prix.
Máquez secured his seventh world title in the premier class of motorsport in Japan at the end of September. After the races in Australia and Malaysia, two more grands prix will follow, in Portugal (November 9) and Valencia (November 16).
Rutger Slagter (iwi)ANPX-101025-109-v1© 2025 ANP all rights reserved
Arthur Rinderknech advances to the Shanghai semi-finals
11:38 am: Arthur Rinderknech continued his successful week in China in the quarter-finals of the masters tournament in Shanghai. The French number 54 in the world won 6-3 6-4 against the twelfth seeded Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime.
Earlier in the tournament, the 30-year-old Rinderknech was too strong for the German Alexander Zverev, the global number 3. Auger-Aliassime defeated Jesper de Jong in the third round.
Rinderknech will play in the semi-finals against the winner of the match between Russian Daniil Medvedev and Alex de Minaur from Australia. It is the first time for the Frenchman, who has never won an ATP title, that he is in the semi-finals of a masters tournament.
The other semi-final is between Serbian Novak Djokovic and Valentin Vacherot from Monaco. Vacherot, number 204 in the world, is a cousin of Rinderknech.
Elia Viviani (36) retires from cycling
10.43 am: Elia Viviani will end his career at the end of October. The 36-year-old Italian sprinter from Lotto will compete twice more this month, on the road in the one-day race Tour of Veneto and at the World Track Cycling Championships in Chile. His team announced this on Friday.
As a track cyclist at the Games, Viviani won the gold medal in the omnium event in 2016. At the last two Games he won a silver and a bronze medal. He achieved ninety victories on the road, including one in the Tour de France, five in the Giro d’Italia and three in the Vuelta.
The Tour of Veneto is on October 15, the Track Cycling World Championships take place from October 22 to 26.
Aryna Sabalenka will meet Jessica Pegula again in the semi-finals in Wuhan
8:49 am: Aryna Sabalenka has qualified for the semi-finals of the Wuhan tennis tournament. The Belarusian number 1 in the world was too strong for Elena Rybakina from Kazakhstan with 6-3 6-3.
Sabalenka (27) will meet the American Jessica Pegula in the semi-finals. The global number 6 defeated the Czech Katerina Siniakova 2-6 6-0 6-3 in China.
Sabalenka will play her first tournament in Wuhan since her final victory at the US Open in mid-September. The four-time Grand Slam winner defeated Pegula in the semi-finals in New York (4-6 6-3 6-4).