Emma Raducanu has sadly had to retire from the ASB Classic in New Zealand after suffering yet another injury with the Australian Open just 11 days away. Absolute gutter.
The 20-year-old Brit was forced to pull out of her only warm-up games ahead of the first grand slam of the season, despite having kicked off her round of 16 match with an unstoppable 6-0 opening set and fighting hard against Viktória Kužmová, who took the second set 5-7.
However, Raducanu ultimately had to call it quits after rolling her left ankle and a lengthy medical break ended in the clearly emotional world no. 78 leaving the court in tears. We really feel for her.
This comes just two days after she grabbed her first win of 2023 in the Auckland series, declaring that she feels “stronger and better” than ever, with her New Year’s resolution being nothing more than staying fitter and healthier for longer. Heartbreaking.
The official ASB account took to Twitter to share their condolences with Radu, thanking her for her “incredible play” in the opening two rounds of the tournament.
ADVERTISEMENT
Though it still remains unclear at this stage, it seems highly unlikely she’ll recover again in time for the opening major of the calendar year.
Adding this latest setback to her already long list of injuries, the young sports star has now had to withdraw from various competitions on six different occasions since making her debut on the WTA Tour back in June 2021.
ADVERTISEMENT
Speaking before the match began, former Swedish tennis player and world number one Mats Wilander told Eurosport that while he believes she is “unbelievable” and can become “one of the best players in the world, she has to find an identity”, insisting that the right coach that can bring the X factor out of her.
Mats Wilander is backing Emma Raducanu to get back to the top of tennis 📈
Raducanu is now on her fifth trainer in just over a year, having appointed German coach Sebastian Sachs back in December. It seems keeping her fit will be the primary task for now.
Details released of Andy Burnham’s meetings with Manchester City owners while Mayor
Emily Sergeant
Details of Andy Burnham’s meetings with Manchester City owners during his tenure as Mayor of Greater Manchester have been released.
In case you need bringing up to speed on the situation a little first, Manchester City was found guilty back in September all of its charges related to the Premier League’s financial rules over a nine-season period, and on top of that, was also found guilty of the majority of charges in relation to its failure to co-operate with the League’s investigation.
According to the Premier League, the independent Commission found that Manchester City had arranged so-called ‘sham’ commercial deals with a number of its sponsors.
These were part of a disguised funding scheme – with those sponsors only required to pay a portion of the relevant sponsorship fees.
The remainder was then funded by Abu Dhabi United Group Investment & Development Ltd (ADUG), which owned the club.
The Commission also concluded, as quoted by the Premier League, that the club had ‘made concerted efforts to stop and frustrate the Premier League investigation’.
Within the past week or so, it has since come to light that now-Prime Minister Andy Burnham had dealings with Manchester City during his tenure as Greater Manchester Mayor, and Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) has now issued a public statement, giving details on the matter and what these ‘dealings’ entailed.
A spokesperson for GMCA confirmed that Burnham had a ‘formal meeting’ with Man City Chairman, Khaldoon Al Mubarak, back in October 2021.
The statement reads in full: “In October 2021, Andy Burnham, in his role as Mayor of Greater Manchester, had a formal meeting with Khaldoon Al Mubarak at the UK Government’s Global Investment Summit arranged by the Department for International Trade.
“In his capacity as Mayor, he was a guest of Manchester City FC at home matches on a small number of occasions, including attending Vincent Kompany’s testimonial match in September 2019, where he met the Chairman informally in the stands. These have been declared in the usual way.
“Also during his time as Mayor, representatives of Greater Manchester sporting clubs would routinely join business delegations as part of Mayoral international visits.
“This included representatives from Manchester United travelling to Austin and Dublin, Lancashire Cricket Club joining a delegation to India, and Manchester City FC staff supporting visits to China and Japan.”
Featured Image – Lauren Hurley / Number 10 Downing Street (Press Image via Flickr)
Sport
Multiple arrests made for ‘tragedy chanting’ and police officer assault as Man City defeated Liverpool
Emily Sergeant
Multiple people were arrested over the weekend as Manchester City defeated Liverpool in a Premier League clash.
Merseyside Police have confirmed that a total of 10 people were arrested during the policing operation at Liverpool’s home ground of Anfield as they hosted Manchester City on Sunday 11 October.
One man was arrested on suspicion of assaulting a police constable, five were on suspicion of tragedy chanting, one on suspicion of being drunk and disorderly, two for affray, and one on suspicion of throwing items onto the pitch.
Police are now appealing to the public, and are particularly looking to speak to witnesses of the assault of the officer.
At around 6:35pm, as fans left the stadium, a police officer sustained a ‘serious facial injury’ during the arrest of a man on Anfield Road, and was subsequently taken to hospital for treatment but is now recovering at home.
Investigating officers are now conducting enquiries, speaking to witnesses, and analysing CCTV and camera phone footage.
Chief Inspector Leanne Hobin said it’s ‘extremely disappointing’ that an officer has sustained a serious injury while carrying out their duty.
“I hope the arrests send a clear message and act as a deterrent to others,” Chief Inspector Hobin continued. “Anyone who engages in this abhorrent behaviour risks ending up in custody and getting a criminal record.
“Despite the actions of a few, the overwhelming majority of the 60,000 fans in attendance behaved well and I want to thank them for their co-operation.”
Manchester City ended up defeated Liverpool 3-0 during the Premier League clash at Anfield.
Danny Jones -
5th January 2023 
