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Fri/Sat/Sun August 11~13, 2017

THREE days before Liverpool starts its English Premier League campaign, the club is embroiled in two extraordinary transfer standoffs that show how play-ers are shaping their futures by wielding increased power.

British and Spanish media have reported that midfi elder Philippe Coutinho wants to leave Anfi eld to join Barcelona, while Virgil van Dijk is keen to join Liverpool from EPL rival Southampton.

Each player is under contract until 2022, having signed exten-sions to their original contracts, and both clubs want them to stay. But that does not mean the deals are dead, even though nei-ther player has the sort of buyout clause that allowed Neymar to leave Barcelona, prompting the Catalans to come calling for Liverpool’s Brazil midfi elder.

“Ninety-nine times out of 100 it is a power game, a case of who blinks fi rst,” sports legal expert Richard Cramer of FrontRow Legal said. “Player power is enormous. The reality is a club may make the right noises but player power is strong because a manager does not want a disil-lusioned player who can upset equilibrium in the dressing room and create disharmony. Players and agents are very experienced at forcing a situation.”

Former Liverpool player Steven Gerrard believes that in Coutinho’s case everything depends on how far the Brazilian is prepared to go to force a move.

CHINA’S Gong Lijiao made the most of the absence of reigning champion Christina Schwanitz and four-time champion Val-erie Adams to win gold in the women’s shot put at the IAAF World Championships on Wednesday.

After claiming six major silver or bronze medals since the 2008 Olympic Games, the 28-year-old Chinese athlete managed a best of 19.94 meters for China’s fi rst gold medal of the champion-ships.

In diffi cult conditions under pouring rain at the London Sta-dium, Hungary’s Anita Marton claimed silver with 19.49, while American Olympic champion Michelle Carter took bronze (19.14).

Gong was left delighted with China’s fi rst shot title since Huang Zhihong won her second gold in Stuttgart in 1993, saying: “I was a bit worried about my condition because two years ago I was heading for gold and I changed a couple of things after the Olympic Games in Rio.

“I competed more this year to be ready for these champion-ships.”

Although Gong said she was not in the top of her form, she already won three Diamond League titles in a run this season and proved to be the strongest in

WORLD Wrestling Entertain-ment (WWE) star Charlotte Flair will meet fans in Shenzhen on Friday and Saturday, as a pre-lude to WWE’s fi rst-ever show in the city next month.

Flair is an American profes-sional wrestler currently signed to WWE, where she performs on the SmackDown brand under the ring name Charlotte Flair.

A second generation profes-sional wrestler, Flair is the daughter of Hall of Famer Ric Flair.

Flair was promoted to WWE’s main roster in 2015, quickly win-ning the WWE Divas Champion-ship. In 2016, she was crowned the inaugural WWE Women’s Champion.

Her match against Sasha Banks at Hell in a Cell in October 2016 was the fi rst match featur-ing women to headline a WWE pay-per-view event.

WWE Live China comes to the Shenzhen Bay Sports Center Arena on Sept. 17. The event marks WWE’s return to China following last year’s successful show at the Mercedes-Benz Arena in Shanghai.

Fans attending WWE LIVE China will be able to see their favorite WWE Superstars, including John Cena, AJ Styles, Dolph Ziggler, Charlotte Flair, Becky Lynch and many more.

Mission Hills China is the offi cial partner of WWE LIVE China.

“Mission Hills is excited and proud to partner with WWE, a global entertainment company, to bring WWE Live to China,” said Tenniel Chu, Vice Chair-man of Mission Hills Group. “Together we are bringing the excitement and family-friendly entertainment of WWE LIVE to fans here in Shenzhen for the very fi rst time.”

WWE, a publicly traded com-pany in the United States, is an integrated media organization and recognized leader in global entertainment. The company consists of a portfolio of busi-nesses that create and deliver original content 52 weeks a year to a global audience.

(Windy Shao)

A REJUVENATED Roger Federer believes he is still reap-ing the benefi ts of his extended break from tennis after a com-fortable opening victory at the ATP Montreal Masters gave him his best start to a season since 2006.

The Swiss star, who celebrated his 36th birthday Tuesday, swat-ted aside Canada’s world number 116 Peter Polansky 6-2, 6-1 in just 53 minutes to book his place in the second round.

Federer was joined in the last 16 by top seed and old adversary Rafael Nadal, who made similar short work of his opening assign-ment.

Nadal, who will depose the absent Andy Murray as world number one if he reaches the semifi nals in Montreal this week,

routed Croatian youngster Borna Coric 6-1, 6-2.

Federer is riding high after a spectacular year, which has netted him both the Australian Open and Wimbledon crowns.

On Wednesday’s evidence, few would bet against him adding the U.S. Open to that haul after a masterful performance that left Polansky groping at shadows.

A one-sided win gave him a 32-2 start to the season, his best beginning to a campaign since 2006 when he began 38-2 and fi nished the year at world number one.

Federer attributed his renais-sance to rediscovering full fi tness after knee surgery in 2016 and taking a two-month break from the game earlier this year.

(SD-Agencies)

Gong ends long wait for shot put gold

the fi eld. “The second attempt put me in the lead but I was worried someone would make a better throw because 19.35 was really not that convincing,” she said. “I knew I had secured the victory after the fi fth attempt.”

After the fi fth attempt, Gong bounced up and down with both fi sts in the air to celebrate. She has waited for so long.

Before the London trip, Gong had competed in fi ve world championships earning one silver and two bronzes since making her name at the 2007 World Championships in Osaka, where the then 18-year-old fi nished seventh with 18.66 meters.

She has also taken part in three Olympic Games, collect-

ing one silver and one bronze, and two editions of the World Indoor Championships, taking bronze in 2014. But she has never managed to set foot on the top of the podium in any major international competitions.

“My next goal is of course the 2020 Tokyo Olympics,” said Gong, who will be 31 then.

(SD-Xinhua)

Gong Lijiao of China competes in the women’s shot put fi nal at the IAAF World Championships in London on Wednesday. SD-Agencies

Player power set to shape transfers

“It comes down to Philippe Coutinho and his decision and what he’s prepared to do, what type of war he’s prepared to create to get out, because Liverpool won’t make it easy for him,” Gerrard, who is now Liverpool’s academy coach, told BT Sport.

Such “wars” are increasingly common in soccer and Van Dijk sparked his own this week after several weeks spent training away from the fi rst team. He has now requested a transfer.

Although the Dutch interna-tional did not mention Liverpool in his statement, Southampton reported the Merseyside club to the EPL earlier in the transfer window for an alleged illegal approach to the center back.

The two deals are sensitive for Liverpool, which is treading a fi ne line between keeping its own key player and acquiring another, particularly after its failure to sign Nabi Keita, who Red Bull Leipzig has refused to sell. (SD-Agencies)

Philippe Coutinho

WWE star visits SZ

Roger Federer of Switzerland hits a backhand against Peter Polansky of Canada during the Rogers Cup tennis tournament in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, on Wednesday.

SD-Agencies

Charlotte Flair

Federer strolls in Montreal opener