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Uruguay had little problem handling Mexico. What should the USMNT expect from Cavani and Co.?
By the time Diego Alonso's Uruguay squad arrived in Glendale, Arizona, he had come to some important conclusions about the balance of his side. After beating Mexico 3-0 at State Farm Stadium on Thursday, La Celeste can now move forward with confidence to Sunday's meeting with the United States in Kansas City, Kansas.
In two of the past three World Cups -- statistically, at least -- Uruguay have been South America's best team, remarkable given it's a nation with a population of just 3.5 million. Being so small inevitably limits their options; if they are to get the best out of their resources, they must achieve the right collective balance. And over time, a hardened group of wonderful veterans have helped haul Uruguay back to football's top table after a spell between 1994 and 2006 in which they failed to qualify for three out of four World Cups and were eliminated in the group phase the one time they did qualify.
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In 2010, they finished fifth in South America's qualifiers and had to go through the playoff to make it to South Africa -- where they announced their return to the big time by finishing fourth. Many of the players responsible for that remarkable run are still involved, but how should they be handled? Luis Suarez and Edinson Cavani have formed a magnificent front pair, but can they both still operate together? And is 4-4-2 still the team's best formation?
Toward the end of his marathon reign, manager Oscar Washington Tabarez appeared to have decided that it was time to move on. In his last nine World Cup qualifiers, only once did the team play in a 4-4-2 formation. Suarez and Cavani took the field together away to Brazil, where Uruguay were lucky to come away with a 4-1 defeat. In came Alonso -- fresh off a futile tenure as Inter Miami's first-ever coach -- and turned the clock back. Uruguay had to win and their remaining fixtures were relatively straightforward, so he went back to a 4-4-2 set-up, pairing Suarez either with Cavani or with the emerging star, Benfica's Darwin Nunez.
Three consecutive wins took the team over the line and, interestingly, with a place in Qatar secure, Alonso tried something different in the final round, away to Chile. He started with Cavani on his own up front, ahead of a five-man midfield. It looked closer to the team that he'd use in the World Cup -- an impression confirmed by his selection against El Tri. Suarez is unavailable this time. but Alonso can call upon Nunez, plus the strength of Maxi Gomez.
There are, though, clear advantages of playing a single central striker. It allows the team to field three in the centre of midfield, which these days is playing to a new strength. Real Madrid's Federico Valverde has emerged as probably the most important member of the side, and he works well with Tottenham Hotspur's Rodrigo Bentancur. Even in the absence of Bentancur due to injury, Uruguay can play Lucas Torreira holding in front of the defence and Matias Vecino alongside Valverde in a mixed attacking/defensive role. It is a formation that makes the current Uruguay side more fluent in possession, and harder to play through.
Having one striker also frees the flanks. In Thursday's match, Uruguay effectively won the game over Mexico in the first few minutes of the second half, when a 1-0 lead was quickly turned into a 3-0 rout by two Cavani goals. The quick strikes both came from breaks down the right, where Facundo Pellistri is a gamble that has come off for Alonso. The Manchester United attacking midfielder is on loan at Alaves, where he's not seen a great deal of action. Alonso took a chance on him early this year and has been rewarded -- especially against Mexico, where his running with the ball caused untold problems. He set up the second goal, while the final strike was made by a forward burst from substitute right-back Damian Suarez.
It's true that all of Uruguay's opponents will not be as obliging as Mexico, whose formation seemed ill-equipped for the occasion. With a back three against one striker, they left themselves light in central midfield. The USMNT on Sunday can be expected to provide a stiffer test, which is exactly what Uruguay need. They have one final game in these June FIFA dates, a chance for their fans to see them in Montevideo on June 11, but opponents Jamaica have pulled out, leaving Uruguay scrambling for a replacement.
There is a chance, then, that the rescheduled opponent could produce a festive occasion more than a serious international, which adds to the importance of the match against the USMNT.
Centre-back Diego Godin will presumably play in Kansas City. The team captain was on the bench against Mexico, coming on for the last few minutes. It will be a surprise if he's left out against the USMNT, but some will be surprised if he keeps his place in Qatar. Godin is at the veteran stage of his career, and a move back to South America has not gone especially well. He has struggled to get a regular game with Brazilian champions Atletico Mineiro and could soon be on his way to Velez Sarsfield in Argentina.
Will Alonso phase him out? At the World Cup, he could certainly pair Atletico Madrid's Jose Maria Gimenez with Ronald Araujo of Barcelona. Araujo has been used at right back, but this seems like a waste. He went off injured in the first half against Mexico -- and the advantages of a genuine right back were made clear when Suarez made the forward run that set up the third goal.
Sunday's game, then, may well be an important one in the long career of Godin. He has been a rock all the way through Uruguay's reemergence. He needs a sound display against the USMNT to show that he can end his international career on a high in Qatar.
Jimmy Neesham's four-for in vain as Tim David sets up thriller for Lancashire
Lancashire 155 for 8 (David 42, Neesham 4-26) Northamptonshire 153 for 6 (Zaib 57*) by two wickets
All the same, Northants' innings began badly when Richard Gleeson's superb yorker uprooted Lewis McManus's off stump in the third over, but Josh Cobb hit Tom Hartley's first two balls for leg-side sixes and the visitors eventually notched a respectable 53 runs off their Powerplay, 18 of those runs coming off Hartley's first set of six.
The visitors' attempts to accelerate were then frustrated by the loss of two wickets in successive overs. First Josh Cobb was caught at long on by David off Liam LIvingstone for 21; then Ben Curran was bowled for 37 when attempting to reverse sweep a leg-spinner from Luke Wells, who probably owed his selection for this game to Matt Parkinson's late call-up to England's Test side.
Northants reached the halfway point of their innings on 81 for three but Rob Keogh and Saif Zaib were finding it difficult to increase the scoring rate on a sticky pitch against an accurate attack.
Just 25 runs had been scored off the previous 23 balls when Keogh was run out for 18 by Wells' direct hit from mid-on and any hopes that Neesham might improve matters were dashed when the New Zealander was bowled by David for three, thus giving Lancashire's overseas signing his first wicket for the county.
Tom Taylor was bowled attempting a deeply ambitious reverse sweep off Luke Wood and it needed Zaib's leg-side six off Gleeson in the nineteenth over to ensure his side got to 140. A front foot no-ball in the final over also boosted the total and Zaib reached his fifty off 36 balls.
The Northants batsman finished unbeaten on 57 and his side's total looked competitive in the conditions. Wood took one for 27 but the pick of Lancashire's miserly attack was Livingstone, whose four overs cost 21 runs.
Lancashire's attempt to overhaul 153 began poorly when Keaton Jennings was bowled by Taylor for two and the same bowler had Steven Croft caught at point by Zaib for 10 after the Lancashire veteran had added 29 in 17 balls with Phil Salt.
The home side ended their Powerplay on 47 for two, six runs and one wicket worse than Northants had been. Lancashire's attempts to increase the scoring rate were then hampered by the loss of two wickets to the spinners, first when Livingstone's top-edged sweep was caught by Taylor to give debutant leggie Alex Russell his first senior wicket and then when Salt was leg before to Graeme White for 37.
Three huge sixes by David enlivened home supporters and left Lancashire needing 48 off the final six overs, only for Dane Vilas to be caught on the boundary by White off Neesham for 32. Vilas's team still needed 33 off four overs and then 23 off three but Luke Wells holed out at deep midwicket off Neesham and 18 were required off the final twelve balls, thus setting up the tense climax to a fine game.
Neesham finished with four for 26 but it will be no consolation.
Kent lose fifth game in a row as all-round Surrey stay unbeaten
Surrey 159 for 6 (Curran 43) beat Kent 127 for 9 (Denly 44, Topley 3-24) by 32 runs
Reigning Vitality Blast champions Kent Spitfires continued their abject title defence title with a 32-run defeat to Surrey at Canterbury.
Spitfires have now lost all five of their Blast matches this season and after limiting Surrey to 159 for 6, they slumped to 127 for 9 in reply. It was a comprehensive and fully deserved win for the visitors, who smothered Kent's run chase and shared the wickets around, with all six bowlers claiming at least one victim.
Without a win all season in any format, and with their confidence drained by four incrementally depressing defeats in the Blast, Kent looked sharper in the field than have at times this season, but after winning the toss and choosing to bowl they still allowed the visitors 10-20 more runs than they might had if they'd taken their catches.
Will Jacks fell for 2 in the second over, an ugly swipe off Klaassen flying almost vertically off the top edge before it was caught by Denly. Jason Roy made 23 before he was bowled by Grant Stewart, while Curran, who'd offered Sam Billings a difficult chance off Qais Ahmad when he was on 35, misjudged a sweep shot and was caught by Klaassen off Matt Milnes.
Sunil Narine hit the first six of the innings when he pulled Stewart over the square leg boundary at the start of the 14th over, but as Surrey looked to accelerate, Laurie Evans was lbw to a Klassen yorker for 19 and Narine hit Stewart to Denly at long-on. Stewart was denied a third wicket when Jordan Clark was dropped by Jack Leaning, who may have been distracted by the inrushing Denly.
Overton smacked Klaassen for successive sixes in the final over and was then dropped by Daniel Bell-Drummond before he was run out for 27 by Billings, chasing a single off the final ball of the innings.
The chase got off to a rocky start when Bell-Drummond flicked Clark to Narine at short fine leg for just 3 in the second over and Daniel Worrall then had Jordan Cox caught behind for 2. Billings holed out to Overton and was caught for 16 by Jacks ,and Alex Blake was out for the same score when he pulled Jordan to Clark. When Narine tempted Jack Leaning to swish a delivery to Jordan for just 1, Kent were 75 for 5 in the 14th over.
With five overs left the rate had climbed to 15 and with no choice but to go down swinging, George Linde was out for 13 to a brilliant piece of fielding by Jordan. Linde drove Topley to the boundary, but Jordan threw the ball in the air before stepping over the boundary and stepping back in again to complete the catch.
Supporters were leaving in their droves well before the end and although they missed some late pyrotechnics from Stewart, who hit sixes from successive Topley deliveries, he was out for 17 when he skied to Jamie Smith behind the stumps. Denly fell in almost identical fashion to the final ball of the 19th, leaving Kent needing an impossible 42 from the final six balls. Ahmad was caught by Evans of Jordan for 5 but by then it was academic.
Will Smeed wins it at speed as Somerset trounce Glamorgan
Somerset 174 for 1 (Smeed 94*, Banton 45) beat Glamorgan 173 for 7 (Green 5-29) by nine wickets
Twenty-year-old Smeed blasted 8 sixes and 6 fours in a memorable exhibition. The result left Somerset riding high, with four wins from their opening five group matches, while for Glamorgan it was a third defeat in five games.
David Lloyd and Sam Northeast gave Glamorgan the platform for a decent total after the match start had been delayed half an hour by a wet outfield.
No overs were lost and the opening pair were soon enjoying a true batting surface, taking the total to 49 in the final over of the initial powerplay before Lloyd was caught at short third-man for 31, made off 20 balls.
The wicket-taker was Craig Overton, back with Somerset having been omitted by England for the First Test against New Zealand. He went on to bowl three overs and finished with one for 17.
Lewis Gregory claimed the key wicket of Marnus Labuschagne, caught third ball off a mistimed pull shot for only a single to make it 50 for two.
Somerset then applied pressure in the middle overs through Gregory, Green and the left-arm spin of Roelof van der Merwe. Northeast was unable to accelerate and had made 19 off 25 balls when caught at long-off.
The same Green over, the 11th of the innings had accounted for Kiran Carlson, pouched at mid-wicket for 28, having just struck Green for six over long-on.
Northeast's departure left Glamorgan 87 for four. Byrom and Chris Cooke added 37 before the latter was caught at mid-off to give his third wicket.
The other two came in the penultimate over of the innings courtesy of perfect yorkers which bowled first Byrom, whose return to Taunton had yielded 2 sixes and 4 fours, and then James Weighell, whose stumps were scattered first ball.
Glamorgan's total appeared below par, particularly when Smeed and Banton launched a savage assault that put 61 runs on the board by the end of the six-over powerplay.
Smeed hit sixes over mid-wicket off Michael Hogan, Weighell and Michael Neser, plus a cracker over cover off Dan Douthwaite, while Banton, short of runs in the opening group games, collected maximums off Douthwaite and Weighell.
Smeed brought up the century stand and his own fifty off 27 balls in the tenth over, which saw Banton caught and bowled by left-arm spinner Prem Sisodiya, having faced 30 deliveries and hit 3 sixes and 3 fours.
There was no way back for Glamorgan. Smeed smashed experienced seamer Hogan for 4,4,6,4, in the 11th over before the in-form Rilee Rossouw joined in, clearing the ropes off successive deliveries from Sisodiya.
Smeed then hit sixes off successive balls from Labuschagne and was well supported by Rossouw (30 not out) as Somerset quickly atoned for their first group defeat by Sussex Sharks.
Ravi Bopara steers Sussex home after Obed McCoy claims four
Sussex 147 for 5 (Bopara 54*) beat Middlesex 163 (McCoy 4-30) by five wickets (DLS)
Ward hit Toby Roland-Jones over long on off the back foot for six in a 14th over costing 16 and in which both Ward and Bopara also collected legside fours.
And a crowd of more than 4,000 at the First Central County Ground lapped it up when, with 10 needed from the last over, Bopara swung Martin Andersson's fast-medium high over long on and followed it next ball with a leg-glanced four to complete the win.
Rain delayed the start of Sussex's chase, leaving them to score 146 from 17 overs to win on Duckworth Lewis Stern regulations, and Roland-Jones struck with his first ball to have Luke Wright caught for 5 at deep mid wicket.
The Sharks were 20 for 2 when Jason Behrendorff bowled Ali Orr for 10 and an even shakier 37 for 3 as Roland-Jones returned to have Tom Alsop caught in the deep for 8.
New Zealand keeper-batsman Tim Seifert played attractively for a 21-ball 35 on his Sussex debut, with six fours and a six pulled off Luke Hollman's leg spin, but he was leg-before to a Martin Andersson near-yorker and two overs later, in the 10th, Delray Rawlins was pinned lbw for 10 by Chris Green having just smeared the off spinner for six.
But Bopara and Ward made an equation of 46 from the last five overs look relatively simple, with Bopara finishing with a six and seven fours and Ward unbeaten on 22.
Earlier Steven Finn took 3 for 29 against his former county, striking with his first ball of the evening when Max Holden lifted a square drive straight to the fielder on the cover boundary to go for 5 in the second over.
Stevie Eskinazi also played well for 31, from just 18 balls, but after slashing Finn and driving Rawlins for sixes he fell to the last ball of Middlesex's powerplay - making room to hit Finn away for what would have been a third four of the over but thin-edging instead to keeper Seifert.
Middlesex were 101 for two at the halfway mark of their innings, but instead of pushing on to something intimidating they fell away in disappointing fashion, losing their last eight wickets for 56 runs in 9.1 overs.
McCoy began the slump, picking up the wickets of Jack Davies and Andersson in his second over, the 11th. Left-hander Davies went for 14, slashing high to deep cover, and Andersson edged behind for 1.
Finn, with his first ball back, then made it 113 for 5 at the start of the 13th over when John Simpson, slicing a back-foot force, was spectacularly caught right-handed by a diving Wright at short third man to go for 2.
Cracknell did pick up Tymal Mills for six behind deep square leg, having earlier plundered three fours from McCoy's opening over to take Middlesex racing past 50 in the fifth over, but later in that same 16th over the 22-year-old skied an attempted big hit against a slower ball and Mills accepted the caught and bowled.
McCoy removed both Hollman (5) and Roland-Jones (1) when recalled for over number 17, Rawlins catching them both, first on the cover ropes and then running in from deep mid wicket respectively.
Thilan Walallawita fell to Mills for a duck in the next over, weakly chipping to cover and Middlesex were still well short of par despite Green (22 not out) driving Mills for six and also pulling him for four in a final over in which the bowler later ran out non-striker and last man Behrendorff for 2 after stopping another Green drive - to leave two balls of the Middlesex innings unbowled.
The injury bug has hit the Chicago White Sox once again as Friday night's scheduled starter, right-hander Vince Velasquez, was placed on the 15-day injured list with a left groin strain, the team announced on Friday afternoon.
Rookie righty Davis Martin was recalled from Triple-A Charlotte to take Velasquez's place on the roster and will start against the Tampa Bay Rays. Martin, 25, made his major league debut earlier this season, giving up just one run over five innings against the Kansas City Royals.
The team also reinstated pitchers Dylan Cease and Kendall Graveman as they had to sit out a series in Toronto because of COVID-19 vaccine requirements.
Velasquez, 30, joins a long list of walking wounded for the White Sox which includes fellow righty Lance Lynn (knee). Leadoff man Tim Anderson (groin) is also on the injured list as the team has dropped its first three games of their road trip playing without their star shortstop. He is expected to be out three weeks.
Eloy Jimenez (hamstring) is currently on a rehab assignment alongside Lynn while third baseman Yoan Moncada has been in and out of the lineup because of various ailments.
The team also returned pitchers Jimmy Lambert and Kyle Crick to Triple-A after they filled in for Cease and Graveman while they were on the restricted list.
The White Sox begin the day with a minus-55 run differential, second worst in the AL.
NEW YORK -- The Los Angeles Dodgers opened the season with an all-time high $310.6 million payroll for purposes of the luxury tax and are on track to pay a record tax of nearly $47 million, according to figures compiled by Major League Baseball and obtained by The Associated Press on Friday.
Five teams exceeded the $230 million threshold as of Opening Day, which if unchanged by the season's end would be one shy of the most, in 2016.
After adding Freddie Freeman and reaching a big one-year deal with Trea Turner, Los Angeles was the only team to exceed the new fourth threshold, the so-called Cohen Tax named after New York Mets owner Steven Cohen. But the Dodgers' payroll would drop by about $28.1 million if the domestic violence suspension of pitcher Trevor Bauer is upheld by an arbitrator. The Dodgers' payroll included $34 million for Bauer, the average of his $102 million, three-year contract.
The Mets, in their second season since Cohen bought the team, were second at $289.3 million -- $667,278 below the Cohen Tax. That left them on track for a tax payment of just under $22.5 million after adding pitcher Max Scherzer, center fielder Starling Marte, outfielder Mark Canha and All-Star infielder Eduardo Escobar.
The Yankees were third at $261.4 million, which would cause a tax of $7.6 million.
Philadelphia, which fired manager Joe Girardi on Friday following a poor start, was fourth at $233.1 million, on track to pay a tax of roughly $629,000, and Boston was fifth at $232.3 million, which would result in a tax of about $466,000.
San Diego, the only team other than the Dodgers to pay tax last year, began this season $694,982 below the initial $230 million threshold.
Luxury tax payrolls include average annual values of all players on 40-man rosters plus just over $16 million per team for benefits and $1.67 million for each club's share of the new $50 million pool for pre-arbitration players. Figures also include money owed to released players, option buyouts and cash transactions.
Totals change throughout the season as trades and roster moves are made, and the tax is billed based on the final figure in December. For players remaining in salary arbitration, MLB included club offers in its payroll figures.
Under the collective bargaining agreement reached in March following a 99-day lockout, this year's four tax thresholds are $230 million, $250 million, $270 million and $290 million.
First-time offenders pay 20% on the amount above the first threshold, 32% above the second, 62.5% above the third and 80% above the fourth.
As a repeat offender, the Dodgers pay 30% above the first, 42% above the second, 75% above the third and 90% above the fourth.
Los Angeles paid tax each season from 2013 to 2017 and its total bill through last year reached $182 million since the luxury tax began in 2003. That's second only to the Yankees' $348 million bill.
If the Dodgers owe tax for 2023, they would pay 50% above next year's first threshold of $233 million, 62% above $253 million, 95% above $273 million and 110% above $293 million.
Until now, the previous high for a luxury tax payroll was the Dodgers' $297.9 million in 2015, which resulted in a record tax of just under $43.6 million.
A team's tax rates reset at the lowest level after it drops below the initial threshold in any year.
Four teams had luxury tax payrolls under $100 million: Oakland ($64.8 million), Pittsburgh ($73.5 million), Baltimore ($79.9 million) and Cleveland (91.2 million).
Also this week, the players' association issued its 2021 salary study, which showed the average baseball salary dropped 10.2% from 2017 through last season.
The union calculated the 2021 average at $3,679,335, down 5.2% from what 2020 would have been at full salaries had the season not been shortened by the coronavirus pandemic.
After rising from $3.97 million in 2016 to a record at just under $4.1 million in the first year of a new collective bargaining agreement, the average declined by $1,500 in 2019, and dropped to $4.05 million in 2019. The 2020 average would have been $3.89 million had a full schedule been played but was cut to $1.6 million by prorated salaries during the 60-game season.
The union usually issues its salary report in December but the 2021 edition was delayed while staff was engaged in collective bargaining.
Figures are based on 2021 salaries, earned bonuses and prorated shares of signing bonuses for 1,070 players on 26-man rosters and injured lists as of Aug. 31. MLB, using a slightly different methodology, calculated the average at $3,579,341.
A study by The Associated Press found this year's Opening Day average was up 5.9% to $4.4 million, using expanded Opening-Day rosters and midpoints for players remaining in arbitration. The average declines over the course of a season as veterans are released and replaced by younger players with lower salaries.
Jim Kaat has apologized to Nestor Cortes, with the New York Yankees left-hander tweeting Friday that he doesn't believe the comment made a day earlier by the longtime Minnesota Twins announcer was done with ill intentions.
Kaat had referred to Cortes as "Nestor the Molestor" during a broadcast of the Twins-Detroit Tigers game. He began to explain that Cortes had become one of his favorite pitchers during a breakout season with New York.
"'Nestor the Molestor,' Nestor Cortes," Kaat said. "Angles and different speeds. He's a pitcher."
Cortes said after the Yankees played Thursday night that he wasn't offended by what Kaat said, and he reiterated that in the social media post Friday.
"Jim Kaat has spent an entire lifetime in this game we love," he wrote. "He reached out to me and apologized for his remark last night, but he didn't need to. We all make mistakes and feel 100% there was no malice intended. I plan on lifting him up with this tweet and I hope others do too. No sweat here Jim!"
The Twins said Thursday that they would handle what happened "internally and privately."
Kaat, a longtime commentator who has also worked for the Yankees and MLB Network, apologized in October after saying teams should try to "get a 40-acre field full of" players who look like Chicago White Sox infielder Yoan Moncada.
His comment about Moncada reminded some viewers of the unfilled promise by the U.S. government that freed slaves would receive 40 acres and a mule following the Civil War. He apologized later in that game between the Houston Astros and White Sox.
Kyle Langford wins 800m with broken rib in Manchester
Commonwealth 800m silver medallist runs through the pain barrier to record tight victory at Bryggen Sports BoXX United event
Kyle Langford overcame a broken rib to come out on top in a high quality 800m field at the Bryggen Sports BoXX United meet, a Continental Tour Silver event, at Sport City in Manchester on Friday (June 3).
The 26-year-old, who is the current Commonwealth silver medallist over the distance, cracked a rib after falling down the stairs just before the Müller Birmingham Diamond League on May 21.
He finished third at the Diamond League B race but in Manchester he improved on that time by almost two seconds. Battling through the pain, Langford clocked 1:46.48 to narrowly overcome Ben Pattison who finished a close second with 1:46.95.
“I broke my rib two weeks ago after falling down the stairs so that was killing me today.” @KyleLangford_96 tells @TimAdams76 how he battles through a broken rib to win the @BryggenSports 800m in Manchester ?#ContinentalTour pic.twitter.com/SW7qeTPve7
— AW (@AthleticsWeekly) June 3, 2022
Pattison, 20, has started 2022 in style with two conclusive victories over 800m. He has also improved his personal best to 1:45.43. So the fact that it was a British one-two wasn’t surprising given the strength in depth of middle-distance running in Britain right now.
“I’ve been battling that [broken rib] and it was killing me out there,” Langford said. “It’s just painful so I’ve just been trying to manage training with my recovery. The thing is with a broken rib, the breathing is strenuous. It’s one of those ones where I just had to race through it and heal it when I can.
“I want to win the British championships. I’ve always believed that I can be an Olympic and world championship gold medallist so if I can get there then I know if I get into that environment there’s a personality changer [for me].
“It [800m] is absolutely stacked. It helps us a lot as we can go to a really good meet and there’s a tonne of good 800m runners. I feel like we’re the best country in the world over the distance at the moment.”
No British record for Aimee Pratt
Having improved her 3000m steeplechase personal best to 9:25.48 on May 25 in Spain, Aimee Pratt had her eyes set on Lizzie Bird’s British record (9:19.68).
Most attention of the meet was drawn on Pratt given this was her home track. The winner of the race was always going to come from either Pratt or Albania’s Luiza Gega, the latter being the 2016 European 3000m steeplechase silver medallist and someone who has a personal best of 9:19.93.
In stifling conditions – for Manchester anyway – Gega proved a class apart and recorded the fastest time by a European this year with 9:20.79, just under 10 seconds ahead of Pratt who clocked 9:30.46.
No British record for @aimeepratt but she finishes second in the 3000m steeplechase with 9:30:46 ??
It’s a stunning victory for Albania as Luiza Gega clocks the fastest time by a European in 2022 with 9:20.79 ??#ContinentalTour pic.twitter.com/bixsXEzICn
— AW (@AthleticsWeekly) June 3, 2022
“I just felt awful from the start,” a candid Pratt told AW. “It was just a hard day and you have them. She [Gega] is a class athlete and nothing was happening for me.
“It was amazing to see all these international athletes [in Manchester] and I’m really exited to see this event grow as the years go by.
“I think at the minute I’m still not at 100%. I definitely want to do the Commonwealth Games so I’ll have to see if I’m selected for that, I want to do the Europeans and Oregon also looks amazing.”
Harry Coppell opens outdoor season
Harry Coppell wasn’t on the initial entry lists for the meet but the Olympic pole vault finalist from Tokyo started his 2022 season in Manchester.
The triple British champion showed signs of rustiness early on as it took the 25-year-old three attempts to clear 5.30m and 5.55m, an event won by Dutchman Rutger Koppelaar.
For someone who holds the British record of 5.85m, set in the same arena two years ago, it wasn’t hard to work out that Coppell was nowhere near in full flow.
Harry Coppell (Paul Freary)
He competed on five occasions during the indoor season and jumped to a best of 5.67m.
The work now really starts for Coppell and he will hope that in a summer which includes three major championships, he can replicate or better the performance which saw him finish seventh at last year’s Olympics.
On paper, both he and Holly Bradshaw are the two standout athletes in the discipline so the pressure will be on as athletes build-up to the Müller UK Athletics Championships which take place on June 24-26.
French Open: Rafael Nadal feels 'very sorry' for Alexander Zverev
Spain's Rafael Nadal said moving into a 14th French Open final because opponent Alexander Zverev was injured and taken off court in a wheelchair was "not the way" he wanted to win.
Nadal, seeded fifth, was leading 7-6 (10-8) 6-6 when Germany's Zverev retired after turning on his ankle.
"If you are human, you should feel very sorry for a colleague," Nadal said.
"To see a colleague like this, even if for me it's a dream to be in the final, is not the way that we want it to be."
Third seed Zverev screamed in pain when he went down on the baseline after turning his right ankle on the final point of the 12th game of the second set.
A concerned Nadal went round to check on his opponent as a medic raced on to the court to help the 25-year-old German.
The seriousness of the situation was immediately clear, with Zverev screaming and signalling for help as he lay on the clay.
Medics quickly arrived and it seemed obvious he would not be able to continue once the wheelchair was called for.
Afterwards, Nadal said it was "not easy" to talk following the incident.
"The only thing that I can say is I hope he's not too bad," added 36-year-old Nadal, who will play Norwegian eighth seed Casper Ruud in Sunday's final.
"Hopefully, it's just the normal thing when you turn your ankle and hopefully nothing is broken."
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