Bahrain - players.bio

Champion Max Verstappen sets the pace in Bahrain GP practice

Formula One champion Max Verstappen edged out Charles Leclerc to the fastest time in Friday's practice for the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix as Red Bull and Ferrari lived up to their pre-season hype while Mercedes appeared to be on the back foot. The 24-year-old lapped the 5.4km floodlit Sakhir track in one minute 31.936 seconds, beating Leclerc by 0.087 seconds. Ferrari's Carlos Sainz was over half a second back in third. “It’s been a positive day for us, really,” said Red Bull team boss Christian Horner. “Both in the warmer conditions earlier in the day and that last session, the short run and the long run both looked pretty decent ... we’re pretty satisfied with today’s running.” Verstappen, who sealed his first title at a controversial season finale in Abu Dhabi last year, had ended last week’s pre-season test at the same Sakhir track with the fastest time.

US basketball star detained in Russia, in shadow of Ukraine war

WASHINGTON: Detained for more than a month in Russia, US basketball star Brittney Griner has become an unlikely victim of the war in Ukraine — and the best way to free her remains a crucial question. Griner, a two-time Olympic gold medalist and WNBA champion, was detained in Moscow airport on February 17 on charges of carrying vape cartridges that contained cannabis oil in her luggage. She was immediately placed in a detention center, and on Thursday a Russian court extended her arrest until May 19. The 31-year-old — one of few women who can “dunk” a ball and considered one of the best players in the world — faces up to 10 years in prison. Griner was in Russia to play club basketball before the US season resumed, a common practice for American players, who can earn much higher salaries in foreign leagues than on domestic teams.

Coach’s strife with players distracts from Morocco’s World Cup mission

RIYADH: In April 2018, just two months before the start of the World Cup, Japan fired Vahid Halilhodžić, the head coach who had taken them through a successful qualification campaign. There now seems to be the imminent possibility that history will repeat itself in Morocco.