Kyrgios Defeats Top-Ranked Medvedev At Montreal Masters

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August 11, 2022

Nick Kyrgios broke twice in the final set as he rallied to topple world number one Daniil Medvedev in the second round of the ATP Montreal Masters on Wednesday.

Australia’s Wimbledon finalist beat Medvedev 6-7 (2/7), 6-4, 6-2 to produce his second career upset of a reigning number one after ambushing Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon in 2014.

Kyrgios produced his usual on-court antics, complaining about a high bounce, hitting a ball into the stands to draw a warning and bickering with his player box in moments of tension.

But after gathering his formidable resources, the 27-year-old ranked 37th finished off the match in exactly two hours.

“This is our fourth meeting and we know each other well,” Kyrgios said. “I don’t go in looking at the rankings, just the guy in front of me.

“I had a clean objective today — play a lot of serve and volley and execute better.

“Hopefully I can keep this rolling and keep on winning. Medvedev is a machine — he’s number one for a reason.”

Both players were coming off weekend title wins, Kyrgios at the Washington 500 on Sunday and Medvedev at Los Cabos, Mexico, on Saturday.

Kyrgios has won 14 of his last 15 matches to improve to 29-7 for 2022.

Medvedev lost for the 11th time in 2022, but by reaching the final at Los Cabos — where he lifted his first trophy of the season — he is assured of taking the number one ranking into his US Open title defense later this month.

He was barred from Wimbledon as the tournament excluded Russian and Belarussian players over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Second-seeded Carlos Alcaraz, who like Medvedev enjoyed a first-round bye, fared no better in his opening match.

American Tommy Paul spoiled the Spaniard’s Canadian debut with a 6-7 (4/7), 7-6 (9/7), 6-3 victory.

The unseeded American converted his fifth match point to seal the second-round victory in three hours and 20 minutes.

Alcaraz came into the event with two prestige Masters 1000 titles from Miami and Madrid and holding a 42-7 record this season.

But the 34th-ranked Paul claimed victory on a volley winner after holding off the Spaniard’s charge from 5-2 down in the third set. The American stayed in the match as he rallied from a 4-1 deficit in the second set to start his comeback surge.

Elsewhere, Italian Jannik Sinner needed three sets to get past Adrian Mannarino 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 while Alex de Minaur lined up an all-Aussie Thursday match against Kyrgios by defeating Grigor Dimitrov 7-6 (7/4), 7-5.

Peter Obi Cautions FG Against Further Borrowings

By

faith Jegede

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August 11, 2022

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The presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, has cautioned the present administration against further borrowing for consumption.

Obi handed down the words of caution in a series of tweets on his social media page yesterday.

He said: “As a matter of urgency, Nigeria must stop borrowing for consumption, but only borrow to invest in regenerative development projects and other productive ventures.

“It’s ironic that states that received fiscal bailouts did not repay the loans and are still borrowing beyond their revenue earnings.

“Also, it has become imperative to restrict federal borrowings to the statutory 5 per cent of the previous year’s revenue.”

It would be recalled that the Minister of Finance, Zainab , had recently announced that Nigeria’s debt service, which has hit N1.94 trillion, has overshot the nation’s earnings by N310 billion.

This is even as the projected expenditure on fuel subsidies is expected to hit N6.72 trillion by 2023.

Obi warned that it has become imperative to restrict Federal borrowings to the statutory 5% of the previous year’s revenue.

Last month the Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning revealed that Nigeria’s debt service cost surpassed its revenue in the first four months of the year. Notably, debt service gulped a sum of N1.94 trillion between January and April 2022, against a retained revenue of N1.63 trillion, becoming 118% of revenue.

According to the report, as of April 2022, a sum of N1.63 trillion was earned as the federal government retained revenue, accounting for 49% of the prorated target of N3.32 trillion. This is significantly lower than the projected revenue of N9.97 trillion for the entire year.

While N1.94 trillion was spent on debt service, N1.26 trillion was spent on personnel costs, including pensions. Also, N773.63 billion has been spent on capital expenditure during the period.

Meet The 68-Year-Old Who Discovered World Champion Tobi Amusan

By

Emenike Agu

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August 11, 2022

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Retired athletics coach Alaba Ogunde, has disclosed exclusively told The PUNCH how she discovered world and Commonwealth Games champion Tobi Amusan.

Amusan sent the social media into meltdown after she broke the women’s 100m hurdles record at the 2022 World Championships in Oregon, US with a stunning semi-final time of 12.12secs to erase Kendra Harrison’s 2016 effort by 0.08secs. She ran faster in the final, but her 12.06secs was ruled ineligible by an illegal tailwind.

She continued her impressive 2022 season at the just-concluded Commonwealth Games in Birmingham with another gold medal.

She clocked a blistering 12.30s to smash the Games’ record on Sunday morning at the Alexander Stadium in Birmingham.

*Amusan and Ogunde (arrowed) in the early days*

The athlete, who hails from Ijebu-Ode, also inspired the Nigeria relay team to their first-ever gold medal in the women’s 4×100 at the Commonwealth Games.

Amid reports in the media quoting a coach, who claimed to have discovered the 25-year-old athlete, the 68-year-old Ogunde, then a staff of the Ogun State Sports Council, said she discovered Amusan when she was posted to Ijebu Ode in 2005.

“I saw several reports that Tobi was discovered by someone else, but I want to make it clear that I was the one who discovered her,”

“In 2004 I was transferred to Ijebu Ode sports council from the headquarters in Abeokuta. I was mandated to cover all areas, including the rural and the urban areas, and I visit almost all the schools back then.

“In the course of moving around, I discovered so many talents and Tobi was one of them. I also discovered Omotola Kuku and the mentor of Tobi herself, Biola Onakoya, who was a 400m runner and so many others.

“No doubt, one person cannot train a child, but I was the one who noticed that Amusan had what it took to become a future champion.

“She was a student of Our Ladies of Apostle in Ijebu Ode and the Games Master then was Adeyemi, though I cannot remember his other name and Dr Adetoye Alatise was the Chairman of Ijebu Ode Local Government Area, though he is now the Oba of Ososa Ijebu, he supported our course for the development of young talents.

“We had an U-15 athletics competition in Ogun State and my team won it for two consecutive times before being dethroned by Ilaro and Tobi was part of my success story.”

Ogunde added, “I was the head athletics coach in Ijebu Ode back then, and I had so many responsibilities and people around me. We do have trials, inter-house sports and so many other events and I had to hand over the supervision to one of the trainers known as Charlie Baba. He was an apprentice under Ayodele Solaja back then.

“He was the one that suggested that we merged them all with the athletes under Solaja and Tobi was very good in 100m, 200m, high jump and long jump. The truth is whoever is good in all these fields can easily cope with participating in 100m hurdles, as we saw with Chioma Ajunwa.

Throwback Thursday – Francis II Assumes Title Of First Emperor Of Austria

By

Angel Gimalo

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August 11, 2022

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August 1, 1804 – Francis II Assumes Title Of First Emperor Of Austria

Francis II, the last Holy Roman emperor (1792-1806) and, as Francis I, first emperor of Austria (1804-35). Also reigned as King of Hungary (1792-1830) and King of Bohemia (1792-1836).

Involved in the wars of the French Revolution and in the Napoleonic Wars. After the extension of French control over western Germany and the reorganization of the German states by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1803, Francis consolidated his power in Austria, Hungary, Bohemia, and northern Italy and proclaimed himself emperor of Austria in 1804.

Two years later he formally dissolved the old Holy Roman Empire. As emperor of Austria, Francis gave Prince Klemens von Metternich almost complete control of foreign affairs after 1809 and devoted himself to the internal administration of the empire.

The marriage of his daughter Marie Louise to Napoleon in 1810 earned three peaceful years in which Francis revived Austrian strength for the campaign that would bring about Napoleon’s downfall.

By the Congress of Vienna in 1815, Francis recovered most of the territory Austria had lost.

Francis had married four times; firstly, in 1788, to Elisabeth of Württemberg; secondly, in 1790, to Maria Teresa of the Two Sicilies; thirdly, in 1808, to Maria Ludovica of Austria-Este; and fourthly, in 1816, to Caroline Charlotte Auguste of Bavaria.

Transfer Update: Dessers Joins Newly-Promoted Side

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Emenike Agu

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August 11, 2022

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Last season’s Europa Conference League highest goalscorer signed a five-year deal to join Cremonese

Cyriel Dessers moved from Belgium to join newly promoted Cremonese just a week after Ademola Lookman joined Atalanta.

Dessers has joined Osimhen and other Nigerian players in the Italian top flight after joining Cremonese from Belgian side KRC Genk in a deal worth around $7 million.

The former Europa Conference League top scorer agreed to terms and joins compatriot Nigerian David Okereke on a five-year contract at the Giovanni Zinni stadium.

Dessers excelled as a loan player with Feyenoord in the Dutch league last season, scoring 20 goals in 41 games.

However, he was unable to secure a permanent move and returned to Genk, for whom he appeared three times and scored three goals before joining Cremonese.

The Super Eagles currently have four players in Italy’s top flight league.

Gynaecologist warns against Stigmatising HIV patients

By

Cleopatra Okohai

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August 11, 2022

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A Consultant Gynaecologist and Obstetrician, Dr. Joseph Akinde has cautioned against stigmatising people living with HIV, noting that this is pushing some persons with the health condition to lie about their HIV status.

According to the gynaecologist, those lying to the doctor are misleading the doctor, stressing that lying is a common thing among patients because many of them have poor health-seeking behavour.

Speaking in an interview, Akinde, who is a former Chairman, Society of Gynaecology and Obstetrics of Nigeria, Lagos Chapter, said patients who lie to their doctors about their illness are not doing themselves any good.

Lying to doctors, he warned, can lead to wrong diagnosis and treatment, and could even lead to the death of the patient, especially if the doctor handling the patient’s case is not clinically sound.

He stated that it was wrong for a patient to lie to the doctor about his or her sickness, arguing that doctors are not magicians to know when a patient is lying.

The maternal health expert noted that patients that are lying expose the doctor to the risk of making a wrong decision.

The gynaecologist also advised patients not to lie about their sickness to get sympathy, adding that laboratory results and clinical findings often show patients that are lying.

He explained, “There are three people that people should not lie to, their doctor, lawyer, and priest. Those lying to their doctors will make them make the wrong diagnosis apart from affecting their history taking which is foundational in medicine.

“Nowadays, people with infectious diseases do not want to open up. People still lie about their HIV status because of fear of stigma; people living with sickle cell anaemia do not want to own up. So, patients lying to their doctors will lead to a wrong diagnosis, and wrong treatment and you might lose the patient.

“So, it could result in death in severe cases. The other thing is that you may waste a lot of time and resources to get the patient well. Lying is a common thing among patients because many of them have poor health-seeking behaviour.”

The gynaecologist noted that many patients often tell lies about the duration of their ailment, especially those with cancer while urging them to desist from such acts in their own interest.

He said “Patients, being human beings, can lie and the way they lie is to get sympathy. Unfortunately, there is no sympathy in medical practice, we only empathise. So, if you discover that a patient is lying just to sway your mind on deciding on his or her medical condition, as an experienced physician, you will discover that that patient is not giving you facts.

“And the only way you will discover that a patient is lying apart from experience is through behavioural science and examination. And by the time you put together your history taking and with clinical findings –what you picked up from examining the patient, once you analyse the two and the findings, you will know what is wrong with the patient.

“So, there is no way a patient can maneuver his or her way to favour a false statement that has been deposed. If a patient lies to his doctor and the doctor is not patient to cross-examine the patient, you could fall prey to misdiagnosis and give the wrong medication to the ailment. To minimise that, a doctor must be clinically sound.

He advised patients not to hide any information from their doctors and give correct information because doctors are not magicians.

The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention says HIV stigma and discrimination affect the emotional well-being and mental health of people living with HIV.

“People living with HIV often internalise the stigma they experience and begin to develop a negative self-image. They may fear they will be discriminated against or judged negatively if their HIV status is revealed. The lack of information and awareness combined with outdated beliefs leads people to fear getting HIV.

“Additionally, many people think of HIV as a disease that only certain groups get. This leads to negative value judgments about people who are living with HIV,” CDC said.

Once Upon A Time – August 11 – 1951 – First Televised Baseball Game In Colour On WCBS, New York City

By

Angel Gimalo

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August 11, 2022

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3114 BC The Mesoamerican Long Count calendar, used by several pre-Columbian Mesoamerican civilizations, notably the Mayans, begins

1945 Allies refuse Japan’s offer to surrender on the condition that Emperor Hirohito retains his status

1954 Formal peace treaty ends over 7 yrs of fighting in Indochina between the French and the Communist Viet Minh

1988 Al-Qaeda formed at a meeting between Osama bin Laden, Ayman al-Zawahiri and Dr Fadl in Peshawar, Pakistan

2003 NATO takes over command of the peacekeeping force in Afghanistan, marking its first major operation outside Europe in its 54-year-history.

HISTORICAL EVENTS TODAY

TODAY IN FILM & TV

1937 “The Life of Emile Zola” directed by William Dieterle and starring Paul Muni premieres in New York (Best Picture 1938)

TODAY IN MUSIC

1978 “C’est Chic” second studio album by Chic is released featuring single “Le Freak” (Billboard Album of the Year 1979)

TODAY IN SPORT

1929 New York Yankees slugger Babe Ruth becomes first MLB player to hit 500 home runs (off Willis Hudlin) in 6-5 loss to Indians at League Park, Cleveland

MORE FACTS…

1951 First televised baseball game in colour on WCBS in New York City; Boston Braves beat Brooklyn Dodgers, 8-1

1984 During a radio voice test, US President Reagan jokes he “signed legislation that would outlaw Russia forever. We begin bombing in 5 minutes.”

FAMOUS WEDDINGS

1886 Education pioneer Booker T. Washington (30) weds Olivia Davidson (32) Athens, Ohio

1925 Physicist James Chadwick (33) weds Aileen Stewart-Brown

1949 Molecular biologist Francis Crick (33) weds artist Odile Speed (29)

With More Support, We Will Dominate The World – Amusan

By

Emenike Agu

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August 11, 2022

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The world record holder tasked the people in authority to ensure they give athletes the needed support

World and Commonwealth Games 100m hurdles record holder, Tobiloba Amusan has reiterated the need for athletes to be fully supported in order to get the best out of them.

While Amusan has a working support system due to her global status, the same cannot be said for thousands of other young people whose talents have gone untapped due to a variety of factors, one of which is funding.

The reigning African, Commonwealth, and World 100m Hurdles champion, on Wednesday, opened up on her Facebook page.

After congratulating her Relay teammates on their second Commonwealth Games gold, Amusan charged the appropriate authorities with ensuring athletes receive the support they deserve.

Amusan was drafted into the relay team that included Grace Nwokocha, Favour Ofili, and Rose Chukwuma after winning gold in her hurdles event.

Bringing on the 25-year-old proved to be a wise decision, as Team Nigeria not only won gold but also did so in record time.

She wrote: “Really proud of these young ladies; Grace Nwokocha, Rosemary Chukwuma, Favour Ofili, and Joy Udo-Gabriel.

“They set an African Record at the World Champs and here at the just concluded Commonwealth Games, I joined the team to further break the record, clocking 42.10s.

“Nigerian Athletics is BACK!!! With more support, we will dominate the World.”

Amusan’s post implies that, despite the wild celebrations that have greeted Nigeria’s recent performances at both the World Championships and the recently concluded Commonwealth Games, much more can be accomplished by doing the right thing at the right time.

In a recent interview, one of the coaches that helped nurture Amusan into stardom, Ayodele Solaja, harped on the need to get sports policies right from the grassroots.

The coach fondly referred to as Buka T revealed that there are many Amusans waiting to be discovered.

He said; “I think the most important aspect of our sports culture is that the private sector should take over. That is the major thing. That is how it is done where sport excels all over the world. Once the government is in charge, the role of government is more about the organisation but when, for example, I am a private club, the government will not go out of its way to come and sponsor me.

“If an enabling environment is not there for the private sector to come in, then people like us will continue to suffer. Take Tobi, for example.”

He added: Let us bring technocrats who know their onions, who know what is happening so that they can help us to forge the sports forward so that we won’t go one step forward and three steps backward.

“You bring someone and he has to learn on the job and we have gone back three or four steps before he knows his onions he is removed and another person is brought.”

Lagos partners UNFPA on Cancer control

By

Cleopatra Okohai

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August 11, 2022

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The Lagos State Ministry of Health has announced a partnership with the United Nations Population Fund, on cancer control.

The ministry said the partnership was to ensure cancer screening services in the state are more accessible and readily available in public health facilities.

The ministry disclosed this in a press statement issued and signed by the Director of Public Affairs, Mr. Tunbosun Ogunbanwo.

As part of the partnership, the ministry stated that it sponsored an eight days training program for 200 health workers, on breast and cervical cancer screening.

“No fewer than 200 health workers drawn from 60 public health facilities including the State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), 15 General Hospitals, and 44 Primary Health Care Centres have been trained to provide breast and cervical cancer screening for citizens in their facilities.

“The eight days training program which ended yesterday was sponsored by the Lagos State Government in collaboration with the United Nations Population Fund to increase access to cancer screening services in all State health facilities,” it said.

Speaking at the close of the capacity building workshop, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health, Dr. Olusegun Ogboye explained that the capacity building workshop is part of a larger partnership for the ministry to leverage available resources to improve access to cancer screening services in the state.

The permanent secretary was represented by the Director of Disease Control in the Lagos State Ministry of Health, Dr. Rotimi Agbolagorite.

He said, “The Ministry’s efforts to make cancer screening services more accessible and readily available in all State health facilities, has been further strengthened with the recent support from one of our development partners, UNFPA.

“Apart from the capacity-building workshop for the 200 state health workers, the Ministry is being supported by UNFPA with the donation of 15,000 units of disposable speculums, 180 pieces of couch rolls, and 260 pieces of K-Y jelly which are requisite consumables for the provision of effective breast and cervical cancer screening and management services.”

The permanent secretary further added that UNFPA is also supporting the State Government to make better community sensitization and to inform the public on the availability of free breast and cervical cancer screening services.

He revealed that as of now, the state govt has screened a total of 53,762 women since the initiation of the free breast and cervical cancer screening in 60 designated public health facilities across the state.

“A total of 53,762 women have been screened since inception, out of which a total of 2,635 representing 4.9 per cent of women screened were screened positive for cervical precancerous lesions and 2,348 (89 per cent) of these positively screened women were treated with thermal ablation and saved from possibly developing cervical cancer in the future.

“Furthermore, a total of 99 women representing 0.2 per cent of the total women screened were referred with suspicious lesions and possible early stages of cancer, for prompt diagnosis and early treatment which would result in an improved management outcome,” he said.

Speaking in the same vein, the Lagos State Focal person, Cancer Control Program, Dr. Abosede Wellington said, “Breast and cervical cancers are cancers that are very common in our environment and the best way we can catch them early and save the lives of our mothers, sisters and daughters who die from cancer is through screening and early detection.

“The best way to prevent cancer is through early and regular screening. In Lagos state, we provide free breast and cervical screening services and these services are available in 60 health facilities across the 20 LGA in the state,” she said.

3Sc Confirms Edith Agoye’s Resignation As Team’s Coach After Nine Years In Charge

By

Emenike Agu

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August 11, 2022

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Agoye announced his voluntary departure on Wednesday after nine years

Management of Ibadan-based club, Shooting Stars has confirmed the resignation of Edith Agoye as its head coach.

“The Management of Shooting Stars Sports Club wishes to confirm the voluntary resignation of the Club’s Chief Coach, Edith Agoye after being with the Team for almost a decade playing different roles of Assistant Coach and Chief Coach of the Senior Team.”

Agoye had on Wednesday announced his departure voluntarily after spending nine years in various managerial positions within the club.

Agoye led 3SC back to the NPFL after a four-year absence, and they survived relegation by whiskers. They were in danger until the last day of the season but finished 16th above Katsina United, Heartland, Kano Pillars, and MFM.

The Chairman of the club, Babatunde Olaniyan appreciated Agoye for the immense contributions made to the club in the last nine years.

“Management noted the immense contributions of Coach Agoye to the growth and development of the Club during his long spell with the Club with particular emphasis on his achievements of leading Shooting Stars Sports Club out of relegation on two (2) different occasions, the recent being the promotion of the Team to the Elite Division One of theNigerian Professional League (NPFL) in the 2020/2021 Season among several other achievements.”

He further added that Agoye would be sponsored by Governor Seyi Makinde for a coaching course in the United Kingdom.

“The Club appreciated Coach Agoye and particularly thanked His Excellency, the Executive Governor of Oyo State, Engr. Seyi Makinde for approving the recommendation of the Club to send Coach Agoye to the United Kingdom for higher Coaching Course (to appreciate his efforts) with a promise that the State Government would foot the attendant bills.

“Management cherished the cordial working relationship it had with Coach Agoye and appreciated his dedication, commitment and sportsmanship while wishing him the very best in his future endeavours.”

Agoye’s playing Career

Agoye tentatively played for Shooting Stars for four years in three different times and he scored 32 goals in 82 appearances.

Agoye began his professional football career with the Oluyole Warriors where he played from 1994 to 1995 with 21 goals in 41 appearances.

After seven years on the road, Agoye returned to Shooting Stars for another two years where he played 10 times, scoring a goal.

His final stint with Shooting Stars before moving to managerial position was in the 2008/09 season in which he played 31 games and scored 10 goals.

Managerial experience

Agoye joined Shooting Stars in 2013 as an assistant to Fatai Amoo. He was elevated to the head coach position after Amoo left the Oluyole Warriors in 2018 with a mandate to secure Shooting Stars promotion to the NPFL.

Under his leadership at the just concluded 2021/2022 season, Agoye won 12 games, drew 12 and lost 14 in 38 matches.