Nigeria’s table tennis star Aruna Quadri has admitted that the Russia Premier Table Tennis League is quite competitive despite his impressive start.

Quadri has won 100% of his matches so far in the Russian league, securing a third-round victory for his club Fakel-Gazprom Orenburg.

Playing alongside Chinese player, An Yan and Russian national champion Alexander Shibaev, Aruna and his teammates have won all their five matches to top the league table ahead of closest rivals UMMC Verkhnyaya Psyhma. Aruna is delighted with his start in Russia.

“I am happy making my debut in Russia as the league is quite competitive, nothing is sure for you in any match. Even unranked players are difficult to play against in the league but my team has assembled a strong contingent that can withstand any team in the league,” Quadri said.

“I won all my matches but it was not easy because most of my opponents are experienced players and they came out to match us strength-for-strength. I am indeed delighted that my debut ended very well and the management of the team was so happy,” added Quadri.

The Gold Label Okpekpe international 10km road race will serve as a qualifying race for World Athletics’ flagship event, the World Athletics Championships scheduled for Budapest, the Hungarian capital this August.

This means athletes coming to compete for the prize money on offer will also have the additional motivation to secure the entry standard to the 19th World Athletics Championships.

The Okpekpe international 10km road race is one of the approved events that have met all the requirements to serve as a qualifying event for the biennial championships.

According to the entry requirements for the Budapest campionships in August, athletes wishing to be among the 27 who will compete in the respective men and women’s 10,000m event can do so by running in any road race with a certified course.

According to World Athletics, ‘performances for qualifying purposes may only be achieved on a course measured by a World Athletics/AIMS Grade ‘A’ or ‘B’ international road race course measurer with the measurement certificate established no more than five years before the date of the race.

Okpekpe international 10km road race course has met the requirements specified and is indeed the first road race in Nigeria to have its course measured by a certified meazurer.

To meet up with the five year validity, the course was measured again last year and remains valid until 2026 which means the race will still serve as a qualifying event for next year’s Olympics and the twentieth edition of the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, Japan in 2025.

For an athlete to secure the entry standard come May 27 in Okpekpe town, Edo state, he has to run 27:10 which will be a new course record for men and for the women, the athlete will have to 30:40 which will also be a course record for the women.

Al-Nassr forward, Cristiano Ronaldo has expressed happiness after scoring four goals in his side’s 4-0 win over Al-Wehda in the Saudi Pro League.

Ronaldo’s four-goals against Al-Wehda saw him to reach his 500th career league goal.

The Portugal captain received the ball inside the penalty area, took a couple of touches before firing a left-footed shot past the opponent goalkeeper.

Ronaldo then added another before half-time as he also scored two goals in the second half.

Reacting, Ronaldo, in a tweet via his Twitter handle, said he felt great.

Ronaldo tweeted: “Great feeling to have scored 4 goals and reached my 500th league goal in a very solid win by the team!”

Ronaldo’s 503 league goals have come across five clubs – 311 for Real Madrid, 103 across two spells with Manchester United, 81 for Juventus, three for Sporting and now four with Al-Nassr.

Paris Saint-Germain forward, Lionel Messi is a doubt for the first leg of their Champions League round of 16 clash against Bayern Munich due to a hamstring problem, according to French media.

Messi played the full 90 minutes of their 2-1 defeat to Marseille in the French Cup on Wednesday.

However, he later felt pain in his hamstring.

Messi is expected to miss PSG’s trip to AS Monaco in Ligue 1 on Saturday, three days before the Bayern fixture.

Messi has scored 15 goals in 25 games in all competitions for PSG this season.

The French champions are already without forward Kylian Mbappe for the game after he picked up a thigh injury last week.

The second leg will be held in Munich on March 8.

Madu Patience Ndidi, a respected FIFA badged referee from Enugu State has been warned by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) Referees Committee has been warned and advised to always consider clear certainty to justify her decision during a match.

Madu was tasked to step up her performance after an evaluation of her conduct in a Nigeria Premier Football League fixture between Wikki Tourists FC and Niger Tornadoes.

The committee identified that an incident occurred in the penalty area, in which she whistled and signalled for a penalty kick and instantly changed her decision for a goal as the ball eventually proceeded and resulted in a goal.

After thorough analysis, it was concluded that: A Foul was committed and the Referee signalled for a Penalty Kick; that the goal resulted from a dead ball, and therefore, the advantage clause is not applicable in this instant situation.

That the Referee should have maintained her decision of penalty kick; that she committed an error of judgment in allowing the goal.

In the committee’s decision, Madu was warned and advised to always consider the larger picture by appropriate scanning and delay decisions until there is a clear certainty to justify a decision.

In the game between arch-rivals Shooting Stars Sports Club and Kwara United Ukah Ndubuisi (FIFA), Imo, Referee also got a warning.

It was observed that during a build-up, which resulted in a goal, the AR 2, Otuwho Morrison signalled to penalise the scorer for an offside offence. The Referee complied with his AR to disallow the goal.

After a proper examination of the clip, it was inferred that: As at the time the ball leaves the leg of the kicker (teammate of the scorer), the scorer was not in an offside position.

The AR2 was not properly positioned to justify the decision to penalize the scorer for the offside offence.

Decision: Ndubuisi is warned and advised to improve his performance as the duty to identify/establish an offside position is purely that of the AR.

For the NWFL derby between Rivers Angels and Delta Queens, which was characterized by controversial/questionable decisions that had adverse effects on the outcome of the match, the committee however considered that the impact of the decisions of Match Officials in the other reviewed matches was not serious enough to warrant punitive measures.

The duo of Abdulrasheed Rofiat, Oyo, Assistant Referee 1 and Aladenika Adetutu Assistant Referee 2 were warned and advised to improve their performances.

The committee observed that two goals of Delta Queens were disallowed by the Referee, Adesola Olufunke and her active Assistant Referee 1, Abdulrasheed Rofiat.

The committee noted that: in an attack towards the penalty area of Rivers Angels, the defending player attempted a scissors kick and missed the ball.

None of the two attacking players near the defending player committed no offence.

The claim of the Referee that there was a foul/pushing is unfounded and therefore, her decision to disallow the goal unjustified with the Laws of the Game.

Decision: the second goal disallowed by the Assistant Referee’s signal for offside is considered as justified as the committee observed a possible offside situation in the run towards the goal by the attacking players. The Assistant Referees are, however, warned and advised to improve their performances.

The trio of Ogunboye Joy, Ondo, Referee, Olusi Kikelomo, Ondo, Assistant Referee 1 and Ajirotutu Esther, Ondo, Assistant Referee 2 who officiated the NWFL game between Osun Babes vs Delta Queens, were warned and advised to improve in their performances.

The committee noted that the incidences and errors of judgment of the Match Officials were not serious enough to warrant punitive measures.

Pep Guardiola has reportedly ‘returned to pole position’ for the Brazil manager’s job as the Man City boss is being targeted as Tite’s successor.

Brazil are on the lookout for a new manager following the World Cup. Tite was sacked after the South American nation were knocked out of last year’s tournament by Croatia on penalties in the quarter-finals.

Guardiola has previously been linked with the Brazil manager’s job but for now, he remains committed to Man City.

His future at City is in doubt somewhat as City were charged by the Premier League over ‘more than 100’ breaches of their financial rules. This followed a four-year probe into the club’s conduct.

Now Spanish outlet Sport are reporting that Brazil’s Football Confederation have been ‘encouraged’ by the recent news about Man City.

They have placed Guardiola back as their ‘first choice’ to succeed Tite amid the ‘institutional crisis of Manchester City’, which is described as ‘one of the biggest scandals in the history of English football’.

It is said that Guardiola is ‘on the market’ given the Premier League’s potential ‘sanctions’ against Man City.

They are said to be keen to ‘wait until June’ to appoint Tite’s replacement, so Guardiola could theoretically remain at City for the rest of this season before moving on.

The report adds: ‘Brazil remains firm in the idea of ​​breaking with tradition and appointing a foreign coach to help modernize the entire sporting structure of the CBF, which would also include the youth teams.

Chelsea have reportedly made Napoli striker Victor Osimhen their ‘top striker target’ ahead of the summer transfer window.

The Blues have spent over £600m on new signings since the start of this season but they still need to strengthen up front.

Kai Havertz has often been used as a makeshift striker this term with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang out of favour and Armando Broja out of action through injury.

One of Chelsea’s main issues this term has been their lack of goals. They are ninth in the Premier League having only scored 22 goals in 21 league games this season.

They have lacked a prolific goalscorer in recent years, but Osimhen has been in stunning form for Serie A leaders Napoli this season. He has netted 16 goals in 17 outings for the Italian outfit.

Man Utd are also being linked with the Nigeria international as it is known that they are also in the market for a new forward ahead of the summer.

But 90min are reporting that ‘Chelsea have identified Napoli striker Osimhen as their primary striker target for the 2023 summer window’.

The Blues are said to be ‘desperate to win the race’ to sign the Serie A standout. He still has two years remaining on his contract at Napoli, who reportedly value him at around €150m.

This asking price has ‘not scared’ Chelsea but they are ‘expected to try and reduce that fee by offering a number of players in exchange’. Romelu Lukaku is a ‘possibility’ in that regard if he ‘does not return to Inter’