Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Thursday
Arjen Robben has retired from football, foregoing the chance for a few more seasons in his native Netherlands, the 35-year-old Dutch international said on Thursday.
"I’ve been thinking about it a lot over the last weeks. As everyone knows I have taken time after my last game at Bayern Munch to make a decision over my future," he said.
"And I have now decided to end my career as a professional footballer."
Robben won 12 league titles in a glittering career, and 96 caps for his country including playing in the 2010 World Cup final in Johannesburg.
He won eight with Bayern, where his contracted ended last month; two at Chelsea and one each at PSV Eindhoven and Real Madrid.
“My love for the game and the conviction that I can still take on the world was up against the reality that things haven’t always gone the way I would have hoped and that I’m no longer a youngster of 16 who has no idea what injures can do to you,” he said in his statement.
Robben has been beset with injury, particularly in his last seasons in the Bundesliga.
He had already quit international football in October 2017, scoring both goals in a 2-0 win over Sweden.
"It is maybe a cliché but there is nothing nicer than playing for your country. I finally said goodbye after 96 caps. I was able to take part in six major tournaments and, in my last years, captained the team. Altogether an unforgettable time that I will always treasure," he said.
“It is now time for the next chapter and I‘m looking forward to spending more time with my wife and children and enjoy all the good things that lie ahead for us."
Indian Greco Roman wrestlers win 6 medals in Cadet Asian C'ships
Indian Greco-Roman wrestlers on Thursday won three silver and three bronze medals in the 2019 Cadet Asian Championship at Nur-Sultan in Kazakhstan.
On Day 1, bouts in seven weight categories of Greco Roman style were held.
Arshad (51kg), Nitesh (92kg) and Sonu (110kg) won a silver each while Harsh (45kg), Pravin (55kg) and Ravi (60kg) bagged a bronze each.
Indian archers falter at World Cup Stage IV
Indians put up a disappointing show in the Archery World Cup Stage IV in Berlin on Thursday, crashing out in all the team and individual events of the recurve and compound sections.
India's medal hope from the season-ending World Cup will now be from the mixed pair events slated for Friday.
Deepika Kumari and Abhishek Verma were the only Indian archers to have made the last-16 rounds of recurve and compound sections but only to go down to their respective opponents.
Deepika had succumbed to a 0-6 loss to Chinese Taipei's Tan Ya-Ting, while Verma went down to Turkey's Suleyman Araz 148-142.
Fresh from bagging Tokyo Olympics quota at the World Championships last month, the recurve men's team made a first round exit with a 1-5 lost to Canada.
The women's team of Bombayla Devi Laishram, Madhu Vedwan and Deepika lost to Italy 0-6 in the second round.
In the compound section, the men's trio of Verma, Aman Saini and Rajat Chauhan lost to their German counterparts 230-233 in the second round.
The women's team of Muskan Kirar, Swati Dudhwal and Jyothi Surekha Vennam were ousted by Turkey 229-222.
