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Wright knocks defending champion Humphries out of Worlds

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Defending champion Luke Humphries is out of the PDC World Darts Championship in the fourth round after an astonishing performance from former winner Peter Wright.

Humphries was far from his fluent best and was eventually beaten 4-1 by the 2020 and 2022 champion.

Scot Wright, who is seeded 17th, has endured a difficult year but said in the build-up that he was confident he could still match the levels of Humphries and teenage prodigy Luke Littler.

And so it proved. He averaged 100.93 – slightly higher than Humphries’ 99.23 – and had a staggering 70% success rate on the checkouts.

Humphries had fought back in the pre-match words – saying if he won this year’s event he would have matched everything Wright had achieved despite being 25 years his junior.

His bare numbers were still at a reasonable level – he was at 56.3% on checkouts himself – but there was a flatness about his performance and he was not able to produce that consistent high-level of scoring that has propelled him to the world’s best player.

His ranking as world number one is safe because the PDC Order of Merit is done over two years and Humphries has won six PDC major finals in that time.

“I probably put too much pressure on myself,” said Humphries.

“I’m still the world number one, and this result won’t deter me from going on to win more.

“I don’t see my career ending as a one-time World Champion. I do feel like I will win more.”

For Wright this is a significant warning to others that he still has plenty of life left in him at 54.

Earlier this year, he endured a torrid Premier League campaign, winning just two of 18 matches, as he finished bottom of the eight-player table.

He will face the winner of eighth-seed Stephen Bunting against unseeded Luke Woodhouse in the last eight.

“Luke gave me a load of chances there, he didn’t play like he can,” Wright told Sky Sports.

“I’ve been struggling for form all year and it’s so annoying because I know I can still play darts.

“I’m a double world champion and I want to win it for a third time. I’m not too old and you only have to play well for two or three weeks the whole year. These three weeks are all that matters and I’m in the quarter-finals.”

Humphries’ exit, in theory, makes Littler’s route to the final easier with Bunting now the highest-seeded player he could play before Friday’s showpiece event.

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Havertz online abuse has terrible consequences – Arteta

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Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta says the online abuse of striker Kai Havertz and his wife has “terrible consequences” and needs to be “eradicated from the game”.

Havertz was criticised for his performance in Sunday’s FA Cup defeat by Manchester United, after he missed a glorious chance to win the game in normal time and then had his penalty saved in the shootout as United won 5-3 on penalties following the 1-1 draw.

The German’s wife Sophia shared screenshots of the “shocking” abuse she received on social media amid the game, including threats to the couple’s unborn child.

Arsenal have reported the abuse to the police and are working with a specialist data firm to identify the culprits, but Arteta says more must be done as he spoke before Wednesday’s north London derby against Tottenham.

“It’s incredible, honestly,” he said. “We really have to do something about it, because accepting that and hiding this has terrible consequences.

“It’s something we have to eradicate from the game because it’s so cynical and dependent to a result of an action.

“There is no other industry like this. When we played Ipswich on December 27, we won 1-0 and Kai Havertz scored. The whole stadium after that is singing the ‘Waka, Waka’ (his chant). That was 20 days ago. Where is the perspective?

“We are all responsible. That’s a really serious matter. It affects me. It affects him and everybody that is in the industry.

“We can accept it and say ‘that’s our job’, but there are certain limits and the line has to be drawn. We put a lot of attention on technology and what is next in football.

“What is next in football is that this should be prohibited. It cannot happen. That’s it.”

Meta, who own Instagram, removed the content for violating its policies.

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I will not be the coach of a Red Bull team – Klopp

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Jurgen Klopp says he has made a “clear commitment” that he will not become manager at one of the Red Bull clubs after starting his role as the organisation’s head of global soccer.

The former Liverpool manager was named in the role last year before officially starting at the beginning of 2025.

He has not had a managerial role since leaving Anfield last summer following a highly-successful nine year spell.

Klopp’s new role sees him take more of an oversight role across a number of clubs including RB Leipzig, Red Bull Salzburg and New York Red Bulls.

But when asked at a media conference on Tuesday whether he might be tempted back into day-to-day management if a role at one of the clubs becomes available, Klopp said emphatically said “no”.

“I will not be the coach of a Red Bull team,” he said. “That is a clear commitment. As much as you can give a guarantee, I will not be a coach at all.

“I am probably the only person in this room who will be asked where are you in five years, I don’t have a clue.

“But I will not be a replacement of one of the Red Bull coaches.

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Rising star Fonseca knocks out ninth seed Rublev

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Joao Fonseca had a Grand Slam debut to remember as he knocked out ninth seed Andrey Rublev in the first round of the Australian Open.

The 18-year-old Brazilian thrilled the crowd as he caused the biggest upset of the tournament so far with a 7-6 (7-1) 6-3 7-6 (7-5) victory against Rublev.

Fonseca was playing in his first main-draw match at a major, having come through three rounds of qualifying without dropping a set in Melbourne last week.

The victory extends his winning streak to 14 matches – but who is tennis’ latest rising star?

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