Tristan Schoolkate has won the traditional pre-Wimbledon Ilkley Trophy in England while his fellow Aussie men have also been thriving on the grass courts.
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Schoolkate triumph heads Aussies’ pre-Wimbledon push
‘I’m waiting to kill them’ – Man City star Cherki fires chilling warning to Man Utd as ex-Lyon ace seeks vengeance
RAYAN CHERKI has arrived in Manchester with a score to settle – and says he wants to ‘kill’ United.
The £30.4million City new boy was part of the Lyon team who were dramatically beaten at Old Trafford in the Europa League quarter finals.
The French international, 21, was even snapped goading the home fans by rubbing his groin after scoring in extra time that night.
So when the Prem fixtures for next season are released later this week, there is only one fixture he will be looking for.
Cherki said: “I didn’t like it when Manchester United won the game against Lyon because I am a Lyon fan.
“Now I am waiting for the game to kill them. I just wanted to go to Manchester City.”
Cherki was regularly linked with a move to Old Trafford during his early years – after making his Lyon debut at 16.
But their stunning comeback in April – capped by Harry Maguire’s 120th-minute winner – ended Cherki’s hopes of signing off from his boyhood club with a trophy.
Yet he hopes he can make up for that by winning the lot on the blue side of Manchester in the coming years.
He was sold a vision by Pep Guardiola which convinced him he was making the right move.
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Cherki added: “When I spoke with Pep and he wanted me – he was very, very clear. That the system, the club, the city is very good.
“I want to win and I think City wants to win it all. For me that’s better.”
Sam Thompson and Louis Tomlinson put on united front for Soccer Aid after peace dinner to smooth Zara McDermott tensions
LOVE rivals Sam Thompson and Louis Tomlinson were pictured together tonight ahead of Soccer Aid.
It followed a peace dinner to clear the air over their mutual connection to Zara McDermott.
Read The Sun’s Soccer Aid live blog here
Sam split from Zara, who is now in a relationship with Louis, just before Christmas after five years together.
The pair had already crossed paths on the training pitch last week, prior to Sam pulling out of tonight’s game due to injury.
Both men looked relaxed this evening as they milled around their hotel with fellow squad members.
Dressed in matching suits, Louis stood beside hockey ace Sam Quek, while Sam was near to England XI manager Wayne Rooney.
We exclusively revealed last night how the ex-One Direction star and I’m A Celeb winner are determined to put any awkwardness over Zara behind them.
Their dinner included some teammates and took place at Champneys spa in Tring, Herts, where they have been training for the match at Old Trafford.
A source said: “There is no beef between the pair and they’re both going to ensure their love lives don’t distract from such a big charity spectacle.
“They are fully aware that their every move is being scrutinised and they’ve broken bread with their teammates, so it’ll be smooth sailing on the day.”
Zara has already ruled herself out of attending the star-studded match.
Sam presented a video of his charity work in Guatemala to both sets of players, something he found much more nerve-racking than meeting Louis.
He said: “I did a small talk in front of everyone, which was terrifying, and I maintain I think it’s the most important thing I’ve done in my 32 years of life.
“I really do believe that. Getting to go to Guatemala to see what UNICEF do on the ground is just life-changing.”
Sam suffered injuries during his 260-mile running and cycling trek between London and Manchester, in aid of UNICEF, ahead of the match.
He explained: “I’m now part of the coaching team, so I’m going to be on the sidelines along with Vicky McLure and also Tyson Fury, and I’m going to be putting my two pence in.
“But I will still get to be part of it all.”
Lone plane crash survivor Vishwash Ramesh gets best Father’s Day present when son, 4, sends best wishes
LONE plane crash survivor Vishwash Ramesh got the best Father’s Day gift yesterday when his son, four, sent best wishes.
Vishwash, 40, is in a hospital a mile from where Air India flight 171 crashed killing 241 on board and at least 29 on the ground.
But he is on the mend after his incredible escape and will be reunited with his wife and son in the coming days.
They are among family who have flown to India.
Cousin Hiren said: “He is getting better day by day.
“Relatives have been to see him and he was able to speak to his son by phone yesterday on Father’s Day.” Vishwash, of Leicester, was in seat 11A on Thursday’s flight to Gatwick.
He has said the Boeing 787 Dreamliner suffered a catastrophic power loss seconds after take-off in Ahmedabad.
He said: “The lights started flickering green and white.
“Everything happened in seconds. I realised we were going down. Everyone around me was either dead or dying. I thought I was about to die, then I opened my eyes and realised that I was alive.”
He crawled through a hole in the wreckage and walked to an ambulance.
Brother Ajay, who was in the same row but on the other side of the aisle, was killed.
Meanwhile, a mum who died in the crash had been reluctant to leave eight-year-old son Meer for the first time, a friend has said. Abdhiben Patel, 40, had flown to India two weeks earlier to care for her mother.
Atif Karim, a colleague at Zone Beauty Studio in Northampton, said: “She didn’t want to go. She told me, ‘I don’t like being away from him’.
“It was her first time leaving him, and she was very nervous, not excited. It was a sense of duty. Her mum was unwell but you could tell it was weighing on her.”
Mr Karim said tensions between India and Pakistan added to Mrs Patel’s worries, saying: “All the flights were getting cancelled. It didn’t feel like the right time.”
Mrs Patel, whose husband Pankaj worked nights, was devoted to her son.
Mr Karim said: “She was the most diligent, reliable worker I’ve ever had. But more than that, she was our friend.
“She was bubbly, kind, always smiling. She had a way of putting people at ease and took an interest in their lives.”
Shocked Brit dad reveals how he cheated death on doomed Air India flight after last minute change of plans
A BRITISH dad has told of his shock after he was originally due to fly home on the doomed Air India flight – but changed his plans.
Owen Jackson, 31, from Saffron Walden in Essex, had been on a work trip to India and scheduled to jet back on Thursday.
Businessman Owen, who was in the country for the first time to help train colleagues in a call centre, had to decide between flying back on Thursday or Saturday.
In the end his colleagues said to take the Saturday flight as the job would take a bit longer than originally planned.
He was then booked onto the same route on Saturday which would have been the same aircraft as the one which crashed, killing all but one of the 242 people onboard.
In a bizarre coincidence, Owen was booked onto seat 11A for the Saturday flight.
It is the same seat number as the sole survivor of the devastating crash, Vishwashkumar Ramesh.
Owen told The Sun: “It’s a shock. I’m more grateful than anything else – it is such a weird coincidence.
“You hear it every now and again about planes going down and you don’t really think much of it, but when it’s the actual aircraft you’re potentially getting on two days later, it does make you think.
“My main emotion on the whole thing is I’m quite grateful for the fact that I made that decision when I did.”
When news first broke of the crash, Owen had not told his family back home which day he was due to fly back on.
Wife Phillipa, 30, spent two hours unsure whether her husband had perished in the crash, as he had not informed her he had changed his plans.
Owen said: “I hadn’t checked my phone two hours after it happened, after the news broke. I probably was one of the last people to find out about it, funnily enough, because I was in meetings exactly when the news was breaking.”
Phillipa said: “It was surreal. It was like being in a dream, but not actually just hoping to wake up, but pinching yourself over and over again and not waking up.
“I work with children, so I was kind of teaching at the time and just trying to not let them see or know what I was feeling.
“I still feel affected by it now, to be honest with you, for days. I was just bursting into tears randomly.
“The way we felt is nothing compared to how the victims and their families are actually feeling, my heart really goes out to them, it’s just awful.”
‘Hero’ India Air pilot ‘saved dozens of lives’ with last gasp decision moments before doomed jet’s horror crash
THE India Air pilot was hailed a hero yesterday by locals when he diverted the doomed jet at the last second to avoid their apartment block.
All 18 families in the three-storey building under the flight path are convinced they owe their lives to Captain Sumeet Sabharwal — whose Boeing 787 Dreamliner was heading for them when its suffered a loss of engine thrust after take-off.
But with feet to spare, he managed to divert the plane carrying 242 passengers and crew towards a patch of grassland.
The locals raced from their homes in Ahmedabad when a fireball from 90 tons of aviation fuel ignited as the plane slammed into the ground next to a medical college.
The plane obliterated the top two floors of a disused four-storey military building.
And the fire tore through the college’s hostel, killing dozens of students and staff who were having lunch in the canteen.
All but one of the 242 people on the plane died.
Captain Sabharwal, 55, the son of an officer with India’s civil aviation authority, was an experienced aviator with 8,200 hours of flying time.
He was the main carer for his father, now in his 80s, who he called before take-off.
Colleagues paid tribute to Captain Sabharwal from Mumbai, saying: “He was a good, quiet person.”
Mum Geeta Patni, 48, who is one of the closest residents to the crash site, told The Sun: “The building was shaking. We were so scared.
“There was chaos in the street and fire and smoke.
“Any closer and we would have died. The pilot saved us.
“We have always worried this might happen because the planes go over so low.”
Another resident, Jahanvi Rajput, 28, said: “Thanks to the pilot Captain Sabharwal we survived. He’s a hero. It is because of him we are alive.
“The green space next to us was visible to him and that’s where he went.”
Mum-of-two Chancal Bai, 50, said: “If the plane had crashed into this residential area, there would have been hundreds more victims.”
All of the bodies from the site have been recovered with just 32 indentified so far.
Most of the plane has now been removed and the engine will be analysed in America.
British and American experts have joined India’s National Disaster Response Force to scour the area.
Hundreds of desperate relatives have been gathering for news of loved ones at the local Civil Hospital.
The first funeral service for a British victim was held yesterday, for Elcina Alpesh Makwana, 42, of Hounslow, West London.
Her uncle Joseph Patelia said: “Before take-off, she called her father to say she’d boarded safely and would call once she landed in London. That call never came.
“She vanished, leaving us in shock, in tears, unable to believe what we’re hearing.”
I’m a ‘water sommelier’… which supermarket sells the best sparkling H2O & key detail if you’re thirsty in a heatwave
WHEN it comes to drinking water, for most of us the hardest decision is still or sparkling.
But there is a growing trend among the privileged for high-end H2O.
Reality star Kim Kardashian has a fridge filled with only Norwegian-based Voss, singer Mary J Blige insisted on Fiji water in her rider and tennis ace Serena Williams eulogised about bathing in a tub of Evian.
Footballers Cristiano Ronaldo and Steven Gerrard and Superman actor Henry Cavill have all invested in bottled water brands in recent years.
And the world’s most-expensive ever water, Acqua di Cristallo, was sourced from springs in Fiji and France and a glacier in Iceland, came in a 24-carat gold bottle, and sold for £42,000 a time.
But this liquid craze is no surprise to “Bearded Water Sommelier” Doran Binder, from Macclesfield in Cheshire. He serves hundreds of different types at his Crag Inn Water Bar.
Doran, 52, is on a mission to educate the world on water, insisting it varies in taste just like wine and some will leave you more hydrated than others.
‘Liquid goldmine’
He says: “People are always telling me ‘water is water, Beardy,’ but I’m out to show them that it isn’t.
“There are all kinds of different water from around the world and they each have a different taste.
“I also drink different types of water according to what I’m doing.
“Some are good for rehydration, others for the gym and some for tasting with different types of food.”
The type of H20 you should drink and how you should consume it generates fierce debate in more obscure corners of social media.
Father-of-five Doran has gained a huge following on TikTok and Instagram from posting about its differences including tap versus bottled, filtered or natural, and water’s various sources.
He has a business interest in the subject, too, because in 2016 he discovered that the pub he had bought in the Peak District national park was sitting on “some of the best” natural spring water.
Since then he has been collecting Crag Spring Water from the aquifer, and shifts 1,200 bottles in reusable glass each day.
Until I went to one of Doran’s two-hour tasting sessions at his bar, I was one of those people who believed “water is water.”
I wouldn’t give any thought to which bottle I picked from the supermarket fridge and I normally just ask for tap when I’m in a restaurant.
But with the bottled water market in the UK worth over £1.6billion — and a third of us preferring the taste to tap — there are clearly plenty who side with Doran.
After trying a range of natural spring waters from his collection, I too had to conclude that water is not just water.
HIS RULES
WHEN tasting water it should be drunk at room temperature rather than chilled.
Swill it round your mouth for four or five seconds before swallowing.
Drink from a wine glass.
Don’t add ice or lemon.
Water from a glass bottle tastes better, but choose glass, which has been recycled.
Total Dissolved Solids, indicated as milligrams per liter (mg/l) on a bottle, tells you how many minerals are in the water, with 100-200 best for rehydration.
And some of it really can change the flavour of your food.
A mouthful of mineral-rich Vichy Catalan did make cheese and chocolate taste more creamy.
He says: “You can season your mouth with water.”
Doran, who used to “do hair” in the fashion industry, even claims to have lost 22lb by increasing his daily water intake from two litres to four, as it helped to reduce his appetite.
Surprisingly, he is neither “for or against” local authorities adding fluoride to drinking water, to help prevent tooth decay, but argues that natural spring is better for you.
Bottled water is not all overpriced and overhyped either — as Doran reveals he is a fan of Lidl’s San Celestino sparkling.
His unusual water career came about by “accident”.
Doran moved to a farm close to Shutlingsloe hill in the Peak District in 2012, to be close to the three children from his first marriage.
Soon after, he gave up drinking tap water in favour of the local source.
Four years later, he brought the nearby 300-year-old Crag Inn pub, and had the water tested as part of an annual water safety inspection.
A local expert informed him that he had a “liquid goldmine” coming from a natural spring under its car park.
Having got a taste for the natural stuff, he closed the pub and trained as a certified water sommelier.
Doran concludes: “It is exciting to be at the forefront of this water movement.”
But while I agree with Doran that water deserves more appreciation, I will not be giving up tap any time soon.
H20 OWNER'S FOUNTAIN OF KNOWLEDGE
ALKALINE: Ronaldo’s Ursu9 brand is part of a health trend, with claims its alkaline natural mineral water helps your “organs vitality” recover by balancing out “acidification.”
Doran is a fan of this water sourced in El Oso, Spain, and says bluntly: “It is better than Steven Gerrard’s water.” The former Liverpool ace was an ambassador for Angel Revive, which was forced to close last month.
ENERGY DRINK: Doran argues that water with a high TDS (Total Dissolved Solids) is good for a workout because it has extra minerals to replenish the body post-exercise.
You can definitely taste the difference with Borjomi, which has a volcanic origin in Georgia, but the higher sodium content means he would not recommend it for regular rehydration.
HEALTH: On the very high end of the mineral scale is Donat, from Slovenia, which claims to help with indigestion and has a high magnesium content.
Doran describes it is a “health tonic” and the taste does come with a tinge of the medicine cabinet, which is off-putting.
GLACIER: Sourced from a glacial range in Italy, Lauretana claims to be “the lightest water in Europe.” It is described as “crystalline,” because its TDS of only 14 means it has little residue and strangely leaves your mouth feeling dry, meaning you drink more water.
SPARKLING: Many sparkling waters come with their fizz at source, including the naturally carbonated Perrier. They also have four levels of the strength of bubbles, the lightest being “effervescent” and the most powerful “bold”. The smoother Vichy Celestins is Doran’s favourite.
PURIFIED: Doran is against “purified” water, which has not come directly from a natural spring.He pulls a face when showing me popular brands Smart, Fit and Actiph, which first distill the water then add in “electrolytes,” such as calcium.
Lily Allen seen on ‘date’ with top Brit TV star at festival after joining dating app
SMILING Lily Allen pulls on her jacket as she enjoys a “first date” with actor James Norton at a festival.
Onlookers said Lily, 40, appeared smitten with newly single James, 39, who split from his model girlfriend last month.
The pair, who both use celebrity dating app Raya, were spotted together at the Lido Festival in East London throughout Saturday.
They shunned VIP areas to watch artists together, including Charli XCX.
An eyewitness told The Sun: “Lily and James appeared to be on a date. They were together for the day and were chatting and laughing together as they watched Charli XCX.
“Lily was leaning into him at one point. She and James seemed really relaxed together and she was really making him giggle.
“They were drinking non-alcoholic beer and queued at the bar like all the other punters. People were doing double-takes when they saw them together.
“Because they’re both on Raya it seems like they might have matched with each other.
“And Lido is a great first date because there is so much to do.”
Pop star Lily split from her Stranger Things actor husband David Harbour, 50, last year.
The mum of two reactivated her Raya account after the break-up. She joked in her profile that she was “looking for someone to start couple’s therapy with”.
Happy Valley star James briefly dated model Charlotte Rose Smith, 25, but they quietly ended their romance this year. Last month his profile was also spotted on Raya, with a handful of pictures.
James was engaged to actress Imogen Poots, 36, but the pair split in 2023.
He hinted their break-up was not his doing,
Lily has thrown herself into work since her marital split — including a starring role in a new production about destructive aristocrat Hedda Gabler at Bath’s Theatre Royal.
She had a pop at her exes earlier this year, saying: “I don’t think there has been one person that has been remotely interested in my pleasure.”
Woke madness continues as classic Shakespeare play slapped with trigger warning because it featured violence and death
ROMEO and Juliet has been hit with a trigger warning — with audiences informed it featured violent scenes and death.
Shakespeare’s classic 16th-century love story has been “retold” as a modern ballet.
But London’s Royal Opera House deemed it necessary to warn potential visitors the production includes themes of “violence and death”.
Sir Ian McKellen, who has appeared in Romeo and Juliet productions throughout his career, previously hit out at “ludicrous” warnings.
He said: “I quite like to be surprised by loud noises and outrageous behaviour on stage.”
It comes four years after The Globe in London warned of “upsetting” themes in the play, and provided a number for The Samaritans.
They were even provided a number for the Samaritans for after the show.
Actor Christopher Biggins said: “Do we have to have signs for everything under the sun?
“It’s a joke. What they are trying to do is insulting to the mentality of theatre-goers.”
The Globe has also warned about themes of “violence, sexual references, misogyny and racism” in Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, as well as “anti-semitism” in The Merchant of Venice.
In February, the University of the West of England slapped over 200 trigger warnings on Shakespeare’s work – including “bad weather” in The Tempest.
The Royal Opera House was asked to comment.
Heavyweight Brit teen, 15, heading to Japan to become SUMO wrestler & reveals huge sacrifices he’s making
A HEAVYWEIGHT teenager is heading to Japan — to become a sumo wrestler.
Nineteen-stone Nicholas Tarasenko, 15, will become only the second Briton to do so.
The 6ft 3in teen has won a scholarship at a prestigious academy where he will train with ten other sumo hopefuls.
He will have strict schedules at the Minato Beya stable, which hopes to turn him into a champion of the ring.
Nicholas will see his family only occasionally, until he has achieved his full potential.
He will also be taught to cook a Japanese soup — chankonabe — which will form part of his 7,000-calorie daily diet.
Nicholas, of Hull, East Yorks, told The Sun: “I’ve been given a chance and I intend to go as hard as possible at it. My hope is to reach the high ranks. This is what motivates me to succeed.”
He fell in love with sumo wrestling when his Estonian dad, karaoke bar owner Georgi Zilkin, 47, took him on a trip back to his homeland.
Nicholas added: “My dad had connections to a sumo wrestler who reached the highest rank in Japan and he hosts a tournament every year. I managed to win somehow. My opponents were very tough.
“From then on, I realised sumo wrestling was the sport for me.”
The last British pro sumo wrestler, Nathan Strange, from Kent, quit the sport in 1990 complaining of bullying by his Japanese stablemates.
