https://www.dawn.com/news/1971509/athletics-the-running-child

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VALENCIA: Real Madrid stayed within one point of La Liga leaders Barcelona with a 2-0 win at Valencia on Sunday as second-half goals by Alvaro Carreras and Kylian Mbappe settled a largely uneventful contest.

Real dominated possession but found chances hard to come by, with Valencia keeper Stole Dimitrievski rarely called into action as the visitors struggled to turn control into threat.

It took them until the 65th minute to break the deadlock through Carreras before Mbappe wrapped up the points in stoppage time.

Barcelona lead the table on 58 points, with Real second on 57. Valencia are 17th, a point above the drop zone.

Mbappe offered the main outlet with sporadic runs down the left but clear openings were limited.

Real coach Alvaro Arbeloa was forced to improvise, missing suspended winger Vinicius Jr and injured trio Jude Bellingham, Rodrygo and Eder Militao.

The absences opened the door for academy players Raul Asensio, David Jimenez and Gonzalo Garcia to start, with Mbappe providing the lone spark for an uninspiring Real side.

“Playing at Valencia is always like going to the dentist,” Arbeloa told reporters. “We knew how difficult the match would be, how demanding they would be. It was a very serious and committed match. I’m happy.”

Arbeloa further added that Mbappe is the best player in the world at the moment, and reiterated that the Frenchman could live up to his boyhood idol Cristiano Ronaldo’s legacy at Madrid.

Valencia’s fans, some of whom had waved white handkerchieves during the match in protest at the club’s situation, headed for the exits with Los Che 17th, one point above the drop zone.

Earlier, Atletico Madrid slipped further adrift in the title race after a 1-0 home loss to Real Betis.

Antony struck in the 28th minute with a fierce effort from the edge of the box, earning Manuel Pellegrini’s side a valuable win Atletico are a distant third in the table on 45 points, three points ahead of fourth-placed Villarreal, who have two games in hand. Betis sit fifth on 38 points.

Elsewhere, Athletic Bilbao beat Levante 4-2, Sevilla and Girona shared a 1-1 draw, and Getafe won 2-0 at Deportivo Alaves.

Published in Dawn, February 10th, 2026

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MELBOURNE: Australia slumped to their worst Davis Cup result under long-serving captain Lleyton Hewitt, suffering a 3-1 humiliation away to lowly Ecuador in the first round of qualifiers on Sunday.

With Australia’s number one Alex De Minaur opting out of the tie in Quito, the 28-times champions crashed out when Rinky Hijikata and Jordan Thompson were beaten 7-6(7/5), 6-4 by Gonzalo Escobar and Diego Hidalgo in the decisive doubles rubber.

Lacking a player in the top 200, Ecuador set up their unlikely triumph on home clay by claiming both the opening singles rubbers on Saturday.

Alvaro Guillen Meza downed Hijikata in three sets before 257th-ranked Andres Andrade shocked world number 86 James Duckworth, also in three.

Ecuador next face Britain in the second round of qualifiers in September.

With De Minaur leading the charge, Australia reached back-to-back finals in 2022-23 and the semi-finals in 2024.

However, the Ecuador shock continues the team’s decline following their failure to reach the eight-nation Finals in 2025, Hewitt’s 10th year in charge.

Meanwhile, Dhakshineswar Suresh won both his singles matches and partnered Yuki Bhambri to victory in the doubles as India beat Netherlands 3-2 in Bengaluru.

The 25-year-old held his nerve under immense pressure in the final rubber against Guy de Ouden to win 6-4, 7-6(7/4) and guide India to the second round of qualifiers for the first time since the new Davis Cup format began in 2019.

“It’s just a different feeling when youre playing for your country,” Suresh, who has a world ranking of 470, told the Davis Cup website after the win.

“You are not playing for yourself, you’re playing for the whole nation.”

India meet South Korea in the next round in September after the Koreans defeated Argentina 3-2. The United States beat Hungary 4-0 while Britain also secured a 4-0 win over Norway and Canada beat Brazil 3-2.

In Tatabanya, Hungary, Christian Harrison, the Australian Open doubles champion, paired with Austin Krajicek to claim the clinching point for record 32-time winners the US with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 victory over Fabian Marozsan and Zsombor Piros.

Harrison, making his Davis Cup debut, said: “I had such a good time this week, I already forgot about the Australian Open.”

The US will travel to the Czech Republic for a place in the Final 8.

France progressed 3-1 at home to Slovakia after Arthur Rinderknech sealed the vital victory 7-5, 7-6(8/6) against Alex Molcan in the second match of the day following Benjamin Bonzi and Pierre-Hugues Herbert’s doubles win.

France’s next tie will be a trip across the Atlantic Ocean to Canada.

In Plovdiv, Belgium swept aside hosts Bulgaria 4-0 to set up a meeting with Austria.

The Czechs beat visiting Sweden 3-1, with Petr Nouza and Patrik Rikl’s opening doubles win enough to ensure their country’s progression.

Published in Dawn, February 10th, 2026

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