Lewis Hamilton declared he was "grateful to still be alive" after crashing out of the Belgian Grand Prix following a collision with Fernando Alonso, as he took responsibility for the incident.

Hamilton was sent airborne when he hit former McLaren team-mate Alonso when approaching the Les Combes chicane on Sunday, suffering damage which ended his own race.

The incident sparked a furious reaction from Alonso, who was heard to exclaim: "What an idiot. We had a mega start, but this guy only knows how to drive and start in first."

While Alonso went on to finish fifth for Alpine, Hamilton's retirement ended a strong run of form for the seven-time champion, who had previously posted five consecutive podium finishes in the Mercedes.

Speaking after the race, Hamilton expressed relief at walking away from the incident unharmed, telling Sky Sports: "Looking back, he was in my blind spot, I didn't give him enough space. It is my fault. I could not see him.

"I'm just so sorry to the team and I need to recuperate and get back on the treadmill.

"I remember looking at the ground, it was definitely high up. I'm grateful to still be alive and in shape."

Hamilton and Alonso had an intense rivalry when racing alongside one another with McLaren, and the 37-year-old Briton revealed he was irritated by the Spaniard's reaction to the crash.

Asked whether he would be speaking to Alonso after hearing of his radio message, Hamilton said: "No. I would have, until I heard what he said.

"I know that's how things feel in the heat of the moment, but it's nice to know how he feels about me.

"It's better that it's out in the open how he feels and, like I said, it wasn't intentional, and I take responsibility for it – that's what adults do."

Alonso played down the comments after securing his joint-highest finish of the season.

"I was surprised, and he's now seen the incident and takes responsibility, which is very nice from him," Alonso said.

"It was a lap-one incident and nothing really to say there. The stewards didn't say anything because these things happen, especially at that corner.

"It's a tricky corner – I was frustrated in that moment, for sure. Every time we start on the first or second row, or are fighting in the top two or three, there is always something going on and I was frustrated.

"Luckily, my car was very strong, and I could continue."

Sampdoria director Carlo Osti has confirmed the club are set to sign Harry Winks on loan from Tottenham.

The Spurs academy graduate has fallen down the pecking order under Antonio Conte, leading the 26-year-old to seek further playing opportunities.

Capped 10 times by England, most recently in 2020, Winks started only nine Premier League matches last season and the signing of Yves Bissouma from Brighton and Hove Albion has provided further competition in midfield.

Winks was reportedly holding out for a loan move to a Premier League side but suitors had not come forward, which appears to have resulted in him taking the opportunity to move to Italy.

Speaking following Sampdoria's 4-0 defeat to Salernitana, which left the side with just one point from their opening three Serie A matches, Osti confirmed Winks is due to arrive imminently.

"We have an agreement with Tottenham, we are defining the last details with the agents, we hope to conclude as soon as possible," he Sky Sport Italia.

Winks will join a growing British contingent in Serie A which includes Fikayo Tomori at Milan and both Tammy Abraham and Chris Smalling with Roma.

Robert Lewandowski struck a brace for the second game in a row as Barcelona strolled to a comfortable 4-0 win against Real Valladolid.

The game saw Jules Kounde make his long-awaited debut for the club following his move from Sevilla, having had his registration postponed, but it was another of Barcelona's marquee additions who stole the show.

Poland international Lewandowski struck in both halves of Sunday's contest at Camp Nou, a poacher's finish at the far post for his first and a deft backheel for his second.

Pedri and Sergi Roberto were also on the scoresheet for Xavi's side, who stand unbeaten in LaLiga with seven points from a possible nine.

The hosts started strong but were foiled by the frame of the goal, Lewandowski heading into the post before Ousmane Dembele smashed a ferocious effort against the crossbar.

A breakthrough came after 24 minutes, though, Lewandowski on hand at the far post to stab home Raphinha's inviting cross.

It was two before the break, Pedri finding space around the penalty spot to comfortably steer Dembele's pass beyond the helpless Jordi Masip.

Barcelona's dominance continued in the second period, boasting 66 per cent possession on the hour mark, and, while fans had to be patient for a third goal to capitalise on their dominance, it was worth the wait.

Dembele cut inside from the right to tee a pass through to Lewandowski, who expertly backheeled a finish past his marker and the keeper – taking his tally to four goals in three matches for his new side.

Lewandowski was denied a hat-trick in stoppage time, striking the frame of the goal from close range, but Sergi Roberto was on hand to tuck away the rebound.

Tottenham head coach Antonio Conte has no doubt Son Heung-min will hit the goal trail soon, declaring the forward's temperament would even make him a perfect son-in-law.

Son shared the Premier League's Golden Boot award with Liverpool's Mohamed Salah last season but is yet to find the net in the 2022-23 campaign.

Harry Kane has instead been the main provider of Spurs' goals in their four games so far, and it was Kane's double that saw off Nottingham Forest 2-0 on Sunday.

Yet Conte has no concerns over Son, who he believes is the perfect example to his squad of an upstanding man.

"Sonny is a really sensible player. He's a top man, a really good guy. If I had to find a husband for my daughter, I would like it to be a person like him," Conte said in a news conference.

"In these moments maybe he's suffering a lot because he is not scoring, but he has to continue to trust in himself because in every game he has a chance to score.

"He has to be calm. We trust him. For sure he's a bit disappointed he's not scoring, but it's no problem for me. Son will always be part of my football vision."

Kane has now scored 201 league goals across his career, including 14 outside the top flight while on loan with Leicester City, Millwall and Leyton Orient.

He also matched Andy Cole on 187 Premier League strikes, becoming the joint third highest goalscorer in the competition's history, behind Alan Shearer and Wayne Rooney.

The England captain could have had a hat-trick, but Forest goalkeeper Dean Henderson kept out a second-half penalty. 

Henderson has now conceded from just one of the five Premier League penalties he has faced, the best record of any goalkeeper to face at least five spot-kicks in the competition, and Conte refused to criticise Kane for failing to beat the Manchester United loanee.

"I think he didn't miss the penalty; it was a big, big save from the goalkeeper. It was an incredible save," Conte added.

Kane atoned for his failed spot-kick attempt, which ended his run of 15 consecutive spot-kicks scored in the league for Tottenham, with a stooping header to make it 2-0 in the 81st minute, with Spurs' big-money signing Richarlison supplying a fine cross to tee up his fellow forward.

Richarlison was the subject of a hefty challenge from Brennan Johnson soon after, with the Brazil attacker having frustrated Forest by performing kick-ups close to the touchline.

"I wouldn't want my players to do what Richarlison did. It wouldn't be accepted here," said Forest head coach Steve Cooper, though Conte defended his player, insisting Richarlison meant no disrespect.

Harry Kane expressed his pride after moving to joint-third in the Premier League's all-time goalscoring charts with a brace in Tottenham's entertaining win over Nottingham Forest.

Kane scored the 200th league goal of his career after just five minutes at the City Ground, and although he saw a second-half penalty saved by Dean Henderson, the England captain atoned by nodding home a late second to secure a 2-0 win.

In doing so, Kane joined Andy Cole on 187 Premier League goals. Only Alan Shearer (260) and Wayne Rooney (208) have now scored more in the competition's history.

Kane described that duo as two of the all-time greats as he looked to take his goalscoring exploits even further after firing Spurs to victory on Sunday.

"It's still a long way away, for sure, but I still feel fit, I feel I have many more years left in the locker," Kane told Sky Sports of Shearer's record.

"Every season I want to score goals, I want to be amongst those names, and I'm excited for the challenge.

"Alan and Wayne are two of the best strikers England have ever had so to even be in that category is nice for me. 

"But for sure, I want to keep pushing myself, see how far I can go, and so far it's been a good start to the season."

Kane's talismanic display followed another record-breaking performance last week, when he surpassed Sergio Aguero to become the highest Premier League goalscorer for a single club in a win over Wolves. 

Meanwhile, having taken 10 points from their first four Premier League games, Spurs have made their best start since they opened the 2009-10 campaign with four consecutive victories.

They have also gone unbeaten through their first four league matches for just the second time in 13 seasons. The last time they did so, in 2016-17, Mauricio Pochettino led them to a second-placed Premier League finish.

And Kane believes Antonio Conte's men are well placed to push for major honours, adding: "I'm not going to rule anything out, but also I know there's a lot of top, top teams in the Premier League and the Champions League.

"Of course, we're aiming to be successful and win something, as I've said for a long, long time now. We just can't get carried away," he added.

"We've started really well, we've got a great squad and a great manager. I can feel amongst the fans a lot of excitement, which is great, but it's a marathon, not a sprint.

"There's a lot of games to play and we've just got to make sure we keep knocking them off and when we're not playing well, keep winning games.

"Obviously we've still got a World Cup, so after the World Cup, we'll see where we're at and go from there."

Kane was assisted by Dejan Kulusevski for the opener before nodding home Richarlison's terrific outside-of-the-boot cross for his second, as the former Everton man impressed after replacing Son Heung-Min from the bench.

With Son failing to find the net this season despite Tottenham's impressive form, Kane hailed the newfound competition in their attack. 

"If you want to be a top team, you're going to have to compete for every position. I think that's what we've created with the squad that we have now," Kane added.

"Richie, whenever he's had an opportunity to play, whenever he's trained, he's done really, really well. He's biting at the bit to play. We have a lot of games coming up so we're going to need everyone.

"I know Sonny might be frustrated with not scoring yet this season, but Sonny's a really important player for us and if we're going to achieve anything this year, we need him to keep doing what he's doing, working for the team. He'll pop up with goals, no doubt.

"When players are maybe not quite at it, you need players from the bench to make an impact and Richie's doing that.

"I think we've got a fantastic manager, we've got a really strong squad. I think we're going to need that squad over the next period until the international break because we've got a game every three or four days.

"It's really important that players coming in who haven't quite started a lot of games yet are ready, but yeah, we're in a good place."

India chased 147 to beat Pakistan in the Asia Cup by five wickets, aided by strong innings from Hardik Pandya and the returning Virat Kohli.

After India won the toss and opted to bowl first, Pakistan captain and dangerman Babar Azam was dismissed by Bhuvneshwar Kumar within three overs, before fellow opener Mohammad Rizwan top-scored with 43 as Pakistan were bowled out for 147 with one ball of the innings remaining.

Bhuvneshwar was the pick of the Indian bowlers, taking 4-26, while Pandya and Arshdeep Singh took three and two wickets respectively. 

India's chase got off to a woeful start as KL Rahul, making his return from injury, was removed for a golden duck, dragging on from the bowling of Pakistan T20I debutant Naseem Shah. Rahul's dismissal brought in Kohli, returning after a short hiatus from cricket, who made an important 35 before being caught at long-off. 

A 36-run partnership between Ravindra Jadeja and Suryakumar Yadav looked to have set India on their way to victory but Shah struck again, dismissing Suryakumar to tee up a tense finish.

But Pandya smashed a brilliant 33 runs off 17 deliveries to win the game for his team, even after Jadeja was bowled in the final over. With India needing six off three balls, Pandya sent a maximum flying into the stands to dramatically seal the victory.

Powerful pace attack

After spinners took all 10 wickets for India in their last T20I, a victory over West Indies, all 10 wickets in this Asia Cup opener were taken by Indian pace bowlers for the first time in a T20I innings as they bowled out Pakistan for 147, a score which they were able to chase down.

Returning Kholi

In Kohli's return to cricket, he became just the second player after Ross Taylor to feature in 100 or more internationals across the three formats. After being dropped by Fakhar Zaman on nought, Kohli looked in decent nick as he scored 35 valuable runs before getting out. 

Guyana won the overall team title at the 2022 Caribbean Senior Squash Championships that concluded at the Liguanea Club in Kingston on Saturday.

Harry Kane scored twice and missed a penalty as Tottenham maintained their unbeaten start to the Premier League season with a 2-0 win at Nottingham Forest. 

Kane finished beyond Dean Henderson to score the 200th league goal of his career early on, though Spurs were forced to withstand long periods of pressure as Forest produced a lively display.

Antonio Conte's team should have made the points safe when Steve Cook bizarrely handled on his own goal-line 55 minutes in, but Kane's spot-kick was well saved by Henderson to his right.

Yet Kane atoned as he nodded home Richarlison's cross in the 81st minute, making the Spurs striker the Premier League's joint-third highest goalscorer in the process. 

Tottenham needed just five minutes to hit the front through a swift counter-attack, as Kane took Dejan Kulusevski's pass in his stride before stroking into the bottom-left corner from 18 yards out. 

Kane was almost joined on the scoresheet by Son Heung-Min when he bent an effort over the bar 10 minutes later, before the England captain sent a low strike narrowly wide of the bottom-right corner.

But Forest gave as good as they got, going close through long-range efforts from Lewis O'Brien and Morgan Gibbs-White before the break.

Forest should have levelled when Ryan Yates headed Gibbs-White's cross narrowly wide, but were then indebted to Henderson for making his second penalty save of the season to deny Kane after Cook's handball.

However, the Manchester United loanee's heroics ultimately counted for nothing when Richarlison's outside-of-the-foot cross provided Kane with a simple finish to wrap up a win that marks Tottenham's best start to a season since 2009-10.

What does it mean? Solid Spurs keep up strong start

While Tottenham's early-season performances have not always been convincing, they have gone unbeaten through their first four Premier League games for just a second time in the last 13 years.

The last time Spurs did so (when picking up eight points in 2016-17), Mauricio Pochettino led them to a second-placed finish and their first defeat of the season came after 13 games. Their promising results will raise hopes Conte can lead them to a similar achievement this term.

Kane brings up another landmark

Having broken the Premier League's one-club goalscoring record against Wolves last week, Kane needed just five minutes to score his 200th league goal on Sunday, later recovering from a missed penalty to net for the 187th time in the Premier League.

It puts him joint third in the Premier League's all-time goalscoring charts, alongside Andy Cole. Only Alan Shearer (260) and Wayne Rooney (208) are now ahead of the England captain, who has scored against 31 of the 32 teams he has faced in the Premier League. Only Brentford have prevented him from finding the net, doing so twice.

Dejan-vu as Kulusevski creates again

Kulusevski made a valuable contribution to Spurs' successful bid for a top-four finish after arriving from Juventus in January, and the Sweden international has picked up where he left off this season.

After laying on the opener, the 22-year-old has two Premier League assists this season and 10 since his debut in February. No other player has teed up as many goals in the competition in that time.

What's next?

Tottenham face London rivals West Ham in their next Premier League outing on Wednesday, while Forest visit champions Manchester City.

Scottie Scheffler delivered a storming finish to his third round at the Tour Championship to carry a six-shot lead into the final 18 holes at East Lake.

After nearby lightning strikes caused play to be suspended on Saturday, world number one Scheffler returned re-energised on Sunday morning to grasp control of the leaderboard.

Xander Schauffele had pulled to just one stroke behind Scheffler, but the leader made his big move with four birdies in his closing six holes when play resumed.

Scheffler had been level par for his third round through 12 holes, which is the point at which he had to leave the course the previous day, but Sunday's surge carried the 26-year-old to a 66 and 23 under par for the tournament.

Playing partner Schauffele could not muster a response to Scheffler, and he made bogey at the long par-four 14th to see the gap widen, having to settle for a level-par 70.

Rory McIlroy birdied 17 and 18 to complete a seven-under 63 and join Schauffele in a tie for second place through 54 holes, on 17 under par, with South Korea's Im Sung-jae and American Patrick Cantlay one shot further back.

The final event of the FedEx Cup sees the winner of the Tour Championship pocket staggering prize money of $18million, with the runner-up taking $6.5million.

Scheffler began the tournament on 10 under, under the unusual format that saw a staggered start based on performances in the previous FedEx Cup events.

He was the leader of the series standings so was duly rewarded, with second-placed Cantlay starting the week on eight under.

Remco Evenepoel extended his overall lead at the Vuelta a Espana as he stormed up the final climb during stage nine.

Evenepoel held a 28-second lead in the General Classification heading into Sunday's 153.4-kilometre route from Villaviciosa to Les Praeres, but is now over a minute ahead of the chasing pack, including three-time reigning champion Primoz Roglic.

Indeed, Roglic's chances of claiming an unprecedented fourth straight Vuelta crown will look bleak if Evenepoel can replicate this form for the rest of the race.

Louis Meintjes was the stage winner on the category one climb to the line, finishing over a minute ahead of Italian duo Samuele Battistella and Edoardo Zambanini.

Evenepoel came in fourth, well over a minute behind Meintjes, but he was 44 seconds clear of Enric Mas, who occupies second in the race for the red jersey, and 53 seconds ahead of Roglic.

The Belgian is now one minute and 12 seconds ahead of Mas and almost two minutes better off than Roglic, and his feat is even more impressive considering he went into the stage having lost a key figure in his team, with Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl domestique Pieter Serry having tested positive for COVID-19.

Likewise, Roglic and Jumbo-Visma will have to manage the rest of the La Vuelta without Sepp Kuss, who withdrew with a fever, while Wout Poels joined Serry in returning a positive coronavirus test.

Maiden win for Meintjes 

While Evenepoel did the damage in the GC, Meintjes' ride cannot be overlooked. He was the strongest of a nine-man breakaway and held on to claim his first stage win at a Grand Tour.

"It's something really special – I think it still needs some time to sink in. I've actually never been on the podium of a World Tour race except for team classifications so that was one of my main goals before stopping my career," the South African said.

"The last few days in the mountain finishes I was just not quite fast enough to keep up with the GC guys. Then, if I don't get a result that way, the best is to go in the breakaway. It worked out perfectly today. I was quite lucky – my team controlled it quite well and I tried once and picked the right breakaway so that was good teamwork."

STAGE RESULT

1. Louis Meintjes (Intermarche-Wanty-Gobert) 4:32:39
2. Samuele Battistella (Astana Qazaqstan Team) +1:01
3. Edoardo Zambanini (Bahrain Victorious) +1:14
4. Remco Evenepoel (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl) +1:34
5. Filippo Conca (Lotto Soudal) +1:58

CLASSIFICATION STANDINGS

General Classification

1. Remco Evenepoel (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl) 34:02:32
2. Enric Mas (Movistar) +1:12
3. Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) +1:53

Points Classification

1. Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo) 147
2. Sam Bennett (Bora-Hansgrohe) 142
3. Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates) 81

King of the Mountains

1. Jay Vine (Alpecin-Deceuninck) 40
2. Robert Stannard (Alpecin-Deceuninck) 21
3. Jimmy Janssens (Alpecin-Deceuninck) 17

Juventus midfielder Paul Pogba has been the target of an extortion attempt by an organised gang, according to his lawyers.

Pogba's brother Mathias posted videos online promising to publish "great revelations" about the France international, his agent and Paris Saint-Germain star Kylian Mbappe.

Mathias added that "the whole world, as well as my brother's fans, and even more so the French team and Juventus, deserve to know certain things".

Pogba's representatives responded in a widely released statement later on Sunday.

"The recent declarations of Mathias Pogba on social media are unfortunately not a surprise," read the statement.

"They are coming after threats and attempts of extortion by an organised gang against Paul Pogba.

"The competent bodies in Italy and France were informed a month ago and there will be no further comments in relation to the ongoing investigation."

ESPN has reported that the matter is still being investigated by French police, with the threats received by Pogba said to be very serious.

Mathias is a free agent after a spell with French fourth-tier side Belfort came to an end in April. That was the 13th club he has represented across a well-travelled career.

Thriston Lawrence claimed his second DP World Tour title at the European Masters after edging out Matt Wallace in a play-off at Crans-sur-Sierre.

The 25-year-old climbed into the world's top 100 for the first time as he held his nerve to earn a maiden European Tour success over four rounds.

Lawrence, who triumphed at the 36-hole Joburg Open last November, also became the first South African winner of the title since Ernie Els in 2003.

Following a stunning 67 on Saturday, the world number 129 held a three-shot lead over Wallace heading into the final round of his first European Masters appearance.

He appeared to pick up from where he left off with a magnificent 32-foot birdie on the third hole. However, a double-bogey on the fifth enabled Wallace to close the gap.

The Englishman carded an impressive 66 as he sought a first European Tour victory in nearly four years, while Lawrence's bogey on the 16th culminated in the sixth play-off in 10 editions of this event.

As both players returned to the 18th, Wallace was aiming to maintain his perfect play-off record, having prevailed at the Hero Indian Open and Made in Denmark in 2018.

But there was to be no joy for the 32-year-old this time around. Indeed, a sloppy approach culminated in him pulling a tricky five-foot par putt to tie, handing Lawrence the title.

"It's a privilege to be able to take this victory," the South African said. "There's so much history going around this event and all the past champions, so I can't wait to get my hands on this trophy.

"I was actually quite fine [with going to a play-off]. It's a tricky golf course; you can lose a few shots, especially around [holes] 14 and 15. On the par-fives, you can make a silly mistake and another guy can make birdies.

"I'm just happy with my patience around this weekend; I'm just so pleased to be able to win this.

"Growing up, you always want to be in the top 100 in the world, and to achieve it is quite emotional."

Charles Leclerc is struggling to see how he and Ferrari can get back into title contention after a tough weekend at the Belgian Grand Prix.

A dominant race for Red Bull on Sunday saw the Austrian team take first and second place, with drivers' championship leader Max Verstappen topping the podium from Sergio Perez.

Ferrari's Carlos Sainz was third, while Leclerc's dwindling title hopes took another knock when he crossed the line fifth before a penalty for speeding in the pit lane nudged him down a spot.

Leclerc now sits third in the standings with 186 points, a daunting 98 points behind Verstappen. Perez sits five points ahead of Leclerc now, too, and although there are eight races remaining, defending champion Verstappen practically has another title in the bag.

In the constructors' standings, Red Bull have 475 points, well ahead of Ferrari whose haul of 357 puts them second.

Leclerc took responsibility for his excessive pit-lane pace, saying it was "my fault... it's a mistake and that's it".

Reflecting on the bigger picture and looking at what improvements Ferrari might make, with time running out, Leclerc said: "It starts to look very difficult.

"Especially with the pace they've shown this weekend, it's going to be very, very difficult. But I'll keep my head down, try to focus race by race and try to do my best."

Speaking on Sky Sports, Leclerc was asked whether he was still in championship contention.

Again, he answered: "It starts to look very difficult."

Team-mate Sainz agreed Ferrari were left in a sticky position after an arduous weekend.

"Unfortunately it was harder than expected," said the Spaniard. "We had a lot of over-heating on the tyres, we were sliding around a lot, and for some reason our package wasn't quite there this weekend, but in the end we finished on a podium and we will take it.

"The first two laps were strong, but then we went into high degradation and I realised we were degrading more than what we should. Unfortunately we couldn't put up a stronger fight and we had to survive. We will have to learn why at this track we were not so competitive."

Sainz believes there could be stronger results ahead for Ferrari at the Dutch Grand Prix, which comes next, but he does not expect Red Bull to drop off and predicted they will be strong in Italy in two weeks' time.

"Zandvoort should be a better track for us," Sainz said. "Monza should be advantage for Red Bull there, but we will try and win it in Zandvoort."

Max Verstappen hailed an "amazing" weekend after winning the Belgian Grand Prix in dominant fashion to extend his drivers' championship lead.

The Red Bull driver started from 14th on the grid after a penalty for a power unit change, but a superb drive stormed him to a second successive win at Spa-Francorchamps.

In a chaotic race that saw a safety car on just the second lap, Verstappen weaved through the field to make it a Red Bull one-two as Sergio Perez also took advantage of the quick Red Bull car.

The impressive victory means Verstappen now holds a 93-point lead over second-placed team-mate Perez in the drivers' championship standings.

And the Dutchman was delighted after the race, telling Sky Sports: "It was amazing this weekend. We were super competitive from the get-go. I knew that we could have a really good result.

"Winning from P14, even with that car, is always a bit difficult because you don't know in general what is going to happen but luckily I stayed out of trouble, even though there was a lot of stuff going on.

"I was literally just trying to avoid everything and once everything calmed down with the safety car, I was just overtaking cars every lap.

"Once I realised we were in P3, even on the soft compounds, we were very quick and I knew I had a good chance of winning the race."

When asked if this was the best he had felt so far in his Formula One career, Verstappen replied: "It's difficult to say. I'm just enjoying the moment.

"Everyone within the team knows we are having a good time but we are also very focused on what we want to achieve. At the moment we are achieving that, but we always want more."

© 2023 SportsMaxTV All Rights Reserved.