North America – Page 23 – Michmutters
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Tennis news 2022: Unvaccinated Novak Djokovic officially out of Montreal ATP event ahead of US Open, Nick Kyrgios

Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic, whose refusal to be vaccinated against Covid-19 makes him unable to enter Canada, has officially withdrawn from the ATP hardcourt tournament in Montreal, organizers said on Thursday.

The Serbian star’s unvaccinated status made it unlikely he would play in the prestigious ATP Masters tournament, just as it means he will probably miss the US Open starting later in August as the United States also requires visitors to the country to show proof of vaccination.

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Earlier this month, Montreal Masters tournament director Eugene Lepierre said he did not expect Djokovic to play.

“Either the Canadian government is going to change the rules regarding vaccination or he is going to roll up his sleeves and get the vaccine. But I don’t think any of those scenarios are realistic,” Lepierre said.

Germany’s Oscar Otte has also withdrawn from the tournament which starts on Monday with Benjamin Bonzi of France and Australia’s Wimbledon runner-up Nick Kyrgios moving into the main draw, Tennis Canada said.

In addition, three-time Grand Slam champion Andy Murray was handed a wildcard on Thursday, along with Belgian David Goffin and Canadians Vasek Pospisil and Alexis Galarneau.

Britain’s Murray, a former world number one who won the Canadian title in 2009, 2010 and 2015, has been rising in the rankings this season from 134th to 50th.

He reached finals in Sydney in January and Stuttgart in June, but fell in the first round in Washington earlier this week to Sweden’s Mikael Ymer.

Despite that disappointment, Murray said on Monday he believes he can get his ranking high enough to earn a seeding at the US Open, which he won a decade ago.

“It’s still possible,” he said. “I would just need to have a good run in Canada or Cincinnati really. It’s pretty straightforward if I was to make a quarter-final or a semi-final, which right now – after a loss like that – doesn’t seem realistic.

“I do feel like if I play very well that I could do that. But I’ll certainly need to play better than I did today.”

Meanwhile, Kyrgios has continued his preparation for the last grand slam of the year with a strong win over Tommy Paul at the Washington Open on Thursday (AEST).

The Australian was challenged in just his second singles match since Wimbledon and had to play his best tennis to defeat Paul 6-3 6-4.

Kyrgios was locked in, firing off 15 aces including one rocket at 218km/h.

He was superb in the clutch moments — saving all four break points he faced and converting three out of four of his own break point opportunities.

Kyrgios was up to his usual antics when he got stuck into the umpire after he was given a code violation for ball abuse.

But the Washington crowd was in his corner and he showed his soft side in the first set, when an elderly fan was hit in the face by a ball that took a wayward bounce into the stands.

Kyrgios went over and handed the spectator one of his towels.

He is chasing his second title in Washington and will next face fourth seed Reilly Opelka in the round of 16 on Friday.

– with Matthew Sullivan and AFP

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Michelle Jenneke hurdles result, schedule, shoe storm after world championships

Michelle Jenneke is ready to move on from the shoe furore that has swirled in recent weeks, but the court of public opinion doesn’t seem ready to move on just yet.

Jenneke ran a career-saving personal best time at the World Championships in Oregon last month in an event that has had the athletics world raising its eyebrows.

Nigeria’s Tobi Amusan broke the world record in the women’s 100m hurdles at the Oregon meet and the fact she did it wearing new shoes was not missed.

Jenneke ran her personal best of 12.66 wearing traditional track spikes while Amusan produced her lightning times wearing Adidas Adizero Avanti shoes — designed for runners who compete in 5-10 km races.

Jenneke’s time wasn’t even enough for her to sneak into the final as Amusan obliterated her personal best time by almost 0.3 seconds to set the new world record at 12.12. She also produced at 12.06 in the final, but it was scratched from the record books because it was a wind-assisted time.

Michelle Jenneke after setting her PB. Photo by Hannah Peters/Getty Images for World Athletics.Source: Getty Images

The times were so quick in Oregon that sprinting icon Michael Johnson thought the timing system was broken.

“I don’t believe the 100th times are correct,” he wrote on Twitter.

“All athletes looked shocked.”

From an Australian perspective, we can be safe in the knowledge that Jenneke’s comeback was all down to her performance.

Amusan hit out at the speculation that surrounded her record and said she switched shoes because of an ongoing heel condition,

“My abilities are not centered around spikes,” she said.

“I had patella fasciitis at the beginning of the season so that set me back for a while. I spoke to Adidas and requested if I could get spikes with a softer sole. They recommended a lot of stuff and I feel comfortable in these, so I was using them basically the entire time.”

Tobi Amusan and her fancy feet. Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images.Source: Getty Images
Nigeria’s Tobi Amusan celebrates setting a world record. Photo by Jewel SAMAD / AFP.Source: AFP

Adidas originally promoted the product as shoes that “provide a snappy, propulsive ride with high traction and reduce fatigue, so you finish 5km and 10km races with a kick”.

Jenneke said before her program starts on Friday evening (AEST) that the shoe technology debate has been blown out of context.

She is much more focused on her own performance—and that sweet personal best she set in Oregon which made her the second-quickest women’s 100m hurdler Australia has ever produced, behind only Sally Pearson.

“It was unbelievable. I still can’t believe I ran that fast,” she said.

“I keep going back looking at footage of the race and just going, ‘Oh my gosh, did I actually do that?’”

When speaking to reporters she went on to say: “I ran quite a PB in that race and ran in the same shoes that I have been running in for the last five years.

“I know I can’t attribute my PB to the shoes because it’s the same shoe, the same model of shoe. I have tried some of the newer spikes that they have coming out, the technology is amazing, and I’m sure people are faster but at the same time if you go back 10, 20 years, look at the shoes people were wearing, they were entirely different to what we were wearing five years ago. The technology is forever evolving.

The jiggle returns. Photo by Ben Stansall / AFP.Source: AFP
Michelle Jenneke at the 2018 Games. Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images.Source: Getty Images

“I don’t think we are seeing anything that is causing that much of a change that it needs to be questioned.

“World Athletics is constantly reviewing this, they do have a compliance list for the shoes, and they have to be checked. I don’t think there is a huge story personally and in terms of me there is definitely not.”

Her return to form makes her an outside medal threat in Birmingham.

She is also promising to produce her trademark pre-race jiggle routine.

The 29-year-old went viral with the pre-race shake at the 2012 World Junior Championships and it ultimately led to her being one of the highest-profile stars of the 2016 Rio Olympics, even though some thought the notoriety didn’t match her performances on the track.

Jenneke was once a household name who attracted global attention — and major endorsement deals from some of the world’s biggest companies. She was sponsored by Coca-Cola at the Rio Games and her face was plastered across billboards in the Brazilian city.

But she copped fierce criticism for a disappointing showing at those Games, finishing a kilometer in her 100m hurdles heat.

Australian track and field coach at the time, Craig Hilliard, accused Jenneke of arriving in Rio out of shape and questioned whether distractions away from the track contributed to her lackluster showing. Athletics Australia then cut her funding from her.

She rebounded for a strong performance at the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast and narrowly missed out on a bronze medal.

Four injury-riddled years later and Jenneke will be hoping to make Australia fall in love with her all over again in Birmingham.

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Commonwealth Games 2022: Michelle Jenneke final of 110m hurdles, star looks ripped

Aussie star Michelle Jenneke has run the fastest time of her life to thunder into the final of the 100m hurdles at the Commonwealth Games.

The 29-year-old was looking absolutely shredded as she stood on the starter’s blocks before her heat and it turns out there is no secret behind the physical shape she is in which has her running the best times in her entire career. She told Channel 7 after the race she is in “the shape of my life”.

Jenneke finished second in Heat 3 at Alexander Stadium in Birmingham and moves into the final with the second-quickest overall time, behind only world record holder Tobi Amusan of Nigeria.

Jenneke’s time of 12.63 will not count as a new personal best because the time was wind-assisted.

However, the form is undeniably there.

Her run on Friday night (AEST) would suggest she is a red-hot medal chance, but she is toning down expectations for the final on Sunday night where five of the eight runners were also in the final of the World Championships in Oregon last month .

“This is a very strong field,” she said.

“It’s a very strong field here. I don’t know if I’ll quite be good enough for a medal, but hopefully I can run a personal best and we’ll see where that puts me.”

It is clear she deserves her place alongside the fastest runners in the world.

“Even when I was young at my first world champs I was never really intimidated by anyone,” she said.

“I feel like for me, when I go out there I’m just trying to put my best foot forward and they’re doing the same thing and if they beat me, they beat me. As long as I’m doing my best then that’s all I really care about.

“I’m not too worried about what the other athletes do, except for using them to try and get faster time.”

She said her peak physical condition is simply the result of finally being able to have a stretch without injuries where she could get in an extended training block.

“I haven’t really changed things. It’s just one of those things where I’ve been able to string together some training where I haven’t been injured,” she said.

“So I’ve actually been able to get every session done. When you do that things seem to come together. That’s really all it is. Nothing too special.”

Jenneke ran a career-saving personal best time of 12.66 at the World Championships.

Jenneke’s time wasn’t even enough for her to sneak into the final as Amusan obliterated her personal best time by almost 0.3 seconds to set the new world record at 12.12.

Jenneke’s time in Oregon made her the second-quickest women’s 100m hurdler Australia has ever produced, behind only Sally Pearson.

Jenneke famously went viral with her trademark pre-race shake at the 2012 World Junior Championships and it ultimately led to her being one of the highest-profile stars of the 2016 Rio Olympics.

Jenneke was once a household name who attracted global attention — and major endorsement deals from some of the world’s biggest companies. She was sponsored by Coca-Cola at the Rio Games and her face was plastered across billboards in the Brazilian city.

But she copped fierce criticism for a disappointing showing at those Games, finishing a kilometer in her 100m hurdles heat.

Australian track and field coach at the time, Craig Hilliard, accused Jenneke of arriving in Rio out of shape and questioned whether distractions away from the track contributed to her lackluster showing. Athletics Australia then cut her funding from her.

She rebounded for a strong performance at the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast and narrowly missed out on a bronze medal.

Four injury-riddled years later and Jenneke is doing plenty to make Australia fall in love with her again.

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Entertainment

Elle Macpherson’s son Flynn is the spitting image of his billionaire financier father Arpad Busson

Flynn Busson, the son of billionaire Arpad Busson and Australian supermodel Elle Macpherson, appears to be the spitting image of his father in new photos.

Flynn, 24, shared pictures on Instagram of himself the same speedboat that his financial father drove him around in as a toddler.

“22 years apart… 2022, 2012, 2000,” he posted alongside three photos of himself aboard the boat.

The first two images show Flynn driving the boat as an adult, the third from 2000, is a throwback to him as a child, sitting on his fathers lap at sea.

Elle and dated Arpad from 1996 until they spilled in 2005. But they remained friends and appeared together when Flynn graduated after studying finance and real estate at Boston University last year, with his mother sharing family photos to Instagram.

“Where did the time go? You boys are a credit to your selves, and your dad and I are so in awe of the men you have become,” she wrote at the time.

Flynn, who is also a licensed pilot, is the former couple’s oldest son. They also share another son, Cy, 19

According to both Elle and Flynn, the mother and son share a close relationship. In recent years, they’ve appeared at various events together, including the Christian Dior Haute Couture 2022/2023 fashion show in Paris, France.

The 58-year-old and her son wore complimentary Dior designs. Busson’s girlfriend Anna de Ferran was also in attendance.

The star, who is famously known as “The Body,” posted several snapshots of the outing on her Instagram account, Fox News reported.

“My favorite date,” she boasted in one post.

“Loved sharing these special moments with my sons,” she wrote in another, noting that her other son Aurelius Cy Andrea Busson, 19, was greatly missed.

Despite living in the public eye, the model previously revealed she has been determined to give her children a more low-key life. It was not until 2019 that Macpherson appeared alongside her sons de ella on the cover of Vogue Australia.

“We kept the children out of the public eye,” she explained to the outlet at the time. “It was a decision that their dad and I made. We didn’t think it was necessary for them to be recognized in public. Of course, you can’t stop paparazzi.”

Macpherson told the outlet that “for years” many asked her to model with her sons. But up until then, she had always said no.

“We had one experience where a family shot was used on the cover of a magazine without our permission, and at the time it was terrible, but actually I am strangely grateful now because it’s so beautiful,” she said.

“Now, with Instagram, the boys are public, and they make their own choices,” she continued. “[And] they are amazing company. Who wouldn’t love taking them places?”

In an interview with Vogue Australia in 2019, Flynn – who reportedly divides his time between London, New York and Miami – spoke glowingly of his mother: “I know everyone says that about their mum, but it really is true. My mother has always been so incredibly devoted to me and my brother.”

“I always knew we were her number-one priority.

“It has shone through everything from the way she chooses her jobs to the way she cooks dinner.”

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Entertainment

Elle Macpherson’s son Flynn is the spitting image of his billionaire financier father Arpad Busson

Flynn Busson, the son of billionaire Arpad Busson and Australian supermodel Elle Macpherson, appears to be the spitting image of his father in new photos.

Flynn, 24, shared pictures on Instagram of himself the same speedboat that his financial father drove him around in as a toddler.

“22 years apart… 2022, 2012, 2000,” he posted alongside three photos of himself aboard the boat.

The first two images show Flynn driving the boat as an adult, the third from 2000, is a throwback to him as a child, sitting on his fathers lap at sea.

Elle and dated Arpad from 1996 until they spilled in 2005. But they remained friends and appeared together when Flynn graduated after studying finance and real estate at Boston University last year, with his mother sharing family photos to Instagram.

“Where did the time go? You boys are a credit to your selves, and your dad and I are so in awe of the men you have become,” she wrote at the time.

Flynn, who is also a licensed pilot, is the former couple’s oldest son. They also share another son, Cy, 19

According to both Elle and Flynn, the mother and son share a close relationship. In recent years, they’ve appeared at various events together, including the Christian Dior Haute Couture 2022/2023 fashion show in Paris, France.

The 58-year-old and her son wore complimentary Dior designs. Busson’s girlfriend Anna de Ferran was also in attendance.

The star, who is famously known as “The Body,” posted several snapshots of the outing on her Instagram account, Fox News reported.

“My favorite date,” she boasted in one post.

“Loved sharing these special moments with my sons,” she wrote in another, noting that her other son Aurelius Cy Andrea Busson, 19, was greatly missed.

Despite living in the public eye, the model previously revealed she has been determined to give her children a more low-key life. It was not until 2019 that Macpherson appeared alongside her sons de ella on the cover of Vogue Australia.

“We kept the children out of the public eye,” she explained to the outlet at the time. “It was a decision that their dad and I made. We didn’t think it was necessary for them to be recognized in public. Of course, you can’t stop paparazzi.”

Macpherson told the outlet that “for years” many asked her to model with her sons. But up until then, she had always said no.

“We had one experience where a family shot was used on the cover of a magazine without our permission, and at the time it was terrible, but actually I am strangely grateful now because it’s so beautiful,” she said.

“Now, with Instagram, the boys are public, and they make their own choices,” she continued. “[And] they are amazing company. Who wouldn’t love taking them places?”

In an interview with Vogue Australia in 2019, Flynn – who reportedly divides his time between London, New York and Miami – spoke glowingly of his mother: “I know everyone says that about their mum, but it really is true. My mother has always been so incredibly devoted to me and my brother.”

“I always knew we were her number-one priority.

“It has shone through everything from the way she chooses her jobs to the way she cooks dinner.”

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Entertainment

Batgirl farce: Warner Bros’ decision to scrap DC film defies history of releasing duds

This week the news broke that Warner Bros had “shelved” the upcoming comic book film batgirl.

The surprise move means the $100 million movie, which had already been filmed, will never be released on streaming services as previously planned.

Initial reports suggested the problem was the film’s quality – supposedly, it was so bad that it had been declared “irredeemable”.

Subsequent reports have suggested the study actually ditched it for cynical tax reasons.

A Warner Bros spokesperson said in an official statement that the choice to scrap batgirl was due to a “strategic shift as it relates to the DC universe and HBO Max”.

Whatever the true reason, the sudden axing has left the cast and crew of the DC flick stunned and moviegoers outraged.

“We are saddened and shocked by the news,” directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah wrote in their response to the film being cancelled.

“We still can’t believe it. As directors, it is critical that our work be shown to audiences, and while the film was far from finished, we wish that fans all over the world would have had the opportunity to see and embrace the final film themselves.

“Maybe one day they will.”

As a DC fan and film buff, I hope the directors are right. Let us watch the film, judge it for ourselves, and perhaps even enjoy it. Honestly, how bad can it be?

It’s not as though the DC Extended Universe (DCEU) has a track record of only releasing certified masterpieces. Unlike its Marvel counterpart, the DCEU has included some absolute dud movies, all of them released quite happily by Warner Bros.

You may recall, for example, 1997’s batman and robin.

Considered the lowest rated Batman flick (12 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes), it’s filled with terrible dialogue (Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Mr. Freeze one-liner “Who killed the dinosaurs? The ice age!), awful costumes (nipples on the Batsuit!) and horrendous production designs.

Coincidentally, it also featured the cinematic debut of Batgirl, played by Alicia Silverstone in a supporting role.

How about 2004’s cat woman? The movie was a cat-astrophe, and its lead star Halle Berry was so poor that she won a Razzie.

Or how about 2011’s Green Lantern? The film that was meant to launch the DCEU was visually overwhelming, overproduced and badly written.

All three of these films had glaringly obvious flaws, and have gone down in history as being among the worst superhero films of all time. No one at Warner Bros stopped them from being released to the public.

How many different iterations of Batman have we seen, of wildly varying quality, over the years? The studio has never stopped making them.

This was the first time we were going to see Batgirl in the lead role – an intriguing premise. The movie had already been filmed. If any subpar flick were going to be saved, this was it.

yet Este is the film, rather than any of the duds above, that has fallen victim to Warner Bros’ apparent quality standards.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, batgirl had landed a score in the low 60s at its only test screening.

That is not a stellar rating, but as THR noted, test screenings are not the final judgment for a movie – and other films with comparable test scores have gone on to be successful at the box office. Wildly successful, in some cases. The Stephen King adaptation Itemfor example, grossed more than $US700 million globally.

If the studio was so concerned about batgirl and wanted to save the DCEU, why not postpone the movie and do reshoots?

It’s happened with other comic book films: Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (almost $US1 billion at the box office), 2019’s X-Men: Dark Phoenix ($US250 million) and 2015’s Fantastic Four ($US168 million) to name a few.

None of these were masterpieces, but they got released, and DCEU fans got to judge them on their merits.

That’s all the directors of batgirl SE busca. They’ve been robbed of that chance, for reasons that increasing and sound as though they have more to do with money than passion or concern for the source material.

Maybe batgirl is the disaster it was first described as. Let’s find out. Put it on the streaming services. Give us a chance to watch it and decide for ourselves.

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Victoria Beckham ‘can’t stand’ Brooklyn’s wife Nicola Peltz

There’s a full-on cold war between Victoria Beckham and her new daughter-in-law, Nicola Peltz, Page Six has learned.

Peltz, 27, just married Brooklyn Beckham, 23 – Victoria’s oldest son with soccer superstar David Beckham – back in April. But we hear trouble was brewing even before the nuptials.

“They can’t stand each other and don’t talk,” a source close to the family told us. “The build-up to the wedding was horrendous.”

The source says that Peltz – who is the actress daughter of New York billionaire Nelson Peltz – didn’t want her soon-to-be-mother-in-law “to be any part of the planning, and she wouldn’t clue Victoria in on anything. Communication was minimal.”

Apparently, the cold shoulder didn’t help Posh Spice, 48 – who was struggling to warm up to the new member of the family as it was – see Peltz’s good side.

They added that it’s become “non-stop petty drama,” and it’s coming between the Beckhams, who now live in Miami, and their model son.

“They haven’t spoken to him much in the last few months,” said a source, who told us that it even went over badly at Chez Becks when Brooklyn posted a cover of British magazine Tatler that called Peltz “The New Mrs Beckham” .

The sources suspect that Peltz may be suffering from a little jealousy about her man’s globally renowned mum, and isn’t thrilled with the attention she gets, especially around her wedding day.

Peltz and Victoria Beckham were contacted for comment.

This story was originally published by Page Six and has been reproduced with permission

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Entertainment

Victoria Beckham ‘can’t stand’ Brooklyn’s wife Nicola Peltz

There’s a full-on cold war between Victoria Beckham and her new daughter-in-law, Nicola Peltz, Page Six has learned.

Peltz, 27, just married Brooklyn Beckham, 23 – Victoria’s oldest son with soccer superstar David Beckham – back in April. But we hear trouble was brewing even before the nuptials.

“They can’t stand each other and don’t talk,” a source close to the family told us. “The build-up to the wedding was horrendous.”

The source says that Peltz – who is the actress daughter of New York billionaire Nelson Peltz – didn’t want her soon-to-be-mother-in-law “to be any part of the planning, and she wouldn’t clue Victoria in on anything. Communication was minimal.”

Apparently, the cold shoulder didn’t help Posh Spice, 48 – who was struggling to warm up to the new member of the family as it was – see Peltz’s good side.

They added that it’s become “non-stop petty drama,” and it’s coming between the Beckhams, who now live in Miami, and their model son.

“They haven’t spoken to him much in the last few months,” said a source, who told us that it even went over badly at Chez Becks when Brooklyn posted a cover of British magazine Tatler that called Peltz “The New Mrs Beckham” .

The sources suspect that Peltz may be suffering from a little jealousy about her man’s globally renowned mum, and isn’t thrilled with the attention she gets, especially around her wedding day.

Peltz and Victoria Beckham were contacted for comment.

This story was originally published by Page Six and has been reproduced with permission

Read related topics:melbourne

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Sports

Commonwealth Games 2022: Fans cruelled by semi-final scheduling, New Zealand vs Australia start time, cricket news

The Australian women’s cricket team will face New Zealand in the Commonwealth Games semi-finals this weekend, but most Aussie supporters won’t be awake for the must-win contest in Birmingham.

The semi-final fixtures were unveiled on Friday morning AEST, with hosts England scheduled to take on powerhouse nation India on Saturday at 11am local time.

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Meanwhile, world champions Australia will battle their trans-Tasman rivals in the evening timeslot, meaning fans back home hoping to cheer on Meg Lanning’s side will need to set an alarm for 3am AEST on Sunday morning.

Kiwi viewers have been treated to a slightly less painful 5am start time.

Swapping the fixtures would have given three of the competing nations a prime broadcast timeslot for their respective audiences, but accommodating India’s massive fanbase has seemingly been prioritized.

Australia was undefeated in the group stage, defeating India, Barbados and Pakistan to cruise through the knockouts.

New Zealand, meanwhile, suffered a horror collapse in their final group stage match against England on Thursday, managing just 9/71 from their 20 overs after winning the toss and electing to bat first at Edgbaston.

Maddy Green top-scored for the Kiwis with 19 as veteran seamer Katherine Brunt rattled the New Zealanders with a classy spell of 2/4 from three overs in the Powerplay.

“We were well below par and it wasn’t through lack of effort or lack of planning or anything like that, I think you just get days like that,” New Zealand captain Sophie Devine said.

“It’s never nice to be a part of but we’ve got to flush it down the dunny pretty quickly and move on to something that’s actually really exciting for us, playing in a semi-final against Australia at a Commonwealth Games.”

England chased the 72-run target with more than eight overs to spare and seven wickets in hand.

Regardless, Australia remain firm favorites to return home with the coveted gold medal around their necks, having not lost a 20-over match since March 2021.

“I think a lot of the pressure is going to be on Australia,” Devine said.

“They’ve certainly come into this competition as favorites and hopeful of taking that gold medal whereas a lot of people didn’t think we’d maybe make the semi-finals.

“We can really take that on board and just play with a bit of freedom and take it to the Aussies. We obviously know them really well, so I think our plans are going to be pretty spot on and likewise they know us really well too. It’s always just a great battle against the Australians.”

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Business

Aldi Special Buys, alcohol no longer available online in retail turnaround

Aldi Australia has made a major change to its online store, leaving customers disappointed.

Last year, Aldi announced a trial where shoppers could purchase some of its Special Buys items online, but it has now been revealed it has concluded.

In discussing the change, a spokesperson for the German supermarket chain said while the trial provided valuable insight and some customers enjoyed the online ordering option, it “wasn’t the right time to expand”, 7 Life reported.

“Supply chain pressures and inflation means that our top focus [is] to deliver the best priced groceries to Australians. We believe that this focus, while it might come at the cost of other projects, delivers the best value to our customers,” the spokesperson said.

“We have been clear that delivering quality groceries at the best prices is our ongoing goal, especially when we are seeing Australians feel the pressure of inflation.

“Our unique business model is built on efficiency, and while we don’t want to see customers disappointed, we believe this is the best decision to continue maintaining our price gap of over 15 per cent compared to our competitors.”

The spokesperson said there was no immediate plan to bring online Special Buys back but Aldi wouldn’t rule it out for the future.

News.com.au has contacted Aldi for further comment.

Aldi first announced alcohol and Special Buys would be available online early last year, with plans to eventually have the store’s entire range online.

At the time of the announcement, Aldi CEO Tom Daunt, said groceries could be added at a later date but e-commerce was set to be part of the supermarket’s future as the Covid-19 pandemic accelerated Aussies’ online shopping habits.

Aldi customers were quick to spot the backflip by the supermarket.

“So did Aldi just quietly remove their online range instead of the promised expansion of eventually offering all their products online?” one person asked on social media.

“I can’t see any mention of online products anymore anywhere on their app or website ever since they had their online clearance last week.

“And they used to offer all the larger items like the table saw for delivery, but not any longer.

“I really feel like they’re removing the option altogether.”

Others noted that clearance items were still on offer online.

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