Sports

Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) says Sri Lanka would host a white-ball series with three ODIs and as many T20I matches being played between March 13 to March 25 in the UAE. The series will kick start with its T20I leg, where the teams will take on each other first in a T20I match on March 13 at Sharjah Cricket Stadium while the 2nd & 3rd T20Is are scheduled to be played on the same venue on 15th & 17th respectively. The action will

Former champions Andrey Rublev triumphed in a battle of former winners when the Russian star defeated Ugo Humbert 6-4 6-7 (5/7) 6-3 to advance to the quarterfinals of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships on Wednesday. The 2022 champion, Rublev dealt with a spirited showing from the 2024 Dubai winner to continue his good form having reached the semifinals at the Qatar Open last week. Earlier, Canada’s top seed Felix Auger-Aliassime recovered from a shaky beginning to beat French qualifier Giovanni Mpetshi in

Steve Riley, who was in his early 20s when he first came to the UAE from the UK in the 1980s. The Briton quickly secured a position at Al Ain Hilton, before moving to Dubai Sheraton. But beyond his work, what stands out for Riley about the UAE is tennis. “I played a lot in the community tennis tournaments in Dubai before and even won the Dubai Tennis Open,” Riley said. This time, however, Riley was in Dubai for a different reason. Riley

Cyclists, families and fitness lovers in Qatar can look forward to Aamal Ride 2026 — an event that promises excitement for all health and sports activities enthusiasts. Taking place on April 3rd in 2026 and hosted by Aamal Company Q.P.S.C., the Qatar Community Cycling is a community cycling event bringing together people of all ages to celebrate health, wellness and doing something together, this is its third edition with Qatar Cyclists. So if you are a seasoned cyclist or someone just looking for

Four soccer games in Mexico were postponed when violence erupted near the city of Guadalajara following a military operation that killed the cartel leader Nemesio Oseguera, and Fifa is monitoring the situation in that 2026 World Cup host city. Oseguera — whose nickname “El Mencho” and involvement with the powerful Jalisco New Generation Cartel, or CJNG turned him into one of Mexico’s most-wanted drug lords — died in custody after suffering injuries during a special forces operation on Mexico’s Pacific coast in Jalisco

International superstar Jason Derulo is set to perform at the official after-show entertainment at the 30th Dubai World Cup on Saturday, March 28, 2026, at Meydan Racecourse. One of the most visible names in pop music, Derulo has sold over 250 million singles globally and received 14 platinum certifications in the United States. Well known for his high-octane performances and hits such as Whatcha Say, In My Head, Ridin’ Solo and UK No.1 Don’t Wanna Go Home, he will deliver a night to

In a first round clash of title-holders from the previous two editions of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, Ugo Humbert beat Greece's Stefanos Tsitsipas in straight sets 6-4 7-5. Humbert, the left-handed Frenchman, won the Dubai title last year but was going in as defending champion after winning it here on Centre Court in 2019. Tsitsipas continued to make unforced errors, and on Tuesday Humbert was rewarded for the better consistency. “It’s nice to return where I won a tournament, but today

Now Rudy Fernández, the Real Madrid legend wears one after taking a liking to Dubai Basketball, its new professional team now rubbing shoulders with European elites in the EuroLeague. A two-time World Cup winner and a two-time Olympic silver seller with Spain, Fernández is hugely impressed by how Dubai Basketball has performed in the Euro League and the ABA League. Last season, in its inaugural campaign, Dubai Basketball made the ABA League playoffs — an impressive feat for a new team. Dubai Basketball,

Just over a day after Stan Wawrinka spoke candidly about his friendship with Roger Federer in a press conference, the legendary Swiss turned out at the Dubai Tennis Stadium to support his friend. Federer’s eyes trained on the action from the Royal Box, Wawrinka, who is retiring after Wimbledon this year, rolled back the years with a 7-5, 6-3 victory over Lebanese wild card Benjamin Hassan in Monday’s opening round of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships. Hassan, who was born in Germany,

India's assistant coach has said that the defending T20 World Cup champions will require "two big performances" in order to qualify for the semi-finals after their crash to South Africa on Sunday. India were red-hot favourites on home soil heading into the T20 World Cup but suffered a crushing 76-run defeat in the Super Eights, as the 80,000 fans at the sprawling Narendra Modi stadium fell silent. In their first run chase of the tournament, India's batsmen fell way short against some disciplined South Africa bowling.

South Africa crushed reigning champions India by 76 runs on Sunday in their Super Eight Group One match of the Twenty20 World Cup, confirming their title credentials and serving notice to opponents. Electing to bat in a rematch of the 2024 World Cup final, SA raced to a powerful 187-7 after recovering from 20-3. In response tournament co-hosts India also surrendered their top order to the nerves, and their innings never really broke free from the shackles of chasing a nominal target. They were bowled out for

Elina Svitolina is over the moon to be back in the semifinals of a special tournament. Wed to French tennis player Gael Monfils, Svitolina recently made a heartwarming comeback into the WTA top 10 since she had given birth to their daughter Skai. Svitolina, who is a two-time champion at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, is now just two victories away from winning the tournament for the third time. On Thursday night, the 31-year-old staved off a ferocious wafts from Croatian Antonia Ruzic to secure a

West Indies defeated Italy by 42 runs in their final Twenty20 World Cup Group C match here on Thursday as the two-times champions registered third straight win to enter into Super Eights phase with a clean slate. Captain Shai Hope scored his 11th T20 Internationals half-century, hitting a Man of the Match knock of 75 off 46 balls on either side of what was an industrious bowling effort. Italy were soon reeling in their chase when a nip-backer from Matthew Forde pegged back Justin Mosca’s

Filipina sensation Alexandra Eala extended her fairytale week with a straight-sets victory over grizzled Romanian Sorana Cîrstea 7-5, 6-4 to advance into the quarterfinals of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships. It was also another full house that received the crowd favourite Wednesday night. And the 20-year-old didn’t let her adoring Filipino fans down, storming to victory on Center Court in a match-up that could turn into a mouthwatering quarterfinal against two-time Grand Slam winner US sensation Coco Gauff. The defeat followed a stunning win over world

Elina Svitolina got a walkover win when her round of 32 opponent, Paula Badosa, had to quit because of an injury, Svitolina said it wasn't how she wanted to win. She was up 6-4 when Badosa stopped due to a thigh problem, joining many others who've had to pull out of the tournament. Svitolina smiled when asked about her next match against Belinda Bencic from Switzerland. They’ve both been in the news lately for getting back into the top 10 after having kids.

Australia's out of the T20 World Cup! Zimbabwe moved on to the Super Eights because their game against Ireland got rained out in Kandy, no play at all. So, Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka are through from Group B. They're heading to the next round to play the West Indies, India, and South Africa. Ireland's out too. It rained all day at the Pallekelle stadium, so the umpires called the game at 5:30 pm local time (1200 GMT). There was no way they could've

New Zealand trounced Canada despite a spectacular century by Yuvraj Samra in their Group D match and with it booked their place in the Super Eight stage of the Twenty20 World Cup at Afghanistan's expense on Tuesday. Glenn Phillips (76) and Rachin Ravindra (59) clobbered unbeat half-centuries as New Zealand eased to a target of 174 with 4.5 overs to spare for their third win out of four. Pool leaders South Africa had already progressed to the super eight from the group with a hat-trick of

Dubai: Haider Ali was put to the sword as Afghanistan struggled for a hard-fought five-wicket win over UAE in Group D of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in Delhi on Monday. Afghanistan had chased down 161 with four balls to spare. After being set 161, Afghanistan recovered from the early loss of Rahmanullah Gurbaz. Gulbadin Naib and Ibrahim Zadran put on 40 for the second wicket to stabilise the innings. Zadran attacked Haider Ali in the fourth over, hitting four boundaries on his way to 18 off

Pathum Nissanka of Sri Lanka smashed the first century of the 2026 T20 World Cup on Monday to take his country through to the Super Eights and leave south Asian giants India and hosts Australia verging on elimination. Nissanka made 100 not out off 52 balls with five sixes and 10 fours as Sri Lanka, chasing Australia’s tally of 181, raced to 184-2 two overs to spare in Kandy and win by eight wickets. Zimbabwe would also knock out the 2021 champions were they to beat

If Belinda Bencic was ailing, particularly after withdrawing from the Abu Dhabi Open with an illness on her own doorstep, she did an excellent job of bucking the pain as she wore little more than a warm smile and flashed the victory sign to thousands of fans who serenaded her for selfies. The 28-year-old even took it a step further by posing for an adorable picture with a male admirer, who gave her his one-and-a-half year-old so she could hold him in the photograph. To