Featured

Stuart Bingham produced a string of big breaks to turn his World Championship semi-final with Mark Selby on its head. Bingham, trailing 9-7 after Friday's morning session, played almost flawless snooker to win five successive frames with breaks of 131, 96, 78 and 68. Selby dug in to take the next two but a 63 break earned Bingham a 13-11 overnight lead going into Saturday's final session at 14:30 BST. Kyren Wilson leads Shaun Murphy 10-6 in the other best-of-33 semi-final. Wilson, 29,

Wigan Warriors have suspended prop Tony Clubb while they hold an investigation into an alleged racist comment made during their win against Hull FC. Hull forward Andre Savelio said a Wigan player used a racist remark and reported it to referee James Child. Child put the incident, which occurred in the 34th minute, on report before the match continued. "Equality matters, and Wigan and Hull FC are united in this message," a joint Wigan and Hull statement said. "Both clubs have discussed the matter and

This year's Twenty20 World Cup could be moved to the United Arab Emirates if India continues to suffer with a second wave of the coronavirus pandemic. The tournament is due to begin in October, but the Covid death toll in India has passed 200,000, with at least 300,000 new infections every day in the past week. Last week, India joined the UK's travel red list - effectively banning travel to and from the country. Other countries - including Australia - have also closed their

LONDON: The Champions League final will definitely take place in Istanbul on May 29 despite Turkey going into a COVID-19 lockdown, UEFA said on Thursday (Apr 29). A resurgence of COVID-19 infections has prompted the Turkish government to impose a 17-day lockdown which will end on May 17. With the growing possibility of English Premier League clubs Manchester City and Chelsea reaching the final scheduled for the Ataturk Olympic Stadium, questions have been raised about the logistics of the venue. However, UEFA insist

LONDON: India batting great Sachin Tendulkar has donated 10 million rupees (approximately US$135,000) to a fundraising campaign that is helping hospitals treating COVID-19 patients procure oxygen concentrators. Mission Oxygen, which describes itself as a non-for-profit, charitable initiative, said it has placed an order for 1,365 concentrators from China and thanked Tendulkar for his donation. "His donation of rupees 1 crore to Mission Oxygen in its endeavour to procure and provide life-saving oxygen concentrators to hospitals across the nation in this time of need

Opener Prithvi Shaw smashed six fours in the first over in a stunning batting display on his way to a blistering 82 as Delhi Capitals (DC) crushed Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) by seven wickets in the Indian Premier League (IPL) in Ahmedabad on Thursday. Chasing 155 for a win, Shaw sent all the six legal deliveries from opening bowler Shivam Mavi to the boundary, driving, punching and sweeping at will. Mavi's first delivery saw Dinesh Karthik diving full-length to his left to take

South Africa’s Kevin Anderson recorded 12 aces and advanced to the quarterfinals of the Millennium Estoril Open with a 6-3, 7-6 (4) win against Spain’s Roberto Carballes Baena on Wednesday in Portugal. Anderson trailed 2-4 in the tiebreak before winning five straight points to finish in one hour and 49 minutes. He'll face No. 6 seed Marin Cilic of Croatia, who endured two rain delays and rallied to beat Portugal's Nuno Borges 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-4. No. 3 seed Ugo Humbert of France

PARIS: Manchester City took a big step towards their first Champions League final as goals by Kevin De Bruyne and Riyad Mahrez earned them a 2-1 comeback win at Paris St Germain in the semi-final first leg on Wednesday (Apr 28). PSG went ahead courtesy of a Marquinhos header in the first half, but Mauricio Pochettino's side lost control after the break with De Bruyne and Mahrez finding the back of the net in the space of eight minutes to secure City's 18th

Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) rode on an AB de Villiers special and a solid final over from Mohammad Siraj to inflict a one-run defeat on Delhi Capitals (DC) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) in Ahmedabad on Tuesday. The ever-reliable De Villiers scored an unbeaten 42-ball 75 to power RCB to 171 for five before their bowlers, led by Harshal Patel (2/37), Mohammed Siraj (1/44) Kyle Jamieson (1/32), restricted DC to 170 for four. Needing 14 off the final over, DC fell agonisingly

No. 7 seed Jan-Lennard Struff of Germany moved into the second round of the BMW Open with a 6-4, 6-3 victory Tuesday against Slovakia's Andrej Martin in Munich, Germany. Struff struck six aces and only faced two break points (saving one) during the 76-minute match. Up next is compatriot Dominik Koepfer, a 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 winner against three-time Munich champion Philipp Kohlschreiber. No. 5 Nikoloz Basilashvili of Georgia cruised 6-2, 6-3 over Brazil's Thiago Monteiro. American qualifier Mackenzie McDonald upset No. 6 seed

World number eight Tyrrell Hatton became the fourth player to withdraw from this week's Valspar Championship in Palm Harbor, Florida, after receiving a positive test for COVID-19, the PGA Tour said on Tuesday. The Englishman, who finished in a share of eighth place at last week's Zurich Classic of New Orleans team event with 2016 Masters champion Danny Willett, was among the top players in this week's field at Innisbrook Resort's Copperhead course. "Hatton will have the PGA Tour's full support throughout his

Christian Horner has told that he was "delighted" to lure Ben Hodgkinson away from rivals Mercedes, but says Andy Cowell - who left the F1 world champions earlier this year - is unlikely to be joining Red Bull's "tremendously exciting" engine project. Red Bull made a big statement last Friday when they announced the hiring of Hodgkinson as technical director for their new engine programme, given his two-decades worth of experience for Mercedes' Powertrains division. In an interview with Sky Sports News' Craig

SYDNEY: Australia's Olympic Committee on Wednesday (Apr 28) hailed a decision to fast-track COVID-19 vaccinations for athletes travelling to the Tokyo Games despite accusations of queue-jumping. The Australian government announced late on Tuesday that an estimated 2,000 athletes and staff members would get jabs before travelling to the games, which are scheduled to begin on Jul 23. "We want to see our athletes head to Tokyo to compete and then return to Australia safely," said health minister Greg Hunt. Australian Olympic Committee CEO

MADRID: Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane said on Monday (Apr 26) that he was not thinking about any sanctions against the club from UEFA in the wake of the European Super League announcement last week. The breakaway league involving 12 of Europe's major clubs collapsed within three days of its announcement amid a fierce backlash from fans, governing bodies and politicians. Real president Florentino Perez was named as chairman of the project and appears to have been the driving force behind the league,

LONDON: AC Milan striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Inter Milan's Romelu Lukaku have been fined for unsportsmanlike conduct following an investigation into a verbal clash between the pair during a Coppa Italia match in January. The Italian Football Federation (FIGC) said on Monday that Ibrahimovic had been fined €4,000 (US$4,834), Lukaku €3,000, AC Milan €2,000 and Inter €1,250. The two former Manchester United team mates exchanged insults during the cup quarter-final on Jan 26 and Lukaku had to be restrained at the end of

TOKYO: Hundreds of Japanese towns and cities have been forced to rethink plans to host Olympic teams because the coronavirus will prevent public appearances and require costly safety measures. The western town of Okuizumo spent more than US$5 million preparing to welcome India's hockey team for a pre-Games training camp, only to scrap the visit because of COVID-19. After sinking money into upgrading sports facilities, Okuizomo balked when it became clear it would have to provide bubble-like biosecurity measures with regular virus tests

Jamaica's Danusia Francis said the decision by German athletes to compete in full-body suits at the European Artistic Gymnastics Championships last week was empowering for women. Sarah Voss donned a full-body suit at the Basel event and was followed by team mates Kim Bui and Elisabeth Seitz. The German Gymnastics Association (DTB) said that the move was a stand against sexualisation in the sport. "I think it's amazing," Francis, who previously represented Britain but will compete for Jamaica at this year's Tokyo Games,

Shorter 'sprint' races will be introduced to Formula 1 this year to set the grid positions at three grands prix, series bosses have agreed. Points will be awarded to the top three finishers - three for first, two for second and one for third. Grid positions for the shorter race - to be called 'sprint qualifying' - will be set by moving qualifying to Friday. Avoiding calling the event a 'race' is to ensure that the grand prix remains the main focus of

An "ultra-rare" signed rookie card for four-time National Basketball Association (NBA) champion LeBron James sold for $5.2 million on Monday, breaking the record for the most expensive basketball card ever sold. It also equalled the record for any sports trading card, matching the amount paid in January for a 1952 rookie card for baseball great Mickey Mantle. "At the heart of every collector in 2003 was the hope of pulling the ultra-rare LeBron James Rookie Patch Auto Parallel numbered to 23 copies," PWCC

Roger Federer's decision to make his long-awaited Grand Slam return on his least favourite surface at next month's French Open is part of a grand plan to peak in time for his beloved Wimbledon, according to ESPN commentator Patrick McEnroe. Federer, who due to injury or schedule preference has not competed on the clay courts at Roland Garros in four of the last five years, returned to competition last month after sitting out more than a year following two knee operations. "He wouldn't