The league, which began in 2017, has been a launchpad for many Indian paddlers while also supporting domestic tournaments and the larger ecosystem of the sport in our nation. The fourth edition of Ultimate Table Tennis (UTT) was on Friday postponed to next year due to concerns over health and safety of players amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The league, which began in 2017, has been a launchpad for many Indian paddlers while also supporting domestic tournaments and the larger ecosystem of the sport in our nation. UTT got an official window in the ITTF calendar for the first two years but with professional season getting busier, it did not get one last year.

Wimbledon is set to go ahead next year even if the Grand Slam tournament has to be staged behind closed doors, organisers announced on Friday. The grasscourt championships were cancelled this year for the first time since World War II because of the coronavirus pandemic.“Staging the championships in 2021 is our number-one priority and we are actively engaged in scenario-planning in order to deliver on that priority,” said chief executive Sally Bolton. The 134th championships will be staged from June 28 to July 11, 2021.

The Odisha Government will pay the Indian Rugby Football Union (also known as Rugby India) ₹3 crore as sponsor of National teams over three years. Sharing this information with The Hindu Odisha Sports Minister Tusharkanti Behera said: “The high performance player remuneration will be provided to India’s men and women’s teams in rugby 15s, rugby 7s, under-20 rugby 15s and 7s, under-18 rugby 7s towards players camp fees, tour fees, match fees, bonus, nutrition and welfare.”The Minister said Odisha, which has hosted several international events, including the Asia Rugby 7s' under-18 girls’ championship in October 2018, “looks forward to hosting bigger international rugby matches at the Kalinga Stadium.”“The association with Rugby India will help nurture talent, create a pathway to elite (level) and produce more players from the State who can bring laurels to the country,” said Behera.

World Athletics president Sebastian Coe said on Friday he embraced the new track technology that features pacemaking lights, a system used to great effect in the World records set last week by Joshua Cheptegei (men’s 10,000m) and Letesenbet Gidey (women’s 5,000m). Both had a team of metronomic pacemakers around them who utilised Wavelight technology — a trackside visual time guidance system which lights up to indicate the world record pace.“You have to innovate, there’s no question about that.I think Wavelight allows people in the stadium, people on television, to understand a little bit more about the incredible talent, the incredible speeds our competitors are running at actually lends to the type of understanding I want.”

The fate of the home season, including England’s scheduled tour of India early next year and the deferred domestic calendar, is set to be discussed during the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s apex council meeting on Saturday. As a result, despite the Indian Premier League (IPL) being played in the United Arab Emirates, there is no clarity on whether competitive cricket can resume in India anytime soon. The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has thus expressed apprehension over travelling to India and has instead sent the BCCI a feeler preferring to play the series in the UAE.“To assure ECB about safety of cricketers in India, scheduling domestic cricket is paramount but to create bubbles in four or five cities is the big risk, so it’s a tricky call,” said a BCCI insider.

Chris Gayle’s presence in the middle had the team brimming with confidence and the ‘Universe Boss” with a cracking half-century proved his worth during Kings XI Punjab’s win over Royal Challengers Bangalore, said batsman Nicholas Pooran. In the first match of the tournament against Delhi Capitals, KXIP had failed to score the required one run from the last three balls and the game went to a Super Over where Kings XI lost the game. With big-hitter Gayle departing off the penultimate ball, Pooran walked in to hit the winning six. Last three balls, one run it was like the Delhi game all over again but just the difference is that I was in the dugout,” Pooran said.

DC coach Ricky Ponting felt that playing well in the second half of the tournament will be a bigger challenge as the tracks in the UAE have been getting slower.“One thing I have been telling the boys right from the start is that I want us playing our best cricket in the back half of the tournament, not necessarily in the front half,” Ponting said on the eve of the match against CSK. About the CSK challenge, he said: “They’ve proven performers — they have probably been the best team in the IPL since Day 1, you can’t take them lightly.”

Rajasthan Royals may have blown more cold than hot this season, but Jofra Archer has been red hot with the ball, right through. Royals will need him to come up with another fine show in Saturday's match against Royal Challengers Bangalore at Dubai.“I think there are wins out there and we just, as a team, need to go out there and get them,” he said. Left-arm seamer Jaydev Unadkat Royals said Royals still had a chance to make it to the playoffs.

ARLINGTON, Texas — The Los Angeles Dodgers and the Tampa Bay Rays gathered at Globe Life Field here Tuesday for the first game of the World Series, the 116th in history and the first at a neutral site.“I’m sad that it didn’t happen at Dodger Stadium, because this game would have been at Dodger Stadium,” infielder Enrique Hernandez said after clinching the pennant in Game 7 of the National League Championship Series here on Sunday. The World Series is here only because of the coronavirus pandemic — but if Scott Boras had his wish, this would be the start of a new tradition. Boras, the most prominent agent in baseball, has called for a neutral-site World Series for at least a decade, once making the proposal in a letter to Bud Selig, the former commissioner.

He had excelled, scoring three times, and so had his team: Just as in 1995, 1997, 2001 and 2005, Argentina won the tournament. So fast had his star risen that, when the plane carrying the team back to Buenos Aires touched down, Di María barely made it through passport control.“When we landed, he got off our plane and onto the one that took him to Europe,” said Hugo Tocalli, the coach of that team. Nor was he the last: Within a year, nine more members of Tocalli’s team had been enticed away from Argentina.

It was well past midnight in Scotland by the time Sophia Popov FaceTimed with her parents, Philipp and Claudia, and older brothers Alex and Nicholas after winning the Women’s British Open at Royal Troon Golf Club in August. The victory by Popov, then ranked 304th, shocked the golf world. After seemingly coming from nowhere to win at Royal Troon, Popov’s ascendance was briefly halted by missing the ANA Inspiration — the second major on the reshuffled 2020 schedule — when the L.P.G.A.25 in the world rankings and possessing a two-year exemption on the LPGA Tour, Popov is adjusting to her new status entering only the fifth major of her career.

Mohammedan Sporting secured a place in the main stage of the I-League following a 2-0 win over city rival Bhawanipore FC in the penultimate match of the qualifiers. The match at the Kalyani Stadium on Friday saw Sporting score once in each half, via Vanlalbiaa Chhangte and substitute Gani Ahmmed Nigam, and maintain its dominance all through to collect the maximum nine points from three matches. Bhawanipore, which is on six points with a game left, cannot go ahead of Sporting due to its inferior head-to-head record after Friday's loss. Sporting meets FC Bengaluru United in its last match.

Barcelona must weigh up the decision whether to rest Lionel Messi for Saturday's trip to Getafe ahead of a congested run of fixtures, while Real Madrid is still waiting for the return of Eden Hazard from injury. However, with seven games in the space of 21 days awaiting Barca, coach Ronald Koeman could elect to give Messi a breather before the start of the team’s Champions League campaign. Leader Madrid is unbeaten in La Liga since March, winning 13 of its past 15 games, and welcome Cadiz to the capital this weekend. He is also expected to miss next weekend's Clasico, but Courtois believes Hazard will come good after scoring just once in an injury-plagued first season in Spain.

The chairman of the Football Association, Greg Clarke, meanwhile, has been accused of considering an idea that would see the Premier League expanded to include a second division, with its biggest clubs allowed to introduce so-called B teams further down the pyramid, of conspiring with the authors of Project Big Picture. There are always too many — and this includes the sainted “other 14” of the Premier League who have been hailed this week as the game’s saviors roughly five months after several of them flirted with the idea of abandoning the season entirely, costing their fellow clubs hundreds of millions of dollars, simply so they did not get relegated — happy to turn a blind eye to the need for change because the status quo works for them. The leagues do not trust the clubs. The clubs do not trust the leagues.

The next indication came on the very first point of his French Open quarterfinal against Pablo Carreno Busta, when Djokovic let a ball toss drop and abandoned his serve mid-motion. Off to a slow start Wednesday night, Djokovic received massages from a trainer, righted himself and beat Carreno Busta 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, 6-4 to reach the semifinals at Roland Garros for the 10th time. Against Carreno Busta, Djokovic manipulated his left arm. In the opening set, Djokovic accumulated three double-faults and a whopping 16 unforced errors _ accounting for nearly half of Carreno Busta’s 33 points.

Precisely 51 seconds elapse between pressing “record” on Zoom and Carlo Ancelotti asking the question that, according to those who work with him, is never far from his lips these days. It is very important to Carlo Ancelotti that you should know about Crosby. Until the turn of the year, Ancelotti was one of the unlucky ones: He was someone who had never been to Crosby. In the first few weeks after taking the job as Everton manager last December, though, Ancelotti set out with his wife to find a place to call home.

Chahar, Bumrah star with the ball before de Kock settles the contest with an unbeaten 44-ball 78; Cummins’ defiant fifty not enough for KolkataIt set the stage for leg-spinner Rahul Chahar, who called the shots in the middle overs by removing Shubman Gill and Dinesh Karthik, who had handed over the captaincy to Eoin Morgan in a bid to bat more freely. Kolkata Knight Riders: Rahul Tripathi c Suryakumar b Boult 7 (9b, 1x4), Shubman Gill c Pollard b Rahul Chahar 21 (23b, 2x4), Nitish Rana c de Kock b Coulter-Nile 5 (6b, 1x4), Dinesh Karthik b Rahul Chahar 4 (8b, 1x4), Eoin Morgan (not out) 39 (29b, 2x4, 2x6), Andre Russell c de Kock b Bumrah 12 (9b, 1x4, 1x6), Pat Cummins (not out) 53 (36b, 5x4, 2x6); Extras (lb-2, w-5): 7; Total (for five wkts. Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma c Karthik b Mavi 35 (36b, 5x4, 1x6), Quinton de Kock (not out) 78 (44b, 9x4, 3x6), Suryakumar Yadav b Varun 10 (10b, 1x4), Hardik Pandya (not out) 21 (11b, 3x4, 1x6); Extras (lb-5): 5; Total (for two wkts.

Kings XI Punjab have often struggled to finish games from comfortable positions in this IPL. Kings XI Punjab skipper KL Rahul was relieved to see his team finally get over the line comfortably but said the top-four batsmen must consistently close out games in the remainder of their IPL campaign. KXIP have often struggled to finish games from comfortable positions in this IPL. It is good that I am scoring consistently so you carry it into the next games,” he said.

Two first-time semifinalists at Roland Garros will square off, while two Grand Slam champions will meet in the other match on Philippe Chatrier Court, with all four players seeking their first appearance in a French Open final. With a guarantee that a first-time French Open champion will be crowned, nerves may be on edge, but the quality of tennis will surely be superb. Because of the number of matches cycling through courts, the times for individual matchups are at best a guess and are certain to fluctuate based on the times at which earlier play is completed. Swiatek, 19, has been having an exceptional French Open.

The Astros also tied a postseason record by using five rookie pitchers in a game, a relay through the first six and two thirds innings before Josh James and Ryan Pressly took over. After tearing through Minnesota and Oakland in the first two rounds, when he hit .500, Correa was 2 for 14 through the first four games of the A.L.C.S. After going hitless in his first two at-bats of Game 5, he got a critical pointer from Cintron, the hitting coach.“We’ve got to fix you, you’re doing everything wrong,” Correa said Cintron told him, as the Astros came to bat in the middle innings.

Novak Djokovic got his quest for an 18th Grand Slam title back on track as he commenced his French Open campaign with a drama-free 6-0 6-2 6-3 victory over Mikael Ymer on Tuesday. But it was one-way traffic as Djokovic polished off the second set with his trademark clean hitting. The 80th-ranked Ymer, facing a world number one for the first time, stuck manfully to his task in the third set and Djokovic became a little sloppy as he handed back a service break with a double-fault after which he flexed his hand. Djokovic was odds-on to win the U.S. Open, with Rafa Nadal and Roger Federer absent, and move within one Grand Slam title of the Spaniard and two behind the Swiss who is not in Paris.

‘Team selection for Australia tour will take place in a few days’ time’Ahmedabad will host the day-night pink ball Test during England’s tour of India early next year, BCCI president Sourav Ganguly said here on Tuesday. He added the priority now is the upcoming Australia tour and the team selection will take place in a few days. The team will be selected in a few days’ time.”

Lucky loser Sumit Nagal lost from the brink of victory in the first round of the €271,345 ATP tennis tournament in Cologne on Tuesday. Sumit, who had lost the second and final round in the qualifying event, was beaten 4-6, 7-6(4), 6-1 by Momir Kecmanovic of Serbia in the main draw. In the Challenger in Ismaning, Prajnesh Gunneswaran and Ramkumar Ramanathan made singles pre-quarterfinals. Qualifying singles (second and final round): Pierre-Hugues Herbert (Fra) bt Sumit Nagal 6-2, 6-2; First round: Nagal bt Norbert Gombos (Svk) 7-5, 6-4.

Already repeatedly trimmed, crowd sizes for the French Open have been reduced again ahead of play starting this weekend — to only 1,000 spectators per day — because of the worsening coronavirus epidemic in Paris. His office confirmed Friday that the reduction relates only to spectators, not to players, coaches, organizers and others working at Roland Garros, as Castex first said, causing initial confusion. For Roland Garros, that means less freedom than was accorded the Tour de France, which got to Paris last weekend without any positive cases among the 176 riders who took part in the three-week race. Roland Garros organizers are subjecting players to multiple tests, which Forget said will be repeated every five days if they stay in the draw.

The Australian Open champion was kept on her toes for two sets by an opponent who had beaten her in their previous encounters before strolling through the decider to set up a clash with Czech seventh seed Petra Kvitova. It was the first time Kenin took a set against Collins in four encounters, and the fourth seed kept her momentum, breaking again for 3-2 in the second set as her unseeded opponent smacked a forehand long. The Russian looked set to keep his record intact as he served for the first set at 5-4 but Tsitsipas, who also reached the semi-finals at last year’s Australian Open, fought back to level the set and then broke Rublev’s serve to take the opener. Rublev did not find a way back into the match as Tsitsipas broke his serve three more times in the next two sets.

The tournament, cancelled this year for the first time since 1945, is scheduled to run next year from June 28-July 11. Wimbledon was the only Grand Slam tournament cancelled this year because of the coronavirus pandemic, but the All England Club announced plans on Friday for its return next year. The tournament, cancelled this year for the first time since 1945, is scheduled to run next year from June 28-July 11. The Australian Open was held this year before the coronavirus pandemic spread around the world, but the 2021 tournament could be affected.

This goes against prevailing wisdom — that of all formats of the game, it is in the shortest that the captain has the least role to play. This goes against prevailing wisdom — that of all formats of the game, it is in the shortest that the captain has the least role to play. All captains make mistakes. Sometimes the captain can make the right call which leads to the wrong result (for his team); occasionally it is the other way around, when a blatantly wrong decision leads to a surprisingly positive result.

Former India batsman Aakash Chopra expects Mumbai Indians and Delhi Capitals to square off in the final of IPL 2020. While Chopra predicts Royal Challengers Bangalore to be the third team to make the playoffs, he feels that the competition will be stiffer for the fourth spot. There are quite a few teams that are there, and in the end, it may not be about which is the best of the remaining teams,” he said. Chopra, who played for Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL 2008, says the tournament was like nothing that he had seen before.

Angered and humiliated, it has fought, so far unsuccessfully, to re-enter the international sports community through legal channels. But, American prosecutors and British government officials say, it went much further than that, actively seeking to undermine the Olympics it was barred from. Just as it used the full might of the state in a cheating scheme that brought it now disputed medals at events like the 2014 Sochi Games, Russia unleashed some of the same forces to hack and disrupt the opening ceremony of the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea and the now-delayed 2020 Tokyo Summer Games, according to American and British officials. Now, once again, the International Olympic Committee is left to decide what, if any, action to take against one of the largest and most influential countries in its movement, one that has time and again challenged its ideals.