Latest – Olympic bronze medallist Marcus Daniell has crashed out in the second round of the men’s doubles at the US Open in New York.
Marcus Daniell (right) with Michael Venus at the Tokyo Olympics. Photo: PhotoSport / John Cowpland
Daniell and his Brazilian doubles partner Marcelo Demoliner have been beaten 6-3, 6-7, 7-6 by French third seeds Nicolas Mahut and Pierre-Hugues-Herbert.
The French pair were tremendous on serve and only faced one break point the entire match.
Daniell will now turn his attention to the mixed doubles with playing partner Canadian Gabriela Dabrowski.
Fellow New Zealander Erin Routliffe plays her second-round doubles match with 18-year-old Canadian partner Leylah Fernandez tomorrow.
Cantlay and Rahm pull clear at the Tour Championship
Patrick Cantlay and Jon Rahm appear to have made golf’s Tour Championship a two-man race.
Patrick Cantlay Photo: AFP
Cantlay shot a bogey-free 4-under 66 in the second round to hold the lead for a second straight day at the PGA Tour’s season finale, while the world No. 1 from Spain fired a second consecutive 65 to narrow the gap to one stroke entering the weekend at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta.
Cantlay is 17 under for the tournament after starting the week at 10 under as the top seed. After Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau is in third place at 11 under, six off the lead.
The winner earns not only the 2021 FedEx Cup, but also a tidy US$15 million prize. Because of those stakes, Cantlay said he was doing his best to make it feel like any other week on tour.
“Everything that I’m telling myself is just to stay totally present and shoot the lowest score I can every day and not get ahead of myself,” Cantlay said. “Sunday will feel like a normal Sunday, I’m sure, but until then, I think it’s really important to stay present and I’ve done a good job of that so far.”
– Reuters
England in control at The Oval
England’s Ollie Pope and Chris Woakes made a telling impact on their test return to earn the hosts a tidy first innings lead after day two the fourth test against India.
Photo: AFP
Woakes was the pick of the English bowlers when they bowled out India for a below-par 191 in their first innings at the Oval.
The all-rounder made an equally important contribution with the bat on day two, producing a counter-attacking 50 to put England ahead in the see-saw contest.
Number six batsman Pope top-scored for the home side with a diligent 81 as England posted 290 in their reply.
India were 43 for no loss in their second innings at stumps, still 56 behind, after openers KL Rahul, batting on 22, and Rohit Sharma saw off the final 16 overs without being separated.
The five-test series is level at 1-1.
– Reuters
English pitch invader strikes again
A man who invaded the pitch on day two of the fourth test between England and India at the Oval has run into trouble with the authorities after he was arrested on suspicion of assault for colliding with batsman Jonny Bairstow.
The man, identified as YouTuber Daniel ‘Jarvo’ Jarvis by British media, ran in to bowl at England’s Ollie Pope when he crashed into non-striker Bairstow before being led away by security staff.
He had also broken through security barriers and run on to the pitch during the previous two tests and the latest breach prompted India skipper Virat Kohli to have a serious chat with on-field umpires.
“A man has been arrested on suspicion of assault following an incident at the Oval Cricket Ground on Friday, 3 September. He remains in custody at a south London police station,” the Metropolitan Police said in a statement to British media.
In the second test at Lord’s the man invaded the pitch dressed in an India kit while in the third match at Leeds, he came out all padded up.
The ECB said that any pitch invasion was “completely unacceptable” in a statement to British media.
– Reuters
Fifa investigating racist remarks
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson called on world football’s governing body FIFA to take action over what he described as “disgraceful” racist abuse aimed at England players by Hungary fans during a World Cup qualifier.
“It is completely unacceptable that England players were racially abused in Hungary last night,” he wrote on Twitter.
Photo: AFP
Johnson urged FIFA to take “strong action against those responsible to ensure that this kind of disgraceful behaviour is eradicated from the game for good.”
FIFA said it had opened disciplinary proceedings into the incidents at the match and reiterated an earlier statement reaffirming its zero tolerance stance against racism.
British broadcasters reported that Black England players were targeted with racial abuse by some Hungary supporters during Friday’s (NZ time) World Cup qualifier in Budapest that England won 4-0.
ITV and Sky Sports said their reporters heard monkey chants being aimed at England forward Raheem Sterling and substitute Jude Bellingham.
– Reuters
Roglic remains in red
Denmark’s Magnus Cort Nielsen won a hilly stage 19 of the Vuelta de Espana with Primoz Roglic sitting comfortably in the overall leader’s red jersey with the two days remaining.
The EF Education-Nippo rider was part of a seven-man group that worked superbly together in the last 20km of the 191.2km route in Galicia and edged the sprint finish.
Photo: AFP
Portugal’s Rui Oliveira (UAE Emirates) was second with American Quinn Simmons (Trek Segafredo) in third spot.
Slovenian Roglic, who seized the red jersey on Thursday (NZ time), finished safely in the peloton which rolled over the line 18 seconds behind the stage winner.
With Monday’s climax being a time trial, Olympic champion Roglic now looks odds on to claim overall victory in the Vuelta for the third successive year although Sunday’s mountainous stage will offer a final chance for his rivals to mount attacks.
Jumbo-Visma’s Roglic leads by two minutes 30 seconds from Enric Mas with Miguel Angel Lopez another 23 seconds back.
– Reuters
NHL players back at Olympics
The National Hockey League (NHL) has agreed to allow a break in the 2021-22 NHL regular season that will allow the world’s top players to take part in next year’s Winter Olympics in Beijing, the NHL and NHL Players Association (NHLPA) says.
The NHL and 100 former players have come to agreement over a head injuries suffered in the game. Photo: Photosport
NHL players missed the last edition of the Winter Games in South Korea in 2018 after the league failed to negotiate a regular season break with the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF).
The league, unhappy over the prospect of interrupting a regular season to send their most valuable assets overseas where they could get hurt, ended a run of five consecutive Winter Olympics when it decided not to allow its players to go to Pyeongchang in 2018.
That decision by the NHL came despite clear signs from several of the world’s best players that they wanted to go.
The agreement to release players for Beijing came after months of negotiations, the NHL said, adding that the agreement allowed for the possibility of withdrawal in the event that evolving COVID-19 conditions were deemed unsafe or impractical.
– Reuters
