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SINGAPORE: The Singapore Open Badminton tournament will be cancelled, it was announced by organisers Singapore Badminton Association (SBA) and the Badminton World Federation (BWF) on Wednesday (May 12). The tournament, which was due to be held from Jun 1 to 6, will not be rescheduled. In a joint statement, the SBA and BWF said that the decision was made on the grounds of health and safety. "All attempts were made by the organisers and BWF to provide a safe tournament environment for all

ROME: Champion Simona Halep was forced to retire injured in the second round of the Italian Open on Wednesday (May 12) weeks before her bid to reclaim the French Open. The world number three pulled up with a left calf issue while leading Germany's Angelique Kerber 6-1, 3-3 in their match on clay at the Foro Italico in Rome. The 29-year-old limped back to her chair helped by officials but left the court in tears after treatment. The injury comes three weeks before

LONDON: New Zealand's most successful test wicketkeeper BJ Watling will retire from all forms of cricket after their upcoming tour of England, the country's cricket board (NZC) said on Wednesday. Watling, 35, has been an integral part of New Zealand's test team since debuting in 2009, and holds the Black Caps' record for test dismissals with 249 catches (excluding 10 as a fielder) and eight stumpings. Watling, who also represented New Zealand in 28 one-day internationals and five Twenty20s, said the time had

LONDON: Manchester City were crowned Premier League champions for the third time in four seasons after Manchester United crashed to a 2-1 defeat against Leicester on Tuesday (May 11). Pep Guardiola's side are 10 points clear of second placed United and have wrapped up the title with three games to spare. In the midst of a gruelling run of three games in five days, United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer effectively handed the title to arch rivals City by picking a weakened team with

The Los Angeles Lakers could receive a jolt of energy this week with the return of the team’s best player. According to The Athletic, LeBron James is targeting Tuesday's home contest against the New York Knicks for his return to the floor. James suffered a right, high-ankle sprain against the Atlanta Hawks on March 20, forcing him to miss 20 games in a row. James returned from the injury six weeks later at the end of April. He played in two games against

ROME: Serena Williams will this week play her first match since her Australian Open semi-final exit in February but the American does not feel unprepared for the WTA 1000 event having had enough practice before arriving in Rome. The 39-year-old said she felt "pretty fresh" ahead of the clay court swing as she prepares for the French Open, which starts at the end of May. "I trained for the past two-and-a-half weeks at Patrick's (coach Mouratoglou's) academy, and then training a lot on

LONDON: Red Bull need Sergio Perez much closer to the front to put pressure on Mercedes and help Max Verstappen in his title battle with Lewis Hamilton, team boss Christian Horner said after Sunday's Spanish Grand Prix. Mexican Perez started in eighth place, after suffering shoulder pain in qualifying, and finished fifth at Barcelona's Circuit de Catalunya - more than a minute behind Mercedes' winner Lewis Hamilton. Seven-times champion Hamilton and Verstappen were so far ahead of the rest that the decisive strategy

LONDON: Russian Daniil Medvedev overtook Rafael Nadal and moved into No 2 in the ATP rankings on Monday. And for the first time since the computerized rankings began in August 1973, there is no American man in the top 30. Novak Djokovic remained No 1, extending his all-time record to 320 weeks. Medvedev slid in behind him after Spain's Nadal fell to eventual champion Alexander Zverev of Germany in the quarterfinals of the Mutua Madrid Open last week. A first-round loss in Madrid

Lewis Hamilton says he wants to seal a new contract with Mercedes before Formula 1's summer break. The 36-year-old left it until last winter to sign his current one-year deal with the world champions. He said after winning Sunday's Spanish Grand Prix: "We don't want to rush anything but I think we have to be sensible and start conversations. "They're very complex, so hopefully soon we can start, as long as it doesn't interfere with the actual job." The delay in his contract

Great Britain's Jemma Reekie ran an outdoor personal best as she won the 800m at the Golden Games in California in the United States. Reekie passed Canada's Melissa Bishop with 120 metres to go and claimed victory in one minute 58.27 seconds. Fellow Scot Laura Muir (1:58.46) was second and compatriot Adelle Tracey (1:59.50) finished fourth as they all met the Olympic qualifying standard. The event took place in the build-up to next month's US Olympic trials. There were also other impressive performances from the British contingent,

England expect players to be available for their Twenty20 World Cup build-up if there is a clash with the rescheduled Indian Premier League. One possible window for the postponed IPL is before the T20 World Cup in October, when England are due to tour Bangladesh and Pakistan. "If those tours go ahead I'd expect them (players) to be there," said England managing director Ashley Giles. "We're planning on involvement of England players in England matches." The IPL was postponed last week amid the

World number one Dustin Johnson has pulled out of this week's AT&T Byron Nelson tournament with a knee injury - a week before the US PGA Championship. American Johnson, 36, who had knee surgery in 2019, said "discomfort I occasionally experience has returned". The two-time Major winner last played at the Valspar Championship two weeks ago, where he finished tied for 48th. The US PGA, the second men's major of the year, begins on the Ocean course at Kiawah Island on 20 May. "After

Washington Wizards point guard Russell Westbrook broke Oscar Robertson's NBA record for the most career triple-doubles in his side's defeat by the Atlanta Hawks on Monday. Westbrook reached double digits in rebounds, points and assists for the 182nd time in his career. The 32-year-old finished the night with 28 points, 13 rebounds and 21 assists. However, Westbrook missed a possible game-winning buzzer-beater as the Wizards lost 125-124. "I'm truly grateful for moments like this," he said of his record-breaking achievement. "Normally, I don't

The remainder of the suspended Indian Premier League (IPL) season will have to be played outside the country, the organising Indian cricket board said, though it is unclear whether a window can be found to play the outstanding 31 games. The popular Twenty20 league was suspended indefinitely last week after several personnel tested positive for COVID-19. India reported 366,161 new COVID-19 infections on Monday, taking the caseload to 22.66 million. Sourav Ganguly, head of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI),

Talking Points from the Premier League weekend: HAVE CHELSEA GAINED A PSYCHOLOGICAL EDGE Chelsea's 2-1 victory over Manchester City made sure City's title celebrations remained on hold but perhaps more importantly sent out a message to Pep Guardiola's side for the Champions League final and next season's title race. Surprisingly, Guardiola made wholesale changes to his side when victory would have sealed a third title in five seasons. When Sergio Aguero fluffed a Panenka-style penalty to give City a 2-0 lead, it sparked

PARIS: Paris St Germain's Ligue 1 title hopes took a major knock on Sunday (May 9) when the defending champions were held to a 1-1 draw at Stade Rennes, leaving Lille holding a three-point advantage at the top with two games remaining. Neymar opened the scoring with a penalty on the stroke of halftime but Serhou Guirassy equalised in the 70th minute to leave PSG, who finished with 10 men after Presnel Kimpembe was sent off in the 87th minute, on 76 points.

TURIN, Italy: Juventus started the season looking to win a 10th straight Serie A title but instead find themselves in danger of missing out on a Champions League spot after a 3-0 home defeat by top-four rivals AC Milan on Sunday left them fifth with three games left. Goals from Brahim Diaz, Ante Rebic and Fikayo Tomori secured the win and sent Milan up to third on 72 points from 35 matches, leaving Juve a point behind fourth-placed Napoli and needing teams to

LONDON: Alexander Zverev underlined his credentials as a French Open title contender with a battling 6-7(8) 6-4 6-3 victory over Italian Matteo Berrettini on Sunday to claim his fourth Masters 1000 crown and second Madrid Open title. Germany's Zverev, conqueror of claycourt specialists Rafa Nadal and Dominic Thiem en route to the final, dropped his first set of the tournament. However, he fought back under a closed roof at the Manolo Santana stadium to lift his first claycourt title since 2019. "I feel

Rory McIlroy shot 3-under-par 68 to win his first PGA tournament in more than 18 months on Sunday, finishing at 10-under 274 in capturing the Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow Country Club in Charlotte, N.C. McIlroy finished one shot ahead of Abraham Ancer, who shot a 5-under 66. McIlroy overtook 54-hold leader Keith Mitchell, who shot 72 and finished tied for third with Viktor Hovland (67) at 8-under par. Gary Woodland, the 2019 U.S. Open champion, rounded out the top-five at 7

Star batsman David Warner and former Australia opener turned commentator Michael Slater have clearly denied that the duo were involved in an altercation inside a Maldives bar. SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) skipper Warner and Slater, who was commentating in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021, along with the Australian contingent are staying in the Maldives before they all leave for Australia. The rumour of physical exchange between the duo in the Maldives was first reported by the Daily Telegraph as cited by foxsports.com.au. The former Australian