The Guardian

Anish Giri won two games in a row to advance into second place, but has little chance of overhauling the leader Javokhir Sindarov extended his lead at the world championship Candidates in Cyprus on Thursday when the 20-year-old Uzbek grandmaster won for the sixth time at the event to take his overall total to an unbeaten eight points out of 10, two ahead of his closest challenger, the Netherlands…

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Former Socceroo Craig Foster calls for government to support FA bid AFC postpone tournament draw as Middle East conflict spreads Australia has been urged to offer itself as an emergency host for the men’s Asian Cup in January, as the conflict in the Middle East casts doubt over whether the continent’s most prestigious football tournament can go ahead in Saudi Arabia. The draw for the 2027 Asian C…

I Am Maximus, the 2024 winner, heads to Aintree on Saturday as favourite to triumph again. Here is a look at the chances of all 34 contenders One of two previous winners at the top of the weights and he backed up his 2024 success by pressing Nick Rockett all the way to the Elbow 12 months ago before finally crying enough. He had shown precious few hints of his National-winning form in two runs be…

17-year-old beats in-form Australian 7-6(4), 7-5 in Melbourne Kimberly Birrell meets Harriet Dart in second Billie Jean King Cup clash Australia’s quest to win a place in the Billie Jean King Cup finals is off to the worst possible start with spearhead Talia Gibson a shock loser to British teen Mika Stojsavljevic. Gibson was expected to get the tie at Melbourne’s John Cain Arena off to a flying s…

There are protests planned at Anfield as Roberto De Zerbi starts his Tottenham tenure and Everton eye Europe Nuno Espírito Santo has rolled back the years in an attempt to save West Ham. He has gone old-school, switching to a gung-ho 4-4-2 system to give his side more threat in the final third. Pablo Felipe and Taty Castellanos, both January arrivals, have altered the face of the attack, but neit…

Ollie Watkins enjoyed a feast in Italy’s culinary capital, scoring two second half goals against a pumped-up Bologna side to take a comfortable lead back to Birmingham and the prospect of a Europa League semi-final as a secondi piatti. Watkins’ double followed Ezri Konsa’s opening goal, and each goal was in some way due to Bologna errors. But they did not tell the whole story of the contest, with…

On the night Chris Wood returned from six months on the sidelines, a comical own goal by the Porto defender Martim Fernandes earned Nottingham Forest a draw and feeling optimistic of advancing to the Europa League semi-finals. The New Zealand striker was withdrawn as anticipated at the interval, Vitor Pereira mindful of the bigger picture, with Sunday’s home match with Aston Villa the first of se…

Fury: ‘I’m going to make an example of him’ Russian lifts Fury in the air during final face-off A cheerful Tyson Fury has promised his latest comeback to the ring will begin with a destructive knockout of Arslanbek Makhmudov at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London on Saturday night. “It’s going to be different because, for the first time in forever, I’m the hunter,” Fury said at the fight’s final …

No longer like a man carrying a vase across a slippery floor, the 2025 winner uses attack as the best form of defence Can Rory McIlroy win back-to-back Masters titles? Jack Nicklaus will tell you that McIlroy’s already done the hardest part. “Well, the key is to win two years in a row,” Nicklaus said with a grin after hitting the honorary tee shot on Thursday morning, “and I think Rory’s the only…

Left-back who joined in 2017 is out of contract in summer Napoli, Juventus, Atlético and Spurs keen on Robertson Andy Robertson is to bring his illustrious Liverpool career to a close at the end of the season, the club have confirmed. The 32-year-old is out of contract this summer and will follow another iconic player of the Jürgen Klopp era, Mohamed Salah, in leaving Anfield on a free transfer. …

Iconic star ball design has been in place since 2001 Nike to pay $45m a year to supply Uefa club competitions The iconic Champions League ball will be redesigned next year after Nike entered exclusive talks with Uefa to become the official match ball provider for the 2027 to 2031 cycle of the competition. The US sportswear group has beaten off competition from incumbent supplier Adidas and fellow…

The sportswear giant says it’s aware of the strange seam on some of the new shirts, and is looking into how to address it When Nike rolled out its collection of World Cup kits in late March, fans and pundits alike largely approved. The US men’s national team got arguably their most distinctive pair of shirts in decades, while other federations – France, England, Canada and Uruguay among them – ea…

English forward has been the perfect loan signing. And yet, there is an ‘and yet’, absurd though that can seem At the end of Barcelona’s 2-1 win at Atlético Madrid on Saturday night , as the players stood celebrating before the small pocket of supporters applauding them from high in the north-west corner of the Metropolitano, Diego Simeone approached Hansi Flick, shook his hand and reminded him o…

Van Leuven can no longer play in PDC Women’s Series DRA report determines darts is ‘gender-affected sport’ Noa-Lynn van Leuven will be banned from competing in any of the Professional Darts Corporation’s women-only events with immediate effect after a ruling from the sport’s regulatory body stated only biological females can now compete in women’s tournaments. The Darts Regulation Authority (DRA)…