Sports & Casinos UK

Dual grand slam doubles champion named after tennis suspensionAlex de Minaur leads Australia team to face Poland in tie in BrisbaneMax Purcell, the grand slam doubles champion left shattered when having to serve a ban for an anti-doping breach, is back in the Australian tennis fold, selected as part of Lleyton Hewitt’s Davis Cup team to face Poland.The 28-year-old Purcell, who received widespread sympathy throughout tennis from those who felt the 18-month ban was unfair and smacked of double standards, could play his first Davis Cup rubber for two years next week. Continue reading...

Brazilian scores twice in 5-1 victory at Camp NouTorres scores hat-trick as PSG thump Slovan BratislavaRaphinha let his goals do the talking after being omitted from the Ballon d’Or shortlist, striking twice as Barcelona eased to a 5-1 win over Feyenoord in the Champions League.The Brazilian was a surprise omission from this week’s 30-strong list of candidates for the prestigious award but brushed any disappointment aside to continue his early season hot streak at a rain-soaked Camp Nou. The forward finished brilliantly in the third minute and added a second just before the hour mark to down the Eredivisie side and take his tally to eight goals in six outings at the start of the campaign. Continue reading...

Rybakina into semis after 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 victoryCoco Gauff battles back to beat Mirra AndreevaElena Rybakina will become the No 1 woman in the world for the first time after orchestrating a supreme recovery to reach the semi-finals of the US Open with a 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 win over the Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen.By becoming just the 30th player in the history of the WTA to reach the No 1 ranking, Rybakina ends Aryna Sabalenka’s extended spell at the top. The Belarusian has held the position for 99 successive weeks, the sixth-longest consecutive reign in history, and 107 weeks in total. Continue reading...

Rangers beat St Mirren 1-0 at IbroxCeltic also narrow winners at St JohnstoneA dramatic last-gasp strike from substitute Bojan Miovski gave Rangers a 1-0 Premiership win over St Mirren at Ibrox.Back in the technical area after a two-game touchline suspension, Derek McInnes watched St Mirren’s Australian goalkeeper Jacob Chapman keep the home side at bay in the first half with a string of saves, albeit helped by some poor finishing. Continue reading...

Where’s the fun in doing it the easy way? Chelsea remain chaotic at the back but can drag their opponents into horrible places. It helps, mind you, to have some assistance from the referee. Jarred Gillett and Cole Palmer? They made for a killer ­combination as Chelsea swerved embarrassment and treated Stamford Bridge to one of life’s rarities: a classic in the third round of the Carabao Cup.Gillett, a referee who always seems to be guessing when he makes key calls, was the villain as far as Leeds were concerned. They had just gone 2-0 up when Gillett altered the flow of the tie by pointing to the spot after Pep Chavarría made the most of slight contact from Daniel James. The subsequent conversion from Palmer was inevitable and from there so was the comeback from Chelsea, who rattled through four goals in 12 minutes before eventually reaching the last 16 by winning 6-3. Continue reading...

It was the time and place for Alexis Mac Allister to do his talking on the pitch and the disgruntled Liverpool midfielder delivered on cue. “Very sad” over Liverpool’s refusal to offer him a new contract, while Dominik Szoboszlai and Ryan Gravenberch were getting theirs, Mac Allister made Anfield very happy with a match-winning display against Atlético Madrid.The Argentina international, one of five World Cup finalists involved in an absorbing, delicately-poised contest, vented his frustrations in the best possible and most professional way – from behind an immaculate 20-yard strike into Jan Oblak’s goal rather than a microphone. Mac Allister believes he is playing for a new deal this season and promised to give “100% to my last day” at the pre-match press conference. He was true to his word to extend Atlético’s winless sequence against English opposition in the Champions League league phase to 11 matches. Continue reading...

After their record-breaking feats last year in the Champions League, Arsenal are at it again. But having been delayed along with hundreds of travelling supporters by travel chaos on Tuesday, Mikel Arteta’s side had to bide their time against Napoli until Martin Ødegaard continued his rich vein of goalscoring with the crucial strike 15 minutes from full time.Perhaps it was the fact that, at Uefa’s insistence, they were forced to wear red shorts for the first time since a Premier League game against Watford in 2022 that Arsenal were not quite at their flowing best here and missed a hatful of chances. Continue reading...

Distance tops US men’s mark by more than 30 milesEckert also beat women’s world record she set last yearWhile some teachers spent the second week of September easing into their school routines, Megan Eckert was making more ultrarunning history.The New Mexico middle school math teacher shattered the six-day women’s world record and the American men’s record by running 636.482 miles, completing her feat on Wednesday morning in Balatonfüred, Hungary. Continue reading...

Warwickshire threw a bear-shaped gauntlet on the Championship turf by demolishing Glamorgan in less than two days Unfortunately it wasn’t a rubicon that Crawley crossed with that eighty the other week, Ben Aitchisoned for 6. Kent 22-2, surely they won’t let it slip out of their grasp now?Sussex won the toss at Hove and bat first, perhaps not wanting to risk Surrey’s Indian left-arm spinner Mahipal Lomror batting fourth. They’ve nudged along to 16-0. Continue reading...

Razaullah offered the tourists a glimpse of audacity but it was Babar Azam who embodied the wider loss of hopeIt was still morning when Babar Azam came in to bat at Edgbaston. The Test was only 45 minutes old but you could already see which direction it was heading. Pakistan were three wickets down. The floodlights were on, a thick smear of black cloud was moving slowly over the ground, there were odd spots of rain in the air. Ollie Robinson was bowling from one end, with the keeper standing up and five slips spread in a line just behind, and Jofra Archer was on at the other, four overs into his spell and only just warming up. It was a hell of a time to be batting.But then it always seems to be, lately. Continue reading...