Sports

TOKYO: Floyd Mayweather knocked out mixed martial arts fighter Mikuru Asakura in the second round on Sunday in Japan in the latest of the boxing great’s post-retirement exhibitions. The 45-year-old Mayweather floored his opponent with a right hand as his former welterweight foe Manny Pacquiao watched ringside in Saitama. The American Mayweather, who retired in 2017 with an unbeaten 50-0 …

CHARLOTTE (North Carolina): The underdog Intern­ationals bared their teeth on Saturday, outplaying the United States in a marathon day of golf to leave American fans stunned and the Presidents Cup suddenly up for grabs. The heavily favoured US had started the day with a commanding 8-2 advantage and in position to register a Presidents Cup first — securing the golden …

KARACHI: Pakistani cueists had a mixed day as Asian 6-Reds Snooker Championship got underway at Kuala Lumpur on Sunday. According to results made available here, second seed Babar Masih who had a winning start by disposing off Sri Lankan Mohamed Thaha Irshath 4-1 (33-23, 18-46, 49-6, 46-8, 49-0), suffered a 2-4 loss to the unseeded Alijalil Ali of Iraq with …

HYDERABAD: India won the third and deciding Twenty20 against Australia in the last over after punchy half centuries by Virat Kohli and Suryakumar Yadav on Sunday. The hosts won by six wickets with one ball remaining after Hardik Pandya, unbeaten on 25, hit the winning boundary. Kohli and Yadav put on a century stand to stabilise the innings after India …

LONDON: Frances Tiafoe sealed Team World’s first victory over Team Europe in the Laver Cup as he saved four match points in a dramatic victory over Stefanos Tsitsipas that denied Roger Federer a farewell trophy on Sunday. The American, who beat Federer in the Swiss great’s last competitive match on Friday, proved a fly in Europe’s ointment once again with …

WOLLONGONG: Dutchwoman Annemiek van Vleuten staged a classic late attack to win the world championship road race in a stunning finish on Saturday despite nursing a fractured elbow throughout the 164.3-km race. The 39-year-old was a major doubt for the race after sustaining the injury in a crash in the mixed relay on Wednesday and rode through pain to claim …

LONDON: Harry Brook may already have done enough in Pakistan to have “nailed on” his place in England’s Twenty20 World Cup XI, said former captain Nasser Hussain. The 23-year-old Brook arrived in Karachi with just four caps. But the Yorkshire batsman has been in superb form during the opening matches of a T20 series against Pakistan, scoring 154 runs in …

LAHORE: Pakistan’s pace spearhead Shaheen Shah Afridi started his bowling practice in London on Saturday, nearly two months since his injury and less than a month before the Twenty20 International World Cup in Australia. The 22-year old shared a video of bowling with a short run-up, which indicates that the left arm quick has completed his rehab of the right-knee …

KARACHI: An utter show of dominance on one day and sheer cluelessness on the other. Pakistan’s last two Twenty20 International outings have been quite contrasting. The last saw the side succumbing to a 63-run loss against England, a day after drubbing the visitors by 10 wickets. The seven-match is 2-1 in England’s favour indeed. However, with five more to go and the unpredictability of …

“I think Roger is something extra special,” said Pete Sampras in 2001, when 19-year-old Roger dethroned Wimbledon’s most revered champion of the time. No one at the time knew that the Swiss teen will leave behind a legacy all too great, all his own. Two decades of beautiful tennis, 20 grand slam titles and more than 1,500 matches later, 41-year-old Roger Federer bid …