Sports

MANCHESTER: Jofra Archer will be available for England’s third and final Test against the West Indies next week after being ruled out of the second match for a breach of coronavirus protocols, it was announced on Saturday. The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB)’s statement came as the hosts’ quest to level the three-match series at 1-1 was frustrated by …

LOS ANGELES: Serena Williams will make her return to the WTA tour at a new hardcourt tournament in Kentucky in August, organisers said on Thursday. The Top Seed Open said Serena, the 23-time Grand Slam champion, and 2017 US Open winner Sloane Stephens will be in the field when play begins on Aug 10. Serena hasn’t played since representing the …

LAUSANNE: Inter­national Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach said on Friday he was ready to run for a second term at next year’s election. The 66-year-old German, a former Olympic fencer who won a gold medal for West Germany in the team foil event at the 1976 Games, was first elected in 2013 for an eight-year term and is eligible …

MANCHESTER: All-rounder Ben Stokes piled on the agony for the West Indies with a century in the second Test at Old Trafford on Friday after Dom Sibley’s painstaking hundred finally came to an end. England were 378-5 at tea on the second day, with Stokes 172 not out in a match the hosts need to win to level the three-Test …

JOHANNESBURG: For­mer South African captain Faf du Plessis on Friday came out in support of Black Lives Matter (BLM) and said a comment he made in January that ‘we don’t see colour’ had been a mistake. The BLM issue has shown up racial divisions in South African cricket, with 30 black former international players claiming earlier this week that racism …

KARACHI: Pakistan’s first online squash coaching course was launched here on Thursday with Commissioner Karsachi Iftikhar Shallwani inaugurating it in a simple ceremony. The online course of two weeks duration will see scores of squash players and coaches attending it from across the country. It has been jointly organised by Pakistan Sports Welfare Association (PSWA) and Sports for Life. The …

MANCHESTER: England captain Joe Root fell cheaply on his return to international cricket following the dramatic withdrawal of fast bowler Jofra Archer from the second Test against the West Indies at Old Trafford on Thursday. In a match they have to win to square the three-match series at 1-1, England were forced to leave out Archer before first day’s action …

KARACHI: Qatar is likely to host back-to-back international snooker tournaments in Doha later this year. A decision in this regard was taken during an online video meeting held the other day by International Billiards and Snooker Federation (IBSF) with president Mubarak Al-Khayarin in the chair. According to details, Qatar has offered to host IBSF World Championships — men’s and women’s …

BERN: The International Olympic Committee (IOC) remains fully committed to staging the Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2021 and is considering multiple scenarios for them to take place safely, its president Thomas Bach said late on Wednesday. Japan and the IOC postponed the Tokyo Games until 2021 in March because of the global novel coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic. Organisers have since …

LONDON: Frank Lampard admitted Chelsea are struggling with nerves as they chase a place in the Champions League next season after Olivier Giroud scored the only goal in a 1-0 win over already relegated Norwich at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday. Victory opens up a four-point lead for third-placed Chelsea over Leicester and Manchester United, who both have a game in …