Author: sportsnewsuk

Elena Rybakina became the highest seed to fall at Wimbledon so far in a straight-set defeat by Elise Mertens.Second seed Rybakina, who won the All England title in 2022, was beaten 7-6 (7-4) 6-1 in the third round by her Belgian opponent.It is the second successive year that Kazakhstan’s Rybakina – who was crowned Australian Open champion in January – has failed to reach the second week at Wimbledon.Her defeat on Court One also means Aryna Sabalenka will remain as the women’s world number one, regardless of how deep into the tournament the Belarusian goes.For Mertens, a fourth-round meeting with…

Bob Arum believes he has the next Sugar Ray Leonard on his books, or at least a world champion who can become one of boxing’s “major stars”. The veteran Top Rank promoter was heavily involved in Leonard’s career, including his first world title reign at 147lbs. Back then, in 1979, the all-time great dethroned Wilfred Benitez with a 15th-round stoppage, before successfully defending his WBC strap against Dave ‘Boy’ Green the following year. It was then just three months later that Leonard suffered a unanimous decision defeat to Roberto Duran, who he stopped in round eight of their immediate rematch.…

Australia: Jock Campbell; Max Jorgensen, Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii, Len Ikitau, Dylan Pietsch, Carter Gordon, Ryan Lonergan; Angus Bell, Josh Nasser, Allan Alaalatoa, Jeremy Williams, Josh Canham, Rob Valetini, Fraser McReight, Harry Wilson (capt).Replacements: Brandon Paenga-Amosa, James Slipper, Taniela Tupou, Lachlan Shaw, Tom Hooper, Tate McDermott, Ben Donaldson, Tom Wright.Sin-bin: Shaw (76)Ireland: Hugo Keenan; Jimmy O’Brien, Garry Ringrose, Stuart McCloskey, Jamie Osborne; Sam Prendergast, Jamison Gibson-Park; Tom O’Toole, Dan Sheehan (capt), Tadhg Furlong, Joe McCarthy, James Ryan, Cian Prendergast, Josh van der Flier, Jack Conan.Replacements: Ronan Kelleher, Jeremy Loughman, Thomas Clarkson, Tadhg Beirne, Nick Timoney, Craig Casey, Ciaran Frawley, Bundee Aki.Referee: Ben…

Jhon Arias says Colombia are “dreaming and believing” in their chances of reaching the World Cup final, after his goal helped them past Ghana on Saturday. Arias’ 14th-minute goal, teed up by early substitute Luis Suarez, was enough to see Nestor Lorenzo’s side to a 1-0 victory in their round-of-32 clash in Kansas. Victory over Ghana marked only Colombia’s second win in the World Cup knockout stages, having swept aside Uruguay in the last-16 stage 12 years ago, to set up their next meeting with Switzerland. Either Argentina or Egypt would await in the quarter-finals, and Arias – who disappointed at…

Adam Booth says Josh Kelly has no intention of avoiding Jaron “Boots” Ennis, insisting the newly crowned IBF junior middleweight champion will accept a unification fight if both champions take care of business later this month. Kelly (18-1-1, 9 KOs) is scheduled to make the first defense of his IBF title on July 25 in Saudi Arabia on the undercard of Anthony Joshua’s heavyweight bout against Kristian Prenga. Although it has not been officially confirmed, unbeaten Irish contender Caoimhin Agyarko is widely expected to challenge for Kelly’s title. Even with that assignment still ahead, Booth said Kelly’s team remains willing…

Mercedes’s Kimi Antonelli won the sprint race before the British Grand Prix after a feisty scrap with Lewis Hamilton who had led for the opening half of the short-form race at Silverstone.Lando Norris claimed third for McLaren with Antonelli’s Mercedes teammate George Russell in fourth.In what was a frenetic and action-packed dash at the old airfield, Hamilton had led from pole as the crowd roared him round the track only to ultimately succumb to the superior pace of the Mercedes engine against which he was powerless to resist when Antonelli came at him but still put in a sterling effort…

Oxlade-Chamberlain’s partner, Little Mix singer Perrie Edwards, had gone public on social media about her desire for an extended stay with Celtic and Scotland and the player himself expressed his delight about his new deal on the club website.”It was an incredible time last season and to be part of that success in winning the league and Scottish Cup was so special,” he said.”I’m really excited to be back and I’m looking forward to meeting up with the boys and getting to work ahead of what will hopefully be another successful season.”O’Neill’s squad head out to Ireland this weekend before…

William Hill News tipster @Footy_Tipster previews Sunday’s 2026 World Cup game between Brazil and Norway. What a game we have here, as Brazil and Norway go head‑to‑head in New Jersey in this round‑of‑16 clash at the 2026 World Cup, with two heavyweights of the tournament looking to punch their ticket to the quarter‑finals. Now, let’s take a closer look at some World Cup odds and betting angles for Sunday’s fixture: Brazil v Norway – Sunday, 9pm Acca Selections: Brazil To Win (17/20)Brazil have won nine of their last ten last 16 matches at this tournament. Both Teams To Score – Yes…

Opener Lahiru Udara compiled a maiden century in a 215-run partnership with Kamindu Mendis which lifted Sri Lanka from 25-2 to 338-5 against West Indies at stumps on the first day of the second Test on Friday.Udara fell for 188 in the last hour of the day, having wiped away his previous highest score in three Tests of 40 and set up Sri Lanka’s innings after it won the toss.He added a further 93 for the third wicket with captain Dhananjaya da Silva (33) whose dismissal, also in the last hour, gave Jayden Seales his 100th wicket in his 28th…

China’s case is perhaps more puzzling. In recent decades, it has become one of the most successful countries in Olympic history. But its forays into men’s football have not borne similar fruit.”There’s no reason [in theory] why China can’t produce world-class footballers,” Mark Dreyer, a Beijing-based Chinese football expert, believes.”The main problem is that in China everything is controlled by the state and everything is top-down. You need footballing people making footballing decisions, but there’s far too much political interference.”China has not returned to the World Cup since 2002, despite heavy investment in the game since the 2010s – which…