Sport

The Open 2025: first round updates from Royal Portrush – live
Posted on Thursday July 17, 2025

Latest updates from the opening day of the 153rd OpenLive official leaderboard | And you can drop Scott a mailKJ Choi is playing in his first Open for 11 years, his reward for winning the Senior Open last year. The 55-year-old Korean’s skied opening drive led to inevitable bogey … as did those aforementioned errant first strokes by Cameron Smith and Marco Penge. Of the first nine players to complete the intimidating 1st hole: one birdie, two pars, six bogeys. Welcome to Royal Portrush!Nicolai Højgaard only qualified for this Open last week at the Scottish. He looks like taking last week’s good form into this week, making his birdie at the par-five 2nd to join his playing partner Padraig Harrington at the top of the leaderboard. There are only a dozen players out there, but leading the Open is leading the Open. For the record … Continue reading...

England must beware surging Sweden: this will not be an easy quarter-final | Emma Hayes
Posted on Wednesday July 16, 2025

The Lionesses can’t think: ‘Good, we’ve avoided Germany’ – nobody should take Sweden lightly, they’re a big threatEngland’s 4-0 win against Sweden in their Euro 2022 semi-final, with that iconic Alessia Russo backheel and the sound of Sweet Caroline ringing around Bramall Lane, will be etched into many Swedish heads when the two teams meet on Thursday. And England must not underestimate that feeling for the Swedes.It was a humiliating defeat for Peter Gerhardsson’s team but they are in a much better place now than three years ago. They have really impressed in this competition so far and they are on a 15-game unbeaten run that has lasted just over a year. Continue reading...

Marcus Smith defies odds to claim Lions spot for first Wallabies Test
Posted on Thursday July 17, 2025

Andy Farrell opts for Smith’s versatility over son Owen Tom Curry to start in back-row with Beirne and ConanMarcus Smith has been named on the bench for the British & Irish Lions’ first Test against Australia with Tom Curry and Sione Tuipulotu selected to start in Brisbane on Saturday.Smith has defied the odds to claim a place in the match-day 23, benefiting from injuries to Blair Kinghorn and Mack Hansen and preferred to Owen Farrell among the replacements. Continue reading...

Girelli double sends Italy to Euro 2025 last four as Hegerberg misses spot-kick
Posted on Wednesday July 16, 2025

Italy’s heroine Cristiana Girelli hailed their “magical and special” achievement of reaching their first major women’s tournament semi-final since 1997 after her 90th-minute header beat Norway and sparked memorable celebrations.The 35-year-old striker’s dramatic strike, her second goal of the game, set up a semi-final with either England or Sweden, who meet in Zurich on Thursday, as Italy moved a step closer to what could be their first major silverware. Continue reading...

Howe’s dilemma as Newcastle’s Saudi owners can’t ignore case to sell Isak
Posted on Wednesday July 16, 2025

Liverpool’s record bid for striker and offer for Howe target Ekitike cast cloud over manager’s plans for new seasonAmid the jungle of super-skyscrapers dominating Riyadh’s financial district, one building soars above the rest. From the higher floors of the 385-metre PIF Tower, employees can plot their next deal while gazing down on a glass-curtained canopy of concrete, steel and polished marble.For Yasir al-Rumayyan, the governor of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) and the chair of Newcastle United, the top of this striking, 80-storey crystalline structure is a place where metaphorical blue-sky thinking meets reality. Continue reading...

Pogacar crashes and protester disrupts finish on chaotic Tour de France stage 11
Posted on Wednesday July 16, 2025

Norway’s Jonas Abrahamsen wins in ToulousePogacar falls 6km from end but quickly back on bikeIn a chaotic climax to stage 11 of the Tour de France in Toulouse, Tadej Pogacar crashed at speed before remounting to finish, an anti-Israel protester ran on to the finish line, and the Norwegian Jonas Abrahamsen took his first Grand Tour stage win, for Uno-X.As Abrahamsen sprinted towards the finish with his final breakaway companion, Mauro Schmid, a male protester, wearing a white T-shirt bearing the slogan “Israel out of the Tour”, jumped the barriers and ran on to the road, before being rugby-tackled by a Tour official, Stephane Boury. Continue reading...

Edwards left with food for thought as India edge England in first women’s ODI
Posted on Wednesday July 16, 2025

1st ODI: India, 262-6, beat England, 258-6, by four wicketsDeepti Sharma hits 62 not out as tourists complete chaseFifty-over cricket is Charlotte Edwards’s Big Project. The day she was announced as the new England head coach, she declared that the national side had “underperformed” in the one‑day format of late, and that she was making it her “first priority” before the World Cup in India in October.All eyes, then, on this three‑match ODI series against India, which began on Wednesday at Southampton with a narrow four-wicket win by the visitors. Continue reading...

Norwegian Olympic medalist Audun Grønvold dies after lightning strike
Posted on Wednesday July 16, 2025

Athlete won bronze in ski cross at 2010 Vancouver Games49-year-old died of injuries after being taken to hospitalThe 2010 Olympic ski cross medalist Audun Grønvold has died after being struck by lightning, the Norwegian ski federation announced on Wednesday. He was 49.Grønvold won bronze at the 2010 Vancouver Games. Continue reading...