I am inclined to believe that the Venezuela adventure is not an indication of American strength, alas, but rather of American weakness, points out Rajeev Srinivasan.
World number one Aryna Sabalenka enters the Australian Open in her familiar role as the hot favourite but unlike in the past two years the powerful Belarusian arrives without a title to defend or the momentum of a winning run in Melbourne.
The four-times Grand Slam champion, who is eyeing her third Australian Open trophy when the tournament begins on January 18 at Melbourne Park, was pushed harder in the next set but edged ahead again at 5-4 to wrap up the win on serve.
Sona Bahadur's Goa currython yielded interesting results.
'We are fully focused on this series. Every series is important. Individually for these players, there's a lot at stake.'
'Self-funded is a big one. We don't travel as a team so we don't have a therapist, treatment support or a trainer. A lot of times you're training on your own and it's tough.'
The 410km stage from Wadi Ad Dawasir to the overnight bivouac, first half of a marathon stage, was won by 21-year-old Polish non-factory Toyota driver Eryk Goczal.
Al-Attiyah retains overall lead; Sixth-placed Sebastien Loeb, the nine-times world rally champion driving for Dacia, remained in contention and was within 17 minutes of his leading teammate.
Bayern Munich, helped by two record-breaking VfL Wolfsburg own goals and two from man-of-the-match Michael Olise, demolished the visitors 8-1 in the Bundesliga on Sunday.
Japan soccer great Kazuyoshi Miura, 58, said on Friday he had all but given up on a return to the J-League before signing for Fukushima United, adding that he hopes to contribute with goals and assists in the latest chapter of his age-defying career.
Italy are gearing up for their Twenty20 World Cup debut, hoping a strong showing next month will help the sport break into popular culture in a soccer-obsessed nation that does not have a natural cricket pitch.
Aman Mokhade's hundred carries Vidarbha into VHT final
A R Rahman feels a power shift may have happened in the past eight years, as 'people who are not creative have the power now to decide things.'
Every time Joe Root or Steve Smith scores big in Test cricket, Sanjay Manjrekar says his thoughts drift to Virat Kohli.
'The body is holding together, and it's a great group to be a part of.'
'But now they can't take any chances. They have to play their best eleven again.'
India's absolute dominance at home will come under examination when they meet a determined New Zealand in the decisive third ODI at the high-scoring Holkar Stadium in Indore on Sunday, with the three-match series locked at 1-1.
IMAGES from Day 4 of the matches played at the Australian Open at Melbourne Park on Wednesday.
New Zealand captain Michael Bracewell on Tuesday said it would be "silly to underestimate" Indian batting superstars Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, and backed the stalwarts to play next year's ODI World Cup.
Iga Swiatek heads into Melbourne Park with the Australian Open title the only gap on her Grand Slam resume, but the world number two is keen to avoid setting herself targets for the new season and says her main goal is to improve her game.
'I'd love to see the strategy of 11 on 11, not changed or impacted because of an impact player who might only bat for two balls and doesn't field.'
Harman's record as captain untouchable, she has another 4-5 years to offer: Jhulan Goswami
'I'm still here, still able to play against somebody who is 14 years younger to me and give tough competition, I should be able to find happiness in it.'
'The BCB announced the schedule for India's tour of Bangladesh because there was a sense of positivity but now we need to get an official confirmation from the Indian board as to why Mustafizur's contract was cancelled.'
As Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner prepare for their season-opening exhibition match in Incheon, the world's top two men's tennis players floated the prospect of one day playing together in a doubles tournament.
In absence of Pooja, RCB handed the responsibility of bowling to new recruits -- England left-arm spinner Linsey Smith, Arundhati Reddy and de Klerk as they managed to keep the opponents to 154-6.
Film stars arrived at polling booths in Mumbai to cast their votes in the ongoing Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections. The elections are seen as crucial for major cities such as Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, Thane, Navi Mumbai, Nashik, and Pimpri-Chinchwad.
'At 24 years of age, he's already scored a double hundred and averages just under 50. There's something special about this kid.'
Batting great Alistair Cook says England's 2-2 home series draw against Shubman Gill-led India was against "not a great Indian side", flagging concerns over the team's preparation for the Ashes.
'Once you are out of the top 32, it becomes very tough to get back. Last year I couldn't really get entries into the 750 tournaments. To start this year with one is a positive step.'
At just 14 years old, Suryavanshi is already one of the most talked-about young cricketers in the world, having first made headlines with an electrifying 35-ball century in the Indian Premier League's 2025 season.
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah equals Devaraj Urs' record as the longest-serving CM of the state, while expressing confidence about completing his full term, he stated that the Congress high command will have to decide on it.
'How much value do fans and audiences hold for an ICC tournament every year? The novelty of it is wearing off, to be very honest and with all due respect.'
India's Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra found himself at the centre of national attention off the field as images from his wedding receptions
Former Bangladesh skipper Tamim Iqbal has urged the Bangladesh Cricket Board to avoid being driven by "public emotion" while deciding the national team's participation in next month's T20 World Cup.
Nadine de Klerk's four-fer, followed by a match-winning half-century, powered RCB to open their account with a win in the opening match of WPL 2026 against MI on Friday in Navi Mumbai.
'It would have polarised the Marathi-non Marathi divide further. 'Fadnavis had a very clear strategy: Let all Marathi people campaign for us (the BJP), and whatever results we get will be delivered by Marathi people only.'
'As I said, while you're contributing, or while you're in the best group of players, why do you have to put a cap on a guy or a girl, if you're a certain age?'
Uddhav Thackeray asserts that his alliance with MNS chief Raj Thackeray is permanent, dismissing speculation about their unity ahead of civic elections.
Suryakumar Yadav suffered another failure during Mumbai's Vijay Hazare Trophy match against Punjab on Thursday.
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