The Fiji Times

Baseball: You’re out, minor league season canceled by coronavirus

(Reuters) – Minor League Baseball (MiLB) canceled its 2020 season on Tuesday, as Major League Baseball continued to push ahead with plans to begin play next month even as cases of the novel coronavirus continue to spike in regions across the United States. “These are unprecedented times for our country and our organization as this...

NBA to stop season if virus spreads

Spread of the coronavirus would prompt the NBA to stop the 2019-20 season, commissioner Adam Silver said Tuesday. Speaking on the TIME 100 Talks, Silver said the league is “reasonably confident” about its plan to restart the season in Orlando on the Disney World campus in July. But if the virus spreads among players and...

Lautoka golfers conclude fifth and final round

The easing of the COVID-19 restrictions gave the chance for the Lautoka Golf Club to conclude its fifth and final round of the NHP Electrical Products-sponsored 18 holes two men stroke Ambrose event at the golf course on Saturday. The club reported professional rep and schoolteacher Roneel Prakash teamed up with FNPF IT security engineer...

High jumper motivated by cold Christchurch mornings

Christchurch in the middle of winter has proven a real challenge for high jumper Hamish Kerr but he’s trying to make the most of it. Like many athletes Kerr had expected to be in the northern hemisphere at this time of the year preparing for the Tokyo Olympics. However the coronavirus pandemic forced the International...

Captaining England would be ‘huge honour’, says Stokes

LONDON (Reuters) – England’s talisman Ben Stokes says captaining his country even just once in his career would be a “huge honour” but admits it was never a massive ambition. The all-rounder is poised to lead the team in the first test against West Indies on July 8 with captain Joe Root likely to miss...

French Olympic Committee denounces racist graffiti outside Sport Institute

PARIS (Reuters) – The French Olympic Committee (CNOSF) has denounced racist graffiti that was found on Black athletes’ posters in front of the National Institute of Sport (INSEP) at the weekend. The CNOSF said it was filing a complaint to the police against the unknown perpetrators. One of the athletes on the posters is double...

No major financial impact from Wimbledon cancellation, say organisers

(Reuters) – Wimbledon’s cancellation due to the COVID-19 pandemic this year will have no major financial impact on British tennis, outgoing All England club Chief Executive Richard Lewis has said. The grasscourt Grand Slam was scheduled to start on Monday but was cancelled for the first time since World War Two in April. The All...

Sir John Dawanincura to lead new look PNGOC Board

PORT MORESBY, 30 JUNE 2020 (PNGOC) – Sir John Dawanincura has retained the position of President on the Executive Board of the Papua New Guinea Olympic Committee following elections held on Saturday 27 June during the organisation’s Annual General Assembly held at the Gateway Hotel in Port Moresby. As per the PNG Olympic Committee Constitution,...

Evans beats Edmund in Battle of Brits final

(Reuters) – Dan Evans beat Kyle Edmund in the final of the Battle of the Brits exhibition tournament on Sunday. The 30-year-old won 6-3 6-2 in the behind-closed-doors event played at the National Tennis Centre in west London. Evans had beaten former world number one Andy Murray in Saturday’s semi-final. The 33-year-old Murray, who was...

Stokes will be brilliant as England captain, says Broad

(Reuters) – Ben Stokes would have no trouble stepping into the role of England captain if Joe Root were to miss the first test of their three-match series against West Indies, fast bowler Stuart Broad said on Sunday. England skipper Root has said he could miss the series opener, scheduled for July 8, if it...

“Bombshell” for club as Alexander Stadium closes until after Birmingham 2022

BIRMINGHAM, 29 JUNE 2020 (INSIDE THE GAMES) – Alexander Stadium, the focal venue of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, has been closed to the public until the end of the event. It had been hoped to keep the facility open during the “early phases of construction work”, Birmingham City Council said, with temporary seats due...

Under Armour to discontinue record apparel partnership with UCLA

(Reuters) – Athletic apparel maker Under Armour said on Saturday it will discontinue its partnership with UCLA – a 15-year, $280 million accord announced in 2016 that was billed as the largest apparel deal in the history of American collegiate sports. The University of California, Los Angeles promised to fight the move. The Baltimore-based company...

Windies coach Simmons in self-isolation after attending funeral

MANCHESTER, England (Reuters) – West Indies head coach Phil Simmons has entered self-isolation after attending a funeral but fast bowler Alzarri Joseph said it would not hamper the team’s preparation for the three-test series against England. Simmons has been self-isolating in his Old Trafford hotel room since attending the funeral on Friday and has to...

Revised ATP calendar not safe for players, says Murray

(Reuters) – Three-times Grand Slam champion Andy Murray said on Saturday the ATP’s revised calendar which includes seven tournaments in as many weeks is not safe for players, who will be forced to skip major events due to the crammed schedule. The ATP tour, which was suspended in March due to the novel coronavirus outbreak,...

IOC Olympic Games Operations Director Ducrey says Tokyo 2020 postponement will not affect future bidding

LAUSANNE, 28 JUNE 2020 (INSIDE THE GAMES) – The postponement of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and Paralympics until the summer of 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic will not have any effect on future bids to hold the Games, a key member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said today. In an online seminar organised...

‘World’s Toughest Race’ in Fiji to debut 14 August on Amazon

LONDON, 28 JUNE 2020 (AP) – Bear Grylls said he was brought to tears by the determination of competitors on “World’s Toughest Race: Eco-Challenge Fiji” as they raced through jungles and over mountains to the point of exhaustion and pain. The series’ new 10-episode season, hosted by Grylls and with 66 teams from 30 countries,...

Paris and Eugene Diamond League meetings scrapped due to coronavirus

(Reuters) – This year’s Diamond League athletics meetings in Paris and Eugene have been cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, organisers said on Friday. The organisers also confirmed the meeting at Gateshead in England, which was scheduled for Aug. 16, has been postponed. “Following the latest government announcements on the organisation of major events in...

Inaugural Fed Cup Finals delayed until 2021

LONDON (Reuters) – The inaugural version of the revamped Fed Cup Finals has been moved to next year, the International Tennis Federation (ITF) announced on Friday. Twelve nations were set to contest the showpiece team event in Budapest in April but it was postponed after the COVID-19 pandemic closed down the tennis season. It will...

Pakistan to arrive in England on Sunday, then quarantine

LONDON (Reuters) – Pakistan’s team will arrive in England on Sunday before entering a two-week quarantine period ahead of their tour, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) said on Friday. Three test matches and three T20 internationals are scheduled behind closed doors. “They will start a 14-day isolation period at Blackfinch New Road, Worcester...

Nike plans to cut jobs in digital push

(Reuters) – Nike Inc <NKE.N> on Friday warned of job cuts as the world’s largest footwear maker ramps up efforts to sell directly to customers through its online and retail channels. The planned layoffs come after the company on Thursday reported a $790 million quarterly net loss, its first in more the two years, as...

Golf: McCarthy is third PGA Tour player to test positive for COVID-19

(Reuters) – Denny McCarthy has become the third golfer on the PGA Tour to test positive for COVID-19 and the American has withdrawn from the ongoing Travelers Championship in Cromwell, Connecticut, the Tour confirmed on Friday. Nick Watney was the first Tour player to test positive last week and Cameron Champ did so at a...

Cricket Fiji resumes local competitions

Cricket Fiji started its local competition in Suva today at the Albert Park in Suva using the T10 format for the next five weeks. After a seven months break since November last year, Cricket Fiji CEO Alex Konrote said their idea of using the T10 format was to prepare and assist players after a long...

Hamilton condemns Ecclestone’s ‘ignorant’ racism comments

Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton condemned Bernie Ecclestone for “ignorant” comments about racism after the sport had distanced itself from the 89-year-old former supremo. Ecclestone had earlier told CNN in an interview that “in lots of cases, black people are more racist than what white people are.” Formula One, whose chairman Chase Carey made a...

Golf: Hughes goes on birdie blitz to grab lead at Travelers

(Reuters) – Canadian Mackenzie Hughes fired an error free 10-under 60 to take the first-round lead at the Travelers Championship in Cromwell, Connecticut, on Thursday, putting himself three shots clear of three players including world number one Rory McIlroy. Playing the back nine first at the TPC River Highlands, Hughes was in blistering form as...

Dunk specialist Carter announces retirement after 22 seasons

(Reuters) – Atlanta Hawks guard Vince Carter officially announced his retirement from professional basketball on Thursday after an NBA record 22-season career during which his high-flying dunks made him one of the game’s top players in his prime. Carter, widely regarded as one of the greatest dunkers of all time, had previously said the 2019-20...

Black Caps captain Kane Williamson batting on behalf of UNICEF NZ for basic human rights

New Zealand Cricket captain Kane Williamson joins Henry Nicholls, Sophie Devine and Dan Carter to support UNICEF NZ’s latest appeal for something we all take for granted – soap and clean water. Here Williamson, who is noted for his sportsmanship, talks about what prompted him to take such a stand, and why it means so...

Wallace defends investigation into noose

Bubba Wallace expressed relief that the noose found in his garage last weekend wasn’t intended for him, but he defended the investigations by NASCAR and the FBI into the incident. The FBI announced Tuesday that photographic evidence showed that the noose was present at the Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway garage as far back as last fall,...

Report: Hield one of two Kings to test positive for COVID-19

Shortly after Sacramento Kings forward Jabari Parker announced Wednesday that he recently tested positive for the coronavirus, The Athletic reported that teammate Buddy Hield also has COVID-19. The news comes a day after the NBA began Phase 2 of its return-to-play plan, during which time players are required to be tested for coronavirus. Hield, the...

U.S. threatens to pull WADA funding as war of words escalates

(Reuters) – The United States is threatening to cut off funding to the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) unless it immediately enacts serious reforms, according to a report by the White House’s Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP). If WADA does not “change its way of doing business” the agency could soon find itself out...

Other Sports

‘He’s actually choking him’: Leon Henry to only miss one game for throat grab