Category: 6. Sports

Greece’s Emmanouil Karalis claimed the men’s pole vault crown Tuesday (19 August) at the 2025 Diamond League meeting in Lausanne.

The Paris 2024 bronze medal winner cleared 6.02m for the win, ahead of two Frenchmen, Renaud Lavillenie and Thibaut Collet, who tied for second place at 5.91m. Lavillenie is the London 2012 Olympic champion in the event.

Karalis sat out of the two opening heights – 5.42m and 5.62m – before clearing 5.72m in his opening attempt. He passed again on 5.82m and returned to clear 5.92m in one try. He was safely over 6.02m in his third try before calling it a day.

2023 world bronze medallist Kurtis Marschall of Australia had a shock early exit, failing to clear 5.62m – the first height that he attempted.

Competition continues Wednesday (20 August) with stars like Noah Lyles and Dina Asher-Smith set to take centre stage.

The U20 World Wrestling Championships 2025 are being staged in Samokov, Bulgaria, from August 17 to 24.

There are medal events for all three disciplines – men’s freestyle, Greco-Roman and women’s freestyle – each with 10 weight categories.

Sumit Malik won India’s first medal at the meet after clinching silver in the men’s 57kg category. So far, Indian wrestlers have won one medal at the U20 World Wrestling Championships 2025.

Each weight category is being contested over two days with qualification rounds, followed by the semi-finals on the first. Repechage rounds and medal matches take place on the next day.

Neha Sangwan, a bronze medallist in the 57kg from the 2024 edition, has moved up to 59kg. She claimed silver at the Budapest Ranking Series and gold at the Mongolia Open.

Priya, the 2023 U20 world champion and two-time U17 gold medallist, will compete in the women’s 76kg.

Asian U20 champions Tapsya, Saarika, Reena, Anjli and Kajal will also be in focus, alongside returning bronze medallist Srishti.

In the men’s freestyle, Suraj, a former U17 world champion, makes his U20 debut, while Anil Mor comes into the meet on the back of a gold medal win from the Mongolia Open and a bronze at the Budapest Ranking Series.

At last year’s world championships in Spain, India returned with seven medals – one gold, one silver and five bronze. Jyoti Berwal bagged the solitary gold in the women’s 76kg.

Four-time Olympic tennis gold medallist Venus Williams‘s dream of a maiden mixed doubles title at the U.S. Open 2025 ended in the first round Tuesday (19 August) at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York. She and fellow American Reilly Opelka lost to Andrey Rublev and Karolina Muchova, 4-2, 5-4.

The two Americans were broken early, losing their second service game as Williams served. That was the only opening that Muchova and Rublev needed to take the opening set 4-2.

In the second set, it was even through to three games all. Then, Williams stepped up to serve again and got into a sticky situation early, down 15-40. But, urged on by an adoring New York crowd, Williams and Opelka fought off one break point before Williams saved the second with an ace.

The Americans won the game for a 4-3 lead. An easy hold on Muchova’s serve pushed the match to a seven-point tiebreak.

Rublev and Muchova claimed the second set, taking the tiebreak 7-4.

Williams, 45 is making her return to Grand Slam tennis following a two-year hiatus. She made an age-defying singles comeback at the DC Open in July, where she won her opening match against Peyton Stearns, becoming the second-oldest player to win a tour-level singles match. She then lost against Magdalena Frech in the next round.

This week’s mixed doubles matches are best-of-three sets up to four games, with no-advantage at deuce resulting in a ‘golden point’ instead to decide the game. If level at a set apiece, the third set will be in the format of a 10-point match tiebreak.

The mixed doubles final, scheduled for Wednesday (20 August), will take place in the original format of best-of-three sets up to six games, though incorporating the no-advantage rule and super tiebreak up to 10 points.

Rublev and Muchova will face Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori in the quarterfinals later Tuesday.

New director of rugby Dave Reddin, chief executive Abi Tierney and chair Richard Collier-Keywood have been involved in the plan.

It remains unclear whether the two future sides being proposed will be new entities or existing teams.

The WRU has, though, proposed that there will be two organisations which will each have a men’s and women’s team.

There could be 50 players in each men’s squad with a budget of £7.8m each, while the women’s squads will have 40 players apiece.

The WRU says there will be significantly elevated funding for each men’s squad, which would facilitate a radically different profile of talent and support.

The Union says the two squads would feature predominantly Welsh-qualified players, while there would be a rethink on non-Welsh qualified players.

The WRU would fund the two men’s and two women’s teams, all of which would be operated under licences, with the governing body giving any owners or investors responsibility for all commercial operations.

Phase one would involve the move of the two sides, men’s and women’s, operating on two sites.

There will also be a transition to contracting of players and staff within central national academies.

Phase two would involve the clubs moving to training at one site which will be known as a national campus.

This will be home to 400 people, including men’s and women’s national staff, professional and clubs staff and national academies. The men’s and women’s academies will be centralised.

The proposals include improving the standard of the Super Rygbi Cymru competition, which is the current level below the men’s fully professional game.

There is also a pledge to establish a senior women’s domestic competition, with an acceptance there is a current lack of high-quality club rugby below the Celtic Challenge, where Gwalia Lightning and Brython Thunder compete.

Bangladesh and Kazakhstan have replaced Pakistan and Oman respectively for the men’s Asia Cup hockey tournament to be held in Rajgir, Bihar from August 29 to September 7 as per the schedule released on Tuesday.

Hosts India have drawn China, Japan and Kazakhstan in Pool A, while Pool B comprises defending champions Korea, Malaysia, Chinese Taipei and Bangladesh. The winner of the eight-team tournament will qualify for the 2026 World Cup in Belgium and the Netherlands.

Malaysia and Bangladesh will get the continental tournament underway with their opening fixture on August 29 before Korea begin their title defense against Chinese Taipei. India will play China in the first day’s last game in front of the home crowd.

The pool stage will be followed by the Super4s from September 3 to 6. The sequence of Super 4s matches will be confirmed after the completion of pool stage.

Hero Asia Cup 2025 Trophy Unveiled in Rajgir, Bihar ✨
Read more : https://t.co/LfTX3Pn5s4 pic.twitter.com/CTY9FmARS1

— Asian Hockey Federation (@asia_hockey) August 18, 2025

The final will be held on September 7 between the teams finishing first and second in the Super4s. The third-place match – between the teams finishing third and fourth in the Super 4s – and 5/6th classification games are also scheduled on September 7.

The Indian government had said that it would provide visas to the Pakistani players for the tournament, but the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) has refused to travel, citing security concerns.

The organisers had in advance approached Bangladesh to fill up Pakistan’s place in the tournament.

Pakistan’s participation in the Asia Cup was uncertain after the military confrontation with India following the Pahalgam terror attack.

India had launched Operation Sindoor to dismantle terror infrastructure in Pakistan after the terrorist attack that killed 26 people.

Korea are the most successful side in the tournament, having won the title five times in the past. India and Pakistan have been champions three times each. India’s last title win was in 2017 when they beat Malaysia 2-1 in the final in Dhaka.

India finished third in the last edition in Jakarta. The Indian team ended at third place in the Super 4s and then beat Japan 1-0 in the third/fourth match.

Asian Hockey Federation President Fumio Ogura said: “The Hero Asia Cup Rajgir Bihar 2025 will bring together the very best of Asian hockey. With World Cup qualification on the line, every match will carry enormous importance. We are confident this edition will showcase thrilling competition, inspire millions of fans, and leave a lasting legacy for the sport in Asia.”

On Monday, 18 August 2025, an Executive Board meeting was convened with the ITTF President, Deputy President, Executive Vice-Presidents, Chief Executive Officer, Secretary General, and with the Presidents of the Continental Federations in attendance.

This meeting provided a timely opportunity to share essential updates and reaffirm collective responsibilities. Updates were provided to the entire table tennis family following it.

Governance Updates

Significant work has been undertaken to address matters relating to the resumption of the 2025 Annual General Meeting (AGM), in consultation with an international Swiss-based law firm. During the meeting, it was clarified that this responsibility lies with the Chair of the AGM, Graham Symons, who indicated he is considering an online format for the continuation. He will wait for the decision of the ITTF Tribunal before confirming the date and modality.

In recent weeks, the ITTF Tribunal appointed a Hearing Panel. The hearing will take place later this month, with a decision expected once the panel has deliberated. The patience and support of Member Associations during this process are greatly appreciated. For further reference, Division 2 of the ITTF Tribunal Regulations provides details on the stages of this procedure.

A Brilliant Summer for Table Tennis

Besides these governance matters, ITTF has maintained business continuity and strong momentum. The past months have demonstrated our capacity to deliver:

• A superb season of table tennis, highlighted by the inaugural US Smash, Europe Smash, and Champions Yokohama.
• The 2026 Calendar published in August, earlier than in past years, responding directly to requests from players and Member Associations.
• The new ITTF World Para Circuit continued to set up new standard for Para table tennis with several successful events taking place
• Strengthened Continental Development through our flagship Hopes Programme.
• Preparations underway for the Centenary World Championships in London 2026, alongside early preparations for the World Championships 2027, 2028, and 2029.
• Ongoing discussions on Olympic Qualification systems, particularly for the newly introduced mixed team event.
• The opening of an ITTF/WTT office in the USA to expand our presence and impact in a key market.
• Entry into exclusive dialogue with Saudi Arabia regarding the next ITTF World Esports Championships.
• Launch of work on the Centenary Constitutional Reform, as mandated by the AGM.
• Working on projects and concepts to celebrate ITTF’s Centenary sin 2026.

The ITTF remains committed to delivering on the objectives of its Strategic Plan while ensuring the smooth delivery of day-to-day operations. ITTF is confident that, by working together, we will overcome the remaining challenges and continue to grow table tennis worldwide. Expanding on the brilliant Summer for Table Tennis