The Fiji Times

Bangalore’s Hesson hails ‘chase master’ Kohli after crucial win

(Reuters) – Royal Challengers Bangalore director of cricket Mike Hesson said that Virat Kohli’s intensity proved vital in the win against the Gujarat Titans after the opener roared back into form to boost their chances of making the Indian Premier League playoffs. Kohli had managed 236 runs in 13 games coming into the encounter against...

Brown, Asher-Smith seal 100m wins in Birmingham Diamond League

BIRMINGHAM, England (Reuters) – Canada’s Aaron Brown won the first men’s 100 metre race of the Diamond League season with an underwhelming show in Birmingham on Saturday, after two false starts saw top contender Trayvon Bromell and local hope Zharnel Hughes disqualified. Brown clocked in at 10.13 seconds, a minor improvement from his ‘B’ race...

Sister act leads to Lagakali victory

Sisters Kinisalote and Filomena Navula achieved a remarkable feat winning their events at the Adi Cakobau School athletics inter-house at the ANZ Stadium in Laucala Bay yesterday. Younger sister Filomena claimed gold in the 100 and 200 metres, while elder sister Kinisalote was crowned the blue ribbon champion in the same events. Kinisalote clocked 13.63...

Tickets going fast

Tickets for next week’s Super Rugby Pacific match between the Fijian Drua and the Chiefs are selling fast. This is according to the Swire Shipping Fijian Drua chief executive officer Brian Thorburn. He said close to 50 per cent or more than 5000 tickets had been sold. “We are confident it’s going to be sold...

Lagakali House wins ACS inter-house competition

Lagakali House is the overall winner of the Adi Cakobau School inter-house athletics competition held at the ANZ Stadium in Suva today, bagging 20 gold, 8 silver, and 11 bronze medals. Mokosoi House were runners-up with 11 gold, 11 silver, and 10 bronze medals. Uci House won 11 gold, 15 silver, and 15 bronze medals....

Early test for junior lifters

Weightlifting Fiji gets an early test this weekend as a curtain-raiser to the coming Pacific Mini Games, Commonwealth Games and the 2024 Olympic Games. Ten junior and youth Fijian weightlifters compete against regional neighbours including Australia and New Zealand tomorrow and Sunday in the inaugural Oceania Weightlifting Online Youth and Junior Championship. “This is a...

Lautoka Golf Club braces for opening event

Lautoka Golf Club would be hosting the Long Run (Fiji)-sponsored 2-men stroke Ambrose event over 18 holes at the club’s golf course at Golf Links in Lautoka on Saturday. The chairman of trustees at LGC Raymond Singh said he was excited with the staging of the maiden event for the club this year. “We anticipate...

Officials expect rise in participation

The officials of the Tattsloto Fiji Open Tennis Championship expect the numbers to grow for next year’s event as the travelling restrictions are lifted around the world. This year’s Fiji Open has attracted 97 players down from 175 when the tournament was last held in 2019. Fiji Open Tennis Championship tournament referee David Smith said...

Flying start for top seed

Men’s open singles top seed Junior Benjamin made a flying start in the Tattslotto Fiji Open Tennis Championship breezing through his match without dropping a game at the Denarau Golf and Racquet Club courts in Nadi. F resh from victory at the Consumers Supermarket Easter Open Championship last month, the Solomon Islander downed Salmaan Asgar...

Weightlifters’ battle

Young and upcoming Fijian weightlifters face regional counterparts this weekend in the inaugural Oceania Weightlifting Online Junior and Youth Championship. Team Fiji weightlifters will face counterparts from Australia, Papua New Guinea, Guam, Solomon Islands, New Zealand, Kiribati, Samoa, Tonga, New Caledonia, Tahiti, Tuvalu and Vanuatu. “We have a strong team of upcoming boys and girls,”...

Ticket refund – Fans given opportunity for Fiji Finals purchase

Members of the public who had bought tickets for the 2021 Coca-Cola Games have the option to refund or replace their tickets before this year’s event from August 4-6 at the ANZ Stadium in Suva. This was revealed during a media conference at the Coca-Cola Europacific Partners Fiji headquarters at Laucala Beach, Suva on Wednesday....

Australia’s Jack ‘proves’ her point after successful comeback from doping ban

MELBOURNE, May 19 (Reuters) – Three years after becoming the pariah of Australian swimming, Shayna Jack can finally look ahead with hope after coming back from a doping ban to book her place at the world championships and Commonwealth Games. The 23-year-old finished second behind Mollie O’Callaghan in the women’s 100 metres freestyle final at...

Red-hot Swiatek primed to claim second French Open title

PARIS, May 19 (Reuters) – The women’s tournament at the French Open has often sprung surprise winners but it is hard to see anyone other than Iga Swiatek lifting the Suzanne Lenglen Cup on the Parisian clay this year. The 20-year-old Polish player has it all — and in recent months she has simply been...

Bryson DeChambeau withdraws from PGA Championship after testing repaired wrist

Bryson DeChambeau withdrew from the PGA Championship on Thursday (NZ time) after practising for two days at Southern Hills to test his surgically repaired left wrist. The former U.S. Open champion practised with a wrap that extended several inches up his left forearm. He tweeted Tuesday it had “held up nicely” after his initial practice...

Two new faces in England first test cricket squad to meet New Zealand at Lord’s

England have named two uncapped players in their squad to play the Black Caps in the first two games of the three-test series. Yorkshire batter Harry Brook and Durham seam bowler Matthew Potts have been called up for the first time, while veteran fast bowlers James Anderson and Stuart Broad have been recalled under new...

Pop star Cody Simpson qualifies for Commonwealth Games and world champs

Cody Simpson has put the finishing touches on one of the most remarkable stories in Australian sport, completing his audacious switch from international pop star to elite athlete by blasting his way onto the national swimmng squad for this year’s World Championships and the Commonwealth Games. The 25-year-old from the Gold Coast, who toured the...

Tiger Woods says he’s all about majors and legacy in sharp rebuke of Phil Mickelson

Tiger Woods is all about majors and legacy, a point he drove home in a sharp rebuke of Phil Mickelson and his support of a Saudi-funded golf venture that led to Lefty not defending his title at the PGA Championship. Even as Woods resumes a remarkable return from a car crash 15 months ago that nearly...

Australian Mott lined up as England limited overs coach – reports

LONDON (Reuters) – Matthew Mott, head coach of the Australia women’s team, is the front-runner to take charge of the England men’s limited-overs side, according to media reports in both countries. England put former New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum in charge of their test team earlier this month having decided to split the coach’s roles...

Tennis journey in Fiji

The annual Fiji Open Tennis Championship has a rich history dating back to 1907 when the first tournament was staged in Suva. This makes the Fiji Open Tennis Championship one of the oldest sporting tournaments in the country. Competitive tennis was played with great enthusiasm in the country. Each cup was donated for a particular...

Benjamin top seed for men’s category

Solomon Islander Junior Benjamin is the top seed in the men’s open singles category for the Tattslotto Fiji Open Tennis Championship which starts at the Denarau Golf and Racquet Club in Nadi tomorrow. Benjamin goes into the tournament on a high having won four titles already. He won the first two editions of the Fiji...

Briton Robson calls time on career due to injury issues

(Reuters) – Britain’s former junior Wimbledon champion and Olympic mixed doubles silver medallist Laura Robson announced her retirement on Monday due to persistent injury problems. A former world number 27, Robson lifted the junior crown at the grasscourt Grand Slam as a 14-year-old in 2008 and followed up her success with an Olympic medal partnering...

China withdrawal could see 2023 Asian Cup heading west

MELBOURNE (Reuters) – China’s withdrawal from hosting the 2023 Asian Cup could see the showpiece shift west to the Gulf, where new infrastructure and voracious demand for major events has made the region a magnet for international tournaments. Having planned to hold the Asian Cup across 10 cities in June-July next year, China dropped the...

Rome champion Djokovic delights in ‘sunshine double’

(Reuters) – Novak Djokovic said his seven-year-old son Stefan had won his first tournament on the same day the Serb lifted his first crown in more than six months at the Italian Open, describing their success as a “sunshine double”. Djokovic beat Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-0 7-6(5) to triumph in Rome on Sunday, ensuring a perfect...

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Top seed in men’s final