Championship

World champion Luke Littler was denied entry to Wednesday’s Players Championship 33 event after he arrived late because of traffic congestion caused by a serious incident.

The 18-year-old was set to play in the penultimate Players Championship event of 2025 at Wigan’s Robin Park Leisure Centre.

But he had to withdraw after missing the 11:00 GMT registration deadline for players.

It later emerged someone had died in an incident on the M6.

Littler posted on Instagram: “Missed registration today for the pro tour, but someone sadly lost their life. Thinking of everyone.”

Littler was replaced by fellow Englishman Charlie Manby, who is ranked 174th in the PDC’s order of merit. He upset 2018 world champion Rob Cross 6-5, before being knocked out in the second round.

The event was won by England’s Chris Dobey, who beat Ireland’s William O’Connor 8-6 in the final to leapfrog Cross to eighth in the order of merit.

McLaren’s Lando Norris avoided early mayhem to cruise to a dominant Mexico City Grand Prix win and retake the Formula One championship lead by a single point from teammate Oscar Piastri on Sunday.

Australia’s Piastri, who started the race seventh and 14 points clear of the Briton, finished fifth after a virtual safety car in the last two laps denied him a shot at fourth after a thrilling chase.

Charles Leclerc was runner-up for Ferrari, a hefty 30.3 seconds adrift of Norris, while Red Bull’s reigning champion Max Verstappen took third – just 0.7 behind the Monegasque driver.

Norris, who started from pole position and led every lap, now has 357 points to Piastri’s 356, with Verstappen on 321 and four rounds remaining.

“What a race. I could just keep my eyes focused and forward and focus on what I was doing,” said Norris, who was booed by the home crowd for reasons that remained unclear.

“A pretty straightforward race for me, which is just what I was after. A good start, a good launch, a good first lap, and I could go from there.”

Norris turns championship frontrunner

Norris last led the drivers’ standings in April, a gap of 189 days, and had not won a race since Hungary in early August. Sunday was his sixth victory of the season, one less than Piastri, and his 10th career win.

“I felt like the whole race I was right behind someone and struggling with the dirty air. That was pretty difficult,” said Piastri.

“Today was about trying to limit the damage, but also trying to learn some things about that. If I’ve made some progress with that, I’ll be happy.”

Oliver Bearman was fourth for Haas, a best result for the Briton and also the US-owned team, and was 1.1 seconds clear of Piastri at a chequered flag waved by former heavyweight boxing champion Evander Holyfield.

“I held off Max in the first stint, I held off the Mercs in the second, and I held off the McLaren in the third one,” the rookie said.

“I spent more time looking in my rearview mirrors than in front. But that’s sometimes how it has to be.”

Kimi Antonelli was sixth for Mercedes, with teammate George Russell seventh and Lewis Hamilton eighth for Ferrari after a 10-second penalty dropped him from third and dashed his hopes of a first podium for the team he joined in January.

Esteban Ocon was ninth, making a double points finish for Haas, and Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto took the final point.

Ferrari moves back into second place

The top three all completed the race on a one-stop strategy, while Bearman, Piastri and the Mercedes drivers all pitted twice.

Ferrari moved back into second place, a point ahead of Mercedes, in a constructors’ championship already won by McLaren but with a tight scrap for the runner-up slot.

Norris made a clean start from pole when the lights went out, but was caught in a four-way tussle down the long run to turn one, with Verstappen cutting the corner and bumping over the grass.

Leclerc then cut turn two, giving the place back to Norris, who emerged from the chaos ahead, while Verstappen gained a place in fourth to the intense irritation of Russell.

“I got squeezed like crazy,” said Verstappen over the team radio as Russell, who started fourth, called in vain for the four-time world champion to hand the place back.

A scary incident saw Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson, who came in for a new front wing on lap three, accelerate out of the pits as two marshals ran across the track in front of him.

Verstappen and third-placed Hamilton made contact on lap six as they went side by side with the Red Bull driver trying to go past at turn one, but ending up cutting the next corner.

Hamilton went off at turn four, cutting back across the grass, and was handed a penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage.

Bearman, meanwhile, climbed to fourth, from ninth at the start, and looked on for a podium once Hamilton took his penalty on lap 24, only to be reeled in by Verstappen.

While Norris enjoyed a calm afternoon in the sunshine, Piastri had to fight back from a low of 11th after his first stop, passing Antonelli in the pits and Russell on track.

The virtual safety car was deployed after Williams’s Carlos Sainz, last year’s winner for Ferrari, spun and stopped on track on the penultimate lap with smoke coming from it.

Dutchman Gian van Veen shocked world number one Luke Humphries to win his first PDC title at the European Championship in Dortmund.

The 23-year-old beat countryman and four-time champion Michael van Gerwen 11-9 in the semi-finals before holding his nerve to come through a tense match with Humphries 11-10.

“I said it to my girlfriend when I walked on stage, whenever I win my first TV title I wouldn’t cry – and here I am crying,” Van Veen told ITV Sport.

“I will never forget this moment or even this crowd. It is phenomenal to win my first major in Germany.

“I said to Luke after the game, when he hit the bull to go 10-10, that is why he is world number one. That’s how amazing person Luke is. It is definitely a night to never forget.”

Great Britain’s Josh Tarling produces a blistering display to win his first track world title in the men’s 40km points race at the UCI Track World Championships.

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Sheffield Wednesday have filed a notice to be placed into administration after it was revealed His Majesty’s Revenue & Customs were set to issue a winding-up petition against the club.

A notice was filed with the insolvency and companies court at the High Court on Friday morning and the Championship club will now face a 12-point deduction.

Staff have been briefed, while administrators also held a meeting with players. The Owls host Oxford United at Hillsborough on Saturday (15:00 BST).

BBC Sport has contacted Sheffield Wednesday and the EFL for comment.

The news comes following increased supporter protests at Hillsborough, with fans boycotting the game against Middlesbrough on Wednesday.

Going into administration would effectively end Dejphon Chansiri’s decade-long ownership of the club.

The Owls are bottom of the Championship and a points deduction will leave them 15 points adrift of safety.

Littler closed the gap on Humphries when he won the World Grand Prix earlier this month, saying afterwards: “Obviously, until I get that world number one spot, I will never call myself the best in the world.

“I don’t want to think about it too much, but I could be world number one before that World Championship.

“I’ve just got to keep chucking away and put as much pressure as I can on Luke.”

Littler begins his European Championship campaign against five-time world champion Raymond van Barneveld, 58, on Friday.

Humphries, 30, faces Pole Krzysztof Ratajski in the first round and could potentially meet Littler in the quarter-finals.

A day after his Grand Prix victory, Littler was beaten in the World Youth Championship semi-finals by Beau Greaves, before he then won the Players Championship 32 event.

He has also announced a new management deal with Target Darts after splitting with Martin Foulds of ZXF Sports Management, who had managed him for five years.

Littler will hope to improve his recent record in Germany, where he has skipped some tournaments after facing a hostile reception from spectators. He was booed alongside Humphries when the pair lost to Germany at the World Cup of Darts in Frankfurt in June.

After the European Championship, there are two big tournaments before the World Championship starts on 11 December – the Grand Slam of Darts (8-16 November) and Players Championship Finals (21-23 November).

She has informed the WDF she will not be playing in the women’s championship, which starts on 28 November

A WDF statement said: “Although Beau will no longer be competing on the Lakeside stage, we wish her all the best in the next stage of her darting career.

“She has been a fantastic ambassador for our system since we returned from the pandemic in 2021, winning every major WDF title on the way.

“It’s been fantastic to see how her game has gone from strength to strength playing in WDF events and we know that she’ll continue to make even more history on the PDC circuit.”

A minimum of four women will compete at the PDC World Championship after a new qualifying structure was announced.

This year’s event will have an expanded field of 128 players, up from 96 in 2024-25, with the winner taking home £1m of a £5m prize pot.

Fallon Sherrock, the only woman to have won matches in the tournament – in 2019 – is the only other female player to have qualified so far.

With seeded players entering the tournament in the first round, rather than the second, Greaves and Sherrock could meet one of the top men.

After starting with four pars, Lowry – who is without an individual victory since September 2022 – carded back-to-back birdies at the fifth and sixth holes.

The former Open champion vaulted into a share of the lead with a run of five straight birdies from the par-four 11th before picking up a shot at the last to edge ahead of Nakajima.

“It’s not that hard when you hit it in play out there, but you start missing fairways it becomes quite tricky, so I’m happy with that,” said Lowry.

He added: “You need to shape it around the course, hit it in position off the tee and it’s all about your iron play. That’s one of my strengths and I took advantage of that today and managed to roll a few putts in on the back nine, which was nice.”

Lowry added there was a “little bit” of Ryder Cup chat with playing partners Fleetwood and Donald.

“We could hear the horns from the road, it was not as off-putting as the Bethpage [Black] crowd,” he said with a smile, referring to the hostile New York fans at last month’s Ryder Cup.

Fleetwood mixed four birdies, an eagle and two bogeys to sit four shots back.

Donald, who is playing his first tournament since his second Ryder Cup success as captain, carded five birdies and a bogey to match fellow Englishman Fleetwood and 2023 Open champion Brian Harman.

Playing with McIlroy, US Ryder Cup player Ben Griffin opened with a 68 while McIlroy’s European team-mate Viktor Hovland signed for a 71.

Beau Greaves emerged victorious from a 6-5 thriller against Luke Littler as she became the first woman to reach the final of the World Youth Championship.

Littler came into the tournament on the back of his 6-1 demolition of world number one Luke Humphries in the World Grand Prix final on Sunday.

The 18-year-old had breezed through his three matches in the round-robin phase of the event, with wins over Dutchman Jeffrey Keen, Iceland’s Alexander Thorvaldsson and Belgium’s Matthias Moors.

However, the world champion put in a below-par last-16 display against fellow Englishman Charlie Manby.

Littler was on the brink of defeat at 5-3 down to the 20-year-old, before winning the next three legs, then rediscovered his touch in the quarter-finals with a 6-1 victory over Jamai van den Herik of the Netherlands.

Warrington teenager Littler found himself 2-1 down in the semi-final against Greaves but responded by winning three consecutive legs to seize the upper hand.

But three-time WDF women’s world champion Greaves – who is set to accept a PDC Tour card for 2026-27 – rallied to level the match at 4-4 and 5-5.

Greaves then blew Littler away in the decider as she threw an 11-dart leg – the 21-year-old from Doncaster sealing victory with a checkout of 80.

She will meet defending champion Gian van Veen in next month’s final after the Dutchman, 23, clinched a 6-4 win over Sebastian Bialecki of Poland in the other semi-final.

The World Youth Championship final will be played on 23 November in Minehead, before the Players Championship final on the same day.

Littler, who averaged 107.4 to Greaves’ 105, posted on Instagram after his defeat: “Fair play to Beau. All the best in Minehead. Some talent.”

Players aged between 16 and 24 are eligible to compete in the World Youth Championship.

Littler won the youth title in 2023 aged 16, a few weeks before he burst into the spotlight by finishing runner-up at the 2024 World Championship.

THE World Darts Championship will return for another year of thrilling action in December!

Luke Littler is back at Ally Pally to defend his World Darts Championship title – and tickets are flying off the shelf!

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World Darts Championship 2025 tickets and prices

StubHub are offering tickets for sale for every session of the tournament, at the time of writing.

The cheapest tickets available are currently priced at £145 per person for the evening session on Thursday, December 18.

There are tickets on the site available at a range of prices.

Tickets for the final, for example, are priced from £380 at the time of writing – these are for seats on the outskirts rather than a table in the middle.

The cheapest table seats for the final start at £940 each.

For those looking for hospitality tickets, Seat Unique is offering packages – although is asking for those interested to register their interest.

There is no pricing available at the time of writing, with details expected soon.

Are tickets for the World Darts Championship still on sale?

Yes, tickets are available, but fans will have to buy from secondary ticketing sites.

PDCTV annual members were able to have first dibs at tickets during a pre-sale.

That took place on August 4 and August 5, 2025.

There was then the chance for others to put their name into a free-to-enter ticket ballot.

Registrations for the ballot opened on August 6 and then closed on August 15.

Tickets are now available on third-party ticketing sites, although the PDC have previously warned fans about purchasing tickets this way.

Britain’s Kat Matthews claimed silver at the World Ironman Championship, but compatriot Lucy Charles-Barclay was forced to pull out while leading as competitors battled sweltering conditions in Kona, Hawaiʻi.

Matthews benefited from the late withdrawals of Charles-Barclay and American Taylor Knibb to finish second behind Norway’s Solveig Lovseth, who claimed her first Ironman world title.

Charles-Barclay was leading after 10 miles of the marathon but visibly began to struggle as temperatures pushed 28C with 70% humidity.

She eventually pulled out with about nine miles remaining after consulting with her husband at the side of the road.

That seemingly left the path clear for Knibb to take the title, but the 27-year-old withdrew with four miles left, sitting down on the tarmac as Lovseth and Matthews ran past her.

Matthews finished strongly and completed the marathon in a course record two hours, 47 minutes, but it was not enough to reel in Lovseth.

The Norwegian crossed the line in a time of eight hours, 28 minutes and 27 seconds, with Matthews just 35 seconds behind for her third Ironman silver medal. Germany’s Laura Philipp was more than eight minutes further back in third.

“I worked really hard and I’m very proud of my finish,” said Matthews. “I’m happy for Solveig, she was incredible to watch. I had a very up and down day.”

The Ironman course consists of a 2.4-mile (3.8 km) swim, 112 miles (180 km) cycling and the final marathon, which is 26.2 miles (42.2 km), for a total distance of 140.6 miles.

Meanwhile, the men’s and women’s World Championships will reunify in 2026 after three years as separate events.

The Championships were split in 2023 to ease entry back-logs caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

South Africa were voted the men’s team of the year at the World Rugby awards last year.

Having picked up back-to-back Rugby Championships, the world’s number one-ranked team could be picking up the prize again.

But what makes the achievement more remarkable is the amount of players head coach Rassie Erasmus has used.

“I think we used close to 47 players and I’d love to have given more chances,” he said.

Defeats by Australia and New Zealand over the first three games put pressure on Erasmus – but subsequent results made clear the “risk” to develop talent was worth it.

Three wins from three games followed to secure the title, with 23-year-old Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu starting all of them.

A Springbok record 37 points against Argentina in Durban was the highlight as Feinberg-Mngomezulu developed as a potential frontrunner to start at fly-half in November.

Ethan Hooker, 22, began the final three games on the left wing and produced a standout performance against New Zealand, while Canan Moodie, also 23, started at outside centre in the final three games.

With the title on the line, Erasmus trusted his young stars and they delivered.

Selection will now heat up for the autumn as the Springboks’ World Cup winners will hope to return to the side, especially for games against France and Ireland.

Erasmus once said he would “rather win the World Cup than sit at an 85% win rate”.

Well, he has now built a squad that looks like it can do both.

“I think one of our goals is to stay in the present, do well, and not just focus on the World Cup,” he added.

“But I think definitely trying to build squad depth played a role in the lack of continuity.”

Four of Europe’s Ryder Cup heroes will be in action at this week’s Dunhill Links Championship in Scotland, headed by defending champion and three-time winner Tyrrell Hatton.

And you can bet your life they will get a much better reception from the fans than they did from the loud-mouthed yobs who hurled abuse at them at Bethpage Black.

Luke Donald’s team were certainly heroes as far as this column is concerned.

Tommy Fleetwood, another of the players teeing it up this week, was a 12-1 winner in the top points scorer market, and the 15-13 scoreline was also tipped here at 12-1

Justin Rose going out first in the singles, having been highlighted at 18-1, was the icing on the cake. Cameron Young also finished joint top in the USA points list with Xander Schauffele, having been advised at 25-1.

So the big question now is where do we “reinvest” the winnings, to try to keep the mood of celebration going?

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Alfred Dunhill Links Championship 2025 betting tips

Hatton seems an obvious starting point, given his incredible record in this event. 

In his last seven starts here, he has posted a couple of runner-ups as well as his three victories. And his worst finish was a share of 15th. So 7-1 looks reasonable.

Hatton is second favourite behind world No 7 Fleetwood, who has finished second here twice, and was third 12 months ago.

He is a general 6-1, with European team-mates Matt Fitzpatrick and Robert MacIntyre next on the list at around 10-1 and 12-1 respectively.

But the Ryder Cup was such a draining experience that I am reluctant to side with any of that quartet at short prices. They have earned a bit of down time, and may not be quite as focused on this event as usual.

Marco Penge, who was a bit unlucky not to get a wild card for Bethpage after winning twice this year, looks attractively priced at 20-1.

Penge missed the cut here last year – but that was largely due to a calamitous opening round of 75 at Carnoustie, where he had a NINE and a seven on the back nine.

That can happen at the toughest course on the planet. And the big-hitting Englishman bounced back well with rounds of 69 and 70 at Kingsbarns and St Andrews.

He is a much more accomplished player now, and is second only to Rory McIlroy on the current DP World Tour money list. He could easily go one better than his runner-up finish at the hotly-contested Scottish Open three months ago.

I also like the chances of another monster hitter, Rasmus Neergard-Petersen, who is a best priced 25-1. He seemed to thrive on the links when finishing joint fourth last year.

Previous form in this event is invaluable, so 40-1 shot Haotong Li also comes into the reckoning. His share of seventh last year was his second top ten here, and a tie for fourth at this year’s Open confirmed his love of links golf.

Among the longshots, the 80-1 about Laurie Canter and Peter Uhlein deserves a second look, while improving Frenchman Tom Vaillant looks over-priced at 150-1. The same thing applies to 200-1 shot Brandon Robinson-Thompson.

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Sanderson Farms Championship betting tips

The only Ryder Cup golfer playing in the PGA Tour’s Sanderson Farms Championship in Jackson, Mississippi is another European, Rasmus Hojgaard.

He had a tough debut at Bethpage, losing both his matches. So despite a couple of runner-up finishes in his last four starts, I’m not tempted by the 33-1 on offer.

But I am keen on the 33-1 available for Mackenzie Hughes. The Canadian won here in 2022, finished top ten last year, and arrives on the back of a share of seventh in the Procore, where ten of the US Ryder Cup team were in action. 

Emilian Grillo did even better at the Procore, finishing tied fourth. He also also played well in Jackson in the past. So he is another 33-1 shot on the shortlist.

Michael Thorbjornsen is starting to justify the hype after a stellar college career, and 25-1 looks fair. Do not get him confused with Thorbjorn Olesen – but 50-1 for the former Ryder Cup man means he might be worth backing too!

Beau Hossler is another 50-1 chance worth considering, and I haven’t lost faith completely in USPGA runner-up Davis Riley despite a bunch of missed cuts. 

At 150-1 he could be worth a small interest. David Lipsky was a big disappointment at the Procore, but two third places in his previous five starts suggests he is another 150-1 shot to think about.

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SAIF ZAIB – (NORTHAMPTONSHIRE) – 61%

1,387 runs, average 66.04, six centuries, six half-centuries

Saif Zaib has been a beacon of light in a season of struggle for Northamptonshire.

Batting at number five, he has often been called upon to rescue a brittle batting line-up from which no other batter features in Division Two’s top twenty run-scorers.

He converted six of his 12 50-plus scores into three figures while also chipping in with 13 wickets with his slow left-armers.

The good news for Northants fans is he remains under contract until the end of the 2027 season.

TOM ABELL (SOMERSET) – 52%

1,022 runs, average 51.10, three centuries, five half-centuries

Though his side’s push for a maiden Division One title faltered in the final month of the season, 2025 was another fine year for Tom Abell.

A century in the penultimate round was his third of the campaign and saw him into four figures for the season with an average of more than 50.

The 31-year-old also helped his club to the T20 Blast title.

MARCUS HARRIS (LANCASHIRE) – 46%

1,027 runs, average 60.41, three centuries, five half-centuries

Former Australia Test batter Marcus Harris has had a year to remember after joining Lancashire.

The 33-year-old initially signed as an overseas for the Championship and One-Day Cup this summer but swiftly put pen to paper on a deal for another two years.

The former Leicestershire and Gloucestershire man – who has won 14 Test caps – made a blistering start, passing 800 runs in May, though his momentum did wane in the second half of the season as Lancashire were unable to mount a push for promotion from Division Two.

Having been part of the 2024 team, Glamorgan’s Colin Ingram was edged into fourth in the voting by Harris.

ISAAC HAYDEN feels sympathy for Chelsea ‘bomb squad’ members Raheem Sterling and Axel Disasi.

The ex-Newcastle midfielder, now at QPR, spent the first five months of last season in limbo after failing to secure a summer move.

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Sterling shared a photo of himself training alone late in the evening, while boss Enzo Maresca admitted he has not even spoken to the winger this season.

Hayden, 30, was not in Eddie Howe’s plans but his circumstances were slightly different.

He told SunSport: “I have sympathy because footballers want to play — but everyone’s got different reasons as to why they find themselves in a so-called ‘bomb squad’.

“It happened to me because I couldn’t find a solution during that summer window which fitted in with what Newcastle also wanted.

“But I had constant contact with Eddie and was given nothing but support.”

Hayden made 187 appearances for Newcastle, won the Championship title in 2017 and had five seasons playing in the Premier League. 

But a knee injury in December 2021 sidelined him for 5½ months and Howe later told him he was surplus to requirements.

Hayden said: “By the time I’d come back, they had signed Bruno Guimaraes, and Joelinton was playing as a No 8 — so there was no space.

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“And the team had been transformed from one fighting relegation to having top-six form.

“Eddie was honest and said he had five players in front of me. You think to yourself, ‘I know where I stand’. I’d rather  that than the manager not talking to me.

“You hear people talk about bomb squads where they isolate you, and that’s horrible — but Eddie and Newcastle didn’t do that.

“We had the conversation as to why he couldn’t name me in the 25-man squad.

“And it’s not as simple as, ‘Why not let him train with the first team?’. If you’re doing an 11 v 11 game and everyone’s fit, you’re not going to be able to train with the group because there are too many players.

So Eddie’s solution for me to train with the Under-23s was better. It meant I could train normally every day — and not by myself.”

Hayden actually embraced that period and even did some coaching.

He said: “The bottom line is you’re getting paid good money by the club as a professional footballer. So you give 100 per cent to them in whatever role you’re in.”

After spending the second half of last season on loan with Portsmouth, Hayden joined QPR permanently in the summer.

And now he is hoping to play for Jamaica at next summer’s World Cup.

He said: “One of the huge blessings to come out of that period was I was able to go to Jamaica for a few days to sort my  passport out so I could play for them.

“Had I been playing first-team football every week I’d have not been able to.

“Now I have a chance of making the World Cup. It goes to show you can make everything work out in the end.”

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There have been a number of new additions to the coaching and playing staff for Ulster ahead of the new campaign as they aim to muscle their way back into the top eight.

Juarno Augustus has been signed from Northampton while Australia prop Angus Bell will join the squad after the autumn internationals.

Mark Sexton has arrived as attack coach, with Willie Faloon now in permanent charge of the defence.

Henderson is enthused by the impact Augustus and Sexton have already had and believes the team are already in a better shape to compete with younger players now having a tough year of senior rugby under their belts.

“Mark Sexton has been working wonders with our attack, it feels fresh and new,” added the 33-year-old.

“A handful of older guys leaving last year have lifted the ceiling of those young guys who have been stepping into shoes and there are a couple of new players kicking around, I can’t wait to see them cause a bit of disruption.

“Watching him [Augustus] in training, there’s no doubt in my mind he is going to cause a bit of damage and that is exciting.

“There is so much there to cause excitement and the excitement they [young players] bring rejuvenates me, I feel like my body has been brilliant in pre-season and I want to be part of this new Ulster coming through with the freshness I feel.”

Ulster edged past Dragons 34-30 at Rodney Parade last season, but Henderson added that both teams’ summer business means Friday’s game at the Affidea Stadium will be a different proposition.

“They caused us loads of issues over there last year, but they have signed a heap of new players and will be a different team and how we have progressed in pre-season, we are a different team to last year.”

The County Championship is to remain a two-division structure of 14 matches per team after a vote rejected proposed changes.

Eighteen first-class counties were asked to choose between the status quo and a new system of a 12-team top flight, six in the bottom tier, with each team playing 13 matches.

The ballot returned a result on Tuesday, one day before the final round of this season’s County Championship matches begin.

A majority of 12 counties were required to vote for change in order to push through the reform, a figure that was not met.

The result of the vote means the County Championship retains its current structure of 10 teams in Division One and eight in Division Two, with two teams promoted and relegated between each.

It brings to an end a lengthy examination of the domestic schedule, conducted by the counties.

A revamp of the Twenty20 Blast, cutting the number of group games from 14 to 12 and bringing finals day earlier in the season, was agreed in August.

However, differing opinions among the counties about the way forward for the Championship have resulted in retaining the current set-up.

A number of proposals were put forward, including reducing the number of first-class matches to 12, a number favoured by the Professional Cricketers’ Association (PCA).

When it became clear the shift from 14 to 12 was dead in the water, the 12-team top flight with a 13-match structure was proposed.

The idea involved the 12 teams being split into two groups of six, playing each other twice for an initial 10 games. At that point, the two groups would be split in half to create two further groups of six that would play for the Championship and relegation places.

CHELSEA forward Marc Guiu has been named as eligible for the EFL Cup thanks to a little-known rule change.

The teenager spent a short-lived spell with Sunderland on loan earlier this season but was recalled before the transfer deadline.

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He scored for the Black Cats in their EFL Cup exit to Huddersfield while with the club, an appearance that was believed to have made him ineligible for future EFL cup games this season.

However, a rule change for the 2025/26 season changed the laws to allow a player to turn out for two different clubs in the same campaign.

But Chelsea themselves were reportedly not aware that the Spaniard was able to play in their cup match with Lincoln City on Tuesday, and he has been left out of the squad.

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The LGPA Tour has cancelled the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship after 18 holes due to bad weather.

Dangerous conditions at the Pinnacle Country Club in Rogers, Arkansas, saw play suspended on Saturday with full cancellation of the event confirmed on Sunday.

“The course received 3.25 [inches] of rain last night and after having assessed the golf course and consulted with our meteorologist and superintendent, the golf course is unplayable,” the LPGA said in a statement.

“Based on the weather forecast for the remainder of today and all day Monday and Tuesday, it is highly unlikely that 36 holes could be completed to make it an official event.

“As a result, the decision has been made to cancel the remainder of the tournament, with only players’ 18-hole score counting.”

The scheduled 54-hole event will be unofficial with no points awarded in the Race to CME globe, the season-long points competition.

The USA’s Cole Hocker comes back after being disqualified from the men’s 1500m to win gold in the 5000m with Belgium’s Isaac Kimeli taking silver and France’s Jimmy Gressier claiming bronze at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo.

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