Sports World: Tennis returns in NZ with team event

Tennis returns in NZ with team event

WELLINGTON • New Zealand will stage a team-based tennis tournament for local-based men's players from June 3, organisers said yesterday, making it the Southern Hemisphere's first professional competition since the coronavirus pandemic brought global sport to a halt.

All 112 matches of the NZ Premier League will be played in Auckland without spectators but broadcast live on Sky Sport or the YouTube channel, Sky Sport Next, Tennis New Zealand said.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE


Basilashvili charged with assault of ex-wife

TBILISI • Georgian tennis player Nikoloz Basilashvili, ranked 27th in the world, was charged on Sunday with physically assaulting his former wife, prosecutors said.

A court in the Georgian capital Tbilisi charged him with perpetrating "violence against a family member committed in the presence of a minor" before releasing him on bail amounting to US$30,000 (S$42,800).

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE


Horse racing may return to UK in June

LONDON • The British Horseracing Authority (BHA) is confident racing will resume on June 1 after it was suspended in March due to the coronavirus pandemic, its chief regulatory officer has said.

The BHA had hoped to restart the season by staging races without fans this month but had to push that back after the government's road map for easing restrictions on elite sport said steps would be taken no earlier than June 1.

REUTERS


Liverpool-Atletico clash linked to deaths

LONDON • The decision to let Liverpool's Champions League last 16, second-leg match against Atletico Madrid go ahead may have "led to 41 additional deaths" due to Covid-19, the Times of London reported on Sunday.

The March 11 game remains the last major football fixture played in England before the coronavirus lockdown and it has since become a source of controversy as Atletico fans had travelled despite Madrid being pinpointed as a hotspot for the disease.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE


Sri Lanka fast bowler held on drug charge

COLOMBO • Sri Lankan police have detained international cricketer Shehan Madushanka on a charge of possessing heroin, officials said yesterday.

The 25-year-old, who took a hat-trick of wickets on his international debut in 2018, was remanded in custody for two weeks by a magistrate after being found with just over 2g of heroin in his possession on Sunday.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on May 26, 2020, with the headline Sports World: Tennis returns in NZ with team event. Subscribe