Ryder Cup: Clarke calms Stenson injury concerns

Hazeltine, Minnesota

Europe captain Darren Clarke has allayed fears over the fitness of British Open champion Henrik Stenson ahead of next month’s Ryder Cup defence at Hazeltine, Minnesota. The Swede, who had surgery on his right knee at the end of last year, suffered a recurrence this week and was forced to pull out of The Barclays FedExCup series event in New York after shooting a three-over 74 in the opening round. Clarke, however, said that the world No. 4 was simply being careful by withdrawing from the tournament.

London

Rose equaliser denies Liverpool victory 

Danny Rose scored a second-half equaliser to cancel out James Milner’s penalty as Tottenham Hotspur came from behind to draw 1-1 with Liverpool at White Hart Lane on Saturday. Erik Lamela nodded Eric Dier’s cross into the path of Rose in the 72nd minute and the England left back controlled the ball and slammed it past Simon Mignolet to extend Spurs’ unbeaten start to the season. Milner beat Michel Vorm from the spot in the 43rd minute after Erik Lamela had tripped Roberto Firmino in the box, as Spurs struggled to deal with Liverpool’s attacking firepower. — Agencies

SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS

Rosberg on pole for Belgian Grand Prix

Germany’s Nico Rosberg set the fastest time in qualifying on Saturday to seize pole position for the Belgian Formula One Grand Prix. The Mercedes driver lapped the 7-kilometer long Spa-Francorchamps circuit in one minute 46.744 seconds. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was second quickest and will start alongside the German on the front row. Four-times Belgium winner Kimi Raikkonen was third for Ferrari. World championship leader Lewis Hamilton, set to start last due to a 55-place engine-related grid penalty, drove only four laps at an easy pace and did not make it beyond the opening phase of qualifying. The Briton heads into the weekend gunning to become only the third driver to take 50 career wins. He has won six of the last seven races, four of those in succession, and leads Rosberg by 19 points in the standings.   

PRETORIA

De Kock top-scores as South Africa batsmen flourish 

Quinton de Kock top-scored as all South Africa's batsmen got among the runs in a score of 283/3 on the first day of the second Test against New Zealand at Centurion on Saturday. De Kock showed sparkling strokeplay in a brisk 82 as he and Stephen Cook became the first opening pair to feature in a 100-run partnership for South Africa since December 2013. Cook scored 56, Hashim Amla 58 and JP Duminy was 67 not out at the close along with captain Faf du Plessis (13). Left-hander De Kock had been sent up the batting order after Dean Elgar suffered a freak ankle injury on the eve of the Test, and he punished the loose balls as he cracked 10 fours on his way to 50.

Karachi

Hafeez told to undergo bowling assessment test

Pakistan’s Mohammad Hafeez has been told to undergo a bowling assessment test, conducted by ICC, before the series against West Indies in the UAE from next month. Hafeez, who has been struggling with his batting on the current England tour, hasn’t taken the ICC assessment test, although his 12-month ban on bowling in international cricket ended in early July. — Agencies

Her time for ‘thank you’

Clad in a sari, Rio Olympics silver medallist PV Sindhu offered thanksgiving prayers at Mahankali temple in Hyderabad on Saturday. Both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh claim the shuttler as their own. The 21-year-old was born in Hyderabad but her parents hail from AP.

New partner, Sania’s same we-win habit

Martina Hingis may no longer be women’s doubles world number one Sania Mirza’s partner, but the Indian tennis star’s winning habits are unaffected. On Saturday, she partnered Romanian Monica Niculescu to reach the Connecticut Open final in the US. Sania’s choice to replace Hingis though is Czech player Barbora Strycova, with whom she teamed up to win the Cincinnati Open immediately after her loss in Rio Olympics.