Storm over knighthood for cricket hero Boycott

London

Former British Prime Minister Theresa May has chosen Geoffrey Boycott, one of her cricket heroes, for a knighthood, attracting criticism from domestic abuse charities. The retired England batsman was convicted in France in 1998 of hitting his ex-girlfriend; on Tuesday he was unrepentant over the incident, saying that the allegations were untrue and that he "couldn't give a toss" about the criticism. Boycott, interviewed on Tuesday after the honour was announced, was irritable when asked about the conviction. "It’s a cross I have to bear — right or wrong, good or bad, I have to live with it — and I do because I am clear in my mind, and I think most people in England are, that it's not true," Boycott, 78, said. Boycott and Strauss both received the honour for their services to sport after outstanding careers for England. In 2017, Boycott apologised "unreservedly" after he said he needed to black up to improve his chances of getting a knighthood given how many West Indian cricketers had received the honour. 

London
ECB ‘disturbed’ by racist chants against Jofra 

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has said it is “extremely disturbed” by allegations of racist chanting as well as sexist and homophobic abuse by some spectators during the fourth Ashes Test. British media reported that a supporter had left the ground on the second day of the Test after hearing a section of fans singing a racist song about England’s Barbados-born fast bowler Jofra Archer. The spectator also said women were subjected to sexist chants while homophobic abuse was directed at some players by the same group of people. — Agencies 

Bengaluru
Men’s hockey team to tour Belgium ahead of qualifiers 

Indian men’s hockey captain Manpreet Singh today said that his team will tour Belgium to prepare for the Olympics qualifiers against Russia. The teams will play back-to-matches in Bhubaneswar on November 1 and 2. “First, we will play with Belgium. We should not underestimate Russia because they have a very good defence,” Manpreet said. The women’s team, which has been drawn against USA, will prepare for their qualifying matches by playing against England.    

Kolkata
U Mumba trounce Telugu Titans, enter top-five

Iranian defender Fazel Atrachali was the star in defence as former champions U Mumba beat Telugu Titans 41-27 in a rescheduled Pro Kabaddi League fixture here today. 

New Delhi
Mehuli Ghosh wins title in National Shooting Trials 

Mehuli Ghosh of West Bengal won both the senior and junior women’s 10m air rifle titles in the National Shooting Trials here today. Madhya Pradesh’s Shreya Agrawal finished second, while world No. 1 Apurvi Chandela finished third. In the junior event, Punjab’s Khushi Saini won silver. Zeena Khitta of Himachal emerged victorious in the youth category of the same event. Anhad Jawanda and Parul Kumar won the men’s 25m rapid fire pistol and men’s 50m rifle 3 positions titles, respectively. In the junior men’s event, Vijayveer Sidhu of Chandigarh won the gold. Adarsh Singh finished second, while Vijayveer’s twin Udhayveer won bronze. 

London
Man City assemble football’s first billion-euro squad 

Premier League champions Manchester City are the first team to have spent more than ^1 billion ($1.1 billion) to assemble their squad, a study has shown. Data from the Swiss-based CIES Football Observatory showed that City have spent ^1.014 billion on their current squad. Agencies