Category: Other Sports

Sumo wrestler Danylo Yavhusishyn made more history on Wednesday as he became the first Ukrainian to be promoted to the ancient Japanese sport’s second-highest rank, doing it in record time.

The 21-year-old, who fled the war in Ukraine three years ago, is the fastest to go from the lowest rung to ozeki status since the current calendar of six tournaments a year was introduced in 1958.

He became the first wrestler from Ukraine to win a competition when he came out on top at the Kyushu Grand Sumo Tournament on Sunday.

He is only the fourth European to become an ozeki, following wrestlers from Estonia, Bulgaria and Georgia.

“I will strive to aim even higher, in a manner that does not disgrace the title of ozeki,” Yavhusishyn, who is known by his ring name Aonishiki, said during his promotion ceremony.

Yavhusishyn has enjoyed a meteoric rise in sumo since making his debut in July 2023.

He capped off a stunning year by beating grand master Hoshoryu in a play-off to clinch his first title in only his 14th tournament.

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Danylo Yavhusishyn received his promotion at a special ceremony in western Fukuoka, where he bowed to sumo elders in front of gold folding screens and celebratory flowers.

He then held up a large sea bream as a symbol of good luck and celebration.

“I’ve surprised myself, but I’ve never paid attention to how fast things are going,” he said in fluent Japanese. “The best thing I have done is to listen carefully to what my stablemaster tells me.”

Yavhusishyn was born in central Ukraine and took up sumo at the age of seven, becoming a national champion at 17.

His age meant he narrowly avoided Ukraine’s military draft for men aged 18 and older after Russia invaded, and he sought refuge in Germany before moving to Japan.

His parents stayed in Germany, and he arrived in Japan knowing nothing of the language.

“The thing I appreciate most is the support they gave me before I came to Japan,” he said. “They were really happy when I won the tournament, and I want to call them after this.”

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The sacred flame for the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics in Italy will be lit in ancient Olympia, Greece, on Wednesday, with poor weather forcing last-minute changes by the organisers.

The ceremony to light the Olympic flame is usually held at the ruins of the 2,600-year-old Temple of Hera, near the stadium where the Olympics were born in 776 BC.

But a rainy weather forecast means the sun’s rays will not be able to light the parabolic mirror used by actresses in the garb of ancient priestesses.

Organisers have instead moved the ceremony at the Olympia archaeological museum, where one of Greece’s most famous classical sculptures, Hermes and the Infant Dionysus by Praxiteles, is housed.

Greece’s rowing bronze medallist at the 2024 Paris Olympics, Petros Gaidatzis, has been selected to be the first torchbearer to launch the Greek leg of the Olympic flame relay.

The original pick, Greek-American alpine ski racer AJ Ginnis, was injured during training last week.

According to the organisers, former Italian cross-country ski champion Stefania Belmondo and luge legend Armin Zoeggeler will be among the first torchbearers on the Greek leg of the relay.

Following a December 4 handover ceremony at the Panathenaic Stadium in Athens, where the first modern Olympics were revived in 1896, the flame heads to Rome for a 63-day, 12,000-kilometre (7,500-mile) course through Italy’s major cities and the archaeological site of Pompeii.

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Held February 6-22, the 2026 Winter Games take place in Italy for the third time, and the first time in western Europe since the Turin Games in 2006.

The Paralympic Winter Games will be held from March 6-15. The events will span a vast area from Milan to the Dolomite mountains in Italy’s north-east.

Ice sports will be held in Milan while Bormio and Cortina host alpine skiing.

Across the Dolomites, the biathlon will be in Anterselva and Nordic skiing in Val di Fiemme, with Livigno in the Italian Alps hosting snowboarding and freestyle skiing.

Even though the outdoor events are at a sufficiently high altitude, organisers of the Milan-Cortina Games are stockpiling artificial snow, just in case.

The 2026 organising committee has said it plans to make 2.4 million cubic metres of artificial snow, which will require 948,000 cubic metres of water.

Italy is the European country that uses the most artificial snow, with over 90 percent of Italy’s ski slopes using artificial snowmaking systems, according to an April report from Italian environmental group Legambiente.

According to a December 2024 study published in the International Journal of Climatology, the snow cover in the Italian Alps had decreased by half in the past 100 years.

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Mick Schumacher, son of seven-time Formula One world champion Michael Schumacher, will drive in the full 2026 IndyCar season for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, the team announced on Monday.

The younger Schumacher, a 26-year-old German racer, made 43 F1 starts in the 2021 and 2022 seasons for Haas with a best finish of sixth and has driven in the World Endurance Championship for Alpine in 2024 and 2025.

Schumacher, who will drive the number 47 Honda for RLL in a nod to his family, joins American Graham Rahal and 2025 IndyCar Rookie of the Year Louis Foster of Britain in the team lineup for next season after first testing in an IndyCar last month.

“I’m delighted to confirm today that I will be competing in the IndyCar Series next year,” Mick Schumacher said.

“Having both an F1 and an endurance background, and having competed in various racing series over the years, I have insights and knowledge that I’m sure will contribute to a great partnership. RLL prepared me extremely well during testing already, and I am sure that we can build a lot together.”

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Differences in the US open-wheel series compared to F1 attracted Schumacher.

“I was also immediately excited about the car and the American way of motorsport, which comes across as being more about pure and direct racing, and it is precisely this aspect that I am very much looking forward to,” he said.

“And of course, I’m curious about new experiences and always interested in broadening my horizons. For me, a new journey is beginning here, and I’m excited for the season to start.”

Schumacher will compete in his first oval races, with six ovals on the 17-race IndyCar schedule, including the feature Indianapolis 500 next May 24.

RLL co-owner Bobby Rahal said the team was excited to welcome Schumacher.

“We’re thrilled he has chosen to join us, and we can’t wait to get to work,” Rahal said.

The 2026 IndyCar season begins March 1 at St. Petersburg, Florida.

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Ukrainian sumo wrestler Danylo Yavhusishyn said Monday that he had surprised even himself by becoming the first from his country to win a tournament in the ancient Japanese sport.

The 21-year-old, who fled the war in Ukraine three years ago, is set to be promoted to sumo’s second-highest rank this week after winning the Kyushu Grand Sumo Tournament.

The victory earned Yavhusishyn, who is known by his ring name Aonishiki, his first title in only his 14th tournament. He did it by beating Mongolian grand champion Hoshoryu on Sunday.

“To be quite honest, I wanted to win the tournament, but I didn’t really think that I could,” he told reporters in Fukuoka. “I’m really happy.”

Yavhusishyn was born in central Ukraine and took up sumo at the age of seven, becoming a national champion at 17.

His age meant he narrowly avoided Ukraine’s military draft for men aged 18 and older after Russia invaded, and he sought refuge in Germany before moving to Japan.

His parents stayed in Germany, and he arrived in Japan knowing nothing of the language.

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Danylo Yavhusishyn said he spoke to his parents after winning the tournament and that he had also received messages from friends in Ukraine.

“I’ve had lots, but I haven’t been able to reply to them all yet,” he said. “It will take time to reply to them all, but I’ll start doing them one by one after this.”

Yavhusishyn became the second Ukraine-born professional sumo wrestler when he made his debut in July 2023, following in the footsteps of Serhii Sokolovskyi, better known as Shishi.

Yavhusishyn’s promotion to sumo’s upper divisions was the fifth fastest since the current system of six tournaments a year was introduced in 1958.

He kept his title hopes alive at the Kyushu Grand Sumo Tournament by beating Hoshoryu on the penultimate day, then triumphed over the Mongolian again to clinch the title.

“It was the last tournament of the year, so I wanted to give a good account of myself so that I wouldn’t end the year with any regrets,” said Yavhusishyn.

READ: PSB quashes lifetime ban on Arshad Nadeem’s coach Salman Butt

The Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) has set aside the lifetime ban imposed on athletics coach Salman Iqbal Butt, restoring the career of the man credited with shaping Olympic champion Arshad Nadeem.

The decision, issued by Senator Pervaiz Rashid acting as PSB adjudicator, declared the ban enforced by the Athletics Federation of Pakistan (AFP) as “without lawful authority, unconstitutional, ultra vires and void ab initio.”

The AFP had sanctioned Butt on October 12, 2025, prompting him to challenge the ruling on grounds of flawed procedure and lack of jurisdiction.

After reviewing all submissions, the adjudicator overturned the sanction through a detailed order issued on November 13.

According to the judgment, the AFP failed to meet even the most basic requirements of due process.

Butt was never served a charge sheet, no inquiry report was shared with him, and he was not provided a meaningful opportunity to present a defense.

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The order emphasised that any penalty issued through such a defective process cannot stand in the eyes of the law.

Citing violations of Articles 4, 10-A and 25 of the Constitution, the adjudicator ruled that the lifetime ban was excessive, unsupported by AFP’s own regulations, and issued without constitutional authority.

The PSB also directed the AFP to immediately withdraw all adverse communications circulated to international bodies, including World Athletics and Asian Athletics, noting that the federation’s actions had harmed Butt’s global reputation.

It further restrained the AFP from issuing any defamatory or prejudicial communications against the coach in the future.

Interestingly, despite the AFP’s ban announcement last month, Salman Butt accompanied Arshad during his latest international outing, the Islamic Solidarity Games, one where Nadeem once again delivered gold with an 83.05m throw.

On the same stage, Yasir Sultan marked his debut with a remarkable 76.04m effort to secure silver, lifting Pakistan’s medal tally to four.

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Italy claimed a third Davis Cup in as many years on Sunday after beating Spain 2-0 in front of delighted home fans in Bologna and completing a treble without star player Jannik Sinner.

Flavio Cobolli sparked loud celebrations by coming back from a set down to beat Jaume Munar 1-6, 7-6 (7/5), 7-5 and ensure that Italy retained their title.

Matteo Berrettini had earlier cruised to a 6-3, 6-4 win over Pablo Carreno Busta, setting Filippo Volandri’s team up for victory without the doubles match needing to be played.

“This was my dream, we’re a really united team, and we tried to recreate the spirit of the Italy team that won the (football) World Cup in 2006,” said Cobolli.

“I’m really proud of everyone and our brilliant fans are also part of this team. I’ve been repeating for three days but it’s the best day of my life.”

Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori haven’t been employed in a doubles contest in northern Italy as the hosts won the Davis Cup without losing a match.

It’s an impressive feat by Italy who competed without their two highest-ranked players in superstar Sinner and Lorenzo Musetti.

Both players sit in the top 10 of the men’s world rankings and were major absences for the tournament, especially as they chose not to take part in the title defence on home soil.

“It doesn’t matter who goes out there for us, we have a deep squad and we have a lot of great lads who play great tennis,” said Berrettini.

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Spain, too, were missing their top player in world number one Carlos Alcaraz, but the six-time Grand Slam winner would have played had he not suffered a hamstring injury during his ATP Finals showdown with Sinner a week ago.

Their bid for a seventh Davis Cup came up short after returning to the final for the first time since 2019.

“It was a very, very, very close tie,” said Spain captain David Ferrer. “We were really close.”

“Italy, in important moments, they play really good,” he added. “It’s not easy for us to play in Italy against Italy.”

Earlier on Sunday, the head of the International Tennis Federation insisted that top players were not snubbing the competition.

“There’s this false feeling out there that top players don’t represent their nation. That’s not true,” David Haggerty told reporters ahead of the final.

“Some of those top players that played in the qualifier round or the second qualifier round didn’t make it to the finals. And so we had many top players who have played.”

American Taylor Fritz, Australian Alex de Minaur, Dane Holger Rune and Norwegian Casper Ruud, all in the top 20 of the men’s rankings, featured in the early rounds of the competition without managing to reach the finals with their respective nations.

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Pakistan’s Rashid Naseem and his daughter Fatima Naseem have added three more records to their tally on Guinness World Records Day.

20 November is marked as Guinness World Records Day, an annual celebration of record-breaking. It is a day when people around the world attempt to break and set new world records.

Rashid Naseem holds the highest number of world records for Pakistan, while Fatima Naseem leads the country in the female category.

Fatima set a new record by holding eggs in both hands and bursting balloons. She was tasked with bursting 70 balloons in 30 seconds, which she surpassed, popping 76 without breaking any eggs.

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Rashid Naseem achieved a record by breaking 42 marble tiles with a shin against the target of 35. His second record involved bursting two balloons simultaneously using dual nunchaku.

For the unversed, Guinness World Records also highlighted their achievements on its official page as part of the 70th anniversary celebrations, releasing a special message and a performance video that has crossed 100,000 views.

Rashid Naseem has previously showcased his skills in Italy, Germany, Spain, Korea, China, Singapore, and Romania.

He remains the only Pakistani consistently representing the country internationally without government support.

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MUSCAT: England’s Harvey Chandler outplayed Pakistan’s Asjad Iqbal to clinch the Snooker World Cup here in Oman’s capital on Wednesday.

According to Naveed Kapadia, Secretary General of the Pakistan Billiard and Snooker Association (PBSA), Asjad suffered defeat in the final with the frame scores of 5-2 (0–83, 66–16, 29–95, 8–16, 86–3, 37–65, and 15–70).

Chandler also compiled impressive breaks of 52 and 67 during the match.

Earlier, Asjad Iqbal defeated France’s Nicholas Mortreux 5–2 to reach the final, while Harvey Chandler defeated Chang Yu Kiu from Hong Kong, China, to reach the pinnacle clash.

Asjad frame scores were 26–78, 75–46, 69–83, 41–74, 0–72, 78–1, and 0–76. Asjad also produced breaks of 62 and 59 in the match.

Meanwhile, Harvey displayed consistency with 13 breaks throughout the tournament.

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The national champion also stunned three-time IBSF World Champion Pankaj Advani in the quarter-final and romped to a lopsided (4-0) victory.

He started with an outstanding break of 81 and clinched the opening frame with a remarkable scoreline of 100-0.

The seasoned cueist followed the opening break with another 45 to take a 2-0 lead. Asjad then secured the third frame with a scoreline of 68 and 49 and advanced into the semi-final.

For the unversed, the men’s Team Snooker Championships in Muscat, Oman, is also underway and will continue until 23rd November.

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MUSCAT: Pakistan cueist Asjad Iqbal stunned three-time IBSF World Champion Pankaj Advani in the quarter-final of the IBSF Snooker World Cup here at the Active Oman Sports and Entertainment Hub in Muscat on Tuesday.

Asjad romped to a lopsided (4-0) victory as he started with an outstanding break of 81 and clinched the opening frame with a remarkable scoreline of 100-0.

The seasoned cueist followed the opening break with another 45 to take a 2-0 lead. Asjad then secured the third frame with a scoreline of 68 and 49 and advanced into the semi-final.

Asjad Iqbal will now face France’s Nicolas Mortreux in the semi-final.

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Earlier, Asjad also defeated another Indian opponent, Hussain Khan, with a frame score of 3-0, 53(53)-44, 90-41, 93(84)-9 in the round of 32.

Meanwhile, Mina Awad from Egypt outplayed Pakistan’s Muhammad Hasnain with a frame score of 3-1 (92(60)-13, 131(131)-0, 0-71, 61-29).

In another match, Muhammad Asif recorded a frame score of  3-2 (71(70)-77, 17-70(54), 77-74, 61(51)-45, 84-38) to beat UAE’s Khalid Kamali.

Notably, Asjad Iqbal remained the only Pakistani to reach the Quarters of the event. He also had the highest break of (142) in the tournament to his name, which he had recorded on day three of the World Cup.

For the unversed, the 2025 IBSF Snooker World Cup is currently taking place in Muscat, Oman, running from November 15 to 23, 2025.

The event features both men’s singles and men’s team competitions, with a total prize fund of $60,000

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Spain’s world number one Carlos Alcaraz will miss the Davis Cup Final 8 tournament in Italy this week due to injury, the two-time Wimbledon champion announced on X on Tuesday.

“I am very sorry to announce that I will not be able to play with Spain in the Davis Cup in Bologna. I have swelling in my right hamstring, and the medical advice is not to play,” the 22-year-old six-time Grand Slam winner said.

“I’ve always said that playing for Spain is the greatest thing there is, and I was really looking forward to helping the team fight for the Davis Cup trophy.”

Alcaraz’s announcement comes two days after he was beaten by his arch-rival Jannik Sinner, the Italian world number two, 7-6 (7/4), 7-5 in the ATP Finals title-decider in Turin.

While both Sinner and Alcaraz breezed into the final, the championship game was an attritional affair, with each player rock-solid on serve until an enthralling tie-break at the end of the first set.

Sinner took the lead thanks to a brilliant lob which set up a set point, and he made no mistake with a missile of a serve which Alcaraz could only limply send wide.

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But Sinner immediately handed Alcaraz the advantage in the second set with two double-faults, which helped hand his opponent a break of serve at the start of the frame.

Sinner hadn’t dropped a service game in the whole tournament up to that point, but he broke back in game six to put the crowd on their feet.

And Sinner collapsed to the ground in joy when Alcaraz sent a backhand wide on the first championship point, before heading into the stands to share his joy with his family amid the roars of the crowd.

Notably, Sinner had already announced he would miss the Davis Cup Final 8 tournament, with hosts Italy aiming for a third title in a row.

Italy’s second-highest-ranked player, Lorenzo Musetti, has also pulled out of Italy’s defence.

Austria, France, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Argentina and Germany are the other countries vying for victory in Bologna.

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