PB Blog

World number one Aryna Sabalenka saw her French Open title hopes vanish as she completely unravelled in a crushing quarter-final defeat by Diana Shnaider in yet another shock result at this year’s tournament. Sabalenka, a beaten finalist at Roland Garros last year, was 6-3 4-1 up before the momentum suddenly shifted and sparked an extraordinary…

Hughes is with the Wales squad for only the second time having opted to represent the land of her mother last year. The 24-year-old, who was capped by Australia in a friendly in 2024, made her one Wales appearance to date in December’s triumph over Switzerland. She missed the first two camps of this qualifying…

No-one has won the World Cup Golden Boot more than once – but two men have a good chance to become the first to do so this summer. Mbappe scored four goals in World Cup qualifying and as one of the strongest squads in the tournament, it is likely that 2022 finalists France will reach…

Charlotte Edwards says there was never any doubt around Heather Knight’s place in England’s World Cup side as the former captain returned to form in a series-clinching win in the third T20 against India. Knight, 35, made a magnificent unbeaten 70 as England emphatically chased 181 to win the series 2-1, after she had endured…

Scotland, Liverpool and Celtic great Sir Kenny Dalglish is undergoing treatment for cancer. The legendary forward and former manager wanted to keep the news private but confirmed the diagnosis after accidentally sharing the news initially in an “inadvertent social media post”. “I am currently undergoing treatment for cancer,” Dalglish, 75, wrote on social media. “Unlike…

A judge at the Old Bailey has fined UK Athletics £350,000 with £44,000 in costs after hearing how a paralympic athlete died when equipment fell on him at a training ground in east London. Shot-putter Abdullah Hayayei was killed when a metal cage collapsed as he prepared for the World Para-athletics Championships in 2017. He…

The EFL’s commission said it was “deplorable” of the club to have used junior staff members to “conduct the clandestine observations”. Solak admitted that such a culture was “unacceptable”, but he blamed “a huge amount of misunderstanding, ignorance and arrogance, we have dysfunctions in the club, but we will actually make an effort for people…

Wales international Hannah Cain is leaving Leicester City following the club’s relegation from the Women’s Super League (WSL). The 27-year-old forward is one of three players, external who will leave the Midlands club when their contracts expire at the end of the month, but Leicester have confirmed Wales goalkeeper Olivia Clark will remain with the…

Tournament director Amelie Mauresmo, herself a former women’s world number one, had regularly pointed to the possibility of short two-set matches as the reason for often overlooking the women. “The match-ups are always interesting for both men and women, but there are multiple factors for us to make the choice,” Mauresmo said earlier on Monday….

But Dunkley’s retention upon Wyatt-Hodge’s return was a clear sign of England’s thinking. Alice Capsey, who made a match-winning 74 not out against New Zealand last month when standing in for Wyatt-Hodge, was pushed down to number four. Discussion over the England top order’s ability to hit boundaries was dampened by Freya Kemp’s hitting in…