Following is a summary of current sports news briefs.
Soccer-Messi names France and Brazil as favourites to win World Cup Argentina captain Lionel Messi has said defending champions France and Brazil are the favourites to win the World Cup in Qatar as they have a core group of players who have played together for a long time.
Messi said Brazil, Germany, France, England and Spain are always labelled favourites to win but the 35-year-old forward feels France and Brazil are the best two teams going into the Nov. 20-Dec. 18 tournament.
Tennis-Rybakina still on track for WTA Finals with win over Pliskova Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina remained in contention for a WTA Finals spot with a 7-6(5) 6-2 win over Karolina Pliskova in the first round of the Guadalajara Open on Tuesday.
Pliskova served for the opening set at 5-3 but the Czech was unable to finish the job as Rybakina battled back to force a tiebreak.
Elnaz Rekabi: Iranian climber returns from Seoul tournament amid hijab controversy An Iranian rock climber who competed in an international contest without a headscarf said she had done so unintentionally, after she was widely assumed to have expressed support for protests in Iran.
Footage of Elnaz Rekabi, 33, had shown her scaling a wall without her head covered during the Asian competition in South Korea while representing Iran , which has been swept by protests ignited by Mahsa Amini's death in morality police custody.
NHL roundup: Jackets rally in OT as Canucks collapse again Vladislav Gavrikov scored at 3:21 of overtime as the Columbus Blue Jackets rallied for a 4-3 home victory over Vancouver on Tuesday as the Canucks blew a multi-goal lead and lost for a record fourth straight game to open the season.
Off a two-on-one, Yegor Chinakhov (two assists) slid a cross-slot pass to Gavrikov, who blew it past Vancouver goaltender Spencer Martin (29 saves) for the Blue Jackets' first win in four tries this season.
Tokyo prosecutors arrest CEO of ad firm ADK over Olympics -Kyodo Tokyo prosecutors on Wednesday arrested the president and two former employees of Japanese advertising firm ADK Holdings Inc over suspected bribery related to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, Japanese media said.
The arrests mark the latest widening of a corruption scandal involving Olympic sponsors that has centred on a former member of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics board, but has spread across corporate Japan.
Cricket-Sri Lanka injury woes mount before crunch Netherlands clash Sri Lanka paceman Dushmantha Chameera has been ruled out of Thursday's crunch T20 World Cup clash against Netherlands with a calf strain in another injury blow for the former champions.
Chameera picked up three wickets in Tuesday's big win over the United Arab Emirates in Geelong but hobbled off the field after pulling out of his run-up when bowling his fourth over.
Former Titans TE Delanie Walker announces retirement Three-time Pro Bowl tight end Delanie Walker announced his retirement from the NFL on Tuesday.
Walker, 38, began his 14-season NFL career with the San Francisco 49ers in 2006.
He spent seven seasons with the 49ers before signing a four-year, .5 million contract with the Tennessee Titans in 2013.
Neymar tells court did not participate in Barcelona transfer talks Brazil soccer star Neymar Jr told a court on Tuesday he did not participate in negotiations over his transfer to "childhood dream" club Barcelona from Santos in 2013, but had signed what his father had told him to.
Along with Neymar, 30, eight other defendants are on trial on fraud and corruption charges over the transfer, including his parents, representatives of the two clubs, former Barca presidents Josep Maria Bartomeu and Sandro Rosell, and former Santos president Odilio Rodrigues.
Yankees OF Aaron Hicks (knee) to miss rest of postseason New York Yankees left fielder Aaron Hicks will miss the remainder of the postseason due to a left knee injury.
Hicks exited Game 5 of the American League Division Series against the Cleveland Guardians following a collision with rookie shortstop Oswaldo Cabrera in the third inning on Tuesday.
An MRI revealed that Hicks' injury will take six weeks to heal.
Cricket-Campher heroics keep Ireland in contention for Super 12 stage Ireland's Curtis Campher and George Dockrell combined in an unbroken 119-run stand to take their side to an unlikely six-wicket win over Scotland in the T20 World Cup win in Hobart and keep them in the hunt to qualify for the Super 12 phase.
The Irish looked headed for a second straight defeat in Group B when they were reduced to 61-4 in the 10th over chasing a daunting 177-run target to stay alive in the tournament before Campher and Dockrell came together at the crease. (With inputs from agencies.) Email: info@devdiscourse.com Phone: +91-720-6444012, +91-7027739813, 14, 15 © Copyright 2022 source