Titan Ultra Giant Risers in a huddle during a game in the 2026 PBA Governors’ Cup. –PBA IMAGES

MANILA, Philippines–Blowout losses, injuries and the future of its best player marred Titan Ultra’s campaign in the first phase of the 2026 PBA Governors’ Cup.

The Giant Risers sit dead last in Group A with a 2-7 record, also the worst win-loss mark among all teams in the season-ending conference as of the ongoing break.

Five of Titan Ultra’s defeats were by at least 30 points, including the last two outings against TNT (114-80) and San Miguel Beer (143-113). The Beermen also handed the Giant Risers their worst loss of the conference by 38 (143-105) earlier this month.

“It’s hard to motivate the team and the players when you’re coming off [a losing streak],” said coach Rensy Bajar during one of Titan Ultra’s victories.

Titan Ultra is also trying to unload two-way star Joshua Munzon, who was almost shipped to TNT for rookie center Joe Celso and a future first-round pick.

Reports, however, said that the Giant Risers balked at the deal after they lost rookie guard Bryan Sajonia to an ACL injury after his right knee buckled during their second encounter with the Beermen.

Sajonia’s injury was the second one after fellow rookie banger Mark Omega had to miss the remainder of the games before the break after a bad fall in the win against Macau.

Titan Ultra dropped its first three games to Terrafirma (113-100), Converge (105-74) and NLEX (135-100) before entering the win column with a shock upset of TNT (103-87).

“I just told the team to just enjoy the game and not think about winning right away,” Bajar said after beating the fancied TNT side that played far from its expected form.

But Titan Ultra would drop the next two to Macau (132-126) and the aforementioned first match with San Miguel, before avenging its loss to the Giant Pandas (132-128).

After receiving a fifth year of eligibility, former Florida State quarterback Thomas Castellanos has entered the NCAA transfer portal, sources tell CBS Sports’ Matt Zenitz.

On Friday, a Kentucky judge granted a temporary injunction in an eligibility lawsuit that included Castellanos and former Missouri basketball standout Mark Mitchell. Because Castellanos now has an injunction, he will not be affected by the new ruling in the Colorado lawsuit that took away eligibility for qualified athletes in the class of 2022.

A three-star recruit out of Georgia, Castellanos signed with UCF as a member of the 2022 recruiting class. The following season, Castellanos transferred to Boston College, where he started across two seasons before jumping to Florida State as a senior in 2025.

Last year, Castellanos completed 58.3% of his passes for 2,760 yards, 15 touchdowns and nine interceptions while also rushing for 557 yards and nine touchdowns. While Castellanos’ lone season with the Seminoles was turbulent, he led the team to an upset of No. 8 Alabama in Week 1.

Throughout his college career, Castellanos has provided dynamic playmaking with his legs, and he even rushed for 1,113 yards as a sophomore at Boston College. Despite missing spring practice and most of fall camp, Castellanos has already reportedly generated significant interest from at least one Power Four team.

Where will Castellanos land?

Texas Tech has emerged as the most likely landing spot for Castellanos as he looks to continue his college career, according to multiple reports. Given how the quarterback situation has evolved in Lubbock throughout the offseason, landing with the Red Raiders makes plenty of sense for Castellanos.

Texas Tech paid up to land Cincinnati transfer Brendan Sorsby out of the transfer portal, but due to fallout from a gambling scandal, Sorsby will no longer play for the Red Raiders this fall. Will Hammond — very talented in his own right — is now the starter, but he’s coming off a torn ACL he suffered last October.

While the Red Raiders are still fine at the top of the quarterback depth chart, the loss of Sorsby made them much shallower. Sophomore Lloyd Jones III is currently set to back up Hammond, but he’s attempted just five passes at the college level. Castellanos would give Texas Tech more insurance at the most important position on the field.

That’s important because the rest of the Texas Tech roster looks to be a legitimate College Football Playoff threat. The Red Raiders brought in 22 players via the portal, and that class ranked No. 6 nationally, according to 247Sports. Castellanos would help ensure that those title hopes won’t be immediately derailed if Hammond is unable to play.

Australia responded to their nine-wicket defeat in the first Test at Darwin by bowling Bangladesh out for 64 on the opening day of the second and final Test in Mackay on Saturday.

After winning the toss, Australia captain Pat Cummins chose to field and Mitchell Starc made an impact with the first ball. He dismissed Shadman Islam for a duck, registering his ninth first-over wicket in Test cricket and moving past England’s James Anderson, who had eight such dismissals.

Starc then continued his spell, taking five wickets inside the first seven overs as Bangladesh slumped to 12/5. It was the sixth-fastest five-wicket haul in Test cricket.

. Starc took five wickets in the first 45 minutes as the visitors slipped to 12/5 before reaching lunch at 35/6.

Cummins added three wickets for 25 runs as Bangladesh slipped further to 39/9. The visitors, however, managed to avoid their lowest-ever Test total. Their lowest score remains 43 against West Indies in 2018.

Bangladesh were eventually bowled out for 64, with Starc finishing with 6/12 from 10 overs.

The spell also took Starc past South African great Dale Steyn’s 439 Test wickets. With 441 wickets, Starc is now the 10th-highest wicket-taker in Test cricket. He has taken 19 five-wicket hauls and three 10-wicket match hauls, with best figures of 7/58.

For Bangladesh, the collapse came after Australia had been beaten by nine wickets in Darwin in the opening Test. The second Test therefore began with Australia in control and Bangladesh under pressure with the bat.

Argentina’s defeat in the football World Cup final defeat has come with a costly post-match hangover. FIFA has imposed a ban on Argentine midfielder Leandro Paredes and a hefty fine for sparking a brawl after his side’s loss to Spain. His teammate Nahuel Molina has been similarly disciplined in a series of a decisions by the FIFA disciplinary committee. Story by Nick Rushworth.

Substantial knocks from skipper Shubman Gill and opener Yashasvi Jaiswal will fill the remaining blank columns as India push for their first overseas Test series victory in three years during the second and final match against Sri Lanka, starting in Colombo on Sunday. India’s last Test rubber win abroad was against the West Indies in July 2023. Since then, India lost to Australia and shared the series with South Africa and England away from home. In this interim, the defeats at home against New Zealand and South Africa also dimmed the halo around this Indian Test outfit.

But Gill’s side regained some ground with a 165-run romp in the first Test at Galle, where Sri Lankan spinners often spun a web around visiting batters.

Despite the inexperience in the Sri Lankan ranks, the result might have come as a relief for the team and head coach Gautam Gambhir after two shattering home defeats against New Zealand and South Africa.

The Galle win has certainly released a pressure valve around the team.

Possible change in WTC points table

If India happen to complete a 2-0 clean sweep, they will have a chance to go up to the fourth spot in the World Test Championship (WTC) rankings with 57.58 percentage points.

There is a high possibility that Bangladesh, who are currently fourth in WTC table with 66.67 percentage points post Darwin victory, will lose the second Test against Australia at McKay and drop down to fifth spot with 55.56 percentage points.

Big innings round the corner?

Amidst the general elation, India will certainly welcome some runs from Gill and Jaiswal.

On the periphery, Gill appears in solid touch, having scored two hundreds in his last six innings.

But scratch the cover, there is a tinge of weakness, a pattern-setting dismissals against spin, particularly the left-arm orthodox variation.

True to that failure, Gill fell twice to Prabath Jayasuriya at Galle, and he will certainly like to set that unwanted record straight, a blemish on an otherwise impeccable run as team leader.

As the skipper, Gill has managed to score 1100 runs in 10 Tests at an average of over 73, a remarkable leap from 1893 runs from 32 Tests at 35 before taking over the team’s reins.

Then there is also this little matter of registering the first overseas Test series win under his watch, a matter of pride and yardstick of success for any captain.

If Gill can merge those two tasks, then India could be hard to stop at the Sinhalese Sports Club.

Jaiswal offers a slightly deeper problem. After scoring a hundred against the West Indies at New Delhi last year, the opener has made just one fifty in his last eight innings.

Similar to Gill’s failings against spinners, Jaiswal has developed a worrying habit of getting dismissed while playing cut or chip against pace bowlers.

After getting run out in the first innings at Galle, Jaiswal got out in that fashion in the second essay.

The left-hander tried to cut Asitha Fernando’s short pitched delivery, only to feather it to stumper Niroshan Dickwella.

It offered little surprise when Jaiswal spent an extended time at nets on Friday at the SSC to rectify that part of his game.

India pacers and bowling coach Morne Morkel targeted that line outside the off-stump, trying to lure Jaiswal into that cut or chip over point.

But the 24-year-old was equal to the task, letting the balls go past the stumps harmlessly. Now, if he can filter that restraint to the real match atmosphere then another big score might be there for his taking.

Kuldeep or Saransh?

Kuldeep Yadav is the third member of the eleven that struggled to make an impact at Galle. He had a disappointing outing, taking a solitary wicket from 25 overs across two innings despite the pitch offering considerable assistance.

Kuldeep was also the most expensive among the bowlers, leaking over four runs an over in the opening Test.

The temptation will be to replace the left-arm wrist spinner with off-spinner Saransh Jain, a strategic move considering the influx of left-arm batters in the Lankan line-up.

But dropping a senior bowler after just one match might just give the wrong signals or will the management indeed take that harsh step? Kuldeep’s absence from the nets on Friday could be linked to his possible omission from the eleven here, but a final call depends a lot on the pitch here, which was watered in the last two days to retain the hold.

From a Sri Lankan perspective, their top-order needs to show a lot more nous to stay in the middle than just playing a plethora of shots and getting out.

They will hope that inclusion of in-form Kamil Mishara and Sahan Arachchige will bring a positive turn here.

Otherwise, another lop-sided contest will be in the offing.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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A win after a loss shows resilience and the ability to keep an opponent from influencing a team’s season beyond a single game.

The table below shows the victories, losses, and win percentages for the region’s top programs as the away team favorite over the last 20 seasons.

Boise State leads the way, followed by Oregon, USC, Utah, and BYU.

Trainer Tony McEvoy, alongside his son Calvin, is fully aware of the progression a horse can make.

Last year, after a winter period spent in Queensland’s warmth, Half Yours emerged to win both the Caulfield and Melbourne Cups.

Half Yours is again headed for the Melbourne Cup, with the Cox Plate as a potential stepping stone, though the father-and-son training team nominated him for the Caulfield Cup earlier this week when entries closed.

Nearco Frod, also nominated for the Caulfield Cup from the McEvoy stable, will attempt to extend his winning streak to four in the McMahon’s Dairy Handicap (2400m) at Sandown on Saturday.

Nearco Frod did not undertake the same ‘winter excursion’ to the Sunshine Coast; instead, he braved Melbourne’s cold, securing wins on heavy tracks at Sandown on July 1 and July 15, followed by a victory over 2520m at Flemington on August 1.

Tony McEvoy commented that a start in the Caulfield Cup was the ambition, but Nearco Frod had not yet qualified for the race.

The Melbourne Cup (3200m) at Flemington on November 3 could be a more realistic target, considering the plan is to aim for the Group 3 The Archer (2500m) at Flemington on September 12, following Saturday’s race.

The Archer provides the winner with ballot exemption into the Melbourne Cup.

“He’ll go to The Archer and then we’ll reassess where we are then,” McEvoy said.

“The Caulfield Cup, it is a big step, but we’ve put him in and he’s a handy little stayer.”

“We saw last year where they can come from, but at this stage we’re thinking Saturday and then into The Archer.”

Craig Williams returns to the saddle on Saturday, having won consecutive races aboard the stayer at Sandown.

Nearco Frod was the horse that gave Blake Shinn his first win back from injury when successful at Flemington in his most recent start. The betting markets for this upcoming Cox Plate contender will be closely watched.

Oleksandr Usyk was shockingly pushed to the brink by Rico Verhoeven in May, but whilst it seems a rematch will never take place, Usyk could find himself tasked with Verhoeven in a different way, with one heavyweight hoping the Ukrainian will train him to face the kickboxing legend.

The selection of Verhoeven as an opponent was deemed as disrespectful to the boxing world at first, with a near-novice being permitted to jump the queue and challenge a legendary heavyweight world champion for the coveted WBC title.

However, on fight night, Verhoeven provided Usyk with the ‘toughest fight of his career’ and found himself on the wrong side of a controversial round 11 stoppage after an impressive display up until that point.

Now, Verhoeven’s fellow Dutchman and kickboxing rival Alistair Overeem has been calling for boxing fight against his countryman. 

Speaking to All Out Fighting, the 46-year-old former UFC star explained why he would love to train under Usyk’s tutelage.

“I visited his training camp in Valencia and there was good chemistry, good energy, I was learning and studying and, to me, this fires me up and motivates me.

“If I could do my camp at Team Usyk, it would be my pleasure.

“Absolutely, [his experience against Verhoeven could help me] and the things that he has done, he is amazing. I look at him, maybe because I am a fighter and I look at fighters, and I have always learned from Usyk, always, on multiple facets.

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“When you are training this long, it is not only about what you are doing in the gym and punching the bag, punching the mitts and sparring. It is also about what you are doing outside of the gym, what is your life like?

“If we are going to explore the boxing route, to me it would be very interesting to check out their camp and see if there was something there for me.”

Overeem then went on to label the potential showdown as ‘the fight of the century’, believing that ‘the whole of the Netherlands would tune in’.

“This is going to be the fight of the century. The biggest fight in history, ever. That is also one of our talking points, you can sell out a stadium with this, the whole of the Netherlands will be watching.”

Overeem has not fought in any discipline since testing positive for a banned substance during the aftermath of his October 2022 win over Badr Hari in the GLORY Kickboxing franchise and the veteran has never taken part in a professional boxing bout.

Although, with established and ranked heavyweights seemingly reluctant to face Verhoeven and risk losing to a kickboxer, Overeem could represent Verhoeven’s best route back into the limelight.