Newly-crowned WBC world champion Agit Kabayel has been called out by an unbeaten heavyweight who suspects he is being avoided.

The 33-year-old was elevated from ‘interim’ to full WBC champion in June, immediately after Oleksandr Usyk decided to vacate his three heavyweight titles.

Prior to that, Kabayel had claimed his interim belt with a sixth-round stoppage of Zhilei Zhang in February 2024, before scoring a third-round finish over Damian Knyba the following January.

With previous stoppages against Frank Sanchez and Arslanbek Makhmudov, too, the Kurdish-German has established himself as a ferocious body puncher and one of the division’s top-level operators.

Since being upgraded to world champion, though, there has been no word of a date, location or opponent for Kabayel’s next outing.

The opportunity for a major title shot is therefore being pursued by Nelson Hysa, who scored a second-round knockout over Thomas Narmo on the undercard of Moses Itauma vs Filip Hrgovic last Saturday.

Immediately after improving his record to 25-0 (23 KOs), the 41-year-old confronted Kabayel at ringside and demanded a WBC title shot, with Queensberry Promotions sharing their altercation on social media.

“Are you afraid of me? Why you don’t fight me? I come to fight you in your house, in Germany. Wherever you want, okay? Don’t be afraid. I will knock you out. Fight with me – don’t run away.”

Nelson Hysa CALLS OUT Agit Kabayel 🤩🔥

The Albanian Eagle and the champ clash heads 😱#MosesHrgovic | Now | The O2, London | DAZN pic.twitter.com/IiQfnpZp6j

— Queensberry Promotions (@Queensberry) August 29, 2026

While Hysa had been mooted as an opponent for Tyson Fury, he was ultimately replaced by the 46-year-old Mariusz Wach, who suffered a seventh-round stoppage defeat to ‘The Gypsy King’ in July.

Now, though, Hysa could soon find himself colliding with Kabayel, who is also unbeaten and would be made a sizable favourite against the Albanian.

Former Pakistan batter Mohammad Yousuf criticised the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) decision to release seven players and two coaches from the squad ahead of the third Edgbaston Test against England, saying that the move reflects the familiar cycle of “internal chaos, differences of opinion and controversies” that have haunted the country’s cricket and the focus should be “on the field, not the boardroom”. Pakistan made major changes to their Test set-up ahead of the third and final Test against England from September 9, replacing almost half of their squad and releasing head coach Sarfaraz Ahmed and bowling coach Umar Gul following heavy defeats in the first two Tests against Three Lions, according to Cricinfo.

The changes come after Pakistan suffered a 194-run defeat in the second Test, allowing England to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series. In the first Test, Pakistan had lost by an innings margin.

PCB had released seven players from the squad, including Mohammad Rizwan, Imam-ul-Haq, Salman Agha, Ali Usman, Aamer Jamal, Awais Zafar and Khurram Shahzad after the loss at Lord’s. In their place, Pakistan have brought in five uncapped players along with Saim Ayub and Abdullah Fazal, who have a combined experience of just 10 matches. The five uncapped players added to the squad are Arafat Minhas, Mohammad Imran Jnr, Saad Baig, Mohammad Imran Randhawa and Razaullah. Hesson and Ashley Noffke, who are part of Pakistan’s white-ball coaching set-up as head coach and bowling coach, respectively.

Posting on X, Yousuf said that the decision “does not appear to be only performance-related” and spoke of how Pakistan cricket has faced such “turbulence” time and again in the aftermath of their landmark 1992 World Cup win, which “eroded stability and distracted from the game itself”. He called for strong performances and consistent positive results to “silence the news”, saying that “success remains the most effective antidote”.

“The recent decision by the authorities to recall players and coaching staff from the ongoing tour does not appear to be only performance related. After all, we are not sending legends like Zaheer Abbas, Javed Miandad, Inzamam-ul-Haq, or Saeed Anwar as replacements. Instead, this move reflects the familiar cycle of internal chaos, differences of opinion, and controversies that have long haunted Pakistan cricket. Since the glory of the 1992 World Cup, such turbulence has resurfaced time and again, eroding stability and distracting from the game itself,” he said.

“We have endured such turmoil in different forms many times before, each episode leaving scars on the team’s progress and the fans’ faith. The lesson is clear! only strong performances and consistent positive results can silence the noise. Pakistan cricket must focus on the field, not the boardroom, if it is to restore credibility and inspire confidence among fans. Success remains the most effective antidote,” he added.

The recent decision by the authorities to recall players and coaching staff from the ongoing tour does not appear to be only performance related. After all, we are not sending legends like Zaheer Abbas, Javed Miandad, Inzamam‑ul‑Haq, or Saeed Anwar as replacements. Instead, this…

Advertisement

— Mohammad Yousaf (@yousaf1788) September 2, 2026

Earlier, former Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq offered his resignation from the Pakistan men’s national selection committee following the Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) decision to make major changes to the Test squad and coaching staff during the ongoing tour of England, according to Cricinfo.

According to the report, the PCB is yet to accept Misbah’s resignation. He has also decided to step down from his role as a batting consultant at the National Cricket Academy in Lahore.

Misbah, who retired as Pakistan’s most successful Test captain in 2017, has held several positions within the PCB over the years. He was appointed head coach and chief selector in 2019. before stepping down as chief selector in October 2020 to focus on his coaching responsibilities. He later resigned as head coach in 2021.In 2023, Misbah returned to the PCB as an advisor under then ad hoc management committee chief Zaka Ashraf. He was subsequently appointed as one of five mentors for the men’s Champions Cup in 2024 and also worked with women’s domestic teams.

Last month, he coached the Pakistan Gold side to victory in the 50-over National Champions Cup in Multan under captain Shaheen Afridi.

Misbah was appointed to the four-member national selector committee in March this year alongside Aaqib Javed, Sarfaraz Ahmed and Asad Shafiq. He was also working with the PCB under a contract that required him to serve as a batting consultant for 180 days a year.PCB sought explanations from selectors over the inclusion of Mohammad Rizwan and Imam-ul-Haq.

According to Cricinfo, the notice was issued on Monday, the same day the board announced its decision to send home seven players and two coaches ahead of the third Test at Edgbaston.

The selection committee was asked to submit a written explanation within 24 hours, detailing the reasons behind Rizwan and Imam’s selections and the process followed in making the decisions.

From the start of 2024 until the West Indies tour, Rizwan was Pakistan’s leading Test run-scorer and also boasted the team’s highest batting average. Imam, meanwhile, had featured in only two Tests during that period but had been among the leading run-scorers in domestic cricket.

The defeat at Lord’s was Pakistan’s 15th in the last 20 Tests. They currently sit at the bottom of the 1CC World Test Championship (WTC) 2025-27 standings. The third Test will begin at Edgbaston on September 9, with Pakistan aiming to end the series on a positive note and avoid a 3-0 clean sweep.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Featured Video Of The Day

Spain’s Royal Family Welcomes World Cup Champions To Zarzuela Palace

With the Asian Games just around the corner, steeplechaser Avinash Sable, long-distance runner Parul Chaudhary and six other Indian track and field athletes are fine-tuning their preparations on a specialised ‘smart track’ at the SAI NCOE in Bengaluru.

The eight are part of a national camp, scheduled to continue until September 8, which has been sanctioned by the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS).

It also features 800m runner Krishan Kumar, decathlete Thowfeeq N, high jumpers Aadarsh Ram and Supriya B and race walkers Manju Rani and Priyanka.

The Asian Games, scheduled in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan from September 19 to October 4.

A smart track allows coaches to capture real-time performance data during training.

“This is one of its kind in India,” said Suresh Kumar, Coach (Athletics) at SAI NCOE Bengaluru.

“So what happens is when the athlete runs, we get the real-time speed data. We get the split timings, wherever the gates are placed, then the total timing we get, as well as the stride length and the stride frequency. All these data are captured at real time. This helps a lot for the athletes in the training,” Kumar told SAI Media.

The track was used extensively for training by Commonwealth Games 2026 para-athletics medalists Dilip Mahadu Gavit and Mohammed Basil ahead of the Glasgow Games.

For athletes, the ability to replicate electronic timing during training is another advantage, Kumar explained. The technology also helps athletes get a more accurate understanding of their performances.

“The athletes are very happy because they get to understand and find out the real data based on the electronic timing, not just during training but any competitions that take place here,” Kumar said.

The smart track was installed in 2024 and has since been used by elite athletes training at the centre. Its timing gates are positioned both on the straight and around the curve, allowing coaches to analyse different phases of a run. An accompanying app also enables the data to be accessed immediately for subsequent analysis.

The technology has been designed to work alongside existing athletics infrastructure rather than requiring a completely new track. According to Kumar, the system can be installed on any existing synthetic track by embedding the magnetic gates beneath the surface, with installation possible within a day.

The SAI Bengaluru centre is therefore combining high-level coaching, sports science and technology in the pre-Asian Games camp, which includes specialised coaches such as race-walking coach Ronald Gerd Weigel, jumps coaches Sahana Kumari Nagaraj Gobbargumpi and Sergey Biran, besides coach Kalyan Chaudhary and masseuse Meena Sagar Ugale.

The system also gives coaches information that is difficult to capture manually during a sprint.

“You even get the split timing because for a sprint coach, if I’m at the finish line or like 40m or 50m away from when the athlete is starting, we will be able to get the electronic split time.

Coco Gauff began her bid for a second US Open title with a nerveless win over Zeynep Sonmez.

The American fourth seed, champion in 2023, was tested in the second set by Turkish outsider Sonmez but came through 6-3 6-4.

She said: “I was nervous in the tunnel, and then for some reason when the warm-up started, it went away. I think it showed the first game how I came out serving really well.

“I don’t know what put my mind at ease. I think just maybe the confidence I had this week and knowing, like, you know, the opponent would have to play a really high level and me a really low level, maybe for it to not go my way.

“But Zeynep brought that high level today. Yeah, I was just happy to get out of that second set.”

Second seed Elena Rybakina also advanced after beating teenage American wild card Thea Frodin 6-3 6-2.

Frodin once played Serena Williams’ double in the tennis scenes during the Oscar-winning film about the lives of Serena and her sister Venus, King Richard, starring Will Smith.

She said: “I actually have not met her yet. But hopefully I can get the chance soon to get the opportunity to meet her.

“I saw that Will Smith reposted one of my posts, so that was pretty cool and a cool experience.”

Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic was fortunate to avoid being defaulted after whacking a ball into the crowd.

The 29-year-old, seeded 12th, swatted a ball in frustration after losing a point, and then turned in horror after realising where it had flown.

She raised her arms in apology and was given a warning by the umpire, but opponent Yulia Putintseva clearly felt the punishment should have been harsher.

However, Kazakhstani Putintseva eventually won the match over three sets to send Bencic packing anyway.

In the men’s draw, fifth seed Flavio Cobolli needed five sets to see off Argentinian Francisco Comesana, while ninth seed Taylor Fritz – one of the big hopes for a home success in New York this year – beat fellow American Darwin Blanch in three.

Frenchman Gael Monfils, who retires at the end of the year, celebrated his 40th birthday in style with a 2-6 6-2 6-1 6-0 victory over Adolfo Alvarez.

PA

Team Borussia Dortmund in action© Getty

NEW DELHI: The English vocabulary sometimes feels the loss for words while describing what Viswanathan Anand is to India and its chess legacy. There is a particular kind of stillness that follows the Chennai-born Grandmaster into a room, the stillness of a man who solved most of what chess could throw at him decades ago and has nothing left to prove to anyone in it.For over a month now, that stillness has been sitting in a very different chair. On July 24, 2026, Anand became interim President of FIDE, world chess’s governing body, after Arkady Dvorkovich voluntarily stepped back from his duties under European Union and Swiss sanctions. The role is temporary by design as Anand’s term runs out with the FIDE presidential elections on September 26.But for the two months he holds it, the man who has spent a lifetime being chess’s most recognisable player is also, quite literally, running the sport.“Fairly, (it’s) kind of what I expected,” the 56-year-old tells TimesofIndia.com during an exclusive interaction, with that familiar half-smile doing most of the talking before the next sentences catch up.“It’s more work than being deputy president. When I was the deputy, I only had to step in when Arkady (Dvorkovich) couldn’t make it. Now, in fact, I have to conduct a lot of the federation. But I’ve been doing it out of India mostly.”The extra weight of countless responsibilities hasn’t meant more miles, though.“Actually, I’ve travelled less, but because I had already made plans like this. I’ve been attending many, many more meetings, quite often, very long Zoom meetings with lots of people from all over the world to discuss FIDE matters,” added the former five-time world champion.The intensity, he says, has already peaked and passed.“There was a period last week when that all peaked,” he revealed. “Now everything, the agenda, is set for the General Assembly in Samarkand at the end of the year. For the last few days, it’s been a bit lighter.”And with that, amid the Zoom calls and federation business, the game of 64 squares has called in a more familiar manner.Anand returns to the Global Chess League (GCL) this year with Alaskan Knights. None of that administrative weight, it turns out, has dulled his appetite for the board.“I can tell you my hunger for the GCL trophy is still there. I would very much love for us, though I’m playing with Alaskan Knights this year, to pull that off. I’m very motivated, and I hope to do my best and get us into the final first,” the Grandmaster, who was one of the most prominent faces of Ganges Grandmasters for the last three seasons, remarked.

Viswanathan Anand at GCL

“It doesn’t matter what you did in your career. If you’re playing this tournament, then you enjoy it, and you try to play. The GCL is not the kind of event, typical event, that I used to play in. It is really a new kind of experience. For those 10 days to two weeks, I really enjoy myself.”It may be a new team this year, but the fundamentals have not changed for Anand. “Many players in the GCL have already changed teams a couple of times. I think once I go there and meet my teammates, on the first day itself, it’ll feel normal. I have played with Arjun before; two years ago, he was my teammate. There are familiar faces, and you’ll just adjust,” he remarked.