Marcus Rashford has been given a new squad number with Manchester United, as he looks set to be reintegrated into Michael Carrick’s first-team for the new Premier League season
17:13, 09 Aug 2026Updated 17:33, 09 Aug 2026
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Manchester United have given Marcus Rashford a new shirt number of 14, as the Wythenshawe-born talent looks increasingly likely to remain at Old Trafford for the coming season. The 28-year-old saw his future with the club cast into speculation under Ruben Amorim’s regime, with the Portuguese tactician falling out with the forward during his stint in Greater Manchester.
As a result, Rashford spent the second-half of 2024/25 on loan with Aston Villa, before joining Barcelona in a season-long deal last term. While the La Liga giants had a £26million option to make Rashford’s spell permanent this summer, the likelihood of the forward returning to the Camp Nou are growing slimmer by the day.
Not only have the club splashed £69m on Newcastle United talent Anthony Gordon, who plays in the same position as Rashford, but they are also now approaching a move for Manchester City midfielder Rodri, which could set them back around £60m if the Sky Blues’ valuation is met.
With limited transfer funds, it means that Rashford is likely to remain with United for the coming season, unless another European powerhouse comes in for his services.
United are not opposed to the idea of retaining the Englishman, and allowing him to revitalise his relationship with the Old Trafford elite under Michael Carrick’s stewardship.
And Fabrizio Romano claims that the club have now handed him a squad number of 14 as a message of their trust. It’s the same number that Rashford was handed by Hansi Flick upon his arrival in Catalunya, which he saw a wealth of success wearing.
In La Liga alone, Rashford managed eight goals and seven assists last season, proving his worth in gold on the left-flank. And Carrick will hope to see more of the same from the talent – who has been a part of Manchester United folklore since 2005 – when the new Premier League season gets underway.
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As for the reasoning behind the number change, Rashford has typically wore 10 for United since 2018. However, Mateus Cunha now occupies that prestigious number, having arrived from Wolves last summer.
Thousands of Man United fans upgraded their matchday last season. This is how they did it.
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It is understood that Rashford is currently travelling with the first-team as they navigate the rest of their pre-season tour across Europe. The forward could feature in the Reds’ upcoming clash with Leeds United in Ireland come Wednesday, August 12.
However, as a result of only recently returning to training, a more likely full start for Rashford could land against AC Milan on Saturday, August 15.
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Caitlin Clark and Sophie Cunningham are giving the WNBA exactly what every league says it wants: attention, rivalry, ratings, personality, memes, and real fan emotion. So why does the league keep looking uncomfortable with the very energy that is making people watch? On this episode of The Riley Gaines Show, Riley breaks down Clark’s return to elite form, the Fever’s surge, the technical foul controversy, and Sophie Cunningham pushing back on the
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It was a nationally televised WNBA matchup between the Las Vegas Aces and New York Liberty on Sunday afternoon in Brooklyn, a battle of two championship hopefuls.
But Aces head coach Becky Hammon had a starting five nobody expected, and it could be viewed as a protest for having to play back-to-back games on the road this weekend.
Hammon didn’t play four-time MVP A’ja Wilson, Chelsea Gray or Jackie Young – three usual Aces starters – with Jewell Loyd, Dana Evans and Brianna Turner taking their spots instead. It wasn’t just for the start of the game either, as all three of those players didn’t step foot on the court other than to cheer their teammates on.
Becky Hammon, head coach of the Las Vegas Aces, looks on against the New York Liberty during their game at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., on Aug. 9, 2026.(Getty Images)
For a nationally televised ABC game against a rival, it was a curious move by Hammon, but the load management move is one that she defended following a 111-71 rout by the Liberty on their home Barclays Center court.
“The health and safety of players comes first,” Hammon said, per Yahoo Sports. “Wherever we end up, we end up, and we’ll play whatever hand is dealt to us. To me, this was a just a bigger picture type (of) scenario, so you take the ‘L,’ understanding that it pays dividends on the back end.”
The Aces fell to the Minnesota Lynx, 98-87, on Saturday, where Wilson (33 minutes), Young (33) and Gray (36) all played their usual workloads.
But the short turnaround, especially on the road, led Hammon to sit her stars. And national TV game or not, it was a move she likely would’ve done considering her stance.
“Not going to put (players) in any kind of jeopardy to get hurt when we’ve been expending a lot of energy and traveling a lot of miles back and forth, crisscrossing the country,” Hammon said as she continued defending her decision.
“It is what it is. I know these are big matchups, and these are what people want to see, but you should ensure that it’s fair.”
As per the WNBA’s new collective bargaining agreement, which was agreed upon by both the league and player before the start of this season, has language stating the league will “make reasonable and good faith efforts” to provide at least 20 hours between the scheduled start of a team’s first game of a back-to-back and the scheduled start of its second game.
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Head coach Becky Hammon of the Las Vegas Aces looks on during a game against the Minnesota Lynx on Aug. 8, 2026, at Target Center in Minneapolis, Minn.(NBAE via Getty Images)
Meanwhile, the WNBA has a guideline that gives teams a minimum of 22 hours between back-to-back games, where travel mustn’t be more than one time zone. It’s similar to what the NBA does during its own schedule.
For this weekend back-to-back, the Aces tipped off on Saturday at 1 p.m. ET, and they were slated for Sunday’s game at 12:30 p.m. ET. Also, the Lynx played their second game of a back-to-back themselves on Saturday afternoon, but both games were at home as they played the Dallas Wings at 3:30 p.m. ET.
The Liberty obviously didn’t mind not facing key starters for the Aces in what was an easy victory, but even Jonquel Jones couldn’t blame Hammon for thinking about the future.
“Obviously, they have to do what’s right for their team,” she said, via Yahoo Sports. “They have to do what’s right for their bodies. But as competitors, we really wanted to match up against them.”
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The WNBA schedule will only grow as the seasons continue and its popularity expands. Next season, there will be a 50-game slate for the first time in league history – up six games from 2026.
Becky Hammon, head coach of the Las Vegas Aces, looks on against the New York Liberty during their game at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., on Aug. 9, 2026.(Getty Images)
But what Hammon did on Sunday afternoon in Brooklyn could be more than just focusing on her team’s health and safety moving forward with important games left to play closer to a playoff push.
Perhaps this was her way of telling the WNBA that, while it fell within the guideline of a minimum of 22 hours between games, she doesn’t care if the game is on national TV or not.
TORONTO — And then there were none — Canadians playing in singles competition at the National Bank Open presented by Rogers, that is.
Leylah Fernandez, the last Canadian remaining, was stopped in the Round of 16 by Japanese star Naomi Osaka 6-4, 6-4 Sunday night.
Fernandez played a competitive game, but was ultimately overpowered by the former world No. 1 as Osaka’s baseline game forced Fernandez into committing too many errors. Combined with seven aces from Osaka, the 23-year-old Montreal native simply couldn’t keep up.
Osaka will next face world No. 2 Elena Rybakina in the quarterfinals after the Kazakhstan star won a hard-fought three-set match against Liudmila Samsonova earlier Sunday.
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“It was a very difficult match as always against (Liudmila),” Rybakina said. “I feel like we both didn’t start that well. Then it became, really, a fight.
“In the third set I was just trying to focus on each point at a time. … I’m glad I managed to win in the end. I fought until the end.”
With world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka going down on Saturday, Rybakina, the current world No. 2, can come within as few as four points of the top ranking should she win the NBO.
It’s not something she’s thinking of too hard about, however.
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“(There are) still a lot of matches I’ve got to win,” she said. “I try not to think about the ranking, about the points, and just go one match at a time and see how far I can get.”
In other NBO action, Coco Gauff powered past 19-year-old Russian Alina Korneeva 6-3, 6-1 to reach the quarterfinals.
The American has been in fine form in Toronto, yet to drop a set in the tournament.
“I thought today was pretty solid. As solid as it can get,” Gauff said. “I know she’s young, and one of her first times on this stage, so I’m sure we’ll see each other more in the future.
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“It was not as easy maybe as the scoreline shows, but I’m happy with how I played today.”
Gauff will next face the winner of Belinda Bencic and Filipino sensation Alexandra Eala, who will play later Sunday night.
A Minnesota Vikings helmet rests on the sideline before a road matchup against the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium. The scene was captured on Nov. 3, 2019, in Kansas City as the Vikings prepared for another regular-season contest, highlighting the franchise branding and game-day atmosphere before kickoff. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-Imagn Images
It’s been a long offseason of roster shuffling and speculation for the Minnesota Vikings following an up-and-down 2025 regular season that ended without a playoff berth for the second time in the past three years.
Now, the time of speculation is over as the Vikings are back on the field for training camp and now preparing for their first preseason game next Saturday, August 15 against the New York Giants. With the preseason now on the horizon, here is a Minnesota Vikings 53-man roster projection, so you know all the names to keep an eye on next weekend.
Minnesota Vikings Offense
Minnesota Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy stands on the sideline at AT&T Stadium during a late-season matchup with Dallas, listening to teammates and staff between possessions. On Dec. 14, 2025, McCarthy remained engaged as Minnesota worked through the road contest against the Cowboys in Arlington, Texas, during the closing stretch of the regular season. Mandatory Credit: YouTube.
Minnesota is yet to find a bona fide QB1 since that injury, but they are hoping one of Kyler Murray or J.J. McCarthy can change that. So far, reports suggest it’s been a shaky training camp for both, but there is still time to turn things around.
Running Back (4)
Aaron Jones
Jordan Mason
Demond Claiborne
Max Bredeson
Cut: Zavier Scott, Jordan Mims
The Vikings won’t have a true RB1 this season, and they can’t really operate that way when the top two players in the room are 31 years old and 27 years old.
Cut: Dillon Bell, Jeshaun Jones, Terrill Davis, Michael Briscoe, Trayvon Rudolph, Marcus Sanders Jr.
Despite some questions at the quarterback position, Vikings fans can feel a little bit of relief stemming from the depth seen at the wide receiver position.
Dillon Bell, a UDFA out of Georgia, also has a very serious case to make the final roster and likely will get scooped up by a different team if he is cut. We’ll see who the final players actually are here, but the Vikings will have no problem filling six spots at wide receiver this year.
Tight End (3)
T.J. Hockenson
Josh Oliver
Gavin Bartholomew
Cut: Ben Yurosek, Bryson Nesbit, Marshall Lang
Not a ton of surprise here as T.J. Hockenson and Josh Oliver are back once again as the main two tight ends in the room.
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With that being said, Kevin O’Connell loves his three tight end sets, so that TE3 role is one that can prove to be more important in Minnesota than it is in other places around the league.
Gavin Bartholomew was a sixth-round pick by the Vikings in 2025, but his season ended very early on in training camp because of injury. He should get his opportunity on the 53-man roster this year.
Offensive Line (9)
Christian Darrisaw (LT)
Donovan Jackson (LG)
Blake Brandel (C)
Will Fries (RG)
Brian O’Neill (RT)
Michael Jurgens
Caleb Tiernan
Joe Huber
Ryan Van Demark
Cut: Walter Rouse, Vershon Lee, Tomas Rimac, Gavin Gerhardt, Henry Byrd, Delby Lemieux, Tristan Leigh, Caleb Etienne
With Brian O’Neill signing a new contract just days ago, Minnesota’s offensive line situation looks to remain mostly stable for the next couple of years. As for the team’s depth chart in 2026, seventh-round pick Gavin Gerhardt does not make the final roster, but he certainly could become a practice squad guy.
Meanwhile, Walter Rouse has fallen to the third team in reps, which seems to suggest the 2024 sixth-round pick’s time in Minnesota may be coming to an end. Caleb Tiernan, a third-round pick by the Vikings this spring, seems poised to take over the swing tackle spot to back up Christian Darrisaw.
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The center position could be an interesting story with Blake Brandel projected as the starter despite having his share struggles at the position last season.
Minnesota Vikings Defense
Minnesota Vikings cornerback Isaiah Rodgers (2) breaks up a pass to New York Giants wide receiver Wan’Dale Robinson (17) during a game at MetLife Stadium, Dec 21, 2025, East Rutherford, NJ, USA – Credit: USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
Defensive Line (6)
Jalen Redmond
Levi Drake Rodriguez
Caleb Banks
Elijah Williams
Domonique Orange
Eric Johnson II
Cut: Taki Taimani, Isaiahh Loudermilk, Jahvaree Ritzie, Smith Vilbert
Outside of wide receiver, the defensive line could end up being the most impressive group on Minnesota’s roster if they can all remain healthy, and that comes despite the departures of Jonathan Allen and Javon Hargrave, who were seen as the biggest improvements to the group prior to disappointing 2025 campaigns.
The Vikings opted to add both Caleb Banks and Domonique Orange during this spring’s NFL Draft, who should be immediate contributors to the roster if they are able to stay healthy. I also gave Eric Johnson a spot as a veteran depth piece who can help rush the passer and contribute on special teams.
Outside Linebacker (5)
Andrew Van Ginkel
Dallas Turner
Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins
Bo Richter
Tyler Batty
Cut: Chaz Chambliss, Arden Walker, Cam’Ron Stewart
Without Jonathan Greenard in the room, outside linebacker/EDGE could cause some problems for the Vikings this year, particularly with their depth.
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As a result, I’m only keeping five players here to help fill out other positions on defense.
Cut: Ivan Pace, Jacob Roberts, Josh Ross, Keli Lawson, Bangally Kamara
It might be more likely that Ivan Pace is traded rather than outright cut, but either way, I don’t see him on the final roster in September, particularly with the signing of Jamal Adams a couple weeks ago.
Blake Cashman is firmly at the top of the depth chart, and Eric Wilson is hoping to recapture the lightning that he found in 2025 when he put Pace in a place where he might not have a spot in Minnesota anymore.
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Finally, we can’t forget to mention second-round pick Jake Golday, who is going to develop into a hawk in the middle of Minnesota’s defense. This projects to be another pretty fun group of players.
Brian Flores didn’t carry many cornerbacks during the 2025 season, but I think we get a fifth CB this year rather than a sixth pass rusher when we compare the depth at the two positions. Obviously, injuries can change that, but there are enough names here that I want to keep.
Outside of the obvious names like Byron Murphy and Isaiah Rodgers, Charles Demmings has emerged as the favorite for Mr. Mankato after stringing together multiple great practices over the past week. Brian Flores has also sung his praises for James Pierre. Finally, Zemaiah Vaughn was a training camp darling last year, and assuming he is able to continue improving, he should be on the final roster in September.
Safety (5)
Josh Metellus
Theo Jackson
Jay Ward
Jakobe Thomas
Tavierre Thomas
Cut: Jacob Thomas
The return or retirement decision of Harrison Smith is still hanging over the Vikings’ heads at the safety position, which could impact who makes the final roster.
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For now, though, Jay Ward seems poised to crack into the top three at the position and see more time on defense after starting four of the final games of the 2025 regular season.
Jakobe Thomas almost certainly makes the final roster as well, being the Vikings third-round pick this spring while Tavierre Thomas is in his second year in Minnesota and was a key piece on special teams in 2025.
Theo Jackson could end up being the odd man out if Smith opts to return.
Minnesota Vikings Special Teams
Dec 25, 2025; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Vikings place kicker Will Reichard (16) celebrates after making a field goal against the Detroit Lions in the third quarter at U.S. Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Krohn-Imagn Images
Specialists (3)
Will Reichard (K)
Johnny Hekker (P)
Andrew DePaola (LS)
Cut: Brett Thorson
No real surprises here unless you are a big Brett Thorson fan. With the departure of Ryan Wright this offseason to New Orleans, the Vikings will have to turn to a new punter in 2026.
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Johnny Hekker has been one of the most consistent punters in the NFL for the past 14 years, though Thorson brings a big leg to the competition. He won the Ray Guy Award in 2025 during his final season at Georgia for a reason, but ultimately, the veteran gets the job with Thorson potentially going to the practice squad.
Josh Frey is a senior writer at both PurplePTSD.com and VikingsTerritory.com, with a fascination for the NFL Draft. To … More about Josh Frey
Wordle Hints and Answers #1878 (August 10, 2026): Need help cracking today’s Wordle? We’ve got today’s Wordle hints and answers to guide you through it!
Wordle offers a fresh puzzle every day, pushing players to guess a five-letter word within six tries. It’s an excellent way to flex your vocabulary muscles, but the difficulty can be daunting at times.
We’ll give you all the hints and clues necessary before revealing the answer, allowing you to solve it on your own first. Plus, we’ll break down the difficulty level of today’s Wordle and uncover some fun facts about the word.
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Are you ready to solve Wordle #1878 for (August 10, 2026)?
WARNING: Spoilers ahead! Only read on if you want to know today’s Wordle answers.
Are you about to lose your Wordle streak? Check these hints to make sure you maintain it:
Wordle Hint 1: How many vowels are present in today’s word?
Today’s word has 2 vowels.
Wordle Hint 2: How many double letters are there in today’s word?
There are no repeated letters.
Wordle Hint 4: What is today’s wordle starting or ending letter?
Today’s word starts with “S”.
Check our Wordle Solver if you’re still stuck with today’s game.
Today’s Daily Wordle Answer
Last chance to try it on your own. Today’s Wordle answers are right below.
Ready?
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Today’s Wordle answer for Monday, August 10, 2026, is: SNIPE
How many turns did it take fo you to solve? I was able to solve today’s Wordle in 4 turns.
Today’s Wordle Difficulty
The NYT Wordlebot will tell you how you have performed in today’s game.
Today, it took around 0.0 guesses on average to get today’s wordle answer while 0.0% of players got the answer within 3 turns.
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The average luck score of all players for today’s word is 0.0. Higher the number (upto 99), higher the possibility of players eliminating possible solutions with every guess.
The average skill score of all players for today’s word is 0.0. Higher the number (upto 99), higher the efficiency of player guesses based on all possible solutions.
Yesterday Wordle Answers
If you’re seeing this from a different time zone, then you can view yesterday’s answer here.
The Wordle answer for 9 August 2026 was CLUNK.
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Wordlebot reports that the average number of guesses to get yesterday’s answer was 0.0, and 0.0% of players got it in 3 turns or less.
Previous Wordle Answers
Looking for previous wordle answers? Here is a complete list of wordle answers from last 5 days:
India’s men’s hockey team has had a roller-coaster journey in the World Cup, from winning the inaugural bronze in 1971 to lifting the title in 1975 and then enduring a long wait for another podium finish.
The eight-time Olympic champions’ only World Cup triumph came in Kuala Lumpur in 1975, when Ajit Pal Singh’s side defeated arch-rivals Pakistan 2-1 in the final.
Pakistan remain the most successful team in the tournament with four titles, while the Netherlands, Australia and Germany have won it three times each. Belgium are the other champions.
Here is a look at India’s World Cup journey through the 2023 edition:
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1971 Barcelona
The World Cup was conceived after India and Pakistan jointly proposed a hockey tournament on the lines of football’s World Cup at the FIH Council meeting in 1969. Pakistan were initially awarded the hosting rights, but political tensions between the two countries forced the inaugural edition to be shifted to Barcelona.
India topped Pool A after beating France, Argentina, Kenya and West Germany, but lost 1-2 to Pakistan in the semi-finals. Pakistan went on to beat Spain in the final to become the inaugural champions, while India defeated Kenya 2-1 to take the bronze medal.
1973 Amsterdam
India reached the final of the second World Cup in Amsterdam but missed out on the title after a dramatic finish against hosts the Netherlands. The Indian team finished second in Pool A behind West Germany before beating Pakistan in the semi-finals, with B P Govinda scoring the decisive goal.
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The final ended 2-2 after extra time before the Netherlands prevailed in the penalty shootout to claim their maiden World Cup title.
1975 Kuala Lumpur
March 15, 1975 remains the defining date in Indian hockey’s World Cup history.
Led by Ajit Pal Singh, India defeated Pakistan 2-1 in the final to win their only World Cup title so far. Pakistan took the lead, but Surjit Singh equalised in the 44th minute before Ashok Kumar scored the winner in the 51st minute. Seven time Olympic champion India had topped their pool before defeating Malaysia in the semi-finals.
1978 Buenos Aires
India’s title defence ended in disappointment as the defending champions failed to qualify for the semi-finals and finished sixth. India won three of their six pool matches but suffered two defeats, including a heavy 0-7 loss to West Germany. Pakistan regained the title by defeating the Netherlands 3-2 in the final, while Australia finished third.
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1982 Mumbai
India hosted the World Cup for the first time in Mumbai but could not make it to the final four, finishing fifth.
Pakistan remained unbeaten and defeated West Germany 3-1 in the final at the Wankhede Stadium to win their third World Cup title.India’s Rajinder Singh Senior emerged as the tournament’s leading scorer with 12 goals.
1986 London
India endured their worst World Cup campaign to that point, finishing 12th and last in London.
Mohammad Shahid, however, was a standout performer for India and his dazzling dribbling earned him the Player of the Tournament award. Australia defeated England 2-1 in the final, while West Germany finished third. Three-time champions Pakistan ended 11th.
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1990 Lahore
The World Cup in Lahore was played amid political tensions, hostile home crowd and heightened security concerns.
India, captained by Pargat Singh, finished 10th but earned the FIH Fair Play Award for maintaining their composure in difficult circumstances. The Netherlands defeated Pakistan to win the title, while Australia took the bronze medal.
1994 Sydney
Under captain Jude Felix, India finished fifth in Sydney, their best World Cup result on artificial turf at that stage.
Pakistan defeated the Netherlands 4-3 in a penalty shootout in the final to win the title, with Australia finishing third.
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1998 Utrecht
European teams dominated the tournament in Utrecht, with hosts the Netherlands defeating Spain in the final to claim their third World Cup title.
Germany finished third, while India, led by Dhanraj Pillay, struggled to adapt to the conditions and finished ninth.
2002 Kuala Lumpur
The 2002 edition marked the introduction of the 16-team World Cup format.
Germany defeated Australia in the final to win the title, while the Netherlands finished third. India managed three wins, one draw and five defeats in nine matches and ended the tournament in 10th place.
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2006 Monchengladbach
India endured another difficult campaign under captain Dilip Tirkey, failing to win a single match in the pool stage.
They drew against South Africa but lost their other matches to finish at the bottom of their pool.
India later defeated South Africa in the classification match, with Rajpal Singh scoring the winner, to finish 11th among the 12 participating teams. Germany defeated Australia in the final to retain the title, while Spain took the bronze medal.
2010 Delhi
India’s biggest highlight at the 2010 World Cup on home soil came in the pool stage when they thrashed arch-rivals Pakistan 4-1 before a packed Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium.
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India finished fourth in their pool and missed out on a semi-final berth, eventually ending the tournament eighth. Australia defeated Germany 2-1 in the final to lift the title, while the Netherlands secured the bronze medal.
India’s wait for another World Cup podium finish continued.
2014 The Hague
India endured a disappointing campaign in The Hague, suffering heavy defeats to Belgium, England and Australia and finishing ninth in the pool stage. Akashdeep Singh was India’s standout performer, scoring five goals in the tournament.
Australia thrashed hosts the Netherlands 6-1 in the final to win the title, while Argentina took the bronze medal.
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2018 Bhubaneswar
India hosted the World Cup in Odisha ,the hockey heartland of the country, for the first time.
Led by captain Manpreet Singh, India drew against Belgium and defeated South Africa and Canada to finish top of their pool.
However, the hosts lost a closely fought quarter-final 1-2 to the Netherlands and finished sixth, their best World Cup result in several years. Belgium defeated the Netherlands in a penalty shootout to win their maiden World Cup title, while Australia finished third.
2023 Bhubaneswar-Rourkela
India hosted the World Cup for the second successive time and again finished second in their pool.
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The hosts, captained by Harmanpreet Singh, were knocked out by New Zealand in a penalty shootout in the crossover match and eventually finished ninth. Germany defeated Belgium in a shootout to win the title, while the Netherlands finished third.
Trainer Eddy Reynoso has poured cold water on any lingering hope of Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez facing David Benavidez, insisting that the window for the fight has now closed.
Calls for the clash have followed Canelo for several years, particularly while both men campaigned at super-middleweight, with Benavidez repeatedly pushing for the opportunity to challenge the Mexican superstar. Despite the demand from fans and Benavidez’s later position as WBC mandatory challenger, the fight never came together.
Canelo has remained at 168lbs and, according to Reynoso in a recent interview with Ring Magazine, plans to continue campaigning there as the division begins to offer up new options following his loss to Terence Crawford last year.
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“We’re going to stay at super middleweight for now. The division is heating up, and we can really stay busy there for the foreseeable future.”
Benavidez, however, has since moved through light-heavyweight and up to cruiserweight, where he has established himself among the leading names at 200lbs with a win over Gilberto Ramirez to become unified champion. That change in weight appears to have ended any realistic prospect of the long-discussed Canelo fight finally happening.
Reynoso was unequivocal when asked whether there was still a route to the contest.
“That fight against Benavidez is done. There was a time when that fight could have been made at 168, and it didn’t happen, so it’s done. He is now fighting at cruiserweight. There is a better chance for Benavidez to fight Oleksandr Usyk than there is to fight Canelo.”
Reynoso’s comments suggest there will be no positive response from them despite the other side making it clear that he would still take the fight at 175lbs, where Canelo has fought twice.
Ready To Rush, a race mare who has battled a lengthy list of injury concerns, secured an impressive victory in the TAB Highway (1000m) at Royal Randwick on Saturday.
Trainer Matthew Dale has maintained faith in Ready To Rush despite her recurring physical issues, and she is now starting to realise her significant potential.
“She’s had three knee surgeries and there was some talk if we could even get her back,” Dale commented. “But full credit to the ownership group and Kurrinda Bloodstock who have been super patient.”
Dale explained his training location, stating, “I train her solely off my farm just outside of Goulburn so that is why she presented a little ‘wintery’ today. It’s a long way from Cootamundra and Gundagai to these Highways but she has taken that next step, it was great to see.”
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Ready To Rush ($11), expertly ridden by Rachel King, managed to fend off Sneaky Pee Cee ($6.50) by nearly a length, with Magic Speed ($81) finishing third.
The favourite, Lady Olenna ($4.40), settled at the rear of the field but put in a strong late run, finishing just over a length behind the winner.
King praised the mare’s attitude, saying, “We had to duck and weave and go inside a horse and she was like ‘are you sure’ but the more I asked her the more she kept finding.”
With this win, Ready To Rush has improved her record to three wins and a second from her four career starts. Her performance now makes her a viable candidate for the $2 million The Kosciuszko.
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Dale admitted, “I didn’t have her in my Kosciuszko plans before today. But winner’s win and she is gaining in confidence all the time.”
He revealed that he trains Ready To Rush on a sand track at his farm near Goulburn to assist in keeping her sound. “She had a jump out with two of my better mares So You Pence and Rose Aye the other day and was half a length off them. So You Pence then came out and won a Saturday race and she was half a length off her so that gave us a bit of confidence going into today.”
With The Kosciuszko approaching, those looking for racing odds might find Ready To Rush an intriguing prospect on sports betting platforms.
Yasir Al-Rumayyan’s head-spinning return to LIV Golf on Sunday quickly earned a place in the annals of “awkward post-breakup behavior” history, somewhere between “asking your ex to borrow his printer for a class assignment” and “immediately dating her best friend.”
But if the Saudi businessman responsible for funneling $6 billion into the upstart league before abruptly withdrawing financial support earlier this year was hoping to slip by his old flame’s place unnoticed … well, he didn’t do a very good job.
“I think we all found out last night that he was going to be out here,” Bryson DeChambeau said Sunday, shortly after concluding his final day of play at LIV’s latest event in New Jersey. “I think he needed to have some conversations with the president. That was a whole ‘nother thing. I’m not going to get involved with that.”
As play got underway on Sunday during the final day of competition at “LIV New York,” cameras captured the governor of the Saudi government’s trillion-dollar sovereign wealth fund standing next to Donald Trump in a private suite at the president’s golf course in New Jersey. In them, Al-Rumayyan looks about as he usually does: in a trim polo, wearing a very expensive watch, sporting an amiable grin and a salt-and-pepper beard. And silent. Stone-cold silent.
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These photos might not have been all that unusual were it not for the venue: At a golf tournament for the league Al-Rumayyan’s Saudi PIF is in the late stages of dropping altogether, halting its investment after half a decade and more than $6 billion. Once a fixture at LIV events, Al-Rumayyan has all but stopped attending LIV gatherings after his employer’s decision to stop funding LIV. That is, except for Sunday at Bedminster, at the end of the same week when LIV announced a new, mystery investor (reportedly the private equity firm BC Capital) and elected not to comment about intensifying rumors that the league is on the brink of canceling its team championships scheduled for Michigan at the end of this month.
If DeChambeau was upset with his soon-to-be ex-boss for his sudden ejection from the LIV project, he did his best to hide it, opting to take the high-road when asked about Al-Rumayyan’s surprise appearance.
“It was great to see him out here,” DeChambeau said. “I think he’s done wonders for us and the global game of golf. How it moves forward, I think there’s a great place for the PIF and where they want to be moving forward. Where that is, I’m not exactly sure. I have no idea. But I know that he’s supported golf for a long, long time, and as this transitions over hopefully into the new investor’s hands and into the players’ hands, and that’s what it’s going to be, in the players’ hands, we really have an opportunity to align a lot of the global incentives to be a force for good for the game.”
Not even DeChambeau could hide from the evasiveness of that answer – the big man himself admitted it was “a lot of wordiness.” But DeChambeau’s own non-answer underlined a theme that has been growing harder to ignore as the Saudi PIF prepares to pull the ripcord out of LIV — a theme that many of DeChambeau’s previous non-answers when asked about the shadow figure behind the league have served to underline.
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That theme: Al-Rumayyan and his Saudi brethren have enacted an enormous amount of change upon golf as we know it over these last five years. And yet in that time, they’ve said almost nothing.
Yasir Al-Rumayyan and President Trump take in the action at LIV New York in Bedminster, N.J.
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A legacy of silence
In the short history of LIV Golf, there is perhaps no character whose name engenders a greater sense of mystery than Al-Rumayyan’s.
The PIF leader and top lieutenant to Saudi crown prince Mohammed Bin Salman played perhaps the most critical role of any person alive in LIV’s germination from a glitzy idea into a multi-billion-dollar investment. The stories of LIV’s founding and early days are littered with references to Al-Rumayyan — known by the players simply as “H.E.,” for, “His Excellency” — and the vision of the league’s current existence is littered with his fingerprints, evident everywhere from its New York City HQ (in the same midtown skyscraper used to house several other PIF-funded startups) to many iterations of its Pro-Am schedule, where Al-Rumayyan was a regular fixture.
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The simple truth is that for most of LIV’s history, Al-Rumayyan has been the man responsible for cutting the checks. As you can imagine, that’s a pretty big deal for a startup with a $100 million per month cash burn rate.
But Al-Rumayyan’s public influence has not necessarily manifested in public access. Outside of a short (and ill-fated) interview with Jay Monahan to announce the famed “merger” between Al-Rumayyan’s league and the PGA Tour, Yasir has never granted a single interview in the golf world. In that time, he has left countless others — DeChambeau chief among them — to speak for him and his Saudi partners.
In the end, it is entirely conceivable that Al-Rumayyan’s presidential visit to Bedminster is the last we see of him at a LIV event. If it is, it will bring its own set of questions. Was this kind of soft power the Saudis’ chief interest in golf? Was the competition they asked golf fans to care about less important than the people it attracted into their orbit? Were the players they paid untold millions compensated at least in part for their willingness to speak on behalf of Al-Rumayyan?
The current LIV leadership would have you know that the answer to each of these questions isn’t nearly as black-and-white as it seems. Golf has always been a vessel to something bigger, and there’s nothing wrong with that … even if “something bigger” is the leader of the free world.
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True as that may be, Al-Rumayyan’s appearance is a reminder that LIV’s investors might have done the league a few billion favors, but those favors came at a price. The price of standing at a podium answering questions for a man who never bothered to answer them himself.
For DeChambeau and for the rest of crowd who spotted their ex-flame floating around the property on Sunday at Bedminster, that explanation wasn’t necessary on Sunday evening. As it turns out, sometimes our loudest words are the ones we don’t say at all.
Chelsea Green has overcome serious obstacles to get to the top of the WWE women’s division.
She’s suffered numerous injuries over the last 12 months or so, including a heart issue that landed her in the hospital and in need of a procedure. Still, she managed to put those problems in the rearview to become the interim WWE women’s champion last weekend at SummerSlam.
Interim WWE Women’s Championship Chelsea Green makes her entrance during SmackDown at Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia, Pa., on Aug. 7, 2026.(WWE via Getty Images)
On Friday, Green was in a tag team match with Tiffany Stratton as they went up against Fallon Henley and Lainey Reid. Green told her followers that she suffered a broken orbital bone during the match as her string of bad luck continues.
“I did get injured last night. Stuff happens. It’s live television. It’s wrestling. It’s an occupational hazard,” Green said in a video posted to her Instagram. “I ended up in the emergency room and I have a broken orbital bone. It looks amazing all things considered. It feels awful but looks pretty amazing.”
Chelsea Green makes her way to the ring during SmackDown at Oakland Arena in Oakland, Calif., on July 24, 2026.(WWE via Getty Images)
“I have no idea what that means for me. Usually, you guys have seen me play into every single injury but this feels different, obviously. This feels very different. It feels frustrating. I’m upset. I feel like if I didn’t have bad luck, I’d have no luck at all. So, I just need to take a bit more time to process and to heal from, obviously, the head trauma that is going on right now and then we’ll see what happens. We’re just gonna take it day by day. So, world domination continues. We’ve just had a minor blip.”
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It’s unclear whether Green will be forced to relinquish the interim championship already. She outlasted four other women in a ladder match at SummerSlam to win the title.
Chelsea Green celebrates after winning the Interim WWE Women’s Championship during SummerSlam at U.S. Bank Stadium on Aug. 2, 2026, in Minneapolis, Minn.(WWE via Getty Images)
Meanwhile, Rhea Ripley also revealed last week that she underwent knee surgery and could be out for a few more months. Ripley is the WWE women’s champion, which was why the interim belt was introduced going into SummerSlam.
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Ryan Gaydos is a senior editor for Fox News Digital.
Former India batter VVS Laxman has stated that he did not take up the offer to coach the national team after Rahul Dravid’s exit for a couple of specific reasons. He also expressed delight over the progress BCCI’s Centre of Excellence (CoE) has made under him in the last couple of years.
After Dravid was named India‘s head coach in 2021, Laxman took over his role as the head of the National Cricket Academy (NCA), which was subsequently renamed CoE. The BCCI had offered him the post of India’s head coach after Dravid’s stint ended in 2024, but Laxman did not take up the opportunity.
Speaking to select media at BCCI’s CoE in Bengaluru on Sunday, August 9, Laxman revealed that he did not take up the offer to coach India due to family reasons and also because he wanted to develop the CoE. He thus extended his term at the BCCI facility for two years. Laxman said (via Rediff.com):
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“Because (former BCCI secretary) Jay (Shah) and the BCCI gave me the freedom to execute my vision, and Devajit (Saikia, current BCCI secretary) continues to give me, I’ve extended (stint at CoE) for two years, and I committed to the BCCI that I’m not taking up the head coach position. You all know that I was approached back in 2024.”
The 51-year-old Indian legend added that he wants to establish the CoE, its structure, the processes and the protocols. Laxman stated:
“I just shared with them all the SOPs for every department, you know, before I move on, after the two years’ stay. So I think I’m very happy that I’ve been able – also because of the team we have – to establish a very, very world class programme at the CoE.”
Meanwhile, as per unconfirmed reports doing the rounds, Laxman is being touted as Ajit Agarkar‘s replacement for the post of chief selector. Agarkar’s term as chairman of selectors comes to an end in September.
VVS Laxman hails India batting great as an exemplary professional
During the aforementioned press conference in Bengaluru, Laxman also praised Indian batting run machine Virat Kohli as an exemplary professional and stated that a lot of youngsters look forward to emulate him. Laxman commented:
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“I think there is no doubt that Virat is an exemplary professional. And the standards he sets for himself are something which he tries and goes out every time he plays, whichever team, to meet those standards. And that is why he is a great role model. And I think a lot of youngsters or players want to emulate him.”
Meanwhile, Laxman also defended the CoE over the spate of injuries in the Indian camp currently. He stated that the center should not be blamed for the same, claiming that there is seamless coordination between the CoE and the India team management.
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