Todd Pollard has achieved his first Group success as a trainer, with Midnight In Tokyo winning the Show County Quality at Randwick. This milestone comes almost five months after his debut runner.

Having learned his trade with Annabel and Rob Archibald in Sydney, Pollard then moved to Queensland to oversee their satellite operation before launching his own training business earlier this year.

He made an immediate impact, securing a pair of Listed wins during the Brisbane winter carnival with Midnight In Tokyo and Zuleika, and also trained All Kinds Of Folk to a Randwick victory in July.

However, Midnight In Tokyo’s win in Saturday’s Group 3 sprint was a significant escalation.

“It’s absolute euphoria when it’s like this,” Pollard remarked. “It has its days for sure, but we’re lucky we’ve got a mare like her to be running well for us and to come to Randwick is just so special.”

The seven-year-old mare, Midnight In Tokyo, has now staved off immediate retirement following her win and might secure another racing season.

Pollard expressed confidence in her performance based on her fitness and strong winter form, believing she would be tough to beat if she dictated the pace. Those examining the betting sites would have noted the mare’s solid winter form leading into the Group 3 event.

“There was nothing I could knock about her today, and when she found the front I thought, if he could keep her going (she was a chance),” he said. “They were coming late, that’s for sure. She only just sees out the 1200, but if she can get in a good rhythm, squeeze her up and kick away and put a bit of a margin on them, I thought the favoured horses might be a bit too far back to catch her. It worked perfect.”

Midnight In Tokyo will head back to Queensland, with the Sheraco Stakes (1200m) at Rosehill on September 12 being her likely next outing.

Queensland jockey Ben Thompson was equally thrilled with the victory, giving credit to Pollard’s astute training and race placement for the mare.

“I’ll tell you what, he’s hit a lot of bullseyes in a short amount of time and he nailed it with her,” Thompson said. “He knows her really well through taking care of her for Annabel and Rob Archibald prior to going on his own. “She’s just a happy mare. She’s just turned seven, she’s not showing any signs of it.”

Midnight In Tokyo’s win provided Queensland with consecutive stakes race victories, as the Tony Gollan-trained Pembrey had earlier won the Silver Shadow Stakes (1200m) for three-year-old fillies.

The upcoming Sheraco Stakes at Rosehill is a race to watch, with excellent racing odds expected.

BAI secretary general Sanjay Mishra (PTI Photo)

NEW DELHI: The 2028 India Open will be staged in Guwahati, with the Badminton Association of India (BAI) confirming that the tournament will temporarily move out of New Delhi due to Republic Day security arrangements.BAI secretary general Sanjay Mishra said the Super 750 event, scheduled for the last week of January 2028, would clash with heightened security protocols in the national capital around January 26.“The 2028 India Open will be held in the last week of January and due to the tournament dates clashing with Republic Day security arrangements in the National Capital, we felt that only for that year, we should shift the tournament to Guwahati,” Mishra said on Sunday.He added that the relocation is a one-off decision, with the tournament set to return to New Delhi the following year.“It will return to New Delhi in 2029,” he continued.The India Open will be held from February 2–7 next year, shifting from its previous January slot to address player complaints. World No. 4 Anders Antonsen, a four-time World Championships medallist, has missed the India Open for the last three editions, including this year, due to pollution and coped a fine of USD 5,000 for his latest withdrawal.Earlier in the week, Badminton World Federation (BWF) Secretary General Thomas Lund had said the governing body is continuing to examine the scheduling of India Open.“There’s obviously a lot of logistical things when you do these things, and we have obviously been in close dialogue around the whole calendar,” Lund had told reporters.“Coming into 2027, it’s quite a bit of quite short space and for now it hasn’t been possible to totally move around, move out of the first quarter.”He acknowledged that a complete restructuring of the calendar has not yet been possible because of domestic scheduling commitments, but said the BWF has already made improvements and would continue to assess further changes.“Right now it hasn’t been possible due to domestic load to actually totally move around in the calendar, but something we are looking at,” Lund said.“But we have actually looked into a schedule that has been improved and will be improved further down the road.”The India Open has been held at the KD Jadhav Indoor Hall in New Delhi in recent editions and is one of the marquee stops on the BWF World Tour calendar. Guwahati, which has previously hosted major badminton events including the BWF World Junior Championships and international team tournaments, will now become the first city outside New Delhi to host the India Open in recent years.

When it comes to picking the right wedge, there are an awful lot of factors to consider, and there might be a few different options that work for your game.

From shape to bounce to grind to loft to shaft to offset, the list goes on and on.

On this week’s episode of GOLF’s Fully Equipped, co-host Jake Morrow explained one common wedge characterisitc that he’s actually no longer looking at when he’s picking his wedges.

“I’ve started to really not care about what the bounce says at all,” Morrow said. “Because I think it’s just a number associated with the shape, and the shape is infinitely more important than whatever that number is.”

The measurement of bounce often differs between OEMs. One company’s low-bounce wedge could have a similar grind to another’s mid- or even high-bounce wedge. You may even see trends in the next few years of companies removing the bounce number from wedges.

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Morrow then explained that he looks for the visual of how the leading edge sits at address. If it’s a little higher off the ground, then he knows the wedge will have some bounce at the bottom and allow him to be a little more aggressive with his attack angle, which is what he wants.

He also explained that there’s a difference between finding the right lob wedge and the rest of his set. It can actually be easier for him to find a lob wedge than a sand and gap wedge.

“I can get over the look of a 60 a little bit quicker than I can over the look of the 50 and the 56,” Morrow said. “The 56 for me, the biggest thing it has to do is look good and play well out of the bunker. A 60 has to do a bunch of things. And then the 50 has just got to look good and go the right distance. That’s kind of my criteria”

A lot of that, Morrow said he could learn from hitting balls of a mat, which means, yes, it is OK to get fit for wedges indoors and you’ll likely end up with something that works well for you.

For more from Morrow and co-host Johnny Wunder, listen to the full episode of GOLF’s Fully Equipped here, or watch it below.

Want to overhaul your bag in 2026? Find a club-fitting location near you at True Spec Golf.

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Paris Saint-Germain are the overwhelming favourites to continue their dominance of Ligue 1, although there are no shortage of hopefuls seeking to dethrone them.

PSG, who have also won the last two editions of the Champions League, have ​been boosted by ‌new arrivals this season including Spain‘s Ferran Torres, the scorer of the only ⁠goal in last month’s World Cup final.

Watch moreChampions League: PSG make history with victory over Arsenal

“Ferran is an international-level player,” coach Luis Enrique said. “He fits perfectly with what we’re looking for. He can ‌play anywhere in attack, with a great mentality.”

PSG have also bought Maghnes Akliouche and Lucas ⁠Digne, both in France’s squad at the World Cup, as well as Belgian Mika Godts, signed this week from Ajax Amsterdam.

Unfit for play

The French ⁠champions have been forced to move ​their Ligue 1 opener against Stade Rennais on Sunday after scorching summer heat left their ​Parc ‌des Princes pitch unsafe, ⁠the club said.

PSG alerted France’s professional football league (LFP) on ‌Monday to the poor condition of ⁠the playing surface. A specialist team inspected the pitch and ruled it ​unfit for play, the LFP ‌said.

The match will instead be played at Rennes’ Roazhon Park.

Read moreIn pictures: Paris hosts PSG victory parade after back-to-back Champions League titles

The extreme heat prevented the ‌grass, which PSG grows from seed rather than installing ​as rolled turf, from developing properly, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters. ​The stadium’s concrete structure intensified the conditions, ​the person added.

The club’s Qatari-backed resources have ensured they are able to attract ​a steady stream of talent as they set off in search of a ‌15th French championship and sixth in a row.

However, a rare defeat in last weekend’s Trophée des Champions against Racing Lens allows the chasing pack to dream of toppling them.

Lens finished six points adrift of PSG last season in second ‌spot, and won the French Cup. And while they have lost coach Pierre Sage to Crystal Palace, German Dino Toppmöller made a winning start ​in the season-opening super cup encounter.

Modest hopes

Lille, whose third-place finish last season means they qualify directly for the group phase of the Champions League, have a new coach in 36-year-old Davide Ancelotti.

Former Brazil ​international Filipe Luis has taken over at Monaco, who had a disappointing campaign by finishing seventh and ​have offloaded injury-plagued Paul Pogba, who had little impact last season.

Olympique de ​Marseille were runners-up twice to PSG over the last five campaigns, but with Bruno Genesio arriving from Lille to take the helm they look to be ​starting a rebuild that will take more than one season for them to be genuine contenders.

Marseille, who open the league campaign at home to Racing Strasbourg on Friday, were last champions in 2010.

Troyes and Le Mans are the two newly ⁠promoted sides, replacing Nantes ​and Metz, while Nice managed to keep their top-flight status by beating Saint-Étienne over two legs in the promotion-relegation playoff at the end of May.

(FRANCE 24 with Reuters)

Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson is competing with Shedeur Sanders for the starting role. Watson, who has not played in the NFL since his Achilles tear in 2024, was booed by fans during the preseason game against the Buffalo Bills.

Watson went 5-for-12 for 36 passing yards and one interception and was booed by fans as he exited the home preseason game. Following the game, the veteran quarterback said the reaction from fans was “personal.”

“I think the whole world knows it has nothing to do with the performance,” Watson said. “It’s a little bit more personal than that. So, I think it’s a disrespectful thing.”

NFL commentator Joe reacted to Watson’s comments after he was booed by the Browns fans.

“Yeah, dude. You’re widely believed to be a s*x criminal, you are the highest paid QB ever, the Browns replaced a star QB with you, and you’ve been objectively abysmal ever since leaving Houston. I’d be kind of worried if they didn’t hate you.”

Watson, who signed a blockbuster five-year, $230 million deal with the Browns in 2022 after a trade from the Houston Texans, has managed just 19 games with a 9-10 record, 3,365 yards, 19 touchdowns and 12 interceptions over four seasons.

Apart from his injury struggles, Watson’s off-field controversy has also sparked criticism. He faced 27 civil lawsuits accusing him of se*ual misconduct and assault during massage therapy sessions.

Although he settled the lawsuits and wasn’t convicted, he was suspended for 11 games and was handed a $5 million fine by the NFL in 2022 in the wake of the allegations.

Also Read: “Such a loser,” “Lack of awareness is crazy”: NFL fans rip Deshaun Watson for “playing victim card” & calling out Browns fanbase for booing him

Also Read: “It’s a disrespectful thing”: Deshaun Watson rips Browns fans for booing him with “personal” vendetta

Shedeur Sanders didn’t “appreciate” boos from Browns fans for Deshaun Watson

Deshaun Watson, who hopes to reclaim his spot on the Browns lineup, faces competition from second-year quarterback Shedeur Sanders for the starting role.

Despite the competition, Sanders didn’t “appreciate” the reaction from fans during the Bills game.

“Yeah, I mean, in general, I don’t appreciate that at all,” Sanders said. “Regardless of competition, we’re all human beings. I think we all need to understand that. In this room too, we’re all humans. I don’t do things to humans that I wouldn’t want done to me.

“For all the fans, we appreciate you showing up, and however you feel about the situation with Deshaun and everything, I think it’s more about a bigger purpose and it’s respect. We’re going out there to win games, doing everything we can. So I don’t really appreciate that.”

It will be interesting to see the reaction from Browns fans if Watson is named the starting quarterback over Sanders for the 2026 season after Saturday’s fallout.