MotoGP: MotoGP world champion Marc Marquez has had successful surgery on a fractured hand and should be able to race at the Japanese Grand Prix on October 11, his Honda team said yesterday. Marquez, third in the standings with four races left, injured his left hand mountain biking in his native Spain on Tuesday and was operated on in Barcelona yesterday, Honda said on their website. “If post-operation recovery goes as expected, Marc should be fine to ride in the Japanese Grand Prix,” they added. Marquez needed surgery in April after sustaining a similar injury in a training accident while riding a dirt bike.
Tennis: Johanna Konta claimed the biggest scalp of her blossoming career by beating world number two Simona Halep at the Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open in China. The 24-year-old is set to take over as Briton’s top-ranked female player next week and celebrated in style with a stirring final-set comeback to win 6-3 3-6 7-5 after two-and-a-quarter hours on court. Konta, ranked 66 in the world, had trailed 5-1 in the deciding set, but then reeled off the next six games to secure a quarter-final against Venus Williams. By reaching the last 16 of the tournament, which boasts 19 of the world’s top-20 players, Konta had already ensured she would replace Heather Watson as the top-ranked British female when next week’s rankings are released.
Rugby Union: New Zealand winger Waisake Naholo will make his Rugby World Cup debut among 10 changes to the starting line-up for the Pool C match against Georgia tomorrow. Captain Richie McCaw will win his 145th cap and Dan Carter starts at flyhalf. “We’ve selected what we think is the best 23 for this test match and reflects where we currently are with our progress in the Rugby World Cup,” coach Steve Hansen said yesterday. “We’re looking forward to seeing Waisake back on the track, he’s been jumping out of his skin at training and I’m sure he can’t wait for game day.”
Golf: The 2016 Open Championship at Royal Troon will be televised by Sky Sports after the BBC ended its deal a year early, the R&A has announced. It was confirmed by the R&A in February that Sky Sports had been awarded exclusive rights to live television coverage in a five-year deal from 2017, with the BBC offering two-hour daily highlights and live coverage on radio and online. And Sky have now stepped in to cover next year’s Open as well after the BBC asked the R&A to be released from its contract. New R&A chief executive Martin Slumbers said: “We are looking forward to world-class coverage of The Open from our partners at Sky Sports and are grateful that they have stepped in a year early.”