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US Open: China’s world number two Li Na (picture) has been ruled out of this month’s US Open with a knee injury. The 32-year-old Li, who won her second tennis grand slam title at this year’s Australian Open, was eliminated in the first round of the French Open and in the third round at Wimbledon. “Since March, I have been struggling with my knee and it is just not where I need it to be in order to play at the highest level,” Li said. “My medical team has advised me that I need to take some time off to rest my knee so it heals,” the 2011 French Open champion added.
Lawn Bowls: England bowlers Jamie-Lea Winch and Natalie Melmore suffered a 20-17 defeat in the women’s pairs final against South Africa, yesterday. England were 16-11 ahead but had to force the game into an extra end and South Africa Tracy-Lee Botha and Colleen Piketh took gold. Northern Ireland pair Mandy Cunningham and Barbara Cameron won bronze with a 15-14 win over Jersey’s Katie Nixon and Lindsey Greechan.
Diving: Jack Laugher claimed his second gold of the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games in combining with Chris Mears to win men’s synchronised three-metres springboard title yesterday. Laugher, the one-metre springboard individual champion on Wednesday, and Mears finished with a total of 431.94 to triumph at Edinburgh’s Royal Commonwealth Pool. Australia’s Matthew Mitcham and Grant Nel – on the podium alongside Laugher on the opening day of diving competition – took silver with 403.14. A second English pair reached the podium as Nick Robinson-Baker and Freddie Woodward claimed bronze with 364.41.
Golf: American Dustin Johnson will miss the Ryder Cup after announcing he is to take a break from golf and seek “professional help for personal challenges” he has faced. Johnson, who won all three of his matches at Medinah in 2012, will also not contest next week’s US PGA Championship at Valhalla, after which the nine automatic qualifiers for Tom Watson’s team will be finalised. The 30-year-old had been fifth in the standings and looked certain to make his third consecutive appearance in the event at Gleneagles. With Johnson now out of the running, everyone below him in the table moves up a place.
Tennis: Steve Johnson claimed another notable scalp at the Citi Open in Washington after downing ninth seed Ivo Karlovic to reach the quarter-finals. Johnson defeated fifth seed John Isner in the previous round and he proved that was no fluke by knocking out veteran Croatian Karlovic. The 24-year-old American had to do it the hard way though, losing the first set and then having to save two match points before claiming a 3-6 7-6 7-6 victory. There was no such shock for seventh seed Kevin Anderson, the South African needing just over an hour to beat Tunisian Malek Jaziri 6-3 6-4.