Golf: The 41st Ryder Cup at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Minnesota will be held from September 30 to October 2, 2016, the PGA of America said. It will be the second time in six years the biennial event will finish in October, following on from Celtic Manor in 2010. Bad weather in Wales forced a Monday finish for the first time in the contest’s history. The Ryder Cup is part of a crowded summer schedule in 2016, with just one week between the Open and US PGA due to golf’s return to the Olympic Games for the first time since 1904.
Davis Cup: The ITF told Israel it could not host its Davis Cup World Group play-off against Argentina in Tel Aviv next month because of safety concerns. The ruling body that organises the men’s team competition said that “while the military conflict seemed to be slowing down, there was no certainty that this would be the case at the time of the tie that is due to take place in five weeks”. Israel has been given until next Thursday to nominate an alternative venue to host the Sept. 12-14 tie.
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Cycling: Tinkoff-Saxo have signed Slovakian sprint ace Peter Sagan (picture) on a three-year contract from Cannondale, the Denmark-based team announced yesterday. Sagan, 24, has won the Tour de France green jersey for the points classification winner three times, and will join twice Tour winner Alberto Contador at the team owned by Russian entrepreneur Oleg Tinkov. “Peter is without doubt one of the biggest talents in cycling and one of the biggest names already,” team manager and former owner Bjarne Riis said in a statement after winning the race to sign Sagan. “He has a winning mentality, he’s active in the finales and he, without doubt, has the ability to bring home victories.”
Badminton: Malaysia coach Rashid Sidek has paid the price for a poor Commonwealth Games showing after he was excluded from the travelling party for the world champion-ships in Denmark later this month and also looks set to miss out on the 2016 Olympics. Men’s singles coach Rashid saw his two charges knocked out at the quarter-final stage in Glasgow earlier this month as India’s Parupalli Kashyap won the gold to end Malaysia’s long domination of the event dating back to 1990. Rashid has endured a poor relationship with Badminton Malaysia president Tengku Maha-leel Tengku Ariff, who instructed deputy coach Hendrawan to take charge for the Aug. 25-31 event in Copenhagen.
Athletics: Panama’s former Olympic long jump champion Irving Saladino retired from athletics after losing a long battle against injuries. Saladino became Central America’s first Olympic gold medal winner at the 2008 Beijing Games having also been crowned world champion the year before in Osaka. “I have to inform you that I’ve made the decision to halt my athletics career because I’ve had many kinds of injuries and I think the time has come. I’m saying goodbye to long jumping,” the 31-year-old, who will act as a sports ambassador for his country and help with the development of young Panamanian athletes, said in a statement.
Snooker: Ronnie O’Sullivan admits the Welsh Open is one of his favourite tournaments and hopes the event will be a success at its new home in Cardiff. The world ranking event will run from Feb. 16-22 and will take place in the Welsh capital for the first time in over a decade. O’Sullivan has won the Welsh Open three times, most recently in March this year when he thrashed Ding Junhui 9-3 in the final, and capped a supreme display with a stunning 147 in the last frame. “The Welsh Open has been good to me over the years,” Sullivan said. “I always liked the venue in Newport. But I understand the event needs to grow, and we need space... hopefully that will help create a great atmosphere.”