Motor racing: Mexican Formula One driver Sergio Perez (picture) says he is dropping a sunglasses sponsor for a comment it made on Twitter about his compatriots after Donald Trump was elected US president. The brand, Hawkers, had suggested on its Mexican account @HawkersMX that Mexicans should wear the glasses to hide crying eyes when the wall between their country and the United States was built. Trump, the Republican candidate elected in Tuesday’s election, promised before the polls to build a “big, beautiful, powerful” border wall with Mexico to stop the flow of undocumented immigrants. “What a bad commentary. Today I am ending my relations with @HawkerMX,” Perez said.
Rugby Union: Utility back Rieko Ioane and hooker Liam Coltman are poised to make their New Zealand test debuts off the bench as coach Steve Hansen made major changes to his side for the clash against Italy in Rome tomorrow. Ioane has been named as cover for the outside backs while Coltman is likely to earn his debut after he was named as one of the replacements with hooker Dane Coles rested.
Cricket: All-rounder Ben Stokes lived a charmed life to register his fourth century as England punished a sloppy India to post a huge first innings total on the second day of the opening test yesterday. After winning the toss and asking the hosts to bowl on a docile pitch, an increasingly confident England capitalised on some slack fielding to amass 537 runs, effectively batting India out of the first match of the five-test series. India openers Gautam Gambhir and Murali Vijay safely negotiated the 23 overs they faced to take their side to 63 without loss at stumps, trailing England by 474 runs.
Rugby Sevens: New Zealand’s Damian Karauna has replaced Tomohiro Segawa as coach of the Japan men’s sevens team. Karauna, 41, was New Zealand’s assistant coach at the Rio Olympics, and his first assignment will be to lead Japan at the Dubai Sevens from Dec. 2-3. Japan beat New Zealand in Rio, eventually finishing fourth overall, and Karauna said his aim was to build on that success at the Games in Tokyo in 2020.
Golf: The 2021 Solheim Cup will be played at the fabled Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio, the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) announced. Inverness is a Donald Ross-designed layout which has hosted four US Opens (in 1920, 1931, 1957 and 1979) and two PGA Championships (1986 and 1993) along with other high-profile tournaments. The Solheim Cup is a Ryder Cup-style biennial team competition that pits the United States against Europe.
MOTOGP: Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya will host a round of the MotoGP world championship until at least 2021 after agreeing a five-year contract extension, promoters Dorna said. The circuit has been on the calendar since 1992 and is a home race for Spain’s triple world champions Marc Marquez and Jorge Lorenzo. This year’s grand prix in June was marred by the death of 24-year-old rider Luis Salom after he crashed in free practice.