Golf: World number one Rory McIlroy gave the strongest hint yet in a teasing Twitter post yesterday that he plans to defend his PGA Championship title next week at Whistling Straits after recovering from an ankle injury. The Northern Irishman, who has been out of action since he ruptured a ligament in his left ankle while playing soccer with friends on July 4, posted a picture of the interior of a private jet with a British passport front and centre on a table. Accompanying the picture was a series of emojis (or picture characters) indicating a flight from Portugal to the United States followed by a thumbs-up, a victory sign and a golf course symbol.
Tennis: The rustiness showed for Caroline Wozniacki as she fell at the first hurdle to exit the Bank of the West Classic in Stanford. Playing her first match since Wimbledon, the top seed was beaten 6-4 6-2 by Varvara Lepchenko who showed her best form in hitting 26 winners to 17 unforced errors. “I think I just followed my plan. I was doing what I was supposed to do,” Lepchenko said on the WTA website. “The plan was to be aggressive, and when I had to be on defence, be on defence... and it worked out for me.”
Swimming: Alzain Tareq won’t be winning any medals at the World Championships but the pint-sized Bahraini did set an unlikely new record yesterday. Just 10-years-old, Tareq became the youngest ever competitor to race at the championships when she competed in the heats of the women’s 50-metre butterfly. Hopelessly out of her depth, she finished a distant last among the 64 competitors, reaching the end of the pool in a time of 41.13 seconds, almost 16 seconds behind the leading qualifiers. FINA does not currently have any minimum age limits for competitors but sources said that was likely to be reviewed in the future. Germany’s former world champion Franziska van Almsick qualified for the 1991 championships when she was just 13.
Cricket - The Ashes: Ben Stokes took five wickets to put England on the verge of a famous victory that would win back the Ashes as Australia finished on 241 for seven after a compelling second day of the fourth test at Trent Bridge yesterday. The touring side, bowled out for 60 on the first morning of the match, fought back to trail by 90 runs but England should finish them off on the third day to clinch the series. Adam Voges was 48 not out with Mitchell Starc on nought at the close. Australia took five wickets in the morning before England declared on 391 for nine and the touring side’s openers, Chris Rogers and David Warner, added 113 runs to give their side a foothold in the match.