Chess: Sindarov, 19, becomes youngest World Cup winner as London Classic begins

Javokhir Sindarov, 19, became the youngest ever winner of the Fide knockout World Cup on Wednesday when the Uzbek defeated China’s Wei Yi 2.5-1.5 in the final at Goa. Ukraine’s Ruslan Ponomariov had been a year younger in 2002, but that World Cup had also doubled as the Fide world championship in a period when the global title was disputed.Wei was the favourite, but handicapped himself by poor time management in the decisive game

Iga Swiatek: ‘I didn’t want to give any points for free – it’s a Wimbledon final and I wanted to win’

SW19 champion baffled by post-match suggestions she should have let Amanda Anisimova win one game in grand slam final as she turns focus to Australian Open in 2026In the coming months, if and when her schedule allows, Iga Swiatek will make a pilgrimage to London and the All England Club, the scene of her biggest and, she admits, most surprising triumph. In July, the 24-year-old won her first Wimbledon title and sixth grand slam title in all, crushing a hapless Amanda Anisimova 6-0, 6-0 in the final.It was the undoubted highlight of an up-and-down year for the Pole, who struggled on her best surface of clay but who will end 2025 ranked No 2, her fourth year in a row finishing inside the world’s top two.It is a quirk unique to Wimbledon that the singles’ champions are given honorary membership to the All England Club, granting them access any time they choose. Like many before her, Swiatek is keen to experience the sport’s most storied venue when fans and her fellow players are not around

Green days: Ben Ainslie’s new team lead the way on and out of the water | Emma John

British sailors have always been a belligerent bunch. Francis Drake, Lord Nelson, Admiral Cunningham … and, of course, Sir Ben Ainslie. The most successful Olympian in sailing’s history is also the sport’s equivalent of The Hulk: you really don’t want to make him angry.So perhaps it’s a good thing that there has been plenty to annoy him this year, not least that acrimonious split from his America’s Cup team owner, Sir Jim Ratcliffe. In true Ainslie style, it only seems to have made him more dangerous

NFL on Thanksgiving: Cowboys 31-28 Chiefs, Lions 24-31 Packers – as it happened

Is Kansas City’s season over? Not quite but one more loss now and that will be close to curtains for the Chiefs. Meanwhile Dak Prescott has just thrown for 328 yards and two touchdowns with a pick for a third win in succession. The Cowboys are right on the bubble now after looking totally cooked earlier in the season.Right, thanks very much if you have joined for the action today. Goodnight!Cowboys 31-28 Chiefs 2:00, 4th quarterThe two-minute warning has sounded

Fuzzy Zoeller, two-time major winner haunted by racist Tiger Woods joke, dies aged 74

Fuzzy Zoeller, the two-time major champion whose genial public persona was overshadowed by a racially insensitive joke about Tiger Woods that came to define the latter part of his career, has died aged 74.No cause of death was immediately available. Brian Naugle, tournament director of the Insperity Invitational in Houston and a longtime colleague, said Zoeller’s daughter notified him of the death on Thursday.Zoeller, born Frank Urban Zoeller Jr in New Albany, Indiana, was one of golf’s most outgoing characters across a career that delivered historic highs. He was the first player in more than four decades to win the Masters on his debut, claiming the 1979 green jacket after a three-man playoff

Cricket nerds love precedent so maybe England can channel spirit of Lord’s 2005

The parallels are imperfect but, as with Michael Vaughan’s Ashes winners, hyper-aggressive cricket with a tweaked approach in the second Test is the 2025 cohort’s only chance of winningTwenty years on, a montage of the 2005 Ashes still tingles the spine. Close your eyes and you can probably make your own, with an Embrace soundtrack if you want to be right on the nose. Chances are you’ll see Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff belting sixes with lusty abandon; Geraint Jones wheeling away after winning the epic Edgbaston Test; Ashley Giles calmly patting the winning runs at Trent Bridge; Flintoff’s messianic dismissal of Ricky Ponting at Edgbaston; Simon Jones detonating Michael Clarke’s off stump at Old Trafford.All those moments came in England victories or winning draws. But no 2005 montage is complete without images of Ponting being cut below the eye or Justin Langer’s right elbow ballooning in real time