Victorian parlours, whiff-whaff and a Soviet spy: ping-pong’s coming home

A century on from the first tournament in London, the table tennis world championships are back – with a fascinating history attachedThe way Wang Chuqin plays, ping-pong is a physical impossibility. By the time you made it to the end of the first two words of that sentence, Chuqin, the men’s world No 1, has seen the ball, calculated its speed, direction, and height, judged whether it is travelling with topspin, backspin, left or right sidespin, or a combination of the four, decided how to return, forehand, backhand, attack, block, push, spin, and where to aim, shifted his weight, positioned his feet, rotated his hips, brought his racket into position, and hit the ball. By the time you got to that first full stop, he has done it all 12 times over.You almost certainly didn’t know it, but Thursday was world table-tennis day. The England Federation set up a trail of golden tables around London to mark the occasion, and raise a little publicity for the World Team Table Tennis Championships, that are being held in the city for the first time since 1954

Jim Furyk to lead US Ryder Cup team after Tiger Woods’s withdrawal

Jim Furyk is returning as US Ryder Cup captain for the 2027 matches in Ireland, the PGA of America announced Friday, as the Americans try to get back on track against a European team that has dominated the last three decades.Furyk is the fourth US captain to get a second chance dating to 1979, considered the modern era of the Ryder Cup when continental Europe became part of it.The Associated Press reported that the Ryder Cup committee chose Furyk once Tiger Woods removed himself from competition after his 27 March arrest on suspicion of driving under the influence.“Jim Furyk has been an influential figure in the United States team room for nearly three decades,” Nathan Charnes, vice-president of PGA of America, said in a statement. “He is a trusted, widely-respected leader and possesses a wealth of Ryder Cup experience that can only serve to strengthen our team

Atkinson made to wait as Essex impress at Oval: county cricket, day one – as it happened

The crowd spread on to the Oval outfield at lunch like a lapping wave, enjoying the picture-book day and entertained by Gus Atkinson’s first proper run out since the Boxing Day Test.Atkinson opened the bowling against Essex from the pavilion end, that now familiar toes-together, baby-steps approach, an opening spell on the money but he had to wait until after 6pm for his reward - Michael Pepper bowled tifter and boots. The pitch was friendly and Dean Elgar (92) and Paul Walter, with an excellent 101, duly tucked in, adding 183 for the first wicket. Surrey’s bowlers clawed back in the afternoon leaving the match evenly poised.Joe Root, too, was making his County Championship debut for the summer, Yorkshire cap pulled tight, scooping up a bread and butter edge from James Coles at first slip and trundling through five overs

It’s FA Cup and WCL semi-final time, plus mighty London Marathon feats – follow with us

Footballing Saturdays don’t come much bigger: an FA Cup semi-final, key clashes in the Premier League relegation battle, the hunt for European places, and a late game that will have a telling impact on the title race. In the Championship, with Millwall having played on Friday evening, Ipswich and Middlesbrough are running for the second automatic promotion spot. In League Two, MK Dons would be promoted with a win against Tranmere. So there’s no better place to start by joining Emillia Hawkins as she helms our unbeatable rolling football blog, offering breaking news and updates from around the grounds plus readers’ thoughts and queries. Why not join the conversation? Email matchday

Carlos Alcaraz pulls out of French Open title defence due to wrist injury

Carlos Alcaraz has been forced to withdraw from the French Open due to the injury to his right wrist that he sustained last week in his first-round match at the Barcelona Open.Alcaraz, a two-time French Open champion, had begun the clay-court season this month favoured to win his third successive title in Paris. After losing in the Monte Carlo Masters final to his great rival Jannik Sinner, who leapfrogged the Spaniard with his victory to reach No 1 in the rankings, the 22-year-old travelled to the Barcelona Open where he competed in his first-round match against Otto Virtanen two days later. The load on his body proved too much and he injured his wrist in the straight sets victory before withdrawing from the tournament a day later.“After the results of the tests carried out today, we have decided that the most prudent thing to do is to be cautious and not participate in Rome or Roland Garros as we wait to evaluate the progress so we can decide when to return to the court,” said Alcaraz in a statement on social media

Raaheeb plummets in Derby betting after smooth Classic Trial triumph

Raaheeb, a full brother to the exceptional Baaeed, is top-priced at 10-1 to emulate his sire, Sea The Stars, by winning the Derby at Epsom in June after a convincing in the Group Three Classic Trial at Sandown on Friday.Owen Burrows’s impeccably bred colt, who is also a full brother to the trainer’s 2023 King George winner, Hukum, was unruly at the stalls but travelled comfortably for Rossa Ryan once the race was under way.His smooth progress to the two-furlong pole was in marked contrast to the favourite, Aidan O’Brien’s Action, who was slow to stride, looked reluctant in the early stages and then struggled to raise a finishing as Ryan and Raaheeb struck for home.Raaheeb then stayed on strongly up the hill to the line to maintain his unbeaten record after two starts, with Charlie Appleby’s Al Zanati three-and-a-quarter lengths adrift in second.Baaeed did not see a racecourse until two days after the Derby in his three-year-old season, while Hukum was a six-year-old by the time of his biggest wins, in the Coronation Cup and King George