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Josh Ball

The biggest games this weekend don’t happen until Sunday, when Blackburn Rovers travel to arch-enemies Preston North End and Al Ain battle Auckland City in the Fifa Intercontinental Cup.
But there’s also the Singapore Grand Prix, plenty of tennis, a team called the Springboks trying to win something, a trifling contest at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, and the culmination of LIV Golf’s third season.
While that’s all coming up, some fairly important things were going on overnight too, and here’s what happened while you were sleeping.
Player power is the answer
You know football might have finally reached breaking point when Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola tells players to lead the fight for change and Chelsea counterpart Enzo Maresca believes a strike “could be a good idea”.

In a solid attempt to prove that yes, you can indeed have too much of a good thing, the game’s overlords, awash with the eye-wateringly offensive amount of TV money they gorge themselves on each year, have crammed so much football down everyone’s throats that even the players have had enough.
Top-flight clubs across Europe could be playing between 70 and 80 games this season, and for the “lucky” ones there is international football too.
“I’m pretty sure that if something is going to change, it must come from the players,” said Guardiola, whose team take on Arsenal on Sunday. “The business can be without managers, sporting directors, media, owners but without players you cannot play. The only ones with the power to do it are them.”
A two-way threat
Chinese free agent forward Cui Yongxi has signed a two-way contract with the NBA’s Brooklyn Nets, allowing him to move between the Nets and their G-League development team this season.
The 21-year-old from Nanning played three games as a reserve for Portland in the NBA Summer League at Las Vegas after going unselected in the NBA Draft.
Cui, who played in last year’s Basketball World Cup, spent the past two seasons with the Guangzhou Loong Lions in the Chinese Basketball Association, leading the team in points, rebounds and steals.
Norris on top, Verstappen struggles
McLaren’s Lando Norris went fastest to lead Ferrari pair Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz in second practice for the Singapore Grand Prix, with world champion Max Verstappen struggling to 15th.
The second practice in Singapore is pivotal for the teams as it is the only session which is run under the same night conditions as the race around the 4.94km (three-mile) Marina Bay Circuit.
Verstappen had 60 minutes to forget and was only 15th fastest in a skittish Red Bull that looked at times like it was on ice. The Dutch three-time world champion was a massive 1.294 seconds adrift of Norris’s fastest lap of 1 min 30.727 sec.
“Today was difficult. We didn’t have the grip that we would have liked on the tyres, so I felt like we were sliding a lot more than usual,” said Verstappen, who had a bad day off the track too after earlier being reprimanded by stewards for swearing in the drivers’ press conference.
Delivering the good times

Less than three years ago world No 363 Matt Baldwin was driving for Amazon to make ends meet, now he has a two-shot lead going into the weekend at the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth.
His second round 66 took him to 13-under-par overall, matching Paul McGinley’s 36-hole tournament record and putting him in pole position to claim the £1.15 million (US$1.5 million) first prize. His nearest challenger is British Masters winner Niklas Norgaard.
Speaking of delivering when it matters, Iron Heads have comfortably been the worst team on the LIV Golf Circuit this season, and Scott Vincent is among those who finished the individual side of things in the drop zone, leaving him needing to qualify if he wants back in next year.
Still, the Zimbabwean’s hole-in-one sparked a rally in the quarter-finals of the team championships, and Iron Heads took down Brooks Koepka, Talor Gooch and the rest of Smash GC to reach the final four in Dallas.
The other stuff
Tennis: World No 1 and defending champion Iga Swiatek has withdrawn from next week’s prestigious China Open for “personal reasons”, ending the chance of a Paris Olympics rematch with Zheng Qinwen. Reigning Australian Open and US Open champion Aryna Sabalenka will be the top seed in Beijing.
Women’s rugby: Kate Williams scored with the last move of the game as Wales finally beat Australia at the seventh time of asking, edging a thrilling encounter 31-24 at Rodney Parade. The two sides meet again in eight days in their WXV2 opener in Cape Town.
Football: Hull City won their first league game of the season, scoring three times in the space of 13 second-half minutes to beat Stoke City 3-1 away. Second from bottom at the start of the evening, the Tigers ended it in 13th having drawn three and lost two of their first five matches in the Championship.


Stones rescues point for City, 4 sent off on entertaining EPL Sunday, Verstappen quit threat

Argentina stun Springboks, Dubois flattens Joshua, Liverpool go top, what happened overnight

Guardiola backs player strike, China’s next NBA star, what happened overnight in world of sport

Raya’s heroics save Arsenal, Australia thrash England, what happened overnight in world of sport

While you were sleeping

Kick Sauber driver Zhou Guanyu steers his car during the first practice session for the Singapore Grand Prix at the Marina Bay Street Circuit. Photo: AP

Manchester City’s head coach Pep Guardiola. Photo: Xinhua

Brooks Koepka plays his shot from the tenth tee during the LIV Golf Dallas Team Championship. Photo: Reuters

Hangzhou Open: Hong Kong’s Coleman Wong takes Brandon Nakashima to the brink before exiting

Hong Kong qualifier Coleman Wong almost won the second-round match in straight sets before fading away in the decider. Photo: Edmond So

Zhou Guanyu fighting for F1 seat in 2025, as Williams float idea of Colapinto joining Sauber

Sauber’s Zhou Guanyu (left) and Mercedes’ George Russell during practice ahead of the Singapore Grand Prix. Photo: Reuters

Williams driver Franco Colapinto arrives for the first practice session of the Singapore Grand Prix. Photo: AP

Sport

Hong Kong

Cui Yongxi signs two-way deal with Brooklyn Nets, Wales women grab historic win over Australia, Lando Norris gets faster and LIV nears finale


Cui Yongxi signs two-way deal with Brooklyn Nets, Wales women grab historic win over Australia, Lando Norris gets faster and LIV nears finale.
