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Media playback is not supported on this device Wimbledon 2016: Venus beats Shvedova to reach semi-finals Five-time champion Venus Williams reached the Wimbledon semi-finals for the first time since 2009 with victory over Kazakhstan’s Yaroslava Shvedova. Eighth seed Williams – at 36 the oldest Grand Slam semi-finalist for 22 years – beat unseeded Shvedova 7-6 (7-5) 6-3. An all-Williams final remains possible after top seed Serena beat Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova…

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<!– FOOTBALL GOSSIP Kris Commons will resist the chance to join Neil Lennon at Hibs – and fight for his place at Celtic. (Various) Rangers are looking to beat English champions Leicester City to the signing of Finnish starlet Serge Atakayi after offering him a trial. (Daily Mail, print edition) Nir Bitton has emerged as a summer signing target for big-spending La Liga outfit Espanyol. (Scottish Sun) <!– Celtic midfielder…

New sports channel Eir Sport has acquired the exclusive Irish rights to the 2019 rugby world cup. Eir Sport is Eir’s new sports channel. The announcement was made on Tuesday by Eir Sport chief executive and Setanta founder Mickey O’Rourke. Eir has made its first major broadcasting move since its acquisition of Setanta Sports Ireland by rebranding the channel as Eir Sport. RTÉ’s ad break clanger puts TV3’s Rugby World…

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According to a popular maxim, hitting a baseball well is the most difficult art in sports. There is something close to miraculous about a ballplayer connecting with a round ball, using a round bat, despite only having a minuscule amount of time in which to think and react. However, one group of players are often overlooked: those who can do from both sides of the plate what most people can…

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From the time Frank Menendez was introduced to ultimate Frisbee in the parking lot at a Grateful Dead concert in the 1980s, the sport has made a steady ascent up the collective sporting consciousness. In 2014, the U.S. Olympic Committee recognized it as an official sport, paving the way for possible entry in the games as early as 2024. Participation has risen to around 5 million people in the U.S.,…

After this most tumultuous and savagely unpredictable of summers it was reassuring to find a national institution on which Britain can rely. This was supposed to be the toughest test of Andy Murray’s Wimbledon so far. Instead it became a dazzling a concerto of his talents, which appear to be widening even as his 30th birthday looms into distant view. Long before the end his opponent, Nick Kyrgios, looked beaten…

A quandary for the sporty ladies: If you’re going to the beach, and you want to be active, what do you wear? This summer, you don’t have to choose between rocking a cute bikini and staying secure in a sports bra, because swimsuit and athleisure companies are bringing you both in one. Presenting… the sporty two-piece! For A-B cups, we recommend… Lululemon Lululemon Free to Be Bra H20: $58; Be…

From the time Frank Menendez was introduced to ultimate Frisbee in the parking lot at a Grateful Dead concert in the 1980s, the sport has made a steady ascent up the collective sporting consciousness. In 2014, the U.S. Olympic Committee recognized it as an official sport, paving the way for possible entry in the games as early as 2024. Participation has risen to around 5 million people in the U.S.,…

The Oklahoma City Thunder have no choice. They have to do it. They have to trade Russell Westbrook as soon as possible. Now that Kevin Durant is gone, there’s almost no chance that Westbrook, who will be a free agent next summer, re-signs with the Thunder. Yes, he’d be walking away from more money, but without Durant, Oklahoma City will not be a title contender. Westbrook is a supernova of…

The highest court in sports will use a fast-track procedure to hear Russia’s appeal against the ban on its track and field athletes from the Olympics, saying Monday that a ruling would be issued on July 21. The Russian Olympic Committee and track and field’s world governing body, the IAAF, said Sunday that Russia’s appeal on behalf of 68 athletes would be heard July 19 at the Court of Arbitration…

Kevin Durant is joining forces with the Splash Brothers. The free-agent superstar forward announced Monday he would join the Golden State Warriors after a whirlwind weekend of listening to pitches from six NBA teams. From his announcement on The Players’ Tribune: This has been by far the most challenging few weeks in my professional life. I understood cognitively that I was facing a crossroads in my evolution as a player…

<!– FOOTBALL GOSSIP German big guns Bayer Leverkusen are lining up a shock bid for Celtic defender Efe Ambrose. The Bundesliga side are preparing an offer of £1.5million for the Nigerian. (Daily Record) Ambrose is unlikely to figure in Brendan Rodgers’ long-term plans, but Celtic have a defensive crisis – Dedryck Boyata and Jozo Simunovic are injured while Charlie Mulgrew has yet to agree a new deal – ahead of…

There are two new trends in the world of sports betting that you might have missed: Entity betting and eSports gambling. Reports this week on both trends highlight the changing nature of the field. First, if you don’t know what “eSports” is, you’re not alone—it’s the latest in video games. And betting on the activity, which is basically placing bets on other people gaming, has grown to $8 billion in…

There are two new trends in the world of sports betting that you might have missed: Entity betting and eSports gambling. Reports this week on both trends highlight the changing nature of the field. First, if you don’t know what “eSports” is, you’re not alone—it’s the latest in video games. And betting on the activity, which is basically placing bets on other people gaming, has grown to $8 billion in…

The Associated Press on Thursday announced that it is now covering Minor League Baseball games nationally using artificial intelligence and software from Automated Insights, and data from MLB Advanced Media (MLBAM), the official statistics provider for Minor League Baseball. Automatically generated stories cover games that AP Sports’ human writers weren’t reporting on or traveling to anyway, including: Triple-A, Double-A and Class A games, across 142 MLB-affiliated teams and 13 leagues….

Joe Jares set out in the early 1970s to write a book about pro wrestling, relying on both his reporting skills and his childhood memories. His father was Frank Jares Sr., a villain in the sport’s early, black-and-white television heyday who fought as Brother Frank, the Mormon Mauler from Provo, Utah, and the Thing, among other aliases. Jares spent a college summer traveling the postwar wrestling circuit, assisting his father…