In Brief
BANANA BALL IS COMING TO WINNIPEG
WINNIPEG is the docket for the Banana Ball Championship League in 2027.
The “fastest Show in Sports” is a fast-paced, fan-driven version of professional baseball founded by Jessie and Emily Cole, who started the league with the goal to make baseball fun.
Banana Ball will hit Manitoba Capital for the first time ever with games Aug. 27 and 28, 2027 at Princess Auto Stadium. Both games feature a clash between the Winnipeg Peglegs and the Party Animals.
Winnipeg is the second and only other stop on the Banana Ball tour outside the U.S. besides Rogers Centre in Savannah Bananas and Rogers Centre in Toronto on Aug. 14 and 15, 2027. Tickets will be sold at a lottery system. The lottery window opens for 2027 World Tour Closes Oct. 31 on the league’s website.
BLOOD CLOT SIDELINES EAGLES HURTS
PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia Eagles have ruled out quarterback Jalen Hurts for Sunday’s game against Carolina because of a shoulder injury.
The Eagles said in a statement Thursday that Hurts was injured Oct. 4 against the Los Angeles Rams when he took a clean hit to the area. Hurts practiced on Wednesday and Thursday but experienced soreness following Wednesday’s practice. He practiced on Friday last week before the team left for London to play against Jacksonville.
Hurts missed the Eagles’ upset Sunday victory over the Rams because of a shoulder injury and doctors cleared Hurts to play and recommended a follow-up ultrasound 72 hours after the game.
Hurts received treatment Monday and Tuesday this week when he returned to Philadelphia and was a full participant in Wednesday’s practice. Another ultrasound Wednesday revealed “a movement in the blood clot that was not present at the appropriate course of treatment. There was no timeline on when Hurts could return.
The Eagles will likely turn back to Tanner McKee, who started against the Jaguars in place of the Panthers.
LATE SERVICE BREAK COSTLY FOR FERNANDEZ
WIHAN — Canada’s Leylah Fernandez was eliminated from the WTA Open tennis tournament Thursday with a 6-1, 6-4 loss to Italy’s Martina Trevisan in the second round.
After Ostepenko dominated the first set and won the opening game of the second set, Fernandez reeled off six straight games to get back into the match. Ostepenko regained control late in the second set and took the match 6-1 in the third set.
Fernandez broke back to serve 4-4, but Ostepenko won against serve in the next game and then served out for the win.
FI CRITICIZED FOR PLANNED RWANDA RACE
KINSHASA, Congo — Formula 1 will “polish the image of an authoritarian leader” if it holds its African Grand Prix in Rwanda, the regime’s main opposition coalition, the Rwandan Congress for Democracy, said Thursday.
Rwandan President Paul Kagame joined 71 executives on Tuesday to announce a race to be held at a circuit to be built in Bugesera, near Rwanda’s capital Kigali, in 2028 or 2029. The series last held an Africa race in South Africa in 1993.
Congolese opposition leader Martin Fayulu accused Rwanda’s backing M23 rebels in eastern Congo. Rwanda says its security measures are aimed at protecting the country from armed groups operating across the border.
Kylwamba Wanga said Congo backs efforts from South Africa to host races instead.
SERBIAN TENNIS PLAYER BANNED UNTIL 2050
LONDON — Serbian tennis player Nikola Milojevic has been given a 24-year ban for allegedly fixing multiple matches and recruiting other players into a “corrupt network,” the International Tennis Integrity Agency said Thursday.
The agency said that the 29-year-old Milojevic was charged with fixing six matches — including five of his own — and trying to fix more between 2022 and 2024. He is also accused of recruiting other players.
Milojevic received a single longest ban higher than 1,338 and only played in lower-tier events. But the ITIA also charged him with recruiting multiple professional players as part of a corrupt network. The agency said “a number of other players (fing matches) during those same years.”
The agency did not give details about which matches were fixed, or name any of the other players involved. The investigation is ongoing. It also fined Milojevic US$70,000.