Path-breaking tennis ace Sania Mirza takes pride in the fact that many of India's sporting stars, outside cricket, are women even though she believes that it will take a few more generations before being a sportswoman is seen as a natural career choice in the country. The winner of six Grand Slam titles, spoke on a range of issues including the role of parents and attitude of coaches towards women players during a webinar organised by the All India Tennis Association and the Sports Authority of India (SAI).

Germany's Bundesliga can restart games from the second half of May following the coronavirus stoppage, Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Wednesday. Merkel's announcement had been widely expected as part of measures to begin easing the country's lockdown aimed at halting the spread of the virus.

Stranded in Srinagar for more than a month due to the coronavirus-forced national lockdown, Real Kashmir FC head coach David Robertson and his family will finally return to Scotland on Thursday, ending an anxious wait to attend to his sick mother. Robertson, his wife Kim, son Mason, who plays for the club, and three support staff reached Jammu on Wednesday by an official bus of RKFC which left Srinagar early in the morning. They will fly back home in a British Airways flight from Amritsar on Thursday afternoon.

India suffered a double blow, losing its third and fourth round matches to Europe and top-seeded China by similar 1.5-2.5 margins, on the second day of the FIDE-Chess.com Online Nations Cup on Wednesday. Five-time World champion Viswanathan Anand came up against a strong opponent in Ding Liren and the two agreed to sign peace in 54 moves. P Harikrishna held higher-rated Yu Yangyi to a draw while long-time rivals Koneru Humpy and Hou Yifan drew their game.

Resumption of professional and local sport within days, says the country's sports and recreation minister.

Former Barcelona midfielder Andres Iniesta celebrated the 11th anniversary of his famous Champions League semi-final strike against Chelsea by calling two children conceived after his tie-clinching goal. Nine months later, those celebrations had a rather unexpected result, with maternity hospitals in Barcelona telling local media they were struggling to cope with demand amid a spike in the city's birth rate.

The executive board, which is expected to meet later this month, will discuss holding the session "remotely through a secure electronic system" on July 17, with a possible "electronic voting system" in place.

Germany's professional teams have been training since mid-April, divided into small groups and under strict conditions, including extensive testing of all players and coaching staff.

In March, Dybala confirmed he and his girlfriend, Oriana Sabatini, tested positive for coronavirus.

Sky Sports reported that Italy's Sampdoria inserted a 10% sell-on clause on any profit Sporting made on Fernandes when they sold him in 2017.

Daybell said that after a difficult few months a sense of normality was returning to the COVID-19 ward in the north London hospital where he works.

Sportspeople across the country offered condolences to the families affected in the Visakhapatnam gas leak tragedy on Thursday.

The French professional league (LFP) ended its season last week with 10 games left, awarding the title to Paris St Germain and leaving Lyon outside the placings for European competition next season.

South Korea's K League will have a profile it has never enjoyed before when the delayed 2020 season kicks off in Jeonju on Friday, providing top-flight soccer action to a world starved of live sport. Broadcasters from 10 countries, mostly in Asia and Europe, have bought rights for the season and Friday's match will be streamed live with English commentary on the league's Twitter feed and YouTube.

The French Tennis Federation says it will refund tickets purchased for the French Open because of uncertainty related to the coronavirus pandemic.

Professional soccer leagues around Europe are gearing up for a return to action following the novel coronavirus stoppage, but some are more advanced than others.

Viswanathan Anand was in Germany to play in the Bundesliga chess and before he could return, the travel restrictions came calling in wake of the pandemic.

India badminton coach Pullela Gopichand highlighted the importance of support from the top leadership to promote the need for Physical Literacy and see it as a key pillar for the national level development.

The seasoned Anand beat Russian GM Ian Nepomniachtchi in just 17 moves in a fifth round match. But India were held to a 2-2 draw by Russia in the ongoing Online Nations Cup.

Formula One managing director Ross Brawn this week outlined plans for going back to racing, with health checks and isolation in the paddock, and believed the sport could provide a safe environment.

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's government is anxious to get the country up and running again without igniting a second wave of infections as the economy reels and Spaniards gradually emerge from nearly eight weeks under lockdown.

The players of the first staff of football of the FC Barcelona made the medical examinations on Wednesday and according to the information, all have been given negative and are 'clean' of the illness.

Serie A teams have been allowed to start practice this week but only with players training individually and respecting social distancing. Full team practice is due to begin on May 18, but only if the medical protocol is approved.

Professional athletes could be particularly vulnerable to falling seriously ill with the new coronavirus, the head of a global union representing them said on Thursday. Brendan Schwab, the executive director of the World Players' Association, added that some players are being asked to sign away rights that would normally give them legal and financial protection should they fall ill.

The Bundesliga season will restart on May 16 after a suspension of more than two months, the German Football League (DFL) said on Thursday, becoming the first European league to resume amid the coronavirus pandemic. The DFL said the season would restart under the terms of a strict health protocol that bans fans from the stadium, with six games on Saturday, including the high-profile Ruhr valley derby between Borussia Dortmund and Schalke 04.

Four players from Italian side Sampdoria have tested positive for the novel coronavirus, including one for the second time, the Serie club said. Fiorentina said three players and three staff members tested positive while a day earlier Torino said one player had contracted the new coronavirus.

IndyCar will open its delayed season on June 6 in Texas without fans in attendance and with strict guidelines to protect the participants amid the COVID-19 pandemic, it said on Thursday. IndyCar, which postponed racing in mid-March over concerns about the novel coronavirus, said the Genesys 300 at Texas Motor Speedway (TMS) will now be a one-day event that includes practice, qualifying and the race.

A number of football leagues around the globe will resume after the COVID-19 stoppage in the coming weeks but the matches will be played without fans.

Mark Roberts, the national lead for football policing, told Sky he was concerned about some of the comments he had heard regarding the conditions for restarting the league, which was suspended in mid-March due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Barca tested all their players for COVID-19 on Wednesday and captain Lionel Messi was among those seen out on the Joan Gamper training complex conducting individual dribbling and running exercises.

The change in the rules will be allowed in all competitions which are due to finish by the end of this year and it will be up to individual competition organisers whether to implement it.

K-League season started on Friday with a match between Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors and Suwon Samsung Bluewings played without spectators

The Congress was scheduled to begin in New Delhi on October 28, later this year. The decision to postpone the Congress was taken at an online meeting of the FIH Executive Board.

Pistol ace Manu Bhaker has got a new electronic target installed at the makeshift shooting range at her home in Haryana in place of an archaic manual machine that was breaking down frequently and hampering her Olympics preparation. The old machine was causing her "immense irritation".

Taiwan reopened baseball games to a limited number of fans on Friday for the first time since controls were imposed to limit the spread of the coronavirus, part of government efforts to slowly allow normal life to resume. Taiwan has been relatively successful at controlling the virus, with 440 cases to date and 6 deaths, with only 85 active infections, thanks to early prevention and detection efforts.

Senior international Olympics official John Coates said on Saturday the delayed Tokyo Olympics could end up being the greatest Games ever, coming next year as the world emerges from COVID-19 crisis. Coates, Australia's Olympic chief and head of the International Olympic Committee's inspectorate for the Games, cited the examples of positive Summer Games that followed the two world wars of the 20th century. The Tokyo Games were postponed for a year to 2021 in the aftermath of the new coronavirus outbreak.

India played out a 2-2 draw against Europe in Online Nations Cup chess tournament in the eighth round, a setback after their first win in the event notched up against the Rest of the World. Vidith Gujrathi ended his barren spell with a win over Levon Aronian of Europe with white pieces while Jan-Krystozf Duda beat P Harikrishna to level the scores in the match on Friday.

There is no one more unbeatable in men's tennis than Novak Djokovic when the Serb is at his best, former world number four American Todd Martin said. Reigning world number one Djokovic has already established himself as one of the best ever to play the game and the Serb's Grand Slam haul of 17 is just three behind the 20 that Roger Federer has amassed. The Swiss player will be 39 in August.

UFC has withdrawn a bout from Saturday's card in Jacksonville after middleweight Jacare Souza and two of his cornermen tested positive for the new coronavirus, the mixed martial arts promotion said. Brazilian-born Souza was supposed to fight American Uriah Hall at UFC 249, which was originally scheduled for April 18 in New York but postponed because of the coronavirus outbreak.

Eight-time Grand Slam winner Ivan Lendl said whoever ends up winning the most majors among the 'Big Three' of Roger Federer, Rafa Nadal and Novak Djokovic should be considered the greatest male tennis player of the Open era. Federer, who will be 39 in August, leads the race with 20 Grand Slam singles titles, with Spaniard Nadal close on his heels with 19. Reigning world No. 1 Djokovic is three behind the Swiss with 17 majors under his belt and is the youngest of the trio - at 32 he is a year younger than Nadal.

The Premier League's 'Project Restart' envisages a return to play in June, once given the green light from government, with the remaining 92 matches held behind closed doors at neutral venues.