If this video of the 3rd annual Brompton World Championships got US folding bike enthusiasts excited, then they'll be delighted that for the first time ever, a national US Brompton championship is to be held in March

Professional lumberjack Adrian Flygt teaches a dedicated team of off-the-street lumbersexuals on how to use the “misery whip” saw during their training in Stillwater, Minn.

Professional lumberjack Adrian Flygt teaches a dedicated team of off-the-street lumbersexuals on how to use the “misery whip” saw during their training in Stillwater, Minn.

The next swimming world championships, scheduled for summer 2021 in Japan, have been pushed back until May 2022 following the postponement of the Olympic Games, the sport's governing body said Monday. The world championships were due to be held in Fukuoka next year from July 16-August 1 but will instead take place from May 13-29 in 2022, the international swimming federation (FINA) said in a statement.

The 2020 Olympic Games were delayed by a year due to the coronavirus pandemic, and will now run from July 23-August 8 in 2021. "After liaising with the relevant stakeholders and receiving feedback from them, we have no doubt that the decision taken will provide the best possible conditions for all participants at the championships," said FINA president Julio Maglione. "At a time of unprecedented uncertainty, FINA hopes the announcement of these dates will allow for some clarity in planning for all concerned." The world aquatics championships also feature diving, open water swimming, synchronised swimming and water polo.

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A German team practises mallakhamb with coach Uday Deshpande

In a TEDx Gateway talk held in 2017, 65-year-old Uday Deshpande talks of how he started learning mallakhamb at Shivaji Park's Samarth Vyayam Mandir (SVM) at the age of three. The passion for the sport, which has its origins in Maharashtra, gripped him so much, he says, that he even stuck to his daily regime on the day of his wedding. As the audience laughs, Deshpande moves on to talk about what he returned to the sport — spreading its awareness not just to other Indian cities across 29 states, but globally as well. He rattles off a statistic: in the last 25 years more than 2,500 foreigners from 52 countries have learnt mallakhamb.

His passport — which thanks to the several added visa pages has increasing so much in girth that it is a candidate for bariatric surgery — bears signs of his visits to countries like USA, Singapore, Nepal, Germany, France, Austria, Hong Kong. And now, says Deshpande, the director at SVM who also coaches there, all this effort is going to culminate into the first mallakhamb world championship to be held at Shivaji Park, next February. Speaking to mid-day from his Shivaji Park office, keeping a stern eye on the practice sessions on the grounds, Deshpande announces proudly," Mallakhamb is ready to go the next mile. France and Germany in fact, have mallakhamb federations in their countries. We need to now harness that exposure into a competition." The championships — to be held under the auspices of the newly-formed Vishwa Mallakhamb Federation (VMF) — will be held between February 16-17 2019. Deshpande, the secretary of VFM, says all the details of the organisation of the event are being taken care of by SVM officials.

Uday Deshpande

And 15 countries have already announced their participation. Dr (PhD) Neeta Tatke, administrative secretary, SVM, whose thesis was on the mental benefits of the sport, says, "A competition is one way to kindle curiosity, sustain the sport and watch it grow. We also need to increase participation at home." For Tatke, GenNext will take a shine to the rope and pole, "if we have national and world champions here, nurtured and made in our backyard. For instance, see the boost tennis and badminton got in India. This is because with the Saina Nehwals, Sania Mirzas and P V Sindhus, young Indians have role models to look up to. We need to create that in mallakhamb. Competition is one way to do so."

A couple of years ago, when Deutschland came to Dadar, the German mallakhamb team given an Indian experience by Samarth volunteers. After their morning mallakhamb practice, Samarth members taught the Germans, Lezim (a Maharashtrian folk) dance, they learnt to play the flute and even dabbled in Warli painting. This time, organisers say that at the World Championships, there will be a food court at the venue and an exhibition centre outlining the history of mallakhamb.

Ruth Azenberger, German mallakhamb coach — who started learning mallakhamb when she was eight years old, in 2004, and then received the Mallakhamb Trainers Certificate in 2012 from the University of Mumbai and Mallakhamb Federation of India — says, "We are thrilled to be a part of the competition and show what we have learned for the last 15 years." Azenberger adds that the final mallakhamb team will be selected in September.

Shreyas Mhaskar, trustee, SVM and former national Mallakhamb champion adds, "Mallakhamb's origins are Indian, so it is natural that India hosts the debut World Championship." Officials say that, "we also have plans of how to make this a more equitable field for all nations. We are going to negate the obvious advantage India will have, with its long tradition of mallakhamb with a few surprises in rules that we will not divulge now." Ambition is expensive. The committee says they are earmarking R2 crore expense overall and are now hunting for sponsors. Yet, to zero in on that elusive one with deep pockets, the organizers are holding on to their dream because they have the courage of conviction, or when it comes to mallakhamb, like the practitioners that should be courage of their contortions.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) is 'exploring all options available' to them to complete the World Test Championship amid the coronavirus pandemic. "We are continuing planning for ICC events as they are but given the rapidly evolving situation as a prudent and responsible measure we are also undertaking a comprehensive business contingency planning exercise," a source within ICC told ANI. "This includes exploring all options available to us based on a range of scenarios connected to the pandemic," the source added.

The source further added that as of now, no decision has been taken. The coronavirus pandemic has taken a huge toll on sports all across the globe and cricket also had to bear the brunt of the deadly virus as several series have been postponed owing to COVID-19. In the ongoing World Test Championship, a total of 71 Test matches will be played across 27 series over two years. The championship began on August 1 last year when Australia faced England in Ashes.

The top two teams will then contest in the ICC World Test Championship final in June 2021 in the UK. Currently, India hold the top spot on the World Test Championship table with 360 points followed by Australia and New Zealand with 296 and 180 points respectively.

The second ICC World Test Championship will run from July 2021 to June 2023.

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Darts legend Raymond van Barneveld has crashed out of the 2020 Darts World Championship in the first round at the hands of Darin Young.

Fourth seed Michael Smith became the latest victim of an upset after Luke Woodhouse claimed a memorable 3-1 win at the PDC World Darts Championship.

JORDAN SEWARD AT ALEXANDRA PALACE: The Ally Pally has become synonymous with the festive period and is a Christmas ritual for many from all walks of life. It's a night out like no other.

Mother-of-one Fallon Sherrock, 25, was left speechless after she beat 22-year-old Ted Evetts 3-2 at the PDC World Championships at Alexandra Palace on Tuesday.

Michael Van Gerwen secured a rapid victory over Ricky Evans to progress into the last 16 of the PDC World Championship.

From hairdresser to history-maker, Fallon Sherrock is through to the third round of the PDC World Darts Championship - and has her heart set on lifting the Sid Waddell Trophy.

The World Darts Championship was briefly halted on Monday night after a power cut interrupted the action at the Alexandra Palace.

Defending champion Michael Van Gerwen cruised into the quarter-finals of the PDC World Championship, as two-time winner Gary Anderson tumbled out.

Adrian Lewis crashed out of the World Championship at Alexandra Palace on Saturday night after surrendering a 3-1 lead against Belgian star Dimitri van den Bergh.

The 25-year-old's fairytale run came to an end in a 4-2 defeat to Chris Dobey in front of a raucous crowd, with Dobey forced to use earplugs in an attempt to drown out the support for Sherrock.

Peter Wright will be the man to challenge defending champion Michael van Gerwen in the PDC World Championships final, as the pair came out on top on Monday night.

Gerwyn Price has slammed Peter Wright for employing dirty tactics and described his behaviour as 'out of order' following his defeat in their heated World Darts Championship semi-final.

PETE CARLINE: Peter Wright played the match of his life to claim a first PDC World Darts title, beating nemesis Michael van Gerwen 7-3 in a major final at the eighth time of asking.

It was left to Jason Kenny to add to the family's cycling silver after wife Laura defied doctor's orders but could not defy the odds.

DAVID COVERDALE: The British track cycling star went out at the last-16 stage and leaves Berlin with just the silver medal he won in the team sprint, having also failed to make Thursday's keirin final.

The World Snooker Championship is the latest major sporting event to be postponed because of the coronavirus. Judd Trump was due to start the defence of his title at the Crucible on April 18.

The reality star was among those in the audience as the Olympic gymnast scored top prize in the pommel horse at the 2015 tournament in Montpellier, France, on Saturday.

Katarina Johnson-Thompson, Phillips Idowu and Shara Proctor have withdrawn from the Great Britain team for the European Championships in Zurich.

Katarina Johnson-Thompson explains the pain of missing out on the European Championships and Commonwealth Games, but says best is yet to come.

Katarina Johnson-Thompson claimed she will be fearless in her attempt to win a first senior multi-event title at the European Indoor Championships in Prague.

Katarina Johnson-Thompson broke Jessica Ennis-Hill's British record, but fell agonisingly short of the world record as she claimed pentathlon gold at the European Indoor Championships.

Jessica Ennis-Hill proved she is ready to defend her World Championship heptathlon title next month while Katarina Johnson-Thompson revealed the full extent of her injury woes.

Ahead of the IAAF World Championships in Beijing next week, Jessica Ennis-Hill and Katarina Johnson-Thompson have been busily preparing at a training camp in Fukuoka, Japan.

The lead-up to this summer’s World Championships has been dominated by doping revelations, but starting on Saturday the athletes have a chance to lift their sport from the mire.

Jessica Ennis-Hill and Katarina Johnson-Thompson will clash for the first time since 2012 when they compete in the World Championships in Beijing. Ennis-Hill aims to add at least 250 points to her best.

MARTHA KELNER IN BEIJING: Jessica Ennis-Hill leads the heptathlon at the World Championships after the opening two events inside the Bird’s Nest stadium. 

MARTHA KELNER IN BEIJING: Jessica Ennis-Hill and Katarina Johnson-Thompson go head-to-head on Sunday in a battle to be crowned heptathlon World Champion.

MARTHA KELNER IN BEIJING: Jessica Ennis-Hill being crowned world champion 13 months since giving birth and after an almighty battle back to fitness seems a mere formality.

Britain's Katarina Johnson-Thompson's World Championship medal hopes have gone up in smoke after she failed to record a distance in the long jump as Jessica Ennis-Hill stayed in front.

Greg Rutherford demanded critics lay off Katarina Johnson-Thompson after her long jump collapse cost her a heptathlon medal at the World Championships in Beijing.

Katarina Johnson-Thompson began her quest for redemption after her heptathlon 'walk of shame' by comfortably qualifying for the long jump final at the athletics World Championship.

The Scottish runner has been in fine form and she leads a team packed with medal prospects. Performance director Neil Black said he is 'pleased with the blend of the team' for the championships.

With the World Championships in London just around the corner, the excitement levels are slowly starting to build. WILL KELLEHER takes a look at the athletes that fans should watch out for.

RIATH AL-SAMARRAI AT THE LONDON STADIUM: Johnson-Thompson, there was a degree of redemption, considering it was this discipline that wrecked her chances in the heptathlon.

UK Athletics chief executive Niels de Vos has defended Britain's performance at the World Championship by claiming an athletics medal is the hardest prize to win in sport.

The 25-year-old is favourite for the pentathlon at the World Indoor Championships, which were getting under way on Thursday but has played down her chances of winning.

In the space of a pentathlon on Friday, Johnson-Thompson ran, jumped and threw her way out of the realm of perennial underachiever and into one reserved for world champions.

Katarina Johnson-Thompson sits top of the leaderboard after the opening morning of the heptathlon at the European Championships.

Her haul of 4,138 points puts her 96 clear of the Olympic champion from Belgium, which is not unusual - the configuration of this event is such that she usually has the best of day one.

The heptathlete, 26, shared a sun-drenched snap of herself to Instagram on Monday posing on an idyllic sea swing.

Prince Andrew, 58, looked in his element as he enjoyed a chat with Sky TV commentator Andrew Coltart the 147th Open Championship at Carnoustie Golf Club in Scotland on Friday.

From Ryder Cup glory in Paris one Sunday to an extraordinary collapse at St Andrews, Tyrrell Hatton knows all about the contrasting emotions this fickle game can generate.

Teeing it up for the first time since the Ryder Cup, Reed showed no signs of rust and made four birdies to turn in 32 before gains on the first three holes ensured he steered clear of the chasing pack.