Different types of sports
Georgia, Alabama, Notre Dame and Clemson held their spots in the top four of the College Football Playoff rankings, and unbeaten Miami moved up three spots to No. 7 before its showdown with the Fighting Irish.
Oklahoma remained fifth and Texas Christian moved up to sixth in the rankings released Tuesday. The Sooners and Horned Frogs play a key Big 12 game on Saturday, with the winner taking sole possession of first place in the conference.
After Miami, unbeaten Wisconsin was No. 8, the highest-ranked Big Ten team. Washington, the highest-ranked Pac-12 team, is ninth and Auburn is 10th.
Notre Dame visits the Hurricanes on Saturday night, and Georgia is at Auburn.
No. 14 Penn State and No. 15 Ohio State fell out of the top 10 after losses last week.
University of Central Florida was 18th, the highest-ranked team from outside the Power Five conferences. The highest-ranked conference champion from the Group of Five leagues is guaranteed a spot in one of the New Year’s Six Bowls, and the American Athletic Conference is in prime position to grab that bid this year.
U.C.F. is unbeaten and leading the American’s East Division, and Memphis, ranked 22nd, is in first in the A.A.C. West. No other Group of Five conferences are represented in the selection committee’s rankings this week..
France defender Laurent Koscielny will retire from international football after the 2018 World Cup in Russia, the 32-year-old has said. Koscielny has collected 49 caps since his debut in 2011, playing in the 2014 World Cup and two European Championships including the 2016 edition when the hosts finished runners-up.
“There is an end to everything,” Koscielny told reporters ahead of Friday’s friendly against Wales. “After the World Cup, I would be almost 33-years-old, it will be time to leave the place. I have six months left in the French team to blossom and take as many memories as my wife would say.
The significance of the Indian badminton nationals had come into question in recent years, with the best often choosing to skip it. That isn't an assumption that can be made for this year's competition though. On Wednesday, when HS Prannoy steps up against Kidambi Srikanth (around 2.45pm) and Saina Nehwal takes on PV Sindhu (not before 6pm), it will be the best singles players in India who will bid to win the marquee men and women's titles.The four singles players who will step on court on Wednesday are amongst the most accomplished Indians to ever hold a badminton racquet. Saina (2006, 2007) Sindhu (2013) and Srikanth (2013) have all been crowned national champion in the past. Only HS Prannoy has not stepped on top of the podium, either at a National Championship or at a Superseries event, although he remains the only Indian to have beaten the legendary quartet of Taufik Hidayat, Lin Dan, Lee Chong Wei and Chen Long.
Olympic medallists Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu will battle for supremacy in the women's singles final of the Senior Badminton National Championship after scoring contrasting victories on Tuesday. Saina, who is currently ranked World No. 11, hardly broke a sweat as she defeated fifth seed Anura Prabhudesai 21-11 21 -10 while World No 2 and top seed Sindhu was surprisingly stretched by Ruthvika Shivani before prevailing 17-21, 21-15, 21-11 in the semifinals. In the men's singles, it will be a clash between World No 2 Kidambi Srikanth and giant-killer H S Prannoy in a repeat of their semifinal battle at the French Open Super Series a little over a week ago.
Second seed Prannoy overcame Subhankar Dey 21-14 21-17, while top seed Srikanth saw off young rising shuttler Lakshya Sen 21-16, 21-18.
The possibility of a Saina versus Sindhu clash was high after the star shuttlers confirmed their participation in the tournament.The two, who are employees of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL), have met twice in international competitions. Their first meeting was at the 2014 Syed Modi International before they played each other in India Super Series this year.
While Saina prevailed in 2014, Sindhu had the last laugh in Delhi.
A lot has happened between those two battles with Saina becoming the World No 1 in 2015, while Sindhu rising to the pinnacle of world badminton after clinching the silver at Rio Olympics.
Saina, who had won the bronze at London Games, had suffered a career-threatening knee injury to crash out early from the Rio Games and spent the next few months recovering and scripting her way back to the top.
Sindhu, meanwhile, scaled new heights in international badminton after winning the 2016 China Open, India Open and Korea Open this year, besides winning the silver at the Glasgow World Championship. Saina, 27, who had won the silver in 2015 World Championship, bagged a bronze at the Glasgow edition to show that she was getting back to her best.
The men's singles final is also expected to be a close affair.
Srikanth and Prannoy have played four times in their international career but it was the former who had the last laugh on the last three occasions. The only time Prannoy had beaten Srikanth was way back at the 2011 Tata Open.
Srikanth has been in the form of his life as he clinched four titles after reaching five finals this season to join the likes of two-time former Olympic champion Lin Dan, three-time Olympic silver medallists Lee Chong Wei and current Olympic gold medallist Chen Long.
Prannoy too have been in fine form as he reached the semifinals at Indonesia Super Series Premier and French Open Super Series to achieve his career-high ranking of World No 11. He had outwitted Chong Wei twice and defeated Chen once during this season.
Among others, mixed doubles combo of Satwik Sai Raj R and Ashwini Ponnappa will face top seeds Pranaav Jerry Chopra and Sikki Reddy N after they emerged winners following the retirement of their semifinal opponents Sanyam Shukla and Sanyogita Ghorpade midway in the first game.
Pranaav and Sikki, however, had to dig deep to stave off a spirited challenge from Alwin Francis and Aparna Balan 21-16 22-24 21-8 in a match that lasted a little over an hour.
Top seeded women's doubles pair of Sikki Reddy N and Ashwini Ponnappa will meet Sanyogita Ghorpade and Prajakta Sawant in the final.
The top seeded combo defeated Aparna Balan and Sruthi K P 21-10 21-14, while Sanyogita and Prajakta outlasted Rutaparna Panda and Mithula U K 18-21 21-12 21-16 in another semifinal.
The India skipper, who cracked a 106-ball 113 in Kanpur, surpassed South Africa´s AB de Villiers as number one as he resumed the top spot after a gap of just 10 days.
Kohli was the top run-scorer in the New Zealand series, accumulating 263 over three matches including his 32nd ODI century on Sunday as India secured a 2-1 series victory.
He also paired with opener Rohit Sharma for a 230-run stand as they became the first batsmen to share four double century ODI partnerships.
Kohli, 28, who also tops the Twenty20 batting chart, also became the fastest batsman to reach 9,000 ODI runs in the game at Kanpur´s Green Park Stadium.
The kingdom, which has some of the world´s tightest restrictions on women, has long barred women from sports arenas by strict rules on segregation of the sexes in public.
The announcement is in line with powerful Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman´s ambitious reform drive shaking up the ultra-conservative kingdom, including the historic decision to allow women to drive from next June.
"Starting the preparation of three stadiums in Riyadh, Jeddah and Damman to be ready to accommodate families from early 2018," the General Sports Authority said on Twitter.
Restaurants, cafes and monitor screens would be set up inside the stadiums, the authority added.
Last month hundreds of women were allowed to enter a sports stadium in Riyadh, used mostly for football matches, for the first time to mark Saudi Arabia´s national day.
Under the country´s guardianship system, a male family member -- normally the father, husband or brother -- must grant permission for a woman´s study, travel and other activities.
But the kingdom appears to be relaxing some norms as part of its "Vision 2030" plan for economic and social reforms, which aims to boost female employment.
´Moderate Islam´
In July, rights campaigners welcomed an "overdue" reform by the education ministry to allow girls to take part in sports at state schools.
In a rare public appearance last week at an investor summit in Riyadh, Prince Mohammed pledged a "moderate" Saudi Arabia, long seen as an exporter of a brand of puritanical Islam espoused by jihadists worldwide.
MBS, as he is well known, promised his kingdom will return to "what we were before -- a country of moderate Islam that is tolerant of all religions and to the world".
His comment, while unveiling plans for a $500 billion development zone, chimes with his public image of a bold liberal reformer in a conservative country where more than half the population is under 25.
Last month a royal decree said women would be allowed to drive. The kingdom is also expected to lift a public ban on cinemas and has encouraged mixed-gender celebrations -- something unseen before.
But the vision of creating a "moderate Saudi Arabia" is fraught with risks and could trigger a backlash from conservatives, analysts warn.
The government appears to have clipped the wings of the once-feared religious police -- long accused of harassing the public with rigid Islamic mores -- who have all but disappeared from big cities.
Some conservative clerics -- who for years staunchly opposed more social liberties for women -- have backpedalled and come out in favour of the decree allowing them to drive.
Though Pakistan lifted the T20I trophy beating the visitors in three-match series, Sri Lanka won the hearts of the millions of fans filled Gaddafi Stadium to watch their stars play under intense security in the provincial capital.
This is the first visit by a major cricketing nation since a 2009 attack on the Sri Lankan team.
Cricket-starved Pakistan celebrated the return of international cricket with a thumping 36-run win to clinch the final T20 match and the series against Sri Lanka at the Gaddafi stadium on Sunday. The hosting of the final T20I is a major step towards convincing international teams to begin touring Pakistan again.
Earlier, PCB chairman announced that Pakistan would host the six-nation Emerging Asia Cup in April next year.
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