The world No 4 ousted the 2017 world junior champion 21-15 21-13, underlining her supremacy over teenager whom she beat in three games in the Indonesian Open in July.

Ratchanok will face reigning world champion Carolina Marin of Spain on Friday. The Thai leads 5-2 in their lifetime record.

In the men’s singles second round, Thai No 2 Khosit Phetpradab beat Mark Calrjouw of the Netherlands 21-14 21-18 to set a clash with Chen Long of China.

Thai top duo Jongkolphan Kititharakul and Rawinda Prajongjai beat Supissara Paewsampran and Puttita Supajirakul 21-13 21-18. They will play top seeded Yuki Fukushima and Sayaka Hirota of Japan in the quarters-finals.

Thomas has a close affinity with the US$7 million CIMB Classic as it was at the prestigious event here that he claimed his maiden PGA TOUR victory in 2015. The long-hitting American successfully defended his title in 2016 and has since won nine PGA TOUR tournaments, including the 2017 FedExCup title, a major victory and Player of the Year honours in 2017.

In the current 2017-18 PGA TOUR season, the talented 25-year-old has won three times and also became World No. 1 for four weeks in May. When Thomas returns to the TPC Kuala Lumpur’s newly upgraded West course, he will be amongst the favourites as he is 60-under-par in 12 rounds at the venue.

In-form Bradley, who finished runner-up at the CIMB Classic last year, will return to Malaysia in winning mood after claiming the BMW Championship in a playoff on Monday for his fourth PGA TOUR title. It snapped a six-year title drought and saw him qualify for next week’s FedExCup finale, the TOUR Championship, in sixth place on the points standing.

Rising star and world No. 18 Xander Schauffele has also committed to take another crack at the CIMB Classic after his impressive equal third finish in his debut last year. The 2017-18 Rookie of the Year has five top-10s on the PGA TOUR this season, including a tied third on Monday which helped him qualify for the TOUR Championship which he won in style last year.

Thomas is looking forward to his return to Malaysia. He said: “I’m really excited to be heading back for the CIMB Classic. I have very fond memories of Kuala Lumpur, as it was where I had my first PGA TOUR victory in 2015, and then to successfully defend the title in 2016 was truly special. I look forward to the opportunity to become the first player to win the CIMB Classic three times! It will be fun to play on the newly renovated West course at TPC Kuala Lumpur. The golf course suits my game as I can take advantage of my length from off the tees, attack the pins and hopefully make a bunch of birdies. I can’t wait to get back to Malaysia and see all the fans who have supported me so well over the years.”

Other big names tipped to contend for the CIMB Classic title include world No. 19 Casey, who is enjoying another stellar season on the PGA TOUR where he won the Valspar Championship in May. The Englishman, holder of 19 international titles, was also picked recently to represent Europe in the Ryder Cup later this month. He will be making his fifth successive appearance at the CIMB Classic, with a T7 last year being his best result at TPC Kuala Lumpur.

Matsuyama, 26, is a five-time PGA TOUR winner and currently ranked 20^th in the world. Since making his debut at the CIMB Classic in 2013, the Japanese No. 1 has thrilled local fans with top-five finishes over the past three editions including being runner-up to Thomas in 2016.

Veteran stars Els and Love III need little introduction as they hold a combined 119 international victories, including 19 and 21 PGA TOUR wins respectively. Els was appointed captain of the International Team for the 2019 Presidents Cup earlier this year, an event he has played on eight previous occasions.

The seven headliners will be joined by defending champion Pat Perez, who had earlier announced his intention to defend his CIMB Classic title where he won by four strokes over Bradley last year.

Todd Rhinehart, Vice President and Executive Director, PGA TOUR, said: “We are delighted to announce the first wave of star players for the 2018 CIMB Classic which comprises established stars on the PGA TOUR as well as World Golf Hall of Fame members. The CIMB Classic continues to drive the growth of the game in Malaysia and Southeast Asia and will also kick off an exciting three-tournament stretch in Asia for the PGA TOUR.”

The CIMB Classic will celebrate its ninth edition this year, with the sole PGA TOUR-sanctioned tournament in Southeast Asia being the second tournament of the new 2018-19 PGA TOUR Season.

Two Malaysian golfers will once again compete against the global stars from the PGA TOUR. One slot has been allocated to the winner of the CIMB National Championship which is scheduled for September 25 to 28 at TPC Kuala Lumpur’s East course. Subsequently, the highest ranked Malaysian on the Official World Golf Ranking as of October 1 will also earn the right to play in the CIMB Classic.

The PGA TOUR-sanctioned CIMB Classic features a limited field of 78 players comprising of the top 60 available players from the 2017-18 FedExCup points list, eight sponsor exemptions and the top-10 available players from the Asian Tour.

The pair have been battling it out for the No.1 spot in the world rankings and they are also one and two in the race for the Annika Major Award, which is given to the leading player in the season’s majors.

Park, the LPGA Champion, dislodged Jutanugarn from the top spot in the world rankings last month. But the Thai golfer just heads her rival in the race for the coveted Annika Award.

“So far it’s been a pretty good season,” Jutanugarn modestly suggested.

“I feel I have improved a lot of things in my game. I have been working on my short shots for the past few months and they are definitely getting better. That could be the key this week.

“I came pretty close to claiming the Annika Award two years (she won the 2016 Women’s British Open) and it’s pretty cool thing to win. I’m going to do my best.”

Jutanugarn’s best finish was ninth in the Evian in 2016 – but her older sister, Moriya, came close to winning her first major last year when she finished third.

“What I remember is my sister watching me on the golf course,” said Moriya, two years older at 24.

“We do a lot together when we are on the Tour. This week we love the food, walking round the lake and eating ice cream every day.”

Park collected her first major title at last year’s US Women’s Open and she aims to celebrate her 25th birthday next week by adding a third leg of the Grand Slam.

“I can’t believe it is already the final major of the year,” she admitted.

“There is extra pressure playing as the world No.1, and the hardest thing is trying to stay there.

“I haven’t thought as far as completing a Grand Slam – I have only won two majors and there are many more steps to go.”

But she has set her sights on the Annika Award. “I was so jealous when Ryu So-yeon won last year. Annika (Sorenstam) was one of my idols growing up when I watched golf on TV. I’m very excited at knowing I have a chance to win it this week.”

Sweden’s Anna Nordqvist defends the title – and this will be the last of the Evian Championships in September. Next year, it will move to a date in July.

“It means the majors will be pretty close to each other,” continued Park. There is going to be a lot of pressure and nerves in a short space of time.”

Woods, a 14-time major champion, shared ninth at the par-72 Albany layout last December to begin a successful comeback season from spinal fusion surgery at the event.

This year, Woods has six top-six finishes, including a runner-up effort at last month’s PGA Championship and a share of sixth at July’s British Open.

But he still has not won any title in five years and has not won a major since the 2008 US Open.

Woods announced the sponsorship extension and said he would again host a world-class 18-player event at the 7,302-yard Albany course from November 29-December 2.

“The Hero World Challenge has evolved into a global event highlighting the world’s best golfers year after year,” Woods said. “We are very excited to continue growing the Hero World Challenge at Albany.”

The 72-hole event offers $3.5 million in prize money, $1 million to the winners, and world ranking points.

 The Kingdom’s No 1 and world No 453 Wishaya Trongcharoenchaikul will line up alongside doubles experts Sonchat and Sanchai Ratiwatana, who are ranked in the doubles top 130, but the LTAT sprang a surprise by opting to send unfancied Palaphoom Kovapitukted, the 18-year-old whose ranking is only world No 1398, as the second singles player.

On the contrary, Lebanon arrived in Thailand with all their A-list players, including world No 370 Benjamin Hassan, who is based in Germany and has won all three of his Davis Cup matches to date, and world No 643 Hady Habib, who hails from Texas and has a win-loss record of 17–4.

The two imported players of Lebanon, each with one ITF singles title this year, should have the edge over the Thai No 2, who has never moved beyond round two of a Men’s Futures in singles.

But Thai captain Weerapat Doakmaiklee is convinced that his Thai No 1 Wishaya and the twin brothers will win their rubbers and yield three points for the home team to return to Group I for the first time in three years.

“I believe Wishaya is good enough to win two rubbers while the Ratiwatana brothers are a stronger doubles team than the Lebanese side,” said Weerapat, who remains optimistic even his squad is without a more experienced player Jirat Navasirisomboon (ranked 1318), who was overlooked for this tie.

“Even with Jirat, there’s no guarantee he will beat Habib who is supposed to be better judging on their rankings. Our players just have to give Lebanese as tough as possible matches in order to win the tie,” the Thai skipper added.

Nasri Michel Achkar, captain of Lebanon said: “We believe we can beat Thailand even though Thailand has a strong doubles team.”

Saturday’s session features the first two singles rubbers (Wishaya vs Habib and Palaphoom vs Hassan) while Sunday sees the doubles (Sonchat and Sanchai against Giovani Samaha and Michel Saade), followed by the reverse singles (Wishaya vs Hassan and Palaphoom vs Habib). The first nation to win three points will be promoted to Group I next year while the losers will remain in Group II.

Buriram is known for producing the most Muay Thai champions per capita, making it the perfect place to host the Muay Thai Expo.  The event will take place over the course of four days and will feature Wai Kru demonstrations by local schools and will have kiosks that include everything Muay Thai, from historical memorabilia to merchandise for sale.  The one and only Saenchai, along with other elite fighters, will also be on hand giving out Muay Thai lessons.

On the second day of the expo, guests in attendance will be treated to the highlight of the event— live Muay Thai action, with some of the most celebratedfighters on the Bangkok stadium scene set to compete. It will also feature an exhibition match, dubbed ‘The Legend of Muay Thai’ between Olympic Gold medalist Somrak Khamsing and golden era champion Samart Payakaroon.

The event is hosted by the Tourism Authority of Thailand, the Sports Authority of Thailand, and the Kru Muay Association.  The expo will coincide with the PTT Thailand Grand Prix, the country’s first ever MotoGP also held at Chang International Circuit.

For those that truly love the art of eight limbs, this is an event not to be missed!  Admission for the Muay Thai Expo and the PTT Thailand Motorcycle Grand Prix exhibition area is 200 Baht per day.  Those holding a PTT Blue Card are entitled to a 25% discount.

Visit:https://www.facebook.com/muaythaiexpo/  for more details.

Held in Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Phitsanulok, Udon Thani, Khon Kaen, Nakhon Ratchasima, Nakhon Pathom, Supanburi, Rayong, and Surat Thani, the event attracted over 50,000 people countrywide.

In addition, AIA and participating people also donated outdoor workout equipment to communities under “AIA Vitality Workout” program to induce people to live healthier that aligned with AIA Thailand’s brand promise “Healthier, Longer, Better Lives”.

“To celebrating AIA Thailand’s 80th anniversary and to promote our new brand promise “Healthier, Longer, Better Lives”, we therefore organized “AIA Sharing A Life Charity Run”, a corporate social responsibility (CSR) project in form of walk and run, a health and wellness theme to encourage people to live healthier,” said Tan Hak Leh, Chief Executive Officer of AIA Thailand.

In Bangkok, AIA Sharing A Life Charity Run was held at Chatuchak Park with Deputy Governor of Bangkok – Thaweesak Lertprasart presiding over the ceremony.  Moreover, many government agencies’ executives also participated in AIA Sharing A Life Charity Run including Dr. Wantanee Wattana, Deputy Permanent Secretary for Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, and Dr. Danai Teewanda, Deputy Director-General of Department of Health, and so on.

The activities at Chatuchak Park started with a charity walk and run at 6.00 a.m. followed by fund donation to many charitable organizations including Surgery Project under the Royal Patronage of HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn, The Heart Foundation of Thailand under the Royal Patronage, and Foundation for Community Health.

AIA Thailand also donated outdoor workout equipments under “AIA Vitality Workout” program to Chatuchak Park and joined hands with participating people in tree planting for greener environment to the Park.

Former Formula One owners CVC Capital Partners are believed to have expressed interest in buying a £275 million ($352 million, 309 million euros) controlling stake in the Premiership.

England’s leading clubs are struggling financially, with Worcester losing £8 million and Harlequins £6 million in the past accounting year, while Exeter were the only Premiership club to make a profit.

Against that uncertain backdrop, Premiership Rugby voted unanimously on Tuesday to listen to all new investment offers and chief executive Mark McCafferty expects quick movement on a potential deal.

But England’s top teams do not want to sell on a majority stake in the Premiership and will attempt to retain overall control of the product.

“We had a very positive board discussion and considered a range of alternatives to accelerate investment in the club game,” Premiership Rugby chairman Ritchie said.

“The board was unanimous on how to proceed and agreed that selling a majority stake was not the preferred option.

“We shall now develop these options further with our advisors and the interested parties ahead of the next board meeting.”

“This is all about how do we engage further in growing from a strong base into something that develops even further?

“But again, control is something that by and large we would want to keep within the clubs.”

CVC Capital Partners reportedly bid for a 51 per cent stake in Premiership Rugby.

The Premiership clubs would stand to receive a multi-million pound windfall from any investment deal, which would help offset financial losses surrounding increasing revenues including player wage inflation.

“Ian (Ritchie) and I have a good mandate from today about what the shareholders want to see. So that’s given us exactly the clarity we want,” McCafferty added.

TCA president Decha Hemkrasi said the road to the global sports extravaganza would depend on Jai’s results at six World Cup events from October 2018 to January 2019, the 2019 World Cup Track meet in Poland, the 2019 Asian Championships in Indonesia, World Cup events from October 2019 to January 2020, the Asian Championships in 2020 and the World Championships in 2020.

The 23-year-old Thai-Australian was the toast of the town after winning Asian Games gold in the keirin, the first Thai to ever win the event in Asiad history.

However, Decha said Jai’s priority would be to be among the top 36 riders in order to qualify for the World Cup in France in October 2019.

Despite his latest win in a tournament in China last week, Jai is only world-ranked 69 in keirin.

“Too bad that his ranking is not high enough as the tournament in China was just a small event,” said Decha.

“Most of the Olympics qualification tournaments are in Europe with only the World Cup in Hong Kong and Asian Championships being scheduled in Asia.

“It was very unfortunate that he had a fall at a competition in Hong Kong earlier this year, which forced him to skip several events. Otherwise he would have had better rankings.”

Meanwhile Jai said of his recent win in China, his second straight triumph after the Asian Games: “I go and race, no matter what the level of the competition. I approach it the same as any other race. I just try my best.

“I don’t want to approach a race thinking about what I have already achieved. I think about what I can do next.”

Mark Knight’s caricature, published in Melbourne’s Herald Sun newspaper on Monday, showed a butch and fat-lipped Williams throwing a temper tantrum at the US Open.

In the midst of losing Saturday’s final, the 23-time Grand Slam champion smashed her racquet and called the umpire a “thief” and a “liar”.

She was deducted a point and received a US$17,000 fine, stirring the tennis world and sparking a broader debate about double standards toward men and women in the sport.

In Knight’s cartoon, Williams was seen jumping up and down having spat out a dummy as the umpire asks Haitian-Japanese tournament winner Naomi Osaka “can’t you just let her win?”.

Knight, who has a reputation for controversial cartoons, was pilloried from far and wide for his portrayal — including by a member of the US Congress and a large portion of the 22,000 people who commented on his Twitter post showing the drawing.

The detractors included author JK Rowling, who said: “Well done on reducing one of the greatest sportswomen alive to racist and sexist tropes and turning a second great sportswoman into a faceless prop.”

Knight responded to the criticism by pointing out that he had drawn an unflattering portrayal of Australian male tennis star Nick Kyrgios “behaving badly”.

“Don’t bring gender into it when it’s all about behaviour,” he said.

‘Too PC’

Michael Miller, executive chairman of News Corp Australasia, which publishes the Melbourne’s Herald Sun, defended his cartoonist.

“Criticism of Mark Knight’s Serena Williams cartoon shows the world has gone too PC & misunderstands the role of news media cartoons and satire,” he said.

“Poor behaviour in any sport needs to be called out.”

The Washington Post ran a searing post about Knight’s cartoon, calling it “racist” and reminiscent of the era of racial segregation in the United States.

“Knight draws facial features reflecting the dehumanizing Jim Crow caricatures so common in the 19th and 20th centuries,” commentator Michael Cavna wrote.

Other US media pointed out that Osaka was portrayed as petite and feminine with jet blonde straight hair — in real life she has dark curly hair with blonde streaks and is taller than Williams.

Australia is a highly multicultural country, but also sees frequent public dust-ups about the use of racially and sexually loaded language.

William’s loss cost her a chance to equal Margaret Court’s record of 24 Grand Slam titles.

During the match she was given three code violations by Carlos Ramos — the first for receiving coaching, the second for racquet abuse and the third for verbal abuse of the umpire.

The second and third violations earned Williams a point penalty and then a game penalty, giving Osaka a 5-3 second-set lead that effectively gifted her the title.