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Elena Rybakina missed her Pan Pacific Open semi-final due to back issues a day after winning the WTA Finals, which was wrapping up.

The Czech Republic’s Linda Noskova, who will now face Belinda Bencic in Sunday’s Tokyo final, was scheduled to face the 2022 champion.

Rybakina, 26, expressed regret in a statement that she could not play today.

“This week I’ve been having back issues, and I’m not able to play completely.” I’m disappointed that my fans won’t see me today, but I’m excited to see you next year.

The Kazakh defeated Victoria Mboko on Friday to take the spot in the WTA Finals, which will feature the top eight singles and doubles teams of the year.

To defeat Russian 18-year-old Mirra Andreeva in the race for eighth and final place, she had to reach at least the semifinals in Tokyo.

Bencic, who won Olympic gold in 2021, defeated American Sofia Kenin 7-6 (7-5) 33-6 6-2 to advance to the final.

Before the Swiss won it on a tie-break, both players were strong on serve in the opening set.

Kenin, the previous Australian Open champion, then won the second set before Bencic won the final match.

At the Track World Championships, Josh Tarling and Josh Charlton won gold for Great Britain.

In Chile, Tarling won the men’s points race with a 750-point lead over American Peter Moore (675), earning his first British gold of the championship.

Charlton, 22, added to Bradley Wiggins’ 2008 gold medal total, earning GB its first individual pursuit title.

After getting off to a strong start, 21-year-old Tarling scored maximum points in the opening sprint before running away empty.

He seized control of the lead, and he kept accumulating points, including the most points ever at sprint 11 to claim the gold medal in style.

Tarling, who debuts in the Track Worlds, becomes the first British man to win the points race since Jonathan Dibben in 2016.

Not knowing how or how it would feel for my first World Championships was frightening, Tarling said.

“It felt good,” he said. I thought it was good that I knew the legs were there when I first saw it.

Charlton, who won the championships last year, led by more than three seconds, overtaking Rasmus Pederson, who had earlier won silver.

In another area, Joe Truman won the men’s 1km time trial behind the Dutch duo of Jeffrey Hoogland and Harrie Lavreysen to match his previous best result from 12 months ago.

After three days of action, Britain now has seven medals overall.

Herbie Farnworth, England’s national player in Australia, has made the journey from Blacko in Lancashire to Brisbane, where he has starred in the NRL.

England hope to win their first Ashes series victory over the Kangaroos since 1970 because he is arguably the best center in the world and also has the “cheat code” to prove it.

In Shaun Wane’s England squad, who plays in Australia’s top competition, Farnworth is one of six men.

Even as former Australia international Aaron Woods and other pundits from outside the UK have fueled Wane’s squad with dreadful comments about their caliber, his abilities cannot be underestimated.

Farnworth was a key player in England’s 2-0 victory over Samoa 12 months ago, scoring three tries and becoming the series’ top metre maker, and was a key member of the side that reached the World Cup semi-final in 2022.

Farnworth scored 12 tries in 19 appearances for the Dolphins in 2025 before a hamstring injury ended his season in early August and affected the Queensland side’s quest for the title.

George Williams, England captain, who appears to be a club-mate of Farnworth’s in the near future, has repeatedly referred to him as “one of the best centers in the world.”

The England stand-off called “Herbie is unbelievable.” He is currently considered to be one of the best players in the world. We welcome him into our team with open arms because he is a cheat coder who plays in the NRL.

He “creates something from nothing,” he says. I’ve known him for a while, and he’s a good lad as well. In the NRL, he kills it.

It appeared as though Samoa was playing a different game than anyone else in the previous series we played. He was simply “running through like he was playing under-sevens.”

AJ Brimson, a newcomer to Wane’s squad, said: “In my opinion, he was the best center]in the NRL] this year.

The 25-year-old’s rise to fame is well documented.

He was courted by Burnley and Manchester City as a promising young footballer after signing with Manchester United.

Instead of sacrificing his life to rugby league, he excelled as a junior for Wigan St Patricks under the guidance of his uncle, former Wigan scout Brian Foley, before moving to a 10,000-mile dream.

He made his NRL debut in the Brisbane Broncos in 2019 and was a member of the team that reached the 2023 Grand Final before moving on to the Dolphins, the NRL’s 17th franchise, in 2024.

He maintains modesty and a touch of his roots despite having a status that rivals England’s star-studded rivals and being the man many believe will light the series.

“I try to improve every year, and I like to think I’ve done it over the course of my time in the NRL,” said Farnworth.

“The boys in Super League will teach me a lot,” I said. Some excellent footballers play here. We have a very strong team bond, and we intend to do something special.

“I play against them,” the Australian players, who are all very talented, but they are just men. They don’t have anything incredibly human about them. At Wembley, I’m eager to get a hold of the Aussies because I enjoy playing them.

Brimson, who shifted from Australia to England in May, was also in Farnworth’s purview this time around.

The full-back’s two brothers were born in Chertsey, and he frequently travels with his mother, who is also a Londoner, to England’s south coast for family vacations. Farnworth joked that he wanted to show him a little bit of northern culture because of this.

Farnworth has been able to enjoy home comforts because the majority of the three-Test series is set outside of Manchester.

“I’ve spent a lot of time on Pendle Hill.” Because I don’t see my family and friends as often, it’s a boost to see them all again,” said Farnworth.

It’s very special when I play, and having them watch me play is unusual, which makes it even better for me.

They’ll attend each of the three games. Every time I return home, I experience the feeling that I haven’t left. Everyone in the village is familiar with me and the family, and it’s a very close knit community.

However, his friends have criticized him for having a slight Queensland twang.

He said, “You pick up the twang [in Australia].”

It’s the “little slang words” I’ve lost from over here, but it quickly returns once I’m around the Englishmen. I’m slated for being English in Australia, but when I return home, my roommate will slam me for being an Australian. I can’t win. “

The magnitude of the occasion, which is Farnworth’s first Test series against Australia since 2003, is evident in the record crowd that will line up for an Ashes Test of about 60, 000 on Saturday.

“I’m afraid I won’t be able to participate in one again. It becomes extremely special if it occurs every 20 years. He continued, “It is everything.”