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Mitchell Mann was given a frame after starting his British Open campaign against Gao Yang late because of a flat tire, but he rallied to win 4-3.

The 33-year-old had to leave his car after 10 minutes because he was already 1-0 up in the third round.

The world number 91 said, “I was completely stranded, and I had no spare tire.”

“Thankfully, my friends came pick me up when I called. One of them waited for the RAC with my car while one drove me to Cheltenham.

It’s a lesson I should have learned from last night’s drive down. My car is now where I don’t know where!

With a 4-1 victory over Bulcsu Revesz from Hungary, Mark Allen advanced to the third round.

Following his victory over Jiang Jun on Tuesday, the Antrim man won two games in a row.

Allen started well with a 60-second break and the opening two frames with a strong start.

Revesz, who shocked Ali Carter last year, came back strong in the third round to win the match.

The English Open champion, however, rallied in the fourth round with a 69 break to advance to the third round.

After winning 4-0 over England’s Reanne Evans, he will now face Mark Williams of Wales in his third-round match. Robbie McGuigan will face Ben Mertens of Antrim, while Robbie McGuigan will face Ben Mertens of Belgium.

Giovanni Leoni, a Liverpool defender, has a suspected anterior cruciate ligament injury that will keep him out for months.

Before going off with the injury, the 18-year-old played 81 minutes of Tuesday’s 2-1 Carabao Cup third-round victory over Southampton.

Leoni, who signed for Parma for £26 million plus add-ons in August, has since had knee tests.

According to sources, the center-back’s ACL has been damaged, which would likely prevent the teenager from playing for the majority of the season, if not for the entire season.

He is down because he didn’t immediately feel good about it. After Tuesday’s game, Liverpool head coach Arne Slot stated that “typically the emotions of a player tell you a lot.”

With Virgil van Dijk, Ibrahima Konate, and Joe Gomez among the three players who have been injured, Slot currently has just three center-backs.

Federico Chiesa, a forward, and Leoni are among the candidates for inclusion in Liverpool’s Champions League squad.

Ollie Pope is “the man in charge” of England’s top three spot, according to Rob Key, who made no announcements regarding the first Ashes Test’s selection.

When England made their Australia tour squad, Pope was subject to pressure from Jacob Bethell for a large portion of the past year. He was replaced by Harry Brook as vice-captain.

“Ollie Pope is easier to drop if we take the vice-captaincy off,” said England managing director Key, according to an elaborate scheme.

You never make your decisions too soon because things happen, according to the tour guides we’ve conducted. We make decisions as soon as we can. Two days before the first Test, we’ll find out what that XI will be.

England announced their 16-man squad for the Ashes tour on Tuesday. Key explained the rationale behind selecting Will Jacks as the second spinner and why Brook was chosen as the vice-captain in a statement released on Wednesday.

Ben Stokes, the captain, and Mark Wood, the pace bowler, were also given fitness updates by Key. Chris Woakes’ international career was effectively ended by him because of his dislocated shoulder in the final Test against India in July, which prevented him from playing in the Ashes tour.

Woakes may not have made the squad in the absence of his two previous Australian appearances because he struggled. In an effort to be fit, he decided against having his left shoulder removed, and at 36, he is most likely to have played his final game for England.

Woakes’ final performance as an international cricketer was bravely batting with his dislocated shoulder to help England win the thrilling fifth Test.

In cricket terms, it’s been as difficult a time for someone as it has been for anyone else, according to Key.

He was running out of time to get ready for the Ashes’ debut. And then, once you leave an Ashes series, you frequently look to the following one, so we’re not planning on using Chris Woakes at the moment.

Key described Brook as a “better leader” than Pope when he was appointed England’s white-ball captain at the start of the summer.

Following the one-off Test against Zimbabwe in May, the captain claimed there was an “agenda” against his then deputy.

In the first five-match series, Pope scored a century in the first innings of the first Test against India in June.

Bethell, age 21, struggled as a result of only one first-class game before joining the England squad for the final Test at The Oval, but the left-hander made his professional debut earlier this month in a one-day international against South Africa.

Before the Ashes, former England and Kent batsman Key predicted that Jacob Bethell would start playing in white-ball cricket. Jacob Bethell will continue to gain experience despite the fact that we are familiar with Ollie Pope.

With a shoulder injury, talismanic captain Stokes missed the final Test against India, causing England to have yet to lose any of its previous four Test series.

However, the 34-year-old increased his bowling during his county Durham’s County Championship game against Yorkshire at Headingley on Wednesday.

Before the Ashes series, Key said, “He won’t play a lot of cricket, but that didn’t prevent him from facing India.” It’s undoubtedly the best I’ve seen him bowl in a long time, if not ever, and that was without playing a lot of cricket in the summer.

“Ben Stokes has no issues at all,” I said. He typically develops, and everything he does prepares himself for these significant events.

Due to elbow and knee problems, Stokes’ Durham team-mate Wood hasn’t played a Test since August 2024, but Key is confident that “the world’s fastest bowler will be fit for the first Ashes Test on November 21.”

Although his recovery is likely a little slower than we anticipated, Key argued that we always erred in favor of caution.

Woody never needs to play a lot of games to improve, which is what he always does. He can bowl in nets and in middle practice, and then suddenly he runs up and bowls 95 mph.

Rehan Ahmed, Jack Leach, and Liam Dawson were chosen as Shoaib Bashir’s backup spinner, ahead of Surrey all-rounder Jacks.

Although he has only taken five first-class wickets this year, off-spinner Jacks offers England height and the option to improve their batting.

We believe Jacks offers a lot of different options in the coming weeks, Key said.

Cris Cyborg will defend her featherweight title for the first time in over two years when she faces Sara Collins at PFL Lyon on 13 December.

Cyborg, 40, last defended her belt when she stopped Cat Zingano at Bellator 300 in October 2023, shortly before the promotion was acquired by the PFL.

Since then the Bellator brand has been phased out, meaning the Brazilian’s belt will be re-branded as the PFL women’s featherweight championship for the bout with America’s Collins.

Cyborg defeated fellow Brazilian Larissa Pacheco just under a year ago, but the bout was not for an official title.

Cyborg, who is widely regarded as one of the best women’s fighters in MMA history, heads into the fight with Collins having won 31 and lost only two fights.

She has not suffered defeat since losing to Amanda Nunes in the UFC in 2018, and defended her Bellator title five times before it was re-branded.

Collins, 35, enters the contest having won the first six fights of her career, with her last win coming against Leah McCourt in September.

The bout takes place at the LDLC Arena in the city in eastern France on a card headlined by a heavyweight title fight between Russia’s Vadim Nemkov and Brazil’s Renan Ferreria.

The bout is for the PFL heavyweight world title, which is also re-branded, with the organisation describing it as “the next chapter in heavyweight MMA”.

Aston Villa defender Ezri Konsa says head coach Unai Emery was right to label his players “lazy”.

Emery was furious with his side after Sunday’s 1-1 draw at 10-man Sunderland, saying: “We were lazy sometimes in defence. When we conceded, we were lazy.”

Wilson Isidor levelled with 15 minutes left after Matty Cash’s opener, with the Black Cats playing one short for an hour after Reinildo Mandava’s red card.

“Yeah, it’s a fair comment. I think everyone has seen the picture, seen the goal,” said Konsa.

“Here we pride ourselves in trying to play a high line, it is something the boss has instilled since he first came.

“We didn’t quite get it right. Things have not been good for us so far this season. But there are blips in the season and we are going through that now. Hopefully we can move on.

Asked if Emery had called his players lazy privately, Konsa added: “No. The boss is not a big speaker. Sometimes he keeps himself to himself.

“As players, we have been in the game a long time and we know what we need to do. It is down to us at the end of the day. We are on the pitch, not the manager. We have to figure it out for ourselves as well.”

Speaking before Bologna’s visit to Villa Park in the Europa League on Thursday, Emery said he was “angry” after the match against Sunderland.

“I was frustrated and disappointed but when I analysed it I was getting the balance,” said Emery.

“I am demanding and always trying to understand how we can feel stronger. After the match I told the players we have to be more demanding.”

The draw against Sunderland left Villa 18th in the Premier League and winless in their opening five games, out of the Carabao Cup and having scored just one league goal.

Konsa, though, says the club are not in “crisis”.

“I don’t think we are at the stage where we need to have meetings,” he said. “People will talk about crisis meetings and things like that but we have got a great captain in John McGinn, who really takes the lead in stuff like that.

“After the game, he said a few words to keep us going, to keep encouraging us. Look, we haven’t started the season well. We know that. But I’m sure it’s going to go well soon.

President of football operations Monchi’s departure from Villa was announced on Tuesday evening with former Real Sociedad sporting director Roberto Olabe replacing him.

Monchi wanted a break and the decision was mutual between him and the club after two years at Villa.

Emery believes the transition will be smooth with his fellow Basque countryman Olabe as they were able to replace Monchi quickly.

“It was something we were working on, knowing about while speaking with Monchi,” he said.

“After the transfer window had finished we were speaking about our relationship here, working with the club and working together.

“Then, we decided with the club and him, and with Roberto as well, to do a normal transition. Nothing has changed, only changing the man.

Alice Tai won her fourth gold in as many days at the World Para Swimming Championships in Singapore – while Great Britain defended their mixed relay title.

Tai, 26, has won every final she has faced at this year’s Championships to date, finishing first in the women’s S8 100m backstroke, S8 400m freestyle, and S8 100m butterfly before Wednesday’s triumph in the S8 100m freestyle.

She finished ahead of Italy’s Xenia Palazzo and USA’s Jessica Long, winning in a time of one minute 05.49 seconds.

“This week is taking its toll a bit now. I’m definitely a bit tired but there’s still three days to go,” said Tai, who could another two golds to her collection on Thursday.

“I’m really happy with that time, it’s a season’s best and the fastest I’ve done since my amputation [in 2022], so I’m over the moon with it.”

William Ellard, Poppy Maskill, Dylan Broom, and Georgia Sheffield set a championship record as Great Britain won the mixed S14 4x100m freestyle in 3:41.14 – less than one second short of their own world record, set in 2021.

Great Britain have won the event at both world and Paralympic level stretching back to its introduction in 2019.

“The goal is to keep building this to LA [2028 Paralympics]. We’ve got a great team here and a lot of good people coming through, so it could be quite good for the future,” Ellard said.

There was also gold for Ellie Challis, who retained her women’s S3 50m backstroke title in a time of 53.92.