Garcia, Mladenovic qualify for WTA doubles in S'pore

Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic have become the second doubles team to qualify for this year's BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global.

The world No. 2 pair join Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza in the year-end finale, which will be staged at the Singapore Sports Hub from Oct 23-30.

El Salvador players claim they refused Cup bribe

NEW YORK • El Salvador footballers claim they have been offered financial inducements by a Salvadoran businessman to win, draw or avoid a heavy defeat in their World Cup 2018 qualifier against Canada this morning (Singapore time).

A heavy defeat for El Salvador in Vancouver could prevent their neighbours Honduras from progressing to the final stage of Concacaf qualifying for the 2018 Finals in Russia.

THE GUARDIAN

Tietjens to step down as New Zealand sevens coach

WELLINGTON • For 22 years, Gordon Tietjens (photo) ruled New Zealand sevens rugby, bringing success and introducing stars such as Jonah Lomu and Christian Cullen to the world.

Yesterday, the 60-year-old announced he was quitting in the wake of their quarter-final exit at the Rio Olympics, after guiding New Zealand teams at more than 100 international tournaments, yielding 12 world series titles and four Commonwealth Games gold medals.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE