Sports
Verstappen faces steamy Singapore examination | The Express Tribune
SINGAPORE:
Max Verstappen’s recent resurgence will be put to the test at the Singapore Grand Prix this week as the Red Bull driver tries to turn the Formula One world championship into a three-horse race.
Back-to-back wins in Monza and Baku have left third-placed Verstappen 69 points behind championship leader Oscar Piastri with seven grands prix and three sprints remaining.
Lando Norris sits between the two, 25 points, or one race win, behind his McLaren teammate Piastri and 44 ahead of Verstappen.
Dutchman Verstappen is not getting carried away by the growing talk of a fifth consecutive world title, especially because Red Bull have a poor recent record under the lights in Singapore.
Verstappen has 67 GP wins but he has never taken the chequered flag at the bumpy Marina Bay Street Circuit, where extremes of heat, humidity and weather all play a part in a physically demanding examination.
Drivers can shed up to three kilos (more than six pounds) during the longest outing on the calendar, where completing the 62 laps often lasts the maximum two hours race time allowed.
“Basically everything needs to go perfect from my side and then a bit of luck from their side,” said Verstappen when asked of his prospects of further closing the gap to the two McLarens in Singapore on Sunday.
A floor upgrade brought in for Monza coupled with Verstappen finally working out how to get the best from the twitchy 2025 Red Bull led him to call the last two results “amazing”.
Red Bull veteran adviser Helmut Marko said the “hope has been revived” after Baku, which proved “Monza was not a one-off”.
‘Bloody hot’
But Marko knows the team traditionally struggle with the high downforce set-up required for a Singapore circuit where qualifying is all-important and overtaking near-impossible.
Two years ago Singapore was the only race that Red Bull failed to win in a dominant season and the only weekend where Verstappen did not make the podium.
Max Verstappen (centre) is becoming a threat the McLaren pair of Oscar Piastri (right) and Lando Norris.
“It’s not only high downforce, it’s bloody hot always there, which our car also doesn’t seem to like so much,” Marko told Austrian TV.
“So it will be the real benchmark of where we are.”
Piastri’s crash in Baku and Norris’s lacklustre seventh place means McLaren still need 13 points in Singapore to be assured of the constructors’ championship for the second year running.
While that seems a formality, McLaren chief executive Zak Brown admitted Verstappen was becoming “a disrupter” in Norris and Piastri’s fight for the drivers’ title.
“I think you’ve got to pay attention to Max,” Brown told Bloomberg.
“We’ve got to keep doing what we’re doing. The constructors’ (title) is looking very good, hopefully, we can get the job done in Singapore.”
Brown said there would be no McLaren team orders for Piastri and Norris between now and the end of the season.
“What we want to do is we want our two drivers and Max — but we’d like to kind of get him out of there – to fight for the championship… and may the best man win.”
Sports
LPGA legend shares her feelings about US women’s Olympic wins: ‘Gets me really emotional’
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The United States came away with 33 total medals at the 2026 Milan Cortina Games, and many came from the female athletes who showed out in Italy this month.
There were 17 medals won by the U.S. female athletes, including eight of the 12 gold medals.
As many Americans enjoyed watching the events at home, LPGA Tour legend Michelle Wie West was in Milan watching the U.S. reach the podium in several events.
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Michelle Wie attends Netflix’s “Happy Gilmore 2” New York Premiere at Jazz at Lincoln Center on July 21, 2025, in New York City. (Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images)
“I had the honor to be in Milan with Nike and got to see some Winter Olympic Games for the first time in person. It’s amazing to see all these competitors,” she told Fox News Digital in a recent interview. “Got to see [silver medalist] Chloe [Kim] do her halfpipe, and that was incredible.
“Women’s hockey, I mean, incredible. I got to go to the first game, and it was just lights out.”
From Mia Manganello in speed skating, to Alysa Liu’s captivating gold medal in figure skating, Wie West admitted the Olympics made her a bit emotional seeing the athletes achieve their dreams.
“This whole Winter Olympics season has been so — I think every Olympic season is so uplifting,” she said. “But this one in particular was so inspiring, and it feels like the female athletes really knocked it out of the park.
“I feel like every Olympics gets me really emotional. I can see athletes achieve their dreams, and it’s so cool. It was really cool to see it in person.”

Gold medalist Alysa Liu of Team United States poses for a photo during the medal ceremony for the Women’s Single Skating on day thirteen of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games at Milano Ice Skating Arena on Feb. 19, 2026 in Milan, Italy. (Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
Wie West also added that Lindsey Vonn’s “heartbreaking” crash, after competing through a torn ACL, was hard to see. However, “seeing her journey up until that moment and even afterwards has been so inspiring to me.”
Breanna Stewart, a three-time gold medalist with Team USA women’s basketball, shared Wie West’s sentiments about seeing American success overseas.
“I think there were so many events I really learned a lot about, whether it was bobsledding, or curling, or watching hockey,” she said. “Just wanting to cheer on the USA in whatever event they were doing, and see the pride and passion the athletes were having whenever they stepped up to compete with their sport.”

LPGA player Michelle Wie West plays her shot from the 14th tee during the Golden Bear Pro-Am prior to the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday 2025 at Muirfield Village Golf Club on May 28, 2025, in Dublin, Ohio. (Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
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Stewart even mentioned getting “goosebumps” thinking about what it feels like getting a medal around your neck, and better yet, seeing the flag raise with the national anthem playing.
“It’s really just satisfaction and justification of why you’re doing it and why you’ve gone through those hard moments and times,” she explained. “To me, the Olympics is the highest of the high. You’re playing your sport at the highest level against everyone else in the world, and you see that. It’s just a goosebump feeling no matter how many times you do it. Just the pride and knowing you’re representing something bigger than yourself always comes through full circle.”
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Sports
Washington State’s Emmanuel Ugbo suspended for rest of season
PULLMAN, Wash. — Washington State forward Emmanuel Ugbo, who is currently under a court order resulting from allegations of stalking and harassment, has been suspended for the remainder of the season.
Coach David Riley told reporters this week that Ugbo, who has neither played nor practiced for the Cougars since he was suspended on Jan. 28, will sit out the rest of the way.
“As an institution,” Riley told reporters, “we believe that’s the best course of action.”
Ugbo was accused by a Washington State women’s volleyball player of stalking and harassment after she ended their relationship. Last week, a Whitman County judge granted the woman a full protection order against Ugbo.
Ugbo’s suspension began with Washington State’s home game on Jan. 31, shortly after the woman filed for a temporary protection order. Ugbo averaged 6.7 points and 3.5 rebounds in 18 minutes this season. He previously played for Boise State.
Sports
How Pakistan can qualify for T20 World Cup semi-finals after New Zealand loss? | The Express Tribune
A win over Sri Lanka would tie Pakistan with New Zealand on points, with net run rate deciding semi-final progression
England’s Phil Salt (2L) walks back after getting out as Pakistan’s players celebrate during the 2026 ICC Men’s T20 Cricket World Cup Super Eights match between England and Pakistan at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium in Kandy on February 24, 2026. Phot: AFP
Pakistan’s hopes of qualifying for the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup remain alive following New Zealand’s defeat against England in the Super Eight stage.
England beat New Zealand by four wickets in a thrilling encounter in Colombo, denying the Kiwis a guaranteed place in the semi-finals while keeping Pakistan’s slender chances intact.
England, having already qualified for the semi-finals, sit at the top of the table with six points from three wins, whereas New Zealand are second with three points.
Pakistan, who lost their crucial Super Eight match against England, are third with one point, earned from a washed-out match against New Zealand. Co-hosts Sri Lanka, having lost both of their opening Super Eight matches, are already out of contention for the final four.
Pakistan’s semi-final fate now rests on their match against Sri Lanka, scheduled for tomorrow at Pallekele. A win would level Pakistan and New Zealand on points, leaving net run rate as the deciding factor for progression.
However, the path to qualification is far from straightforward. Pakistan will need to secure a convincing victory over the hosts or chase their target rapidly to overcome New Zealand’s net run rate advantage, following the Kiwis’ comprehensive win against Sri Lanka.
If batting first, Pakistan must defeat Sri Lanka by 64 runs or more to improve their net run rate sufficiently. Alternatively, if chasing, they must reach the target within 13.1 overs to ensure a semi-final berth.
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