organisers

Smoke Delays Unlikely At Australian Open, Say Organisers

Smoke from bushfires is unlikely to delay the Australian Open tennis Grand Slam, organisers said on Tuesday, insisting they have pulled out all the stops to protect the health and safety of players.

With the opening major of 2020 due to start at January 20, Melbourne has been blanketed by haze in recent days from blazes burning to the east — part of Australia’s bushfire crisis that has left 25 people dead.

Novak Djokovic, president of the ATP players council, said organisers should consider delaying the tournament, as a last resort, if conditions did not improve.

But Tennis Australia …

SEA Games Organisers Say ‘Ready’ For Typhoon Kammuri

Southeast Asian Games venues and officials in the Manila region are “ready”, competition organisers said Monday, as powerful Typhoon Kammuri churned toward the Philippines.

There was no talk of cancelling the Games as the storm headed for a swathe of the nation’s north that includes key competition hubs as well as thousands of athletes, and had already had an impact on the schedule.

Forecasters predict the typhoon will make landfall late Monday or early Tuesday hundreds of kilometres southeast of the capital, with intense rains and potent gusts of up to 230 kilometres (145 miles) per hour.

Manila’s airport …