Liverpool and Birmingham submitted their official applications to be the U.K.'s bid to host the 2022 Commonwealth Games in May. Earlier this week, a 15-strong panel from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport visited Liverpool to assess its bid. The same panel will visit Birmingham next week, before taking its assessments back to the government. The successful city will be "chosen by the culture secretary in the autumn and the final host will be selected by the Commonwealth Games Federation by the end of the year." It is thought an English city is the "safest bet to win the competition" (London GUARDIAN, 7/9).
The
Basketball Without Borders Americas 2017 closed on Saturday in Nassau. This year's event was the
first BWB Americas held in the Bahamas. NBA Senior VP, Int'l Basketball Operations Kimberly Bohuny said, "What we've seen through our Digicel SportsMax program is that there is some rising young talent in the English-speaking part of the Caribbean" (
NBA).
The Indian national cricket team will tour Sri Lanka for a full series beginning with a test match in Galle from July 26, Sri Lanka Cricket announced on Friday. India will play three tests, five one-dayers and one Twenty20 int'l against its neighbor (REUTERS, 7/7).
Ballyliffin Golf Club in County Donegal will host the Irish Open for the first time in '18. The announcement was made on Sunday before the final round of this year's tournament at Portstewart. Next year's Irish Open will be held from July 5-8 (BBC, 7/9).
Thousands of athletes from around the world paraded in Jerusalem on Thursday at the opening ceremony of the 20th Maccabiah Games, known as the "Jewish Olympics." Organizers said that the '17 event is the largest ever, with "some 10,000 athletes from 80 countries taking part." Israel has the largest delegation this year, with 2,400 athletes (AP, 7/6).
