World No. 1 Andy Murray "voiced his support for changes designed to speed up tennis being tested at the inaugural Next Generation ATP Finals in Milan this November." The tournament for the leading tour players aged 21 and under will feature a new scoring system, no lets, limited medical timeouts and shot clocks "as the men's governing body seeks ways to appeal to younger audiences." The scoring system is the "most radical change to the traditional format," with five-set matches decided through first-to-four-game sets, instead of the usual six, with tiebreaks played at 3-3 (REUTERS, 6/15).
The future of stand-up paddle (SUP) will be decided by the Court of Arbitration for Sport "as the canoeing and surfing federations battle for control of a sport with rapidly rising popularity." Both federations, which are part of the Olympic Games program, have "claimed the sport as their own as they look to tap into a completely new and growing market" (REUTERS, 6/15).
The card game of bridge is a sport and its players "should not be charged value-added tax on competition entry fees in Britain, the European Court of Justice's top adviser said on Thursday in an opinion challenging British revenue rules." While the advocate general's comments are not binding, "judges follow them in most cases." The ruling could cause conflict as British PM Theresa May "vowed to make the legal changes necessary to stop the European court from delivering legally binding judgements on the country which is set to leave the EU" in '19 (REUTERS, 6/15).
Gaelic Players Association CEO Dermot Earley "expressed annoyance" at how the Gaelic Athletic Association performed a u-turn by supporting the addition of more games to the senior All-Ireland championships. Earley confirmed he will "attempt to persuade Central Council on Saturday to postpone a vote on the new hurling championship proposals" (IRISH EXAMINER, 6/14).
