Sports News Roundup: Cricket-England's Root has Ashes century in his sights in Melbourne; Golf - Ladies European Tour to have record prize purse in 2022 and more

It is the 13th Premier League game to be called off due to COVID-19 and third Boxing Day fixture to be postponed after Liverpool v Leeds United and Wolverhampton Wanderers v Watford were called off on Thursday due to cases in the visiting teams. Japan will not send government delegation to Beijing Olympics Japan will not send a government delegation to February's Winter Olympics in Beijing, it said on Friday, a move likely to deepen tension with China.

Following is a summary of current sports news briefs.

Cricket-England's Root has Ashes century in his sights in Melbourne

England captain Joe Root has backed himself to get a first Ashes hundred in Australia as he prepares for the third test starting in Melbourne on Boxing Day, a must-win game if England are to claim the series. Root has already plundered an English record 1,630 test runs in 2021 and has two half-centuries in the Ashes series so far with 89 in Brisbane and 62 in Adelaide as his side slipped to two heavy defeats.

Golf - Ladies European Tour to have record prize purse in 2022

The Ladies European Tour (LET) is set to offer players a record prize fund of 24.5 million euros ($27.76 million) in 2022 after it announced 31 events across 21 countries, the biggest number of tournaments in its 44-year history. The prize money has increased by 4.5 million euros over last season and is 19 million euros more than in 2019, the LET said.

Olympics-As NHL players reel, countries begin hectic work of building rosters

National Hockey League (NHL) players said on Thursday that they were disappointed at not having the chance to compete in the Beijing Olympic Games, as national governing bodies prepared the hectic work of filling out their Olympic rosters. NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said on Wednesday that the league's players would not compete in the men's ice hockey tournament at the Games due to COVID-19 concerns.

Soccer-Guardiola repeats call for five substitutions as games pile up

The Premier League's unique tradition of playing on Boxing Day and New Year's Day should not change but it must allow five substitutions to protect players amid a gruelling schedule, Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola said on Thursday. Top flight leagues in Europe adopted the rule to increase the number of substitutions per game to five to ease the workload on players amid the COVID-19 pandemic but Premier League clubs voted against the motion.

NBA roundup: Stephen Curry goes for 46 in Warriors' win

Juan Toscano-Anderson and Gary Payton II hit key hoops down the stretch and Stephen Curry exploded for 46 points as the Golden State Warriors finally got the better of the Memphis Grizzlies in a 113-104 victory Thursday night in San Francisco. Curry's 46 points were the product of 13-for-22 shooting overall, including 8-for-14 from 3-point range, and 12-for-12 success at the foul line.

Olympics - South Korea targets two gold medals at Beijing Games: Yonhap

South Korea's Olympic Committee (KSOC) has set a target of two gold medals and a top-15 finish at next year's Beijing Winter Games, Yonhap news agency reported. South Korea won five golds when they hosted the 2018 Games in Pyeongchang and their overall tally of 17 medals, including eight silver and four bronze, was their best at a Winter Olympics.

NFL-Washington's Everett injured in car accident, passenger dead

Washington Football Team safety Deshazor Everett was involved in a road accident on Thursday that left a passenger dead, the National Football League (NFL) club said. The 29-year-old was transferred to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries after the accident, which occurred about 35 miles (56.33 km) outside Washington, D.C. in Loudoun County, Virginia.

Tennis - Canadian Raonic withdraws from Australian Open with heel injury

Canadian Milos Raonic has pulled out of next month's Australian Open as the former world number three continues his recovery from a heel injury, the organisers said on Saturday. Raonic suffered a thigh injury in March and returned to the tour after a three-month gap. But his 2021 season was cut short due to another heel issue following his first-round loss at the Atlanta Open in July.

Soccer-Everton's COVID-19 cases, injuries force Premier League to postpone Burnley game

COVID-19 cases and injuries at Everton forced the Premier League to accept the club's request for a postponement and called of their Boxing Day fixture away at Burnley, the league said on Friday. It is the 13th Premier League game to be called off due to COVID-19 and third Boxing Day fixture to be postponed after Liverpool v Leeds United and Wolverhampton Wanderers v Watford were called off on Thursday due to cases in the visiting teams.

Japan will not send government delegation to Beijing Olympics

Japan will not send a government delegation to February's Winter Olympics in Beijing, it said on Friday, a move likely to deepen tension with China. The decision follows a U.S.-led diplomatic boycott of the Games over concerns about human rights in China, although Japan has avoided explicitly labelling its move as such.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)