Sports News Roundup: Games-India lobbies for shooting and wrestling at Victoria 2026 Commonwealth Games; MLB roundup: Fast start propels Mets past rival Yankees and more

Goals from Beth Mead, Lucy Bronze, Alessia Russo and Fran Kirby propelled England to a sensational win in front of a sell-out crowd at Bramall Lane in Sheffield, and earned them qualification to their first Euros final since 2009. Report: NBA will not have vaccination mandate in 2022-23 After some high-profile vaccine-related absences from games last season, the NBA will not have a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for players in 2022-23, Yahoo Sports reported Tuesday, citing a memo from the league office it had obtained.

Following is a summary of current sports news briefs.

Games-India lobbies for shooting and wrestling at Victoria 2026 Commonwealth Games

The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) has asked the Commonwealth Games Federation (GCF) to include shooting and wrestling in the 2026 edition of the Games in the Australian state of Victoria. India had threatened to boycott the Birmingham Games in England, which begins on Thursday after the shooting was dropped from the programme and had to be talked out of that decision.

MLB roundup: Fast start propels Mets past rival Yankees

Eduardo Escobar's two-run homer capped a four-run first inning and Taijuan Walker recovered from a rough start to toss six innings for the host New York Mets, who beat the New York Yankees 6-3 on Tuesday night. The Mets have won two straight followings a three-game losing streak. The Yankees have lost four of six since the All-Star break and are 10-11 this month.

Soccer-Barcelona manager Xavi 'very happy' with rejuvenated Dembele

Barcelona coach Xavi Hernandez said forward Ousmane Dembele is a player reborn after the France international scored twice in the LaLiga club's 2-2 pre-season draw with Serie A side Juventus on Tuesday at the Cotton Bowl stadium in Dallas, Texas.

Dembele opened the scoring in the 34th minute with a fine solo effort, dribbling past Juan Cuadrado and Alex Sandro before drilling a fierce shot past goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny, but his goal was cancelled out by Moise Kean's equaliser in the 39th minute.

Motor racing-W Series shifts its Asian debut from Suzuka to Singapore

The all-female W Series motor racing championship has cancelled plans to race in Japan for the first time and will instead make its Asian debut in Singapore in October, organisers said on Wednesday. The decision was due to "unforeseeable operational challenges".

Horse racing-Judge halts implementation of safety law in Louisiana and West Virginia

A federal judge on Tuesday granted Louisiana and West Virginia's request to halt the implementation of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) in those states until a wider lawsuit challenging its constitutionality is decided. U.S. District Court Judge Terry Doughty granted a preliminary injunction, saying that the threatened harm to the states and their racing commission outweighed that of the defendants, which included the HISA Authority.

U.S. basketball star Griner treated injuries with medical cannabis, defence argues

The defence team of U.S. basketball player Brittney Griner, detained in Russia on drug charges, argued in court on Tuesday that she had used medical cannabis to assuage pain from injuries, like many other elite international athletes. Griner, a Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) star who has played in Russia during the league's offseason, was detained at a Moscow airport on Feb. 17 with vape cartridges containing hashish oil in her luggage. Medical marijuana is illegal in Russia.

Victims' rights advocate wants top Hockey Canada officials to resign

Former NHL player and victims' rights advocate Sheldon Kennedy on Tuesday called for the resignation of Hockey Canada's leadership team in the wake of sexual assault allegations involving two national junior teams. Kennedy, a co-founder of Respect Group which is aimed at preventing bullying, abuse, harassment and discrimination, issued a statement a day after Hockey Canada unveiled its plan to eliminate "toxic behaviour" in the sport.

Soccer-England greats hail women's team after Euros semi-final win

England footballers past and present hailed a "special" national team after they thrashed Sweden 4-0 on Tuesday to reach the women's European Championship final. Goals from Beth Mead, Lucy Bronze, Alessia Russo and Fran Kirby propelled England to a sensational win in front of a sell-out crowd at Bramall Lane in Sheffield and earned them qualification to their first Euros final since 2009.

Report: NBA will not have a vaccination mandate in 2022-23

After some high-profile vaccine-related absences from games last season, the NBA will not have a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for players in 2022-23, Yahoo Sports reported Tuesday, citing a memo from the league office it had obtained. The league will "strongly suggest" team personnel stay up-to-date with vaccinations, per the report. Discussions between the league and the NBA Players Association remain ongoing about whether unvaccinated players will be subject to periodic COVID-19 testing during the upcoming season. Last season, the NBA did not require that all players be vaccinated against COVID-19, but unvaccinated players or players who did not receive a booster dose were subject to certain protocols, such as game-day testing. Players were also held accountable for mandates from states with their own vaccination requirements. While the NBA said 95 per cent of its players were vaccinated heading into last season, one of the players who was not made frequent news. The Brooklyn Nets' Kyrie Irving refused to be vaccinated and missed the first three months of the season. Even when Irving did return on Jan. 5, he could only play in road games because of local mandates in New York. He finally played his first home game on March 27, but the Nets were eventually bounced from the first round of the playoffs by a Boston Celtics sweep. Another player who was not vaccinated was the Philadelphia 76ers' Matisse Thybulle, who had to miss three games of his team's first-round playoff series against the Toronto Raptors. While a majority of the most stringent COVID-19 rules and mandates have been lifted throughout the United States, Canada still requires all persons entering the country to have been vaccinated against COVID-19. --Field Level Media

Tennis-Kyrgios pulls out of singles in Atlanta with a knee problem

Australian Nick Kyrgios pulled out of the Atlanta Open singles draw with a left-knee problem on Tuesday ahead of his first match since finishing runner-up at Wimbledon this month. The 27-year-old was drawn to take on German Peter Gojowczyk in his opening round of the ATP 250 hardcourt event in Georgia but instead addressed the crowd after his withdrawal.