Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai said she is "safe and well" in a video call with International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach on Sunday, the governing body said.
Peng had been widely considered to have been missing since making sexual assault allegations against Zhang Gaoli, the ex-vice premier and member of the Chinese Communist Party's Politburo Standing Committee, more than three weeks ago.
Despite footage released by Chinese state-run media on Saturday purporting to show Peng in a restaurant with friends, followed by images of the 35-year-old at a youth tournament on Sunday, concerns have been raised regarding her safety.
However, with the likes of Serena Williams, Naomi Osaka and Novak Djokovic calling for answers on Peng's whereabouts, the former world number 14 has now spoken publicly for the first time since November 2.
In a statement released on Sunday, the IOC said Peng had spoken to president Bach for 30 minutes.
The announcement added: "She explained that she is safe and well, living at her home in Beijing, but would like to have her privacy respected at this time.
"That is why she prefers to spend her time with friends and family right now. Nevertheless, she will continue to be involved in tennis, the sport she loves so much."
The statement included an image of the video call between Bach and Peng, who was smiling to the camera.
IOC member Li Lingwei and IOC Athletes Commission chair Emma Terho were also on the call, with the latter adding: "I was relieved to see that Peng Shuai was doing fine, which was our main concern.
"She appeared to be relaxed. I offered her our support and to stay in touch at any time of her convenience, which she obviously appreciated."
Prior to Sunday's latest development, the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) called for more information about Peng.
"I am glad to see the videos released by China state-run media that appear to show Peng Shuai at a restaurant in Beijing," said WTA chairman and chief executive officer Steve Simon in response to the restaurant footage.
"While it is positive to see her, it remains unclear if she is free and able to make decisions and take actions on her own, without coercion or external interference.
"This video alone is insufficient. As I have stated from the beginning, I remain concerned about Peng Shuai's health and safety and that the allegation of sexual assault is being censored and swept under the rug.
"I have been clear about what needs to happen and our relationship with China is at a crossroads."
Collin Morikawa became the first American to win the Race to Dubai after clinching the DP World Tour Championship title on Sunday.
The 24-year-old entered this week's season finale knowing there were five challengers who could pip him to the European number one crown, although he teed off on Sunday with a three-shot advantage over his nearest rivals.
Morikawa showed few nerves as he produced his best round of the tournament, carding a 66 to finish three strokes ahead of Alexander Bjork and Matt Fitzpatrick at 17 under par.
It capped a memorable 2021 for Morikawa, who has won three titles this year, including the Open Championship in July, having only made his professional debut in August 2019.
"It's special, it's an honour, really, to be the first American to do that on the European Tour to put my name against many, many great Hall of Famers, it's special," he said.
"Two years ago, it wasn't in my thoughts. It was, 'yeah, let's go play around the world' but we didn't know what the cards were going to be dealt.
"To have this chance and finally close it out, and not just closing it out with a top 10 or something, but to actually win the DP World Tour Championship, which concluded with the Race to Dubai, not a better way to finish – what a great way to finish.
"To close out the season-long race, the Race to Dubai, it means everything. Obviously, I won some big events and that obviously helped catapult me up to the top."
Rory McIlroy, who led after the first day at Jumeirah Golf Estates, finished in a tie for sixth with Dean Burmester and Ian Poulter after a final round of 74 left him at 12 under.
The best performance of the day belonged to Bernd Wiesberger, who carded a brilliant 63 to finish on two over after only managing 76, 76 and 75 in the first three rounds.
Inter handed Serie A leaders Napoli their first defeat of the campaign as Hakan Calhanoglu recorded a goal and an assist in a 3-2 home victory on Sunday.
Napoli had not scored in any of their past four away league games against the Nerazzurri but Piotr Zielinski netted their first since April 2017 after 17 minutes to open the scoring at San Siro.
Calhanoglu soon levelled from the penalty spot before assisting Ivan Perisic's header that put Inter into the lead before the interval.
Lautaro Martinez added a third just after the hour mark and, despite a wonderful strike from substitute Dries Mertens, the reigning champions triumphed to close the gap on Milan and Napoli to four points at the summit, ending the visitors' 21-match unbeaten Serie A run in the process.
Martinez headed over as the highest scorers in the division looked to strike first against a defence that had conceded just four goals this term.
However, it was Napoli who took the lead when Zielinski arrowed into the top-right corner from the edge of the area following Lorenzo Insigne's offload.
That advantage lasted all of eight minutes as Calhanoglu rolled his spot-kick into the bottom-left corner after VAR deemed Kalidou Koulibaly to have handled Nicolo Barella's effort.
Calhanoglu turned provider for Inter's second as Perisic flicked the Turkey international's corner past David Ospina a minute before half-time.
Napoli's task mounted further when Martinez drilled into the bottom-left corner after Joaquin Correa's pass on the counter.
Inter seemed set for a comfortable victory until Mertens fired into the top-left corner after Koulibaly dispossessed Edin Dzeko, though the hosts managed to cling on thanks to Samir Handanovic tipping Mario Rui's late header onto the crossbar.
Alexander Zverev outmatched defending champion Daniil Medvedev in straight sets to claim his second ATP Finals title on Sunday.
World number three Zverev was defeated by Medvedev in the group stage, but the German prevailed 6-4 6-4 in the final for his tour-best sixth trophy of the year.
The 24-year-old fired eight aces on his way to a deserved win over Medvedev, secured in just an hour and 15 minutes.
"It was great," Zverev said in his on-court interview. "I won the Finals, with a win in the final against someone I had lost [against] five times in a row, so I had to play one of my best matches.
"I am happy about that and happy to go on holiday with this win."
Building on his semi-final victory over Novak Djokovic, Zverev made a strong start in Turin and broke his opponent in the third game.
Medvedev was unable to hit back as Zverev dominated behind his first serve to see out the first set.
The Russian's hopes of becoming the first repeat champion since Djokovic's four in a row between 2012 and 2015 were further dented when losing serve in the opening game of the second set.
Putting his powerful game to good use, Zverev only improved as the contest went on at the Pala Alpitour venue as he saw the job through with his first match point to cap the year in style.
Your moment, @AlexZverev#NittoATPFinals pic.twitter.com/HOSxnFdSfh
— ATP Tour (@atptour) November 21, 2021 Data Slam: Alexander the great?
Zverev had lost his previous five meetings with Medvedev, as he pointed out, but he bettered his opponent in every department on his way to becoming just the fourth player in ATP Finals history to earn semi-final and final wins over the world's top-two players.
His 59 tour-level wins in 2021 is the most of any player, fittingly overtaking Medvedev on that list with this statement victory.
TOTAL POINTS WON
Zverev – 61
Medvedev – 51
ACES/DOUBLE FAULTS
Zverev – 8/1
Medvedev – 3/2
BREAK POINTS WON
Zverev – 2/4
Medvedev – 0/0
Formula One "woke up the lion" in Lewis Hamilton when he was disqualified from qualifying due to a DRS issue in Brazil, Toto Wolff says.
Hamilton, who was already serving a penalty for taking a new engine at last week's Sao Paulo Grand Prix, was forced to start from the back of the grid in the sprint race but recovered to take fifth.
In the main race, the Mercedes man then triumphed from 10th despite an incident that saw title rival Max Verstappen force him wide and avoid punishment.
The FIA dismissed an appeal for that incident to be reviewed again this week, while a stewards' inquiry in Brazil saw Verstappen only fined after he touched Hamilton's car.
These factors may have frustrated Hamilton, but he has not become distracted, instead adding another victory at the Qatar Grand Prix on Sunday to close to within eight points of Red Bull's Verstappen.
"Lewis is totally in the zone," Mercedes team principal Wolff told Sky Sports. "They woke up the lion in Interlagos on that Saturday and you see that."
Hamilton added: "The last two weeks have been fantastic, just amazing. But there's no time for celebration.
"I'll be back with the team already again next week and training tomorrow, stay on it, heads down.
"I don't have too much emotion other than being driven right now, but it's just amazing to be able to close so many points in the last two races which has been important.
"[Red Bull are] obviously still very fast, as you could see today with their fastest lap and both their cars getting past pretty much everyone quite easily. So we've still got our work cut out.
"I'm loving it. I love the close battle, the pressure, the demands it puts on you and the whole team.
"So I thoroughly enjoyed it, but these next two races need even better performance, so we'll be bringing our 'triple A' game for those ones."
India sealed a T20I series 3-0 clean sweep over New Zealand as Rohit Sharma and Axar Patel guided the home side to a 73-run victory in Kolkata.
The hosts had already dominated against visitors who were beaten by Australia in the T20 World Cup final just a week ago, cruising to consecutive victories to guarantee a series triumph before Sunday's final game.
India opted to bat first at Eden Gardens and raced to 69-0 at the end of the powerplay – their highest score in the first six overs of the series - before Ishan Kishan (29) fell two balls later.
New captain Rohit carried on imperiously, blasting three sixes in his 31-ball 56 to not only become just the second batter to hit 150 maximums in T20I cricket but also to place him top, above Virat Kohli (29), for the most 50-plus scores in the format.
The hosts eventually concluded on 184-7 from their 20-over allocation after Deepak Chahar clubbed 21 from eight deliveries as India collected 50 runs from the final five overs.
New Zealand's response began brightly with 16 taken off Chahar in the second over, but Axar (3-9) removed Daryl Mitchell, Mark Chapman and Glenn Phillips cheaply to leave the visitors 37-3 after their first six.
Martin Guptill (51) offered the only serious resistance for the tourists, who capitulated to 111 all out to hand India their eighth consecutive match win in T20I bilateral series against New Zealand.
Santer shines as Kiwi bowlers falter
Mitchell Santer (3-27) was the only New Zealand bowler to go for an economy under seven.
While picking up the key wickets of Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav and Rishabh Pant, the left-armer bowled tightly after the powerplay and, with more support, could have limited India to a lower total.
Almost perfect from Axar
Tasked with operating in the powerplay, Axar struck with his first delivery in the match and that set the tone for the rest of the game.
As well as picking up a trio of wickets in quick succession, the off-spinner produced 13 dot balls to concede just nine runs from his three overs.
Fernando Alonso was delighted to return to a Formula One podium for the first time in seven years as he finished third at the Qatar Grand Prix.
Alonso was a two-time champion with Renault, now Alpine, and a regular title contender in his time at Ferrari before he quit the series at the end of 2018 having struggled with McLaren.
The Spaniard twice won the 24 Hours of Le Mans while away from F1 but is back with Alpine this year.
Heading into Sunday's race at the Losail International Circuit, where he started from third following penalties for Max Verstappen and Valtteri Bottas, Alonso had registered 13 points finishes this season without reaching the podium.
Indeed, his last top-three finish had been in Budapest in 2014, but that wait came to an end with a little help from a virtual safety car.
Alonso struggled to stick with race winner Lewis Hamilton and championship leader Verstappen beyond the first few laps but clung on to third when Sergio Perez, who pitted twice, was slowed in the closing stages.
The Alpine man had been ailing at that point, having benefited from one of several tyre punctures when Valtteri Bottas fell from third and later retired.
"Unbelievable. Seven years but finally we got it," Alonso said of his 98th F1 podium. "We were close [in] a couple of races but not [close] enough. Sochi was the last possibility.
"Here today, honestly, I thought I could be leading after lap one. I thought with the red tyre I could have a go at Lewis, but I couldn't.
"Then Checo was very close at the end, but I'm so happy for the team. Also with Esteban [Ocon] P5, it's a good Sunday."
Alonso maintained his spotless record of having collected points at all 34 circuits at which he has raced in F1 following this first Qatar GP.
He added: "I'm enjoying it. F***, I was waiting so long for this, so I'm happy."
Real Madrid turned on the style in a 4-1 win at Granada that showed Carlo Ancelotti's team at their most vivacious.
It took them to the top of LaLiga, if only perhaps for a few hours, with Real Sociedad playing later on Sunday, with Marco Asensio, Nacho, Vinicius Junior and Ferland Mendy all on target.
Carlo Ancelotti inherited a side who lost out to city rivals Atletico in last season's title battle, but all evidence at the Nuevo Los Carmenes pointed to this incarnation of Madrid being hard to stop.
Granada had Monchu red-carded midway through the second half, but Madrid were already 3-1 up and pressing for more at that stage.
Picked out in the inside right channel by a clever pass from Toni Kroos, Asensio opened the scoring in the 19th minute when he fired into the bottom-left corner for his fourth LaLiga goal this season.
It was 2-0 in the 25th minute as Kroos and Luka Modric played a neat one-two at a corner that resulted in Kroos crossing low from the left for Nacho at the near post to prod past goalkeeper Luis Maximiano, via the underside of the crossbar.
Asensio had a shot superbly cleared off the line by Alberto Soro, and Karim Benzema threatened, but Granada hit back when Luis Suarez's fierce 25-yard strike deflected off Nacho and whistled past the wrong-footed Thibaut Courtois.
The second half began frantically, before Madrid put daylight between the teams again in the 56th minute, Vinicius putting the finishing touch to a high-speed counter-attack after Benzema carried the ball and fed Modric, who unselfishly squared to his young team-mate.
Vinicius was beginning to enjoy himself, and a lively charge from the Brazilian forward was only stopped by a wild challenge from Monchu, earning the Granada man a straight red card from Juan Martinez Munuera. A member of the home side's dugout staff also appeared to be shown red for his protests, before Mendy added a fourth for Madrid in the 76th minute as Granada lost all focus.
Ireland coach Andy Farrell was delighted with his side after they hammered Argentina 53-7 to collect their third win from three games in the Autumn Nations series on Sunday.
The visitors caught Ireland cold when Santiago Carreras danced down the right wing to open the scoring at the Aviva Stadium. However, tries from Josh van der Flier, Andrew Porter and Caelan Doris ensured the hosts led 24-7 at half-time.
Van de Flier bundled over for a second time after the break, with Cian Healy, Dan Sheehan and Tadhg Beirne all getting in on the act after Tomas Lavanini's dangerous tackle had seen Argentina reduced to 14 men.
Having overcome New Zealand last time out, the hosts are now unbeaten in eight games since a 15-13 loss against France last February and Farrell reflected on a great performance from his whole squad.
"We are delighted with the win," Farrell told Channel 4 after Ireland's 27th win in 29 games at the Aviva Stadium.
"It is a great day for us because we grow as a group, with players out some people got their chances and did pretty well, it is pretty satisfying overall.
"That's how we train, we make sure we're all across our work, anyone who comes into the hotel on Friday or Saturday has to be ready to play."
Asked how his side will prepare for their next clash with Wales in their Six Nations opener in February, Farrell added: "We will meet and review and take the lessons learned.
"We will watch the lads fight against one another for their provinces over the next couple of months and hopefully they grow as players before they come back in and we hit the ground running for our first game of the Six Nations."
Lewis Hamilton was "really, really grateful" for a Qatar Grand Prix win that closed the gap at the top to eight points, but Max Verstappen is pleased to be pushed all the way for his first Formula One title.
Hamilton is bidding for a record-breaking eighth championship but has work to do to reel in leader Verstappen.
The Briton followed up his Losail pole with victory on Sunday, although Verstappen recovered from seventh – following a grid penalty – to finish second and take the fastest lap, limiting the damage as much as possible.
It was ultimately a day both men could enjoy, even if Verstappen's penalty meant the only real jeopardy for Hamilton was avoiding the fate of others in the field who saw their tyres punctured.
"It was pretty straightforward. It's pretty lonely at the front," Hamilton said. "Of course, I enjoy those races where you're battling through, but we needed those points today.
"It was a really solid job from the team with pit stops and with the car.
"I can't wait to watch the replay of the race to see what happened behind me. I'm not really sure why people's tyres were going – I'm sure it's the kerbs.
"But I'm really, really grateful for these points. It's been a hell of a year, so to be at this point in the year and have back-to-back wins is a great, great feeling. It puts us in good stead for the next two."
Verstappen added: "Of course our starting position was a bit compromised, but luckily we had a really good start. From there, I was quite quickly back into second.
"At the end of the day, to get that fastest lap was very nice. I know it's going to be difficult to the end, but I think that's nice. It keeps it exciting."
Manchester City picked up from where they left off before the international break with a 3-0 win over Everton to move back into second place in the Premier League.
Pep Guardiola's side strolled to a 2-0 victory over Manchester United two weeks ago and were just as comfortable in Sunday's contest at the Etihad Stadium.
Raheem Sterling, making his 300th appearance in the English top flight, linked up with Joao Cancelo to fire City ahead after earlier having a penalty awarded and overruled.
Rodri scored an equally impressive goal from long range and Bernardo Silva then capped a win that moves City, who handed a full league debut to Cole Palmer, above Liverpool and within three points of leaders Chelsea.
Ilkay Gundogan looped a header on top of the crossbar after Jordan Pickford kept out Silva in a one-sided first half that saw Demarai Gray limp off for injury-hit Everton.
City were awarded a penalty for Michael Keane's apparent challenge on Sterling, but referee Stuart Atwell overturned the decision after a lengthy wait due to a lack of contact.
But the home side made the breakthrough on the brink of half-time thanks to Sterling's first-time finish after being picked out by a sublime outside-of-the-boot pass from Cancelo.
Rodri gave City some breathing space with a rocket drive from 25 yards that flew past Pickford into the top-left corner with 55 minutes played.
Guardiola's men were beaten 2-0 by Crystal Palace in their most recent home league match, but they made certain of a fourth top-flight win in five games through a simple finish for Silva late on.
What does it mean? City ease past out-of-form Toffees
The pressure was on City to pick up a victory against the Toffees following wins for Liverpool and leaders Chelsea on Saturday.
From the moment Sterling deservedly opened the scoring for the Citizens, an eighth successive league win against Everton – scoring 24 times in that run – was never in doubt.
Rafael Benitez's side are now without a victory in six Premier League matches, making this their longest winless run since January 2018 and heaping pressure on the Spaniard.
Sterling stars on landmark appearance
At 26 years and 348 days, Sterling became the fourth-youngest player to make 300 Premier League appearances and marked the occasion with a superbly taken half-volley.
Cancelo deserves credit for his assist, which was his sixth of the season in 18 outings – as many as he produced in his first two seasons with the club combined.
Shot-shy Everton offer little
City may be in good form, but defeat to Palace at the Etihad Stadium less than a month ago is proof that they can be beaten with the right gameplan.
Whatever tactics Everton deployed here did not work, with the Toffees registering just two attempts on target, neither of which truly troubled Ederson.
What's next?
City turn focus to the Champions League on Wednesday, with a point required at home to Paris Saint-Germain to guarantee a place in the last 16. Everton travel to Brentford in their next Premier League outing in a week's time.
Lewis Hamilton celebrated consecutive Formula One wins for the first time since May as a precious victory at the Qatar Grand Prix moved him to within eight points of Max Verstappen.
The Mercedes superstar followed up his Sao Paulo success with another triumph, although Verstappen limited the damage despite a five-place grid penalty due to a yellow-flag infringement in qualifying.
The championship leader recovered to finish second and also took the extra point for the fastest lap, assured of beating Hamilton to that feat due to a late virtual safety car following a series of punctures.
The two title rivals were joined on the podium by Fernando Alonso, the two-time champion's first top-three finish since 2014.
Both he and pole man Hamilton enjoyed strong starts, although Verstappen wasted little time in wiping out his penalty.
Starting from seventh, the Dutchman gained three places from the start but was then shut out by Alonso, who passed Pierre Gasly into second.
Verstappen stayed on Gasly's tail and eased past on lap four before quickly hunting down Alonso, yet Hamilton had already disappeared into the distance.
Hamilton continued to stretch his advantage out towards 10 seconds before Verstappen pitted and the Mercedes man immediately responded, following him in to maintain the lead.
That gap closed very slightly as Hamilton worked his way through the backmarkers, but drama was limited at the front until Valtteri Bottas, running in third, suffered a puncture as he attempted a one-stop strategy.
That was the first of several such issues, meaning Verstappen took no risks and pitted a second time soon after, with Hamilton again heading in on the next lap.
Sergio Perez questioned Red Bull's call to bring him in twice as he pursued a podium, and it was a move that ultimately did not pay off as he failed to reel in Alonso due to the virtual safety car.
BOTTAS BLOW ADVISES STRATEGY
Mercedes expected a two-stop from Verstappen, so promised Bottas there would be "opportunities" if he went longer and took care of his tyres. Unfortunately, that strategy failed.
Bottas, who qualified in third, was penalised to sixth and then fell to 11th, had recovered to third place on lap 36 when he sustained a puncture and was forced to limp back to the pit, ruled out of contention entirely as he re-emerged in 14th. He later retired, just as Williams pair George Russell and Nicholas Latifi each also suffered punctures to the same front-left tyres.
Perez might have been less than impressed, but the single stops proved a huge gamble.
ADD LOSAIL TO LEWIS' LIST
Hamilton already held the record for poles (30 of 34) and wins (29 of 34) at the most different circuits and added to both tallies at the first ever Qatar Grand Prix.
Alonso also enjoyed his Losail bow, collecting points at the 34th of 34 tracks in real style.
Formula One title leader Max Verstappen was handed a five-place grid penalty for Sunday's Qatar Grand Prix after a yellow-flag infringement in qualifying.
The Red Bull driver was due to start second in Lusail behind Lewis Hamilton, but he instead started from seventh as a gripping title race took another twist.
Verstappen had been under investigation, along with Valtteri Bottas and Carlos Sainz, for not slowing down under yellow flags near the end of Saturday's qualifying session after Pierre Gasly suffered a puncture on the pit straight.
The stewards confirmed the Dutchman's grid drop around 90 minutes before Sunday's race, while Bottas was docked three places to put him sixth due to his breach being under single waved flags.
Sainz avoided punishment as he "made a significant reduction in speed".
Explaining the decision to penalise Verstappen, a statement released by F1 ahead of the race read: "Notwithstanding the fact the team argued that the turning off of the yellow sector on the FIA marshalling system some 34 second prior to the driver reaching the yellow flag, signified that it was 'play on', it was the driver's responsibility to take the appropriate action when entering what was a double yellow flag area.
"The driver acknowledged his awareness of the presence of Car 10 on the right side of the track.
"Having seen a disabled car, it is reasonable to expect, as was the case of the driver of Car 55 [Carlos Sainz], that there was a potential danger and that a yellow flag situation probably existed and therefore to take the appropriate action (i.e. to reduce speed)."
Verstappen leads Hamitlon by 14 points in the standings.
Jimmy Butler criticised the Miami Heat's complacency after they blew a 16-point lead in Saturday's defeat to the Washington Wizards.
The Heat had won four straight games coming into Saturday's trip to the capital, but that run has now been bookended by collapses.
Against both the Los Angeles Clippers (17 points) and the Wizards, Miami have led by double digits only to lose. Earlier this season, the Heat let leads of 12 and 11 slip to the Utah Jazz and the Brooklyn Nets respectively, although they rallied again to win on both occasions.
Of those four games, only the Utah victory was at home.
This latest setback was particularly painful due to the late nature of the collapse; the Heat had a 10-point lead with just over four minutes remaining but went down 103-100.
Miami were the victim of three fourth-quarter double-digit comebacks last season, and Butler is concerned the Heat – now 11-6 and behind the 11-5 Wizards in their division – are not dealing well with praise following a strong start.
"[The collapses are] probably because we stopped doing what we were doing to get those leads," he said.
"We tend to get comfortable, and that's a bad thing when you're comfortable. You get complacent and you just think the games going to keep going that way.
"For us, at least, it doesn't."
Butler, who led Miami with 29 points, added: "When everybody's giving you this praise all the time, you think you deserve it. You think you're supposed to be talked about like that – and that's not the case.
"This league is very humbling. It's fragile, and just as soon as you think you're good and you're high on yourself, you get hit like this.
"I don't think we should have lost this game. We did. You can say we'll learn from it, we'll go back to the drawing board. I'm hoping this is the last time that this happens, but I can't guarantee that."
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