It was meant to be a battle between the two World Cup heavyweights but the manner in which South Africa were blown away by India illustrated the gulf between the hosts and the rest of the teams competing at the 2023 tournament.

Stoppage-time goals by Sardar Azmoun and Romelu Lukaku earned AS Roma a dramatic 2-1 home win against Lecce in Serie A, their fourth victory from five league games to cut the gap to the top four to four points.

Liverpool’s Colombian forward Luis Diaz came off the bench to score an emotional late equaliser in a 1-1 Premier League draw at struggling Luton Town, dedicating the goal to his kidnapped father.

World number one Novak Djokovic cruised to a record-extending seventh Paris Masters title and became the first player to claim 40 Masters ATP 1000 titles when the top-seeded Serbian thumped Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov 6-4 6-3 in the final.

Ethiopian Tamirat Tola crushed the competition to win the New York City Marathon in a course record two hours, four minutes and 58 seconds, while Kenyan Hellen Obiri won the women’s race in 2:27:23.

Nottingham Forest snapped a six-match winless run to beat Aston Villa 2-0 in a Premier League Midlands derby, denying the visitors a top-four spot after Ola Aina and Orel Mangala scored goals from outside the box.

The PNG Kumuls delighted their home crowd and turned around their fortunes following a poor performance last week to claim their inaugural Pacific Bowl with a 32-12 win against Fiji.

HLB Mann Judd Suva is the new Extra Supermarket Futsal IDC champion.

Boxer Ratu Rakuro Daunivavana potentially faces repercussions after failing a drug test following his fight with Vanuatu’s Masing Warawara.

15-time national champion Manoj Kumar won the 2023 Vodafone Fiji October Rapid Chess Championship in Suva.

Nikola Jokic had 28 points, 16 rebounds and nine assists, Michael Porter Jr. scored a season-high 27 points, and the host Denver Nuggets beat the Chicago Bulls 123-101 on Saturday night.

World number one Novak Djokovic took a step closer to a record-extending seventh Paris Masters crown when he beat Russian fifth seed Andrey Rublev 5-7 7-6(3) 7-5 to set up a title clash with seasoned Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov.