Sports News Roundup: Golf-Volume turned up as Ryder Cup ready for lift-off; WTA roundup: Misaki Doi's career ends in Tokyo and more

Johnson's 12-man team will be defending the trophy the U.S won back with a crushing victory at Whistling Straits in 2021 but will have to block out raucous home support at the Marco Simone Country Club, east of Rome. WTA roundup: Misaki Doi's career ends in Tokyo No. 4 seed Maria Sakkari of Greece defeated Misaki Doi 6-3, 6-1 in the final match of the Japanese player's career on Thursday at the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo.

Following is a summary of current sports news briefs.

Golf-Volume turned up as Ryder Cup ready for lift-off

A spectacular fly past by the Italian air force's Frecce Tricolori aerobatic team drowned out the start of U.S. captain Zach Johnson's speech at the opening ceremony of the 44th Ryder Cup on Thursday. It could be a portent of things to come. Johnson's 12-man team will be defending the trophy the U.S won back with a crushing victory at Whistling Straits in 2021 but will have to block out raucous home support at the Marco Simone Country Club, east of Rome.

WTA roundup: Misaki Doi's career ends in Tokyo

No. 4 seed Maria Sakkari of Greece defeated Misaki Doi 6-3, 6-1 in the final match of the Japanese player's career on Thursday at the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo. Sakkari struck 25 winners and did not face a break point in the 65-minute victory, advancing to the quarterfinals to face No. 5 seed Caroline Garcia of France. Doi, 32, ends a pro career that began in 2006 and featured one singles and two doubles titles on the WTA Tour.

Tennis-Top seed Swiatek stunned by Kudermetova in Tokyo quarter-final

Iga Swiatek crashed to a 6-2 2-6 6-4 defeat by eighth seed Russian Veronika Kudermetova in the quarter-finals of the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo on Friday. The top seed, playing in her second match since a fourth-round defeat at the U.S. Open that saw her drop to number two in the world rankings, sprayed the errors around in the opening set as Kudermetova grabbed a double break before going 4-0 up.

NFL eyes Spain, France and Brazil as sites for future international games

Spain, France, Brazil and even Australia are being looked at as possible future sites for NFL regular season games as the league ramps up its efforts to grow the game abroad, a league official said. The NFL kicks off the first of this season's international games on Sunday at Wembley Stadium in London before the series shifts for the first time to Frankfurt for two games starting Nov. 5.

Golf-Vast crowds around first tee as Ryder Cup gets underway

America's world number one Scottie Scheffler got the 44th Ryder Cup underway in the morning foursomes on Friday as huge, colourful crowds brought a party atmosphere to the first tee under clear blue skies at the Marco Simone course in Rome. Scheffler's drive slid into the rough, banked by massive crowds all along the fairway, but after partner Sam Burns failed to find the green Scheffler's brilliant chip lipped the cup to halve the hole with Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton.

Soccer-Napoli say they never intended to offend Osimhen amid row

Napoli said on Thursday they never intended to offend their striker Victor Osimhen with mocking social media videos, but the Serie A champions stopped short of apologising to the Nigeria international. The Italian side posted a video on TikTok with a high pitched voice showing Osimhen missing a penalty in their 0-0 draw against Bologna on Sunday, which was later deleted.

MLB roundup: Orioles blank Red Sox, clinch AL East title

Anthony Santander homered, Dean Kremer pitched into the sixth inning and the Baltimore Orioles clinched the American League East crown with a 2-0 win over the visiting Boston Red Sox on Thursday night. It's the Orioles' 10th division title and first since 2014. Two years after losing 110 games, Baltimore will be the top seed in the AL playoffs, earning a bye in the wild-card round and home field through the American League Championship Series if the Orioles reach it.

Football-XFL and USFL announce intent to merge

The XFL and USFL said on Thursday that the two troubled American grid iron leagues plan to merge and begin play next year. The XFL is owned by movie star Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson while the USFL is under the ownership of Fox Corp.

Doping-CAS adjourns Valieva case, hearing to resume in November

Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva's doping case has been adjourned until November after a panel of arbitrators asked for further documentation, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) said on Thursday. Valieva tested positive for the banned substance trimetazidine at the Russian national championships in December 2021, but the result was only made known a day after she helped her country win the team gold at the Beijing Winter Olympics in February 2022.

Soccer-Atletico hang on to beat Osasuna 2-0 in ill-tempered match

Goals from Antoine Griezmann and Rodrigo Riquelme earned Atletico Madrid a 2-0 win over Osasuna in a bad-tempered LaLiga encounter which ended with both teams reduced to 10 men on Thursday. Atletico, who have a game in hand, moved up to fifth place in the LaLiga standings on 13 points, six behind surprise leaders Girona. Real Madrid are second on 18 points, one ahead of champions Barcelona.