Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr will face fellow Saudi Pro League side Al-Fayha in the last 16 of the Asian Champions League with four-times winners Al-Hilal due to take on Iran’s Sepahan when the continental club championship returns in February.

South Africa shredded through the Indian batting line-up to claim victory by an innings and 32 runs in the first test, securing the win inside three days and ensuring their proud home record against the tourists remains intact.

India promised to fight back hard after a devastating innings and 32 run defeat to South Africa when they meet again in the second, and last, test of their short series next week.

Mitchell Marsh scored 96 in a partnership of 153 with Steve Smith to dig Australia out of a deep hole and help steer them to a lead of 241 over Pakistan at the end of the third day of the second test.

Two mouth-watering clashes in and around Mumbai this month involving the “Big Three” have whetted the appetite for more test matches in the women’s game and at least one cricket administrator has said he is pushing the idea.

Former national 7s rep Semi Kunatani is expecting a tough outing at the McDonald’s Fiji Coral Coast 7s next month.

The shadow national side, Fiji Babaas, will feature at the Fiji Bitter Yalovata Lomaiviti 7s next month at Nasau Park in Levuka, Ovalau.

Cricket got a glimpse into its future during a momentous 2023 but its present continues to be dominated by Australia, who bagged the test and 50-overs world titles under Pat Cummins’s inspiring leadership.

A seismic year for soccer in Saudi Arabia witnessed the turbo-charging of its domestic league with expensive foreign superstars, an audacious bid to host the 2034 World Cup and the staging of FIFA’s inter-continental club tournament.

A gender-equal Olympic Games next year will coincide with increasing sponsorship opportunities for female athletes, experts say, after the Women’s World Cup soccer tournament underscored the growing popularity of women’s sport in 2023.

South Korea coach Juergen Klinsmann will look to captain Son Heung-min and his squad’s Europe-based players to steer the nation to their first Asian Cup title in 64 years when he leads his team into next month’s continental championship in Qatar.

Fiji Airways Kaiviti Silktails coach Wes Naiqama has officially secured the services of second-year players for the upcoming season.