The Tokyo 2020 women's Olympic soccer gold-medal match between Canada and Sweden has been moved from its 11 a.m. local time on Friday (10 p.m. ET, Thursday) start to 9 p.m. local time (8 a.m. ET, Friday) after both teams expressed concern about playing in the Japanese heat.

As well as changing the time, the host city for the match was also switched from Tokyo to Yokohama and the men's bronze-medal match was moved to 6 p.m. local time (5 a.m. ET, Friday).

"In order to continue to provide the best possible conditions for the players, and having taken into consideration the impact of weather conditions at the Olympic Stadium over the last few days, it has been confirmed that this match will now take place at 21:00 at the International Stadium Yokohama," a statement said.

- Murray: USWNT devoid of chemistry as Olympic gold slips away

"As a result, the Olympic Football men's bronze medal match originally scheduled for 8 p.m. at Saitama on Aug. 6 will be advanced to 6 p.m. at the same venue."

Trackside temperatures hit 40 degrees during the week and are expected to be around 36 degrees when the players take to the pitch on Friday.

"It feels good that our desire for a later kick-off has been well received, and that we now how a match time that is better suited to the players in terms of the heat," the head of Sweden's women's team Marika Domanski Lyfors said in a statement.

"It's not just a good decision, it's a very, very, very, very, very good decision," Sweden manager Peter Gerhardsson said at a news conference on Thursday.

The move was also welcomed by the players.

"I know this group is so good at adapting, so we were ready for the 11 a.m. kick-off," Canada's Ashley Lawrence said. "But I think it's great that we can play at 9 p.m. Just with the weather and for both teams, it's going to make for a better game."

The Swedish Football Association confirmed on Wednesday it had written to the International Olympic Committee with Canada to request the move.

"I myself have been in contact with FIFA today and written to them, so that's about where the situation is today," Lyfors told reporters.

"It is primarily about the players' health we're thinking about and trying to change the time of the game. There's a pretty big difference between playing in the afternoon or evening, and we are very much exposed to the warmth and heat."

Sweden qualified for the gold-medal match after beating Australia 1-0 in the semifinal while Canada beat the United States women's national team for the first time since 2001 to secure their place.

The United States women's national team beat Australia 4-3 to win the Olympic bronze-medal match Thursday, with Megan Rapinoe and Carli Lloyd both scoring braces.

It was a record-breaking evening for Lloyd, who became the USWNT's top scorer in Olympics history with 10 goals and its second-most-capped player of all time, after Kristine Lilly, with 312 appearances.

- Women's Olympics soccer bracket and fixtures

Sam Kerr also became the Matildas' all-time top scorer with her first-half strike, while Caitlin Foord added a second for Australia.

Emily Gielnik scored in the final moments of the game to set up a tense finish.

The seven-goal thriller was a marked difference to the group-stage game between the two, which ended 0-0.

Rapinoe -- who said during the week she was "gutted" not to be competing for the gold medal -- opened the scoring after eight minutes with an Olimpico goal.

Kerr pulled one back to bring the game level on 17 minutes. Foord found the Chelsea star in plenty of space, and while USWNT goalkeeper Adrianna Franch did get a touch on the ball, it wasn't enough as it slid under her and into the goal.

Rapinoe added her second on 21 minutes after Australia defender Alanna Kennedy failed to clear the ball in the box and instead handed it straight to Rapinoe, who volleyed the ball perfectly into the back of Teagan Micah's net.

Lloyd scored her first goal at the end of the first half with an assist from Lindsey Horan and completed her brace on 51 minutes after another mix-up from Kennedy.

It looked like the USWNT was going to dominate for the rest of the second half, but Foord headed home for Australia on 54 minutes after a cross from Kyah Simon to keep Vlatko Andonovski's side on its toes.

Lloyd could have had a hat trick 20 minutes from the end of the match but was called offside, the 10th time the USWNT have been found offside in this tournament.

Gielnik's superb strike on 89 minutes gave the Matildas a final chance to draw the game level, but they were unable to find an equalizer.

New York Knicks All-Star forward Julius Randle has agreed to a four-year, $117 million contract extension -- elevating his deal's total value to five years and $140 million, his agents, Aaron Mintz and Steven Heumann of CAA Sports, told ESPN.

The extension includes a player option on the final season in 2025-26.

Randle had a remarkable, breakthrough season for the Knicks, earning the NBA's Most Improved Player award and second-team All-NBA honors on his way to leading the franchise back to the playoffs with a fourth seed in the Eastern Conference.

Randle could've waited for his contract to expire next season and signed a new $200 million deal, but extending now off his current $19.8 million salary for 2021-22 gives the Knicks financial flexibility to shape the roster and allows him to commit through his prime to a franchise and city he has come to adore -- and one that has come to adore him.

Randle, 26, flourished under the NBA's Coach of the Year, Tom Thibodeau, averaging 24 points, 10 rebounds and 6 assists. Randle helped return the Knicks to the postseason and became something of a New York basketball cult hero for playing such a significant role in the Knicks' revitalization.

Randle arrived to the Knicks on a three-year free-agent deal in 2018 after two seasons with the New Orleans Pelicans and four with the Los Angeles Lakers. Randle was the No. 7 pick out of Kentucky in the 2014 NBA draft.

Italian wins Olympic title in the searing heat of Sapporo on Thursday morning with silver and bronze both going to Japan

Massimo Stano has claimed Italy’s third track and field gold of the Tokyo Games, winning the men’s 20km race walk in 1:21:05 ahead of Japan’s Koki Ikeda and Toshikazu Yamanishi.

A sparse Japanese crowd braved the stifling temperatures and humidity levels but could only watch on in heartbreak as the Italian police officer roared over the line ahead of their home favourites.

The competition had come to life at the one hour mark as a breakaway of seven athletes sped away from the pack. Stano, Ikeda and pre-race favourite Yamanishi were accompanied by two Spanish walkers and two Chinese – and it soon became obvious that it was from this group that the medallists would emerge.

He was a lone Italian in the pack, but Stano was supported by countryman Francesco Fortunato, who cheered on his compatriot as he lapped him.

Having put distance between himself and the two Japanese athletes, Stano came over the line, arms aloft. He remained sporting in victory, waiting for his rivals at the finish line to congratulate the duo with whom he had spent most of the race.

Victory for Stano makes him the third Italian to win the 20km walk event after Maurizio Damilano in Moscow in 1980 and Ivano Brugnetti on home soil at Athens 2004.

It was a huge shock as the Italian had been 19th and 14th in the past two World Championships and was only eighth at Podébrady in May.

He was 16th at 5km in 21:05, 3rd at 10km in 41:05, first at 15km in 1:01:27 but the fastest split was the last 5km which he covered in 19:38 with most of the damage done in a very fast final 3km of 11:23.

“It is unbelievable,” said Stano. “I haven’t woken up yet. It is a dream but in the last two months I repeated in my head, ‘I am the strongest, I am the strongest, I am the strongest’ – and today I did it. I am the strongest.

“It is beautiful that I cross the finish line for the first win in an international races ever. I have never finished first (in an international race). To do so for the first time in the most important race – the Olympic Games – it is the best.”

Britain’s Callum Wilkinson finished in a respectable 10th place crossing the line in 1:22:38, while team-mate Tom Bosworth finished 25th in 1:25:57.

Wilkinson worked his way through. He was 21st at 5km in 21:05, 18th at 10km in 41:29 and 11th at 15km in 62:03.

“It was brutal conditions,” said Wilkinson. “The athletes went off at a phenomenal pace after about 2km and I just held back a little bit, as it was too fast.

“My coach said trust your instincts and I did and I was right they came back to me. I was moving up the field, finishing fast and moving up places and I just needed to get myself to 15km. I knew with 2km to go there was a Mexican and Swede in front of me, who I would love to have beaten as on his form this year he was one of the guys to beat, but I couldn’t quite catch him.

“I managed to out-sprint the Mexican in a race walk for 10th place. It is a great result for me going in, well above my season’s best and where I was world ranked and is a big step in the right direction.

“For me, in 2012 I started walking. Four years later I won the World Junior Championship and what would have been four years later and is now five, I have made the Olympics and come 10th  and I am over the moon.”

Bosworth, who was sixth in the Rio Olympics, said: “I just felt flat from the off. Sometimes you just know when you are going to have an off day, but even though it has been a rushed build up because of the hamstring problems, I felt ready to go and really strong on the start line.”

He added: “I never got into the race. I never felt like I had any turn of speed. I was stuck in one gear and that was really disappointing. I think it is probably my worst performance in a British vest, which is hugely disappointing.”

By SEAN REUTHE – Squash Mad Correspondent

George Parker ended James Willstrop’s British National Championships title defence after beating the former World No.1 in the quarter-finals of this year’s event at the National Squash Centre in Manchester.

Parker, who lost to Willstrop in the last four in 2020, got revenge for that defeat, but he had to work hard for it, as he saw the event’s top seed come back from two games down to send the match into a deciding game, in the final contest of the evening’s action.

The man from Leicester, ranked twenty places below Willstrop, went out to a commanding two-game lead in their quarter-final clash, but the 37-year-old fought his way back into the contest, even saving match balls in the fourth to tie the match at two games apiece.

Parker flew out of the blocks in the deciding game, winning the first ten points to put himself on the brink of a second consecutive semi-final at this event. Willstrop saved seven match balls, but the World No.39 eventually got over the line, taking the win to move into the last four after 80 minutes.

“With James, it’s difficult because his squash is always so good,” Parker said.

“You have to be moving so well from the start. I started warming up from around 6pm because I got here early and it was on late. I felt a bit sluggish, but when I got into the game I thought it was probably 50-50 all the way through.

“We were both playing attacking squash and it was quite short and sharp. As it went on I started to break him down physically, but I always had it in the back of my mind that he was never going to go away. He’s so tough and I had a bit of doubt in my mind from losing the fourth when I was up and it was getting edgy in the end.

“I needed that and I think if he won that last point it would have gone to a tie-break because he is so tough mentally. I struggled a bit during the lockdown, we were playing in Egypt a lot and I was losing the first round every time. It knocks your confidence every time because you’re not playing for six weeks off the back of a bad loss and all you’re thinking about is how you played last time.

“In the past few weeks I did quite well at the Worlds and I’m playing more. I’m doing exhibitions with Joel [Makin] and I feel more confident and match sharp. It’s nice to get to the semi-finals two years in a row because it’s nice to play home players on home soil.”

Parker will now play No.3 seed Adrian Waller in the semi-finals, after Waller came through a massive five-game contest against Patrick Rooney, winning both the fourth and fifth games 12-10 to complete victory in 76 minutes.

The other semi-final will see top seed Joel Makin take on Declan James, after the Englishman knocked out No.4 seed Greg Lobban in the quarter-finals in another long contest lasting 73 minutes.

In the women’s event, World No.74 Georgina Kennedy continued her amazing form as she recorded a 3-1 victory over compatriot Lucy Turmel to gatecrash the semi-finals .

Kennedy, who has won five out of her last six events on the Challenger Tour and is making her first appearance at the British National Championships since 2016, came up against the tournament’s No.4 seed, Lucy Turmel, in the quarter-finals on Wednesday evening.

Turmel took the lead after winning a tense first game 12-10 and she then had her chance to go two games ahead, but Kennedy was able to fight back and take it 14-12.

Harvard graduate Kennedy was able to maintain the momentum and secure victory over the next two games, allowing Turmel just nine points, as she booked her place in the semi-finals of the British Nationals for the first time.

“That match was tough. Lucy was giving me nothing today. I had to fight so hard for every single point and I really struggled today. Well done to her, that could have gone either way and that second game was crucial. I feel lucky to be standing here, it could have been either one of us,” Kennedy said.

“Going 2-0 down would have been a challenge. The first two games were very physical and I felt in the third that I started to get on top of her a bit more. And in the first two she had me all over the shop, I was so lucky to win that.

“If I had gone 2-0 down it would have been a completely different story. I felt like I had to speed things up a bit and the pace I was playing in the first two games was just too comfortable for her. She’s so accurate, and I could barely get it off the wall most of the time.”

She will now face World No.11, and two-time British Nationals Champion, Tesni Evans, in the last four, after the Welshwoman defeated England’s Jasmine Hutton, last year’s runner-up, in straight games.

Top seed and reigning champion Sarah-Jane Perry will face 2019 runner-up Emily Whitlock in the other women’s semi-final after the pair came through their last eight clashes against England’s Rachael Chadwick and Alicia Mead.

The semi-finals of the 2021 British National Championships take place today (Thursday, August 5) with play starting at 17:30. Action from the glass court inside Manchester’s National Squash Centre will be broadcast live on SQUASHTV and the official Facebook pages of the PSA World Tour and England Squash.

British National Championships 2021 .

Men’s Quarter-Final Results:
[1] Joel Makin (WAL) bt Nathan Lake (ENG) 3-0: 11-6, 11-5, 11-7 (45m)
Declan James (ENG) bt [4] Greg Lobban (SCO) 3-1: 11-6, 8-11, 11-7, 11-7 (73m)
[3] Adrian Waller (ENG) bt Patrick Rooney (ENG) 3-2: 11-6, 12-14, 6-11, 12-10, 12-10 (76m)
George Parker (ENG) bt [2] James Willstrop (ENG) 3-2: 13-11, 11-9, 3-11, 10-12, 11-7 (80m)

Men’s Semi-Final Draw:
[1] Joel Makin (WAL) v Declan James (ENG)
[3] Adrian Waller (ENG) v George Parker (ENG)

Women’s Quarter-Finals Results:
[1] Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG) bt Rachael Chadwick (ENG) 3-0: 11-1, 11-6, 11-7 (20m)
[3] Emily Whitlock (WAL) bt Alicia Mead (ENG) 3-1: 8-11, 11-6, 11-2, 11-4 (37m)
Georgina Kennedy (ENG) bt [4] Lucy Turmel (ENG) 3-1: 10-12, 14-12, 11-4, 11-5 (54m)
[2] Tesni Evans (WAL) bt Jasmine Hutton (ENG) 3-0: 11-8, 11-8, 11-6 (34m)

Women’s Semi-Final Draw:
[1] Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG) v [3] Emily Whitlock (WAL)
Georgina Kennedy (ENG) v [2] Tesni Evans (WAL)

Pictures courtesy of England Squash

KAWAGOE, Japan – Five years ago, Aditi Ashok made headlines at the Rio Olympics when she threatened to become the first women’s golfer from India to win a medal. Her father, Ashok Gudlamani, was caddying for her that week.

Now a professional, her father remains her caddie most weeks but Ashok promised her mother, Mash, that if she qualified for the 2020 Games in Tokyo she’d have her on the bag at Kasumigaseki Country Club.

“I think when my dad's there he knows my game a lot more, probably sometimes more than I know myself, so I always feel compelled to rely on him sometimes,” said Ashok, who is tied for second, four back of Nelly Korda, after rounds of 67-66. “My mom's there, I can ask her anything, but in terms of like golf advice she may not be able to help me as much as my dad. I guess I'm committing to my decisions more and being more decisive on my own.”

Mash Ashok said she’s “not doing much” this week and that her only jobs are carrying her daughter’s bag and keeping the mood light.

“I think [the stress is] probably higher with dad," Aditi said. "I think it's a little more chilled out with mom, which has helped this week."

KAWAGOE, Japan – It will be 72 holes at the Olympic women’s competition. Or, maybe it will be 54 holes, depending on this weekend’s weather at Kasumigaseki Country Club.

Players were informed via a memo Thursday afternoon that the plan remains to complete 72 holes on Saturday as scheduled, “if weather permits.” If not, “we do have the option to finish 72 holes … on Sunday,” the memo read.

But if the approaching tropical storm makes it impossible to complete 72 holes by Sunday evening, officials will revert to a 54-hole event.

"It’s the Olympics Games, first and foremost, and we want to give the athletes every opportunity to play 72 holes, in line with what we would do for major championships,” Heather Daly-Donofrio, an Olympic technical delegate, told Golf Channel's Todd Lewis.

“The players have known since yesterday that we may have to shorten to 54 [holes], but we want to give them every opportunity to play.”

At last week’s men’s competition, seven players finished tied for third place and a four-hole playoff was required to award C.T. Pan the bronze medal. If the women's event was reduced to 54 holes and there were ties for second or third place, Daly-Donofrio said they would try to execute a playoff.

“I think our goal would be to do everything we could to stage a playoff of some kind here at the golf course," Daly-Donofrio said. "There will be pockets of weather where we could get some play out there. We could alter playoff holes, depending on the nature of the weather and the condition of the golf course. Our goal would be to do everything we possibly can to deliver those playoffs for the athletes.”

The updated plan also calls for earlier tee times for Friday and Saturday. Round 3 is scheduled to begin off the first and 10^th tees in threesomes at 7:30 a.m. local time (6:30 p.m. ET on Thursday). The fourth round would follow a similar format and begin at 6:30 a.m. local time on Saturday if weather permits.

"We were faced with a potential typhoon early in the week last week here at the Olympic Games and that dissipated and didn’t materialize," Daly-Donofrio said, "so we’re hoping for some of that same good fortune this weekend.”

KAWAGOE, Japan – Lexi Thompson had her third caddie in two days on her bag at the Olympic women’s competition on Thursday as oppressive heat continued to take a toll on the field.

Drew Hinesley, who is in Japan working for NBC Sports and has caddied before on the PGA Tour, stepped in for Thompson, whose regular caddie, Jack Fulghum, was replaced by a member of Team USA on Day 1 after suffering from heat sickness.

With a heat index that continued to hover over 110 degrees, Thompson wasn’t the only player who needed a replacement caddie. Yuka Saso’s caddie, Lionel Matichuk, received treatment in a practice round for heat stroke and continues to recover.

“With this weather, I don’t want him to come back. I want him to rest and get better soon,” Saso said. “There’s more tournaments coming up so hopefully he can come back and I can have him by my side for the next tournament.”

Saso replaced Matichuk with Team Philippines coach Miko Alejandro.

“He’s done really great. He makes me laugh and he’s very nice. I really enjoy having him by my side,” she said. “It’s too hot. For me, life matters more than anything else. We’re trying to drink a lot and take care of ourselves because this isn’t a joke.”