DUBAI: The 2024 Women’s T20 World Cup scheduled for October has been moved out of Bangladesh and will instead take place in the United Arab Emirates, the International Cricket Council announced on Tuesday.
The decision to change the venue follows unrest in Bangladesh that led to the overthrow of prime minister Sheikh Hasina, who was forced to flee the country at the start of the month after 15 years of iron-fisted rule.
More than 450 people were killed in the weeks of protests leading up to her August 5 ouster, most by police fire. Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus has since taken over as interim leader.
“It is a shame not to be hosting the Women’s T20 World Cup in Bangladesh as we know the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) would have staged a memorable event,” ICC chief executive Geoff Allardice said in a statement.
“I would like to thank the team at the BCB for exploring all avenues to try and enable the event to be hosted in Bangladesh, but travel adviseries from the governments of a number of the participating teams meant that wasn’t feasible.
“However, they will retain hosting rights. We look forward to taking an ICC global event to Bangladesh in the near future.”
The 10-team tournament will be staged October 3-20 across two venues in the UAE — Dubai and Sharjah.
Australia have won six of the eight previous editions, including each of the last three.
The UAE stepped in to host the men’s T20 World Cup in 2021, along with Oman, after the COVID-19 pandemic forced it to be relocated from India.
Women’s T20 World Cup moved from Bangladesh to UAE
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Women’s T20 World Cup moved from Bangladesh to UAE
- Decision to change venue follows unrest in Bangladesh that led to overthrow of PM Sheikh Hasina
Siniakova ends Andreeva Indian Wells defense in third round
- Siniakova, a former doubles number one, will face either Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina or American Ashlyn Krueger for a place in the quarter-finals
INDIAN WELLS, United States: Unseeded Katerina Siniakova ended a frustrated Mirra Andreeva’s Indian Wells title defense on Monday, rallying for a 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 victory over the eighth-ranked Russian.
The 18-year-old Andreeva had opened her repeat bid with an imperious 6-0, 6-0 demolition of Solana Sierra.
But she was in trouble early and often against 44th-ranked Siniakova in a rollercoaster contest that featured seven service breaks for each player and 43 break chances between them.
When she sailed a swinging volley long to surrender the second set, Andreeva threw her racquet in disgust.
She regrouped to break Siniakova for a 3-2 lead in the third, but Siniakova won the next four games.
The Czech saved a pair of break points in the final game before sealing the match with a shot that struck the net cord and dribbled over as Andreeva could only watch, disappointment sparking another outburst from the Russian as she departed the court.
Siniakova, a former doubles number one, will face either Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina or American Ashlyn Krueger for a place in the quarter-finals.
In other early matches, fifth-seeded American Jessica Pegula shook off a slow start to beat Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko 4-6, 6-3, 6-2.
Pegula, coming off her fourth career WTA 1000 title at Dubai last month, fired 11 aces with just one double fault as she rallied for the win.
“I think today I had to kind of snap myself back and kind of lock in to not let that get away from me,” said Pegula, who said she was in danger of letting negativity and frustration get the better of her.
“I didn’t think I was playing bad. It was just letting a couple chances, couple breaks here and there (get away), maybe a couple shots that I could have been more aggressive on.”
Later on Stadium Court, world number two Iga Swiatek took on Greece’s Maria Sakkari — the woman she beat in the Indian Wells finals in 2022 and 2024.
Australian Open champion Elena Rybakina, who lifted the Indian wells Trophy in 2023, played Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk in the final match of the night.
