Virginia cancels game vs. Coastal Carolina

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA. » Virginia has canceled a home football game against No. 23 Coastal Carolina scheduled for Saturday following a shooting on campus that left three players dead and another wounded.

The school made the announcement Wednesday and said it has not determined if the Cavaliers will play their traditional final regular-season game at Virginia Tech on Nov. 26.

A former player, Christopher Darnell Jones Jr., is accused of opening fire Sunday night on a bus returning from a field trip, killing Lavel Davis Jr., Devin Chandler and D’Sean Perry.

Mike Hollins, who was wounded, has undergone two surgeries, his mother said. After the latest surgery, he was removed from a ventilator and was able to receive visits from family and friends in his hospital room, said Joe Gipson, a family spokesman and chief operating officer of a Baton Rouge, Louisiana, law firm where Hollins’ mother, Brenda Hollins, works.

“He’s aware, active — all the positive things,” Gipson said.

Preece promoted to Cup

CHARLOTTE, N.C. » Tony Stewart won the battle with partner Gene Haas over next year’s NASCAR lineup by giving reserve driver Ryan Preece a shot with a top-tier Cup organization.

Preece spent this entire year doing simulator work for Stewart-Haas Racing that helped the organization adapt to NASCAR’s new car. Haas said last month he and Stewart disagreed over the direction of the No. 41 Ford, with Stewart wanting to promote Preece but Haas preferring that Cole Custer return for a fourth season.

Haas, the founder of the NASCAR team, seemed inclined to follow Stewart’s talent assessment and it became official when Preece was given the seat. Custer will stay at SHR but move down to the second-tier Xfinity Series.

Australia says Djokovic has visa

CANBERRA, AUSTRALIA » The Australian government confirmed on Thursday that Novak Djokovic had been granted a visa to compete in the Australian Open in January a year after he was deported over his stance against COVID-19 vaccination.

The 21-time Grand Slam singles champion had his visa canceled on public interest grounds on Jan. 14 and lost an appeal against deportation in the Full Federal Court.

Immigration Minister Andrew Giles said he had approved Djokovic’s application to revoke the cancellation decision because the ground for canceling the visa no longer existed. The visa ban could have lasted for three years.

Djokovic eases into semis

TURIN, ITALY » Five-time champion Novak Djokovic eased into the final four of the ATP Finals with a 6-4, 6-1 win over Andrey Rublev.

It took the seventh-seeded Djokovic just 68 minutes to see off Rublev and make it two wins out of two in Turin to qualify for his 11th semifinal in 15 appearances at the year-end tournament.

Djokovic is aiming to equal Roger Federer’s record six titles at the event. His last victory came in 2015.

Top-seeded Rafael Nadal was eliminated on Tuesday after his second loss of the tournament, while Casper Ruud booked his place in the semifinals.

Cup organizers apologize

DOHA, QATAR » Qatari World Cup organizers have apologized to a Danish television station whose live broadcast from a street in Doha was interrupted by security staff who threatened to break camera equipment.

Journalists from the TV2 channel “were mistakenly interrupted” late on Tuesday evening, the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy acknowledged in a statement.

Reporter Rasmus Tantholdt was speaking live to a news anchor in Denmark when three men drove up behind him on an electric cart and tried to block the camera lens. “You invited the whole world to come here, why can’t we film? It’s a public place,” Tantholdt was heard saying in English.

Team from Black college quits tournament after racial abuse

BIRMINGHAM, ALA. » A women’s volleyball team at a small, historically Black college withdrew from their conference tournament in Alabama after a member was subjected to racial abuse during an awards banquet, officials said.

A Talladega College player using a feature that allows nearby cellphones to transfer data to each other received a “racially motivated picture” during the Southern States Athletic Conference’s volleyball awards banquet, held last week during the tournament in Montgomery, the conference said in a statement.

Officials didn’t release details on what the image showed, but the conference described the act as “vile and vicious.”

The team left the banquet and quit the tournament, the college said in a statement.