Sporting briefs

Leonardo: Milan coach Leonardo could leave the club because of family issues but chief executive Adriano Galliani is confident the former Brazil international will stay. Milan lost 2-1 at Sampdoria yesterday to all but end their Serie A title hopes. "There are no problems, it's just that he has three kids in Rio and sooner or later he will go back to Brazil," Galliani said. "But I think I can convince him to stay in Italy."

Petrov: Martin Petrov will miss Manchester City's four remaining Premier League games due to a knee injury. "My season is over," Petrov said. "I wanted to play in several matches at the end of the championship but the doctors said I should take a rest for three more weeks."

Torres: Liverpool striker Fernando Torres will miss the remainder of the season after undergoing knee surgery yesterday. "Fernando saw a specialist in Spain and it was decided that he would need surgery on a torn cartilage in his right knee," a Liverpool spokesman said. Torres, 26, who has scored 22 goals in all competitions this season, was sidelined for a month after a knee operation in January. He had struggled with a groin injury at the end of last year.

As Scheduled: UEFA confirmed that both Champions League semi-finals will go ahead as scheduled this week amid ongoing air travel chaos due to clouds of volcanic ash emanating from Iceland. European football's ruling body said however the situation regarding Fulham's trip to Hamburg and Liverpool's trip to Atletico Madrid for Thursday's Europa League semi-final first leg fixtures would only be reviewed today.

Anderlecht: Anderlecht won their 30th Belgian league title with a 2-1 victory at nearest rivals Club Bruges yesterday. Brussels-based Anderlecht have an unassailable 14-point lead in the top six playoff group with just four matches to play.

Planus: Bordeaux defender Marc Planus has signed a new four-year contract with the French champions, keeping him at the Stade Chaban Delmas until 2015. Planus progressed through the ranks at Bordeaux, making his Ligue 1 debut in 2002, and has become a mainstay in the back four.

Tennis: Rafael Nadal won the Monte Carlo Masters for a record sixth consecutive time with a 6-0 6-1 drubbing of fellow Spaniard Fernando Verdasco in the final yesterday. Nadal, who had not claimed an ATP title in the past 11 months, won his 32nd straight match in the glitzy principality with yet another stunning display of claycourt tennis.

Golf: South Korea's Yang Yong-Eun won the Volvo China Open by two strokes yesterday to seal his first tournament win since becoming Asia's first Major winner at last year's PGA championship. A closing 71 gave Yang victory in the 2.5-million-dollar event, ahead of Welshmen Rhys Davies, who hit a final round 67, and 2004 champion Stephen Dodd, who carded a 69.

Basket, NBA: Boston Celtics shut down Miami Heat in the fourth quarter to record an 85-76 victory and take a 1-0 lead in their Eastern Conference play-offs first-round series. Kevin Garnett scored 15 points and made nine rebounds for the Celtics before he picked up two technical fouls and was ejected following a fourth quarter scuffle.

Rowing: British adventurer Roz Savage sets out today from the remote island nation of Kiribati on the final stage of her epic journey to be the first woman to row across the Pacific. Savage wrote on her blog that the only thing that could delay her scheduled departure for Cairns on the Australian east coast was the heavy rain. The 42-year-old began her odyssey from San Francisco in May 2008 and covered the 4,800 kilometres to Hawaii in 99 days.

Snooker: Northern Ireland's Mark Allen claimed a 10-4 victory over qualifier Tom Ford on the second day of the World Championship at the Crucible, yesterday. The man from Antrim returned with an overnight 8-1 lead and victory appeared a formality but Ford put up a fight, taking three of the five frames.