Tennis: Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov edged second seed Andy Murray in a semi-final clash at the Acapulco International that finished in the early hours of yesterday morning to set up a title showdown against South Africa’s Kevin Anderson. Wimbledon champion Murray won the opening set but the 22-year-old Dimitrov fought back to take the next two sets on tie-breaks to win 4-6 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (7-3) with the clock ticking past 2.30am local time. World number 21 Anderson, who lost to Marin Cilic in the Delray Beach Open title match last Sunday, reached his second final in as many weeks with a hard-fought 6-1 5-7 6-4 win against Ukraine’s Alexandr Dolgopolov in the other semi-final.
Golf: Rory McIlroy recovered from a poor start to record six birdies and earn a one-shot lead after the second round of the $6 million Honda Classic in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida on Friday. The Northern Irishman, who had been one ahead overnight after opening with a flawless 63, remained mentally upbeat despite two early bogeys and his positive attitude was rewarded with a four-under-par 66 at PGA National. “It’s just another 36-hole lead,” McIlroy told reporters after posting an 11-under total of 129, one ahead of Zimbabwean Brendon de Jonge (64) and three clear of American Russell Henley (68).
Basketball: Euroleague holders Olympiakos Piraeus face an uphill battle to reach the knockout stages following a 78-74 defeat at Fenerbahce while Barcelona stretched their winning Top 16 streak to eight matches. CSKA Moscow won a rip-roaring Russian classic against Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar 94-93. Fenerbahce hauled themselves back into the hunt for a quarter-final berth after forward Linas Kleiza and playmaker Lester Bo McCalebb scored 41 points between them in front of a fervent home crowd in Istanbul on Friday. It was a third win on the trot for Fenerbahce who have a 4-4 record as do Olympiakos, fellow Greeks Panathinaikos and Spaniards Unicaja Malaga with a four-way dogfight developing for three tickets to the knockout stages.
Cycling: A thrilled Joanna Rowsell bounced back from a chest infection to claim a first individual Track Cycling World Championships title on day three in Cali yesterday. After four team pursuit world titles – the first coming in 2008 and the most recent coming on day two in Colombia – Rowsell upset defending champion Sarah Hammer, of the United States, to win the women’s three-kilometre individual pursuit, a title she has long coveted, and claim Britain’s second gold of the championships. “It means the world to me,” the 25-year-old said. “This has been a personal goal for me for a while, I just can’t believe I pulled it off.”
Cricket: Ian Bell is to join England’s squad for the Twenty20 series in the West Indies as cover for injured batsmen Eoin Morgan and Alex Hales. Test stalwart Bell had originally been rested for the three-match series of one-day internationals in Antigua but will join up with the squad ahead of the first T20 game in Barbados on March 9. “He is a world-class player, a world-class fielder and a world-class bloke so we look forward to meeting up with him,” coach Ashley Giles told the England and Wales Cricket Board’s website yesterday. The 31-year-old Bell’s call-up comes after he was left out of England’s 30-strong squad for the T20 World Cup in Bangladesh later this month.
Snooker: Ding Junhui is just one match away from a record-equalling fifth ranking title this season, after beating Joe Perry 6-4 in the semi-finals of the Welsh Open yesterday. Ding, who has won four ranking titles this season – including the German Masters last month – is looking to equal the record of five set by Stephen Hendry in the 1990/91 season, and will now face Ronnie O’Sullivan, who beat Barry Haw-kins 6-2 in the other semi-final, over 17 frames in Newport today. Victory for China’s 26-year-old Ding would give him the 11th ranking title of his career and the £60,000 top prize.