Motorcycling: Ducati’s Andrea Dovizioso will start today’s Dutch MotoGP round on pole position after a wet and crash-filled afternoon at Assen. The pole was the Italian’s first since Qatar at the start of last year, and fourth in the top category, and he was joined on the front row by compatriot Valentino Rossi, in second place for Yamaha. Dovizioso’s qualifying time of one minute 45.256 seconds was more than half a second quicker than Rossi’s best. Rossi, 37, won at Assen last year and is also chasing his second successive victory.

Motor Racing: Monaco-born teenager Charles Leclerc will replace Mexican Esteban Gutierrez in Friday first practice sessions at five Formula One races this season, starting with Silverstone next month, the US-owned Haas team said. The 18-year-old Ferrari academy driver, who is currently competing in the GP3 series and won the season-opener in Spain, will also feature in practice in Hungary, Germany, Malaysia and Abu Dhabi. Haas are Formula One’s newest team, making their debut this season with Ferrari engines and technical support.

Golf: South African Branden Grace joined a growing list of leading golfers withdrawing from the Rio Olympics due to concerns about the Zika virus. The world number 11, who is South Africa’s top ranked golfer, joins compatriots Louis Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel in pulling out of the August Games, which will see the sport return for the first time in 112 years. Grace’s withdrawal means Jaco Van Zyl (world number 59) and Brandon Stone (101) are in line to represent South Africa in Rio.

Olympics: Japanese hammer thrower Koji Murofushi, who won Olympic gold in Athens 12 years ago and bronze in London four years ago, has come up short in his bid to compete at a fifth Games in Rio de Janeiro in August. The 41-year-old, who also won the world title in Daegu in 2011, came out of a two-year retirement to make his bid but failed to meet the qualifying mark of 77 metres while finishing 12th at the Japan national championships. Murofushi, who had been seeking a 21st national title, also finished ninth at his first Olympics in Sydney in 2000 and fifth in Beijing in 2008.

Athletics: Indian sprinter Dutee Chand made the cut for the women’s 100m at the Rio Olympics yesterday, less than a year after she was cleared to race following the Court of Arbitration for Sport’s (CAS) ruling on gender testing guidelines. The Lausanne-based court suspended the governing International Association of Athletics Federations’ (IAAF) regulations regarding hyperandrogenism, a condition which produces high testosterone levels, for two years. It cleared the way for Chand to compete again in both domestic and international events after she was forced to sit out about a year of competition. Yesterday, she clocked a national record 11.30 seconds in the 100m heats.

Rugby Union: Flyhalf Beauden Barrett grabbed two tries in his 26 points as the All Blacks completed a series sweep over Wales with a 46-6 third test victory at Otago Regional Stadium in Dunedin yesterday. Barrett, who finished the game at full-back, added points from the boot with two penalties and five conversions, while Ben Smith, George Moala, Dan Coles and Israel Dagg all scored tries as the All Blacks blew the score out in the second half. Flyhalf Dan Biggar kicked two first half penalties for the visitors, who had been enterprising and put the world champions under pressure in the first two tests but ran out of steam after 12 months of constant rugby.