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Tennis: Canadian Eugenie Bouchard (picture) has lashed out at the WTA for giving Maria Sharapova the chance to compete in tournaments after serving a 15-month doping ban and said the Russian is a “cheater” who should never be allowed to play again. Bouchard said: “She’s a cheater and I don’t think a cheater in any sport should be allowed to play that sport again. It’s so unfair to all the other players who do it the right way and are true. I think from the WTA it sends the wrong message to young kids: ‘cheat and we’ll welcome you back with open arms’. I don’t think that’s right and (Sharapova is) definitely not someone I can say I look up to any more.”
Golf: An unrepentant Lexi Thompson again broke down in tears while discussing the controversial penalty that upended her title bid at the year’s first major three weeks ago and has since led to an expedited rule change. Thompson broke down when asked about the toughest part of the last few weeks. “The hardest part was just going through it,” the 22-year-old American said as she struggled to regain her composure. “I don’t think I’ve ever played any better.” Thompson had six holes to play when her three-shot lead was wiped out by penalties for infringements committed the previous day and brought to the attention of officials by an e-mail from a television viewer.
Boxing: Wladimir Klitschko told IBF world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua defeat was “nothing to be scared of” at a packed news conference ahead of their sell-out title fight at Wembley Stadium on Saturday. Ukrainian Klitschko, 41, said he was obsessed with reclaiming the heavyweight titles he lost against Britain’s Tyson Fury in November 2015 - his first defeat in 11 years. Saturday’s fight will see the biggest crowd for a boxing match in Britain since 1939 when 90,000 watched Len Harvey take on Jock McAvoy at London’s White City.
Rugby Union: Wales will host southern hemisphere powerhouses New Zealand, Australia and South Africa as part of their four-test autumn international programme, Welsh Rugby Union Chief Executive Martyn Phillips has said. Warren Gatland, who will resume his duties as Wales head coach after leading the British and Irish Lions on a tour of New Zealand in June and July, will also put his side up against Georgia during the series, which will be played at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium.
Cricket: The plan to create a new city-based Twenty20 tournament for English cricket in 2020 has been approved after 38 of the 41 members of the England and Wales Cricket Board voted in favour of the competition. The new tournament will follow a format similar to the Indian Premier League with eight as yet unnamed city-based teams playing televised games followed by playoffs to decide the two teams in the final. “I passionately believe that the game has chosen the right path,” ECB chairman Colin Graves said. Kent is the only county that abstained from voting while Middlesex and Essex voted against the competition.