Tennis: ATP executive chairman and president Brad Drewett has died at the age of 54. Drewett took up his post at the top of men’s tennis at the start of 2012 but it was announced in January he was suffering from Motor Neurone Disease and would be standing down. Australian Drewett reached a career high of 34 in the world rankings in 1984, eight years after making the quarter-finals of the Australian Open as a 17-year-old. He was a member of the ATP Player Council during the 1990s before moving on to oversee the ATP’s operations in the Middle East, Asia and the Pacific, while he was also tournament director of the ATP World Tour Finals.
Rallying: France’s Sebastien Loeb won the Rally of Argentina for the eighth year in a row in a Citroen yesterday. The nine-times world champion, who is not defending his title this season as he is competing in only a limited programme of events, beat Volkswagen-driving compatriot Sebastien Ogier into second place by 55 secs. Fin-land’s Jari-Matti Latvala finished third for Volkswagen. Ogier retained the cham-pionship lead after five of the 13 rounds with 122 points to Loeb’s 68. Citroen’s Mikko Hirvonen, Ogier’s closest real rival for the crown, has 57.
Winter Olympics: Georgia will compete in next year’s Winter Olympics hosted by Russia, the country’s Olympic committee decided unanimously, marking an ease in ties between the two countries which fought a five-day war in 2008. Russia and Georgia severed ties following the brief war, which followed years of tension over Moscow’s support for two rebel regions, including Abkhazia which lies just miles from Sochi, where Russia is spending more than $50 billion to host the Games. “The committee decided that Georgia should participate and I think it’s a very good decision,” Leri Khabelov, the committee president, said.
Rugby Union: Japan romped to a sixth straight Asian Five Nations title with a game to spare when they easily despatched South Korea 64-5 in another thrashing at the Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Ground yesterday. The Brave Blossoms ran in 10 tries to rack up their third bonus-point win of the tournament to leave them on an unassailable 18 from three games ahead of their final match away to the United Arab Emirates on Friday. Japan have won every edition of the Asian Five Nations and success in next year’s tournament will book them a place at the 2015 Rugby World Cup in England.
Basket, NBA: Kevin Durant scored 27 points and Kevin Martin added 25 as visiting Oklahoma City downed Houston to win the Western Conference series 4-2. Reggie Jackson added 17 points, eight assists and seven rebounds and Derek Fisher scored 11 points off the bench as the top-seeded Thunder advanced after losing Games Four and Five. Oklahoma City open the conference semi-finals at home against the fifth-seeded Memphis Grizzlies today.
Golf: Phil Mickelson (picture), spotless with his putter, surged into a two-shot lead at Friday’s halfway mark of the Wells Fargo Championship by firing a five-under-par 67 at Quail Hollow in Charlotte, North Carolina. The big lefthander made everything from inside 10 feet on the soft greens, making him 31-for-31 from those distances during the first 36 holes for a nine-under total of 135. Tied for second on 137 were fellow Americans Nick Watney (70) and George McNeil (68), and Australian Scott Gardiner (67). Another stroke away was a group that included world no.2 Rory McIlroy (71) of Northern Ireland.