Snooker: Mark Selby and Joe Perry will meet in the quarter-finals after both secured victories in the Welsh Open in Newport, yesterday. Perry beat Stuart Bingham 4-3 in a dramatic encounter which went down to the last few balls. Selby scored a 4-1 win over Ali Carter to book his place in the last eight. The world number two made light work of Chelmsford cueist Carter. Runs of 55 and 64 gave him the first two frames before Carter pulled one back to make it 2-1. But the Leicester potter won the next, then showed his style to secure the win with a run of 81 in the final frame.
Last 16: O’Sullivan bt Walden 4-1; Higgins bt Trump 4-3; Ding bt Donaldson 4-0.
Marathon: Double Olympic champion Mo Farah has announced that he will contest the New York City Half Marathon on March 16 as part of his preparations for the London Marathon in April. Farah, who triumphed over 5,000 and 10,000 metres at the London Olympics and also took gold in both events at the World Championships in Moscow last year, previously won the NYC Half in 2011. “I can confirm that I will run the NYC Half on March 16 as part of my build-up to the London Marathon in April,” the 30-year-old said. “It will be my second time to compete in this event, after my win there in 2011. I have been training hard in Kenya and hope to use the New York race to gauge my fitness one month out from my 26.2 mile debut.”
Cycling: Olympic champions Miriam Welte and Kristina Vogel, of Germany, successfully defended their Track Cycling World Championships team sprint title on day one of competition in Cali, Colombia. The pair clocked 32.440 seconds to claim gold, with China second in 33.239 and Great Britain third. Germany, however, were unable to defend their title in the corresponding men’s event. New Zealand qualified fastest in 43.065secs and Ethan Mitchell, Sam Webster and Ed Dawkins won the final in 42.840 ahead of Rene Enders, Robert Forstemann and Maximilian Levy (42.885). France were third.
Athletics: Title-holders Ashton Eaton, Ryan Whiting and Bernard Lagat headline a powerful US team mixing youth and experience for next month’s world indoor championships in Poland. Eaton will target his world heptathlon record in the March 7-9 championships at Sopot, while 39-year-old Lagat will bid for his third consecutive and fourth overall 3,000 metres title, USA Track and Field said. Whiting became the clear-cut shot put favourite when he uncorked a 22.23 metre throw, the longest indoors in six years, to win the American trials last weekend. The Americans, who dominated the last championships in Istanbul in 2012, also should have strong contenders in 3,000m runner Galen Rupp, high jumper Erik Kynard and young sprinter Marvin Bracy.