Snooker: Ken Doherty drew on the memories of his greatest Crucible triumphs as he struck a blow for snooker’s senior citizens yesterday. The Irish crowd favourite battled from 5-3 behind to win 10-5 against Stuart Bingham in the first round of the World Championship, punching the air in delight as he sealed his win. As World Snooker chairman Barry Hearn considers handing tour wild cards to veterans Steve Davis, Stephen Hendry and Jimmy White, it fell to 44-year-old Doherty to show it should be a long time before he needs any such exemption. “I’m here to enjoy myself, but I’m not here to make up the numbers,” Doherty said. “I’ve had a lot of special memories out there and they come flooding back when you’re out there in the heat of the battle.” Other result: Carter bt Guodong 10-8.
Golf: A four-hour weather delay was the only obstacle for Lee Westwood as the Englishman cantered to a seven-stroke win in the European Tour’s Malaysian Open yesterday to end an almost two-year trophy drought. The former world number one carded a bogey-free final round of four-under-par 68 for a four-day total of 18-under. Austrian Bernd Wiesberger (67), South African Louis Oosthuizen (68) and Belgian Nicolas Colsaerts (70) finished tied for the second spot at 11-under.
Boxing: Bernard Hopkins once again made history by becoming the oldest boxer to unify a weight division after adding the WBA light-heavyweight crown to his IBF title with a split-decision victory over Beibut Shumenov. Hopkins, already the oldest man to win a recognised world title, continues to confound his critics at 49 and once more beat a much younger man in Washington. However, a split-decision verdict – two scores of 116-111 in his favour against 114-113 in Shumenov’s – did not reflect his dominance.
Tennis: Novak Djokovic raised questions over his participation in both the French Open and Wimbledon as he admitted he could not play tennis for “some time” because of a wrist injury. The Serbian was struggling with the problem as he lost to Roger Federer in the semi-finals of the Monte Carlo Masters on Saturday and afterwards conceded he needed to take a break from the sport. The six-time grand slam winner said he would not be having surgery, but could not put a timescale on how long he would be out for.