Rugby Union: England centre Manu Tuilagi has been banned from playing for his country and will miss the World Cup after pleading guilty to two counts of assaulting a police officer. The 23-year-old was fined £5,500 when he appeared before magistrates in Leicester. The incident took place on April 26. Yesterday, England head coach Stuart Lancaster announced that Tuilagi, who has 25 caps, would not be considered for selection until January 2016, ruling him out of the World Cup this year. Tuilagi pleaded guilty to one count of assault, one count of criminal damage and two counts of assaulting a police officer.
Cycling: Alberto Contador rode through the pain of a dislocated shoulder to retain the race lead on the longest stage of the Giro d’Italia, which was won by Diego Ulissi. Spaniard Contador suffered the injury in a big crash in the frantic sprint finish on Thursday’s sixth stage, but started the 264km seventh stage from Grosseto to Fiuggi yesterday. Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo), who crashed out of the 2014 Tour de France before returning to win the Vuelta a Espana, finished the stage in the bunch as Lampre-Merida’s Ulissi won. Today’s eighth stage is the 186km from Fiuggi to Campitello Matese.
Athletics: Justin Gatlin blasted out a warning that he is in shape to challenge Usain Bolt’s 100m hegemony when he stormed to a lifetime best 9.74 seconds to win the event in the opening Diamond League meeting of the season yesterday. Gatlin dominated the sprint scene last season as Bolt rarely raced because of injury and showed that he remains in blistering shape with a superb run in perfect conditions. The 33-year-old American was away and clear by halfway, punching the air after clocking the world leading time and leaving second-place American Mike Rodgers trailing by more than two metres in 9.96.
Basketball: Triple Euroleague champions Olympiakos Piraeus fought back to edge CSKA Moscow 70-68 in a nail-biting contest to reach the final after overcoming a nine-point deficit in the fourth quarter yesterday. Playmaker Vassilis Spanoulis scored 11 of his 13 points in the last five minutes of a rip-roaring contest as Olympiakos continued to haunt their more fancied Russian rivals. The outcome was almost a carbon copy of the 2012 final in Istanbul, when a buzzer-beating hook-shot by forward Georgios Printezis gave the Greek side a 62-61 win. Their opponents in tomorrow’s final will be either Real Madrid or Fenerbahce.