Snooker: Neil Robertson stayed on course for his third title in four months by beating Mark Allen 6-4 in the Welsh Open semi-finals, yesterday. The 34-year-old Australian won the Champion of Champions in November and the UK Championship in December, and is now just one win away from what would be his second Welsh Open crown and 12th ranking title of his career. The match turned on an incident in the third frame when Allen accidentally fouled when set to go 3-0 up, and Robertson took advantage to win six of the last eight frames.
Alpine Skiing: Lindsey Vonn won a record 20th World Cup trophy with second place in yesterday’s downhill in the northern Italian resort of La Thuile, after having to withdraw a video on social media for fear of upsetting her ski sponsor. Second place was enough to leave the American 173 points ahead of nearest rival Larisa Yurkiw of Canada in the downhill cup standings with one race – offering a maximum 100 points – remaining on the calendar. Vonn, who had previously shared the record of 19 titles with Swedish great Ingemar Stenmark who raced in the 1970s and 1980s, cut a much more cheerful figure after Friday’s controversy which followed her early exit from the first downhill at La Thuile.
Rio Games: Striker Alex Morgan scored a hat-trick as the United States booked a place in the Rio Olympic women’s football tournament with a 5-0 demolition of Trinidad and Tobago in a semi-final at the CONCACAF qualifying tournament in Houston on Friday. Canada, boosted by two goals from Christine Sinclair, also earned a ticket to Rio with a 3-1 win over Costa Rica in the other semi-final. The US and Canada will meet in today’s final, but the mission has already been accomplished by both teams, with Olympic qualifying the top priority.
Cricket: Brendon McCullum blasted the fastest test century to rescue New Zealand before Australia were reduced to 57 for one by the close of day one of the second test yesterday. The New Zealand captain scored a brilliant 145, with his first 100 runs coming from 54 balls, as the hosts were dismissed for 370 after tea at Hagley Oval in Christchurch. McCullum needed two fewer balls than the 56 that West Indies’ Viv Richards required for his century against England in Antigua in 1986 and Pakistan’s Misbah-ul-Haq took against Australia in Abu Dhabi in 2014.
Basket, NBA: Guard Damian Lillard said not getting an invitation to participate in the All-Star Game didn’t provide extra motivation on Friday night at the Moda Centre. He could have fooled a lot of people with his performance in Portland Trail Blazers’ 137-105 drubbing of Golden State Warriors. Lillard bombed in a career-high 51 points to lead the Trail Blazers (28-27) to the rout of the defending champions and the team with the NBA’s best record this season. Guard Stephen Curry scored 31 points despite not playing the fourth quarter for the Warriors (48-5), who saw an 11-game win streak ended.