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Tennis: Elina Svitolina (picture, right) stayed calm in the face of adversity to secure a surprise 6-3 7-5 win over German world number one Angelique Kerber as the Ukrainian advanced to the China Open quarter-finals in Beijing yesterday. The 16th-seed saved nine of 10 break points in the opening set and rallied from an early loss of serve in the second set to break Kerber twice more on her way to victory. The 22-year-old Ukrainian will next face Daria Gavrilova.
Match-fixing: Tennis investigators are examining whether a match at Wimbledon this year was fixed. The London-based Tennis Integrity Unit (TIU) received an alert regarding one match played at the championships, it has announced. Its alerts come from regulators and betting organisations, who can report matches if they notice suspicious betting patterns. The TIU said it received 96 alerts from July to September, of which two came in grand slams, the first at Wimbledon and the second at the US Open. Wimbledon ran from June 27 to July 10.
Boxing: Boxing body AIBA has sidelined all 36 referees and judges used at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics until an investigation has been concluded, it said yesterday. The boxing tournament at the Summer Games in August was embroiled in controversy over the new ‘10 point must’ scoring system, with allegations by some beaten boxers that they were “robbed” of victory. AIBA dropped a number of unidentified judges and referees during the competition, after finding that “less than a handful” of the decisions from 239 bouts reviewed were not at the level expected.
Snooker: Mark Davis edged out Liang Wenbo 4-3 in the last 16 of the European Masters, in Romania, yesterday to set up a match with Ronnie O’Sullivan. Davis is into his second ranking quarter-final of the season, having reached the same stage of the Paul Hunter Classic, though he was fortunate that his Chinese opponent missed a clear chance for victory in the penultimate frame. Anthony McGill also came through a tense decider to beat Scott Donaldson 4-3. Indian Open champion McGill is now through to his fourth quarter-final of the season and will face Neil Robertson this evening.
Golf: Olympic champion Justin Rose is taking an eight-week break from competitive golf “for rest and recovery” following a hectic 2016 campaign. The world number 11 from England said on his Twitter feed that he had not yet fully recovered from the back problem he suffered during the Players Championship in Florida in May. Rose was sidelined for a month before returning for the June 16-19 US Open at Oakmont where he missed the cut.
Rugby Union: New Zealand have suspended scrumhalf Aaron Smith for tomorrow’s Rugby Championship clash with South Africa after he was spotted going into a disabled toilet with a woman at Christchurch Airport last month. New Zealand Rugby said in a statement that Smith had “failed to meet the standards” expected of players. The 27-year-old will face a misconduct hearing when the team returns to New Zealand.