Snooker: Judd Trump became the first name through to the English Open final yesterday after beating Barry Hawkins 6-2 to step up his bid to win back-to-back tournaments. The 27-year-old, who has now won 14 matches in a row after victory at last week’s European Masters, would be the first player since Ding Junhui in 2013 to claim consecutive ranking wins. The other semi-final was being played last night between Liang Wenbo and Stuart Bingham.

Horse Racing: A top official in Australia’s premier thoroughbred racing state of Victoria has stepped aside pending an integrity probe, rocking the industry in the lead-up to the A$6.2 million ($4.70 million) Melbourne Cup. Racing Victoria (RV) said its chairman David Moodie had stood aside pending an investigation by Racing Integrity Commissioner Sal Perna. The governing body said in a statement that the probe related to “a matter” that had been reported to Perna by the body’s independent Integrity Council but provided no further details. The 156th running of the Melbourne Cup is on November 1.

Cycling: Lizzie Deignan finished fourth in defence of the UCI Road World Championships women’s road race title as Amalie Dideriksen, of Denmark, won gold in Doha, yesterday. Dideriksen won a bunch sprint at the end of the 134-kilometres road race ahead of Holland’s Kirsten Wild. Lotta Lepisto, of Finland, was third and Deignan finished one place off the podium. Deignan, nee Armitstead, won the world title in Richmond, Virginia, in September 2015, fulfilling a life-long ambition.