Rugby Union: England flanker James Haskell has reassured fans he is alive after rumours surfaced on the internet that he had died of a steroid overdose. Yesterday, the Wasps back row posted a video on YouTube in which he described the fake stories as “click-bait”. “You may have seen there are quite a lot of fake news stories operating on Facebook,” he said. “Just to make it clear, this is absolute rubbish.” Haskell is currently recovering from a foot injury.

Rugby League: A promising 17-year-old player died in a “tragic accident” after he slipped during a tackle and hit his head on the ground, an inquest has heard. Ronan Costello was playing for Huddersfield’s Under-19s team against Salford on June 11 when he suffered a severe traumatic brain injury after being tackled by two opposition players. The tackle was not malicious and the teenager’s “devastated” family did not hold the Salford players responsible for his death, the inquest at Bradford Coroner’s Court heard.

Snooker: Alex Borg has booked his place in the second round of the Scottish Open. Yesterday, the Maltese player had the better of England’s Daniel Womersley 4-2 at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow. Borg will now be again in action tomorrow when he plays Ricky Walden. The Englishman yesterday ousted Chinese player Tian Pengfei 4-1. In other first round matches, Matthew Stevens, of Wales, had the better of Ireland’s Ken Doherty 4-0 while Hong Kong’s Marco Fu beat Sandersom Lam, of England, 4-1.

Cricket: Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin blew away England’s lower order resistance to spin India to a crushing series-clinching victory on the final day of the fourth test at the Wankhede Stadium yesterday. The touring side, who resumed the final day on 182 for six, were only able to add 13 runs to their total as Ashwin (6-55) took all four remaining wickets in a little more than half an hour and the hosts won by an innings and 36 runs.