MotoGP: Spaniard Maverick Vinales will make his Yamaha debut on pole position after yesterday’s qualifying for MotoGP’s floodlit season-opening Qatar Grand Prix was abandoned due to rain and thunderstorms. With standing water left by overnight rain and more storms building up, all action on the Losail track was cancelled for the evening with the starting grids for today’s race decided on combined times from practice. Vinales was fastest on Friday and therefore secured his first pole position in the top flight. He was joined on the front row by Suzuki’s Italian rider Andrea Iannone and reigning triple world champion Marc Marquez on a Honda.
Boxing: An investigation is under way after a 17-year-old amateur boxer died shortly after collapsing in the ring. Derbyshire Police said they were called to the Post Mill Centre, South Normanton, at 10.17pm on Friday. The youth, who is from Ripley, near Derby, was given medical treatment at the bout but was pronounced dead on arrival at Kings Mill Hospital, in Mansfield. Formal identification has yet to take place and a post-mortem examination is due to be carried out to establish the cause of death. The centre’s website stated that an “amateur open boxing show” was being held at the venue between 7pm and 11pm that night, organised by the South Normanton School of Boxing.
Basketball: Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker became the unlikeliest member of an elite scoring club when he erupted for 70 points on Friday against Boston Celtics. Just the sixth NBA player to ever reach the scoring mark, Booker joins hallowed players Wilt Chamberlain, Kobe Bryant, David Thompson, Elgin Baylor and David Robinson. It was an astounding performance from Booker, a 20-year-old second-year player, and one few could predict coming. Phoenix (22-51) fell to Boston 130-120 but Booker stole the limelight with his shooting.
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Tennis: Venus Williams (picture, right) overcame windy weather and an unfamiliar opponent in Brazilian Beatriz Haddad Maia to reach the third round of the Miami Open. After rain delays pushed her match well into the night, three-time champion Williams moved past her 20-year-old challenger 6-4 6-3. The biggest upset of the day came when Elena Vesnina, fresh off her victory at Indian Wells, suffered a stunning 3-6 6-4 7-5 loss to world number 594 Ajla Tomljanovic. Williams told the Miami Herald she struggled with the windy conditions.
Rugby Union: England’s Rugby Football Union will back a proposal to reduce the length of the Six Nations to six weeks from the current seven to improve the tournament, the governing body’s chief executive Ian Ritchie has said. Clubs in the English Premiership are also backing the proposal, which was rejected at the last World Rugby talks in San Francisco due to concerns over the strain that a shortened tournament may place on players. Ritchie said: “We believe it is perfectly right to have a six-week competition as opposed to a seven-week one. We think the tournament would improve.” The proposal will come up for approval at a meeting of the Six Nations board next month.