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Golf: World number two Rory McIlroy (picture) has signed a long-term extension to his contract with Nike ahead of this week’s US Masters at Augusta National. “Looking forward to the next 10+ years as a @nike athlete,” the Northern Irishman said on his Twitter account. The world’s biggest sportswear maker said last August that it would stop selling golf equipment – including clubs, golf balls and bags – to focus on footwear, apparel with the familiar swoosh logo and partnering more golfers.
Winter Olympics: North Korea will be allowed to travel to South Korea for the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics if it wishes to take part, Seoul’s Unification Ministry said. North Korean athletes need approval from Seoul to enter the South as the 1950-53 Korean War ended with a truce, not a peace treaty, leaving the two Koreas technically in a state of war. The ministry’s comments come after Choi Moon-soon, the governor of the 2018 host city’s province, said on Sunday that a North Korean sports official had told him the North wanted to take part in the Games.
Cricket: Former England opener Michael Carberry enjoyed a fairytale return to first class cricket following his battle with cancer, scoring a century for county side Hampshire in their pre-season fixture against Cardiff MCCU in Southampton. The 36-year-old lefthander, who was diagnosed with a cancerous tumour last July, scored 100 off 121 balls at the Rose Bowl on Sunday, prompting a standing ovation from the small crowd.
Rugby: European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR) has awarded the 2018 Champions Cup, Challenge Cup and Continental Shield finals to Bilbao, making the Spanish city the first host of the weekend festival outside Europe’s traditional rugby territories. Bilbao will become the first city outside Britain, Ireland and France to host the event, while the 2019 finals have been awarded to Newcastle, the EPCR said in a statement yesterday. Next year’s finals will be held at San Mames Stadium, the home of La Liga side Athletic Bilbao.
Motor Racing: Italian rookie Antonio Giovinazzi will again replace Pascal Wehrlein at Sauber in Sunday’s Chinese Grand Prix due to the German’s fitness issues, the Swiss-based Formula One team said yesterday. Sauber are hoping Wehrlein, who withdrew from last month’s season-opener in Australia, could be back for the third round in Bahrain or Russia after that. Giovinazzi, a Ferrari-backed driver who is the first Italian to race in Formula One since 2011, made an impressive debut in Melbourne when he finished 12th.