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Snooker: Mark Selby (picture) moved one step away from a third Betfred World Championship title in four years as he saw off Ding Junhui again at the Crucible. Twelve months ago it was in the final where Selby denied Ding, and this time a 17-15 victory in their semi-final saw the Leicester man through to a likely title match against John Higgins. Ding may have been a resident of Sheffield for the past decade but it was defending champion Selby who brought the steel to this contest. He potted fewer balls, scored fewer points, but plotted his way to victory all the same. It is hard to imagine a tougher match player, and the ability to win against such a classy competitor as Ding shows why Selby has topped the world rankings for the last two years and is pulling away. Higgins made no mistake against Barry Hawkins, firing a break of 120 in the first frame back to clinch a 17-8 victory.
Golf: South Africa’s Dylan Frittelli will take a three-shot lead into the final day of the Volvo China Open after a second flawless round in succession in Beijing. Frittelli followed a 63 on Friday with an equally impressive 64 in yesterday’s third round to reach 19 under par at Topwin Golf and Country Club. Overnight leader Pablo Larrazabal carded five birdies and three bogeys in his 70 to lie 16 under, with former champion Alexander Levy another four strokes back following a 71.
Doping: Madrid’s Anti-Doping Laboratory was reinstated by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) on Friday, more than a year after it was suspended. The suspension, which followed WADA’s declaration last March that the Spanish Anti-Doping Agency (AEPSAD) was non-compliant, prohibited the lab from carrying out any WADA-related anti-doping activities. AEPSAD, which had missed a deadline for required changes to its drug-testing procedures, was removed from the non-compliant list early last month and an inspection of the Madrid lab followed on March 23-24.
Basketball, NBA: The Boston Celtics will face the Washington Wizards in the conference semi-finals of the NBA play-offs after both sealed victory in their respective first-round series on Friday night. Washington completed a 4-2 triumph over the Atlanta Hawks with a 115-99 win on the back of a huge performance from John Wall. The All-Star point guard finished with a game-high 42 points as well as handing out eight assists and grabbing four steals. The top-seeded Celtics also claimed a 4-2 first-round triumph, seeing off the challenge of the Chicago Bulls with a convincing 105-83 win. Avery Bradley poured in 23 points for the victors.
Tennis: World number one Andy Murray was knocked out 6-2 3-6 6-4 by Austria’s Dominic Thiem in the semi-finals of the Barcelona Open on Saturday. Thiem became the first Austrian since Thomas Muster in 1996 to reach the final of the claycourt tournament after subduing Murray for the first time in his career. Just as in Friday’s gruelling quarter-final with Albert Ramos-Vinolas, Murray got off to a bad start. The Briton relied on his serve to recover the second set but could not sustain the level and bowed out.Thiem will meet nine-times Barcelona Open champion Rafael Nadal, who beat Argentine Horacio Zeballos, in today’s final.
WTA Stuttgart SFs: Mladenovic bt Sharapova 3-6, 7-5, 6-4; Siegemund bt Halep 6-4, 7-5.