Rugby League: Super League clubs have voted to introduce a marquee player rule for 2016. The controversial proposal, which had been rejected three times in the last two years, was finally given the go-ahead at the Super League annual meeting in Manchester yesterday. The move will enable the wealthier clubs to sign a high-profile player whose salary will be at least partially exempt from the £1.85 million salary cap.

America’s Cup: Alan Bond, the flamboyant Australian businessman who funded the country’s historic 1983 America’s Cup victory before losing his fortune and his freedom, was in a coma yesterday after open-heart surgery, media reported. The 77-year-old Bond was in intensive care in a hospital in the city of Perth following a triple-bypass operation, his former wife, Eileen Bond, told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Bond’s three children, John, Craig and Jody, released a statement confirming that he had been admitted to hospital, where he was in a critical condition, after returning home from London.

Snooker: China’s Zhao Xintong continued to build his reputation as an emerging star with a 5-2 victory over Barry Pinches to reach the third qualifying round of the Australian Open. Zhao, who was runner-up in the World Amateur Championship in 2013, just missed out on a place on the tour at Q School, but the 18-year-old is likely to be offered a place in most ranking events this season having finished second on the Q School ranking list. And he is now within two wins of a trip to Australia thanks to wins over Kuldesh Johal and Pinches in Crawley.