Snooker: Ronnie O’Sullivan continued his march in Bucharest yesterday by beating Mark Allen in the last 16 of the European Masters. The five-time world champion, who missed the first four tournaments of the season, secured his third win of the week and booked his quarter-final spot with a 4-2 victory against the Northern Irishman. Earlier, Ricky Walden was stunned 4-3 by Alfie Burden as world number five John Higgins scraped through 4-3 against Tom Ford. In the day’s final game, Neil Robertson produced a break of 103 as he eased to a 4-1 victory against Rhys Clark.
Tennis: Top seed Andy Murray set up an all-British quarter-final against Kyle Edmund at the China Open yesterday after he saw off Andrey Kuznetsov 6-2 6-1 in Beijing. World number two Murray continued his return to action since suffering a thigh injury playing for Great Britain in the Davis Cup with another composed display to defeat the Russian without too much cause for concern. Earlier, British number two Edmund beat Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut in three sets.
Rugby Union: France, Ireland and South Africa are the three countries in the running to host the 2023 Rugby World Cup, World Rugby (WR) said. Italy withdrew its application last week after failing to guarantee government support for staging the event. “I would like to congratulate the unions for successfully progressing to candidate status and we welcome further dialogue with all parties as momentum builds towards the selection of the Rugby World Cup 2023 host,” WR chairman Bill Beaumont said. World Rugby will unveil the host nation of the 2023 World Cup in November, 2017.
Golf: The late Arnold Palmer was given a moving, highly emotional and often humorous tribute by leading figures from the golf world on Tuesday during a lengthy memorial service in his hometown of Latrobe, Pennsylvania. Fellow golf great and long-time friend Jack Nicklaus described Palmer as a man who “managed to remove the ‘i’ from icon” while International Golf Federation president Peter Dawson said the American had been golf’s most successful ambassador. Palmer, one of golf’s greatest players, was honoured during a memorial service at the Saint Vincent Basilica Parish in Latrobe that lasted two hours and 20 minutes.
Tennis: The heated rivalry between Swede Bjorn Borg and American John McEnroe is the centerpiece of a new film on the famous battles between the tennis greats both on and off the court. “Borg/McEnroe,” starring Swedish actor Sverrir Gudnason as Borg and US actor Shia LaBeouf as McEnroe, traces the rivalry between the two tennis players at the 1980 Wimbledon final, considered to be one of the best tennis matches ever played. The film, scheduled to debut in the fall of 2017, will also star veteran Swedish actor Stellan Skarsgard as Borg’s coach.