Snooker: Ronnie O’Sullivan came close to a shock first-round loss at the Dafabet Masters at Alexandra Palace in London yesterday before beating China’s Liang Wenbo 6-5. Defending champion O’Sullivan was 5-4 down as the Chinese cueman won three straight frames to overturn a 4-2 deficit. And the best-of-11 contest reached the decisive frame, when O’Sullivan recorded his best break, of 121. The 41-year-old Englishman is seeking a record seventh Masters title. O’Sullivan will play either Neil Robertson or Ali Carter in the quarter-finals. The tournament finishes next Sunday.

Basket, NBA: Los Angeles Clippers avenged their Christmas Day defeat to the Lakers with a 113-97 victory to continue their unbeaten start to the new year. DeAndre Jordan was the star for the Clippers, who were beaten 111-102 by their cross-city rivals on Christmas night, with 24 points and 21 rebounds, while Chris Paul collected 20 points and 13 assists. It was an emphatic victory for the Clippers, who never trailed as they improved their record in 2017 to six wins from as many games while handing the Lakers a third successive loss.

Golf: Two days after Justin Thomas opened with a magical 11-under-par 59 at the Sony Open in Hawaii, fellow American Kevin Kisner fell agonisingly short of following suit when he narrowly missed an eagle putt on his final hole. Kisner watched as his attempt from 10 feet slid past the right edge of the cup at the par-five ninth and he then tapped in for a birdie to card a career-best 60 on the PGA Tour for a 13-under total of 197 after three rounds. “I hit two great shots (on the ninth hole) and had a great look at it,” Kisner told Golf Channel about his bid to become only the eighth player to break 60 on the US circuit. “Just a little bit of a misread, I guess.”