Inspiral will head straight to Royal Ascot after bypassing the Al Shaqab Lockinge Stakes at Newbury.
The Group One-winning filly, trained by John and Thady Gosden, had topped the ante-post market for the Group One mile contest at the Berkshire track.
However, she was a surprise omission for the feature event at the confirmation stage on Monday.
Owned by Cheveley Park Stud, the daughter of Frankel won the Coronation Stakes and the Prix Jacques le Marois in her three-year-old campaign, adding to her success in the Fillies’ Mile as a juvenile.
While the Gosdens will instead be represented by Laurel, who is one of 16 possibles for the race won by the brilliant Baaeed last season, Inspiral will make a belated four-year-old debut.
Cheveley Park Stud’s managing director Chris Richardson explained: “There is no issue with her. Mrs Thompson was adamant that she wanted the filly to go straight to Royal Ascot, as we did last year.
“She looks great, but she is not quite there, is the general feeling. It is like last year, so rather than rush her, we decided to wait.
“It has been cold and miserable and it has just taken time for these fillies to come to themselves.
“We just felt she blossomed in June last year and we didn’t really want to rush her, so the Queen Anne will be her likely target.”
Curtis Strange believes Jon Rahm and Scottie Scheffler have separated themselves from their rivals and backed an “intense” Rahm to enjoy a stellar career.
Rahm is top of the world rankings after four wins from 11 events in 2023, including succeeding Scheffler as the Masters champion after claiming his second major title at Augusta National.
Scheffler made a successful title defence in the WM Phoenix Open and also won the prestigious Players Championship at Sawgrass, leaving him just behind Rahm in the rankings but a full two points clear of Rory McIlroy in third.
The leading pair are unsurprisingly vying for favouritism ahead of the 105th US PGA Championship at Oak Hill, where Strange won the second of his back-to-back US Open titles in 1989 and will be on commentary duties for ESPN.
“They’re first and second in damn near every category,” Strange said of Rahm and Scheffler.
“Then when you look at wins there’s four and two, and top fives are equal and top 10s are equal. Who’s best? Whoever shoots the lowest score that day.
“How do you split hairs when they’re both so doggone good and both separated themselves from the rest of the field at this point in time.
“With all due respect to Scottie Scheffler, Jon Rahm to me when he started on the tear earlier this year, I thought to myself he’s a guy that could be one of the few guys in the history of this game that could win eight or nine tournaments in a year.
“The last guy to do that is Tiger Woods and I believe the guy to do that before him was Vijay (Singh).
“How can he win eight or nine tournaments a year? He physically has the strength. He’s a mountain of a man. He’s so strong.
“He mentally has the focus and the intensity to last through that 12-month period and to stay on top of his game. Then he’s got the talent. He’s got the length off the tee. When he gets on a stretch putting, he’s tough to beat.
“Scottie could do that. I just think Jon has a bit more intensity to hang in to do that over the course of 10 to 12 months.”
Asked how many majors he thinks Rahm is capable of winning, Strange added: “It’s impossible to predict (but) there’s certainly huge potential for a guy like that.
“Again, I like to think of his intensity. He doesn’t look like he’s going to win some and back off and get comfortable. He looks like he’s got an inner drive to do the best he can over a 20-year career.
“At the Masters he looked dominant. Strength shows its face so many different ways, and to me it showed it particularly when the weather got really cold and nasty on Friday and Saturday.
“His strength and his ability to hit the golf ball showed well during some of those difficult times.”
Jayson Tatum scored a playoff career-high 51 points – the most ever in a Game 7 in NBA history – to lead the Boston Celtics to a 112-88 win over the Philadelphia 76ers on Sunday to return to the Eastern Conference finals.
After his 16 point fourth-quarter performance rallied the Celtics to a Game 6 victory, Tatum was hot from the start in the winner-take-all Game 7, going 17-of-28 from the field – including 6 of 10 from 3-point range – while grabbing 13 rebounds to help Boston advance to face the Miami Heat in the East finals for a second year in a row.
The series will begin Wednesday in Boston.
Jaylen Brown added 25 points and Malcolm Brogdon scored 12 off the bench for the Celtics, who broke the game open in the third quarter.
With the game tied at 55 early in the third, Boston went on a 28-3 run while holding the 76ers without a point for 6:20 to build an 83-58 advantage.
Tatum scored 17 of Boston’s 33 third-quarter points as the 76ers were limited to just 10 points in the period – tied for the lowest-scoring quarter by a team in a playoff game in the shot clock era.
While Tatum’s point total surpassed Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry’s 50-point mark set just two weeks ago against the Sacramento Kings for the most in a Game 7 in league history, MVP Joel Embiid and James Harden combined for just 24 points.
Embiid finished with 15 points on 5-of-18 shooting and eight rebounds and Harden scored just nine while misfiring on 8 of 11 shots.
The 76ers lost in the conference finals for the third year in a row and fifth time in six seasons.
Cameron Norrie set up a last-16 clash with Novak Djokovic at the Italian Open thanks to a 6-2 7-6 (4) victory over Marton Fucsovics.
The British number one had looked on track for a straightforward triumph as he won the first set with minimal fuss and then stormed into a 5-1 lead in the second, only for his Hungarian opponent to fight back to 5-5.
Norrie edged the tie-break which followed, 7-4, however, and will next face Djokovic after the world number one continued his winning run by overcoming Grigor Dimitrov 6-3 4-6 6-1.
The Serbian was given a tough test by the Bulgarian, who – having been 3-1 down in the second set – broke twice to force the decider, but the top seed and defending champion rallied to see out the match convincingly.
“(I was) very solid. I think I could have won in straight sets,” 22-time grand slam winner Djokovic told the ATP website.
“I was a set and 4-2 up and had a pretty decent forehand in the middle of the court at deuce on his serve and missed that.
“He held his serve well, we had new balls the next game, I did a double fault, the crowd got into it and got behind him and of course the energy of the place and of the match changed.
“I dropped my level a bit, but luckily I managed find it right away in the first game (of the third set), made that crucial break and kind of shifted the momentum to my side, so I’m really pleased with the way I closed out the match.”
Russian world number three Daniil Medvedev earned his maiden win at the tournament with a 6-4 6-2 triumph over Finland’s Emil Ruusuvuori and expressed his relief at finally winning a match in Rome.
“We can talk about all of the matches I lost here, they were different,” Medvedev told the ATP website after reaching the third round.
“The first one, I feel like I should have won, but it is (what it is). Whenever I come to a tournament, I know that I can play well, so I’m happy to finally get the win here in Rome.”
Denmark’s Holger Rune continued his good run with a 6-4 6-2 success against Andy Murray’s conqueror Fabio Fognini, while Norway’s world number four Casper Ruud defeated Alexander Bublik 6-1 4-6 7-6 (0).
In the women’s event, defending champion Iga Swiatek eased into the last 16 with a comfortable victory over Lesia Tsurenko.
The world number one continued her strong start in the tournament, cruising to a 6-2 6-0 success, and was pleased with another solid performance.
“For sure, after a pretty rusty start, I was able to break back pretty quickly, so I’m happy that I played solid game,” she said in her post-match press conference.
“Just to have another experience playing on centre court… and I’m happy that it wasn’t raining!”
Czechia’s Marie Bouzkova’s upset Coco Gauff in their last-32 encounter, prevailing 4-6 6-2 6-2 to oust the American sixth seed, while Madison Keys advanced to the last 16 via walkover after her opponent Victoria Azarenka withdrew due to a leg injury.
Sale Sharks boss Alex Sanderson hailed George Ford as “a little pocket of calm amid the chaos” after his team reached a first Gallagher Premiership final for 17 years.
England international fly-half Ford was a dominant presence, guiding Sale home against his former club Leicester in an absorbing play-off clash at a sold-out AJ Bell Stadium.
Ford, who went off injured in last season’s Premiership final when Leicester beat Saracens – Sale’s opponents at Twickenham on May 27 – kicked three penalties and a conversion.
But he also epitomised Sale’s resilient attitude against a Tigers team that pushed them all the way before going down to a 21-13 defeat.
“They are a special group, these boys. They had to drink deep from the well today,” Sale rugby director Sanderson said.
“They stuck to the task, and George Ford drove that – a little pocket of calm amid the chaos.
“You need to be physically up to the task, you need a heart, you have really got to want it. What more can you ask for?
“I am proud of how they stuck at it and just got better at the basics as the game went on.”
Sale now face Saracens in pursuit of a Premiership crown that they last claimed when players like Jason Robinson, Charlie Hodgson and Sebastien Chabal ruled the roost.
And for Sanderson that means preparing a team to try and beat a club he spent several successful seasons with as an integral part of Mark McCall’s coaching staff.
Sale, though, look set to be without captain Ben Curry, who was carried off during the first half after suffering a hamstring injury.
Sanderson added: “He will get a scan tomorrow. He is on crutches and he got carried off. We will see tomorrow, but I doubt if he will make the final.
“I spent the major part of my life down there with those guys (at Saracens), but I am so engrained in this here that it feels like I have been here forever. It adds a little bit more spice.”
Wings Tom Roebuck and Arron Reed scored tries for Sale, but Leicester held a 13-10 lead with 24 minutes left before the Ford-inspired Sharks turned things their way.
A battling Leicester performance delivered a second-half try for wing Harry Potter, plus eight points from the boot of 39-year-old Jimmy Gopperth, who was a late replacement for World Cup-winning South African fly-half Handre Pollard.
Tigers’ interim head coach Richard Wigglesworth will join the England set-up of his former Leicester boss Steve Borthwick this summer, and a second successive Premiership final appearance proved just beyond the east Midlanders.
Wigglesworth said: “It was a close game, small margins. We just couldn’t find the advantage to tip it in our favour.
“We stuck in the contest, and we can’t fault the spirit and fight in the group.
“I am incredibly proud to have been asked to lead this group. I am so grateful for how they (Leicester) have treated me.”
And on Pollard’s absence, he added: “We only made that call this morning.
“Handre hadn’t trained for the last couple of training days. It was a calf issue, which is incredibly painful, but it can also clear up at a moment’s notice.”
The Memphis Grizzlies suspended Ja Morant from all team activities on Sunday after the All-Star point guard appeared to again be holding a gun during a social media video.
Morant previously served an eight-game suspension that was handed down by the NBA for being seen holding a gun live on Instagram while at a club when Memphis was playing in Denver in early March.
In the latest video, Morant is in a vehicle and appears to have a gun in his hands while someone else filmed him and broadcast it live on Instagram.
“We are aware of the social media post involving Ja Morant and are in the process of gathering more information,” NBA spokesman Mike Bass said.
The Grizzlies said Morant is suspended “pending league review.”
The NBA suspended Morant earlier this season for “conduct detrimental to the league.”
“Ja’s conduct was irresponsible, reckless and potentially very dangerous,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement in March. “It also has serious consequences given his enormous following and influence, particularly among young fans who look up to him.”
Morant announced that he was stepping away to seek help after the first video went viral, and he later did an interview with ESPN during his suspension.
“I don’t condone any type of violence,” Morant told ESPN. “But I take full responsibility for my actions. I made a bad mistake and I can see the image that I painted over myself with my recent mistakes.
“But in the future, I’m going to show everybody who Ja really is, what I’m about and change this narrative.”
Morant was named to the All-Star team for the second straight season in 2022-23 and averaged 26.2 points while setting career highs with 8.1 assists and 5.9 rebounds per game.
Memphis went 51-31 to win the Southwest Division and earn the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference playoffs, but the Grizzlies were ousted in six games in the first round by the seventh-seeded Los Angeles Lakers.
Saracens may have broadened their horizons in attack this season but Owen Farrell insists they have always played with greater adventure than given credit for.
One victory separates Saracens from a sixth Gallagher Premiership title after they crushed Northampton 38-15 in Saturday’s semi-final at StoneX Stadium.
Director of rugby Mark McCall described it as “our strongest defensive performance for years”, but it is in their willingness to attack that the club have evolved most significantly.
Frustrated by last season’s defeat to Leicester in the Premiership final, they resolved to show more ambition for 2022-23 and have flourished as a consequence with only Saints scoring more tries in the regular season.
Farrell has been at the heart of the buccaneering with assistance from Alex Goode and Elliot Daly, but England’s captain denies that it is a radical change in direction for Saracens.
“There was always a perception about us before – and at times rightly so – that we were this team that just strangled teams and kicked everything,” Farrell said.
“But if you look back, in some of the finals we had against Exeter and Clermont, we played rugby.
“People were talking as if we didn’t play rugby, as if we just kicked everything and used the driving maul. I don’t know how people thought we won games, but we played rugby.
“We would have patches of it during the season and then go back to fundamentals.
“We were trying to bring more of it out and the bits that we showed in the past before have showed us that we were ready for doing more of it. It felt like we were ready to do it, so that’s why we did.
“We’ve come from a place – and rightly so – that was built on solid foundations: a good kicking game and defence. And attack came off the back of that.
“That started a long time ago, even before I left school. That served us unbelievably well. I just feel we’ve been ready for a bigger jump this year.
“The key thing has been to take that into the bigger games and I’m glad we did that against Northampton.”
Farrell and Goode were the catalysts for Saracens’ dynamism against Saints, pulling the strings in a dazzling start to the play-off.
“It’s about picking our heads up and looking to see if it’s on. There’s obviously a percentage of how on it is. If it’s properly on we want to take it,” Farrell said.
“If we think we can take metres to score a try, get to halfway rather than kick it there, then that’s a chance that we want to take.
“We want to take obvious chances and we don’t want to be half in, half out. We don’t want to be indecisive. We want to be decisive.”
Sale Sharks reached their first Gallagher Premiership final for 17 years as they ended Leicester’s hopes of back-to-back titles with a 21-13 victory at the AJ Bell Stadium.
Alex Sanderson’s team will meet his former club Saracens at Twickenham on May 27 in pursuit of a Premiership crown that Sale last claimed when players like Jason Robinson, Charlie Hodgson and Sebastien Chabal ruled the roost.
After finishing 10 points above Leicester during the regular league season, Sale were pushed all the way by Tigers in an absorbing encounter.
Former Leicester fly-half George Ford played a key role in Leicester’s downfall, kicking three penalties and a conversion, while wings Tom Roebuck and Arron Reed claimed tries.
Sale overcame the sight of their captain Ben Curry being carried off injured, and they withstood a resilient Leicester effort that saw a try for wing Harry Potter, plus eight points from the boot of Jimmy Gopperth.
But Leicester will also curse themselves for twice ruining promising late attacking platforms through wayward kicks to touch that prevented attacking lineouts.
Sale showed five changes from their final regular season game against Newcastle, with Gus Warr, Simon McIntyre, Nick Schonert, Akker van der Merwe and Tom Curry all returning for the sold-out clash.
Leicester welcomed back the likes of Freddie Steward and Anthony Watson, but they suffered an injury blow when fly-half Handre Pollard was ruled out, being replaced by 39-year-old Gopperth.
The New Zealander missed a gilt-edged chance to put Leicester ahead when he drifted a close-range penalty wide, but he made amends three minutes later as Tigers moved in front.
Sale’s indiscipline surfaced early on, and Gopperth found his range again, this time from 48 metres to make it 6-0.
The game had a relentless pace to it, and it went up a gear when Sale found their rhythm, probing for gaps through adventurous running from Reed and full-back Joe Carpenter, while England centre Manu Tuilagi also made his presence felt.
Sale were a threat when they were able to put width on their possession, and Roebuck finished off a flowing move before Ford added a touchline conversion as Leicester fell behind.
The Sharks then suffered a major blow when Curry departed the action after suffering a suspected knee injury as Leicester attacked on Sale’s 22. He was replaced by Dan du Preez.
Curry received a standing ovation as he left the action, but he was soon able to watch from the sidelines, with Sharks exerting sustained pressure inside Tigers’ 22.
And Tigers’ cause was not helped when their England prop Dan Cole received a yellow card from Wayne Barnes following a high challenge on Van der Merwe.
Leicester then lost scrum-half Ben Youngs for a head injury assessment after he halted Sale centre Rob du Preez’s charge for the corner, and Tigers’ defence held firm, with Sale taking a 7-6 lead into half-time.
Youngs did not reappear for the second period – fellow England international Jack van Poortvliet took over from him – while Sanderson made early use of the replacements’ bench, sending on props Bevan Rodd and Coenie Oosthuizen.
A successful Ford penalty from just inside’s Leicester’s half opened up a four-point gap, yet the Tigers went back in front seven minutes later when centre Dan Kelly’s long pass sent Potter scampering over, with Gopperth converting.
A Ford penalty then tied the contest at 13-13 with 22 minutes left, and then he turned provider, creating space in midfield, and although his pass to Reed hit the ground, the wing finished brilliantly.
Reed was quickly at it again, breaking clear from inside his own half before firing the ball to replacement scrum-half Raffi Quirke, but the pass was rightly adjudged forward by Barnes.
Ford, who was a dominant figure during the closing quarter, then kicked a long-range penalty that left Tigers eight points behind as their title grip was prised away.
Kevin Sinfield carried Rob Burrow over the finish line at the inaugural Rob Burrow Leeds Marathon after pushing his great friend and former Leeds Rhinos team-mate for 26.2 miles on Sunday.
With just a couple of metres left to go, Sinfield lifted Burrow out of his specially adapted wheelchair and the pair completed the course together in an emotional conclusion at Headingley Stadium.
As a crowd cheered them on, Sinfield gave Burrow, who was diagnosed with motor neurone disease in late 2019, a kiss of affection after joining 12,500 other runners in Leeds’ first marathon in 20 years.
Sinfield has raised over £8million for MND charities after several other ventures, including an Ultra 7 in 7 Challenge in November when he ran seven back-to-back ultra-marathons.
In late 2020, Sinfield ran seven marathons in seven days and in 2021 he completed a run of 101 miles in 24 hours.
Sunday’s event, plus the Leeds Half Marathon which also take place on Sunday, was held by Leeds City Council in partnership with Jane Tomlinson’s Run For All charity and has already surpassed the £1m fundraising mark.
Sinfield told the PA news agency on Friday: “To raise money for the MND Association and the Leeds Hospitals Charity is really important, but this is also about a celebration of friendship.”
Defending Suncorp Super Netball champions West Coast Fever lost their third match of the season going down 65-64 to New South Wales Swifts and slipped to third in the league standings after what was their third loss in their last four games.
The win means the Swifts, led by Romelda Aiken-George, who scored 28 of 34, leapfrogged the Fever into second place in the standings going into round 10 of the competition.
Jhaniele Fowler, the league’s leading scorer, scored a game-high 53 goals from 55 shots, and Natalie Butler three of four for the Fever, who were without their vice-captain Jess Anstiss and goal attack Sasha Glasgow, who were ruled out due to Covid-19 Health and Safety Protocols.
The Swifts led 32-20 at half-time and despite a late rally from the Fever, they came up a goal short in the end.
Meanwhile, the Adelaide Thunderbirds maintained their position at the top of the standings after crushing the Queensland Firebirds 63-46.
Eleanor Cardwell led the scoring for the Thunderbirds with 27 from 32 and Lucy Austin, who supported with 19 from 21, while Shamera Sterling had six interceptions in what was a close match heading into the final quarter.
However, the Thunderbirds dominated the final stanza 24-9 to claim victory.
Shimona Nelson’s perfect night, scoring 46 goals from as many attempts, was unable to prevent the Collingwood Magpies from going down 69-56 to GIANTS.
Rory McIlroy was right to take a break after his miserable Masters experience in order to avoid a destructive trip down a “rabbit hole”, according to double US Open champion Curtis Strange.
McIlroy did not speak to waiting reporters after a second round of 77 at Augusta National brought a premature end to his latest bid to win a green jacket and complete the career grand slam.
The world number three then withdrew from the RBC Heritage at Hilton Head, meaning he missed his second ‘designated event’ of the year on the PGA Tour and lost 25 per cent of his Player Impact Program bonus (£2.4million).
McIlroy felt the break was necessary for his “mental and emotional wellbeing” after a taxing 12 months in which he juggled on-course competition with his role as an unofficial spokesman for the PGA Tour in its battle against LIV Golf.
Strange, who won the second of his back-to-back US Open titles at Oak Hill, venue for the 105th US PGA Championship, said: “I wouldn’t try to advise him on anything because I’m not privy to what he’s feeling right now, but I can only imagine.
“You put in so much energy to try to peak for a tournament like in April, the Masters, and you don’t play well. Why that is, I don’t know.
“Then frustration sets in, and you want to get away for a week or so, so you withdraw the next week. We’ve all gone through that.
“As much as you might love Harbour Town and Hilton Head, you withdraw because you’ve got to get yourself together and you know you’re starting to go down a rabbit hole that you don’t want to go very far down because it’s tough to climb back out.
“I feel for him because I think this LIV conversation the last year and a half, maybe two years, with him being somewhat of the voice and being involved in the schedule and the meetings and the phone calls, I think it’s taken a lot away from his golf.
“I think exhausted is the wrong word, but it’s fatigued him a bit.
“When you leave this game just a little bit focus-wise, it will affect you. He said after the Masters he’s looking forward to just getting back to playing golf, and hopefully that’s the case.”
McIlroy was defending champion the last time the US PGA was played at Oak Hill in 2013 and finished in a tie for eighth, but has since become a member of the club as his wife Erica grew up in Rochester.
Asked if that could work to his advantage, ESPN analyst Strange added: “Oh, I think you look for anything.
“The entire family will be there in more a comfortable atmosphere. It certainly won’t hurt him, put it that way.”
The P.H.A.S.E 1 Academy is set to commence try-outs for Jamaican men’s and women’s tour teams on today, Sunday, May 14, from 12 pm-3 pm and 3 pm-6 pm respectively, at the GC Foster College in Spanish Town, St Catherine.
The try-outs are open to all aspiring basketball players seeking to take their game to the next level and pave a path towards professional basketball careers.
The women will be participating in the upcoming H.E.R. Time is Now Pro Tour and the Men in the Elite 1 Caribbean Basketball League (E1CBL) Men’s Pro Showcase. Both events with be held on August 1-6 at Montego Bay Community College in St. James.
This extraordinary opportunity serves as a gateway to success by offering participants the ability to compete against other local talents in an effort secure professional contracts with E1CBL teams for the upcoming fall season.
"We believe in the power of basketball to transform lives and provide a pathway to success," said Dave Black, director at P.H.A.S.E. 1 Academy, while expressing the team's vision for the tryouts.
"P.H.A.S.E. 1 Academy is committed to nurturing talent and providing young players with the opportunity to develop their skills, compete against other basketball talent and potentially secure professional contracts. This is an exciting moment for Jamaican basketball, and we can't wait to witness the remarkable talent that will emerge from these try-outs.
The E1CBL is dedicated to nurturing talent and providing a platform for aspiring male and female basketball players to play professionally on a global stage. With a robust travel schedule that spans from June to October this year, chosen players will have the unique opportunity to go head-to-head with top-tier local and international opponents, gaining invaluable experience and exposure in the process.
The tryouts will be overseen by a panel of seasoned coaching staff with extensive experience in the basketball world. Participants are encouraged to bring their A-game, showcase their talent, athleticism, and teamwork to impress the panel. Registration for the try-outs is will be onsite at GC Foster College. Interested players are encouraged to arrive early to secure their spots, as availability is limited.
Participants may also contact Wayne Dawkins at (876)-289-3912 for more information.
Monty Williams has enjoyed a good run of success as coach of the Phoenix Suns but his inability to lead the team to a championship has cost him his job.
The Suns fired Williams on Saturday, two days after they were eliminated by the Denver Nuggets in Game 6 of their Western Conference semifinal series.
"I take that personally, not having our team ready to play in the biggest game of the year," Williams said following the loss.
"That’s something that I pride myself on and it just didn’t happen. That’s something I have to take a deep look at, everything I’m doing."
Williams just completed his fourth season as Phoenix’s coach, finishing his tenure with a 194-115 record, including a trip to the 2021 NBA Finals, which the Suns lost to the Milwaukee Bucks.
He was named the NBA’s Coach of the Year in 2022 after guiding the Suns to a league-best 64-18 record.
A second straight blowout loss at home in an elimination game was likely the biggest factor in Phoenix’s decision.
Last season, the Suns lost 123-90 to the Dallas Mavericks in Game 6 of the conference finals and were routed by the Nuggets 125-100 in Game 6 again on Thursday. Phoenix trailed by 30 at the half in both games.
The Suns join the Toronto Raptors and Bucks as teams currently without head coaches. Toronto fired Nick Nurse after he won the 2019 NBA title and Milwaukee fired Mike Budenholzer, the coach who beat the Suns in the 2021 finals.
Max Verstappen took advantage of a first-lap collision between Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg to become Formula One’s youngest-ever winner on this day in 2016.
Eighteen-year-old Verstappen showed maturity beyond his years on his Red Bull debut to fend off the challenge from Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen and triumph at the Spanish Grand Prix.
The Dutchman, who had only been promoted from Toro Rosso to Red Bull after Daniil Kvyat had been dropped the previous week, eclipsed Sebastian Vettel’s youngest ever winner record set at the 2008 Italian Grand Prix by two years and 137 days.
View this post on InstagramTeam principal Christian Horner was bowled over by Verstappen’s maturity, saying: “He’s his own man and a very together young guy. You’d never think he was 18.
“He was quick, measured and mature. He defended incredibly well against a seasoned pro like Kimi and to score his first grand prix victory, becoming the youngest victor on his debut for the team, is fairytale stuff.”
Horner, who was then 42, joked: “He’s the first driver I’ve had that legally I could be his father!”
Saracens triumphed 21-9 over Racing 92 to win the European Champions Cup final on this day in 2016.
Victory saw Saracens become the first English club to win the continent’s premier club competition since Wasps were crowned champions in 2007.
Saracens’ success came after they had lost twice in the semi-finals and once in the final during the previous three years.
They became the first team to win all of their nine games in the competition after Owen Farrell’s seven penalties steered them to a maiden title in Lyon.
Johan Goosen replied with three penalties for Racing, but the loss of New Zealand fly-half Dan Carter to injury early in the second half dealt a huge blow to the French side as he joined Maxime Machenaud on the sidelines.
The final proved an often ugly encounter, with neither side really threatening to score a try, but that would not worry Saracens as they ground out victory.
The teams traded penalties before Machenaud was forced off by a concussion in the 22nd minute, and Farrell kicked Saracens into a 9-3 half-time lead.
Carter, who had looked below his best, was then forced off early into the second half and Saracens continued to pull away.
“We have had big disappointments, but each time we have come back stronger and we are happy to have finally done it,” said man-of-the-match Maro Itoje.
“We knew this was a game we could win, we had the form coming into the game. We knew if we do what we do, dominate the gain line, then we could win. We will enjoy tonight and build on from there.”
Saracens lifted the trophy again 12 months later with a 28-17 victory over Clermont, then again in 2019 by beating Leinster 20-10.
A third round 63 catapulted rookie Austin Eckroat into a share of the lead heading into the final round of the AT&T Byron Nelson near Dallas as home favourite Scottie Scheffler slipped back.
Eckroat, chasing his first PGA Tour win and a place in the USPGA Championship which begins at Oak Hill on Thursday, heads into the closing round tied with China’s Zecheng Dou and fellow American Ryan Palmer.
They hold a two-stroke cushion over Scheffler, former USPGA champion Jason Day, Si Woo Kim and Sweden’s Vincent Norrman with England’s Tyrrell Hatton among those a shot further back.
Eckroat mixed seven birdies and a double bogey in his front nine and had no doubts about what winning would mean.
“A lot of job security,” he said. “A lot of things come with winning a PGA Tour event and just hoping to get that done.”
Palmer missed an eagle putt on the last to take an outright lead while Dou, playing on his home course TPC Craig Ranch after settling in Dallas, fired a 64 after contrasting opening rounds of 63 and 70.
“There is a whole lot more golf to play, so I’m good in the position like this, creating more chances. That’s all I’m thinking,” he said.
World number two Scheffler had opened with a pair of 64s and missed a short birdie putt to take a two-shot lead on the 12th but squandered chances coming home before needing two goes to get out of a fairway bunker on the 18th.
Hatton, the second-highest ranked player behind Scheffler at 17, moved into contention with three closing birdies to round off a bogey-free 65 that leaves him alongside South Korean Sung Yang and Americans Richy Werenski and Patton Kizzire.
Carlos Alcaraz made a winning debut at the Italian Open and will now return to the top of the men’s world rankings.
Alcaraz cruised to a 6-4 6-1 victory over fellow Spaniard Albert Ramos-Vinolas in Rome, but just by stepping on court the 20-year-old guaranteed taking the number one spot from Novak Djokovic following the ATP Masters 1000 event.
“It wasn’t easy,” Alcaraz was quoted as saying on the official ATP website after a 12th straight victory improved his record to 30-2 this season.
“The first round of every tournament is really tough and of course Albert, especially on clay, is a really tough opponent.
“I had to adapt my game really quickly to be able to get though. The conditions weren’t easy as well, the rain, the waiting all day.
“I didn’t know if I was going to play or not. But I’m really happy with my performance at the end.”
Roberto Carballes Baena overcame Great Britain’s Dan Evans 7-6 (5) 5-7 6-4, and there were also second round wins for Borna Coric, JJ Wolf and Lorenzo Sonego.
World number six Andrey Rublev overcame Alex Molcan 6-3 6-4 in a second-round match featuring two rain interruptions.
“I’m happy that I was able to finish just before the rain,” said Rublev, speaking as the bad weather returned soon after match point.
“I really like slower courts, especially when it’s weather like this, cold and rainy. I like it even more because I have more time.”
In the women’s singles, Camila Osorio claimed a milestone third-round win by upsetting number five Caroline Garcia in straight sets.
The 6-4 6-4 win was the first Top 5 victory of the Colombian’s career and takes her into the last 16 of a WTA 1000 event for the first time.
Osorio’s next challenge is number 12 seed Beatriz Haddad Maia, who defeated Magda Linette 7-5 6-4 in a first-time meeting.
China’s Wang Xiyu advanced against Taylor Townsend after coming back from a break down in the final set and saving one match point to triumph 6-2 0-6 7-5.
Wang said: “I just tried my best and fight every point. It was good, I fought until the end.”
Number 11 seed Veronika Kudermetova, Anhelina Kalinina and Qinwen Zheng also progressed into the last 16 before the rain arrived.
Saracens surged into the Gallagher Premiership final but their 38-15 victory over Northampton was tinged with controversy after Sean Maitland plundered two tries having escaped an early card.
Last season’s runners-up were irresistible for long spells of a one-sided play-off at StoneX Stadium as they set up a Twickenham showdown with either champions Leicester or Sale, who meet on Sunday.
But Northampton will feel aggrieved that Maitland was not at least sin-binned for clattering into George Furbank with his elbows during an aerial collision that left the England back needing lengthy treatment.
Referee Karl Dickson issued only a penalty and in making a quick decision declined to consult the TMO with the game just 25 seconds old.
To rub salt into the wound, Maitland scored Saracens’ opening two tries as part of an unstoppable first half that produced a 21-3 lead which was only briefly threatened when Northampton fought back in the third quarter.
A penalty try and Max Malins’ touchdown shut the door on the possibility of an upset and Saints, who barely fired a shot before the break, were well beaten by opponents seeking a sixth Premiership title.
Scrum-half Ivan van Zyl was named man of the match but Alex Goode could easily have been chosen given his influence in the opening stages.
When Northampton attacked and were turned over, Goode launched a stunning counter-attack given pace by Maitland but Alex Lozowski lacked the speed to finish the move.
Goode’s vision was on display again in the seventh minute when he chipped through for Maitland to score, but it was a good afternoon to be pulling the strings with Saracens dominating the gainline.
Maitland was over again in the 23rd minute after sustained pressure ended with Farrell producing a precision grubber for the Scotland wing to touch down.
Any time Northampton got the ball they were hammered backwards in the tackle but they could only blame themselves for the next try as having conceded a penalty, they switched off to allow the quick-thinking Van Zyl to tap and go for an easy run-in.
Saracens led 21-3 on the half-hour mark and when faced with a rare assault on their line they rolled up their sleeves and sent Saints packing.
Nick Tompkins’ turnover shortly after the interval typified their resolve in defence and the third quarter was harder work, with Northampton showing the fire that had been missing in the first half.
Alex Mitchell skipped over in the 56th minute and Saints engineered a superb try soon after when stylish play ended with Courtney Lawes sending James Ramm over.
But the comeback was over when Saracens’ maul forced a penalty try that also saw Tom James sent to the sin-bin, before Malins completed the rout. Sarries’ Maro Itoje was yellow-carded late on.
LeBron James led five players in double figures with 30 points and the Los Angeles Lakers continued their late-season surge with a 122-101 rout of the Golden State Warriors on Friday to advance to the Western Conference finals.
Austin Reaves scored 23 points, D'Angelo Russell added 19 and Anthony Davis showed no ill effects from a head injury in Game 5 with 17 points and 20 rebounds.
Los Angeles improved to 6-0 at home in these playoffs and is back in the West finals for the first time since beating Denver en route to the 2019-20 NBA title. The seventh-seeded Lakers will visit the top-seeded Nuggets on Tuesday.
The Lakers scored the game's first basket and never trailed, leading 56-46 at halftime. The Warriors got as close as 91-80 early in the fourth quarter before the Lakers reeled off the next 11 points to essentially put the game away.
Defending champion Golden State shot just 37.9 percent from the field and missed 35 of 48 from 3-point range. Stephen Curry scored 32 points on 11-of-28 shooting, while Klay Thompson struggled again with eight points on 3 of 19 from the field. The duo combined to shoot 6 of 26 from beyond the arc.
The Lakers haven’t lost back-to-back games since March 17, and have won 11 of their last 12 at home.
Heat book return trip to East finals
Jimmy Butler scored seven of his 24 points down the stretch and the Miami Heat again earned a spot in the Eastern Conference finals with a 96-92 win over the New York Knicks in Game 6 on Friday.
Bam Adebayo had 23 points and nine rebounds and Max Strus chipped in 14 points for Miami, which returns to the East finals for the third time in four years and 10th time overall.
Miami became the second No. 8 seed in NBA history to make the conference finals - joining the 1999 Knicks. The Heat will visit Boston or Philadelphia in Game 1 on Wednesday. The Celtics and 76ers play Game 7 of their series Sunday.
Jalen Brunson was stellar again for New York with 41 points on 14-of-22 shooting, including 5 of 10 from 3-point range. He sank two free throws following a flagrant foul on Gabe Vincent and Josh Hart's layup four seconds later drew the Knicks within 92-90 with less than a minute remaining.
New York had a chance to tie after Butler missed a jumper, but Kyle Lowry picked off Brunson's pass and that led to two free throws by Butler with 14 seconds left. Strus closed the scoring with a pair from the line four seconds later.
The Knicks got little offense from Julius Randle and RJ Barrett, who combined for 26 points on 4-of-24 shooting and 1 of 10 from long range.
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