Ronnie O’Sullivan battled through to the last 32 of the World Open with a 5-3 win over Michael White.

The world number one was not at his best, despite back-to-back century breaks, but got the job done in Yushan.

It looked like being a straightforward evening’s work in China for O’Sullivan when he produced breaks of 129 and 106 to move into a 3-1 lead.

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But Welshman White battled back and had the chance to earn a decider when he twice found himself in the balls after two uncharacteristic O’Sullivan misses – the second of which saw him hit the table with his cue in frustration.

But O’Sullivan won a safety battle to ensure he progressed in eight frames.

Judd Trump remained on course for back-to-back titles after a routine 5-2 triumph over Sanderson Lam.

Trump won this event when it was last staged in 2019 – before a four-year hiatus due to the coronavirus pandemic – and is looking a good bet to repeat the feat.

World champion Luca Brecel is through after a 5-2 victory over Oliver Brown, while home favourite Ding Junhui beat Liu Hongyu by the same score.

However, John Higgins is out after a 5-3 loss to Jackson Page.

Brilliant Arkle winner Gaelic Warrior may be back out quickly for the WillowWarm Gold Cup at Fairyhouse on March 31.

Stablemate and subsequent dual Gold Cup winner Galopin Des Champs ran at both meetings as a novice, falling at the last when well clear in the Turners Novices’ Chase at Cheltenham before strolling to victory a month later.

The two races are closer together this season at just 19 days apart but trainer Willie Mullins has not completely ruled it out.

“We did it two years ago, we brought a horse back from Cheltenham to win this, so it can be done. I’ll see how Gaelic Warrior is,” said Mullins.

“He has a huge amount of ability. He won the three-mile novice hurdle at Punchestown that Galopin Des Champs won so I was never worried about his stamina, but the fact he can do this over a shorter trip is fantastic, it shows he has class.

“Ted Walsh always said a good Gold Cup winner could win a Champion Chase, as that is how you separate the ordinary Gold Cup winners from the very good ones, and this fellow has that type of ability, I think.”

Should Gaelic Warrior be given more time to recuperate, Blood Destiny is likely to try to give Mullins a sixth successive win in the race.

“I’m looking at Blood Destiny, he’s one that could go there. This race has been on my mind a while for him. We’d been trying him at two miles but a different way of riding him – we held him up in Navan – might suit for this race, I think,” he said.

“He has the speed when you need it so if Gaelic Warrior doesn’t come back for it, Blood Destiny could be a good substitute.”

Of his other entries in the Grade One, he added: “Facile Vega disappointed me at Cheltenham, I need to find out what is wrong with him.

“His home work suggests he has the ability I think he has. Indeed, his last three bits of work before Cheltenham, we thought he had a really good chance. Maybe we left our race at Closutton because his work was fantastic but he is taking a lot of working out.

“Fact To File had a hard enough race so I doubt he’d run, but Hercule Du Seuil worked well this morning.

“Il Etait Temps is a good, hardy horse and he could come back for it as well. If the ground came up nice and dry, I might let Sharjah take his chance and Tactical Move has the ability and is a nice type for that race.”

The other Grade One event at the Easter meeting is the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Honeysuckle Mares Novice Hurdle in which Jade De Grugy may attempt to atone for her Cheltenham defeat at the hands of Golden Ace.

“Jade De Grugy could run. I think you could say all the three Irish horses in her race were all marking one another. No one wanted to commit but then it was great to see Jeremy Scott winning, he had a great fan club there and it added a bit of atmosphere to the day,” said Mullins.

“Sometimes I don’t like coming back with a mare so soon as Cheltenham takes a lot out of them. Laurina managed to win both races, though.

“We have A Penny A Hundred with a chance, Cuta Des As with a chance but Fun Fun Fun could be the one as she didn’t go to Cheltenham.

“This is a Grade One and while it’s lovely to win in Cheltenham, I like to win Grade Ones, especially with mares, so it’s more important to go to Fairyhouse. We certainly did a lot of thinking this year regarding what we were keeping back for this, Cheltenham is only a Grade Two.

“If Jade De Grugy doesn’t make it back, I’d say Fun Fun Fun could be the one.”

City Of Troy could be seen at Saratoga this year, if everything goes as hoped with the red-hot Classic favourite.

Unbeaten in his three juvenile starts, the Aidan O’Brien-trained Dewhurst winner is set to reappear in the Qipco 2000 Guineas back at Newmarket on May 4.

Labelled “our Frankel” by co-owner Michael Tabor, the Justify colt is also favourite for the Betfred Derby at Epsom on June 1.

And if he is still on track after those engagements, an exciting trip for a dirt assignment could be on the agenda.

“We are particularly happy with how well he has wintered. He’s working away on bad ground at the minute as they all are obliged to,” the Ballydoyle handler said in a stable tour on Attheraces.com.

“He seems to handle it and handled a good cut in the ground in the Dewhurst, but as anyone can see he is a particularly beautiful mover which is what makes it so exciting to see what he does when he meets firmer ground. The better the ground, the better he’ll be.

“He’ll go away for a gallop in the next week or 10 days, that is always an important step for the Guineas horses. It was great for him to get the experience of the undulations of both the July course and the Rowley Mile at Newmarket last season. That will all stand to him in the 2000 Guineas.

“We’ll play it race-by-race, but you’d have to be made of stone not to be dreaming of the Derby if all goes to plan at Newmarket. After that, he could even go to somewhere like Saratoga for a Grade One on the dirt. He’s that type, he could do anything, but we’ll take it one race at a time.

“We have an unbelievable group of three-year-olds this year, but he has always been the leader. Horses like him are very rare.”

Before City Of Troy is unwrapped for the season, O’Brien has important business in Dubai on Saturday week, with dual Derby, Irish Champion Stakes and Breeders’ Cup Turf hero Auguste Rodin set for the Sheema Classic.

He said: “Everything is running really smoothly with him. He leaves here for Dubai this weekend and the Sheema Classic on March 30 is his target. We’ve been really happy with him since his gallop at Dundalk late last month. We feel he has matured well from three to four and it goes without saying that we are very excited to get him going again.

“The horse did all his own talking on the track last year, but we really do think that he’s a very important horse for the thoroughbred breed. It is a huge thrill to have him back for this year and we can’t wait to see him race.

“If all goes smoothly in Dubai, we have it in our head that he could come back for the Tattersalls Gold Cup and then drive on to the Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot.”

Having dominated the Cheltenham Festival, Willie Mullins has set his sights on the Boylesports Irish Grand National on April 1 – with unexposed novice Nick Rockett likely to be all the rage.

The champion trainer is seeking a third win overall in the richest jumps’ race run in Ireland and back-to-back victories after the unlikely success of I Am Maximus 12 months ago.

Nick Rockett has been allotted 10st 13lb in the weights by handicapper Sandy Shaw, with Gordon Elliott’s Galway Plate winner Ash Tree Meadow top of the pile.

Three Cheltenham Festival victors are towards the top in Corbetts Cross (11st 10lb), Inothewayurthinkin (11st 9lb) and Limerick Lace (11st 7lb), but having kept his powder dry, Mullins might just have the ideal candidate.

“Nick Rockett has performed well around Fairyhouse and I love horses for courses,” said Mullins.

“Paul (Townend) was very happy the last day he won around the course and we thought instead of going to Cheltenham that we should maybe aim for Fairyhouse. That’s what we have been doing and we are very happy with how he is.

“He jumps, has won over the track, is a novice coming up the ranks, has a nice weight and Paul is very happy to ride him. That is more than enough and he ticks all the right boxes, I think.

“We have to get him there in the right order and at the moment I am very happy with him.”

Regarding his other entries, Mullins said: “This race comes into play for Stattler now, if he’d run at Cheltenham (Cross Country Chase was abandoned) he would maybe have gone to Aintree, but he’s now in the running to run here.

“Monkfish was disappointing at Cheltenham so wouldn’t come here, Mr Incredible only ran the other day so it’s too close, the same with Adamantly Chosen. Embassy Gardens and James Du Berlais the same.

“Bronn was disappointing in Naas, but if I could get him back right he could go there. Minella Cocooner has run well there, has the credentials, stays all day and has a nice weight as well.

“Ontheropes is 36 (on the ballot) but I think he is more or less in and is our other likely runner.

“It took us a long time to win it. My father had won it four times so it was an itch that needed scratching and then winning it with Burrows Saint for Rich Ricci and with Ruby Walsh, that capped it.

“It gave me as much pleasure as winning any race.”

For Shaw, Mullins’ comments have him “shaking in his boots”.

“An awful lot handicap themselves and it is obviously the novices that we look to as they are the ones that have more improvement in them,” he said.

“The three Cheltenham winners are in but we can reassess them, the difference is that Willie’s Nick Rockett didn’t go – he has me shaking in my boots the way he’s talking!

“He’s been held back and it was certainly the right thing to do, I think. Novices are always hard to rate because you have to rate them on what they have done, not on what we think they might do so there is a chance Nick Rockett could be well handicapped.

“The only thing is he has only run seven times in his life. He’s unexposed as a result, but it will be a question of if he can handle the hurly burly of the race. Other than that he does look the one. He could have a few pounds up his sleeve, we’ll just have to wait and see.”

D'Angelo Russell earned the plaudits of coach Darvin Ham after he tied Nick Van Exel's franchise record for 3s in a single season for the Los Angeles Lakers.

Russell went 6-for-10 from the 3-point line in a 136-105 demolition job of the Atlanta Hawks on Monday.

The 28-year-old finish with 27 points and 10 assists as the Lakers bounced back from successive defeats.

Russell has now shot 183 3-pointers this season, tying Van Exel's all-time single-season Lakers record, which was set in 1994-95. To get there, Russell had to surpass the late Kobe Bryant, who sunk 180 3s in the 2005-06 campaign.

It left Ham to laud the star guard, with the Lakers coach saying: "He has a green room. Not a green light [to shoot]. A green room.

"His prowess from the 3-point line, you know, it's really, really elite. And we need every bit of it."

Russell added: "It's really cool, honestly, just to know that, to get credit for it.

"It's just really cool. I said I don't want to underdo it, understate it, overdo it. I just feel like it's really cool to just be a part of something like that.

"I think I did something like that in Brooklyn, as well. Just to get credit for your game and what you work through and showcase it every night."

Indeed, Russell set the Nets' record for 3s in a season, with 234 in the 2018-19 campaign.

Russell's teammate Anthony Davis looks forward to a new franchise record being set when the Lakers face the Philadelphia 76ers on Friday.

"He's able to get going and fill up the stat sheet with his scoring, and it's a big thing for him, big thing for us as a team," Davis said Russell.

"Obviously, there's been a lot going on around D-Lo, and just to be able to do that and us embrace him and he sees that, feels the love, that's good for him."

David Menuisier is keen to plunder more cross-Channel prize money with star three-year-old colts Sunway and Devil’s Point this spring.

The former signed off his juvenile campaign with a valuable Group One triumph in the Criterium International over a mile at Saint-Cloud.

Devil’s Point, meanwhile, warmed up for his Futurity second at Doncaster behind Ancient Wisdom by finishing a fair fourth in Group Three company at the same French track.

Both are entered in the Qipco 2000 Guineas and Menuisier insists he would not be scared of taking on City Of Troy at Newmarket, declaring: “He’s only made of flesh and bones like all the rest.”

However, the West Sussex-based handler is currently exploring other options in his native country.

Menuisier said: “Sunway could well start in the Prix Fontainebleau on April 14 at Longchamp, but he will also be entered in the La Force, which is over nine furlongs on April 7.

“That’s because a lot of the big guns are going to meet on the 14th in the Fontainebleau and I always like to think outside of the box.

“So, the La Force could be a good alternative, because I think the horse will stay really well and his main target in the first half of the season will be the Prix du Jockey Club (French Derby).

“It’s early days, but to me that’s his first big target, whether we run in the Poule (d’Essai des Poulains, French 2000 Guineas) before that, we could – I’m still open minded on which way we go.”

Devil’s Point was prominent throughout the Futurity before being outstayed by Ancient Wisdom at Doncaster on heavy going.

On his plans, Menuisier added: “Devil’s Point is likely to run in the Prix Djebel in France at Deauville on April 9, which is a Group Three over seven furlongs and should suit him really well.

“He’s entered in the 2000 Guineas, he’s entered in the Poule d’Essai des Poulains and he’s entered also in the German Guineas, but it will all depend on his first run and I’ll take it from there.

“We’ve been discussing it with the owners for the best part of six months and we are not completely convinced that he stays a mile very well.

“Even in the Futurity, he came to win his race and I thought then he wasn’t really seeing out the trip.

“So, that’s why I want to start over seven first of all and then after that there’s a chance that we might even drop in trip.”

Former World Series champion Chase Utley has promised a “fantastic experience” when Major League Baseball returns to London this summer.

The 2024 MLB season officially gets under way on Wednesday with a two-game series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Diego Padres in Seoul before the regular season begins on March 28.

This summer, on the weekend of June 8-9, the latest MLB London series will take place when the New York Mets and the Philadelphia Phillies go head-to-head in England’s capital.

London Stadium will host two matches between the sides in what will be the third time the sport has been taken to Britain after previous series in 2019 and last year.

Utley, who helped Philadelphia claim 2008 World Series success, said: “You’ll have the Phillies and Mets, two fantastic teams, two rivals in the same division.

“They’ve been rivals for around like 70 years and you’ll see some of the best players in the world.

“You’ll see fireworks, activities on the field in between innings, live music, you’ll have American-standard baseball food, which consists of hotdogs, nachos and burgers!

“Overall, it’s just a fantastic experience.”

Utley was in Brent Cross last week at The 108, a state-of-the-art dedicated indoor baseball facility, and put England white-ball captain Jos Buttler through his paces before he learned some of the key principles of cricket.

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The sporting crossover occurred due to cricket heading across the pond this summer when the T20 World Cup is hosted in America and West Indies during the same time of the latest MLB London series.

Former second baseman Utley retired in 2018 and splits his time between the United States and his new London home as part of his ambassador role for MLB Europe.

The 45-year-old feels cricket is slowly starting to break through in the USA, adding: “It’s probably as much as baseball penetrates here in the UK, so a bit, yes.

“Here, obviously football, from what I’ve seen in a short amount of time, is the sport that for sure everyone watches and then cricket is second place to that.

“In America, you have American Football and then you have basketball or you have baseball that are kind of bounced back and forth.

“It’s exciting to see that cricket is going to the United States to play because I’ve seen some amateurs playing in the park. You’re starting to see it more and more over the last few years that I was there.”

The next goal for Utley is to actually watch a cricket match live after brushing up his knowledge with Buttler last Wednesday when the meaning of ‘Bazball’ alongside the difference between Test and white-ball cricket was discussed.

“I’ve watched a fair share but I still haven’t seen it in person,” Utley said.

“At some point I need to see it in person. I’ve watched it on TV and it took me a little while, but I imagine it’s the same for watching baseball.

“It takes you a while to understand the nuances, the terminology and actually what is going on in the moment, but once you can wrap your head around it and make some sense, it’s very entertaining.”

New York Mets will play Philadelphia Phillies in the MLB World Tour: London Series 2024 on June 8-9 at London Stadium. Tickets are on sale now at ticketmaster.co.uk/MLB

Emma Raducanu has suffered another injury setback after withdrawing from the Miami Open ahead of her first-round match.

The 21-year-old, who was given a wild card, was set to play China’s Wang Xiyu on Tuesday but has been forced to pull out of the tournament due to a low back injury, the WTA has announced.

It is another blow for Raducanu in her attempts to establish herself as a consistent presence on the WTA Tour.

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The former US Open champion spent the second half of last year recovering from ankle and wrist surgery that saw her sidelined from May, the latest in a long line of injury problems since winning at Flushing Meadows in 2021.

She made her return at the start of this year and showed promising signs by making the third round of the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells before losing to Aryna Sabalenka.

Raducanu’s withdrawal in Miami casts doubt over her availability for Great Britain’s Billie Jean King Cup tie with France on April 12-13.

Emma Raducanu has suffered another injury setback after withdrawing from the Miami Open ahead of her first-round match.

The 21-year-old, who was given a wild card, was set to play China’s Wang Xiyu on Tuesday but has pulled out of the tournament amid reports of a lower back injury.

It is another blow for Raducanu in her attempts to establish herself as a consistent presence on the WTA Tour.

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The former US Open champion spent the second half of last year recovering from ankle and wrist surgery that saw her sidelined from May, the latest in a long line of injury problems since winning at Flushing Meadows in 2021.

She made her return at the start of this year and showed promising signs by making the third round of the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells before losing to Aryna Sabalenka.

Raducanu’s withdrawal in Miami casts doubt over her availability for Great Britain’s Billie Jean King Cup tie with France on April 12-13.

Alex Ovechkin scored twice to reach the 20-goal mark for the 19th time in his career and help the resurgent Washington Capitals earn an important 5-2 victory over the Calgary Flames on Monday.

Ovechkin's 20th and 21st goals of the season, both of which came on power plays in the second period, sparked the Capitals' third straight win. Washington is now 10-4-1 since Feb. 17 and one point ahead of the slumping Detroit Red Wings in the race for the Eastern Conference's final wild-card spot.

Dylan Strome and Tom Wilson each contributed a goal and an assist to the victory, with Strome recording the lone goal of a first period in which Washington goaltender Charlie Lindgren made 12 of his 34 saves.

Ovechkin's goals came 3:18 apart in the second period and pushed the Capitals' lead to 3-0. The future Hall of Famer became the sixth player in NHL history with 19 seasons of 20 or more goals.

Kevin Rooney put Calgary on the board with 9:19 remaining in the second before Hendrix Lapierre restored Washington's three-goal advantage with 5:38 left in the period.

The Flames fought back by recording 13 third-period shots and pulled to within 4-2 when MacKenzie Weegar rocketed the puck past Lindgren 7:13 into the frame.

Lindgren stood tall the rest of the way, however, before Wilson put the game out of reach with an empty-net goal with 2:29 left.

Dustin Wolf stopped 28 of 32 shots for Calgary, which had a two-game winning streak halted. 

Skinner's hat trick helps Sabres rout Kraken

Jeff Skinner recorded a hat trick and helped the Buffalo Sabres to a fast start which carried them to a 6-2 drubbing of the Seattle Kraken.

Skinner, Tage Thompson and Alex Tuch all had goals in the first 5:41 of the game to spark Buffalo's fourth win in its last five outings. The surge has moved the Sabres within four points of a play-off spot in the Eastern Conference.

Thompson and Tuch added assists during Buffalo's early barrage, which came after Jordan Eberle gave Seattle a quick 1–0 lead just 24 seconds into the contest.

Thompson tied the game a mere 25 seconds later, however, and Skinner and Tuch soon followed with goals as the Sabres scored on three of their first four shots to prompt the Kraken to pull goaltender Joey Daccord less than six minutes in.

Seattle got one goal back before the conclusion of the period when Matty Berniers converted a power play, but failed to solve Buffalo's Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen the rest of the way.

Luukkonen stopped 32 shots, including all 18 he faced in the third period.

After Owen Power's goal midway through the second period put Buffalo up 4-2, Skinner fired a shot past Seattle replacement netminder Philipp Grubauer just 42 seconds later.

Skinner completed his first hat trick of the season by beating Grubauer on a rush with 1:59 left to play.

Grubauer finished with 23 saves in Seattle's fifth consecutive loss (0-4-1).

Jalen Brunson scored 34 points, Miles McBride added a career-high 29, and the New York Knicks ran their winning streak to four games with Monday's 119-112 victory over the Golden State Warriors.

McBride, who entered the contest averaging just 6.5 points per game, buried 6 of 9 attempts from 3-point range and totalled 11 first-quarter points in a game the Knicks never trailed. New York also received a 10-point, 11-rebound, 11-assist triple-double from Josh Hart to extend their lead on fifth-place Orlando in the Eastern Conference to one game.

The Knicks opened the game on an 18-4 run and led by as many as 15 points in the first half, though Golden State closed out the second quarter on a 12-3 spurt to cut its deficit to 62-56 at the break.

Despite 15 second-half points from Klay Thompson, the Warriors never got closer than four points behind over the final two quarters as the Knicks continued to keep them at arm's length mainly due to the shot-making of Brunson, who recorded 20 points in the second half.

Golden State lost for the fourth time in six games despite 27 points from Stephen Curry and 18 from Thompson, who added a team-high eight assists. Rookie Trayce Jackson-Davis finished 9 of 9 from the field while compiling 19 points and nine rebounds off the bench for the Warriors. 

76ers fend off Heat to gain ground in standings

Tyrese Maxey tallied 30 points and 10 assists to lead the way as the Philadelphia 76ers earned an important win by holding off the Miami Heat for a 98-91 victory.

The 76ers' second straight win, coupled with Indiana's loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday, moved Philadelphia a half game ahead of the Pacers for sixth place in the Eastern Conference. The top six teams in both conferences are guaranteed to avoid the play-in round and are assured of a quarterfinals series.

Kelly Oubre Jr. also posted a double-double for Philadelphia with 22 points and 11 rebounds, while Kyle Lowry chipped in 16 points in his first meeting with the Heat since being traded by his former team in January.

The Heat took the court again without injured stars Jimmy Butler and Tyler Herro but kept the game close until the Sixers began to pull away over the final seven minutes.

Buddy Hield's 3-pointer with 6:34 left snapped an 85-85 tie and ignited an 8-2 Philadelphia run that Oubre finished with a layup to give his team a 93-87 edge with 2:28 remaining.

The Heat missed nine of their final 10 field goal attempts and had their two-game winning streak snapped when the 76ers made three free throws in the final 18.3 seconds.

Philadelphia was clinging to a 53-51 lead early in the second half before ripping off 15 consecutive points - seven of which came courtesy of Maxey - to go up by double digits. 

Miami responded in the fourth, however, by outscoring the Sixers by a 17-4 margin over a 3 1/2-minute stretch. Terry Rozier had eight points during the run along with a steal that led to Caleb Martin's dunk that tied the game at 85-85 with 6:54 left.

Rozier and Bam Adebayo led the Heat with 20 points each, with Adebayo adding 13 rebounds and six assists and Rozier recording eight rebounds.

Resilient Cavaliers pin key loss on Pacers

The Indiana Pacers were leap-frogged by the 76ers in the standings after being dealt a 108-103 loss by the Cleveland Cavaliers, who received big performances from Caris LeVert and Jarrett Allen to overcome the absence of several missing pivotal players.

LeVert compiled 23 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds and Allen also had 23 points along with nine rebounds as Cleveland prevailed despite again playing without All-Star Donovan Mitchell and fellow starters Evan Mobley and Max Strus.

Indiana received 19 points and 12 rebounds from Pascal Siakam but had an off-shooting night as a team, as it connected on just 9 of 38 tries (23.7 per cent) from 3-point range.

Tyrese Haliburton, the Pacers' top scorer this season, was held to 14 points on 4-of-14 shooting but did hand out 12 assists.

Indiana did shoot nearly 61 per cent from the field while building a 34-25 lead after one quarter, and was up by 15 points nearing the midway stage of the second before the Cavaliers roared back. 

Cleveland outscored the Pacers by a 22-7 count over the remainder of the first half to tie the game at 54-54 at intermission, and later took a 72-62 advantage in the third quarter behind an 18-6 run.

Indiana rallied in the fourth quarter to knot the score at 103-103 on Haliburton's floater with 2:05 left, but LeVert put the Cavs back ahead with a basket on the ensuing possession. 

The Pacers failed to score the rest of the way, and Isaac Okoro put Cleveland up by two possessions with a layup off a feed from Allen with 26.1 seconds remaining.