Johanna Konta cruises her way into the Australian Open fourth round as she beats Denisa Allertova while Tonia Couch is defeated at the British National Diving Cup. Here's our review of the last 24 hours.
Johanna Konta became the first British woman to reach the fourth round of the Australian Open in 29 years as she cruised past Denisa Allertova.
Konta won 6-2, 6-2 in Melbourne – to match her run to the last 16 of last year’s US Open – and will now face 21st seed Ekaterina Makarova on Monday.
No British woman has made it this far since Jo Durie and Anne Hobbs in 1987 but the 24-year-old dominated with a first-serve percentage of 72 per cent and consistently created chances to break the Czech.
She wrapped up the one-sided win in just 66 minutes but claims it wasn’t as simple as it may have appeared at Melbourne Park..
“It was not easy out here today – she’s an incredibly tough opponent and I had an incredibly tough match against her at the French Open last year,” said Konta.
“I knew I really had to run down every single ball and fight every single point. So I’m happy that I did that. It definitely wasn’t easy.
“I’m feeling pretty good – it’s amazing what adrenaline does. You guys [the crowd] give so much energy to us that it makes it a pleasure to play. It really wouldn’t be the same without a crowd.”
Meanwhile a pair of Brits are on a collision in the third round of the men’s doubles as both Jamie Murray and Dom Inglot picked up second-round victories.
Murray and his Brazilian partner Bruno Soares beat Poles Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Jerzy Janowicz 7-5, 6-3 before Inglot and Sweden's Robert Lindstedt saw off Americans Eric Butorac and Scott Lipsky 7-6 (7-5), 6-7 (5-7), 6-4.
Victoria Williamson is already targeting a return to the bike as she continues her recovery from a serious crash at the Rotterdam six-Day event earlier this month.
Williamson was injured in a sprint match after colliding with Elis Ligtlee, suffering fractures to her pelvis and several verterbrae.
She had two operations in Rotterdam and will have another one on Monday now that she has returned to the UK and is receiving treatment at the spinal unit at Stepping Hill Hospital.
The 22-year-old will spend the next eight weeks in hospital but claims she hasn't struggled to keep her spirits up.
"I've literally got a queue of riders wanting to come in and visit me so that's nice to have the support of my team," Williamson told British Cycling.
"The support really has been amazing for me and my family – everyone keeps saying that they don't know why I'm smiling so much. I think I'm the happiest patient ever!
"I had two operations in Rotterdam and I'm scheduled to have one more on Monday which will involve putting some framework into my spine, basically to sort the vertebrae out in my lumber spine.
"If I wasn't an athlete, I probably wouldn't go ahead with the operation, I'd probably allow it to fuse again naturally, but having the pins put in will enable me to get back in the gym and lift weights again."
Ward and Boyd took gold with a score of 306.36 as two-time Olympian Couch and her new partner, 16-year-old Lois Toulson, had to settle for silver with 297.72 while bronze went to Robyn Birch and Victoria Vincent.
It leaves a question mark as to who will represent GB at the final Olympic qualifying event in Brazil next month but Ward couldn’t hide her delight at the triumph.
“It means so much to win,” said Ward. “It’s my first National title and I know how much it means to Emily too.
“We’ve both worked really hard and we just wanted to show that up there. We were a bit nervous going in but we know each other so well so we know what each other needs when we compete.”
Freddie Woodward won the men’s 1m springboard with 371.05 points ahead of James Denny and Oliver Dingley while the women’s 1m springboard saw Grace Reid triumph.
Reid returned to the board to team up with James Heatly and take mixed 3m synchro glory while Ross Haslam and Jordan Houlden were unstoppable in the men’s 3m synchro.
Great Britain performance director Gary Anderson says his team are intent on claiming a medal at the upcoming World Championships after coming desperately close in recent years.
The Brits have experienced fifth-place finishes at the last two global gatherings, missing out on a bronze medal by just seven hundredths of a second in St Moritz three years ago.
This time they have demonstrated their intent for a podium finish after announcing their provisional squad for next month's edition in Austria.
Performance director Gary Anderson and head coach Dominik Scherrer have chosen a mix of youth and experience for the squad that will compete in Igls between February 12 and 21.
Lamin Deen will pilot GB1 in the 4-man alongside John Baines, Joel Fearon and Andy Matthews, while double Olympian John Jackson pilots Bruce Tasker, Ben Simons and new recruit Tremayne Gilling.
GB have also entered two 2-man crews, with only Tasker and Fearon doubling up.
In the women's competition, Winter Youth Olympics silver medallist Mica McNeil will lead the British challenge alongside Natalie DeRatt.
Summer Olympic gold medal winning sprinter Mark Lewis-Francis will be on standby for the men's team just four months after he took up the sport.
"We have come so close to a medal over the past few years and we are determined to take that next step this time around," said Anderson.
"We have named a strong squad, with as much depth in there as ever before, and we are genuinely excited about the prospect of challenging the world's best on the big stage. Selecting the squad was tougher than ever before.
"We now have two 4-man pilots who have finished in the top five at a World Championships and we have three ADP pilots all pushing hard to drive the 2-man sleds as well as racing as brakemen in the 4-man crews.
"Mark Lewis-Francis has done exceptionally well since joining us in September and it was a tough call to leave him out on this occasion.
"Although he isn't involved in Igls, he will still play an important role in the rest of the season and is on track to push for a place in the next Olympic team in Pyeongchang."
Great Britain performed strongly across all distances in a busy day of heats and qualifying races at the European Short Track Speed Skating Championships in Sochi, Russia.
Elise Christie, Charlotte Gilmartin and Jack Whelbourne qualified over all distances – 500m, 100m and 1500m – with Christie the only skater to post a time below 44 seconds in the 500m.
In his first European Championships of his career, Farrell Treacy skated well but narrowly missed out on reaching the 500m and 1500m quarter-finals, although he went one better in the 1000m finishing second and qualifying for the main event at the weekend.
Finally, in the men’s relay, the GB team skated through to the semi-finals on Saturday by finishing second in their heat, narrowly missing out to Hungary.
Windsurfer Bryony Shaw will aim for a third consecutive victory in Miami as she heads to the first World Cup regatta of 2016 in Biscayne Bay next week.
The event takes place from 25-30 January with world No.1 Shaw dominating the RS:X women’s fleet at last year’s edition to win with a day to spare and retain her 2014 crown. Shaw is one of 41 British athletes who’ll be in action in seven Olympic and two Paralympic classes in Miami.
Qith recent victories at the Sailing World Cup Final in Abu Dhabi and on Rio’s 2016 waters at the Copa Brasil last month, Shaw’s confidence will be high as she attempts to tame the 39-woman RS:X fleet over six days of competition.
England sevens coach Simon Amor says his side are relishing playing in the front of the partisan Wellington crowd ahead of next week's World Rugby Sevens Series event.
Amor will hand both Ethan Waddleton and Jack Wilson their debuts in the third leg of this season's Series.
While two youngsters come into Amor's side, senior player Phil Burgess is absent with a broken arm he picked up in Cape Town while Dan Norton is absent following the birth of his son.
England lifted the trophy in 2013 and last year finished second after a 27-21 reverse against the hosts and Amor is looking to keep the solid track record alive.
"It is a brilliant tournament with a passionate partisan crowd and the boys seem to respond well in those situations," added Amor.
"The timing of the training block leading into the tournament also tends to bring out the best in the players. Although there is a real mix of experience and inexperience in this squad they are a very tight-knit group who have trained incredibly hard in recent weeks."
Great Britain will have to navigate a set of tricky encounters if they are to make it to the EuroBasket 2017 final round after finding out who they will meet in qualification.
Hungary, Luxembourg and the Republic of Macedonia lie in wait for Britain with matches taking place between August 31 and September 17.
Macedonia have a strong record in the competition after finishing fourth in 2011 while Hungary will be looking for their first appearance in the final round since 1999.
GB head coach Joe Prunty will be at the helm for the matches after it was confirmed that he will stay on for a fourth year and Myles Hesson thinks that could prove invaluable.
"It will be great to play some competitive games for the national team at home again - not only for the players, but for the fans too," said Hesson.
"Hopefully as a team we can do better than we did in the last qualifiers.
"Also, having Joe Prunty back as head coach is really good for the development of the programme. He knows the players well, and vice versa.
"Importantly, it makes the first phase of camp run smoother, because most players and staff already have good relationships in place."
Adam Gemili insists missing the majority of the 2015 season through injury was a blessing in disguise as he prepares to make his comeback ahead of the biggest year of his career so far.
The 22-year-old became the first ever British athlete to break both the 10 second barrier for 100m and 20 seconds for 200m with his time of 9.97 last June at the Birmingham Grand Prix.
But his glee was short-lived as he sustained a hamstring tear after being startled by pyrotechnics as he crossed the line in the 100m.
After some hard winter training, Gemili is set to return to racing at the Welsh Senior Open Championships on January 31, and admits he is looking forward to getting back on the track.
"Being out injured was almost a blessing in disguise really," he told Athletics Weekly. "I was obviously gutted to be unable to race and go out to compete however it gave me a great opportunity to see the sport in a different way which I’ve been unable to do previously.
"I learnt new things about the way my body works and how to get the best out of it.
"The main thing I realised is how important mental strength is.
"When it comes to a race it doesn't matter what time anyone has run before, anything can happen if you believe in yourself and don't give up before the race has even begun.
"I cannot wait for the 2016 season to begin and I am extremely determined to make up for the lost time of last season."
Sportsbeat 2016