Andy and Jamie Murray put Great Britain just a win away from the Davis Cup quarter-finals while Jodie Stimpson kicks off the World Triathlon Series campaign in style. Here's our review of the last 24 hours.
Great Britain took control of their Davis Cup tie with Japan as brothers Andy and Jamie Murray combined in the doubles to put them 2-1 up ahead of Sunday’s singles rubbers.
With Japan’s opting not to play world No.6 Kei Nishikori, it turned into something of a straight forward win for Great Britain as the Murrays triumphed 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 over Yoshihito Nishioka and Yasutaka Uchiyama to leave the holders one win from a quarter-final place.
Attention now turns to Sunday’s singles rubbers with Andy Murray set to face Nishikori while world No.157 Dan Evans will be up against world No.87 Taro Daniel if a decisive fifth rubber is required.
And GB captain Leon Smith said: “Andy's playing great despite the fact he hasn't played a lot of matches since the Australian Open final.
“Look at the last two days, he's ready. You know what Andy's going to do when he goes out; he's going to give 100% again. I think he can do it.”
Read full reaction to the doubles victory here
Jodie Stimpson claimed victory in the opening race of the World Triathlon Series in Abu Dhabi and then immediately set her sights on the Olympics.
The 25-year-old Commonwealth Games champion clawed her way back through the field following the swim and joined two-time world champion and compatriot Helen Jenkins in the lead group for the bike section.
The Brits led from the front as the challengers were gradually whittled down, before Stimpson pulled away in the final kilometre of the run to take the victory.
In the end Jenkins was third as she finished seven seconds behind runner-up Ashleigh Gentle of Australia.
But the British pair’s battle is not over yet with Stimpson and Jenkins set to vie for Team GB’s third Olympic place at next month's World Series event on Australia's Gold Coast.
“It feels absolutely amazing – I can’t say that it could have gone any better really,” said Stimpson, who has seen Non Stanford and Vicky Holland already secure Rio 2016 berths.
“I’ve been training in a slightly smaller group recently and I think we were all extra motivated because we are a group that haven’t secured our Olympic spots yet.
“Me and Helen are great rivals – she’s an absolutely fantastic athlete and I have so much respect for her.
“As soon as we crossed the line I thought we can’t make it any harder for the Olympic selectors.
“We’re both in the same boat and we just hope that whoever has the best race in Gold Coast, goes to the Olympics.
“The best girl wins and if Helen beats me in Gold Coast then she beats me in Gold Coast and deserves to go. We can’t say any more than that.”
Bronze medallist Liam Pitchford admitted he could not be prouder of what he and his England teammates achieved at this week’s table tennis World Team Championships, after coming agonisingly close to reaching the final.
The trio of Pitchford, Paul Drinkhall and Sam Walker have been busy surpassing all expectations in Kuala Lumpur, taking England to their first semi-final since 1983 where they faced Japan.
The last European representatives left in the competition, England eventually went down 3-1 on Saturday but they were not without their chances – most notably for Pitchford who failed to convert four match points against world No.7 Jun Mizutani.
“Wasn't to be in the end, had our chances and a little bit more experience maybe would have got me through them but I will learn from it!,” Pitchford tweeted afterwards.
“So so proud of what we have achieved though, it's been an amazing tournament boys!! Going down in history!!”
Check out our complete round-up of the dramatic semi-final here
Jason Kenny returned to London and got back to winning ways on the Lee Valley VeloPark track where he is starting to be unbeatable.
The three-time Olympic champion, who won men’s sprint gold at London 2012, claimed his third career world title with a storming sprint victory at the track cycling World Championships. Kenny won keirin gold in 2013 and the men’s sprint title five years ago but this will be his most special rainbow jersey yet, roared all the way by an expectant home crowd. But the 27-year old did it the hard way, losing the first race in his final against Australia’s Matthew Glaetzer by 0.002 seconds before coming back to win the next two in style, his seventh World Championship medal in six years. "It was epic. I'm just totally shattered and I'm a bit speechless," said Kenny, who last won the sprint title in 2011 after France's Gregory Bauge was stripped of the jersey for a doping infringement. "To win the sprint is special because it's the blue riband event. Last year I remember sitting in the stands, watching the semi-final and the final and it just seemed like a world away because I'd been first-round fodder. “We’ve turned it around and we need to make sure we make the most of the next five months." Click here for the full wrap of the penultimate day’s action at the Track Worlds
Heather Watson is anticipating a tough final as she seeks her third WTA title despite cruising through the semi-finals of the Monterrey Open on Saturday.
The British No.2 broke Caroline Garcia’s serve five times and didn’t face a single break point of her own as she triumphed 6-1, 6-2 to set up a clash with Belgium’s Kirsten Flipkens in Sunday’s final.
Watson won the Japan Open in 2012 and Hobart International in January 2015 but has since dropped to 84 in the world, 46 places below France’s Garcia.
Yet her performance belied the world rankings and she will now face world No.73 Flipkens – conqueror of British No.1 Johanna Konta in the quarter-finals – knowing she will have to produce her best tennis in order to lift the title.
"I was very happy with how I played today but obviously Caroline was hurting today," said Watson. "I hope she gets better soon, hope it's nothing too serious."
"It [the final] won't be easy. I've played Kirsten a few times and she's very experienced. It definitely won't be easy – I'll have to bring my A-game."
Lizzie Armitstead took her record to two wins from two since becoming world champion as she won the opening race of the new women’s UCI World Tour.
Having won the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad a week ago, Armitstead was again unstoppable as she clinched the Italian one-day classic Strade Bianche race in Tuscany.
The 27-year-old was part of a three-rider escape and accelerated away up the Piazza del Campo climb in Siena to take victory for the Boels-Dolmans team.
New world champions have historically been weighed down by donning the rainbow jersey but Armitstead has thrived in her new role although is adamant she is surprising herself with her results.
“It wasn’t really the plan, my legs are better than I expected,” explained Armitstead. “Training has been going good but not really this good.
“I’m excited that my legs are already like this because I think there’s still room to improve.
“I’m really proud of the team. We’re one of the strongest teams, and I think we showed that today, and we showed it on the best stage.
“The Women’s WorldTour is hopefully going to be a better stage for women’s cycling, and we showed again that we can perform on the biggest stages.”
England dropped into the Shield competition after two further losses on day two of the Las Vegas leg of the World Rugby Seven Series over in the USA.
Having drawn and lost their two games on the opening day, England went down 36-7 to in-form Australia on Saturday to finish bottom of Pool B.
That sent them into the Bowl quarter-finals which only provided further disappointment as Simon Amor’s troops lost a dramatic contest 21-19 to France to drop into the lowest level of competition at the event come Sunday – the Shield.
Meanwhile, Scotland and Wales both also entered the Bowl after failing to finish in the top two of their pools but won their respective quarter-finals – Scotland edging past Samoa 17-12 and Wales putting Portugal to the sword 31-12. Sportsbeat 2016