Michigan defeats UConn to win NCAA men’s basketball championship – as it happened

I’m waiting for a Final Four MVP (or MOP, as they call it – Most Outstanding Player) announcement. And here it is …It’s Elliot Cadeau. Well deserved.On that note, we’ll wrap this college basketball season. Back again in November

‘You have to have a bit of heartache’: Justin Rose on his bid to avoid being Masters nearly man

Squint and you will see Justin Rose’s name twice on the tournament record boards at Augusta National. It’s there on the big bronze winner’s list at the water fountain by the entrance, beneath the entries marking Sergio García’s victory in 2017 and Rory McIlroy’s eight years later, both, as it says in the small print underneath, won in a playoff that Rose lost. Only one other player in Masters history lost two playoffs, and that was Ben Hogan, who had the consolation of winning it twice outright, in 1951 and 1953, in between finishing second in 1942, 1946, 1954 and 1955.Throw in Rose’s second-place finish behind Jordan Spieth in 2015, when he finished four shots back, and he has come just about as close as any man can to the greatest prize in the game. The only player who finished second more often without actually winning the thing was Tom Weiskopf, who was runner-up four times in the space of seven years

Sir Craig Reedie, key London 2012 Olympics figure and former BOA chair, dies aged 84

Sir Craig Reedie, a giant of the Olympic movement, who served as chair of the British Olympic Association for more than a decade and was instrumental in bringing the Games to London in 2012, has died at the age of 84.Tributes have poured in for the Scots-born Reedie, who was also president of the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) when Russia was found guilty of state-sponsored doping across “a vast majority” of winter and summer sports, including at the 2014 Sochi Olympics. During this tumultuous period, Reedie and Wada recommended that Russia be banned from the 2016 Rio Games – a call that was ultimately rejected by the International Olympic Committee.Reedie was vice-president of the IOC during part of his Wada tenure and a former badminton competitor who led the campaign for its Olympic inclusion starting at Barcelona ‘92.Sebastian Coe, the World Athletics president, who led the organising committee for the London Games on whose board Reedie sat, said: “I am devastated for his family

County cricket: Sussex beat Leicestershire, Yorkshire draw against Glamorgan – as it happened

Four lots of last-gasp ditch-digging brought the first round of County Championship games to a tense finish.Northamptonshire’s last pair defied Lancashire for an hour to earn a draw at Wantage Road, strung together by an unbeaten 197-ball 95 from George Bartlett. The game looked done when James Anderson and the new ball reduced Northants to 181 for nine, but Ben Sanderson gave brave support and Bartlett straight-batted the final over from Tom Hartley despite a warren of close fielders.Derbyshire gnashed their teeth at the County Ground, as Matthew Waite and Ethan Brookes masterminded a Worcestershire rearguard action, brushing off an attack including Mohammad Abbas and Shoaib Bashir.Tawanda Muyeye’s unbeaten 109 off just 121 balls for Kent kept out Durham at Chester-le-Street and a rollercoaster match at Sophia Gardens was enlivened by a brave declaration from Glamorgan’s captain, Kiran Carlson

Chicago Sky trade Angel Reese to Atlanta Dream in first major move of WNBA offseason

The Chicago Sky have traded star forward Angel Reese to the Atlanta Dream, the teams announced Monday.The trade is the first blockbuster move of the WNBA offseason, which is operating on a condensed timeline after months of negotiations between the league and its players over a new collective bargaining agreement finished last month.Reese, 23, was a two-time All-Star with the Sky, who selected her with the No 7 pick in the 2024 draft after a standout college career at Maryland and LSU. Reese’s rivalry with fellow rookie Caitlin Clark became one of the major storylines of that season, which set records in viewership and attendance.“I’m beyond grateful for the opportunity to join the Atlanta Dream organization,” Reese said in a statement Monday

Horse welfare debate helps highlight Grand National’s unrivalled status

There will never be a year when horse welfare is not an issue in the run-up to the Grand National, and that is, in a sense, a positive for the sport. It is a sign that the National retains its status as the biggest race of the year – in terms of audience, betting turnover, name recognition and pretty much any other measure you care to choose. Nearly two centuries after the first running in 1839, it still has deep roots in British culture as an annual sporting rite of spring.Within the racing bubble too there are few subjects that raise hackles and generate debate quite like the National, not least because for many racegoers and punters it is the race that first stoked their interest in the sport. Significant changes to the fences and other conditions in recent years, with the aim of minimising the risk of serious or fatal injuries, have left some fans, at least, feeling it is no longer the same race that they fell in love with several decades ago