General Sports 3d Briefing
×Winter Paralympics
Brazil's Cristian Westemaier Ribera claimed historic silver bbc.com in the Para-cross-country skiing men's seated sprint, becoming his nation's first Winter Paralympic medallist. Britain's Neil Simpson and guide Rob Poth secured opening medal bbc.com with silver in the alpine combined, while Russia's Varvara Voronchikhina won first gold bbc.com since 2014 in the standing super G. Ukraine's Maksym Murashkovskyi credited ChatGPT bbc.com for helping secure Para-biathlon silver, and two-time Olympian Emanuel Perathoner claimed gold bbc.com in snowboard cross after transitioning to Para-sport following a devastating knee injury.
Six Nations Rugby
Scotland's stunning victory bbc.com over France delivered arguably their best performance in nearly 40 years, giving them an unlikely shot at the title. Ireland's Triple Crown decider bbc.com against Scotland carries immense pressure, with Andy Farrell emphasizing the squad's unity. England's historic defeat bbc.com to Italy marked their first loss in 33 attempts, prompting calls for major changes ahead of the France match. Wales' Aaron Wainwright remains fit bbc.com to face Italy despite an early exit against Ireland, while Scotland will be without Gregor Brown, Scott Cummings, and Duhan van der Merwe due to injury bbc.com.
NCAA Basketball
UConn's perfect season pursuit espn.com continues as they close in on a 13th NCAA title despite Paige Bueckers' departure to the WNBA. The final AP poll before Selection Sunday revealed new top five espn.com, with Florida and Houston joining while Duke, Arizona, and Michigan maintained their positions. UCLA narrowed the gap espn.com on UConn in the women's poll, picking up three first-place votes, while Texas jumped to third espn.com after winning the women's SEC tournament. West Virginia avenged regular-season losses espn.com to claim the Big 12 tournament title, and Northern Iowa earned first NCAA berth espn.com since 2016 by winning the Missouri Valley Conference tournament.
Tennis
Britain's Emma Raducanu suffered crushing defeat bbc.com at Indian Wells, winning just 11 points in the first set during a 6-1, 6-1 loss to Amanda Anisimova. Sonay Kartal saved match point bbc.com and battled through a medical timeout to defeat Emma Navarro 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 (7-2). Filipina phenom Alex Eala drew enormous crowds espn.com throughout the tournament and will face Coco Gauff in the next round. Olympic champion Alysa Liu withdrew from worlds espn.com due to injury, while Charlotte Bankes claimed World Cup victory bbc.com in snowboard cross at Erzurum.
Golf
Akshay Bhatia defeated Daniel Berger bbc.com in a playoff to win the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill. Matt Fitzpatrick called Sawgrass triumph bbc.com "the next best thing" to a major victory as he prepares for the Players Championship. Gary Woodland revealed PTSD diagnosis espn.com following his 2023 brain surgery, telling Golf Channel he "can't waste energy" on external pressures. The Players Championship field analysis espn.com highlighted top contenders among the 123-man field competing at TPC Sawgrass.
Auto Racing
Ryan Blaney completed Team Penske sweep espn.com with victory at Phoenix Raceway. Arvid Lindblad impressed on F1 debut bbc.com finishing eighth for Racing Bulls at the Australian Grand Prix. Formula 1 drivers criticized new cars espn.com following a painful debut weekend, with Lando Norris among those expressing frustration at the driving experience. The Australian Grand Prix sparked wild overreactions espn.com, including speculation about Max Verstappen potentially quitting F1 and McLaren being on the ropes.
Combat Sports
Charles Oliveira dominated Max Holloway bbc.com to win the BMF title by unanimous decision at UFC, which earned the lowest grade among all fights on the card. Francis Ngannou returns May 16 espn.com on Jake Paul's Most Valuable Promotions inaugural MMA card, headlining against Gina Carano. Jai Opetaia's IBF cruiserweight title faces jeopardy bbc.com after winning the inaugural Zuffa World cruiserweight championship. Jon Jones requested UFC release espn.com after being "lowballed" on a White House card offer, while Dana White stated Jones was "never ever" in mind for the event.
Soccer
Cardiff City condemned racist behavior bbc.com and appealed to supporters to help identify a fan who made a racist gesture during a match against Lincoln City. Leicester Tigers overpowered Bath bbc.com to set up a Premiership Rugby Cup final against Exeter. England's men won World Cup qualifying tournament bbc.com with a 4-1 victory over Pakistan in Egypt. Sri Lanka appointed Gary Kirsten bbc.com as their new head cricket coach, while India's dominant T20 World Cup title win showed other nations need to catch up bbc.com.
Curling
Canada's Thurston delivered remarkable shot espn.com threading through two guard rocks to clear two Norway stones from the house at the Winter Paralympics. Great Britain's wheelchair curlers suffered fourth straight loss bbc.com falling 8-6 to hosts Italy. British curlers Jo Butterfield and Jason Kean missed mixed doubles semi-finals bbc.com on a difficult day for the team, while Steve Emt's incredible journey espn.com from UConn basketball player to three-time Paralympic curler highlighted the sport's inspirational stories.
Athletics
Uganda's Jacob Kiplimo regained half-marathon record bbc.com with victory in Lisbon. Kate O'Connor and Nick Griggs named to Ireland's World Athletics Indoor team bbc.com for upcoming championships. Britain's Sky Brown became world champion bbc.com for the second time winning gold in a rain-disrupted park event in Brazil. Kirsty Muir sees near-misses as motivation bbc.com after two fourth-place finishes at the Winter Olympics, insisting she has "a lot more to give."
Miscellaneous
Cruzeiro's win over Atlético-MG was overshadowed by brawl espn.com resulting in 23 red cards, though this falls short of the world record. The NCAA announced betting monitoring technology espn.com called Prohi Bet to oversee basketball, baseball, and softball tournament officials. One of the so-called fixers in a sprawling betting scheme pleaded guilty espn.com to rigging NCAA basketball games. The WNBA and union exchanged proposals espn.com over the weekend but showed no signs of reaching a deal before Tuesday's deadline.