Higgins rallies to march on
Snooker: John Higgins recovered from the brink of defeat to beat Rob Milkins 5-4 and secure his place in the last 16 of the Malta Cup at the Portomaso Hilton, Malta, last night. The favourite trailed Milkins, the world No 26, 4-2 but compiled a 61 break in the seventh frame, stole the eighth on the blue having been 50 points adrift and controlled the decider.
Paul Hunter, still undergoing chemotherapy treatment, suffered a setback in his bid to remain in the elite top 16 next season, losing 5-3 to Dominic Dale.
Happy Henman
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Tennis: Tim Henman hit back from the disappointment of losing in the first round of the Australian Open by clinching a place in the quarter-finals of the PBZ Zagreb Indoor tournament with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Arnaud Clément. The world No 43 will play Richard Gasquet or Davide Sanguinetti.
Rodman in clear
Basketball: Dennis Rodman, the former NBA star, did not break any regulations when he made his Brighton Bears debut in Saturday’s 91-88 victory over Guildford Heat. Brighton have been cleared of wrongdoing but Guildford say they should have left out one of their other overseas players and want the BBL to act.
Gunn power
Real tennis: Ruaraidh Gunn, the British No 1, produced an upset when he defeated Steve Virgona, the world No 2 from Australia, to reach the final of the Australian Open Championships in Melbourne. Charlotte Cornwallis, the British world champion, meets Kate Leeming, of Melbourne, in the women’s final.
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Edmistone record
Swimming: Jade Edmistone, 23, set a world record of 30.31sec in the heats of the 50 metres breaststroke at Australia’s Commonwealth Games trials. It was the first global standard to be set in Melbourne’s newly-opened pool, shaving 0.14sec off the time that Edmistone, the world champion, set in July.