Digest

SNOOKER

Ding loses Crucible classic to Bingham

China's Ding Junhui was on the wrong end of a 10-9 thriller as he exited the Snooker World Championship at the first round in Sheffield, England on Tuesday.

The 34-year-old Chinese No 1, who has never won the title, led 2015 champion Stuart Bingham 5-4 after the first session and the duo kept seesawing to 9-9 before their game was halted to allow the evening session to get underway.

When Ding and Bingham came back to the table later in the night, the Englishman took the decider with a break of 70, reaching the last 16 to face Jamie Jones.

"I'm over the moon to get through that game, it was a classic match," said Bingham, 44. "The first eight or nine minutes of that deciding frame had some unbelievable safety (shots). We weren't giving each other a chance. Luckily for me, he missed after he got in and I produced one of my best 70 breaks and one of the best at the Crucible."

China's Lyu Haotian was thrashed 10-2 by Mark Allen as the Northern Irishman won at the Crucible Theatre for the first time in three years.

TRACK AND FIELD

Xi'an to host Chinese athletes' Tokyo tune-up

China's elite track and field athletes will take part in a pre-Olympic training camp in Xi'an from April 27-29.

As well as a warm-up for the Tokyo Games, the event is a test competition for China's 14th National Games, which will take place in Xi'an and surrounding areas in Shaanxi province from Sept 15-27.

According to the organizing committee of the National Games, members of the Shaanxi athletics team will also take part in the competition.

The training camp will be staged at the main stadium of the Xi'an Olympic Sports Center. The three-year construction of the venue was officially completed in June 2020.

SOCCER

Woodward quitting as United vice-chairman

Ed Woodward is to step down as Manchester United's executive vice-chairman at the end of this year, the English Premier League club announced on Tuesday.

The 49-year-old former investment banker is believed to have been one of the prime movers behind controversial proposals for a European Super League.

JP Morgan, the bank he worked for when he advised the Glazers over their purchase of Manchester United in 2005, are financing the project.

"I am extremely proud to have served United and it has been an honor to work for the world's greatest football club for the past 16 years," Woodward said in a statement. "The club is well positioned for the future and it will be difficult to walk away at the end of the year."

Woodward has been executive vice-chairman at Old Trafford since 2012. He took over the responsibilities of departing chief executive David Gill the following year and proved an unpopular figure with fans.

Under his tenure the club spent more than a billion pounds ($1.4 billion) but has not won the Premier League or Champions League since Alex Ferguson retired in 2013.

French amateur side reaches cup semifinals

Fourth-division Rumilly Vallieres qualified for the French Cup semifinals on Tuesday with a 2-0 win over second-tier Toulouse.

Another fourth-tier side Canet Roussillon was beaten 2-1 by Ligue 1's Montpellier in a later match.

Montpellier's Algerian striker Andy Delort scored twice as the top-fight side came from behind after trailing to a first-half penalty.

Rumilly Vallieres－a team based in the Upper Savoy mountainous region near the Italian and Swiss borders－was elated to be in the hat for the semifinal draw.

"We are 90 minutes away from the Stade de France," said the minnow's coach, Fatsah Amghar, referring to venue where the final will be played. "Let's see who we draw now, we're hoping for a big fish."

"Why not PSG," Rumilly striker Glody Liongo said of his hopes of drawing Paris Saint-Germain in the last four.

Bayern on brink of ninth straight title

Bayern Munich can be crowned Bundesliga champion this weekend after taking a 10-point lead at the top of the standings thank to a 2-0 win at home to Bayer Leverkusen on Tuesday.

Bayern seized control at the Allianz Arena with early goals by Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting and Joshua Kimmich after second-place RB Leipzig had earlier suffered a shock defeat at relegation-threatened Cologne.

With just four games to go, Bayern will be guaranteed a ninth German league title in a row with a win at Mainz on Saturday.

"I told the team before the game, that we could take a huge step towards the title, which we have done. We want to now also win in Mainz," said Bayern coach Hansi Flick.

Off the field, Bayern is in disarray since Flick dropped a bombshell on Saturday by confirming he wants to be released from his contract at the end of the season. The 56-year-old Flick has been linked with the Germany national team job, which will be vacant once Joachim Loew steps down after the summer's European Championship.

Xinhua - Agencies