Sports digest

Today's other stories in brief

O'Sullivan battles back

SNOOKER:Ronnie O'Sullivan fought back from 3-0 down to beat Neil Robertson 6-4 in a stunning second-round clash at the Pokerstars.com Masters in Wembley.

O’Sullivan looked set to be on his way out as his Australian opponent moved into a convincing lead with a minimum of fuss.

But the four-time Masters champion stormed back with two centuries and three half-century breaks to set up a quarter-final clash with Peter Ebdon.

A brilliant break of 114 arrested Robertson’s progress just before the mid-session interval.

Victory was confirmed when the Essex player prevailed following an early safety battle in the 10th frame, posting a break of 76.

O’Sullivan admitted he had needed to regroup after Robertson’s excellent start.

“I wasn’t surprised to be 3-0 down. It was just nice to score a few in the end so I could make a game of it as it could have been a whitewash,” he said.

Akmal pays the price

CRICKET:Wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal has paid for his nightmare display in Pakistan's second Test loss to Australia by being dropped for today's s third Test.

The 27-year-old dropped four catches as Australia pulled off a remarkable 36-run win in Sydney to clinch the series.

“Unfortunately Kamran had a bad game but he is a very good wicketkeeper-batsman. It can happen to anyone,” said coach Intikhab Alam.

The uncapped Sarfraz Ahmed takes the place of vice-captain Kamran.

Australia, who have won their last 11 Tests against Pakistan, are only expected to make one change to their side, with Simon Katich likely to return after an arm injury.

Phillip Hughes, who filled in for Katich in Sydney, has been released from the squad to play for New South Wales.

Sainz takes Dakar stage

DAKAR RALLY: Carlos Sainz closed in on victory in the Dakar Rally as he won yesterday's 10th stage.

The Volkswagen driver, a former two-time world rally champion, came out on top on the 238-kilometre run from La Serena to Santiago to claim his 16th career stage win and his first of this year’s event.

France’s Stephane Peterhansel finished second for BMW, 28 seconds behind Sainz, with America’s Mark Miller third.

Piquet to race in Nascar series

MOTOR SPORT: Brazilian driver Nelson Piquet plans to race in North America's Nascar series this year after leaving Formula One under a cloud of controversy.

“I have spent the last few months carefully evaluating my options for this year, he said on his personal website (www.npiquet.com) yesterday.

“I had to choose a path and it was a difficult decision to make,” he added. “Being successful in Formula One was always my goal but I have learnt that happiness is just as important as ambition and after my first 18 months in F1 did not go as planned I have decided to focus on something different and have chosen to take a route in America.

Piquet triggered one of Formula One’s biggest scandals after being dropped by his Renault team in July when he told the sport’s governing body he had crashed deliberately in the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix to help team-mate Fernando Alonso win.

Williams starts season in devastating form

TENNIS: Serena Williams started her 2010 season in the same devastating fashion in which she ended 2009, thrashing Spain's Marie Jose Martinez Sanchez 6-1 6-2 in the second round of the Sydney International yesterday.

Playing her first match since beating older sister Venus in the final of last year’s Tour Championship, Williams showed why she remains the woman to beat at this month’s Australian Open with a powerful display.

The world number one was not at her best after a two-month break and struggled with the scorching temperatures at the Olympic tennis centre, but could not have been happier with her form leading into the first grand slam of the year.

Russia’s Dinara Safina, who lost last year’s Australian Open final to Williams, had to work hard before toppling Poland’s Agnieszka Radwanska 7-5 6-4. Russia’s defending champion Elena Dementieva beat Slovakias Daniela Hantuchokova 6-2 4-6 6-2.