Formula One: Rio Haryanto (picture) will become Indonesia’s first Formula One driver after signing a deal with Manor Racing, the back-of-the-grid team announced yesterday. The 23-year-old Har-yanto will make his race debut in Australia when the season starts on March 20. “Melbourne will be a huge moment for me, my country, supporters and fans and I want to thank everyone who’s been with me since I started in single seaters; 2016 is my chance to reward that faith and represent Asia in F1,” Haryanto said.

Basket, NBA: The struggling Sacramento Kings fired assistant coach Vance Walberg in another sign of discord between the team and head coach George Karl. Walberg was a close ally of Karl, who took over in February last year. “This was a tough decision made after consideration of what is best for the team moving forward,” Kings general manager Vlade Divac said. Sacramento (22-31) have lost eight of their last 10 games and are currently outside the Western Conference play-off spots.

Snooker: John Higgins saw the defence of his Welsh Open title end at the fourth-round stage as he was beaten by Michael White in Cardiff. The four-time world champion went down 4-1 to the Welshman, who advances to a quarter-final against world number nine Mark Allen. Ronnie O’Sullivan eased through to the last eight as he overcame China’s Yu Delu 4-1. Delu took the first frame as he fluked a respotted black, but O’Sullivan powered back to take victory.

Boxing: Nike Inc, the world’s largest sportswear maker, said it had ended its contract with Manny Pacquiao after the Filipino boxer described gays as “worse than animals”. “We find Manny Pacquiao’s comments abhorrent,” a Nike spokesperson said in an e-mailed statement, adding that the company no longer has a relationship with the boxer. Nike’s decision comes a day after an online petition was launched urging the company to stop Pacquiao endorsing its products. The petition on change.org has garnered more than 3,000 signatures so far.