Snooker: Jimmy White’s hopes of reaching the Crucible for the first time since 2006 were dashed as he lost 10-9 to Gerard Greene in the first qualifying round of the World Championship. Six-time Crucible runner-up White came from 7-6 down to lead 9-7, but he scored just 30 points in the last three frames as Greene took them all. In other matches, China’s promising teenager Zhao Xintong came from 6-2 down to beat Rod Lawler 10-9, winning the decider 58-24, while Norway’s Kurt Maflin edged out Sanderson Lam 10-8 with a vital brown to black clearance in the 18th frame.

Basketball: Euroleague holders Real Madrid and rivals Barcelona secured knockout stage berths after impressive wins in the final round of the competition’s second group stage. Real beat visitors Khimki Moscow 83-70, while Barcelona produced a steely defensive performance in a 66-59 win at Zalgiris Kaunas. Real will face Fenerbahce Istanbul in the best-of-five quarter-final series. Barca meet Lokomotiv Krasnodar, Panathinaikos face LK Vitoria and CSKA Moscow lock horns with Red Star in the opening games of the other three match-ups next week. The winners advance to the May 13-15 Final Four in Berlin.

Badminton: A team-mate of Japanese Olympic medal hope Kento Momota confessed to taking the world number two-ranked player to an illegal casino and tearfully begged officials to allow the star to compete at the Rio Games. Momota, 21, in December became the first Japanese player to win the World Federation Super Series Masters Final and also gave Japan its first men’s singles world championship medal by claiming bronze last August. But Japanese badminton officials said this week it would be hard to nominate Momota for a place at Rio after finding out that he and team-mate Kenichi Tago had gambled at an illegal casino.

Golf: A subdued Rory McIlroy lamented two late bogeys that left him four strokes behind leader Jordan Spieth after the opening round at the Masters. McIlroy was compiling a round of the highest order in brutal conditions before settling for a two-under-par 70 at Augusta National. His score was most respectable under the circumstances, but paled beside what it might have been. “I let a couple of shots get away on 16 and 18 but if someone had given me a 70 on the first tee, I probably would have taken it,” the Northern Irishman told reporters as the sun dipped below the Augusta pines.

Obituary: Julien Hoferlin, a former Belgian Davis Cup captain who also helped coach the British team, died yesterday at the age of 49 following treatment for cancer, Belgian public broadcaster RTBF said. Hoferlin, who worked for RTBF as a consultant and had coached with Britain’s Lawn Tennis Association until 2014, underwent major surgery shortly before the two teams he had been involved with met in the Davis Cup final in Ghent last November. Britain, led by Andy Murray, won the tie against a Belgian team that featured Hoferlin’s charge Steve Darcis.