Tennis: Top seed Juan Martin Del Potro needed just 66 minutes to beat fellow Argentinian Carlos Berlocq and book his place in the quarter-finals of the Japan Open in Tokyo yesterday. The world number seven broke his opponent twice in each set as he sailed to a 6-2 6-2 victory and a last-eight meeting with Ukraine’s Alexandr Dolgopolov, who beat Janko Tipsarevic, of Serbia, 6-3 7-6. Second seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga suffered a surprise 6-4 7-6 loss to Croatia’s Ivan Dodig, who goes on to face Finland’s Jarkko Nieminen, a 6-7 6-4 6-2 winner over Polish lucky loser Michal Przysiezny.

Rugby Union: Bismarck du Plessis, the central character in last month’s controversial test between New Zealand and South Africa, was restored to the Springbok side for Saturday’s re-match in Johannesburg. The hooker was one of two changes announced yesterday to the starting line-up for the Rugby Championship decider at Ellis Park where South Africa must score four tries and win by more than seven points to snatch the title from the champions All Blacks. Du Plessis was benched for last Saturday’s 28-8 win over Australia in Cape Town in what coach Heyenke Meyer said was a pre-arranged move.

Cricket: The Pakistan Cricket Board must start paying its players more money for test appearances, according to Saeed Ajmal. The top spinner said Pakistan cricketers were getting less money than their international counterparts. “Players now want to just play one-day internationals and Twenty20 be-cause they are earning more from these formats,” he said. “We don’t get the same financial rewards for playing tests. The problem is that in our country there is little difference in the fees paid out for all three formats and we are not playing as many tests compared to most other countries.”

Athletics: Olympic champion Usain Bolt will run a 100 metres exhibition race on a track laid down on the iconic 9 de Julio Avenue in central Buenos Aires in December. The Jamaican world sprint champion, winner of six Olympic gold medals from the 2008 and 2012 Games, will take part in the race on December 7 or 13, said daily La Nacion.

Athletics: Olympic and Paralympic athlete Oscar Pistorius has enlisted the help of US forensics experts as he prepares for a murder trial which is due to start in March next year, his spokeswoman said. Pistorius, 26, has been charged with murdering his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp on February 14 at his home in Pretoria. If convicted, he could face life in prison. Spokeswoman Anneliese Burgess said the forensics team was currently in South Africa, but would not provide further details.