* Second-half goals from Danny Ings and Stuart Armstrong earned Southampton a 2-0 win at Wolverhampton Wanderers on Thursday and a place in the FA Cup quarter-finals.
* Chelsea reached the FA Cup quarter-finals with a hard-fought 1-0 win at Championship side Barnsley on Thursday settled by a goal from centre forward Tammy Abraham as the Blues notched up their fourth win in five games under new manager Thomas Tuchel.
* Daniil Medvedev continued his impressive run of form as he celebrated his 25th birthday with a clinical 6-2, 7-5, 6-1 victory over Roberto Carballes Baena to reach the third round of the Australian Open on Thursday.
* Rafael Nadal shrugged off any lingering back soreness to storm past American qualifier Michael Mmoh 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 on Thursday for the loss of just seven games, brushing off a bizarre incident that saw fan thrown out.
* Reigning champion Sofia Kenin crashed out of the Australian Open in the second round on Thursday, slumping to a 6-3 6-2 defeat at the hands of world number 65 Kaia Kanepi on Margaret Court Arena.
* A Greek tragedy threatened to befall Stefanos Tsitsipas at the Australian Open on Thursday before the fifth seed steadied to fend off local wildcard Thanasi Kokkinakis 6-7(7-5), 6-4, 6-1, 6-7(7-5), 6-4 and reach the third round.
* Ukrainian fifth seed Elina Svitolina made good use of limited opportunities against American teenager Coco Gauff to reach the Australian Open third round with a 6-4, 6-3 victory on Thursday.
* FIFA president Gianni Infantino said for the first time on Thursday that COVID-19 containment measures could still be in place during the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, but he insisted stadiums would be full.
* Newcastle United striker Callum Wilson will be sidelined for six to eight weeks with a hamstring injury suffered in last week's home win over Southampton, manager Steve Bruce said on Thursday.
* Liverpool must pay Fulham up to £4.3 million (US$5.94 million) for Harvey Elliott's transfer, a record fee for a 16-year-old, the London club said on Thursday following a ruling by a compensation tribunal.
* Paris St Germain forward Neymar will be sidelined for four weeks due to a groin injury, the French Ligue 1 club said on Thursday, ruling him out of next week's Champions League trip for their last-16, first leg against his former club Barcelona.
* Formula One teams and manufacturers voted unanimously on Thursday to end development of the current engines after this season in a move that paves the way for Red Bull to continue using Honda-designed power units.
* Eight overseas players and two Indian players have chosen to be slotted in the highest bracket of the Indian Premier League auction with a base price of two crore rupees (US$275,000), India's cricket board said on Thursday.
