Jade Jones wins World Championship silver medal

Britain's Jade Jones has won a silver medal at the Taekwondo World Championships in Gyeongju, South Korea.

The 18-year-old Flint fighter's success came in the -57kg category only 24-hours after Sarah Stevenson took gold.

Youth Olympic champion Jones has dazzled since stepping up to the senior scene this year, winning three medals in her first two Open events.

However, after leading 5-4 against Yuzhuo Hou of China, she was forced into a sudden-death round.

"I'm disappointed with how close it [the final] was, it's just horrible," Jones told BBC Sport.

"But 2010 was amazing, winning the Youth Olympics and I didn't think it could get any better, but I'm buzzing with how well it's gone."

The teenager's talent was emphasised in the semi-finals.

Jones found herself 6-2 down to 2008 European Championship medallist Marlenee Harnois of France, with only one round to go, but fought back to level at 7-7, before progressing in sudden-death.

"I knew I had the talent [to get a medal], but the World Championships is so hard and in the past we haven't been great, but as a team were getting much stronger."

Many of the British team now face an anxious wait to discover whether their weight division will be one of the four that British Taekwondo selects for next year's Olympic Games.

A decision is due to made on 11 May.

"I just wanted to go out and do my everything and then if my weight didn't get picked, at least then I've given my all," stated Jones.

"Now I've just got to hope that's enough, so fingers crossed that my weight gets selected and then I can train harder and get bigger and better."

Jones' achievements drew considerable praise from day three's World Championship gold medallist Sarah Stevenson.

The 28-year-old said that while she isn't ready to leave the sport just yet, she knows that when she does, British Taekwondo will be left in safe hands.

"Jade has been absolutely amazing, not only during this championships but throughout the last couple of years," said Stevenson.

"She reminds me of myself in a way and I know what she's going through because I've been there myself and it really hurts to come so close [to gold], but when she looks back on this in a couple of days' time I'm sure she'll realise how well she's done."

"We're all so proud of her," concluded Stevenson.

Martin Stamper was another Brit hoping to better the bronze he secured with victory in Tuesday's quarter-finals, but he was up against Olympic bronze medallist Servet Tazegul of Turkey.

The Liverpudlian had beaten his opponent to win the German Open title in March, but Stamper struggled throughout this encounter, falling behind early on before eventually succumbing to Tazegul's power 15-2.

The Turk went on to take the title with a thrilling 9-8 victory over defending champion Mohammad Motamed Bagheri of Iran.

"I knew it was going to be hard as he's such a skilled fighter and perhaps it's difficult to be happy when you've just lost, but a bronze is a good result and hopefully I've given my weight-division a good chance of being selected [for the Olympics]," Stamper told BBC Sport.

Jones's and Stamper's successes combined with Stevenson's gold, mean the 2011 tournament is Great Britain's most successful Taekwondo World Championship

Donald McCain's Overturn makes all to win Chester Cup

Overturn led from start to finish to lift the Chester Cup for Grand National-winning trainer Donald McCain.

The 11-2 shot burst out of stall one under Eddie Ahern and only Tastahil was able to keep him in his sights.

Tastahil finished second, with Mystery Star third and Mount Athos fourth.

Earlier, hot favourite Wonder of Wonders (6-5), trained by Aidan O'Brien and ridden by Ryan Moore, won the Cheshire Oaks, beating Blaise Chorus by two and three quarter lengths.

But the day's feature race went to a horse trained locally by McCain, son of the legendary trainer Ginger McCain.

Solid in the betting, Overturn had been expected to start favourite until a late gamble on Red Cadeaux pushed his price out to 11-2.

But he quickly found himself well clear of much of the field, and was able to sustain his advantage despite the two-mile trip.

Having sent Ballabriggs to glory in April's Grand National, McCain had been bullish about the seven-year-old's chances.

Overturn had finished seventh in the Champion Hurdle but relished his first appearance on the Flat since last August - and Ahern was more than happy to let him lead the field as he made the most of his draw tight to the rail.

His final margin of victory was a length and three quarters.

McCain said: "He's a fantastic little horse. He's an absolute joy and on his day he's a hell of a horse to pass.

"It's great to come here. As a boy I grew up watching the likes of Sea Pigeon win this and dreamed of having a winner here."

Ahern added: "He gives himself a breather, he fills his lungs with air and takes off. He could nearly have gone round again."

Meanwhile, Wonder Of Wonders' part-owner Michael Tabor gave his filly his approval for Epsom after her encouraging victory in the preceding race.

It was the third time O'Brien had landed this Listed event in the last four years, and his latest winner showed a nice turn of foot to catch up the runaway Blaise Chorus.

"Ryan was very happy with her, as you well should be," said Tabor.

"Why wouldn't you go for the Oaks now? That will be the next run for her unless Aidan has other ideas, and I doubt that."

She is a best-priced 10-1 to win the Oaks.

Sheffield's Ryan Rhodes to fight Saul Alvarez in June

Sheffield's Ryan Rhodes will get a second world title shot 14 years after his first when he fights Saul Alvarez in Guadalajara, Mexico on 18 June.

Rhodes, 34, was outpointed by Otis Grant when challenging for the vacant WBO middleweight title in 1997.

And this time round he will be fighting for the WBC light-middleweight belt.

The hard-hitting Mexican Alvarez, 20, will be making the first defence of the title he won by beating Rhodes' fellow Englishman Matthew Hatton in March.

When Rhodes was overlooked for a shot at the vacant WBC title in March, his trainer Dave Coldwell called it "boxing politics at its worst".

Rhodes, who has won his last 10 fights, was ranked number four by the WBC and neither Alvarez nor Hatton had fought at 154lb before.

But Rhodes, who was one of Britain's most exciting prospects when he emerged in the mid-1990s, is determined to make the most of his second chance.

"I have waited a long time for this opportunity and I intend to take it with both hands," said Rhodes, the European champion.

"I respect Alvarez as a fighter and I know he is an exciting prospect, but I fully intend to bring the belt back to England."

The redheaded, freckle-faced champion became the youngest man to win a light-middleweight world title when he dominated Hatton in Anaheim, California.

And next Alvarez - known as El Canelo - Spanish for cinnamon -will be returning to his homeland where he is wildly popular.

"I am very excited that my first world title defence will be in Guadalajara," said Alvarez. "I promise I will work extremely hard to give all my fans a great performance."

The unbeaten Alvarez, who has 36 wins including 26 knockouts and one draw from 37 fights, is a protege of Oscar de la Hoya, who has high hopes his charge will blossom into a superstar of the sport.

"One of the first things Canelo told me after he won his world title was that he didn't want to sit around waiting," said former six-weight world champion De la Hoya, who also handles Britain's Amir Khan.

"He wants to fight, he wants to be an active champion, and we're going to give him every opportunity to do that."

Alvarez turned professional when he was only 15, and had 20 fights under his belt by the time he became a legal adult.

His most notable victories include a knockout of Jose Miguel Cotto - the brother of WBA light-middleweight champ Miguel Angel Cotto - and over former title-holders Carlos Baldomir and Lovermore N'dou.

"I know that Ryan will be coming to seize the opportunity to win a world title, but I have every confidence that Canelo has what it takes to not only win on 18 June, but also to reign as a world champion for many years to come," added De la Hoya.

Wasps release Wales forward Andy Powell

Wales back-row forward Andy Powell is to leave the club by mutual consent.

Powell, who signed on a one-year deal in July 2010, had been suspended following his involvement in a brawl in a London bar last month

And following a review of the incident the club has decided to part ways with the 29-year-old.

"[The club and player] agree that the conclusion reached is in their respective best interests for the future," a club statement read.

Powell was suspended indefinitely on 19 April following an incident at the Walkabout pub in Shepherd's Bush, west London.

Initially, both Powell and ex-England prop Tim Payne, 32, were banned pending an investigation by the High Wycombe-based club into the events at the London pub.

Two days later, Wasps lifted their suspension of Payne, focusing their attentions on Powell.

Commenting on that investigation, Wasps' statement continued: "This announcement comes following a thorough and detailed review, between the player and the club, of all of the evidence arising from the incident for which Andy was initially suspended.

"This included a review of CCTV footage of the incident and statements from those witnesses present throughout.

"Both parties are satisfied that this matter has been dealt with in a proper, fair and appropriate manner."

Powell, who joined Wasps after being released by Cardiff Blues in the summer, pleaded guilty to driving a golf buggy while unfit through drink in March 2010. He was banned from driving for 15 months and fined £1,000 as a result.

Capped 17 times by Wales, he made 21 appearances for Wasps this season, scoring one try.

Andy Murray struggles to Madrid win over Gilles Simon

Andy Murray made a nervous start to his Madrid Open campaign with an unconvincing 6-4 3-6 6-0 second-round victory over Gilles Simon.

The British number one, playing his first match in over two weeks after an elbow injury, struggled for consistency despite taking the first set.

His forehand unravelled in the second set as Simon pounced on the mistakes.

But he regained confidence in the decider to set up a third-round match against Brazilian Thomaz Bellucci.

After the match, Murray said: "Obviously the third set was good, I came through a lot of long games.

"I thought I served well for most of the match, ground strokes were a bit up and down, and I volleyed pretty well when I came in.


"It's obviously different conditions here," added Murray, referring to the high altitude in Madrid.

"I wasn't timing the ball that well from the back of the court and that's something that hopefully after getting through a tough one today I'll do better on Thursday."

While the third-set demolition looked impressive, Murray's back-room team will be particularly concerned by the numerous unforced errors throughout the opening two sets on the Arantxa Sanchez Vicario Court.

Murray had been given a first-round bye as the fourth seed and his 18-day injury absence from the clay courts, which forced him to miss last month's Barcelona Open, was clearly apparent.

And Simon, ranked 20th in the world, took advantage of a number of uncharacteristic mistakes by the Scot.

"The tennis wasn't great, he's a very difficult player to play against," said a relieved Murray, who won the Madrid title in 2008 when it was played on hard courts rather than clay.

"The ball's flying around at the altitude, his balls were shooting through. I didn't get into a rhythm but I was serving well at the end. I can definitely play a lot better."

Despite breaking his opponent in the first game of the match, Murray's groundstrokes failed to find their intended range, allowing Simon to counter-attack and use his powerful forehand with a series of clean winners.

Murray was stretched to the limit as Simon probed for a break in the eighth game. But Murray held and then sealed a decisive break to lead 5-4, staying in crucial rally with a brilliant defensive lob at full stretch before finishing off the point with a drive volley.

The Scot's drop-shots - which lacked conviction in the early stages of the set - began to find their range as Simon slammed a return into the net to hand the first set to Murray.

His first service game of the second set was impressive, won to love, but continuing problems on the forehand side frustrated the world number four, with Simon capitalising on anything short.

A flurry of unforced Murray errors - met with a series of on-court expletives - handed Simon the opportunity to break and he served out for the second set.

After Murray took the first game of the third set, former world number six Simon went 40-0 down on his own serve and the Scot broke at the third attempt for a crucial 2-0 lead.

A significant improvement in his service games allowed Murray to dictate the tempo of the third set, although Simon was in belligerent mood, forcing his opponent to defend a number of break points.

However, Murray extended his record to six victories in seven against Simon as he served out for a hard-fought victory.

Bellucci booked his third-round place when German Florian Mayer was forced to retire with an injury in the third set of their match.

Elena Baltacha reaches quarter-finals at Suez Open

Elena Baltacha survived a wobble as she advanced to the last eight of the Suez Open in France.

Baltacha comfortably took the first set against Vesna Dolonts of Russia but had to rally after dropping the second to seal a 6-3 3-6 6-3 victory.

The Scot, ranked 91 in the world, will face either world number 60 and top seed Kristina Barrois or Anastasia Yakimova in the quarter-finals.

Heather Watson, 18, will bid to join Baltacha in the quarters on Thursday.

The British number three will play 29-year-old Italian Maria-Elena Camerin, with the winner advancing to face either Romania's Irina-Camelia Begu or home favourite Pauline Parmentier.

A delighted Baltacha said: "I'm really, really pleased with the win today, especially playing a good young prospect who made the third round at the Aussie Open this year. She has a very good quality clay game.

"This is my first ever quarter-finals on clay, which makes my win even more satisfying. This performance gives me great confidence as I'm obviously not known as a clay player.

"I prepared well though and I'm getting more confident on it. This is really good preparation for the upcoming tournaments in Strasbourg and Roland Garros."

Pakistan take unassailable lead over West Indies

Pakistan survived a few scares to pass West Indies' modest 171 in Barbados and take an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-match one-day series.

In a match reduced to 45 overs per side, Saeed Ajmal and Wahab Riaz each took three wickets to make short work of the Windies batting line-up.

Early strikes from Ravi Rampaul then left Pakistan in trouble at 12-3.

But Misbah-ul-Haq's patient 62 not out saw Pakistan sneak home, winning by three wickets with 29 balls remaining.

Rampaul (4-32) took two wickets with his first two balls, and followed up with a quick third to ensure caution would be the better part of valour for Pakistan's batsmen on a slightly damp but true wicket.

Misbah played the vital innings, sensibly realising the runs could safely be obtained without resorting to injudicious shots.

Pakistan were back on track after Misbah and Hammad Azam (36) had moved the score to 127-4, but spinner Devendra Bishoo responded with three wickets of his own to bring some excitement to the finale.

Misbah, however, would not be budged and a winning six from Riaz did the job.

Earlier, West Indies' batting proved inadequate despite a good start from Lendl Simmons (51). Ajmal and Riaz found wickets far too easy to come by, putting Pakistan firmly on top.

England set to name new captains

England are expected to name new one-day and Twenty20 captains at a news conference at Lord's on Thursday.

Andrew Strauss is reportedly set to stand down as 50-over captain and it has been suggested Test vice-captain Alastair Cook will take his place.

It is also expected Paul Collingwood will give up the Twenty20 captaincy.

Strauss' decision to hand over the captaincy would not be unexpected after England's disappointing showing in the recent World Cup in India.

Test captain Strauss and team director Andy Flower, who will be at Thursday's 11am conference, said after the World Cup they would review the Middlesex opener's role in the 50-over side.

Strauss, 34, was arguably England's best batsman at the World Cup, highlighted by his career-high 158 in the drawn match with eventual winners India.

However, it is thought he will give up the 50-over game to prolong his Test career.

While Strauss' resignation as skipper would not be a surprise, Cook's elevation would be a slightly left-field promotion because he was not chosen in the World Cup squad that bowed out in the quarter-finals.

Cook was the outstanding batsman during last winter's Ashes success, when he scored 766 runs, but was not included for the subsequent one-day series against Australia or the World Cup.

Indeed, the 26-year-old has made just three ODI appearances in the past two-and-a-half years, all of which were during last year's tour of Bangladesh when Strauss was rested.

Former skipper Kevin Pietersen could return to the Twenty20 captaincy, although seamer Stuart Broad is also a contender.