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World champion Luke Littler clinically defeated world number one Luke Humphries 6-1 to win his first World Grand Prix title.

Littler, 18, was knocked out in the first round of the ‘double-in and double-out’ tournament on debut last year, but was more impressive throughout this campaign.

His average was lower than Humphries’ in the final, but he was ruthless throughout, winning five of his six sets in final-leg deciders to claim the £120,000 prize money.

It gives Littler his seventh PDC major televised title – the joint seventh-highest in history.

He has closed the gap between himself and leader Humphries to just over £70,000 at the top of the PDC’s order of merit as the two battle to arrive at December’s World Championships as world number one.

“I’m very happy to tick it off, it’s not the easiest tournament to win,” Littler told Sky Sports. “This is one I can tick off and there’s not many left.”

On the battle to be world number one, Littler said: “It’s definitely not a lot of [a difference in] prize money, especially with what we play for. Luke will know I’m behind his back now, I’m on to him.”

Humphries said he needs to “dedicate everything” to being able to match Littler.

The first set was shaky with Littler taking 13 darts in the second leg to get in, before pair exchanged breaks in leg three and four.

Littler, who beat four previous winners of the event on his way to winning it, held to claim the early advantage.

From there he clicked into gear, with Humphries, who had become just the third person to reach three successive Grand Prix finals, failing to create opportunities to snatch any initiative.

Littler took set two with a 64 checkout after a brilliant 177 set-up in leg five and he then got eight darts into a nine-darter in the opening leg of set three, before winning it after Humphries missed four darts at double.

Set four was won by Littler in another final-leg decider before Humphries got on the board by sensationally taking out 154 to pick up set five.

That could have been the spark for the 2023 winner but Littler was not willing to open the door and won the next two sets to seal the victory.

Humphries will walk away wondering what happened. He averaged 93.61 to Littler’s 92.15, while the 2024 world champion also hit more 100-plus scores and 180s.

“At half-time, it was the wildest I’ve seen him in 72 games…”

This should have been a routine game to bookmark Steve Clarke making history while his Scotland team took a step closer to a first men’s World Cup in 28 years.

But despite a top-two place in their qualifying group being assured by a win over Belarus – combined by Denmark beating Greece – the man who took charge of the men’s side for a record 72nd time was seen at his most furious according to midfielder John McGinn, and others within the home dressing room.

Scotland won 2-1 to take maximum points from this international camp and ensure a least a play-off place for next summer’s finals, but there was huge frustration around the stadium – both in the stands and on the pitch – as his team’s subdued lap of honour was brought to a close.

“If you’d said at the start of this camp we’d come out with six points, everyone would’ve been really happy,” said Clarke.

“But, I have to be honest, tonight I was really, really disappointed in my team. I don’t think we got anywhere near the levels we can and that was really disappointing.

The foundation of Clarke’s era has been circumspection. So it is of no great surprise that Scotland are the team in Group C who have scored the fewest goals against bottom seed Belarus.

Clarke’s teams are hard to beat, competitive, with the ability to grind out results. Much the same as the teams stewarded by the man he’s just surpassed, the late Craig Brown.

But alarms were going off on Thursday at Hampden as Scotland somehow beat Greece 3-1 after an hour of wretchedness.

While never behind at Hampden on Sunday, they were ringing almost as loud as the booing coming from the 49,000 inside Scotland’s national stadium.

“At half-time – and deservedly so – it was the wildest I’ve seen him in 72 games,” said McGinn of the head coach.

“We’re no stupid. As a team we’re not quite gelling. There’s things on the ball and off the ball, but what we have done is put ourselves in an ubelievable position.

“We’ll accept any criticism that comes our way, we’re old enough and strong enough to deal with that. We expect better of ourselves, the supporters expect better, but the main thing was getting over the line.

“We know we want to be better. The fans coming here want to be entertained and attacking football. It’s because they know we’re capable.

It’s not every day Scotland are booed off after winning a match which puts them to within two games of automatic qualification for a World Cup, but such are the level of expectation set by Clarke’s team.

While the Scots weren’t shooting the lights out in attack, they also allowed Belarus to be comfortable for large parts of the game. The fact they had 10 shots more than Scotland is a huge cause for concern.

“At half-time the manager came in but he was absolutely furious with us,” said defender Scott McKenna.

“We didn’t win any first balls, didn’t win any second balls either. Belarus probably looked more dangerous than us over the 90 minutes.”

Despite the fury, self-reflection and pain, Scotland are still in a strong position. An away game in Athens against a Greece team who can no longer catch them, and then a Hampden showdown against Denmark next month lies in wait.

Everyone from the Scotland camp who spoke acknowledged what they’ve produced over the past week will not get the job done, but there is a belief that they have it in them to find solutions. Somehow.

“We’ve had some great moments, and some quite disappointing moments,” said Clarke. “What we are is quite resilient, we can come back from a down.

Since winning their only Women’s Super League title in 2016, Manchester City have very much been the division’s ‘nearly’ team.

A late collapse in 2023-24 condemned them to runners-up spot for the sixth time in eight seasons, before a fourth-place finish last term cost them a place in the Champions League.

But are things changing in east Manchester?

“There’s something special with this group,” said new manager Andree Jeglertz after his side came from behind to earn a late 2-1 win against Liverpool on Sunday.

Not only was victory City’s fifth in a row since a narrow opening-day defeat by Chelsea, but it came from another show of grit and resilience when a game looked to be slipping away.

City leading the WSL scoring charts with 17 goals after six games comes as no surprise, but what does is the timing of their goals.

Aoba Fujino’s 86th minute winner at Anfield on Sunday was their sixth in the 80th minute or later this season – 35% of their WSL goals under Jeglertz.

“It says a lot about our side. There’s something special with this group. No matter if we’re one goal down. You see a team saying: OK we need to do something about this,” Jeglertz told Sky Sports.

City have now won six points from losing positions in the WSL this season, more than any other side.

The top scorers have scored in all six of their outings, something no other side has managed.

City have had nine different scorers this season – more than any other side – easing the burden on Khadija Shaw, and potentially lessening the drop-off that was suffered whenever she was absent last season.

“The style of play we used to play was very much the same way Pep [Guardiola] wants to play with the men’s,” full-back Kerstin Casparij told Sky Sports recently.

“We’ve let go a little bit of that at times and have been a bit more free and direct, especially up top.

“For me that translates into having a lot more freedom, progressing on the pitch and being trusted in my instincts.”

What’s particularly impressive about City’s goalscoring exploits and their ability to stay in matches until the end is that they are doing so without several key players.

Lauren Hemp has missed City’s past three league games with an ankle injury, as has Kerolin, whose speed and directness is key to Jeglertz’s system.

Add long-term absentees Lily Murphy and Mary Fowler to the list, and City are without two starting XIs worth of wingers.

Hold your horses – we’ve been here before.

After throwing away the title in 2023-24, City began last season with six wins and a draw and looked set to go toe-to-toe with serial champions Chelsea.

But a 2-0 defeat by Sonia Bompastor’s side began a run of four losses in six matches. That run included costly home defeats by European qualification rivals Manchester United and Arsenal.

Sacking Taylor with six games remaining did little to change their fortunes. Under interim boss Nick Cushing, City lost the League Cup final to Chelsea and missed out on Europe as they finished fourth.

Things are looking up under Jeglertz, but there is still plenty of work to do.

City have leaked eight goals in six league outings.

The manner of some of those goals will disappoint Jeglertz – as they have tended to come from momentary lapses.

Take Liverpool’s goal on Sunday as an example – Leila Ouahabi made a half-hearted attempt to block Ceri Holland’s cross, and Casparij lost track of midfielder Cornelia Kapocs, who was unmarked as she scored.

City’s defensive unit is adapting to a new system and new personnel – the full-backs bombing forward can leave the centre-back partnership of Alex Greenwood and new arrival Jade Rose exposed on the break.

What is non-negotiable for Jeglertz though is energy, something he felt his side lacked at Anfield.

“We lacked a little bit of energy until they scored. Then there was more desperation,” the Swedish coach told Sky Sports.

“It’s something we need to work on because that’s what shows a good team if you keep doing good games week after week. We lacked in the first half but got it in the second half, so I think we need to show it a little bit earlier.”

Are Jeglertz’s side ready to challenge a so-far unconvincing Chelsea side for the title? Time will tell.

Former NFL quarterback Mark Sanchez has been released from hospital and prison after he was stabbed in Indianapolis and arrested for his role in the incident.

In a condition set by a judge, the 38-year-old had to be processed, which involved him having his fingerprints recorded and a head and shoulders photo taken, at Marion County Jail after leaving hospital.

He was then released and briefly spoke to a reporter, saying he was slowly recovering from multiple stab wounds to his torso.

“Sorry I can’t answer all your questions,” he said, adding that his recovery would be “a long process”.

Sanchez, a pundit for Fox Sports since 2021, was in Indianapolis to commentate on a game between the Indianapolis Colts and the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday, 5 October.

However, in a statement the previous day, the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department said it was investigating a “physical disturbance” involving two adult males “resulting in one man receiving lacerations and the other sustaining injuries consistent with stab wounds”.

In a second statement, police said Sanchez remained in hospital but had been arrested for “battery with injury, unlawful entry of a motor vehicle and public intoxication”.

Fox Sports said: “Mark Sanchez was injured in Indianapolis on Saturday and is currently recovering in the hospital in stable condition.”

Sanchez was the fifth overall pick in the 2009 NFL Draft for the New York Jets.

In his five seasons with the Jets, where he wore the number six, Sanchez guided them to two consecutive AFC Championship Game appearances.

Across his 10-year career – which also included spells at the Philadelphia Eagles, the Dallas Cowboys, the Chicago Bears and the Washington Commanders – he threw for 15,357 yards with 86 touchdowns and 89 interceptions.

Pontypridd are considering a surprise bid for a place in Welsh rugby’s second-tier despite initially rejecting the chance to join Super Rygbi Cymru (SRC).

The Sardis Road side play in the third-tier Welsh Premiership having refused to apply for one of 10 places in SRC when launched in 2024.

At the time, Pontypridd said the competition would “jeopardise its solvency as a commercial entity” due to a reduced number of fixtures.

In a statement released following a members meeting, executive director Phil Miles wrote: “It is still unclear what the outcome of the WRU consultation project will be, in terms of the number and branding of the regions, and the structure of the semi-pro and community game below that.

Cardiff RFC also initially took a stance against joining the SRC before the then new owners Helford Capital Limited led a successful application to be included.

Since then, Cardiff RFC’s senior organisation Cardiff Rugby, who play in the United Rugby Championship, were rescued from oblivion by the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) in April 2025.

However, Cardiff remain the only team from the region to be in SRC after Merthyr also declined to be involved.

The WRU is now formulating proposals that will revamp its professional tier with a reduction from four to two or three teams touted.

Miles also wrote that in recent years, the south Wales valleys club, five-time Welsh club champions, has spent recent years “firefighting and resolving” financial issues.