Critical Ronnie rallies to win

SNOOKER: Ronnie O'Sullivan delivered a scathing criticism of his game despite fighting back from 3-0 down to beat Neil Robertson 6-4 before Mark Williams shook off the effects of whiplash to beat Ali Carter in two eventful second-round matches at the Pokerstars.com Masters at Wembley.

Williams hurt his neck in a car accident on Monday night but showed few signs of suffering any ill-effects as he won 6-3.

O'Sullivan stormed back with two centuries and three half-century breaks to set up a quarter-final clash with Peter Ebdon but said: "I scored a few and applied a bit of pressure. I'd give my long potting two out of 10. It's hard to get excited."

Schuey on 'full alert'

F1: Michael Schumacher was back "on full alert" as he prepared for his Formula One return. The seven-times F1 world champion has been allowed to assist the GP2 Series in their development of a car planned from 2011.

That saw Schumacher back on track at the Jerez circuit in Spain, albeit in wet conditions that ultimately forced a halt to the day's running.

Nevertheless, the 41-year-old said: "Despite the weather not being what we all would have liked, all my senses were nevertheless on full alert."

Collingwood's cool

CRICKET: Paul Collingwood won't be changing his Test match style after one of the most rewarding innings of his career. England hold a 1-0 lead after Collingwood's painstaking 40 in the second innings of the third Test at Cape Town helped salvage a draw.

"I like - not upsetting the opposition - but just going out there and doing things that are not easy to do," he said. "I know I must bore people at times."

Meanwhile, Jeremy Bray has retired from international cricket after 83 appearances for Ireland.

Sainz takes stage 10

Rallying: Carlos Sainz closed in on victory in the Dakar Rally after he won the 10th stage.

The Volkswagen driver came out on top on the 238-kilometre run from La Serena to Santiago. France's Stephane Peterhansel finished second for BMW, 28 seconds behind Sainz, with America's Mark Miller coming in third in another Volkswagen.

Spurs sink Lakers

NBA: The San Antonio Spurs beat the Los Angeles Lakers 105-85 last night, extending a poor run of road form for the NBA Champions who also lost Kobe Bryant to a back spasm injury.

results: Charlotte 102 Houston 94, Washington 90 Detroit 99, Memphis 104 LA Clippers 102, San Antonio 105 LA Lakers 85, Orlando 109 Sacramento 88.