* Olympic champion Alina Zagitova produced a dynamic free programme to capture her first figure skating world title on Friday (Mar 22). Russian Zagitova, who led after the midweek short skate, made devilishly tricky jump combinations look ridiculously easy as the 16-year-old scored 155.42 points for a winning total of 237.50 in Saitama.

* Uruguay will face Thailand in the final of the China Cup on Tuesday after Oscar Tabarez's side handed Uzbekistan a 3-0 defeat in the friendly tournament's semi-finals in Nanning on Friday.

* Championship side Birmingham City were on Friday handed a nine-point deduction by the English Football League (EFL) for a breach of its profitability and sustainability rules.

* Amateur boxing's governing body (AIBA) president Gafur Rahimov announced his resignation on Friday, claiming that "politically based discussions" were harming the organisation's progress as the sport battles to remain part of the Olympic programme.

* Robert Garrigus, an American golfer who hailed conquering substance abuse in 2010 after his lone PGA title, was banned three months Friday (Mar 22) by the tour for a positive drug test.

* Angola striker Wilson Eduardo scored on his debut as they beat Botswana 1-0 to qualify for the expanded 24-team Africa Cup of Nations finals being hosted in Egypt from June 21-July 19.

* Russian race walker Aleksandr Ivanov has been disqualified for three years for doping and is set to be stripped of his gold medal at the 2013 world championships in Moscow, the Russian athletics federation said on Friday.