beaten

It was an excellent first day for the Welsh players, as Jak Jones, Dylan Emery and Mark Williams all won their first-round matches.

Jones took a comfortable 4-1 win over England’s Liam Highfield, while Emery shocked China’s Lei Peifan with a deciding-frame victory.

Home favourite Williams – who was the last Welsh player to win the title back in 1999 – overcame Michael Holt to win 4-2 and set up a second-round match against Martin O’Donnell or Tom Ford.

England’s Robbie Williams knocked out world number 16 Si Jiahui with a 4-2 win.

Williams will face last year’s runner-up and former Welsh Open winner Stephen Maguire in the second round after his come-from-behind win over Ricky Walden.

Barry Hawkins was forced to go the distance against fellow Englishman David Lilley, though the 12th seed came out on top with a 4-3 win, sealing his win with a 108 break in the decider.

British number one Emma Raducanu has been knocked out of the Dubai Tennis Championships in the first round.

She recovered from a set and a break down against Antonia Ruzic to force a decider but the Croatian prevailed, winning 6-1 5-7 6-2.

Ruzic is ranked 67th in the world and was one of seven lucky losers from qualifying to fill the main draw after several players pulled out through injury, illness or a schedule change.

The Croatian said it was a ‘crazy turnaround,’ with little preparation time for what became her first career top 30 win.

“We were going to stay here for two-three days. It’s crazy because I got in on Monday. Playing against Emma, of course, is a tough match,” Ruzic explained.

“A lot of the girls were cancelling and a lot of them were not here to sign (as alternates). I was like ‘OK, I’m going to sign and let’s see what happens’.”

Raducanu’s initial opponent Elisabetta Cocciaretto was ruled out with a thigh problem, and Ruzic won the first set in 30 minutes having twice broken Raducanu.

The world number 25 then sought medical attention, just as she did last week at the Qatar Open when she had to retire from her first-round match.

Despite falling 5-3 down after being broken again in the second set, Raducanu fought back to claim two breaks and make it a set apiece.

The Briton won six consecutive games at the end of the second set and start of the third to go 2-0 up in the decider, but Ruzic won the next six to clinch victory.

For the second straight Winter Olympics, Mathilde Gremaud bests Eileen Gu in the women’s blue ribband freeski event.

Switzerland’s Mathilde Gremaud has retained her Olympic title in the slopestyle freestyle skiing competition at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Games in a gripping race in the Italian Alpine town of Livigno.

China’s Eileen Gu, who had been hoping to convert her Beijing 2022 silver medal into gold this time, came in second on Monday after tumbling at the start of her last run.

Canada’s Megan Oldham, ⁠24, took the bottom step of the podium despite a big crash on her second run.

Earning herself a day-late birthday present, Gremaud skied well above the already very high bar set by Gu on her first run with three spectacular runs of her own, wearing the Swiss flag like a cape as she came down the last time, having already ensured herself the gold medal.

Gremaud rolls out new trick

On a crisp and sunny day in the high-altitude ski resort close to the Swiss border, Gremaud kicked off the final by performing – ⁠for the first time by a woman – an elite-level trick known as the nose butter double cork 1260.

In this trick, the skier presses the tips of the skis on the takeoff to start the spin and then performs a double cork 1260, two distinct off-axis, inverted flips combined with three-and-a-half full, horizontal rotations.

Known for her variety of tricks on the slope, the Swiss champion veered towards the very technical ones, followed by breathtaking acrobatic jumps during her second run, earning her the eventual highest score overall of 86.96, just pipping Gu’s first-run score of 86.58.

Despite the big crash on her second run, ‌Oldham picked up in the third run, soaring through the rails and performing conservative yet still very acrobatic jumps at the end, winning her a score of 76.46.

At the end of the race and during the prize-giving ceremony, the crowd was painted in different hues of red as the ‌flags of the three winning countries – Switzerland, China and Canada – all waved in the air to the beat of loud music and cheering. The medals were handed out by Britain’s ‌Princess Anne, a former Olympic equestrian.

High competition

Double Olympic champion Gu, 22, set ⁠the bar high on the first run with big tricks on the rails and stunning jumps, adding flair to all of her tricks and putting herself in first place early on.

After a poor second run when she stumbled on the rails at the beginning of the beautifully sculpted piste, Gu knew ‌she would need something special on her final run to grab the title away from Gremaud. But she tumbled into the snow almost immediately, ending her hopes of reclaiming top spot in the competition.

American-born Gu, who represents her mother’s country of China at the Olympics, said last week that she had nothing left to prove after her two gold and one silver medal from Beijing.

She will be defending her big air and halfpipe titles later in the Games.