Today's sports news: What you need to know

Latest - Freeskiier Ben Barclay has finished in 10th place in the slopestyle final at the Beijing Winter Olympics.

The Aucklander fell on the penultimate jump on his first and second runs and could not complete the course.

He put in a clean third run to record his best score of 67.40.

Barclay qualified with the seventh highest score of the 12 finalists during Tuesday's qualification.

The 20-year-old is competing at his first Olympics and has been battling a knee injury picked up in training.

American Alexander Hall claimed the gold medal with a best score of 90.01 and USA's Nicholas Goepper finished with the silver medal with a top score of 86.48. Sweden's Jesper Tjader was third with a score of 85.35.

Hall finished in 16th in slopestyle at the last Olympics.

Australia defeat Sri Lanka in T20

Australia's Kane Richardson and Ashton Agar combined for a miserly bowling performance as the hosts outclassed Sri Lanka by six wickets

The home side now have an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-match series after last night's low-scoring third Twenty20 international in Canberra.

Richardson (3-21) and Agar (1-14) helped restrict Sri Lanka to a modest 121-6 from their 20 overs. Australia chased the target with ease, reaching 124-4 with 19 balls to spare.

Glenn Maxwell rode his luck for a quick 39, aiding skipper Aaron Finch (35), who anchored the reply, in overpowering a Sri Lankan bowling attack missing leg-spinner Wanindu Hasaranga, who tested positive for COVID-19 before the match.

Off-spinner Maheesh Theekshana ploughed a lonely furrow for the touring side, accounting for Ben McDermott in the first ball of the innings and finishing with 3-24.

Batting first after losing the toss, Sri Lanka started sluggishly and were reduced to 51-4 at the halfway mark of their innings after Richardson claimed two early wickets.

All-rounder Daniel Sams completed a spectacular diving catch in the deep to give Maxwell the prized wicket of Pathum Nissanka, Sri Lanka's leading run-scorer in this series, who departed for 16.

Sams replaced Steve Smith in the side after the former captain was concussed in the previous match in a flying attempt to save a six.

Captain Dasun Shanaka (39 not out) and Dinesh Chandimal (25) were left to pick up the pieces after Sri Lanka's top order failed, but were unable to mount an offensive and went six overs without finding the rope as their side limped to a meagre total.

The series continues in Melbourne with game four on Friday.

Reuters

Players advocate for World Cup every four years, says FIFPRO

As much as 75% of men's professional footballers opt for maintaining the current World Cup cycle and want it to be played every four years, global players' union FIFPRO said in a statement on Tuesday.

In November FIFPRO surveyed more than 1,000 players from six continents, including more than 70 different nationalities, following a proposal by football's governing body FIFA to switch to a biennial format.

Regional breakdown showed that 77% of players from both Europe and Asia prefer the World Cup to occur every four years, with 63% of footballers from the Americas sharing their view.

Among the African players, 49% favoured the tournament every four years, with the remainder split between a two or three-year cycle, the survey showed.

Only 21% of the participants believed their voice was respected and their well-being considered in the governance of international football.

"The player survey shows most footballers around the world have a clear preference to play the World Cup every four years," FIFPRO General Secretary Jonas Baer-Hoffmann said.

"At the same time, the results demonstrate the importance of domestic league competitions to players.

"These leagues are the bedrock of our game and we have to do more to strengthen them both for the sake of players and the overall stability of professional football."

Reuters

T20 World Cup in focus as India take on West Indies

India will use the three-match home series against West Indies to identify players for this year's Twenty20 World Cup in Australia and work towards building a bigger talent pool, captain Rohit Sharma said.

The hosts take on West Indies at Kolkata's Eden Gardens in a series starting from Wednesday after blanking their Caribbean opponents 3-0 in 50-overs matches in Ahmedabad.

"The idea is to identify the players who are going to play the World Cup and give them the game time," Rohit, who replaced Virat Kohli as skipper in white-ball formats, told reporters.

"There are a lot of players who are injured and not with the team. Come the World Cup, I don't know who's going to be fit and who's not going to be fit, but we've just got to get the back-ups ready.

"We have a packed schedule and injuries will happen. It's important we give players enough game time keeping everything in mind."

India, who won the inaugural T20 World Cup in 2007, failed to reach the semi-finals of last year's edition in the United Arab Emirates with the 2022 tournament scheduled to be held in October-November.

West Indies are the only side to have won the T20 World Cup twice and recently beat England 3-2 at home.

Reuters

Motor racing-Williams drop Senna logo from livery in break from the past

The Williams Formula One team have decided to remove logos paying tribute to fallen Brazilian great Ayrton Senna from their cars starting this season, with the former champions making a break with the past and embarking on a new era.

The triple champion, hailed and mourned as one of the greatest talents the sport has ever seen, was killed while racing for the Grove-based team in 1994 at Imola in only his third race as a Williams driver.

The team cars have carried various iterations of the Senna logo, from the trademark Senna 'S' to special edition stickers, every year starting 1995.

"The decision was that we want to move on in the future," team principal Jost Capito told reporters shortly after the outfit unveiled their new livery for the 2022 season.

"We have a new era, we have a new car and we refurbished also our museum where we have a special area to celebrate Ayrton.

"We had to look now in the future and not showing the drivers the 'S' all the time they get in the car and being reminded on what happened."

Capito said Williams, who also fielded the Brazilian's nephew Bruno Senna for a season in 2012, had not discussed the move with the Senna family.

But he said the team were looking to work more closely with the Senna Foundation, a philanthropic organisation set up by Senna's sister Viviane in 1994.

"More people benefit from this and if we can help people especially through the foundation, I think that's a very good programme but it has to be still finely defined," said Capito.

Williams, who unveiled a blue diamond-pattered livery with splashes of red, used the launch which coincides with the most radical Formula One rules overhaul in decades to emphasise a departure from the past and signal the dawn of a new era.

The team were sold by the Williams family to U.S.-based Dorilton Capital in the second half of 2020. Team founder Frank Williams, under whose leadership the outfit won nine constructors' championships, seven drivers' titles and 114 races, died last November at the age of 79.

"I think now it's time for the team to move on and be very honourable to Senna and having a very dedicated space in the museum and honour him there," said Capito

Reuters