Some of the world's top billiard players gathered in Paris on Friday to lobby for their sport to be included in the Olympics held in the French capital in 2024.

The cue sports players had organised a showcase for the International Olympic Commitee at the Eiffel Tower.

Former World Champion Shaun Murphy dismissed that billiard is not physical to be included in the Olympics Gmes.

"It's not like kicking the football into the goal or hit the ball with a golf club. Billiards sports are, I believe, the most difficult range of sport in the entire world," he said.

Murphy instead drew attention the sport's diversity and gender-inclusiveness as it is among the few which allow men and women to compete against each other.

“It’s not about are you a man, are you a woman, are you a young person, are you a senior, we are complete level sports,” Murphy said.

Several new sports were added to the Tokyo 2020 Games including baseball/softball, karate, staeboarding, sport climbing and surfing, bringing the total number of Olympic sports to 33.

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Formula 1's bosses are heading into 2019 facing a critical period as they try to impose their vision on the sport.

Liberty Media's stewardship has produced mixed results since the US group took over in January 2017.

There is a more open atmosphere in F1, and a new race in Vietnam in 2020,but a number of historic events are under threat and teams' prize money has consistently dropped over the past 18 months.

Rule changes planned for 2021 have not yet been revealed, F1 has already lost one battle with the teams, and there is no agreement in other key areas.

And 2020, when all but one of the teams' contracts with F1 end, looms ever closer.

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Real Madrid and Croatia midfielder Luka Modric won the 2018 Ballon d'Or, becoming the first player other than Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo to claim the award in more than a decade.

Modric, 33, won his third successive Champions League in May before helping Croatia to a first World Cup final.

Former Brazil and AC Milan forward Kaka, in 2007, was the last player other than Messi or Ronaldo to win it.

Ronaldo, who joined Juventus from Real Madrid in the summer, came second.

Barcelona forward Messi finished fifth, with Atletico Madrid frontman Antoine Griezmann and PSG attacker Kylian Mbappe - both of whom won the World Cup with France - third and fourth respectively.

Victory caps a stellar year for Modric, who also was named the world's top male player at the Best Fifa Football Awards and received the Golden Ball award for the best player at the World Cup.

Speaking to BBC Sport, Modric dedicated the award to all of the other players who have missed out in the 10 years dominated by Messi and Ronaldo.

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Britain's Andy Lapthorne was beaten in the NEC Wheelchair Tennis Masters quad singles final as Australian Dylan Alcott won 3-6 7-5 6-4 in Florida.

Alcott, 27, beat Lapthorne to win 2016 Paralympic gold and again in the 2017 Australian Open final.

Lapthorne, 28, beat world number one David Wagner and Koji Sugeno in Orlando during the week but suffered a fourth Masters final defeat.

Alcott moves top of the world quad rankings, with Lapthorne up to second.

"This sport is so hard," Lapthorne said. "I've tried so hard and I keep putting myself out there and it's just not meant to be right now. I've just got to keep trying to get better.

"Credit to him, he came back. It was a great final, a great battle, a great match and a great spectacle for the quad division."

Lapthorne revealed that following his semi-final win over Sugeno on Saturday, he watched television coverage of British heavyweight boxer Tyson Fury's draw with Deontay Wilder in Los Angeles.

"I've taken inspiration from him and his battles and one of these days one of these finals is going to fall for me," he added.

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Barcelona moved above Sevilla to the top of La Liga as Gerard Pique and Carles Alena scored to secure a win over struggling Villarreal.

Pique headed in Ousmane Dembele's right-wing cross for the opening goal.

And youngster Alena scored his first La Liga goal when he chipped the ball over Sergio Asenjo from Lionel Messi's through ball.

Sevilla missed the chance to go back to the top when they drew 1-1 at fourth-placed Alaves later on Sunday.

They had looked set for defeat following Jony's close-range finish but Wissam Ben Yedder's strike saved a point for the visitors.

Barca, who had several players out injured, were far from their best against Villarreal although Messi almost added a third late on.

The Yellow Submarine should have led earlier on, with Gerard Moreno hitting the post after holding off Clement Lenglet.

It was only a second win in five games for Barca, while Villarreal remain one place outside the relegation zone with one victory in their past eight games.

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Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder's final news conference descended into chaos as they clashed on stage three days before their heavyweight bout in Los Angeles.

A packed room watched the verbal jousting and, after Fury's words saw Wilder grow visibly more irate, the pair began pushing during a face off.

Their teams got involved, prompting 60 seconds of mayhem.

Fury removed his shirt as security intervened, before the duo and their entourages were cleared from the stage.

What had started with both men hyping the Staples Center bout developed into an exchange of insults, with both men promising a knockout.

Speaking while barechested to BBC Sport's Mike Costello, Fury added: "I took my shirt off to get involved and frightened them all away.

"Everyone thinks the rivalry is fake but they can guess again as it nearly went off again.

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A 132-year first, a black eye, a leaked video, stunned grand masters and an “Armageddon” tiebreaker has floored the Chess World Championship.

Armageddon looms in the Chess World Championship after the most dramatic title showdown in recent memory crashed to another grinding halt in the final scheduled match.

McLaren have no regrets about split from engine partner Honda, says chairman

The chairman of the McLaren Group says he has no regrets about the decision to split from engine partner Honda before the 2018 season.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Essa Al Khalifa of Bahrain admitted it was "an expensive decision" but added: "It was in the long-term interests of the company."

McLaren have just finished the worst season in their history.

Honda switched to Red Bull's Toro Rosso junior team and next year will supply Red Bull, who won four races in 2018.

Red Bull, who this year used the same Renault engine as McLaren, have data on both power-units.

They believe the Honda engine ended the season with more performance than the Renault and are hopeful of a step up in competitiveness for 2019 which will allow them to challenge world champions Mercedes and Ferrari more closely.

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City's battle to be No 1 like "Nadal, Federer and Djokovic", says Guardiola

Pep Guardiola believes Manchester City need the pressure from their title rivals in order to help their own bid to be champions.

Liverpool's 3-0 win over Watford on Saturday kept them to within just two points of leaders City, despite Guardiola's side making it 13 games unbeaten with an emphatic four-goal victory against West Ham.

The trip to the London Stadium was a reminder of the charge Real Madrid gave when Manuel Pellegrini led them to a total of 96 points in La Liga in 2009-10, only for Guardiola's Barcelona to beat them to the crown with 99.

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Phil Mickelson claimed the $9m (£7m) winner-takes-all prize in a dramatic duel with Tiger Woods which finished under floodlights in Las Vegas.

The matchplay between the two Americans went to a 22nd hole before Mickelson, 48, sank a four-foot putt for victory.

Woods, 42, chipped in on the 17th to stop Mickelson putting for the match, then missed a chance himself from eight feet on the first extra hole.

That led to a sudden-death play-off on a 93-yard hole which Mickelson edged.

With 19 majors between them and two decades at the top of the game, Woods and Mickelson are two of the most recognisable golfers on the planet and this head-to-head battle was the latest chapter in an enduring rivalry.

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CONOR MCGREGOR has dropped the biggest hint yet he will join WWE after telling Becky Lynch to call him for "proper back-up".

The UFC superstar has long been linked with a move into the wrestling world but has been critical of the company’s performers in the past.

But now he has teased a crossover from the octagon to the ring by showing his support to the fellow Dubliner.

Lynch is the hottest thing in WWE and calls herself "The Man" since claiming the SmackDown Women’s Title at Hell in a Cell from bitter rival Charlotte Flair.

Lynch led the female SmackDown roster in an ambush on the Raw team, but during the melee she was struck in the face by Nia Jax, breaking her nose and ruling her out of the pay-per-view.

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Robert Kubica will complete an astonishing comeback to a full-time F1 seat by driving for Williams in 2019.

The Pole, who suffered career-changing arm injuries in a rallying accident over seven years ago, will partner George Russell.

Kubica, who narrowly missed out on a seat with Williams for 2018, is believed to have rejected a development driver role with Ferrari in order to make his return to the grid.

"Being back on the F1 grid next season will be one of the greatest achievements of my life."

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Paris St-Germain forward Neymar played for only six minutes as Brazil edged out Cameroon in Milton Keynes.

Neymar suffered an adductor muscle injury while taking a shot and was replaced by Everton's Richarlison.

And the Toffees forward proved to be the match-winner, powering home a header on the stroke of half-time.

Manchester City's Gabriel Jesus struck the post for Brazil in the second half, while Arthur hit the crossbar with a long-range effort.

The 29,669 fans at Stadium MK cheered loudly when Neymar came out to warm-up, but were equally displeased when he hobbled off.

Brazil team doctor Rodrigo Lasmar said: "He felt discomfort. He will need a bit more time to evaluate it and take a scan, but in principle it is not a serious injury."

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Alexander Zverev stunned world number one Novak Djokovic in straight sets to win the season-ending ATP Finals and earn the biggest victory of his career.

Djokovic, 31, was the heavy favourite to win a sixth finals title but was outclassed 6-4 6-3 by the German.

Zverev, the third seed, broke Djokovic for a 5-4 lead in the first set, then served three big aces to take the set.

The 21-year-old continued to dominate in the second and sealed a memorable victory as Djokovic faltered.

"I'm unbelievably happy. Obviously it is the biggest title I have ever won," said Zverev, who took home about £2m in prize money.

"How I played today, how I won it, for me it's just amazing."

He had lost to Djokovic in straight sets in the round-robin stage but, after beating Roger Federer in Saturday's semi-finals, produced a more confident performance to stop the Serb equalling Federer's haul of end-of-season titles.

Zverev missed his first championship point before hitting a sensational backhand down the line for victory, falling to the court in a mixture of disbelief and celebration as Djokovic jumped over the net to congratulate him.

"You definitely played much better than you did the group stage," Djokovic told him with a laugh. "You deserved to win."

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England staged a superb late comeback to beat Croatia at Wembley to reach the finals of the inaugural Uefa Nations League.

Croatia, England's World Cup semi-final conquerors in Moscow in July, looked set to win once more and relegate Gareth Southgate's side from the elite group when Andrej Kramaric's twisting finish put them ahead via a deflection off Eric Dier after 57 minutes.

England needed two goals to top the group and reach the semi-final and final stages in Portugal next June, and at least inflict a small measure of revenge on Croatia for that World Cup disappointment.

And they responded brilliantly to get the win their performance deserved and secure qualification for the next stage of the tournament.

Substitute Jesse Lingard scored from almost on the line with 12 minutes left before, with five minutes remaining, captain Harry Kane slid in Ben Chilwell's free-kick to send England through and relegate Croatia.

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