Sport in brief: 04/04/2009

Lightning Bolt ready to give Ronaldo an 'edge'

Usain Bolt, the fastest man in the world, yesterday confirmed that he will be giving sprint lessons to Cristiano Ronaldo, the reigning world footballer of the year, when he comes to Manchester next month to compete in a 150 metres street race.

Bolt, the Jamaican phenomenon who struck Olympic gold in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay in Beijing last summer, is a Manchester United fan and has arranged to visit the club's training ground to help out Ronaldo, his favourite player, two days before he competes in the "Great Manchester 150" on a special sprint strip on Deansgate on Sunday 17 May.

"They say Ronaldo is fast but I'm faster," said Bolt, who will be presented to the crowd during United's Premier League home game against Arsenal on 16 May. "I can definitely give him a few pointers to give him more of an edge." Asked whether he might get a few tips in return, Bolt said: "Yeah, I'm actually thinking about trying to make the squad."

Simon Turnbull

Higgins stuns O'Sullivan in nailbiting finale

John Higgins reached the last four of the Bank of Beijing China Open yesterday after coming through a scrappy quarter-final with world No 1 Ronnie O'Sullivan. Higgins, the 2007 world champion, ran out a 5-4 winner to set up a semi-final meeting with Ryan Day, who was far more convincing in defeating Shaun Murphy 5-0.

The match was level at 3-3 before Higgins composed himself to draw within one frame of victory. O'Sullivan rallied again but missed two easy blacks, which Higgins capitalised on to seal the victory.

Big-hitting Hussey fires Australia to handy total

Mike Hussey cracked an unbeaten 83 in 79 balls to lead Australia to 286 for seven in the first one-dayer against South Africa in Durban yesterday. Hussey and James Hopes (38) put on a quickfire 67 for the sixth wicket. Earlier, wicketkeeper Brad Haddin showed his versatility as a batsman as he moved up the order to open the innings and contributed 53. Paceman Dale Steyn was the hosts' most effective bowler, taking two for 45 in nine overs.

Biaggi edges out Spies to bag pole in Valencia

Max Biaggi produced a consistent day's riding to take provisional pole for round three of the World Superbike Championship in Valencia. While his rivals were largely hit and miss through the course of the day, Biaggi was steady throughout on the new Aprilia RSV4. The Italian was third in free practice before improving his best lap time by a second in the afternoon to edge out rookie Ben Spies by 0.132 seconds.