SPEEDWAY: Defending Premiership champions Ipswich Witches began their new season with a 50-40 win over the King’s Lynn Stars in the Knockout Cup on Thursday night.

Richard Lawson and Danny King top-scored with 10+1 and 9+2 for the Witches while Max Fricke bagged a huge 16 points in defeat on his King’s Lynn debut.

The return leg takes place on Monday before both teams take on league newcomers Northampton.

ICE HOCKEY: The Elite League’s end of season play-offs face off this weekend with all four quarter-finals taking place over two legs.

Defending champions Belfast, table-toppers during the regular season, meet Glasgow, who qualified with the worst record, while last year’s play-off winners Nottingham take on Manchester.

Sheffield clash with form-team Guildford, winners of their last five games, and Coventry are up against Cardiff.

DARTS: Jonny Clayton came from 5-2 down to beat Michael van Gerwen 6-5 in Thursday night’s Premier League final in Brighton.

Clayton now tops the table by three points from Luke Littler who crashed out 6-4 to Stephen Bunting in the first round, with Gerwyn Price two points further back in third and van Gerwen fourth.

Bottom-of-the-table Josh Rock beat Price before losing 6-4 to Clayton in the semi-finals.

CYCLING: Both Paris-Roubaix one-day “monument” races will take place on Sunday with men’s world champion Tadej Pogacar looking to break his duck at an event that Mathieu van der Poel has won for the past three years.

Pogacar finished as runner-up in 2025. Pauline Ferrand-Prevot will be defending her title in the women’s race which will include an extra three cobbled sectors this year, making up over a fifth of the race’s 88.8 miles.