News in brief

Boxing: Brave Booth takes Molitor to the limit

No fairytale ending for boxing's Cinderella man, writes Alan Hubbard. Jason Booth, who fought his way back from the gutter, came close to becoming Britain's fourth world champion in trying to take the IBF super-bantamweight title from second-time holder Steve Molitor of Canada in Sunderland.

Booth, who four years ago was living on the streets, fought with gusto and gumption but it was not enough against better punching. At least it went to a majority decision. Bustling forward aggressively, Booth dominated the first half of the fight but Molitor, his eye cut in the second round, found his rhythm in the sixth. But at times it seemed Booth might spring a surprise like the one that earned Ricky Burn the WBO super-featherweight title last week and join him, Amir Khan and David Haye as world champions. "I didn't do anything wrong, it was just bad luck," he said. "But I am proud of myself." He had good reason. Wladimir Klitschko retained his triple World Heavyweight championship crowns in Frankfurt, stopping Nigerian Samuel Peter in 10 brutally one-sided rounds.

Golf: Casey and Poulter chase sharp-dressed Moore

Ian Poulter and Paul Casey go into today's final round of the BMW Championship in Chicago – the third leg of the FedEx Cup play-off series – tied for fifth, two shots behind leader Ryan Moore. Casey fired a 69 and could go to world No 5 with victory while Poulter settled for the same score after a bogey at the last. Moore, best known as the golfer who wears a tie while playing, fired a superb 66 to move up from ninth to first, a stroke ahead of fellow Americans Matt Kuchar and Dustin Johnson and also Korean Charlie Wi. Tiger Woods climbed from 40th to 22nd with a 68.

Triathlon: Brownlee finishes strongly but Gomez takes the title

Alistair Brownlee finished the World Championship Series in style by claiming victory in the final race in Budapest. The Briton outsprinted Javier Gomez of Spain in the final five miles of the run. But Gomez took Brownlee's crown, becoming the first triathlete to win the title twice.

Canoeing: Florence and Hounslow settle for bronze

Britain's David Florence and Richard Hounslow paddled to bronze in the men's C2 event at the World Canoe Slalom Championships in Slovenia. The Slovakian Hochschorner twins won gold, while a slow start kept the British 0.36sec behind France's Denis Gargaud and Fabien Lefèvre.

Snooker: Higgins gets green light for Germany return

The last barrier to world No 1 John Higgins' return was removed yesterday. Cleared of match-fixing on Wednesday, he missed the entry deadline for all tournaments but the WPBSA decided the Scot should not miss further events and he is eligible for the European Players Tour Championship in Hamm, Germany in November. Jamie Burnett, who is under investigation by Strathclyde Police over alleged betting irregularities, reached the first ranking tournament final of his 18-year career by beating Jamie Cope 6-1 in the Shanghai Masters. He will face Ali Carter, who beat Mark Selby 6-2.

Motor Sport: McNish looks to shine at Silverstone

Britain's Allan McNish aims to claim a fourth Silverstone 1000ks sports car victory with Audi today, writes Derick Allsop. The first round of the inaugural Intercontinental Le Mans Cup sets up McNish and Audi for another classic showdown with arch-rivals Peugeot. McNish said: "Peugeot will certainly be out for revenge after Audi's 1-2-3 success at the Le Mans 24-hour race in June so you can expect a titanic fight."