Robert Milkins clinched his second career ranking title in a dramatic Welsh Open final, beating Shaun Murphy 9-7. Milkins’ previous ranking title win was at the Gibraltar Open the previous year. “Gibraltar was brilliant but beating Shaun in a final is the icing on the cake. You have to play well to beat Shaun,” said Milkins, 46, in an interview with BBC Wales.

Welsh Fire will be undertaking a major overhaul for their 2023 The Hundred campaign, as they have only retained five players from last year’s squad. The team had a disappointing season in 2022, finishing last in the league table after losing all eight of their matches. In response, they have replaced head coach Gary Kirsten with Mike Hussey and will be very active on draft day, which is set to take place on March 23rd.

Wales women’s head coach Kevin Johnson had admitted he was disappointed to see Sian French become the fourth member of the squad to retire from international hockey in the last five months. Centurion French – who had won 130 caps for Wales – has joined Natasha Fortnam, Sophie Robinson and Julie Read in deciding to end her Test career. French competed for Wales at three Commonwealth games and six European Championships and was a co-captain at the Birmingham Games last summer.

Elinor Barker has won her first cycling title since giving birth to her son Nico less than a year ago. The Welsh track star partnered Katie Archibald to victory in the Madison at the European Championships in Switzerland. It was Archibald’s third title of the week and 20th of her career, while Barker’s fellow Welsh rider Emma Finucane also claimed silver in the women’s keirin as Great Britain ended the week with four gold, six silver and two bronze medals.

By Gareth James Sabri Lamouchi is hoping Cardiff City can provide him with some home comforts on Saturday. The Bluebirds boss takes charge in front of the club’s fans for the first time when they host Middlesbrough. But Cardiff’s miserable recent form and awful scoring record means they will be big underdogs to get anything against opponents […]

Celtic Dragons captain Clare Jones wants the Welsh side to make massive strides as the 2023 Netball Super League season gets underway. Last year the Dragons finished 10th with just three wins from their 20 matches. But they had a better defensive record than five teams in the division, with their skipper confident the foundations are in place for success.

Jonny Clayton admits he just sneaked in to the eight-man Premier League Darts roadshow, but that won’t stop him from straining every sinew to topple world champion Michael Smith in front of a packed Welsh crowd on Thursday night. The Premier League will be in Cardiff at the Motorpoint Arena and Welshman Clayton has been drawn against Smith in a mouth-watering clash in front of The Ferret’s home crowd. “I had a few nervous moments and at one point I thought I might not make the Premier League, but I managed to get into the group of eight – thank god,” said Clayton.

Julie Read had admitted her decision to retire from international hockey was a tough one to make. The 28-year-old has decided to bring to an end her 13-year Test career, although she will continue to play for Beeston in the top-tier England Hockey League. “It has been incredibly hard,” said Read about her decision to stop representing her country.

Meirion Evans did what the Welsh rugby squad failed to do last weekend – beat the Irish! And he did it on their home turf too, scoring a sensational away win on the Galway International Rally. The high-speed victory gives the Llanwrda driver the lead in the Irish Tarmac Rally Championship for the first time in his career.

Zoe Backstedt insisted she was thrilled to win a silver medal at the UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships in Hoogerheide, in the Netherlands. The 18-year-old Welsh star took second spot in the women’s under-23 category as the Great Britain Cycling Team ended the championships with more success. Backstedt got off to a strong start, getting out in front in the lead group of three, before dropping Marie Schreiber to continue head-to-head with race favourite, Shirin Anrooij of The Netherlands.

Welsh gymnasts Poppy-Grace Stickler and Ruby Evans have both been selected to represent Great Britain at the first FIG Artistic World Cup series event of 2023 later this month. The event will take place in Cottbus, Germany, from 23-26 February. Clwb Cymru Caerdydd duo Poppy and Ruby will be accompanied on the trip by lead Welsh women’s artistic national coach, Tracey Skirton-Davies.

Chris Type helped deliver Welsh Boxing’s most successful Commonwealth Games for more than 60 years in Birmingham last summer. Now, he is aiming to help add some extra punch to Welsh Athletics’ ambition to build on the success enjoyed by track and field in Wales. Last summer, Welsh athletes Olivia Breen and Aled Sion Davies won gold medals at the Commonwealth Games, with Harrison Walsh earning bronze.

Welsh female athletes are still waiting to hear from World Athletics who say their transgender policy is still a work in progress. Its stance follows claims made by British shot-putter that the governing body’s preferred option would “screw” female athletes. The global organisation is consulting with member federations over its preferred option for a new policy.

Elfyn Evans has admitted he was frustrated but not down-hearted after his fourth place finish at the season-opening Monte Carlo Rally. The opening round of the World Rally Championship was won by Evans’ Toyota teammate Sebastien Ogier, with a third member of Toyota Gazoo Racing – world champion Kalle Rovanpera – finishing runner-up. Welsh driver Evans had been in second place on Friday but lost more than 40 seconds after a puncture on the fifth stage.

Wales head coach Danny Newcombe has admitted his team have fallen short of his high demands at their first Hockey World Cup. Wales’ progress at the tournament came to an end on Friday when they lost 4-2 in their final Pool D match against hosts India. It was a hugely improved display from Wales who had previously suffered heavy defeats to Spain and England.

Elfyn Evans insists he can challenge for the World Rally Championship after putting last season’s nightmare campaign behind him. The Welshman will start his claim for a long cherished world title at the legendary Rallye Monte-Carlo, which opens the 2023 season on Thursday. Evans was runner-up in 2020 and 2021 but finished fourth in the standings last year and suffered a number of mechanical and strategic problems with the new hybrid cars that were introduced in 2022.

Mark Williams has vowed to keep snookers’ youngsters on their toes after being edged out in the Masters final by Judd Trump. Trump beat Mark Williams 10-8 to win his second Masters title at Alexandra Palace. The Englishman trailed 8-7 but won three frames in a row to clinch the first prize of £250,000, wrapping up victory with a clearance of 126.

James Carson made history by becoming the first Wales player to score at the Hockey World Cup – but it was scant consolation for his team who were beaten 5-1 by Spain. It was the second match of the tournament in India for Wales, but for the second time they leaked five goals. At least there was no whitewash this time – as there had been with Friday’s 5-0 defeat to England – with Carson scoring in the fourth quarter, when Spain were leading 4-0.

Wales star Jacob Draper admitted the World Cup debutants had given England far too much respect after they lost 5-0 in their opening games of the FIH Men’s Hockey World Cup. Great Britain international Draper was part of a Wales side overpowered and outgunned by their nearest rivals in India as the Welsh campaign got off to a miserable start. Wales got off to a poor opening, conceded inside the first minute, and never really recovered as Liam Ansell scored two penalty corners with further England goals for Nick Park, Phil Roper and Nick Bandurak.

Mark Williams believes beating Ronnie O’Sullivan was his most satisfying victory for years as he looks forward to a semi-final battle at the Masters. The veteran Welsh ace ended an eight-year wait for victory over O’Sullivan by storming back from a three-frame deficit to win 6-5 and reach the semi-finals where he will play Jack Lisowski after the Englishman’s 6-4 victory over Hossein Vafaei. Williams’s hopes of beating the seven-time Masters champion seemed distant as O’Sullivan surged into a 3-0 lead at Alexandra Palace.