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Wenger to depart Arsenal

Arsene Wenger is to stand down as Arsenal manager at the end of this season, a year before his contract was due to expire. The 68-year-old Frenchman took the English Premier League to new heights after taking over at Highbury in 1996, winning the championship in 1997-98 and 2001-02 before his crowning achievement, the Invincibles season of 2003-04. But the Gunners have faded from title contention in recent years and last season finished outside the all-important top four for the first time in Wenger’s tenure. This season, Arsenal are even further off the pace and Wenger’s announcement will be applauded by many of the club’s fans who have been vocal in calling for his departure.

Bennett earns career-best finish

A bold bid for stage victory has come up narrowly short for top New Zealand road cyclist George Bennett. The 28-year-old Kiwi was second on stage four of the Tour of the Alps in Austria, finishing six seconds behind Spaniard Luis Leon Sanchez. After more than three hours in the mountains, Bennett found the energy to pursue the leader over the closing kilometres as he sought a first professional stage victory. His second placing was a career-best stage outcome, leaving him seventh overall, just over a minute behind French leader Thibaut Pinot with a stage remaining. It continues a big week for Bennett as he builds towards next month’s Giro D’Italia. He was hit by a car while training and said he was lucky to escape serious injury.

Williamson 50 not enough

Kane Williamson has struck another half-century but it couldn’t stop his Sunrisers Hyderabad from suffering a first loss in cricket’s Indian Premier League. West Indies blaster Chris Gayle whacked 104 not out off 63 balls as Kings XI Punjab posted 193-3 in Chandigarh. Despite 54 off 41 balls from Black Caps skipper Williamson, Hyderabad could only respond with 178-4 as they lost their place at the top of the table to Kolkata Knight Riders. It was a second successive half-century from Williamson, who sits eighth on the Twenty20 league’s run-scoring charts after four rounds. New Zealand paceman Trent Boult, who plays for the last-placed Delhi Daredevils, shares fifth place on the bowling list with six wickets.

Prolific Papps retires

Domestic cricket run machine Michael Papps is calling time on a prolific career. Among the most consistent batsmen in New Zealand cricket, 38-year-old Papps announced he will leave the sport with 12,294 first-class runs under his belt. The first player to reach 10,000 runs in the Plunket Shield, he reached one of his most notable milestones in his final summer. Papps scored 316 not out for Wellington against Auckland at the Basin Reserve in October. It was not only the highest individual score for Wellington but made the opener the oldest first-class triple centurion in the world since World War II. Despite his weight of domestic runs, Papps played only eight tests and six oneday internationals for New Zealand, more than a decade ago.

Ice Blacks one win from promotion

The Ice Blacks have crushed North Korea 12-4 to move to the brink of promotion up the world championship ice hockey ranks. New Zealand are unbeaten at the world championship division two B tournament in Granada, Spain, winning all four matches with ease. They face unbeaten Spain in their final match on Saturday (NZT) in what will effectively be a final. The winners will earn a place in next year’s division two A championship, a level which New Zealand have never contested. The Ice Blacks won promotion from division three to division two B in 2012 and were runners-up behind China last year.

Nadal advances, Djokovic out

Rafael Nadal advanced to the quarterfinals of the Monte Carlo Masters, but there will be no showdown against old rival Novak Djokovic after the former world No 1 crashed out of the tournament. Top seed Nadal beat bighitting Russian Karen Khachanov 6-3

6-2 to reach the last eight, clinching victory with a clinical smash at the net. The 10-time champion next faces fifth-seed Dominic Thiem, who won

6-7 (7-2) 6-2 6-3 against Djokovic.

Chelsea close gap in top four race

Chelsea stayed in the hunt for a topfour finish in the English Premier League by beating Burnley 2-1, while Southampton played out a goalless draw with Leicester in their fight against relegation. Victor Moses scored the winner as the Blues pulled within five points of fourth-placed Tottenham in the race for the final Champions League qualifying spot. Kevin Long’s own goal put Chelsea in front at Turf Moor before Ashley Barnes equalised for the hosts, who had won their previous five games.

Lewis taking a break from tennis

Rising New Zealand prospect Jade Lewis has received the backing of Tennis New Zealand after choosing to put her career on hold. Lewis is focusing on her studies at the University of Louisiana after a lean run since joining the professional ranks 10 months ago. The 19-year-old has struggled on the ITF circuit and after representing New Zealand at the Fed Cup in February decided to take a break. Lewis had been the recipient of SEED Foundation funding, which had previously backed leading Kiwi prospects Marina Erakovic and Sascha Jones. Tennis NZ high performance boss Simon Rea said Lewis showed enough in her close loss to US great Venus Williams at last year’s ASB Classic in Auckland to suggest she can be successful as a pro if she returns to tennis.