Sport in brief

Football

The new Manchester City Women’s head coach, Gareth Taylor, says he consulted predecessor Nick Cushing before applying for the role. Cushing left to take up a job with Major League Soccer side New York City in February. Taylor, previously under-18s boys’ coach at the Etihad, said: “He’s been a brilliant soundboard for me to use in this period. It made me think: ‘Well, do you know what? This really is something that I want to do’. It’s happened and I’m so grateful.” Meanwhile, Uefa is considering an August and September tournament to finish this year’s Women’s Champions League. It was interrupted before the quarter-final stage because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Boxing

Britain’s Dereck Chisora has revealed he could try his hand at Mixed Martial Arts if he faces a long wait for his heavyweight bout with Ukrainian Oleksandr Usyk. Chisora would rather wait than have the fight with former undisputed cruiserweight champion Usyk go ahead without fans at London’s O2 Arena, but if that means a significant delay he could sign up for a fight with Bellator MMA. “We’re just waiting for lockdown to finish so we can see how many people we can have in the O2,” Chisora said last night. “Certain fights need fans and this is one where you need people to enjoy it. We’re waiting to see the date they give us for Usyk but if there’s a bigger gap we’re going to jump in to Bellator straight away.”

Cycling

The Women’s Tour will go virtual next month after coronavirus forced the cancellation of this year’s edition. The six-stage Women’s Worldtour event had been due to take place from June 8-13, but was initially postponed in March before confirmation of its cancellation came earlier this month. But organisers will fill the void with three virtual stages from June 17-19 using the RGT Cycling virtual platform.

Golf

Clubs in England will be able to reintroduce the threeball and fourball formats from Monday, Golf England has announced. As part of a phased return to play, up to four golfers from four households may now play together in one group. The Professional Golfers’ Association is still working in collaboration with the All-party Parliamentary Group for Golf to seek guidance on when coaching sessions can resume.