So, after being delayed by Covid for over a year, Africa's new basketball league finally tipped-off with the continent’s top sides faced-off in the newly-formed professional competition.

Designed to promote the sport, drive economic growth and unearth rising talent, the Basketball Africa League (BAL) - backed by the NBA, who is helping to organise a league outside of the United States for the first time - sees 12 featured teams, from 12 countries, in a competition which replaces the old Africa Basketball League, another pan-African club tournament, which had been running since 1971.

The 12 teams involved are the national champions from Angola, Egypt, Morocco, Nigeria, Senegal and Tunisia – who were all guaranteed a spot, with representatives from Algeria, Cameroon, Madagascar, Mali, Mozambique and Rwanda, with the other six teams having to go through qualifying rounds.

President of newly-formed BAL side Patriots, Brian Kirungi, said: "Now they can touch and feel basketball in their own arena. I see a huge potential - attract more investment, more partners, the corporate world in Africa to say: 'look, we are taking ourselves from an amateur to a professional stage'."

Adam Silver, the Commissioner for the NBA, said: "We think that we can have the biggest impact in Africa and we see a great opportunity there with well over a billion people who have an amazing affinity for basketball."

Basketball's world governing body Fiba is also involved in the hunt for the next big African superstar to follow the likes of Congolese-American former professional Dikembe Mutombo, who said: "Africa is a continent full of secrets and treasure and I think all this treasure is going to be found.

"As this game is about to start, there will be more players coming out from the continent that we haven't seen before."

The BAL was set to start in March last year, with matches originally set to be played in Kigali in Rwanda, Dakar in Senegal, Cairo in Egypt, Lagos in Nigeria, Luanda in Angola, Tunis or Monastir in Tunisia and Rabat in Morocco, but because of Covid pandemic, it finally arrived - 14 months late.

Rob Paternostro of the BBL Championship-winning Leicester Riders has won the 2020-21 Ed Percival Molten BBL Coach of the Year award, voted by his peers, after leading his team to a 24-6 BBL Championship record in one of the most competitive seasons in BBL history.

This is the sixth time that he has won the award - and fourth in the last five years - which itself leads to another remarkable accolade as he moves clear of Kevin Cadle and Fabulous Flournoy, who have five each, as the coach with the most annual awards in BBL history. Paternostro received seven votes from fellow BBL Head Coaches, quite some way clear of Paul James of Plymouth Raiders in second place.

This was a fifth BBL Championship title in Leicester's history, all of which have come under his stewardship having taken over the role in 2008 before the first league title came in 2012-13. He won his first Coach of the Year award after transforming Riders in that initial 2008-09 season, immediately taking them from tenth to third, and they have only finished below that on three occasions in more than a decade since. Overall, it's a fourteenth piece of silverware in his reign.

The 48-year-old native of Connecticut - who enjoyed a good playing career in the BBL as a charismatic point guard from 2000 to 2008 - has built his success on a defensive philosophy, and will have been pleased to see his team once more end the season as the BBL's meanest defence, for the fifth completed season in a row, conceding just 76.8 points per game. They held opponents to only 42% shooting from the field, led the league in defensive rebounds and blocked shots, allowed the fewest fast break points, and third fewest points in the paint; and they achieved all of that playing smart defence, giving up the third fewest fouls in the league.

At the other end of the floor, the efficiency of his offence was demonstrated by Leicester leading the BBL in field goal percentage (48.2%) as they finished second in points scored per game (87), and they got motoring in the second half of the season, scoring in excess of 90 points on 12 occasions from the end of January onwards.

Riders demonstrated great consistency throughout the campaign, much of which was built on the returns of key players to the roster he assembled, with the likes of Jamell Anderson, Corey Johnson, Darien Nelson-Henry, Mo Walker and Conner Washington all back, alongside whom he added exciting talent such as Geno Crandall and William Lee. All but Johnson and Walker - who missed much of the season through injury - made either the Molten Team of the Year, All-British Team, or Defensive Team.

In a key stretch of games, Riders bounced back from defeat to title rivals London Lions by putting on consecutive road wins at third-placed Plymouth Raiders in early January, which sparked a run of eleven straight wins and established Riders at the top of the table. After a pair of defeats, they bounced back emphatically once more with two wins in the space of three days over fellow top four rivals Newcastle Eagles and, crucially, London Lions in mid-March.

Despite that, the title race would go right down to Leicester's final game, and reverting to type they held both of their last two opponents to score totals in the sixties to lift the title on the road at Cheshire Phoenix. Those two defensive stands saw them overtake Plymouth Raiders as the league's leading defence, at a decimal point, to maintain their good run in that regard.

Newcastle Eagles have won the BBL Play-off Final for the seventh time in their history, leading all teams in that regard, after overcoming London Lions 68-66 in one of the tensest finals in memory at the Morningside Arena in Leicester.

Having finished fourth in the BBL Championship, the Eagles showed great resilience to come through tough post-season ties against B. Braun Sheffield Sharks and Leicester Riders, and needed every ounce of that in the showpiece game.

Newcastle trailed by double-figures on four separate occasions, finding themselves in such a hole after just three minutes, and despite a couple of comebacks they were still in that situation when the deficit peaked at 54-42 inside the final three minutes of the third quarter.

From there Cortez Edwards took over, as he scored six straight points in an 8-0 burst towards the end of the third, before he opened the fourth with the first five points and then lobbed up an 'alley-oop' pass for Evan Maxwell to give Eagles a 57-55 lead, their first since the opening possessions.

In total, it was a 15-1 surge in five and a half minutes over the third quarter break in which Edwards had scored 11, half of his points as he went on to be awarded MVP with a double-double of 22 points, 13 rebounds, seven assists and four steals.

Lions weren't done, as they came back to tie the game three times and the teams were knotted at 66 heading into the final minute. Edwards drove hard and drew a foul, icing both free-throws, and they proved decisive as a series of strong defensive stands saw Eagles through, before Rahmon Fletcher intentionally missed a final free-throw so London couldn't call timeout and were forced to throw up a desperate heave.

Head Coach Ian Macleod spoke to Sky Sports immediately after the game, commenting: "I'm very happy. If you'd have said it was going to be 68-66 I'd have probably said, 'OK, what's going to happen in the fourth quarter?' I thought our defence was incredible, and it feels like we did a great job defending the three-point line.

"We're three of three in finals in the most difficult year that most of us will ever remember. That's success. What else is success to us? Themba Yabantu playing 27 minutes in the game at Bristol and not looking out of place, when he came to us at 10-years-old. There's lots of different measurements of success. Externally it looks like trophies, and we have two of those this season."

Middle-distance talent Jakob Ingebrigtsen is the latest big-name athlete to sign up to compete at the Müller Grand Prix Gateshead.

The event at Gateshead International Stadium in just over a week’s time is the first meeting in the 2021 Wanda Diamond League series and the 20-year-old from Norway is racing over 1500 metres. One of the most exciting runners in the world, Ingebrigtsen is the European record-holder for the distance with 3:28.68 set in Monaco last year and he is the reigning European champion at 1500m and 5000m.

Ingebrigtsen said: “I had a great time racing in Glasgow at the European Indoor Championships a couple of years ago and I’ve also run a few times at the Olympic Stadium in London. So, I’m hoping for another good experience in Britain at the Diamond League in Gateshead next week.

“I’ve been training hard lately but I enjoy testing myself in competition and this meeting will be a good race to see where I am in the run-up to the Olympics.” Indeed, on one of recent visits to the UK he won 3000m gold and 1500m silver at those European Athletics Indoor Championships in Glasgow before capturing gold at both distances at the same championships in Poland in March this year.

At Gateshead he will face, among others, British middle-distance runners Elliot Giles, George Mills, Piers Copeland and Archie Davis. Giles impressed during the recent indoor season when he clocked a sizzling 1:43.63 for 800m to smash the long-time British record held by Sebastian Coe, whereas Mills is the reigning British 1500m champion and the son of former England footballer Danny Mills.

With the meeting moving from Rabat in Morocco to Gateshead in England, it means British Athletics is able to offer more valuable competition opportunities to domestic athletes in the run-up to the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics. Mills and Copeland are also part of the Futures Academy Programme which is supported by Nike.

Australia will also have a strong presence in this race with Stewart McSweyn leading the charge. Last year McSweyn ran an Australian 1500m record of 3:30.51 and in Gateshead he is joined by talented fellow countrymen Ollie Hoare, Matthew Ramsden and Ryan Gregson.

Added to this, the meeting is set to feature a women’s 100m with Dina Asher-Smith, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Elaine Thompson-Herah and Sha’Carri Richardson, while the men’s pole vault sees a clash between Mondo Duplantis, Sam Kendricks and Piotr Lisek. In addition, Laura Muir, will race in the UK for the first time in over a year when she tackles the 1500m.

The Müller Grand Prix Gateshead will be broadcast live internationally from 7pm-9pm and for the domestic audience on BBC2 from 7pm. However, the meeting will start at 6pm with a series of para athletics events, as well as some of the Wanda Diamond League field competitions.

Following the recent announcement from the UK Government regarding Step 3 of the roadmap, we are delighted to announce that we will welcome up to 2,000 spectators for the Müller Grand Prix Gateshead on Sunday May 23. We are working closely with stakeholders, including Gateshead Council, the Director of Public Health and the Gateshead Safety Advisory Group to ensure spectators can return to the stadium with safety and social distancing as our priority.

Italian racing team Iron Lynx will propel a young racer on her first step towards single-seater glory this weekend, as she competes in her first ever car race.

Dutch-Spanish driver Maya Weug is 16 years old and having triumphed in last year’s “FIA Girls on Track – Rising Stars” programme, has become the first girl to join the prestigious Ferrari Driver Academy.

Having previously raced in karts, Maya joins the Iron Lynx squad in Italian Formula 4 with teammates Leonardo Fornaroli, who has been setting fastest times in pre-season testing, and Pietro Armanni, another promising Iron Lynx debutant. The opening three races take place at the Paul Ricard circuit in the south of France across Saturday and Sunday.

Maya also joins the Iron Dames, an initiative led by Deborah Mayer, which supports women in motorsport, and is the perfect environment to nurture new talents. As well as Formula 4, the Iron Dames race Ferrari GT cars in the World Endurance Championship (FIA WEC), European Le Mans Series (ELMS), 24 Hours of Le Mans, Michelin Le Mans Cup and Ferrari Challenge Europe.

Also this weekend, Iron Dames Rahel Frey, Michelle Gatting and Manuela Gostner are competing a Ferrari 488 GTE Evo in the four-hour second round of the ELMS at Red Bull Ring in Austria, where team-mates Claudio Schiavoni, Giorgio Sernagiotto, Paolo Ruberti, Miguel Molina, Matteo Cressoni and Rino Mastronardi will also be hoping to build on Iron Lynx’s impressive showing last time out in Barcelona, where the #80 car took the LMGTE class win.

Speaking about the weekend ahead, Iron Dames founder and accomplished racer Deborah Mayer said, “Maya’s first race this weekend is a very significant step for the Iron Dames, for the Ferrari Driver Academy and for the FIA Women in Motorsport Commission. We welcome her to the team and wish her every success, meanwhile we thank all our followers for their support as we take six Iron Lynx racing cars into the weekend”.

Both racing series offer viewers the opportunity to watch live online, while both Iron Lynx and Iron Dames can be followed on Facebook and Instagram. Racing with Ferrari at iconic circuits all around Europe, Iron Lynx’s season continues to inspire and engage as the team looks ahead to further success in the weeks and months ahead.

Twelve athletes will represent the British team at the European 10,000m Cup which will take place at the 2021 Müller British Athletics 10,000m Championships at the University of Birmingham on Saturday 5 June 2021.

Four-time Olympic champion Sir Mo Farah is selected as he looks to secure his place on the British team for the Tokyo Olympic Games. The Newham and Essex Beagles athlete is a two-time Olympic champion in the 10,000m and will be seeking a berth at his fourth Games. His last 10,000m race on the track was at the World Athletics Championships London 2017 where he secured his sixth world title.

Sam Atkin and Marc Scott, who are currently the only two British male athletes that hold the Olympic Games qualifying standard (27:28.00), are also selected. Atkin ran a time of 27:26.58 in California last December, while Scott attained the standard with 27:10.41 back in February which moved him to second on the UK all-time list. 

The men’s team also includes Jake Smith who in April posted a unique pair of PBs within five days of each other; 3:50.89 in the 1500m and 2:11.00 in the marathon. Emile Cairess (Alan Storey, Leeds City) and Kristian Jones are also added to the squad.

The first two athletes at the Trial event who hold an Olympic qualifying standard will automatically qualify for Tokyo 2020.

In the women’s race, the British line-up includes Eilish McColgan who achieved the Tokyo qualifying standard [31:25.00] back in February when she recorded a time of 30:58.94. The time moved her to fifth on the UK all-time list. She also currently holds Olympic standards over the 1500m and 5000m.

Lily Partridge and Jenny Nesbitt are second and third on the 2021 UK rankings in the 10,000m following their performances in Newport earlier this year; their times 32:33.16 and 32:44.26 respectively.

Jess Judd earns a call-up following an impressive PB of 15:06.02 over 5000m last weekend. Meanwhile, European Indoor Championships 3000m medallists, Amy-Eloise Markovc and Verity Ockenden, have also been called-up to the women’s team. The gold and bronze medallists from Torun will step up in distance as they both chase the standard for the Games.

With six women and six men selected, Great Britain and Northern Ireland will contest for team medals in both events at the European 10,000m Cup, which will be integrated into the A races on the day which will incorporate the Müller British Athletics 10,000m Championships and Trial.

Team Leader, Rob Denmark, said: “We are pleased that we have been able to select a strong line-up for the European 10,000m Cup. We will be looking to achieve the highest possible placing in both the men’s and women’s team standings and we are confident that the athletes selected can deliver successful results on home soil.

“Significantly though, with places up for grabs for the Olympic Games as part of the Müller British Athletics 10,000m Championships, every athlete will be looking to deliver their best on the day, so I look forward to seeing how the athletes perform.”

The British team for the European Athletics 10,000m Cup on Saturday June 5:

Women

Jessica Judd (Mick Judd, Blackburn)

Amy-Eloise Markovc (Chris Fox, Wakefield)

Eilish McColgan (Liz Nuttall, Dundee Hawkhill)

Jenny Nesbitt (Chris Jones, Cardiff)

Verity Ockenden (Tony Houchin, Swansea)

Lily Partridge (Alan Storey, Birchfield)

Men

Sam Atkin (Mike Collins, Lincoln Wellington)

Emile Cairess (Alan Storey, Leeds City)

Mo Farah (Gary Lough, Newham & Essex Beagles)

Kristian Jones (Chris Jones, Swansea)

Marc Scott (Jerry Schumacher, Richmond and Zetland)

Jake Smith (James Thie, Cardiff)