hello. this is sport today, live from the bbc sport centre. coming up on this programme: dustin johnson withdraws from the masters without hitting a shot, as his back injury gets the better of him. on the course, charley hoffman leads by four strokes after his first round. and kenya's olympic champion, jemima sumgong, has tested positive for the banned blood booster, epo. hello and welcome to the programme, where we start with the news that world number one dustinjohnson has withdrawn from the masters without hitting a shot. the 32—year—old fell down some stairs in his rented house on wednesday, injuring his back. and despite hitting the practice range early on the morning of the year's first major championship, felt that by the time hejoined his playing partners bubba watson and jimmy walker on the first tee, he wasn't in a position to compete. johnson, who was looking to add to his us open win last year, was forced to walk back

to the clubhouse knowing he becomes only the fourth world number one to miss a major championship. obviously i want to play more than anything. just sitting on the putting green, i was having a few swings and i just putting green, i was having a few swings and ijust can't putting green, i was having a few swings and i just can't swing putting green, i was having a few swings and ijust can't swing the ball. it is pouring down with rain, so ball. it is pouring down with rain, soi ball. it is pouring down with rain, so i was going to go and move the carandi so i was going to go and move the car and i slipped as i was going down the stairs. on the course at augusta national, charley hoffman holds a four stroke lead after the first round following a near immaculate seven under round of 65. three time winner phil mickelson is one under while world number two rory mcilroy is still in the hunt for the only major he's yet to win.

jordan spieth, three over, the champion danny willett is won over andjimmy champion danny willett is won over and jimmy walker champion danny willett is won over andjimmy walkerand champion danny willett is won over and jimmy walker and henrik stenson are also struggling. world number two rory mcilroy made a rocky start to this attempt to com plete rocky start to this attempt to complete the grand slam of all four majors. he was three over par with six remaining but recovered with three birdies, finishing level. a logjam on one under par include former champion phil mickelson and justin rose, the reigning olympic champion the runner—up in 2015 at augusta and he would love to bridge the gap since his only previous major when he won the us open. lee westwood was a surprise runner—up last year. he has made a decent start to this quest for his first major title. he is in third place on two under. ahead of him, to americans, both outside the world top 50, william mcguirk flirted with

the lead briefly, his one bogey offset by four bogeys, including this at the 16th, carding three under par 69. leading the way is his compatriot charley hoffman. after dropping two shots in five holes, he went on a charge, two birdies before the turn followed by a flurry on the back nine, signing in a seven under par round of 65, and the world number 52 has a four shot lead after day one. pakistan's most successful ever captain misbah—ul—haq has announced he'll retire from international cricket after the upcoming test series with west indies. the 42—year—old batsman who's the oldest international cricketer at present has won 2a of his 53 tests as captain since taking over in 2010 after a spot fixing scandal. he also briefly led his team to world number one in the test rankings last year but does say he may continue playing domestically. translation: i think overall i have

had a great journey. translation: i think overall i have had a greatjourney. my achievements i have had, iam happy had a greatjourney. my achievements i have had, i am happy with them. i have enjoyed it a lot and i am satisfied with the cricket i have played, whether it was domestic or international level, i am satisfied with what i did for pakistan. the best moment was when the test came to pakistan after we won the series against england and we reach the top of the world rankings. that time was the peak of my career. bangladesh beat sri lanka in the second twenty20 international in colombo to tie the two match series. the tourists batted first and made 176 for nine from their 20 overs. shakib al hasan top—scored with 38 as lasith malinga took a hat—trick. in reply, sri lanka were bowled out forjust 131 in 18 overs, as bangladesh won by 45 runs. there were two games in spain's primera division on thursday, with former manchester united player bebe scoring for eibar in their 3—1 win over las palmas. the victory moves eibar to within two points of seventh

placed real sociedad, while a late carlos soler goal handed valencia a 3—2 victory over celta vigo. that takes them 12th. in the dutch eredivisie, third—placed psv eindhoven came from behind to lead 2—1 at fc twente. they must have thought hector moreno's goal had won it for them but in the second minute of stoppage time bersant celina, who's on loan from manchester city, equalised for twente. that result severely dents psv‘s hopes of winning the title. philip cocu's side are four points behind ajax and seven behind the leaders feyenoord. the iaaf have confirmed that last year's rio olympic champion jemima sumgong has tested positive for the banned blood booster epo. the 32—year—old who's also won the london, rotterdam and las vegas marathons became the first kenyan woman to win olympic gold in the marathon. it was an out—of—competition test

carried out by the iaaf and they've confirmed that an anti—doping rule violation case has commenced against her this week. tennis — and the davis cup quarter—finals take place this weekend. the first of them gets under way in a couple of hours when australia face the usa in brisbane. they're the two most successful countries in the competition's history, with 60 wins between them. in the first of the singles rubbers, jordan thompson, ranked 79 in the world, plays jack sock, and that's followed by a showdown between the 6—foot10—inch john isner and nick kyrgios. the controversial australian is playing some of the best tennis of his career at the moment. he was asked about his ability to play a tough five—setter if needed. yes. i have come back from two sets to love twice, so i am used to playing five set matches. i have made the quarterfinals playing five set matches. i have made the quarter finals of two grand slam is playing best of fives sets. i think slam is playing best of fives sets. ithinki slam is playing best of fives sets. i think i will play well either way. i think i will play well either way. i think it is good for him to start. he played a great opponent so he has

proved he can deal with pressure well. i am looking forward to playing tomorrow. yes, i have played him three times. of course, in my opinion, i think he isa of course, in my opinion, i think he is a lot more mature now. i think right now a lot of people could argue that he is maybe playing the best tennessee has ever played. everyone knows what he can bring to the table. —— the best tennis he has ever played. his forehand, his shotmaking. he is an incredible player. i have played him three times, i player. i have played him three times, lam player. i have played him three times, i am used to the match. i know that tomorrow will be a fun match. i am going to look to go out and try to do my best. in the other quarter—finals, belgium face italy, france are at home to the 2015 champions great britian, and serbia — with novak djokovic back in their team — face spain, who won't have rafael nadal playing for them. iam i am obviously very much inspired to play my best tennis in front of the

home crowd. we don't get to have many opportunities to play for davis cup, fourour many opportunities to play for davis cup, four our country, especially in oui’ cup, four our country, especially in our country. i like the fact that we are playing first. i have trained well, i am are playing first. i have trained well, iam ready, iam are playing first. i have trained well, i am ready, i am excited to go on the court and compete and hopefully i will be able to bring the first point. on the wta tour caroline wozniacki is through to the third round of the charleston open after beating germany's annika beck in straight sets 7—5, 6—1. after a tough first set that was decided by a single break of serve the dane secured her path through to a third round meeting against australia's anastasia rodionova with a convincing second set losing just the one game. there's less than a year to go before the 2018 commonwealth games take place on australia's gold coast. the city is in preparation mode as it reaches near—completion for the 21st edition of the games, taking place between the fourth and 15th of april next year. it's an event that seems to have lost a little of its gloss over the years with many countries not keen on taking on such an event. but the chairman of the gold coast

games believes such an occasion is still relevant. post brexit the commonwealth is going to be more relevant than ever before. we have a third of the world's population in the commonwealth. it is notjust india, with its large population, some say it would be the biggest economy in 2050, we have fantastic schools in malaysia, the uk, africa, you name it. we have enormous wealth of talent, ability. the commonwealth is more relevant than ever before, which means that the games have a great future. the chinese grand prix gets away in about one hour in shanghai, the second race of the season. sebastian vettel will hope to win two from two following victory in australia. mercedes in second and third in that

one. you can get all the latest sports news at our website. that's bbc.com/sport. but from me and the rest of the sport today team, goodbye. hello there, good morning. lots of pleasant weather on offer over the next few days for large swathes of the united kingdom. and in fact, on thursday, it was a pretty decent day for many, although there was always a bit more cloud in the north and west, a little bit of rain with that, and that is where we keep most of the cloud overnight. it helps to give the temperatures up in the north and west, but generally it is a chilly night. major towns and cities, eight, nine degrees. but it is in the rural spots, away from the north and west, that we are going to see temperatures getting down to two or three degrees, so a chilly start for many, but a bright start as well, with lots of sunshine. the cloud that we see into north wales and the north—west of england, that looks like it will be breaking up through the morning. so by the afternoon we will see lengthy spells of sunshine for much of england, wales,

eastern scotland, too. western scotland, ireland, always seeing more cloud. the odd spot of rain, most places dry. ten or 11 degrees in the north and west, but with some sunshine in cardiff and in london, it is 15 and 16 degrees in a few places. but, across england and wales, we do have quite high levels of tree pollen through the day on friday, and that is causing hayfever sufferers a bit of a problem. other side of the atlantic, it is the wind which has been a bit of a problem for the golfers at augusta. that wind still in evidence on friday, but easing down. continues to ease down into the weekend, as temperatures are on the up. and temperatures will be rising back on our shores into the weekend. it's going to be a lovely day for much of england, wales, most of scotland, most of northern ireland too. it is just the far north—west which will have a little bit of rain. 16,17 or 18 degrees across england and wales, very pleasant indeed. with light winds, looks like a lovely day at aintree for the grand national. 16,17 degrees, some sunshine and light winds. it should be a fantastic day out. the second part of the weekend has this area of light high pressure

drifting away towards the near continent. the winds started to drift in from a more southerly direction. the air will be coming up from spain, from france, and it will be quite warm air heading ourway. and the effects of that will be most felt across england and wales on sunday, because towards the north and west we will see a weather front drifting its way in. that is going to bring some cloud, some patchy rain, slightly lower temperatures here. patchy cloud for the western side of england and wales. further east, there is going to be light winds, plenty of sunshine, and quite a warm day. the west of england will be easily into the low 20s. i think around 22, 23 degrees will be the top temperatures, maybe about ten or 11 in the far north and west. but we do have a weather front drifting its way south sunday night into monday, and as that happens it is going to shut the warm air out of the way. colder air will follow along behind, so monday a very different look and a very different feel to things. a very warm welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to our viewers in north america and around the globe. my name's mike embley. our top stories:

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