basketball

Danny Huffor, the Glasgow Rocks guard, expects to be a marked man when he makes his Scotland debut today against England in Birmingham, writes Mark Woods.

The friendly, which serves as the warm-up for the BBL play-off final between Newcastle Eagles and Leicester Riders, marks the start of the Scots' countdown to this summer's European Championships.

Florida-born Huffor, who qualifies through his Stirlingshire-born mother, is setting his sights on moving on to the radar for Great Britain selection following an impressive rookie season in Britain. However, with a number of young hopefuls in England's line-up, including Rocks team-mate Andrew Wedemire, he believes the hosts will be keen to make a point.

"It's exciting for me to represent Scotland," said Huffor. "But when you see the England line-up, every guy's playing in the BBL, whereas we only have Gareth Murray, Jonny Bunyan and myself. There's a little pressure on us to step up and I'm sure they'll be focusing a little more on us because they know who we are."

Huffor will fly home to the USA on Monday with his future in Glasgow still undecided. However, he plans to discuss a new deal with Rocks coach Sterling Davis. "I've not talked to him yet but I hope to do so before I go back," he said.

Meanwhile, Newcastle's Joe Chapman believes the Eagles can complete the clean sweep of all four domestic prizes if they see off Leicester in the season's televised finale this afternoon. However the BBL's Player of the Year isn't expecting any huge surprises as the Riders bid to win their first trophy in over a decade.

"We know everything about them played them as we've played them five times in the league and cup," said the American guard. "I don't think there's anything either side can do to really mix it up, but we've both got some great players and it'll be a great final."

canoeing

Aberdeen's Tim Baillie and English partner Etienne Stott comfortably came through their heat in the doubles at the European Championships in Augsburg, Germany, writes Roddy Mackenzie.

The GB pairing were fifth fastest after the two runs with a best time of 101.72 seconds to be one second behind Slovakian leaders Ladislav and Peter Skantar.

Fellow-Scot David Florence and partner Richard Hounslow also qualified and finished just two places behind their GB team-mates with a time of 101.92.

In the women's kayak singles, Crieff's Fiona Pennie was 13th after the first run but dropped to 20th on the second run with a time of 104.11.

golf

Aberdeen-born Gemma Dryburgh (Tulane University, New Orleans) is in joint sixth place in a field of 126 with a par-matching 72, five shots behind the leader, after the first round of the NCAA Division 1 East golf championship over Penn State University's Scarlet Course, writes Colin Farquharson.

Dryburgh birdied her first two holes and parred the rest to reach her turn in 34. The Scot lost a bit on her second nine with bogeys at the fourth and seventh but, all in all, a sound start, which placed her ahead of the three Curtis Cup selections, one from GB&I (Stephanie Meadow, 74) and two from the US team (Lindy Duncan, 73, Brooke Pancake 75), for Nairn next month.

n Edinburgh's Sally Watson (Stanford University) and Rachael Watton (Denver University) had contrasting fortunes in the first round of the

NCAA Division 1 West Regional golf championship at Colorado National Golf Club.

Over a par-72 course of 6575yd, Watson shot a one-under 71 to be joint fourth while Watton, with a 76, is sharing 54th in a field of 126.

One of Watson's team-mates, Sydney Burlison, leads with a five-under 67 – two shots ahead of Hayley Davis (Baylor University) from Dorset.

judo

Edinburgh's Sarah Clark, fifth at last month's European Championships in Russia, gets her final chance to impress on home soil before the Olympics at this weekend's British Open in Crawley, writes Roddy Mackenzie.

Clark is part of a 28-strong British Olympic talent squad that is seeking to make their mark as the selection process for London 2012 hots up.

Up against her in the Under-57kg event this weekend will be, among others, Ghana's Szandra Szogedi, a bronze medallist at the African Championships and fifth at the recent Dusseldorf Grand Prix. Fellow-Scot Connie Ramsey is also in the entry list.

Euan Burton will be hoping for a good performance after a disappointing European Championships in the men's Under-81kg event and Edinburgh clubmates James Millar, who is up against Russian world bronze medallist Arsen Galstyan in the Under-60kg even, and Chris Sherrington (Over-100kg) are also looking to make an impression.

tennis

Novak Djokovic's frustration with the controversial blue clay at the Madrid Masters reached new heights after the world No. was beaten 7-6 6-3 by fellow Serb Janko Tipsarevic in the quarter-finals yesterday.

Djokovic and world No.2 Rafa Nadal, who was dumped out by Spanish compatriot Fernando Verdasco on Thursday, have complained bitterly all week about the slippery nature of the showcourt surface.

The top-ranked Serb again looked ill at ease as his bid to retain the title he beat Nadal to win in 2011 ended in a whimper while Tipsarevic secured a semi-final meeting with Roger Federer.

Djokovic and Nadal have threatened not to return next year unless the traditional red courts are reinstated. Tournament organisers have blamed the slick surface on excessive pressing that prevents the clay from penetrating the hard base.

n Glasgow's Jamie Baker came crashing back to earth with a straight-sets defeat in yesterday's Athens Open quarter-finals, writes Lorin McDougall.

Barely 48 hours after stunning Russian top seed Igor Kunitsyn, the British No.3 was beaten 6-2, 6-4 by the unseeded Canadian Peter Polansky.

triathlon

Scotland's David McNamee has one of his final chances to win the last remaining spot in Great Britain's Olympic triathlon team in today's ITU World Series race in San Diego, writes Mark Woods.

The 24-year-old from Stirling came to grief in Sydney last month when a mechanical problem caused him to drop out on the bike stage.

But with several Britons, including world No.2 Jonny Brownlee, bidding to impress in California, GB performance chief Malcolm Brown admits decision time is near.

He said: "The selection policy is focused on podium performances in the ITU World Triathlon Series, and the door is open to anyone who can achieve this standard. I'm looking forward to seeing how this race unfolds."

volleyball

Great Britain men launch a competitive season that will take in the Olympics when they face Albania in Tirana in the first round of the European Championship, writes Roddy Mackenzie.

Harry Brokking's side warmed up with a friendly victory over Switzerland and it is a measure of how far they have advanced under the Dutch coach that they are favourites to progress in the two-leg tie.