most

The Belfast Giants have a chance to close the gap on Elite League leaders Sheffield Steelers with two important away matches over the weekend.

The second-placed Giants, who are 10 points behind with two games in hand, face the Cardiff Devils on Saturday.

Then on Sunday comes the big clash as Steve Thornton’s Giants take on the pacesetting Steelers in Sheffield.

Meanwhile, the Giants have been drawn against Cardiff in the semi-finals of the British Knockout Cup.

The Belfast Giants secured their second win of the week over Basingstoke Bison with a 5-2 win at the Odyssey Arena.

Colin Shields and Mike Burgoyne put the Giants 2-0 ahead before Bison replied but Bobby Robins scored for Belfast, before Mike Olynyk made it 3-2.

Goals by Malcolm MacMillan and Mark Morrison ensured a comfortable victory.

The Giants, who had beaten Bison 8-5 away from home on Wednesday night, now host Hull Stingrays on Saturday night and then go to Edinburgh on Sunday.

The Belfast Giants were crowned Challenge Cup champions by beating Manchester Phoenix 3-1 at the Dundonald Ice Bowl on Tuesday night.

The victory saw the Giants triumph 6-5 on aggregate over two legs.

Paul Deniset and Steve Thornton scored goals for Belfast in the first period but Tony Hand replied for Manchester in the second period.

A goal by Mike Burgoyne in the third period was enough to see the Giants collect the silverware.

Liu Chunhong broke three world records as she successfully defended her Olympic title to claim China’s sixth gold in the weightlifting competition.

In the women’s 69kg division, Liu set a record of 128kg in her third attempt in the snatch before lifting a new mark of 158kg in the clean and jerk.

Her total of 286kg was also a world record, beating the old mark by 10kg.

World champion Oxana Slivenko of Russia was a distant second with 255kg, while Ukraine’s Natalya Davydova took bronze.

In the men’s event, Hungarian strongman Janos Baranyai’s first Olympics ended in agony when he dislocated his right elbow in the ugliest moment yet of the Olympic weightlifting competition.

The 17-year-old saw off competition from French actor Gilles Marini and reality TV star Melissa Rycroft to win the programme’s eighth series.

Johnson, who won a gold medal at the Beijing games, is the third Olympian to win the show.

Head of the judging panel Len Goodman said it had been “without a doubt, the best series ever”.

“We’ve got the three best dancers here in the final,” added Goodman, who also acts as head judge on the UK’s Strictly Come Dancing.