The Morning Sports Briefing

Hull boost survival hopes with Liverpool win, a grade one day for Mullins at Punchestown, Shefflin lines up TV role and Rory set to jet to Vegas

Steve Bruce’s Hull City boosted their hopes of Premier League survival with a 1-0 over Liverpool. Photograph: Getty

Hull move clear of relegation zone

Hull City took a huge step towards Premier League survival and put a further dent in Liverpool's slim hopes of finishing in the top four with a 1-0 win at the KC Stadium last night.

Michael Dawson’s header in the 37th minute proved the difference between the two sides and the win leaves Steve Bruce’s side four point clear of the relegation zone, while Brendan Rodger’s Liverpool are now seven points behind fourth place Manchester United with four games left to play.

Barcelona's attacking trio of Lionel Messi, Naymar and Luis Suarez reached 100 goals between them for the season last night as they all contributed to a 6-0 routing of Getafe at the Nou Camp.

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Jurgen Klopp has the chance to sign off at Borussia Dortmund with a trophy after his side beat Bayern Munich 2-0 on penalties after a 1-1 draw in the German Cup semi-final.

Grade one day for Mullins

Willie Mullins kicked off the 2015 Punchestown Festival in predictably dominant fashion, landing a grade one hat trick in front of a record crowd of 20,124.

The irrepressible Douvan kicked things off, winning the Champion Novice Hurdle in stunning fashion after starting as 1-6 favourite, before Felix Yonger and then Valseur Lido, who capitalised on an off-colour showing from Don Poli, made it a strong start to the week for Mullins.

Douvan has won all four of his starts over hurdles since joining Mullins from France in 2014, and yesterday's performance prompted Mullins to label the novice "probably as good as we have ever had."

Shefflin swaps the pitch for the studio

Those who are still struggling coming to terms with the retirement of Henry Shefflin need not fear about the prospect of a first hurling championship without him as the great man is set to become a feature in the studio with either Sky or RTE for the summer.

And while this will be the first time in 16 summers Shefflin isn't on the pitch, the Kilkenny legend insists he has no regrets about his decision to retire from the sport.

Waterford will face Cork in the Allianz League Hurling final at the weekend having bounced back impressively from their relegation in 2014, and the county's consistency is a tribute to their youth and development system, writes Sean Moran.

Donegal defender Karl Lacey has praised the benefits of living as a full-time footballer having decided to forgo finding a job and commit entirely to his county for the season.

Rory set to jet to Mayweather fight

Rory McIlroy was handed a tough opening round draw at the WGC-Cadillac Matchplay after being paired with Brandt Snedeker, Jason Dufner and Billy Horschel, and if the world number one gets through that battle he will be straight off to another, with a private jet primed to fly him to Las Vegas to watch Floyd Mayweather take on Manny Pacquaio at the MGM Grand.

Leinster hardly get to use Ireland stars

Matt O'Connor has been left to rue the low availability of Leinster's Ireland internationals this season, and when measured by the amount of minutes played the province's front line players have not been playing during Pro 12 weekends for an average of two games out of three.

Meanwhile, Anthony Foley must guide Munster to success in the Pro 12 in order for anything to be salvaged form a largely disappointing season, writes Alan Quinlan.

Shane Ryan to compete for Ireland

A former member of the USA national swimming team, Shane Ryan, hopes to compete for Ireland and qualify for the 2016 Olympics in Rio, and would be considered the hottest swimming prospect in the country.

What to watch out for:

Snooker

World Championship, BBC 2, 10am-noon, 1pm-2pm, 3pm-6pm, 6.30pm-8pm, Eurosport, 10am-2pm,2.30pm-5.30pm, 7pm-11.30pm

Racing

Punchestown, RTE 1, 4pm-6pm,RTE 2, 5.55pm-7pm

Football

Premier League, Leicester City v Chelsea, Sky Sports 1 from 7pm

La Liga, Real Madrid v Almeria (7pm), Villarreal v Atletico Madrid (9pm), Sky Sports 5 from 6.55pm

Golf

WGC - Match Play, Sky Sports 4, 9pm-3am