Nico Rosberg edged Mercedes rival Lewis Hamilton in final free practice for the Malaysian Grand Prix as problems continued for the world champion on Saturday.

On a scorching day at the Sepang circuit, Rosberg led the way with a lap of 1min 39.690sec, two-tenths quicker than Hamilton who again struggled with his set-up.

Newcastle defender Massadio Haidara underwent surgery on his right knee in Lyon and will be ruled out until the end of the season, a medical source said on Friday.

The 22-year left-back has been out of action since suffering a knee injury in the Magpies' 1-0 win over Aston Villa on February 28.

World champion Lewis Hamilton was unbeatable even in a misfiring car as he topped practice at the Malaysian Grand Prix despite mechanical problems on Friday.

The Mercedes man spent much time in the garage and departed first practice on a moped, but he still managed to set the day's quickest time by nearly four-tenths of a second.

European title holder Elizaveta Tuktamysheva recorded the third highest ladies short program score in history Thursday as the 18-year-old took a commanding lead at the World Figure Skating Championships in Shanghai.

The Russian dazzled the crowd to the rousing music of Maurice Ravel's "Bolero", opening with a triple axel before dancing impeccably to move easily into first position in the tournament with a score of 77.62.

NBA champions San Antonio brought Oklahoma City's four-game NBA winning streak to an emphatic end on Wednesday with a 130-91 rout of the Thunder.

Tony Parker scored 21 points, handed out six assists and pulled down six rebounds for the Spurs, who bounced back from a 101-94 loss at Dallas on Tuesday.

Australia's James Troisi said the Socceroos' 2-2 draw with Germany showed just how far the Asian champions have come in 12 months.

Only a Lukas Podolski equaliser nine minutes from time in Kaiserslautern spared the world champions' blushes on Wednesday night in Germany.

A rejuvenated Spain recommence their Euro 2016 qualifying campaign at home to Ukraine in Seville on Friday, while the prospect of seeing Harry Kane make his debut is the main attraction as England face Lithuania.

In their first outing since a 1-0 friendly loss to Germany in November, reigning European champions Spain put their record of never having lost at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan stadium on the line as they face Ukraine in qualifying Group C.

Germany midfielder Sami Khedira on Wednesday said he will leave Real Madrid when his contract expires at the end of the season.

"There is nothing more to say than what I told the sports magazine (Kicker), when there's anything more, I'll say it," the 27-year-old said after captaining Germany to a 2-2 friendly draw with Australia in Kaiserslautern.

Liverpool's Martin Skrtel will serve a three-game suspension after losing his appeal against a charge for standing on Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea, the Football Association announced on Wednesday.

The Slovakia center-back, 30, was charged with violent conduct on the basis of video evidence after referee Martin Atkinson missed the incident, which occurred at the end of United's 2-1 win at Anfield on Sunday.

Rafael Nadal vowed Tuesday to be ready for his Miami Masters opener in three days after seriously rolling his left ankle on the practice court.

The Spanish second seed suffered the setback on Monday but managed to practise for nearly 90 minutes on Tuesday, although not at full throttle, in a session that gave the 2014 Miami runner-up some much-needed confidence.