Gustavo Hamer fired Coventry to within one game of the Premier League as they scrapped their way past Middlesbrough into the Championship play-off final. The Brazil-born midfielder’s sweet 57th-minute strike clinched a 1-0 aggregate victory in a desperately tight second leg at the Riverside Stadium. Mark Robins’ side will meet Luton at Wembley on May 27 with a return to the top flight for the first time since 2001 up for grabs. It proved the perfect ending to a day on which the Sky Blues announced their manager had agreed a new four-year contract, but an intensely disappointing one for opposite number Michael Carrick, whose side will spend a seventh year in the second tier as a result. Boro started in confident mood with left-back Ryan Giles threatening repeatedly, although they almost shot themselves in the foot after eight minutes when Viktor Gyokeres picked off Tommy Smith’s ill-judged back-pass, but goalkeeper Zack Steffen came to the rescue with a fine save as the striker attempted to round him. City gradually worked their way into the game and forced a series of free-kicks with defender Kyle McFadzean heading high over from Hamer’s 17th-minute cross, and as Liam Kelly and Ben Sheaf started to make their mark in the middle of the field, there was little to choose between the teams. Both Chuba Akpom and Cameron Archer felt the full force of Coventry’s rugged approach as Sheaf and then McFadzean clattered into them, and referee David Coote eventually lost patience and booked Callum Doyle for a clumsy challenge on Akpom. Jake Bidwell bravely blocked Marcus Forss’ shot from Giles’ deep cross five minutes before the break and Darragh Lenihan headed an Alex Mowatt corner straight at Ben Wilson, but the tie remained finely poised when the half-time whistle sounded. The Sky Blues returned reinvigorated with Jamie Allen conducting affairs menacingly behind lone striker Gyokeres, although the midfielder miskicked from just six yards out after Gyokeres and Sheaf had capitalised on Akpom’s 50th-minute error. And it was the visitors who forced their way in front when Sheaf pounced on Giles’ loose pass to find Gyokeres, who evaded Steffen’s challenge before Hamer took over, stepped inside Forss and fired into the top corner. He might have doubled his tally with 15 minutes remaining, but saw his free-kick crash back off the crossbar with Steffen beaten to preserve Boro’s fading hopes. But despite a last-gasp flurry during which substitute Matt Crooks had the ball in the net from an offside position, Boro were unable to force extra-time. Read More Coventry City aiming to come full circle after journey to hell and back Luton Town one game from the Premier League after comeback win over Sunderland Coventry and Middlesbrough fail to land blow in Championship play-off semi-final Kitman Chris Marsh overcomes illness to help support Coventry’s promotion push Coventry aim to come full circle after journey to hell and back

Centenarians tend to have lower levels of glucose, creatinine and uric acid from their sixties onwards, according to the largest study of its kind that may lead to a simple blood test to predict a person’s chance of reaching 100. The research, published on Monday in the journal GeroScience, is the biggest to date to measure and follow up the levels of different molecules in the blood of people born between 1893 and 1920. Scientists, including those from Karolinska Institutet, assessed the data on blood molecules from over 44,500 Swedes who underwent clinical testing between 1985 and 1996 and followed up till 2020. They focused specifically on people born between 1893 and 1920, who were between 64 and 99 years old when their blood samples were first tested, and followed them up as they grew closer to 100 years of age. About 1,200 individuals in the study, or about 2.7 per cent of the participants, reached 100. Researchers compared this subset’s data with those of their peers who were younger than them. The analysis found 12 blood-based molecules associated with metabolism, inflammation as well as liver and kidney function, that were also linked to ageing or mortality in previous studies. These molecules included total cholesterol and glucose as markers of metabolism, uric acid indicating inflammation levels, enzymes indicative of liver health and creatinine as a measure of kidney health. Researchers also looked at albumin and iron levels in the blood. Except for a liver enzyme and albumin, all other molecules were found linked to the likelihood of a person becoming a centenarian. Those with increased levels of total cholesterol and iron had a greater likelihood of becoming centenarians compared to those with lower levels. However, for molecules including glucose, creatinine, uric acid, and liver enzymes, lower levels were associated with higher chances of living past 100. “We found that, on the whole, those who made it to their hundredth birthday tended to have lower levels of glucose, creatinine and uric acid from their sixties onwards,” researchers wrote in The Conversation. “Very few of the centenarians had a glucose level above 6.5 earlier in life, or a creatinine level above 125,” they said. While the differences found in the study between groups were small in some cases, researchers said the findings still suggest a “potential link” between metabolism, nutrition and longevity. However, the study falls short of recommending lifestyle factors or genes responsible for these blood molecule levels. “While chance likely plays a role for reaching age 100, the differences in biomarker values more than one decade prior death suggest that genetic and/or lifestyle factors, reflected in these biomarker levels may also play a role for exceptional longevity,” scientists wrote in the study. “However, it is reasonable to think that factors such as nutrition and alcohol intake play a role. Keeping track of your kidney and liver values, as well as glucose and uric acid as you get older, is probably not a bad idea,” they said. Read More Good financial planning could increase life expectancy, study suggests Scientists find gene that grants long life – and successfully test it on another species Scientists extend mice lives by connecting their blood to young ones

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