best of sports

Tiger Woods withdraws from Players

2011-05-14T09:35:00.000-07:00

Tiger Woods walked away from the lucrative Players Championship in Florida on Thursday, citing knee injury.

Attempting to play after injuring his left knee and Achilles at the Masters, Woods said he was having difficulty walking by the end of the nine and that he first felt it on the first tee, where he hit his drive left.

Woods shot a 42 on the front nine, walking some 20 yards behind his playing partners and with a limp that became more noticeable with each hole he played.

Sub-par performance

After bogeying the first hole, Woods found water twice at the par-four fourth where he ended with a triple bogey.

Further bogeys came on the fifth and ninth holes for the former world number one.

He handed his card to PGA champion Martin Kaymer, then walked back to inform Matt Kuchar that he was leaving early for the second straight year.

"I'm having a hard time walking,'' Woods said.

It was his first competition since the Masters, where Woods hurt his left knee and Achilles while hitting from pine straw in the third round.

He skipped the tournament last week to give his leg time to heal, and said on Tuesday that it was better.

But from the opening tee shot at the TPC Sawgrass, he looked as bad as he ever has.

"The knee acted up and then the Achilles followed after that, and then the calf started cramping up,'' Woods said.

"Everything started getting tight, so it's just a whole chain reaction.''

Woods had looked in good form when he played nine holes of practice on Tuesday and Wednesday, and said after the second day of practice that he had only "minimal'' swelling.

This is the second straight year Woods has withdrawn in the middle of the round at the Players Championship. He stopped on the seventh hole of the final round last year with what turned out to be a neck injury.

Woods already has had four operations on his left knee.

Source:

Agencies

'If they want it, they will have it'

2011-05-14T09:31:00.000-07:00

Sepp Blatter responds to calls for goalline technology by saying he believes it will be in place by World Cup 2014.

Exclusive footage as FIFA President Sepp Blatter tells Al Jazeera's sports correspondent that he thinks goalline technology will be introduced by the next World Cup in Brazil.

The International Football Association Board (IFAB) will meet after the 2011/12 European football season to decide on the implementation of technology.

Blatter says he is confident such technology will be available to help avoid the "blatant injustice" of disallowed goals like Frank Lampard's World Cup effort for England against Germany in South Africa last year.

United: Champions once more

2011-05-14T09:28:00.000-07:00

A late Rooney penalty gave Manchester United the point that sealed their 19th title win and put the team ahead of Liverpool in the history books.

Manchester United only needed a point and got just that with their 1-1 draw at Blackburn on Saturday.

The title is now out of reach of reigning champions Chelsea and United can focus on their Champions League final clash with Barcelona on May 28.

Fergie's final word

Ferguson looked like the winner of his first title – not 12th – as he joyously chased members of his championship winning team around the pitch.

Despite coming under fire from the FA this season for his comments about referees, Ferguson proved that when it comes to winning titles he is the best manager in the Premier League.

"It was a fantastic performance by the lads and the supporters and for everybody connected with the club it's a great day," Ferguson told Sky Sports.

"It wasn't an easy game, we went 1-0 down having given them a bad goal but we kept on and we don't give in."

While it was Javier Hernandez’ first title win with United, the Duracell-charged Ryan Giggs now has a remarkable 12 title wins under his belt with the club.

"Twenty years ago we were nowhere near Liverpool," Giggs said.

"It's great credit to the club, the manager and the players and it's a good feeling to be ahead of our greatest rivals."

Midfielder Paul Scholes was also on the pitch to collect his tenth title. Both players are nearing the end of their professional careers and will be near impossible for Ferguson to replace.

Coming from behind, again

It was a nervy start for the Manchester side who were playing a fired up Blackburn team still fighting for Premier League survival. Their push for a point was not helped by Tomasz Kuszczak in goal who made a number of shaky stops to give Blackburn the confidence to get forward.

It looked like United might have to put the champagne on ice when Australian Brett Emerton scored for Rovers after 20 minutes.

However, Paul Robinson gave United the chance to claim that priceless point when he failed to get his hands out of the way of Hernandez who raced into the penalty spot.

It was fitting that the Mexican played a part in United’s equaliser after scoring over 20 goals in his debut season and being an invaluable source of inspiration for his teammates.

After conferring with the linesman Phil Dowd awarded the penalty and when Wayne Rooney stepped up to take it the writing was on the wall.

Rooney finished his tumultuous season on a high when he confidently stroked the ball past a helpless Paul Robinson.

"I was terrified, the ref took a long time to give it," Rooney said.

"I had to compose myself. I'd been practicing all week."

All that was left to do was for United to hold the ball up for the remaining 15 minutes. Blackburn were happy for them to do so with a crucial point giving them a strong chance of avoiding relegation going into their last match of the season against Wolves.

Relegation rivalry

At the bottom of the table, Wolves climbed a point clear of the drop zone with an emphatic 3-1 away victory at Sunderland.

Blackpool kept the pressure on Wolves and continued their dogged fight for survival with a 4-3 win against Bolton in a thrilling encounter at Bloomfield Road.

Blackpool who remain in the bottom three travel to Old Trafford for their final game of the season.

Saturday's other match saw West Brom beat Everton 1-0, Youssouf Mulumbu scoring the only goal of the game at The Hawthorns in the 10th minute before the Toffees' Russian substitute, Diniyar Bilyaletdinov, was sent-off.

Drama till the end

After wins for Blackpool and Wolves, the pressure firmly remains on relegation contenders Birmingham, Wigan and West Ham. Birmingham find themselves perched just on top of the relegation zone with 39 points, ahead of Blackpool on goal difference. They can move clear of the drop by gaining a point against Fulham on Sunday.

The future remains very bleak for West Ham who now lie six points from safety. The Hammers must record a win in their match with Wigan on Sunday to have any hope of survival. However, Wigan will not be easy opponents as they also need a point to cling on to their survival hopes.

Liverpool and Tottenham battle for fifth position and qualification for European football on Sunday in their match at Anfield. However, whatever the result, Liverpool fans are unlikely to be in jubilant mood this weekend after United’s most recent title win overhauls Liverpool’s legacy as the most successful team in English league history.

Despite the historic achievement, Manchester United have been criticised by many as a team lacking the quality of Ferguson’s previous title winning sides.

"We're champions and in the Champions League - we're rubbish aren't we?'' said Giggs.

If they can beat Barcelona, they will be anything but.

Cricket World cup-Final thoughts

2011-04-27T11:41:00.000-07:00

India is still in a state of euphoria following their World Cup win. It was the prefect end to a tournament for both the fans and the organisers, mindful of the TV ratings disaster that accompanied India's early exit from the tournament in 2007 at the group stage.

This time around, Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his men followed the script to the letter, meaning sales of widescreen televisions went through the roof, Indian TV ratings soared and the games governing body, the ICC, rubbed its hands at the prospect of a bumper pay day.

The cricket wasn't bad either.The best final since 1992 was preceded by the organisers dream semifinal of India v Pakistan, and three exciting quarterfinals (sorry, Pakistan v West indies wasn't a match, it was a joke).

Even the much-maligned group stages had their moments - mainly thanks to England, who recorded a tie against India beat South Africa and the Windies yet managed to lose to Ireland and Bangladesh and scrape through against the Netherlands.

There were some black marks: the chaotic ticketing system led to angry and frustrated fans experiencing the Indian police's idea of crowd control. The lead up to India's games against England and Pakistan were both marred by clashes. The fact that most ordinary cricket fans didn't get a chance to watch either game left a bad taste.

The cult of the VIP and VVIP was another feature of the World Cup. I spoke to several fans during the final at the Wankehede stadium in Mumbai. All of them had either got free tickets because a relative had connections or they were rich enough to buy a black market ticket at an exorbitant price.

I know its rich coming from a journalist who got to watch the final from the comfort of the press box for free, but still.

As for the players, Tilakeratne Dilshan and Shahid Afridi topped the batting and bowling charts respectively. But special mention must go to Ireland's Kevin O'Brien, who despite smacking the quickest hundred in World Cup history probably will never appear in another tournament.

The ICC confirmed that the next two World Cups will be 10-team affairs, meaning the likes of Ireland and the Netherlands will miss out. I find it hard to believe that either side are less deserving of a World Cup place than Bangladesh and Zimbabwe. But the ICC say that T20 is the best format for those countries, and as a result the World Twenty20 has been expanded to 16 teams, giving six Associate or Affliate members the chance to play in a major event.

But as for the 50-over game, the World Cup has given it a timely boost. The next edition is due to be held in Australia and New Zealand in 2015, if its half as good as this one, I, for one, can hardly wait.

Mourinho prepares Barca battleground

2011-04-27T11:38:00.000-07:00

It's the business end of the European football season as the first leg of the European Champions League semifinals takes place this week.

On Tuesday, Manchester United visit Schalke 04, and on Wednesday in the third of four clashes in 18 days, Real Madrid host Barcelona in an all-Spanish semifinal.

Jose Mourinho's Real have the psychological edge, having beaten a Pep Guardiola-coached Barcelona side for the first time to earn their first domestic cup in 18 years, the Copa del Rey, last week.

The final went down to the wire with a header from Ronaldo giving Real an extra-time victory. But the pressure is on for Mourinho to repeat last year's achievement when his Inter Milan knocked out the Catalans to reach the Champions League final, which they went on to win.

The question is, can Mourinho steer the power-shift in Spanish football away from Catalunya and back to Madrid or are Guardiola's Barcelona too strong?

Lucky three

The King's Cup was Jose Mourinho's first trophy as Madrid manager and now the Portuguese coach has his eye on delivering a 10th European Cup to Real as he bids to become the first coach to win the Champions League with three different clubs.

The Portuguese coach is no stranger to playing against Barca, where he spent some of his formative years as an assistant to Bobby Robson in the 1990s. Mourinho also met Barca three times during his spell at English side Chelsea, twice bettering them over a 'two-match series'.

His ability to rile the Catalan team knows no end and he has outwitted them so far in the 'four-match series' between the world's two richest and highest-profile clubs.

Mourinho was humiliated in a 5-0 drubbing by Barcelona in the league back in November, but Real are now on the up with a recent 1-1 league home draw against Barca followed by the Cup win.

"We can take them on over two games; we have just done that," said Mourinho."There is no reason we can't beat them in the Champions League because we have just drawn once against them and then beaten them."

History is on Madrid's side with Real getting the better of Barcelona in their two previous semifinal meetings in the 1960 European Cup and most recently the last four of the 2002 Champions League with Real going on to be crowned champions on both occasions.

Barcelona have reached the Champions League semifinals for four successive seasons and coach Pep Guardiola will hope to fare better than last season when he was outfoxed by Mourinho's Inter Milan.

Eyes on the prize

The Primera Division league title is all but wrapped up for Barcelona after a 2-0 win against Osasuna on Saturday put them eight points clear at the top of the table, but the real prize is European glory.

Barca defender Gerard Pique refused to be drawn on the hot topics of debate after the first two 'Clasicos' such as the quality of the refereeing, the length of the grass at the Bernabeu and Real's aggressive, 'negative' approach.

"The grass is long but I'm not going to cry about it," the Spanish World Cup winner told daily El Pais of the pitch at Wednesday's Bernabeu venue.

"It's normal for them to take particular care over their defence and that they try to stop our passing game. Mourinho will use everything available to him.

"At the end of the day they are a powerful team with very good forwards," added Pique.

Messi form

Lionel Messi notched his 50th goal of the season in the Osasuna win and has scored on each of his last three visits to the Bernabeu.The form of Messi and David Villa's goal at the weekend, ending an 11-game drought in all competitions, is a boon for Barca but an injury to Brazilian Adriano is their latest defensive concern.

Full back Adriano could miss the rest of the season with a thigh injury so Guardiola is stretched at the back with captain Carles Puyol struggling with muscular problems and Frenchman Eric Abidal recovering from surgery on a liver tumour.

Real have packed the centre of the pitch with three holding players led by centre-back turned midfield-enforcer Pepe, denying Barca's playmakers time and space while looking to break quickly.

Sami Khedira's injury means Lassana Diarra will probably replace him in midfield while Mourinho may opt to play without a recognised number nine again as he did in the King's Cup final.

At the back Ricardo Carvalho is suspended. Argentine forward Gonzalo Higuain and Brazilian playmaker Kaka are back to their best after long lay-offs.

Higuain scored a hat-trick and Kaka grabbed a brace in Real's 6-3 win at Valencia on Saturday to throw their hats into the ring for a starting place against Barca.

"He (Kaka) had a fantastic game in a position I like a lot," said Mourinho.

"It is fantastic for his confidence."

The two clubs are the competition's top scorers with 24 goals each but the previous two 'Clasicos' have been tense tussles with few sights of goal.

Any change in Barca's standard 4-3-3 formation would probably be read as an acknowledgement that Real have worked out the way to play against Guardiola's three magicians - Xavi, Andres Iniesta and Lionel Messi.

Former Milan boss Leonardo named Inter coach

2010-12-25T05:58:00.000-08:00

MILAN - Last season's AC Milan coach Leonardo was named manager of city rivals Inter Milan on Friday in a move which has stunned the soccer world despite the Italian game's celebrated eccentricities.

The Brazilian succeeds Rafael Benitez, who left the world, European and Italian champions on Thursday after just six months in charge following a poor domestic spell and his public attack on Inter for not investing in new players.

"Welcome, Leonardo is the coach of Inter," a statement said on Inter's website (www.inter.it) just hours after president Massimo Moratti had said there would be no announcement until Dec. 27 at the earliest.

"A few minutes ago an agreement was signed which will tie him to the club until June 30, 2012."

Leonardo failed to shine in his only season in management with Milan last term, leading the Rossoneri to third place in Serie A and the Champions League last 16.

The 41-year-old also played for Milan before becoming technical director there and has no prior links to Inter, making the decision to appoint him all the more strange to the hordes of baffled Tweeters and newspaper columnists.

"Unbelievable", "traitor" and "downright weird" were just some of the terms used on Twitter to describe the move.

BIG GAMBLE

Players and coaches switching allegiances between big rivals is nothing new in Italy, even if the idea of Arsenal's Arsene Wenger succeeding Manchester United's Alex Ferguson would bring howls of derision in England.

Spain is more similar to Italy with former Barcelona assistant coach Jose Mourinho now the Real Madrid boss while Portugal's Luis Figo signed for Real from Barca in 2000.

Giovanni Trapattoni famously managed Milan, Inter and the third Italian giant Juventus while Milan striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic has played for all three.

Indeed Milan have been the side most guilty of signing ex-Inter names with Ibrahimovic, Clarence Seedorf, Andrea Pirlo and former forward Ronaldo all having previously turned out for the Nerazzurri among others.

Moratti, whose side won an unprecedented treble last term under Jose Mourinho, is still taking a big gamble by naming Leonardo with fans likely to give him a little lukewarm reception at first.

Given Leonardo left Milan after a bust-up with owner Silvio Berlusconi, hands-on Moratti risks similar issues if Inter do not quickly start rising up from seventh in Serie A and lose to Bayern Munich in their Champions League first knockout round.

The appointment of Marcello Lippi in 1999 just after he had left rivals Juve was also disastrous for Inter and will prey on some fans' minds while Leonardo himself had indicated he wanted some time away from game to be with his family in Brazil.

On the other hand, pundits such as Gabriele Marcotti have argued that choosing Leonardo is a masterstroke from Moratti given he has had a season to hone his management skills, knows current league leaders Milan inside out and will have good relations with Inter's large contingent of South Americans.

Benitez's outburst means he will not get the chance but Leonardo may have some new signings on board for when Inter host second-placed Napoli on Jan. 6 as Serie A resumes after a mid-season break.

Inter are interested in Genoa centre back Andrea Ranocchia with Walter Samuel out for the season but few other rumours have leaked out about Moratti's targets.

2 million request tickets for London 2012 Olympics

2010-12-25T05:57:00.001-08:00

LONDON - London 2012 organizers say two million people have registered for tickets to the Olympics.

When tickets go on sale in March, 8.8 million seats will be available at prices ranging from 20 pounds ($31) for standard events to a symbolic 2,012 pounds ($3,105) for the top-priced seats at the opening ceremony.

Organizers are trying to raise about 440 million pounds from ticket sales, a quarter of their operating budget.

London 2012 chief executive Paul Deighton says data from the two million registered people so far shows that "by and large more females than males" have signed up and many are opting to try to see several events.

Deighton expects another 500,000 people to have registered an interest in buying tickets by March.

PCB want Pakistan players to take part in IPL

2010-12-25T05:55:00.000-08:00

KARACHI - The Pakistan Cricket Board are keen for their players to participate in the lucrative Indian Premier League in 2011 despite being snubbed this year.

Pakistani players have not participated in the last two editions of the IPL due to political tensions between the two countries although in the inaugural edition in 2008 over a dozen Pakistanis played for different franchises in the T20 league that attracts players from every cricketing nation.

Last year the Indian franchises did not bid for any Pakistani cricketer at the players' auction although the PCB had sent names of around 10 players after giving them clearance.

PCB chief operating officer Subhan Ahmed told reporters on Saturday that the board had contacted the Indian Cricket Board on the issue.

"We have written to the Indian board that we are willing to provide any clearance to our players for the IPL," Ahmed said.

"We want Pakistani participation in the IPL, that is our official stand but obviously we need for the Indian board to talk to us."

Ahmed said that under new rules framed by the IPL no Pakistani player could take part in the league for any franchise before getting clearance from both boards.

"No player can individually be approached or can approach any franchise now for a contract," he said.

The Indian government has not encouraged bilateral cricket ties with Pakistan since the militant attacks in Mumbai in 2008.

My Dream is to Coach Super Eagles to Win World Cup in Brazil

2010-08-22T01:21:00.000-07:00

Kaduna United, at the beginning of the week, made history as the first team from Kaduna State to win the Federation Cup when they defeated Enyimba of Aba 3-2 on penalties after a the final match ended 3-3 in both regulation and overtime. The feat was so great for the people of the ancient town for the fact that not team from the the town or the state have had success in the series; the closest being the effort of Ranch Bees in 1987 against the now defunct Abiola Babes.

The run to success could be said to have been made possible by the old man of Africa in football clubs’ managerial affairs; Belgian Maurice Cooreman. The man puts everything down to the hard work and determination of the players and the technical team. He even singled out one of his assistants on the bench, the goalkeeper’s trainer, John Obida, for praise.
Cooreman said Obida went a whole length to train Agwu specifically in the art of catching penalties and that the latter became like the saviour of the team in the series up to the final day. On the final day particularly, after he was brought in because shootout became imminent.

Cooreman said: “I think my young United players showed a lot of class right from the preliminary stage up to the final, to eventually win the cup for Kaduna people and the governor of the state; Ibrahim Yakowa. I groomed these young boys from nowhere and today they have made Kaduna people and the country proud for their outstanding performance in the Federation Cup series.
“We had loads of encouragement and support from the state governor, but in the final analysis, it was up to them to put up a brave spirit. They showed a lot of that. Now, personally, I think my next frontier is Nigeria’s national team, the Super Eagles.

I have handled many teams in Nigeria and my record here shows I have achieved many milestones, from NPA to Gabros International, to Lobi Stars, Ocean Boys, Bendel Insurance and Enyimba, I have shown I have what it takes. And as I had always have a vision for the place the international game of Nigeria should be at the global arena, I believe it is time I got that chance to help with tinkering the Super Eagles.

Cooreman, in revealing his dream for Nigeria, expresses his surprise that the Super Eagles continually fail to live up to their global billing. He said with the kind of abundance in quality materials that he has seen and worked with in the country since the past decade that he has been around, he finds it queer that the team are not pulling their weight in silverwares.
He said so many talents are still untapped among the home-based players and that he would like very much to be in position to change this.

“I think the only reason we are in this sorry state as far as the Super Eagles are concerned is that we have no proper planning to groom the boys into a formidable team that can conquer the world. I have been in this country for 11 years, and I married an Igbo lady. So, when I talk about the failure of the country, I think I am talking as a Nigerian and as a man who has been in the system for over a decade and know exactly what is wrong. Besides, I have a passion for this country that is so high I am ready to die for her.

“If I get to tinker the Super Eagles, my promise is that the team will be in the final stages of the World Cup in Brazil in 2014. By final stages, I am talking of the semi finals at the very least. And this is not a boast or empty talk.

“I coached Jasper United and so many other teams to success in this country and I understand Nigerian football and know that Nigerian players are very talented. In most countries of the world that have made global impact in the game, handling to success such young teams as Kaduna United from the developmental stage and successes with other teams across the country, like I have had, are some of the criteria used in selecting who to handle the national teams. It should be part of the consideration here too. Besides, I understand the Nigerian game and the Nigerian players’ mentality so well now that there can hardly be a better candidate than I make for the post,” says Cooreman.

Nigeria, 15 others Confirm Participation

2010-08-11T09:18:00.000-07:00

About 16 countries have confirmed their participation in the forthcoming Commonwealth Intercontinental Under-17 Handball Championship scheduled to take place in Cameroon from August 25th to September 5th. According to a statement released from the headquarters of the continental game in Abuja, the countries that have confirmed participation include the host Cameroon, Nigeria, India, Ghana, Pakistan, Cyprus, Australia, England, Bangladesh and Kenya. This will also involve six other countries that will participate with their female teams.

While speaking on the preparation of the secretariat for the championship, the Executive Director of Commonwealth Handball Association Mallam Attahiru Garba who just returned from Cameroon on an inspection tour said he was satisfied with the facilities he saw on ground. He added that the 16 nations that will come to the championship would have a good story to tell at the end of the day.

“Cameroon is set, going by what I saw on ground there. The championship, which will be the first in recent time, is the spark we need to reunite the handball families that are under the Commonwealth umbrella.”
Meanwhile, it has been confirmed that Nigeria will provide two pairs of referees to the championship. They are Bosede Momoh and Ngozi Ezeh for female while Sikiru Ahmed and James Ahmadu would referee in the male categories of the tournament.

This is making history for the country in the sport, because, since after the era of Gen. Ishola William (Rtd) as the President of Handball Federation of Nigeria (HFN), Nigeria has not provided two pairs of referees in a major International handball competition.
Arrangements for the tournament include the President of World Handball Federation, (International Handball Federation) Dr. Hassan Moustapha and President of Confederation of African Handball (CAHB) being special guests at the opening ceremony while His Excellency, the President of Cameroon, Paul Biya, would be declaring the championships open. The President of Commonwealth Games Federation (CFG) Mr. Mike Finnel has been slated for the closing ceremony.

Also, it has been confirmed that 1st, 2nd and 3rd position teams would be taking home prize money of $10,000, $7,000, and $3,000 in both the boys and girls category. The screening of teams to ascertain players’ age would be through the MRI. The Medical Committee/Screening Committee is to be chaired by Dr. Lanre Glover who is the 1st Vice President of Confederation of African Handball (CAHB).

Pillars’ bad boys get the rod for attempting to put the beautiful game into disrepute

2010-08-11T08:43:00.000-07:00

The Nigeria Premier League has made a precedence of an insolence act by going down hard on Kano Pillars Football Club over the team’s behaviour in the last match of the Super Four tournament on the last day. The incidence took place in the match against Enyimba at the Ijebu-Ode venue of the competition on Sunday. As punishment, some members of the team has been given various, heavy-handed punishment that the League believes would serve as warning to others and a deterrent to the offenders in future.

According to the League last night, a Kano Pillars official, Ali Adamu, is banned from all NPL activities for three years for jumping out of the substitute bench to attack the referee and assistant referee in the match against Enyimba during the match.
The Acting Executive Secretary of NPL, Tunji Babalola, disclosed last night that the punishment also revealed that Sani Haliru, who was in goal for the Kano side also stand banned from football for six months for acts that are not in line with the ethics, rules of the game.

He added: “Kano Pillars will also have to pay a fine of N500, 000 before they are registered for the in-coming season. The team will also be warned to make sure their officials conform to the rules of the game or face further sanctions.

“The vision of the new board of NPL is to stop every act that has the potential to hurt the game. Towards this, no stone will be left unturned to make sure that sanity prevails in the system.”
The ugly scenario occurred, after the winning goal was scored by the Aba side towards the end of the match. Feeling that something was wrong with the way the goal had been scored, Pillars’ players protested to the referee asking that the goal be ruled as coming from offside play, but their plea was turned down.

Rather than continued with the match after their protest had been turned down; as it is expected of a disciplined team in the game, some members of the team went wild. Taking laws into their own hands, they encroached on the field of play and in the process; the Pillars official assaulted the referee.

At the United Nations, time to watch the World Cup

2010-07-08T03:29:00.000-07:00

The world stops for the World Cup, and the United Nations is no exception.

Diplomats and staffers gathered Wednesday in a small viewing area at U.N. headquarters in New York City to watch Spain beat Germany in a World Cup semifinal match, earning the right to face The Netherlands in Sunday's championship.

For almost a month, World Cup viewing has become a staple of U.N. life.

Unlike bars and restaurants that likely have specific country affiliations, the U.N. audience encompasses a broad base of nationalities and allegiances.

To Holmen Bengt, who works for the Norwegian Mission to the United Nations, it is the ideal place to experience what many consider to be the premier global sports event.

"It adds a very nice flavor to it because you have the world here, and it's the World Cup," Bengt said.

South Africa is hosting the World Cup, the first time the tournament has been held in Africa, and the South African government paid for the U.N. viewing area. It might have underestimated the popularity.

About 60 people crammed into the viewing area Wednesday, most of them standing to watch a large flat-screen television. Another dozen or so tried to catch a glimpse over the area's temporary walls by standing on chairs. An equally-packed overflow room down the hall held another 70 people.

Watching the game at the United Nations required multitasking ability. During breaks in play, men and women in suits checked their BlackBerrys, but when a goal was scored, the audience was on its feet, yelling and slapping hands as if they were at the stadium.

Wednesday's match took place during a Security Council debate on the protection of civilians in armed conflict. The day before, several soccer fans skipped attending the Queen of England's first address to the General Assembly in more than 50 years. It was unclear how many would have attended if England, eliminated in the round of 16, had still been playing.

Mococha Tembele, from the Tanzanian U.N. Mission, said the viewing area provided an opportunity to both work and watch, due to its proximity.

"I'm watching games here because I'm attending meetings," Tembele said. "This is the only convenient place for me to come."

Throughout the game, everyone from custodians to security guards to dapper diplomats bounded up the stairs to check the score, while a contingent of die-hards stuck it out for the whole match.

Teresa Lopez, a beaming Spanish national and one of the few wearing her country's jersey, said she was on her day off, but she defended some of the other viewers.

"As long as they fulfill their responsibilities and go back to work after the match is over, and they finish their job, I think they're fine," Lopez said. "I think if it's their national team, there may be a little understanding."

Soccer City to host rugby international

2010-07-08T03:27:00.000-07:00

Soccer City, once the venue of South Africa's most significant black freedom rallies, will next month host a sport that was open only to whites in the country's apartheid-rule era.

Rugby officials announced on Wednesday that South Africa's Springboks will take on New Zealand's All Blacks at the Johannesburg soccer stadium, which stages the 2010 World Cup final this weekend.

The rebuilt ground, scene of Nelson Mandela's first speech in the city after his release from prison in 1990, is situated near the predominantly black township of Soweto.

"This is an historic day and one in which the whole of South Africa can celebrate," South African Rugby Union president Oregan Hoskins said in a statement on the ruling body's website.While South African rugby was once dominated by whites, the game has become more mixed there -- especially since hosting the 1995 World Cup -- and players such as Chester Williams and Bryan Habana have become household names.The Blue Bulls rugby team also played a Super 14 match at Soweto's Orlando Stadium in May this year as their home venue in Pretoria was unavailable due to the World Cup.

The August 21 fixture will be South Africa's first home match of the 2010 Tri-Nations tournament, which also features Australia.

Soccer City, which is also known as National Stadium, has a capacity of 88,791.

The SARU has made some tickets available at reduced prices in order to get near the previous best crowd for a home rugby international -- 95,000 at Johannesburg's Ellis Park when the British Lions visited in 1955.

More than 9,000 of the available tickets will be sold at 350 Rand ($45) and 5,000 for just 100 rand ($13).

The match had originally been scheduled for Ellis Park, but host province Golden Lions agreed to make the switch.

"The only thing that surprised us was the near unanimity of our stakeholders in embracing this decision," Lions chairman Kevin De Klerk said.

"The reaction has been overwhelmingly positive and as much as we love Ellis Park, there was widespread agreement that we must take such a significant rugby match to one of the best stadiums not just in South Africa but in the world.

"I'd particularly like to thank [our] key sponsors ... They have had to make major sacrifices on some of their contractual rights but the way they have supported us in recognizing the potential benefits of this move -- not just for rugby, but for South Africa -- has been magnificent."

The Springboks will begin the defense of their Tri-Nations crown in New Zealand on Saturday, the first of two clashes with the Kiwis before heading to Australia for a match in Brisbane on July 24.

Spain beat Germany to book first ever World Cup final slot

2010-07-08T03:24:00.000-07:00

The World Cup will have a new winner on Sunday after Spain beat Germany 1-0 to set up a mouthwatering clash with the Netherlands.

Spain's hero was Barcelona defender Carles Puyol as his 73rd minute header secured his country's first ever World Cup final.

Puyol rose highest to power Xavi's corner into the net and hand Spain a deserved victory.

Vicente del Bosque's team dominated possession against their opponents and should have won by a more convincing score line but they couldn't convert their chances.

Germany only created a handful of opportunities as they attempted to avenge their defeat to Spain in the European Championships final of 2008 but they failed to regularly test Spain goalkeeper Iker Casillas.Spain will now face Netherlands at Soccer City in Johannesburg on Sunday after they beat Uruguay 3-2 in the other semifinal on Tuesday night.Liverpool striker Fernando Torres was dropped in favor of Pedro Rodriguez as Spain made one change from their quarterfinal team. Germany drafted in Piotr Trochowski in place of the suspended Thomas Muller.

It was Barcelona striker David Villa who had the first chance of the game but his effort was smothered by Germany goalkeeper Manuel Neuer.

Puyol was the next to go close for Spain after he headed Andres Iniesta's powerful cross over the bar.

Lukas Podolski registered Germany's first effort on goal just after the half hour mark as Spain keeper Iker Casillas turned his shot round the post.

Just before the break Mesut Özil went down under a challenge from Sergio Ramos but the referee waved away his appeal for a penalty.

Spain stepped it up a gear after halftime and Xabi Alonso came close with a fierce shot from the edge of the area that flashed past the post.

Pedro was next to shoot but Neuer blocked his effort before Iniesta rolled a pass across the goal line with Villa agonizingly close to tapping home.

Substitute Toni Kroos nearly scored with his first touch for Germany as he was found by a Podolski cross but Casillas parried his volley.

But just four minutes later Spain were in front. Xavi's corner was met by Puyol, and his header sped past Neuer.

In Madrid, relief and rejoicing intertwine

As Germany tried to force an equalizer Spain should have made the game safe but Pedro failed to tee up Torres when the striker had a clear run on goal.

Spain held on to record another one goal victory and seal a first ever World Cup final appearance. Neither they, nor opponents Netherlands, have ever won world football's most prestigious trophy but one team will make history on Sunday.

U.S. first as Kerr tops women's rankings

2010-07-08T03:21:00.000-07:00

Cristie Kerr is the first player from the United States to top the women's world rankings after her runaway victory in the LPGA Championship at Locust Hill Country Club in New York.

Kerr carded a six-under final round 66 for a 19-under 269 total, leaving her 12 shots clear of the best in women's golf.

It was a record victory margin in the LPGA Championship, beating the 11-shot win for fellow American Betsy King in 1992.

Kerr was claiming her 14th career victory on the LPGA Tour and winning her second major after the 2007 U.S. Open.

She led from start to finish as rounds of 68, 66 and 69 left her eight shots clear going into Sunday's final round.

"It's a dream performance," Kerr told the official LPGA Tour website.

"It's like you wake up or you dream -- I can't even speak right now. Winning by two or three is great, but winning by 12 shots is ridiculous. It's obscene."

Kerr made sure of her victory by following six straight pars with three birdies in four holes around the turn.South Korea's Kim Song-Hee finished second with Japan's Ai Miyazato tied for third with South Korea's Shin Jiyai.

Miyazato still leads the official money list after winning four times this season, but Kerr has overtaken her at the top of the official world rankings.

She went into the major in fifth spot.

Miyazato, who needed to finish in second place to keep top spot was impressed with Kerr's performance.

"That's almost too good," Miyazato said. "She's just amazing. I played really good, too, but she is just better than me."

The close race for world number one will continue at the Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic in Ohio next weekend, but Kerr will skip the tournament to rest ahead of the U.S. Women's Open on July 8.

Kerr is fully aware she will now come under pressure for the top ranking.

"I'm there now, but I have to prove that I deserve to be there," Kerr said. "So there is still a lot of work ahead. But it feels awfully good right now."

Alonso vows to fight back after Euro GP disappointment

2010-07-08T03:18:00.000-07:00

Fernando Alonso insists Ferrari will bounce back from Sunday's controversial European Grand Prix.

Events in Valencia saw Red Bull's Mark Webber suffer a high-speed crash on lap ten, forcing the safety car to appear.

Alonso claimed the race had been "manipulated" after his title rival Lewis Hamilton, of McLaren, overtook the safety car but still managed to finish second despite being hit with a 20-second drive-through penalty.

The Spaniard left Valencia's street circuit frustrated after finishing in eighth place, securing only one point, and he later blamed the safety car incident for his poor finish calling the race "unfair" for those who "respected the rules and didn't overtake the yellow flag".

Alonso says he now regrets reacting "emotionally" and for saying things that "can be interpreted wrongly"."I was very angry about everything that happened, " he told Ferrari's official website. "But now that anger has been transformed into positive energy driving a desire to fight back.

"What I meant was that those drivers who, like us, respected the regulations, unfortunately, in this situation, suffered much more than those who broke them, even though they were given a penalty," he added.

"And I am not referring to any of the drivers in particular. I was pleased to hear that the FIA has reacted promptly, calling an extraordinary meeting of the Sporting Working Group.

"I am confident, certain even, that all the points up for discussion will be cleared up in a comprehensive fashion."

Alonso now insists he has put the disappointment behind him and is now keen to get back to winning ways at the British Grand Prix on July 11.

"Right from Tuesday morning, my mind was already focused on the next Grand Prix at Silverstone, where we will try and channel all that accumulated energy into the car to try and make up for what escaped us, for one reason or another, in Valencia."

Paul Collingwood: Beating Australia no longer enough to satisfy England

2010-06-26T04:31:00.000-07:00

Paul Collingwood, who became England’s leading one-day run-scorer during the win against Australia in Cardiff on Thursday, believes that the side now hold supremacy over their oldest rivals and can beat any team in the world.

Ricky Ponting, the Australia captain, claimed that “bragging rights” remained with the touring team despite conceding the Ashes to England last year and losing the World Twenty20 final in May. England also hold a 2-0 lead in the NatWest Series going into the third game at Old Trafford tomorrow.

It is a sign of England’s rise that beating Australia is no longer enough, according to Collingwood, who said: “If you look at their record over the past year or so they still have that air of invincibility because they have not lost many games, but we are the better side at the moment.

“We are in a great position to win this series, but we would not just be happy with that. We want to be the best one-day side in the world and win the World Cup next year. We are confident we can beat any team in one-day cricket, not just Australia.”

Collingwood was taken unawares during his innings of 48 at the SWALEC Stadium in Cardiff, when the public address man told the crowd that Alec Stewart’s aggregate of 4,677 runs had been overtaken. “A few Australians were even more surprised than me,” Collingwood said. “Going past Alec’s runs . . . it is all a bit surreal at times.

“I went into that match thinking, ‘I need to start playing well again. I need a bit of confidence.’ Then came that announcement and I thought to myself, ‘Why do you worry so much?’ It is always a battle. What goes on in your head is far more important than anything with your technique.”

That no England batsman has yet hit 5,000 runs when a total of 57 players from other countries have reached the landmark is testament to the relatively low status that the one-day game has carried in this country and the volume of matches elsewhere. Even Andy Flower, the team director, scored 6,786 runs for Zimbabwe.

Collingwood was chatting to Graham Gooch, the part-time batting coach, about this broad issue recently. “In Graham’s day they played three one-day internationals each summer,” Collingwood said. “Now we play three in a week.” This season, England are committed to as many as 13 50-over matches.

Only if Twenty20 squeezes out the longer one-day game will Collingwood’s guess that a good number of England batsmen will overtake his aggregate prove incorrect. Perhaps in a decade’s time, Eoin Morgan will be saying: “In Colly’s era they only played a couple of Twenty20s a year — now we play two a day.”

Collingwood revealed that he underwent two injections in his left shoulder during his rest from the Test series against Bangladesh. He has suffered intermittent pain since dislocating the joint in 2003, but said that he is fit to bowl, even though Andrew Strauss has yet to call upon him in the series.

Source:The Times

Daring Lleyton Hewitt not ready to be the forgotten man

2010-06-26T04:29:00.000-07:00

Asked last week to nominate the young British player who most epitomised the attitude required to succeed, Andy Murray said Liam Broady, of Stockport.

The 16-year-old was asked if he would mind hitting for an hour yesterday with Rafael Nadal, the world No 1. “Awesome,” was young Broady’s reaction to the tutorial. John McEnroe has also been trading leftie blows with him this week, offering coaching tips into the bargain.

Broady bears the appearance of a young Lleyton Hewitt, the blond hair, the cap worn backwards and the look in the eye that suggests he is going to make the most of all that he has in the desire to succeed as a professional.

That he was born in the same town as Fred Perry adds to the fascination of the story. That his family does not conform to the strictures preferred of the LTA gentry stirs more piquancy into the pot.

Hewitt has never been a conformist. He has got to this stage of his career by staying loyal to his reactionary roots, a tough-as-old-boots kid whose parents brooked no argument and who still plays every match as if his life depends upon it. He sets Tennis Australia folk on edge, but where would tennis in Australia have been without him to keep it in the mind’s eye this past decade?

On Centre Court yesterday, Hewitt defeated Gaël Monfils, of France, 6-3, 7-6, 6-4, a match defined by the 2002 champion’s refusal to let one of the more volatile characters in the game break the levels of concentration that are his hallmark.

For two sets, Hewitt served out of his skin, dropping just six points before the second-set tie-break, from which he extricated himself after netting three forehands. The Frenchman then became ragged himself. Hewitt took the set with a delightful backhand volley that must have tested his dodgy hips to the utmost.

Before he played in this year’s Australian Open, where he lost in the fourth round to Roger Federer, Hewitt knew that he had to go into hospital for a second hip operation, something he kept from everyone except those nearest and dearest. Typical Hewitt, that.

He did not last more than a couple of rounds in any tournament between then and the French Open, where he took ten games in three sets against Nadal — and that takes some doing. That belief was endorsed in Halle, Germany, the week before last, when he became only the second man in eight years to defeat Federer on grass.

Roger Rasheed, who coached Hewitt for three years before they had a falling-out and is now trying to get the best from Monfils, bore the look of a worried man before the match. He recounted that every time Hewitt came back through the gates of the All England Club, he “was like a kid in a candy store”. And where better than Centre Court to counter someone whose play varies from pearl drop one minute to marshmallow the next.

Source:The Times

Highclere dream factory scales heights

2010-06-26T04:27:00.000-07:00

If your business is selling a dream, a little evidence can be persuasive. Harry Herbert had all such material to hand this week, as he launched seven new Highclere Thoroughbred syndicates on the back of an unprecedented three winners at Royal Ascot.

Herbert has managed the prestigious Highclere brand since its inception in 1992 but these are heady days. “We took 50 people into the Ascot winner’s enclosure last week and you can’t buy that experience,” he said.

Plans for the winning horses are taking shape, with Harbinger set to run in the King George, Approve in the Gimcrack and Memory at Newmarket’s July meeting. But Herbert is now selling shares in the yearlings he will seek to buy at the upcoming autumn sales and dispatch to some of the ten trainers on the Highclere roster.

“It’s not easy to keep attracting new owners,” he said. “That’s why success at Ascot was so important. It’s a very public thing — if you have a share in a runner there, all your friends and family will know about it, good or bad.

“We’ve had some amazing times, notably with Lake Coniston and Petrushka. A couple of years ago, we had an Ascot double with Collection and Colony but this year was better.”

Herbert fronts a slick operation that appeals to a surprisingly wide range. “With Highclere, our celebrity element does help. When people see Liz Hurley and Sir Alex Ferguson involved, they might look at us more closely,” he said.

Such inspection reveals that this is not the exclusive enclave of the wealthy that many imagine. Twenty shares in the Masquerade syndicate, which owns Memory and another horse, cost less than £12,000, all training fees included. “We probably created the image ourselves, because we are a luxury goods product,” Herbert admitted. “There are still people who think it’s a private club for the posh but we’re getting over that now. We have a terrific cross-section and horses bond people together.”

Mike Tindall, the England rugby international, has a share in Theology and was on the phone from Australia after his run in the Queen’s Vase at Ascot. “I had to tell him he’d been beaten a nose,” Herbert said. “But he’s keen and calls a lot when he’s away on tour.”

Jeremy Noseda, trainer of Theology, has been chosen to handle a horse in a new Highclere syndicate — 20 shares in a single horse at £6,950 each. Though it is called The Starter syndicate, it is not entirely for newcomers — the name relates to a Spy cartoon hanging in the Jockey Club Rooms, the base for fortnightly Highclere dinners through the spring.

With 19 wins and £369,000 in prize money banked, Highclere are heading for a record season. That would be assured if Harbinger repels Workforce, his Derby-winning stablemate, in the King George. “I’m about to chat it through with Sir Michael Stoute,” Herbert said. “Unless he has a compelling reason not to run, we will go there — it’s the sort of race we are all in this for.”

Source:The Times

Michael Schumacher’s return heads for dead end

2010-06-26T04:19:00.000-07:00

Michael Schumacher’s much-heralded return to Formula One could end after only a year, according to reports in Valencia in the build-up to tomorrow’s European Grand Prix.

Although Mercedes GP said last night that there was “absolutely no truth” in the report that dissatisfaction with — and criticism of — the seven-times world champion’s performances had culminated in the team apparently courting Robert Kubica from Renault, an Italian website said that the Pole, 25, had been offered a three-year retainer from 2011, with an option for a further two years.

While rumours and gossip are part and parcel of pitlane life, speculation about Schumacher’s future has been rife and the 41-year-old is an increasingly forlorn figure. He returned to the sport on a three-year contract this season, having delayed his initial comeback because of a neck injury.

Schumacher’s frustration, however, has become increasingly evident. He has not made the podium and his best position has been fourth in both the Spanish and Turkish Grands Prix. It was in Canada two weeks ago that the professional criticisms started.

Increasingly, he has the look and manner of a champion who cannot understand his inability to recapture his glory days. This week he railed at suggestions that he is not the force of old. “I don’t think there are many guys around the world who, at 41, come back after a three-year break and compete at this high a level,” he said.

“I’ve not lost my knowledge of driving. I know what I’m doing and I think I do it to the best I can. When I won 91 grands prix and seven championships, I was thinking then about how I can improve, as I’m doing now.”

Nico Rosberg, who was quickest in yesterday’s first practice session, defended his team-mate, as did Nick Fry, the Mercedes chief executive.

“From inside the team we see things in a totally different perspective,” Fry said. “We’re very comfortable with Michael’s performance and I can’t see any reason why he won’t come good.”

But Lewis Hamilton, the McLaren driver who leads the drivers’ championship by three points and is going for a hat-trick of wins, has suggested that time has moved on more quickly than Schumacher, who was only eleventh- quickest after the second practice session, may have appreciated.

“His commitment is the same as always,” Hamilton said. “But it is so challenging, so close, it is very difficult to outdo the youngsters that have the hunger that he had when he started.”

Now or never for the ‘golden generation’

2010-06-26T04:13:00.000-07:00

England expects. Even that two-word affirmation carries more than an echo of the military past that sadly seems to permeate so much discussion before a World Cup encounter with Germany, but it is true. England expects.

The players expect, too. The nucleus of thirtysomethings and late twentysomethings within Fabio Capello’s squad has never, in the players’ lifetimes, known anything but misery at the hands of German opponents in the knockout stages of leading tournaments, from the early memories of the 1990 World Cup to the Euro ’96 defeat that came as many of them were taking their first steps towards stardom. But they maintain that, in the unlikely setting of Bloemfontein tomorrow afternoon, it will be different.

It would not be hard, on the basis of performances in this World Cup, to dismiss England as dysfunctional no-hopers and Germany, with the beguiling young talents of Thomas Müller and Mesut Özil, as one of the top four teams in the tournament, along with Argentina, Brazil and Holland.

So why does it feel, after England scraped into the knockout stages with downbeat draws against the United States and Algeria and a fairly prosaic victory over Slovenia, that this is England’s turn to overcome Germany?

Joe Cole predicted something similar the other day, saying pointedly that “I feel this is our time”, and it was an attitude reinforced yesterday by David James as the goalkeeper shrugged at the mention of Özil, apologised to a German journalist that his “name-recollection skills are next to disgraceful” and proceeded to declare:

“I genuinely think we’re going to win because I think we’re a better team than Germany.”

A better team? This is highly debatable, given that Capello’s side have hardly resembled a cohesive unit since a resounding 5-1 victory over Croatia last September, whereas a young Germany team have developed the “Teamgeist”, or spirit, that comes from having six members of the squad that won the European Under-21 Championship in highly impressive style in Sweden last summer.

England were the team they beat in the final — Özil running the show during a magnificent 4-0 victory — but only two players, Joe Hart and James Milner, have made the step up to Capello’s squad.

There are plenty of reasons to be fearful for the long-term future of England, with Capello reflecting the reluctance of many Barclays Premier League managers to make any commitment to blooding young talent.

Capello’s 23-man squad is the oldest in this World Cup, with an average age of 28 years and six months and with only six players under the age of 27. By contrast, Joachim Löw, the Germany coach, has named a squad with an average age of 25 years and three months, with 18 of their 23 players under the age of 27 — among them the Bayern Munich trio of Philipp Lahm, Bastian Schweinsteiger and Lukas Podolski, who have a combined total of 221 caps.

Under-fire Alex Bogdanovic bites back at critics

2010-06-09T12:26:00.000-07:00

Say the name “Alex Bogdanovic” in British tennis circles and what you get in return is a communal shaking of heads, shrugging of shoulders and exaggerated sighs.

Until yesterday, Bogdanovic has rarely said anything worth printing, but he came out swinging when the subject of his place in the system was raised at another domestic tournament that he departed without troubling the scorers.

What sparked the 26-year-old left-hander into a vitriolic attack against the LTA was the fact that he has been dropped from its matrix funding group for 2010 and, having made it plain that he did not want to play in the Davis Cup tie against Turkey next month, he was told his punishment would be to forfeit any wild-card privileges this summer.

Some might say that it is about time. Bogdanovic’s shortcomings were once more crystallised at the AEGON Championships at Queen’s Club, West London, when he ought to have seen that Grigor Dimitrov, the 19-year-old Bulgarian, was as tight as a drum on the verge of a first-round victory but mistrusted his own talents and lost 4-6, 6-3, 6-4. It is the story of his career.Many more coaches than Tito Vasquez, Peter Lundgren and Brad Gilbert (he was Bogdanovic’s companion for a brief period after parting with Andy Murray, but uniquely ran out of things to say) have sought and failed to work out why this man of such intrinsic gifts cannot summon the power to use them.

That he has earned $620,000 (about £430,000) in prize money owes much to funding that allowed him to travel extensively and the feather-bedding effect of eight wild cards into Wimbledon, on which the return has been eight first-round defeats.

When Bogdanovic told Leon Smith, the new Davis Cup captain, that he preferred to work on his own game and not be considered for the Europe/Africa Zone group II tie, the LTA’s hackles were raised. The decision to slash Bogdanovic’s funding was made as the domestic game’s governing body said it was resolving to make every effort to keep players in the game longer by making up shortfalls in any money they might earn. How much more of a mixed message could it send?

“The reason Steve Martens [the LTA player director] gave for cutting my funding is that I wasn’t working hard enough through the year, my intensity wasn’t enough and that is just so disrespectful and very untrue,” Bogdanovic said. “He only saw me play twice the whole year and he shouldn’t put my efforts down.

“I’m out there giving it my best shot to break into the top 100 [he is No 166 and has never been higher than No 108] and if it was easy, everyone would be as good as Andy Murray is. I found out they didn’t believe in me any more, so the only thing I can do is go out there and try to improve.”

Murray once felt that Bogdanovic was his natural singles companion in the Davis Cup, but his own presence against Turkey is not certain. The paradox is that Judy, his mother — who was courtside to watch the defending champion’s 7-6, 6-3 victory over Iván Navarro, of Spain, yesterday — is working as part of the team, giving a tactical insight into the opposition, pinpointing patterns of play and strengths and weaknesses that she will package on a DVD for team meetings.

Judy was instrumental in providing such information when her sons, Andy and Jamie, were in their developmental stage and says that tactical analysis is what she loves to do.

It would have been fun had she had a word with Andy yesterday before he played Navarro, who consistently made life uncomfortable for the No 3 seed for long spells.

Indeed, Murray, sporting a colourful support around his right knee, had to fight off two set points in the first set tie-break before securing a third-round place against Mardy Fish, the American, or Santiago Giraldo, from Colombia.

Source:The Times

Prince Khalid Abdullah forms strong squad for Royal Ascot

2010-06-09T12:24:00.000-07:00

Leading owner will have fancied runners in several of next week’s big races, including Manifest, trained by Henry Cecil

Prince Khalid Abdullah has a clear lead in the owners’ table after the Derby success of Workforce and the Saudi patron has bright prospects of advancing those gains at Royal Ascot next week.

Abdullah has fancied runners in four of the seven championship races — notably Manifest and Showcasing, who head advance betting for the Gold Cup and Golden Jubilee Stakes respectively. André Fabre is likely to send Byword over from France to join Twice Over in the Prince Of Wales’s Stakes, while Zacinto adds depth to what promises to be a vintage renewal of the Queen Anne Stakes.

The back-up team is also strong. Principal Role is earmarked for the Ribblesdale Stakes, Redwood holds the Hardwicke Stakes entry while Timepiece, who finished unplaced in the Investec Oaks, is likely to drop back to a mile for the Sandringham Stakes. However, Special Duty, the dual classic winner, is expected to bypass the Coronation Stakes in favour of the Falmouth Stakes at Newmarket next month.

Zacinto faces a daunting assignment in the opening race of the five-day meeting when he confronts Goldikova, Rip Van Winkle and Paco Boy over the straight mile. The four-year-old chased home Rip Van Winkle in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at Ascot in September but has since run disappointingly in the Breeders’ Cup Mile and the Lockinge Stakes won by Paco Boy last month.Nevertheless, connections believe Zacinto deserves his place in Queen Anne field. “He was not quite right after his Breeders’ Cup run and he was in an uncharacteristically bad frame of mind before the Lockinge,” Lord Grimthorpe, racing manager for Abdullah, said yesterday.

“He has since behaved much better at home, and the Queen Anne Stakes would obviously be a good race to win.”

Manifest and Showcasing approach their respective races on the back of encouraging runs last time. “Manifest is relatively untried for his age,” Grimthorpe said of the four-year-old. “As with most horses going for the Gold Cup, we don’t know whether he will stay two-and-a-half miles but the further he goes, the better he looks.”

Showcasing, for his part, finished strongly when conceding weight in the Duke Of York Stakes last month. “He started slightly slowly at York but he rallied well from that,” Grimthorpe said. “We were very pleased with the way he came home.”

Byword is a fascinating candidate for the Prince Of Wales’s Stakes on Wednesday. The winner of four of his seven races, he beat all bar Goldikova in the nine-furlong Prix d’Ispahan last month, when he drew ten lengths clear of the third, German Derby winner Wiener Walzer. “It was a good effort from Byword and the extra furlong at Ascot will suit him,” Grimthorpe said.

Workforce lost just 9lb in winning the Derby but connections feel that the colt must have given his all to shatter the track record. Grimthorpe said: “It was always the plan to go on to the Irish Derby, but we weren’t quite expecting to see what we saw from him at Epsom.

“He must have had a hard race, so Ireland [on June 27] might come too soon. At this stage it is more likely he will go straight to the King George, but all options remain open. We will know a lot more in a week’s time. He didn’t lose that much weight, so on the face of it, he has taken the Derby well.”

Meanwhile, Aviate, much fancied for the Oaks before finishing seventh, is to be given a short break after the daughter of Dansili failed to stay. But Abdullah, who has won three classics this season, has another live hope in Deluxe, who contests the Prix de Diane [French Oaks] on Sunday.

Source:The Times

Justin Rose fails to qualify for US Open

2010-06-09T12:22:00.000-07:00

The world’s leading players will assemble for the US Open at Pebble Beach next week but Justin Rose, bizarrely, will not be among them.

Rose won the Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village, in Dublin, Ohio, on Sunday evening and in so doing moved to No 33 in the world rankings — a position that a few weeks earlier would have guaranteed the Englishman a spot in the second major championship of the season.

The problem for Rose was that when the cut-off point arrived, he was outside the all-important top 50 who gain automatic entry and had to try his hand at a 36-hole qualifying tournament the day after he had lifted one of golf’s most coveted trophies.

His energy spent, Rose was always going to be up against it in a 59-man field that was chasing three places at the event in Springfield, Ohio. He kept his concentration in a first round of 68, but a 72 in the second round left him well off the pace.It was a situation similar to that of Simon Khan, who won the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth three weeks ago. He, too, fell short in a 36-hole qualifier at Walton Heath the next day. There is a strong case to suggest that winners of such prestigious tournaments should be given an exemption into championships such as the US Open.

Mark Webber extends Red Bull contract

2010-06-09T12:20:00.000-07:00

Mark Webber has signed a one-year extension to his contract with Red Bull.

The deal means the 33-year-old Australian, the current championship leader, will remain with the team next season, which will be his fifth since joining them in 2007. His team-mate Sebastian Vettel is also signed for 2011. The two drivers controversially collided when Webber was leading the Turkish Grand Prix last week.

“It was an easy decision to remain with Red Bull Racing,” Webber said. “We began talking very early this year and were in a position to sign by the Barcelona Grand Prix.

“The decision to extend for a further year was a mutual one; it’s widely know that I’m not interested in hanging around in Formula One just for the sake of it and at this stage of my career, I’m happy to take one year at a time.“I continue to feel very comfortable here - I have a fantastic relationship with the whole team and the factory at Milton Keynes feels like home.

“It’s been incredible to be part of the team as it’s moved forward from a mid-field competitor to one that is challenging for the championship. I hope we experience more success together in the future and achieve our ultimate goal of winning the world championship.”

Webber has won the Spanish and Monaco grands prix this year, his first victories in F1, and leads the drivers’ championship standings by five points from defending champion Jenson Button of McLaren.

“The decision to retain Mark was very straightforward,” Red Bull team principal Christian Horner added: “He is an important member of our team and is currently in the best form of his career, as the current leader of the drivers’ championship.

“The team is extremely happy that the driver pairing of Mark and Sebastian will remain unchanged for a third season in 2011.”

Source:The Times

Kenny Dalglish is willing to take charge at Liverpool

2010-06-09T12:19:00.001-07:00

Kenny Dalglish is willing to replace Rafael Benítez as Liverpool manager — but only if the Anfield board considers him to be the best possible replacement for the Spaniard.

Dalglish, who resigned as Liverpool manager in 1991 before returning to the club last year in a new ambassador’s role, had been asked to help Christian Purslow, the managing director, to find a successor to Benítez, who left last Thursday by mutual consent.

Benítez was confirmed last night as the new coach of Inter Milan, where he will succeed José Mourinho.

However, Dalglish has told friends that he would like the job, although he is not willing to compromise the club in any way by making his interest in the position known.

Roy Hodgson is the early front-runner to take over at Anfield, with Liverpool understood to be preparing an approach for the Fulham manager.

But Dalglish, who won three league titles during his six-year spell in charge from 1985, believes he has the credentials and the standing within the club to take on the job for a second time.

Such a move would undoubtedly be popular with supporters, who view Dalglish as a legend, but whether the Liverpool hierarchy believe the 59-year-old is ready to make what would be an emotional return to the dugout, despite not having managed at the top level for almost a decade, is open to question.

Dalglish is unlikely to put pressure on the club he served as player and manager by publicly declaring his interest, but he will inform Purslow and his fellow board members of his belief that he can do the job if called upon. He can do so in the confidence that few, if any, of the contenders to succeed Benítez can boast such an impressive CV and that none of them can match the depth of his association with Liverpool.

Dalglish has always maintained that he would be ready and willing to help Liverpool in any way should the club call upon his services, but the present situation is complicated by the fact that he is not on the shortlist that is being considered and he would have to forgo his role on the selection panel for that to change.

Inter confirmed that Benítez will take over as manager of the European champions. “We have reached an agreement and we have sorted out all the last remaining details,” Massimo Moratti, the president, said. “Tomorrow we will announce when Benítez will be unveiled to the press.”

Source:The Times

Rivals beginning to circle after Chelsea release Joe Cole and Michael Ballack

2010-06-09T12:15:00.000-07:00

Chelsea will confirm today the imminent departures of Joe Cole and Michael Ballack on free transfers after the pair failed to agree new contracts at Stamford Bridge.

The club have been negotiating for several months with the players’ representatives over extensions to contracts that expire this summer, but have been unable to agree terms and the players will leave as free agents on July 1.

Chelsea’s surprise announcement will spark a scramble for their signatures as, despite falling out of favour in West London, both players are very much in demand. Cole recovered from a disappointing domestic season to earn a place in England’s World Cup squad and is in contention to start their opening match of the tournament, against the United States on Saturday, while Ballack would have been in South Africa as Germany captain had he not injured his ankle in Chelsea’s FA Cup Final win over Portsmouth.

Cole has attracted strong levels of interest from Chelsea’s leading rivals in the Premier League, with Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur set to follow up their initial inquiries. Given Cole’s desire to stay in London and the appeal of being reunited with Harry Redknapp, White Hart Lane appears to be his most likely destination because Tottenham, unlike Arsenal and Liverpool, would have little problem matching his wage demands. An offer to work with Sir Alex Ferguson at Old Trafford would, however, be hard to turn down.

Ballack will leave England after four seasons at Chelsea. He, too, will have no shortage of suitors. Werder Bremen have made clear their desire to bring him back to Germany and José Mourinho’s agent, Jorge Mendes, has contacted his representatives to examine the possibility of Ballack joining Real Madrid. Several wealthy clubs in the United Arab Emirates Pro League are also preparing to make him an offer.

Cole’s future at Chelsea looked bleak for most of the season, with contract talks breaking down after Christmas. Cole had been holding out for a £20,000-a-week pay rise to £100,000, but Chelsea refused to budge, to such an extent that the initial offer of £85,000 a week was withdrawn.

Ballack, 33, was seeking a new two-year contract that would enable him to play on at the highest level until the 2012 European Championship, an even more important aspiration after missing the World Cup finals, whereas Chelsea were willing to give him only another year. He offered to take a big pay cut and make the second year contingent upon him playing a large number of games next season, but Chelsea refused to back down.

Source:The Times

Andy Roddick suffers shock defeat in Paris

2010-05-29T09:45:00.000-07:00

Andy Roddick saw the punch-line and its havoc-forming possibilities coming long before the person with the microphone had formed the question himself. On June 12, England will play the United States in the opening game of Group C in the World Cup finals and Roddick, well, he did not want to be lured into saying something he may later regret. Andy Murray has been there and it is not a nice place.
“I’ve got the British crowd on my side right now,” Roddick said, a reference to the reception he was given at the end of last year’s Wimbledon final and its tumultuous concluding set. “I’ve built up a lot of goodwill over the last couple of years and I don’t want to ruin that. I’m going to enjoy my sudden popularity in London and leave it at that.”
The American knows he will never quite form the affinity with the French that has become part-and-parcel of his relationships with those in Britain who admire him both for his sporting prowess and the fact that he has treated all of the deep frustration at losing three Wimbledon finals to Roger Federer with such open-hearted equanimity.
Once more, his excursion to Paris lasted but for a brief few days. At the first changeover yesterday he complained that the backstop tarpaulins were so wet that any ball that landed in them was bound to grow heavier - “I’ve complained about this for the last ten years,” he muttered. At the next, he plucked two polythene-wrapped rackets from his bag and threw them across the dirt suggesting that their string tensions were all wrong.
Thus, when the world No.8 and No.6 seed was defeated in straight sets, the levels of surprise were not that high. That he lost to Teimuraz Gabashvili, a qualifier from Georgia, though, was a little less credible.
Gabashvili had never been beyond the second round of a grand slam tournament before – now he is into the fourth round of the men’s championship, the last of the qualifiers whose 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 victory was the best of his career and maintained his record of not dropping a set in the championships to date.
Roddick could point to the fact that he had not had one match on clay before landing in Paris as reason for his sub-standard performance. After his victory in the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami, he chose to celebrate his first wedding anniversary rather than playing in either Monte Carlo or Rome (Hawaii was not a bad substitute, especially as his wife is one of the world’s most photographed swim-suit models). Roddick did arrive in Madrid, only to fall victim to food poisoning.
It would be unfair to describe him as a fish out of water on clay, for he has only swum in the shallows of this event. For him, the French Open is a means of getting a few miles on the clock, fine tune his game, work himself into form and prepare to strike on the grass where his form and fortunes in the past few summers has been prodigious.
Larry Stefanki, his coach, has described Court Suzanne Lenglen as a sandpit and he is not far wrong. “It’s the slowest one here,” Roddick said. “It’s a fun court as far as the people viewing but the way it plays just doesn’t help me out much. That’s all. That’s fine. It’s just my personal preference is all. I have to deal with it and play through it.”
Gabashvili will meet Jurgen Melzer of Austria in the last 16, not a match that many would have envisioned when the draw was made. Gabashvili was still involved in the qualifying competition then he eschewed the suggestion that it couldn’t get any better than beating a top ten player. “My best match was the second round of qualifying against Thierry Ascione (of France). It was unbelievable, I won 6-2, 6-0, I made 31 winners and only seven errors, so it was a crazy match. Today was very good – but not the best.”
Neither was Novak Djokovic purring but the world No.3, still clearly suffering from the allergies that seem to affect him most severely on the clay, secured a place in the fourth round when he defeated Romania’s Victor Hanescu 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 in two hours and 38 minutes of tennis played in intermittent drizzle.
Source:The Times

Main Aim primed to hit target

2010-05-29T09:43:00.000-07:00

Sir Michael Stoute-trained five-year-old has yet to win since landing this Haydock prize last year but has done little wrong.

Main Aim developed into a top-class performer for Sir Michael Stoute last season and is strongly fancied to stage a repeat success in the Timeform Jury Stakes (3.30) at Haydock Park today.
He failed to win another race after landing this contest in emphatic fashion 12 months ago, but showed improved form nonetheless, notably when chasing home Fleeting Spirit in the group one July Cup at Newmarket.
Main Aim showed that he retains all of his ability when a close third in group two company on his reappearance at York, staying on strongly but just finding six furlongs on that sharp track too much of a test of speed. This return to farther looks sure to suit, while it will not be a problem for this versatile performer if the forecast rain materialises.
Lord Shanakill travelled strongly for a long way before fading into third behind Paco Boy in the Lockinge Stakes at Newbury and has good form claims, but he has run his best races on a fast surface and the main threat may come from Mia’s Boy, who can reverse recent course-and-distance form with Lovelace if the ground eases.
Becqu Adoree, a French import, can make a winning debut in Britain in the EBF Joan Westbrook Pinnacle Stakes (3.00). Successful in four of her eight starts in her native country, she ran a cracker when beaten 2½ lengths into sixth in the group one Prix Vermeille at Longchamp in October. A repeat of that form would make her hard to beat.
Inxile can bounce back to his best to land the sports360.co.uk Achilles Stakes (2.00). He showed good speed to beat Prime Defender at Doncaster in March before disappointing when sixth behind the same rival at York. This drop back to the minimum trip should suit and he will be hard to pass if allowed to dominate early on.
David Nicholls, his trainer, will have high hopes of a quick double through Mister Manannan in the J W Lees Sandy Lane Stakes (2.30). However, his best form has come over five furlongs and at this longer trip Layla’s Hero, a former stablemate, can come out on top. The latter won five times for Nicholls last season and appeared not to handle the all-weather surface when below par on his reappearance. Subsequently switched to David Simcock, the up-and-coming Newmarket trainer, Layla’s Hero can get off the mark for the year.
The best bet of the day is Raincoat in the Sports 360 Sports Advertising Specialists Handicap (4.45). He has shaped better than the result suggests on both starts this season, staying on strongly to take fifth in listed company at Nottingham on his reappearance and then never able to land a blow having been held up last in the Chester Cup. He made good progress in the latter race before finding his path blocked on the home turn and was far from disgraced in a race where those up with the early pace dominated throughout. Classy in his younger days, he retains enough ability to take advantage of a slipping handicap mark.
At Newmarket, the in-form Jack My Boy can take the coral.co.uk Sprint (3.20). He has been much sharper since fitted with blinkers on his past two starts and beat Bagamoyo with something in reserve in a similar race over course and distance last time. He rates a fair bet at 12-1 with William Hill.
Source:The Times

Colin Montgomerie pins faith in Sergio García to get back on course for Ryder Cup

2010-05-29T09:41:00.000-07:00

Colin Montgomerie has moved to assure Sergio García that despite his poor form, he expects the Spaniard to be a part of his Ryder Cup team when Europe take on the United States at Celtic Manor, Newport, in October.
A dispirited García, who has fallen from No 2 in the world 18 months ago to No 32, said last week that he was playing so poorly that if he were the captain, he would not pick himself.
Montgomerie, speaking yesterday at Gleneagles — which will host the Johnnie Walker Championship in August, the final event in which players can qualify automatically for the 12-man team — said he was surprised to hear García’s words, but was unconcerned for a such a top player.
“Any team without Sergio is a weaker one and, conversely, any team with him in it is a stronger one,” Montgomerie said of a player who has often been a thorn in the side of the Americans and who, by common consent, has brought the locker room alive.
Under Nick Faldo’s captaincy at Valhalla, Kentucky, in 2008, García was a shadow of his former self. He claimed to have been unwell in the immediate build-up, but might have responded to better captaincy. Most surprising was the way in which he was taken apart in the opening singles match by Anthony Kim, who outswaggered Europe’s own king of swagger.
Montgomerie used to raise his own game to exalted levels in the Ryder Cup. But it was clever captaincy from such as Sam Torrance, Bernhard Langer and Ian Woosnam that drew the best out of him. Each told him they were relying on him to lead the team to victory and he revelled in the role. He seems ready to use the same technique to bring on García.
“I feel that Sergio’s form will turn around,” he said. “There are three major championships to go before selection and I am not concerned about his lack of form at this stage — although I am glad that he is.
“You can see his passion for the event. I have not spoken to him yet, but I shall be going over to the US Open [at Pebble Beach, California, in three weeks’ time] and I shall see him then.”
Montgomerie will have three captain’s picks and will announce them after the Johnnie Walker Championship. He said he hoped that all players who were in with a chance of qualifying automatically for the team would play in the event. “I expect potential team members to be here,” he said. “It would not be a black mark against them, but it is in their interest to come. There is always the risk that players at six, seven or eight in the standings could get knocked out.”
Asked if he would leave his three selections until the last moment, Montgomerie gave the impression that he would know whom he would be choosing, but added that he would leave a couple of picks until the end of the final round at Gleneagles.
“It’s not right to pick anyone until qualifying is finished,” he said. An oblique reference, perhaps, to the fact that Faldo chose Ian Poulter in 2008 even though the Englishman decided not to play at Gleneagles for the final event in which he could have qualified automatically. Many asked whether Poulter had been given the nod by Faldo and felt, therefore, that he did not need to travel to Scotland from his home in Florida. In the event, he was Europe’s most successful player and fully justified his selection.
On the American side, some are wondering whether Tiger Woods will play. His form is so scratchy that he could, like García, conceivably require a captain’s pick. Montgomerie, for one, wants him to play. “I do hope that he is in the team for the sake of the Ryder Cup,” he said. “Any win — be it a tournament or the Ryder Cup — is bigger and better when he has been playing.”
And what of Montgomerie when it is all over? “I shall return to the back benches and try to get into shape for the 2012 Ryder Cup,” he said in all seriousness. “No one has ever played in the Ryder Cup after captaining the side. I would like to do it. It’s just a matter of focusing on my game.”
Source:The times

Lewis Hamilton acclaims McLaren progress

2010-05-29T09:40:00.000-07:00

Two cars in the front four on the Istanbul grid represents a serious improvement for the British motor-racing team
It was more in hope than expectation that McLaren claimed to be getting closer to Red Bull this weekend, but two cars in the top four - including Lewis Hamilton on the front row - represented a serious step forward.
While Mark Webber achieved the seventh successive pole position for Red Bull this season, Hamilton made the front row for the first time, recording a time of 1:26.433, 0.327sec ahead of Sebastian Vettel in the other Red Bull.
“I was very, very happy with that lap I couldn’t have asked for anything more,” Hamilton said. “These guys (Red Bull) have been untouchable in terms of pure pace, but this puts us in a strong position.”
McLaren’s improvements included a new rear wing, which had been brought forward after being expected to be ready for the Candian Grand Prix in a fortnight.
Jenson Button took fourth position, his final flying lap scuppered when he was forced to slow after Michael Schumacher crashed. But he fears the set-up of the car may cause problems on the bumpy track with a full load of fuel.
“Being the last car is sometimes a good thing but Michael went off in front me, I saw the yellow flag and decided to come in,” said Button, who is in fourth place in the driver standings. We are a lot closer to Red Bull than I expected. I was hitting the ground a lot through turn eight and I think we’ve run the car too low. With a lot of fuel on board for tomorrow, it will be tough on turn eight.”

Paul Robinson breaks deadlock for Millwall

2010-05-29T09:36:00.000-07:00

No-one, allegedly, likes them, but tonight they won’t care. For at long last Millwall have won through the play-offs. Five previous attempts to progress through the end-of-season lottery have ended in failure, but a goal after 38 minutes from Paul Robinson, the captain and central defender, finally ended the sequence.
A year after Kenny Jacketts team lost the League One play-off final to Scunthorpe United on a sweltering afternoon, they went one better in cool, rainy conditions today and are back in the Championship after four seasons in League One.
Robinson, who came up through the club’s youth ranks, had said that to lead the team out after failing to start last season’s play-off final through injury would be a dream come true, but scoring the winner and being voted man of the match would have seemed even more far-fetched.
Swindon, at Wembley for the first time since beating Leicester City 4-3 to reach the Premier League in 1993 and bidding for a return to the second tier after a decade, never really got going and could have been more than a goal down at half-time. But stubborn resistance kept them in the match and Charlie Austin, the former Poole Town forward who scored 20 League goals after making his full debut in November, had an excellent chance to draw the sides level in the second half. However, he shot wide with only the goalkeeper to beat.
Around 40,000 Millwall supporters made the short journey from Bermondsey and New Cross hoping to see their team win at Wembley for the first time. Swindon’s decision to wear all white in order to counter the effects of the Wembley heat - pitchside temperatures reached 41C in the Blackpool v Cardiff City match a week ago - were mocked by cool, drizzly conditions.
They struggled to impose their passing game as Millwall threatened first. Steve Morison did well to stay just onside as Danny Schofield played the ball through and then floated a clever chip just over the crossbar - proving that he is not just a battering-ram centre forward.
And Swindon were breathing another sigh of relief when Kevin Amankwaah headed powerfully into his own net but were relieved to see a flag raised because Liam Trotter had strayed offside when the ball was played in from the right.
Amankwaah, jeered by the Millwall fans for criticizing local hero Neil Harris earlier in the season, could not have done more to win them over than score an own goal - it was not his fault it was disallowed.
But Millwall did not have to wait long for a legitimate goal to cheer. It came in the 38th minute as Schofield’s corner kick from the left soared over attackers and defenders and dropped to Robinson, who chested the ball down and poked it in. It was the simplest of goals and the sort to drive the managers of defending teams to distraction.
While Neil Harris and Morison had been in the thick of the action, very little had been seen of Austin and Billy Paynter, the usually prolific Swindon forward pairing.
Danny Wilson, the Swindon manager, needed to give the sort of inspirational team talk that he had delivered at The Valley when his team trailed 2-0 in the semi-final second leg. On that occasion they went down to ten men before forcing extra time, so he and they knew that they had come back before.
But Millwall continued to press. Scott Cuthbert made a last ditch clearance as Shaun Batt looked to force his way through, and David Lucas saved with his feet as Schofield was played in by Harris. Then Harris’s shot rebounded off Lucas’s chest as Batt ran across the goalkeeper’s line of sight.
Morison also missed chances to add to his 21 goals since coming out of non-League football at Stevenage Borough. He had scored and won at Wembley twice before with his previous club, but was less than sharp today.
You felt that Millwall might regret not making certain of victory and that Swindon must get a chance and it came on 72 minutes as Robinson committed his only error of the match. Attempting to head a low-bouncing ball away, he only nodded it straight to Austin.
The Swindon forward raced away with only David Forde to beat and Robinson surely wondering whether to attempt to atone for his error with a foul and inevitable red card. It looked a stonewall chance for the former bricklayer, but to the relief of Robinson and the 40,000 Millwall fans, he curled his shot a yard wide.
Danny Wilson held his head in his hands, and did so again when Austin’s deflected shot in injury time was fingertipped to safety by Forde. The whistle blew seconds later, and the years of hurt were over for Millwall.
Millwall (4-3-3): D Forde S Barron, P Robinson, D Ward, T Craig (sub: A Frampton 44min) S Batt (sub: C Hackett 70), L Trotter, N Abdou, D Schofield N Harris, S Morison. Substitutes not used: J Sullivan, G Alexander, A Fuseini, M Laird, J Obika.
Swindon Town (4-4-2): D Lucas K Amankwaah, S Cuthbert, L Jean-Francois, A Sheehan (sub: S Darby 67mins) J-P McGovern (sub: A OBrien 73), J Dougles, S Ferry, D Ward C Austin, W Paynter (sub: V Pericard 81). Substitutes not used: P Smith, C Easton, M Timlin, S Morrison. Booked: Jean-Francois.
Referee: C Webster.

Tiger Woods cut adrift as swing coach Hank Haney quits

2010-05-15T01:29:00.000-07:00

With open speculation that he was about to be sacked as Tiger Woods’s swing coach, Hank Haney got his retaliation in first by resigning from the role. The question now being asked is: who will replace him?
After Woods had hung his coach of six years out to dry last week at The Players Championship at Sawgrass, Florida, it came as little surprise that the two had finally split. But few expected Haney to be the one to end the relationship — announcing it, as is often the way these days, on his website.
“Tiger Woods and I will always be friends, but I believe that there is a time and place for everything, and I feel at this time in my life I want to move forward in other areas,” Haney, 54, said.
“As we all know, Tiger has been through a lot in the last six months and I really believe that given the chance, mind-free and injury-free, we will all see [him] play once again like we all know he can.”
With Woods struggling to find any semblance of a working swing since returning after five months in exile, Haney’s role was openly questioned. He was nowhere to be seen at Sawgrass and Woods made no attempt to quell the inevitable speculation surrounding his absence. A curt “I’m still working with him” was all he would say.
It must also have hurt Haney that before Woods pulled out with a neck injury in his final round, his swing was taken apart frame by frame by television analysts.
Not only that, but Haney became the butt of a locker-room joke. On the back of his association with Woods, he has been working on the swing of Ray Romano, the comedian, for a television series. At The Players, it was being suggested that if Woods stayed with him much longer, then he would end up with a swing like Romano’s.
Haney, who had worked with Woods since 2004, had much to prove in the early days when the world No 1 attempted to change his swing away from the one honed by Butch Harmon — who had worked with him for nine years until 2002 and had been his coach when, after the Masters in 2001, he held all four majors.
Inevitably comparisons were made between Harmon and Haney, and at first it looked as if Woods had made a mistake in switching coaches. But from 2005, he turned his game around and Haney can make note that his star pupil won six major championships in the time they were together.
Some have suggested that Woods would do well to go back to Harmon, but it is hard to imagine that the world No 1 would surrender that particular moral high ground after initiating the split.
More significantly, Harmon now works closely with Phil Mickelson, the world No 2, who would not countenance such an arrangement.
It could leave the way clear for Sean Foley, a coach with a growing reputation, who works with, among others, Hunter Mahan, Sean O’Hair and Justin Rose. You could argue that such a role would be a poisoned chalice. But with Woods’s game at its lowest point, there is only one way that it can go. And who would turn down such an opportunity to take the credit?

Beware the backmarkers in battle for pole position

2010-05-15T01:27:00.000-07:00

Six cars in a race of their own. A very slow race. A shiver has run through the motorhomes of the top teams here before qualifying today for the Monaco Grand Prix, because they are facing the same hurdles on the way to fighting for pole position.
Or six hurdles, if you count the twin cars from Lotus, Virgin Racing and HRT. Formula One’s new teams have discovered how hard life is at the sharp end of the world’s fastest form of motor racing and the twists and turns of Monte Carlo emphasise the problems.
For the leading teams in the sport, though, it will be a desperate race in the first qualifying session to avoid arriving on the exhaust pipes of one of the new boys.
Overtaking is tough at the best of times around here and none of that gaggle of drivers fighting for the World Championship can afford to be ejected early from qualifying because he got stuck behind a backmarker.
The new teams are doing their level best and Lotus, certainly, and Virgin, to some extent, are gradually attaching themselves to the midfield pack.
Poor, cash-strapped and seemingly hopeless HRT, though, are in for an almighty struggle. They have two Monaco Grand Prix virgins in the shape of Bruno Senna and Karun Chandhok, who will spend as much time looking in their rearview mirrors as they do straight ahead.
To illustrate how far off the pace they are, Senna set a time of 1.22.148sec in the second practice session here, 7.22sec off the fastest time, by Fernando Alonso for Ferrari. But Senna’s time was also slower than the practice times set by the top eight cars in the junior GP2 series that supports Formula One. Maybe the Brazilian with the illustrious name was in the wrong series.
Even at that speed, Senna will have his own qualifying battle ahead today. The top drivers just have to hope that it does not impinge on theirs.
Source:The Times

Mike Hussey’s big blows ensure improbable Australia win

2010-05-15T01:23:00.000-07:00

Beausejour Stadium (Australia won toss): Australia beat Pakistan by three wickets

Michael Hussey engineered a near-impossible fightback to carry Australia into the final of the World Twenty20 tomorrow.
England will need to end the only unbeaten record of the tournament to secure the title.
Australia needed 125 from ten overs and 18 from the last six balls from Saeed Ajmal, but the requirement came down quickly as Hussey swung successive sixes over square leg and long-on to finish 60 not out from 24 balls.
Monitoring the game in Barbados after a morning flight, Paul Collingwood, the England one-day captain, and his colleagues must have thought that Pakistan would form the opposition. England beat Shahid Afridi’s side in Bridgetown nine days ago, but must now take on Shaun Tait and Dirk Nannes on the fastest pitch in the tournament.
“That is one of the best wins I have been involved in across any form of the game,” Michael Clarke, the Australia captain, said. “Mike Hussey is an absolute freak. You look forward to any opportunity to beat England, but they have some match-winners as well, so it will be a great final.”
Play in the Beausejour Stadium began 30 minutes late because of rain and Australia gradually lost control in the field. The Akmal brothers, Kamran and Umar, hit fifties and the addition of 69 runs from the last 26 balls took the total to 191, which Clarke thought was about 20 runs too many. The hitting looked sensational until it was trumped by Hussey.
Clarke’s concern proved justified when David Warner cut the second ball of the reply to backward point and Shane Watson forced to long-on. Cameron White injected stability to the innings and, with 43 needed at one point from 15 balls and heads in hands in the Australia dugout, Hussey timed the recovery perfectly.Pakistan †Kamran Akmal c Warner b Johnson 50 (34 balls) Salman Butt c Warner b Smith 32 (30) Umar Akmal not out 57 (35) *Shahid Afridi c Haddin b Hussey 8 (9) Khalid Latif c Warner b Nannes13 (6) Abdul Razzaq run out11 (7) Misbah-ul-Haq run out 0 (0)Extras (b 10, lb 1, w 9) 20Total (6 wkts, 20 overs) 192Mohammad Hafeez, Abdur Rehman, Mohammad Aamer and Saeed Ajmal did not bat.Fall of wickets: 1-82, 2-89, 3-114, 4-145, 5-190, 6-192.Bowling: Nannes 4-1-32-1; Tait 4-0-25-0; Johnson 4-0-37-1; Watson 2-0-26-0; Smith 2-0-23-1; Hussey 3-0-24-1; Clarke 1-0-13-0.
AustraliaD A Warner c U Akmal b Aamer 0 (2) S R Watson c Rehman b Aamer 16 (9) †B J Haddin st K Akmal b Rehman 25 (20) *M J Clarke st K Akmal b Afridi17 (19) D J Hussey c and b Rehman13 (9) C L White c Hafeez b Aamer 43 (31) M E K Hussey not out 60 (24) S P D Smith st K Akmal b Ajmal5 (4) M G Johnson not out5 (3)Extras (lb 7, w 5, nb 1)13Total (7 wkts, 19.5 overs) 197S W Tait and D P Nannes did not bat.Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-26, 3-58, 4-62, 5-105, 6-139, 7-144.Bowling: Aamer 4-0-35-3; Razzaq 2-0-22-0; Rehman 4-0-33-2; Ajmal 3.5-0-46-1; Afridi 4-0-34-1; Hafeez 2-0-20-0.
Umpires: B R Doctrove and I J Gould (England).

Pride that came after the fall at Portsmouth

2010-05-15T01:21:00.000-07:00

Portsmouth take on Chelsea in the FA Cup Final today hoping to end a traumatic campaign on a high note. Four owners, two managers, a winding-up petition, forced player sales, administration, a nine-point deduction and relegation — few teams have been through so much. This is their story of the season.
July 2009. Sulaiman al-Fahim undertakes due diligence on a possible buyout of Alexandre Gaydamak as players still under contract report back from their summer break.
Paul Hart, manager: We returned for pre-season training on July 9. I had 14 players and four of them were goalkeepers. I had to lie to the media, tell them we had a squad of 20, because the truth was just too shocking.
David James, England goalkeeper: The August transfer window was sad because as a group of players it was like: “Who’s going to be here tomorrow morning?” Niko [Kranjcar] said he was going up to talk to Spurs, but he didn’t think he was going to sign. Then he texted me to say: “I’ve signed.” I didn’t see that one coming and it was that transfer that encapsulated the state of the club.
August 26. Al-Fahim finally completes his takeover just before the transfer window closes and Hart is given the green light to sign eight players in five days, mostly on loans or free transfers, including Michael Brown and Jamie O’Hara
Brown: Paul Hart rang me up and said: “We’ve got a battle on our hands and it’s not going to be pretty, but I think we’ve got a chance.” I like a challenge and I thought I’d give it a go. But none of the lads coming in thought it could possibly be as bad as it eventually became.
September 24. The wages are late, paid eventually thanks to a loan from Ali al-Faraj, who becomes the third owner of the season.
Brown: We were told that it would be just the one month. But then it was another one, and another one, and another one, and different things happening in the club all the time, until the bubble burst.
November 24. Hart is sacked, replaced by Avram Grant, who is promised money to buy in January. Instead, he is forced to sell two players.
Brown: It was so disappointing to see more go when we were supposed to be signing four. So we were six down from where we thought we’d be. I still think we could have done better and we had enough to avoid relegation. Then someone might have taken us over and we might have avoided administration. But some bad results and the writing was on the wall, and these “investors” just disappeared.
February 4. Al-Faraj defaults on loan payments to Balram Chainrai, who becomes the fourth owner of the season.
Brown: It was always “the next takeover”. Even as we were signing, there was another potential sheikh taking over the club. Generally when a takeover happens, a club starts to head in a healthier direction, but eventually that takeover didn’t seem to be happening, so there was another takeover and we all thought the worries would be over. But it seemed to go from bad to worse by the week and obviously it got much worse.
February 10. Portsmouth narrowly avoid a winding-up in the High Court after Revenue & Customs presents a petition over a tax bill of more than £11 million.
Linvoy Primus, retired defender and mentor to young players: It wasn’t until it got to court that we thought: “Wow, there is a possibility this could really happen.” I think that was when it really hit home how serious it all was. We weren’t hearing anything from the club. No one seemed to know the final outcome of anything. We heard about Mr al-Faraj, but that was as far as it went. We never met him.
February 26. Portsmouth become the first Premier League club to enter administration. A nine-point penalty makes relegation almost inevitable and 85 employees are made redundant. The players fund the wages of seven members of training-ground staff.
Brown: You could see as the weeks were ticking by that the writing was on the wall. They were saying for so long: “It has never happened before and it never will.” But you were thinking: “They’ve got no chance.” Footballers are generally lucky, we do very well. It brings you back to earth when you see other people in the club losing their jobs and it’s a big, big thing — they can’t make payments for their houses. It didn’t make us feel too good when friends and work colleagues were being laid off. Even people who were still here were taking wage deferrals.
O’Hara: When people started losing their jobs, a lot of the lads tried to stand up and say something, because there were people that we still needed around the place, but we couldn’t help everyone. I was still getting paid by Spurs, but only the basic salary. After that, there were bonuses that I haven’t received and I think most of the team has got money owed to them, but that’s something that is just going to have to be sorted out in future.
Brown: Our aim was to get enough points to prove that we would have succeeded in getting out of the bottom three but for the points deduction. Amazingly, after what’s gone on, we’ve come up only six points short ... and I still think we should have got them.
April 11. FA Cup semi-final: Portsmouth 2 Tottenham Hotspur 0
Brown: Tottenham was a big performance for us. That was how we needed to play in a lot of the games that we lost. I think someone quoted us at 11-1, so it just shows you what the achievement was. A lot of people were saying that it was a better day than winning the Cup in 2008.
April 21. The administrator’s report reveals that Portsmouth owe more than £4.3 million to charities and other creditors, including Primus’s Faith In Football.
Primus: Compared to the amounts out there that they owe, it was small, but for their own reputation we believed that we would get it and it was just a question of when. And it’s not as if they could hide from me, because I’m here every day.
Steve Finnan, defender: It wasn’t a shock when the administrator’s report came out, because we’d heard about similar things before that. The internet bill hadn’t been paid earlier in the season and they cut the office internet off. There was no money for anyone really, which is a shame because local businesses needed it.
Brown: They actually missed quite a few things off there, to be honest, I know that for a fact. But it was such a lot of debt and I can’t see how they can sort it out. Something went wrong and a club with the revenue this one was producing couldn’t pull it back. You see these people who have worked very hard for Portsmouth who are not going to get paid and it’s very difficult.
May 15. Chelsea v Portsmouth, FA Cup Final.
Brown: The Cup run has saved our season, because three months of the situation we were in would have been a disaster. But we have achieved something. It will be a special season even though we are relegated. It has even been funny at times, but when people lose their livelihoods, it becomes serious.
Hayden Mullins, defender: I was at Crystal Palace when they were in and out of administration but this has been unbelievable, with one thing after another, and I’ve never seen anything like it in football. You think it couldn’t get any worse: nine points, then administration, no money, then the debt is getting bigger every week. You have to have a sense of humour to get through it, you have to look at it and laugh, because it’s such a bad situation that the club finds itself in. Hopefully this is the end of it and we can build next year.

Relaxed Andy Murray still believes he can look forward to a summer of success

2010-05-06T07:04:00.000-07:00

There is still the best part of five weeks of the clay-court season to endure, but behind Andy Murray yesterday the temporary stands at Queen’s Club were being constructed to welcome its most powerful collection of tennis stars yet. The AEGON Championship trophy he defends next month was placed in front of him, a portent of polished times ahead, he believes.

Tomorrow, having planted his cross on a voting slip in a General Election for the first time — “The political debates have had me pretty much hooked,” he said — Murray heads off to the first of four tournaments where success for the British No 1 would help tennis to win a share of newsprint and air time during the nation’s fixation with the football World Cup.

The Mutua Madrileña Masters opens in Madrid next week, there are a few days’ rest before the French Open, back to Queen’s Club for his first grass-court defence, enduring the intensity of Wimbledon preliminaries that can exhaust a British prospect, and then it is time for the Championships themselves. It is a punishing schedule, particularly if he decides to play in the Davis Cup for Great Britain against Turkey the next weekend.

Honed and toned, Murray looked and acted yesterday as if he had not a care in the world. Those who follow him may be fretting at his lack of tournament endurance since reaching the Australian Open final in January, but his words had the effect of balm.“I’m not worried at all,” he said. “I’d rather have played more recently, but there were eight weeks between the tour finals last year and the Australian Open and I reached the final. I took five weeks off after Wimbledon last year and won Montreal. The year before that I took five weeks after the US Open and won Madrid and St Petersburg. It’s all about practising and training properly, and being in the best shape, because that’s what gives me confidence, by hitting thousands of balls. I am a good player, I know that.

“Since I was young I’ve known how to win and the right way for me to play, which has worked against the top players. I have a winning record against Federer, although the grand slams haven’t gone my way, I’ve won the last three times against Djokovic and against Nadal. I didn’t start very well [against Nadal] when I was younger, but since going 5-0 down, in the last five matches it’s been 3-2 to me.

“I will stick to the way I play because that’s the way I enjoy tennis. I recall being told by a coach at around 13 that, though people were saying I needed to be more aggressive, I should keep doing what I was doing but get stronger because then I would hit the ball harder. I need to improve my service speed and get bigger and therefore my ground strokes will be heavier with the same amount of effort I put in.”

The subject turned to football, and the World Cup and England. Murray, mindful of being trapped the last time he was asked about their prospects, answered in a manner that suggested the Scot may have a future in politics. “When England play in the World Cup and concede a goal, I’m not jumping up in front of the TV because I’m happy they are losing,” he said. “If one of my English friends is watching and England score, he’ll be on his feet yelling and screaming and, though I’m happy, it’s not the same sort of passion.

“If England lost, my friends will be deflated and disappointed and I will be, too. But I’m not cheering whoever England’s opponents are. That’s absolute ****.” Subject closed.

England lose opener to lone six after two ties

2010-05-06T07:03:00.000-07:00

England began their defence of the women’s World Twenty20 with a rollercoaster thriller against Australia in St Kitts that ended in defeat on a boundary countback, after the match and the “super over” finished as a tie.

Chasing 104, Australia needed eight off the last over with a wicket in hand and looked on track when a no-ball from Charlotte Edwards was hit for four. But, with the scores level and three balls remaining, Rene Farrell was run out by Beth Morgan.

The super over finished with the teams both scoring six for two, but Jess Cameron’s six, hit off Holly Colvin, the England left-arm spinner, in the original run chase won the day for Australia as it was the only shot to clear the ropes in the contest.

England’s next two matches, against West Indies and South Africa, look easier on paper, but they must beware Deandra Dottin, the 18-year-old middle-order batsman, who made the fastest-ever Twenty20 century as West Indies beat South Africa by 17 runs. Dottin, who is a cousin of Ottis Gibson, the head coach of the West Indies men’s team, hit nine sixes in her 112 and reached her hundred in only 38 balls to help her side to 175 for five.

In the men’s World Twenty20, Australia suffered a scare in Barbados when batting against Bangladesh, but rallied to claim their place in the Super Eights. Mike Hussey rescued Australia from 65 for six, making 47 in 29 balls and steering his side to 141 for seven.

Bangladesh had to reach the target in 14.4 overs to knock Australia out on net run-rate, but lost four wickets in the first four overs and were dismissed for 114. Dirk Nannes took four for 18, with Hussey claiming three catches.

In the day’s other match, South Africa confirmed their place in the Super Eights with a comfortable 59-run victory over Afghanistan. The qualifiers did well to contain the South Africa batsman to a total of 139, but struggled against the pace of their bowlers and were 14 for six before being dismissed for 80 after 16 overs.

Second chance drives Ian Poulter to fight for the ‘fifth major’

2010-05-06T07:01:00.000-07:00

Ian Poulter had a good chance of winning The Players Championship at Sawgrass last year, but ran into Henrik Stenson playing the best golf of his life.

Poulter eventually finished as a runner-up behind his Swedish Ryder Cup team-mate, but he is determined to go one better this year at a tournament regarded by the American players at least as the “fifth major”.

The Englishman has now established himself in the world’s top ten after his victory at the WGC Accenture Match Play Championship and does not look out of place in such exalted company. When he says he is here to win, people have to sit up and listen. In the past, some would have scoffed.

After it was suggested yesterday that the world No 6 would have accepted a top-ten finish at The Players Championship ten years ago, Poulter was quick to dismiss such a notion. “I wouldn’t have taken that,” he said. “I’m here to win, it’s as simple as that.“If you asked me that question every single week of the year, I’m going to give you the same answer. Yes I finished runner-up last year, but I want to win golf tournaments. I feel my game is good enough to win them.”

Poulter, who has recovered from a knee injury he suffered while playing basketball at home, goes into the first round today in the company of Tiger Woods and Hunter Mahan. The circus surrounding Woods can be a distraction but he is taking it in his stride. “To be honest, I don’t pay too much attention to my playing partners,” he said. “I try not to get engrossed in how they are swinging or how they are hitting the ball. Whether they are two over par, five under, seven under, I’m just out there to do my job.”

Poulter admitted he was surprised at how poorly Woods had played at Quail Hollow last week — when the world No 1 missed only his sixth halfway cut in 14 years as a professional — but suggested he would still be a threat.

“I think everybody was a little shocked last week,” he said. “But you can never write off the world No 1 at any stage. You need two shots, or an hour on the range, to find a swing thought which will get you through the week and all of a sudden you are out there winning tournaments. Whether it’s Tiger Woods or Phil Mickelson, those world No 1 and No 2 guys can turn it on quicker than anybody.”

Poulter also confirmed that he would not be playing at the Wales Open at Celtic Manor — venue of the Ryder Cup this year — next month because of his commitment to the PGA Tour in the United States. “I’d like to be there, but it doesn’t fit into my schedule,” he said. “I need to play a minimum of 15 events to keep my card here.”

About 50 players, agents and caddies helped Rory McIlroy celebrate his 21st birthday (and his first win on US soil) at a surprise party on Tuesday evening. Among them were Lee Westwood, Padraig Harrington, Sergio García, Martin Kaymer and Álvaro Quirós. Now that’s friends in high places!

The Sunday Times Sport Rich List: Racing drivers have formula to build fortunes

2010-05-06T06:59:00.000-07:00

Footballers dominate the first Sport Rich List but the big money is made behind the wheel of an F1 car

You might expect the the richest sports people in the country to be footballers followed by golfers. Wrong.

The first definitive list of the wealthiest sporting stars in Britain and Ireland, published in the Sunday Times today, shows that motor racing dominates the top 15 places. If you want to get seriously rich in sport, get driving, preferably fast cars not little white balls.

True, top of the first Sunday Times Sport Rich List are two men who kick, or used to kick, a leather ball about the park. Dave Whelan has come a long way since he broke his leg while playing for Blackburn Rovers in the 1960 FA Cup final. Though Rovers lost 3-0 and the injury put Whelan’s career into decline, he used the £400 compensation he received to start a discount store. He went on to make a £190m fortune from the JJB chain of sports shops.

In second place is a footballer who manages to combine business with playing in a way no other British star can rival: David Beckham. His many sponsorships outstrip his earnings as a player to take his fortune to £125m.

Follow England in the World Twenty20

2010-05-06T06:56:00.000-07:00

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You can also test your powers of analysis against other readers in our predictor game and post your thoughts in our forum.The service is available on mobile phones, too. To receive the live scores and commentary, go to http://m.pulselive.com on your phone's browser or text the word CRICKET to 87700 for a link to our cricket page, then follow the link to the live commentary. Otherwise, click here to launch the Hawk-Eye scoreboard on your computer now.

Source:The Times

Shaken Roger Federer vows to bounce back from shock defeat by Ernests Gulbis

2010-04-28T10:31:00.000-07:00

No sooner had he helped to cut the ribbon for the official opening of the towering new Centre Court at the Foro Italico yesterday than Roger Federer became its first conspicuous victim.
For the first time in seven visits here since he assumed the world No 1 ranking, Federer was hurried from the scene at the BNL d’Italia Masters as Latvia’s Ernests Gulbis reannounced himself as a class act.
Only last month, British tennis was lamenting the progress of Lithuania as a force as the Balkan nation won a Davis Cup tie between the countries, a result that cost the captain, John Lloyd, his job, prompted a review of priorities at home and was cited as one of the reasons why Andy Murray’s game suddenly went Awol. The signs last night were that Murray’s recovery process has begun with a vengeance, an emphatic 6-2, 6-4 first-round victory over Andreas Seppi, of Italy, halting a run of three consecutive defeats.
Murray served with particular aplomb to secure his place in the third round; Gulbis produced a succession of bullet-like deliveries that peppered Federer’s defences. The 21-year-old — ranked outside the top 100 last September — has recovered his teenage poise, surged to No 40 and his 2-6, 6-1, 7-5 victory as thunder rumbled, will cause the Swiss to stop and think about what he must do on clay to add to his 16-strong grand slam title collection when he starts the defence of his French Open crown in 3½ weeks.
If anyone can do it, Federer can. He is the master of compartmentalising defeats, steadying the ship and turning on the grace and style when it really matters, in best-of-five-set occasions. It was clear from watching him practise that the Swiss was loose and apparently unconcerned that he was shanking so many routine shots. Although he sped through the first set, the minute Gulbis sharpened his range-finder, he took great delight in imposing his game on the world’s best.
Gulbis needed seven match points to secure victory, six being squandered in the tenth game with a mixture of outrageously brave serving and monstrous mis-hits. “I was shaking, it was a terrible feeling,” Gulbis said.
But Federer’s serve had been hit and miss throughout the final set and he conceded the advantage Gulbis had given him right back to his opponent. The Latvian then served out to love.
“You cannot be 100 per cent all the time,” Federer said. “Sometimes it takes a loss like this to wake up and shake your mind. It can be that things are too simple, and days like this make you realise how difficult it is to dominate the tour. I didn’t feel safe at any time today, my game wasn’t up to its normal standard. Of course Roland Garros is in the back of my mind but I have two tournaments to get the wins I need. And I’m still in the doubles.”
Once you heard the first “C’mon” from Murray in the opening game against Seppi, there was a sense that his focus, so woolly in Monte Carlo the week before last, had returned. The movement was good, the serve clinical, the double-handed backhand had verve, his whole demeanour was enhanced. A good evening’s work.

Racecourses glimpse the benefit of free enterprise

2010-04-28T10:28:00.000-07:00

Alan Lee says that free entry at nine racecourses, this week, challenges the entrenched belief that racing is an extortionate day out

The best ideas can be both simple and daring. Twenty-overs cricket restored innocence and spontaneity to a game suffering from lazy preconceptions that it could last forever and still end in stalemate. Free entry at nine racecourses, this week, challenges the entrenched belief that racing is an extortionate day out.
On early indications, free racing is working in just the way Twenty20 has done - by attracting a previously reluctant audience. This will not only shame those who scorned the initiative as worthless sham, it could also bring an overdue rethink on pricing policies, both in racing and other sports.
Sedgefield shut its gates last night, the little Co Durham track full to its 5,000 capacity for a meeting that drew 600 paying spectators in 2009. Mighty Ascot still has ample space today but is expecting 12,000, a 300 per cent increase on last year. Goodwood, Saturday's free fixture, is already a sell-out.
These are uplifting figures for the Racing For Change (RFC) group, which negotiated the barriers of timid pragmatism in securing enough willing courses to comprise a week of free meetings. Yet the overwhelming response asks more questions than it answers.
Jill Williamson, general manager at Sedgefield, confirms that the bumper crowd yesterday was “nearly all people new to racing - and we're turning plenty more away”. The theme is similar elsewhere. Surely, the something-for-nothing tendency cannot account for so many thousands?
The vast majority must have some interest in racing, even if it has been dormant for a generation or amounts to nothing more than idle curiosity. So the challenge is how to win them back again.
On Monday, I went to Towcester, where free entry was nothing new. The course pioneered the idea six years ago, when the place was a building site and it hardly seemed fair to charge. It was such a success that it continued when the new stand was complete.
Only its two biggest days - Boxing Day and Easter Sunday - now command an entry fee. This quiet Monday card drew 3,400 - 28 per cent up through the RFC marketing. True, Towcester is not like other courses. Independent in every sense, it has neither clogging committees nor demanding shareholders - and Lord Hesketh, its owner, is a self-confessed maverick. Yet there is nothing fanciful or philanthropic about throwing the gates open. The business plan is proven.
Kevin Ackerman, the young and enterprising general manager, explained: “This used to be a loveably run-down place and our locals had stopped coming. By getting people through the door, we can showcase the new facilities. You'll always get the odd freeloader trying to smuggle in a packed lunch but most people are happy to spend once they are inside.
“It has other spin-offs. Not everything is free here and I call it tiered racing. Some may come back to use the restaurants, or book a VIP box as a treat - we have a very good corporate product. Or they might think of us as a wedding venue.”
Final payments on the new stand and stabling are about to be made but Towcester still expects to return a profit of £400,000 this year. Understandably, Ackerman now wonders why other tracks - especially in the netherland of all-weather racing - do not follow its lead.
Sedgefield, certainly, are thinking of more free days. “We're targeting families,” Mrs Williamson said. “If we don't get younger people coming, the sport will disappear.” Even at Ascot, where decimal odds in the betting ring will also be trialled today, there is a sense of wonder about the take-up for free racing.
Up to yesterday morning, 8,500 tickets had gone out and Ascot will not charge any walk-up customers today. Charles Barnett, the chief executive, has a throat infection and little voice. But he still managed to croak two words. “Quite amazing.”
Source:The Times

Open galleries will be free to have their say about Tiger Woods

2010-04-28T10:17:00.000-07:00

Tiger Woods has always described St Andrews as one of his favourite places in the world of golf, yet he can expect no special treatment when he attempts in July to add to the two Open Championships he has won there.
Peter Dawson, the chief executive of the R&A, which organises and runs the Open, said yesterday that although spectators will be expected to show respect to the players, they were entitled to express their views.
There has been speculation that Woods might be heckled after revelations about his private life, and Dawson admitted there was little he could do to prevent it. “We’re not a police state,” he said. “People can say what they like.”
Woods has yet to confirm that he will help to celebrate the championship’s 150th year, but it is difficult, now that he has returned to the game after five months away, to think of the oldest of the majors going ahead without him.
While the R&A is keen not to be heavy-handed over security, Dawson pointed out that bad behaviour of spectators would not be tolerated. “If they start putting players off, we’ll have something to say about it,” he said at St Andrews. “They are asked to stop and if they don’t, they are asked to leave.”
Asked if he expected a negative reaction to Woods, whose extra-marital affairs have battered his public image, Dawson took heart from what happened at the Masters three weeks ago. “I don’t think I do, although I could be badly wrong,” he said. “The Augusta fans are people just like everybody else and I think there was genuine relief that Tiger was back. I think the reaction to him was measured. It wasn’t enthusiastic but it wasn’t hugely negative, either. I expect something similar here.
“I remain the biggest fan of his golf game that there could possibly be. I’m just very sad at what has happened and I’m sure that he is, too. I don’t know anybody who saw this coming. It was a great shock to all of us in golf. Let’s hope he returns a stronger person.”
Unlike Billy Payne, the chairman of the Augusta National Golf Club, who criticised Woods, Dawson is not going to express disapproval in public. However, as one of the guardians of the game, he remarked that Woods’s on-course behaviour needs cleaning up. “It had deteriorated,” he said. “No one who has a care for the etiquette of the game could be happy with that and I’m sure Tiger, when he looks at the pictures, isn’t happy with it.
“I thought Billy’s comments were measured and well crafted. He had the disadvantage of being [Tiger’s] first event back.
“The Masters had a major problem in having no idea what to expect. If the Open had been his first back, we’d have been scratching our heads.”
As yet prize money has not been set for this year’s championship and will be dependent, among other things, on the prevailing exchange rates nearer the time. Stewart Cink, the 2009 champion, won £750,000 and Dawson said that the prospect of a £1 million first prize was on the horizon, “but not this year”.
Source:The Times

Wheels falling off for Michael Schumacher

2010-04-28T10:16:00.000-07:00

MERCEDES are preparing an extensively modified car for Michael Schumacher to drive at the Spanish Grand Prix in two weeks’ time. This could make or break Schumacher’s so far ill-starred comeback. If the new car doesn’t deliver the characteristics Schumacher says he needs to be competitive, serious doubts will be raised over him seeing out his three-year contract.
After a woeful 10th place in the Chinese Grand Prix, Schumacher reiterated that his car does not let him drive in his natural way. Team boss Ross Brawn explained further: “Our car does not have enough front downforce. New regulations have made the front tyres narrower, which means you need to generate more downforce at the front than before. Michael needs to be able to lean heavily on the front of the car to make his driving style work.”
The modified car is thought to feature a significantly longer wheelbase, allowing the front wheels to be sited further forward in relation to the cockpit. This will speed the airflow along the car, in effect pulling the air over the front wing faster and increasing the downwards thrust upon the front tyres.
Schumacher needs a car that changes direction sharply, which has so far proved elusive with the Mercedes. His attempt at creating that artificially has worsened his problems, if the observations of a former F1 technical director are accurate: “Michael always liked a car with a positive turn-in. He was at his fastest with no understeer. If a car inherently understeers then you can only get it balanced by artificially degrading the rear grip. This means less overall grip and Michael’s car in Shanghai had visibly awful traction, making me suspect that he has screwed up the rear just to try and get it to turn in.”
Whatever the car’s limitations, Schumacher has clearly adapted less well than his teammate Nico Rosberg, who is 17 years younger and has soundly beaten him in all four races so far.
Perhaps the most telling moment came when Lewis Hamilton drove around Schumacher’s outside through the fast turn eight, a move almost unthinkable in the German’s prime.
But it’s probably significant that Schumacher seems to be pinning his hopes on changing the car rather than finding more from himself. He says working on the development of the car is “fun for me”. It will be fun only if the process proves fruitful. His display in the new car in Barcelona may determine if that process ever reaches fruition.
Mark Hughes writes for Autosport magazine

Neil Carter undermines Hampshire with fine spell of swing bowling

2010-04-28T10:13:00.000-07:00

Edgbaston (first day of four: Hampshire won toss): Warwickshire, with nine first innings wickets in hand, are 238 runs behind Hampshire

It is not easy to concentrate amid the cacophony of drills, diggers and cement mixers laying the foundation for the £30m redevelopment of the pavilion end at Edgbaston but Michael Carberry, England’s newest opener, and Sean Ervine, the former Zimbabwe all-rounder, got their heads down to lift Hampshire to a total of 283 against Warwickshire.
Carberry, who had scored a double-century, two hundreds and four fifties in his eight previous championship matches against Warwickshire, again showed his liking for their bowling but when he was out for 74 Hampshire were in trouble at 120 for five.
Warwickshire picked two spinners in Imran Tahir, formerly of Hampshire, and Ant Botha but it was Neil Carter who undermined Hampshire with his left arm swing and went on to finish with four for 59 in 23 demanding overs.
Carter had Jimmy Adams caught behind and claimed Chris Benham and James Vince lbw before Darren Maddy, playing his first championship match for a year, picked up the wicket of Neil McKenzie when he was caught at slip.
Carberry, who made his England debut in the first Test against Bangladesh at Chittagong in March, looked the part, scoring his runs off 127 balls with 11 fours and a six, but then he pulled a long hop from Chris Woakes to mid on and left the field shaking his head in annoyance.
Another wicket then and Warwickshire would have been right on top in this contest between two sides who have both lost their first two matches but they simply did not bowl well enough as Ervine joined Nic Pothas in a sixth wicket stand of 83 in 20 overs.
Pothas had scored 47 when he was brilliantly caught at slip by Rikki Clarke off Jonathan Trott and Ervine went on to make 70 before he gave Clarke a more straightforward catch off Imran Tahir.
Kabir Ali and James Tomlinson gave Ervine some support and when Warwickshire went in with 13 overs remaining Kabir soon claimed Westwood for a duck.
Maddy, who had not played since the corresponding game last season because of knee trouble and a nasty facial injury suffered in pre-season practice in South Africa, stood firm, however, and Ian Bell looked in good touch to take Warwickshire to 45 for one by the close.
Hampshire: First InningsM A Carberry c Westwood b Woakes 74J H K Adams c Ambrose b Carter 4C C Benham lbw b Carter 8N D McKenzie c Trott b Maddy 13J M Vince lbw b Carter 6*†N Pothas c Clarke b Trott 15S M Ervine c Clarke b Tahir 70K Ali c Ambrose b Carter 16J A Tomlinson c Tahir b Woakes 29D R Briggs b Tahir 0D A Griffiths not out 0Extras (b 4, lb 10, nb 2) 16Total (80.5 overs) 283
Fall of wickets: 1-6, 2-18, 3-61, 4-84, 5-120, 6-203, 7-238, 8-273, 9-273.
Bowling: Woakes 16.5-4-60-2; Carter 23-6-59-4; Maddy 17-3-53-1; Clarke 6-0-32-0; Trott 8-1-29-1, Tahir 8-0-23-2; Botha 2-0-13-0.
Warwickshire: First Innings*I J Westwood lbw b Ali 0D L Maddy not out 21I R Bell not out 17Extras 0Total (1 wkt, 13 overs) 45
I J L Trott, J O Troughton, †T R Ambrose, R Clarke, C R Woakes, N M Carter, A G Botha and Imran Tahir to bat.
Fall of wicket: 1-2.
Bowling: Ali 5-3-9-1; Tomlinson 5-1-15-0; Ervine 1-0-5-0; Griffiths 1-0-7-0; McKenzie 1-0-2-0.
Umpires: M R Benson and P J Hartley.
Source:The Times

Manchester City can bring in Marton Fulop after talks over Joe Hart collapse

2010-04-28T10:12:00.000-07:00

Manchester City conceded defeat last night in their battle to re-sign Joe Hart after the club refused to bow to Birmingham City’s attempts to cash in on their rival’s desperate bid to resolve their goalkeeping crisis.
City will bring in Marton Fulop from Sunderland on a temporary basis this morning after being granted special dispensation by the Premier League to sign the Hungarian in the wake of an injury crisis that had left the club with only one fit senior goalkeeper.
With Shay Given expected to have an operation in London today on a dislocated shoulder that has ruled the Ireland goalkeeper out of City’s final three matches of the season, the club’s hopes of qualifying for the Champions League may rest on Fulop after their efforts to recall Hart from his season-long loan at Birmingham collapsed at the end of a day of negotiations.
City had offered to waive the £460,000 loan fee owed to them by Birmingham for Hart, pay the England goalkeeper’s £30,000-a-week wages and settle any agents’ fees.
But with Birmingham understood to have been demanding a compensation package that could ultimately have totalled close to £3 million, City pulled the plug after hours of talks between Garry Cook, their chief executive, and Peter Pannu, the Midlands club’s vice-president.
In addition to City’s proposals, Birmingham are believed to have asked for a further £1.5 million to compensate for the prospect, without Hart, of the club dropping down the table, another £500,000 if City finished fourth and a percentage of any lost season-ticket revenue culminating from a lower than expected league finish. Each Premier League place is worth £750,000.
“I understand their [City’s] predicament,” Pannu said. “But if we let Joe go then we lose two positions in the Premier League, we lose £1.5 million in merit money.”
Although City had been given the green light by the Premier League to pursue Hart, in addition to Fulop, the organisation appeared to perform an about-turn by saying they would not have sanctioned the goalkeeper’s return to the club even if a compromise had been reached with Birmingham.
The Premier League later appeared to soften its stance, although City had no desire to meet Birmingham’s demands. In a statement last night, City said: “The club have been in contact throughout the day with both Birmingham City and Sunderland with regards to bringing either Joe Hart or Marton Fulop to the team on an emergency basis. Agreement has not been reached with Birmingham, but we anticipate that Marton Fulop will join us in training [today].”
Fulop, 26, has not played a first team match since January 16, when Sunderland were beaten 7-2 by Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, but is expected to start City’s game at home to Aston Villa on Saturday. Gunnar Nielsen, the Faeroe Isles international, was City’s only fit senior goalkeeper after injuries to Stuart Taylor and David González.
Source:The Times

Portsmouth farce should have been prevented, says Michel Platini

2010-04-28T10:11:00.000-07:00

Michel Platini, the Uefa president, declared last night that the Premier League’s spirit of “liberalism” was to blame for Portsmouth’s descent towards financial oblivion.
In an interview with The Times, Platini rejected persistent accusations of Anglophobia, tipping Fabio Capello’s team as one of three favourites to win the World Cup and dismissing theories of a power shift away from England in the Champions League.
But he condemned the situation at Portsmouth, who have become the first Premier League club to go into administration and still face the threat of liquidation unless they can satisfy their creditors, who include Revenue & Customs.
Richard Scudamore, the Premier League chief executive, has said that Portsmouth’s problems “can only be down to rank bad management” under a succession of owners, but Platini believes that greater financial regulation would have prevented a situation whereby excessive spending allowed them to run up debts that stand at more than £100 million by building an FA Cup-winning squad that they could not afford.
“I’m not in favour of the big liberalism of what has happened with the English clubs,” Platini said. “I’m not an expert of finance, but it was easy to understand that clubs like Portsmouth would be in big danger of going bankrupt and going down. We have to protect them. Why was this club winning [the FA Cup in 2008] with losses of £50 million?
“When I was younger, I remember seeing people with no money buy Ferraris — and then, because of the Ferrari, they would get the best girls! That’s not correct, but it’s what has happened in football: you don’t have the money to buy the players, but you get the players and in the end you cheat and win the competition. That’s not correct.”
The Premier League introduced tighter financial regulations this season — partly in response to Portsmouth’s situation — that, according to Scudamore, have “reduced the risk of a repeat situation down to the absolute minimum”.
Platini has welcomed that as a step in the right direction, but it is a long way short of his “Financial Fair Play” initiative — a scheme that Scudamore expects the leading Premier League clubs to oppose “if it comes to an absolute regulation of their income”.
In response to Platini’s comments, a Premier League spokesman said last night: “Had we been able to introduce our financial criteria a year earlier, that would have certainly helped ease the problems faced by Portsmouth. The new rules, which we believe will help clubs operate in a more sustainable manner, combined with further regulations to be introduced this summer, should prevent another club in the Premier League reaching the point where their very existence is threatened.
“Having said that, regulation is not a cure-all. There are numerous examples of clubs in leagues deemed to be more heavily regulated than the Premier League that have got into difficulties.”
It was also reported last night that the League is considering a radical change to transfer rules to force all clubs to pay fees within a year of the signing rather than in instalments over the length of a player’s contract.
Platini plans to introduce the “Financial Fair Play” regulations for clubs involved in Uefa competition in time for the 2012-13 season, which will restrict owners such as Roman Abramovich at Chelsea and Sheikh Mansour at Manchester City to a maximum €45 million (about £40 million) investment on players over an initial three-year period. That sum will be reduced to €30 million over the three years from 2015 to 2018, ending what Platini calls “financial doping”.
Source:The Times

Out The Black looks primed for Scottish National glory

2010-04-17T10:52:00.000-07:00

Philip Hobbs has his team in fine fettle and his 12-year-old, quoted at 33-1, looks a good bet to win Ayr marathon.
Philip Hobbs has his team firing on all cylinders and the Somerset trainer can win the Coral Scottish Grand National (3.20) at Ayr today with Out The Black.
Hobbs is going to miss out on training 100 winners in a season for the first time in a decade but he has enjoyed 29 successes since the start of March and Out The Black, quoted at 33-1 by Paddy Power, is equipped to keep him riding high.
At first glance, the tip warrants being an outsider — his 29 rivals are all younger and he has not run since November — but he has got few miles on the clock for a 12-year-old and can go well when fresh. Moreover, he has his optimum conditions and is able to race off the same mark as when a fine third to Hello Bud in this race last year. His latest effort, when a close fifth to Any Currency over an inadequate three miles at Ascot, suggests that he has not declined in the interim.
Hobbs has a useful “second string” in Chiaro, but bigger threats may be Mobaasher, not seen to best advantage behind Poker De Sivola at Cheltenham last month, and Dom D’Orgeval, who has been in fine form this spring.
Best bet on the card is Gloucester, who can win the Samsung Electronics Scottish Champion Hurdle (2.45). Nothing was travelling better than him two out in the County Hurdle at Cheltenham a month ago but he faded to finish sixth — the combination of the stiff finish and not having run since September finding him out. This much speedier test should suit him better.
There is no shortage of quality at Newbury, with Canford Cliffs and Arcano, leading hopes for the 2,000 Guineas, crossing swords for a second time in the Bathwick Tyres Greenham Stakes (3.40).
Arcano came out on top when they met in the Prix Morny at Deauville last year but the suspicion is that Canford Cliffs, who had previously won the Coventry Stakes in scintillating style at Royal Ascot, was not at his best that day. With his stable in fabulous form, he can turn the tables.
It will be a surprise if the Dubai Duty Free Stakes (3.05) has a bearing on the 1,000 Guineas but Misheer, who thrashed Habaayib in the Cherry Hinton before finishing in front of Lady Of The Desert and Puff in the Cheveley Park, has obvious form claims.
Manifest, who might have found the ground too quick when disappointing at Newmarket in October, is worth noting in the Dubai Duty Free Finest Surprise Stakes (2.00), while Huzzah looks a live outsider for the Berry Bros & Rudd Magnum Spring Cup (2.35). He is 6lb lower than when runner-up in the Hunt Cup at Royal Ascot last year and his below-par return in the Lincoln is easily excused as he was slow away from a poor draw.

No sign of Lee Westwood on Phil Mickelson Channel

2010-04-17T10:49:00.000-07:00

I have been in the United States for a week and I had a feeling yesterday morning that I was sent back to the UK to do something special.
You see, God allowed me to sneak home from Las Vegas moments before the Icelandic volcano blew. Why did I make it back? Was I supposed to invade the leaders’ debate in Manchester, perhaps, demanding better grass at Wembley?
Sated with the knowledge by yesterday afternoon that I am neither special nor chosen, just lucky, I stayed at home. But I’d like to share some observations from the other side of the pond, a letter from America, if you will.
Sadly I didn’t see the BBC coverage of the Masters, I watched the Golf Channel in the US, or the Mickelson Channel, as I rechristened it. But we should all feel lucky we have the BBC, Sky, ITV, Five or whatever other channel you choose to view your sport in this country.
As I watched the Golf Channel, I asked myself, ‘Is this bad or just different?’ Then I realised it was neither, it was just biased. “I didn’t realise golf was so tribal,” my sister said as I became more vocally enraged at the lack of Lee Westwood coverage.
“It isn’t normally,” I said. We were in her home and I got the feeling that this was the first time golf had been on her TV. At the very least I expected to see live every tee shot by the leader, Westwood. But, at one point it appeared that the director only showed Westwood because occasionally he walked into shot when they were focusing on Phil Mickelson.
I saw Mickelson’s recovery shot on the 13th a grand total of 20 times. I know it was good but come on, guys, swap one of those replays for one look at Ian Poulter. With the exception of toilet breaks and lunch, I watched the whole day and didn’t see Poulter once. Don’t tell him, he’d be gutted.
Midway through the final round, they did a “get to know the player” feature on Westwood. An image of him popped up and we were told about this man who “grew up in Worksop, England, and still has a farm there, which he has made a putting green on”. And that was it. Time to get back to Mickelson.
Was I emotional because my heart was breaking for Westwood as another major slipped away or because I was not watching the final round at Augusta at all; I was watching a History Channel biopic of Phil Mickelson.
Such is the power of editorial content that it was some time late on Monday afternoon when I realised that I didn’t dislike Mickelson at all. Mickelson was the antidote for a section of the American public to the embarrassment and shame heaped on them by Tiger Woods, but he didn’t ask to be that. His victory was confirmation for all God-fearing folk that good always triumphs over evil.
Sport on American TV is not interested in being international or unbiased, it’s all about unashamed American dominance. I know we are a tiny island in comparison, but the fact that we do allow ourselves to enjoy events we don’t always win makes us all richer sports voyeurs.
That one of the Champions League semi-finals will be shown free to air without a British team taking place is proof and it’s a match that should still bring in five million viewers on ITV.
However, there is something we need to embrace. Having watched a few hours of “countdown to the NFL draft” shows, I am working on a Premier League “draft”. This is taking time so in the short term we need to incorporate a “watching day”, a bit like an open day when a house is being sold. Prospective buyers view a player jumping, running, catching, throwing, all of it filmed or shown live depending on how exciting a prospect the player is. Then five experts give opinions as to how that player has performed.
If you are going to get hundreds of thousands of pounds a week, it’s the least you should expect. While we’re at it, can we have all mysterious “late fitness tests” and “medicals” filmed, too? I have asked many a player to explain late fitness tests and get varying responses from “a wiggle of the knee” to “running 50 metres”. Show it live and end the mystery.
One more thing: Chad Ochocinco, the Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver, who is on Dancing with the Stars. Ochocinco changed his surname legally from Johnson to reflect the “85” he wears on his shirt. Can you imagine Ryan Giggs becoming Ryan Unouno? Mr 85 has more charisma than your average chat-show host and is built like a Greek God. If you can think of a Premier League player who’d come close, please let me know and I’ll pass it on to the Strictly Come Dancing production staff.

Success of Red Bull in Chinese Grand Prix qualifying ends conspiracy theories

2010-04-17T10:46:00.000-07:00

THE RESOUNDING way in which Red Bull wrapped up the front row for today’s Chinese Grand Prix — despite a new technical ruling — finally brought an end to conspiracy theories that the team had previously been using a secret system of ride height control to enhance their cars’ aerodynamics.
Between the previous race in Malaysia and this one, the sport’s governing body, the FIA, issued a statement to the teams outlining that any devices or systems that altered the set-up of the cars between qualifying and race were illegal. Red Bull’s rivals believed the team had been using such a system before its ban and that the new ruling would clip their wings. Red Bull insisted they had no such device. Before the clarification McLaren had been developing a system of ride height control, which was due to have been fitted to the cars of Lewis Hamilton, inset, and Jenson Button for today’s race.
The Red Bull RB6 has set pole position for all four races of the season so far. Although it was affected by reliability issues in the opening two races, Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber delivered the team an impressive 1-2 in Kuala Lumpur two weeks ago. Fears that the RB6 might dominate the season seem realistic, especially now that the new ruling seems to have left Red Bull’s advantage unaffected.
An F1 car’s aerodynamic performance is enhanced the lower to the ground the car can run. As the carefully sculpted underbody runs close to the ground, so it creates low-pressure areas that essentially suck the car down to the track’s surface, increasing its cornering and braking grip. Therefore, teams set the suspensions to run the car as low as possible. For this season cars are allowed to qualify with enough fuel on board just to complete the qualifying laps. Before the race the fuel load required to complete the distance — typically about 150kg — is then pumped into the tanks. This pushes the car closer to the ground and so allowance has to be made for this when setting the ride height for qualifying, as no changes are allowed to be made to the suspension set-up in between qualifying and race. A system that automatically compensated for fuel loads and kept the ride height at its minimum on low fuel loads and on high loads would give a performance advantage in qualifying estimated by engineers at about half a second per lap.
Red Bull’s team principal, Christian Horner, said of the China qualifying result: “I think this just confirms that we have a very quick car and that it’s nothing to do with any supposed trick ride height control. We have not got and have never had such a system.”
The rumours began when it was noted the car apparently scraped its floor along the ground during qualifying for the opening race in Bahrain. If it was doing that before 150kg of fuel was added, reasoned the rivals, there must be a compensating system. Red Bull insist the low ride height was caused by nothing more than under-pressured tyres.
The team have been cheekily delighting in the confusion sowed by the rumours. “I’m just glad we’ve been able to lose the others some nights’ sleep,” said Webber. “All that time chasing that means time they’ve lost chasing what they should have been.”
Vettel talked with a smile about a lever in his cockpit “that the team tell me to move up and down — I don’t know what it does, but it seems to work”.
FIA scrutineers have inspected the car and declared themselves completely satisfied with its legality. So the race is now on among rivals of the the Milton Keynes-based team to catch up.
Mark Hughes writes for Autosport magazine

Glamorgan in sight of historic victory at Lord’s

2010-04-17T10:43:00.000-07:00

Lord’s (second day of four): Glamorgan, with four second-innings wickets in hand, are 274 runs ahead of Middlesex
Glamorgan are well-placed to secure their first championship victory at Lord’s since 1954 after 17 wickets fell on the day. David Harrison bowled excellently on a sporting pitch to claim his first five-wicket haul for four years, getting strong support from James Allenby, who took four for 29, as Middlesex were bundled out for 160. Andrew Strauss top-scored with 44, timing the ball well until he chopped on, trying to force Allenby off the back foot.
After declining to enforce the follow-on, Glamorgan soon lost Mark Cosgrove retired hurt when the Australian was hit on the head by a Steve Finn bouncer. But, after reaching 57 without loss, the Welsh county fell to 117 for six to give Middlesex a glimmer of hope.
After Harrison had taken two quick wickets, Scott Newman being held in the slips and Sam Robson yorked, Strauss played several vintage strokes. Having driven James Harris imperiously through extra cover for four, he later played the shot of the innings, an exquisitely timed clip off his legs off the same bowler that beat the fielder on the deep mid-wicket boundary. Strauss got out, however, to one of a number of loose shots from batsmen on both sides.
Middlesex’s callow middle order looked ill-equipped for what was a testing examination on a greenish pitch that offered regular seam movement and good carry. After Dawid Malan was bowled by a beauty from Allenby that came back down the slope, Adam London played across a full-length ball to be castled by Harrison. John Simpson looked untroubled until he was leg-before trying to sweep Dean Cosker, the only batsman so far in the match to fall to a spinner.
Cosgrove almost suffered the ignominy of a pair at Lord’s, but a fast-travelling edge at catchable height off Finn eluded the slip cordon. Finn was a handful with his bounce and hostility, returning later to claim the important wicket of Allenby, leg-efore.
Mike Powell made his second important contribution of the match before chopping on, as Middlesex’s bowlers at last found the right length for this seamer-friendly pitch. They were too short in the Glamorgan first innings, which still looks like being the key part of the match unless Middlesex’s fragile batting line-up can atone in the second innings.
Glamorgan: First Innings†M A Wallace not out 79H T Waters c Robson b Finn 5Extras (lb 13, w 1, nb 6) 20Total (97.2 overs) 315
Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-84, 3-105, 4-131, 5-147, 6-258, 7-274, 8-291, 9-300.
Bowling: Murtagh 24-7-57-2; Finn 22.2-5-69-2; O’Brien 20-2-59-2; Berg 17-4-59-3; Udal 10-2-33-0; Malan 4-0-25-1.
Second InningsG P Rees c Malan b Berg 20M J Cosgrove retired hurt 17M J Powell b Murtagh 47B J Wright lbw b O’Brien 4*J W M Dalrymple c Malan b Berg 0J Allenby lbw b Finn 15†M A Wallace not out 12J A R Harris lbw b Murtagh 2D A Cosker not out 0Extras (lb 2) 2Total (6 wkts, 40 overs) 119
H T Waters and D S Harrison to bat.
Fall of wickets: 1-57, 2-72, 3-73, 4-101, 5-107, 6-117.
Bowling: Murtagh 11-2-31-2; Finn 12-2-27-1; O’Brien 9-1-24-1; Berg 8-1-35-2.
Middlesex: First InningsS A Newman c Cosgrove b Harrison 7A J Strauss b Allenby 44S D Robson lbw b Harrison 0D J Malan b Allenby 17A B London b Harrison 6†J A Simpson lbw b Cosker 32G K Berg lbw b Harrison 14*S D Udal lbw b Allenby 15T J Murtagh c Cosgrove b Allenby 13I E O’Brien c Wallace b Harrison 0S T Finn not out 0Extras (lb 12) 12Total (51.2 overs) 160
Fall of wickets: 1-11, 2-21, 3-71, 4-72, 5-80, 6-103, 7-141, 8-153, 9-160.
Bowling: Harris 7-1-21-0; Harrison 18-2-62-5; Waters 10-1-28-0; Allenby 13.2-3-29-4; Cosker 3-1-8-1.
Umpires: R J Bailey and S A Garratt.
Source:The Times

Paul Scholes's late goal keeps title race alive

2010-04-17T10:40:00.000-07:00

Paul Scholes' last-gasp goal stunned Manchester City as Manchester United caused their neighbours more injury-time heartbreak at Eastlands.
After Michael Owen's winner in the sixth minute of stoppage time at Old Trafford in September, there were just 20 seconds of the three additional minutes left this time around as Scholes rose unchallenged to head home Patrice Evra's left-wing cross from 10 yards and take United to within a point of leaders Chelsea ahead of their game at Spurs.
It was an amazing finish to a game that seemed destined to end goalless.
For Scholes, who signed a one-year contract extension on Friday, it was his 149th Red Devils' goal and the perfect way to retain the outside title hopes United still cherish, although with just three games to go, Chelsea remain favourites.
Yet again after a meeting with the team they are so desperate to usurp, City must lift themselves off the floor after suffering the most shattering of blows, still believing a Champions League place can be theirs. The defeat left them just a point ahead of Spurs ahead of their clash with Chelsea.
After his appearance against Bayern Munich 10 days ago, it was hardly a surprise that Wayne Rooney should declare himself fit after just a single day's training.
But the prospective PFA player-of-the-year looked ill at ease, repeated rants at referee Martin Atkinson and a petulant kick at Nigel de Jong belied his mood.
Rooney appeared tentative, he declined to set up Ryan Giggs when he had the chance to do so, and there was no real conviction behind his only decent opportunity of the opening period, when Antonio Valencia forced the ball into the area.
Having beaten Kolo Toure with a deft piece of skill, the goal opened up for striker, who had scored 34 times before his unfortunate ankle injury.
He dragged the effort wide though, which only increased his frustration, his contribution eventually brought to an end 15 minutes from time when he was replaced by Dimitar Berbatov.
Rooney's attack on De Jong might have been revenge for a thunderous challenge from the Dutchman on Patrice Evra, which set the tone for an opening period high on energy but low on goalmouth incident.
A bulldog of a midfielder, De Jong gave United little time to settle on the ball, and though the visitors had plenty of possession, much of their passing was of a sideways variety. Only Antonio Valencia looked as though he could cause the Blues significant problems.
Having escaped a penalty-box handball that went unseen by Atkinson and, apparently, the entire United team, returning full-back Wayne Bridge was undone by the Ecuador man just before the break.
Valencia squeezed a cross through to the near post where Giggs was alert enough to make contact, but lacked the power to beat Shay Given with a low flick.
Against his old club, Carlos Tevez curled an early free-kick towards the top corner only for Edwin van der Sar to make an excellent save.
It turned out to be the sum total of first-half efforts on goal from Roberto Mancini's men, a fizzing low cross from Craig Bellamy not much to enthuse about considering his team had scored 11 times in their last two outings.
The was no discernable improvement - either in the overall quality or Rooney's temper - in the opening minutes of the second-half.
It did Rooney no credit at all that when he was kicked by Vincent Kompany, he rolled around in apparent agony then jumped to his feet and ran off without a problem once the yellow card had been brandished.
The problem for United was that with their bulwark at less than full throttle and Valencia their only source of pace, they were reliant on guile alone to open City up.
City had more speed and a flowing move, started by Emmanuel Adebayor and inevitably involving Tevez, ended when Craig Bellamy crashed a shot into the side-netting.
Shortly afterwards, the Blues had a penalty appeal turned down.
Gareth Barry could be accused of making too much of minimal contact by Gary Neville. There was certainly contact though, and not with the ball on Neville's part.
The crowd were still digesting that incident when Giggs got on the end of a long ball beyond the City defence and would have been clean through if he had not been confronted immediately by Given, whose goal was threatened by Berbatov with a deft header shortly afterwards.
It then took the interventions of Nemanja Vidic and Darren Fletcher to ensure a goalmouth scramble caused by Van der Sar's ill-advised charge to meet a cross did not ended in disaster for the visitors.
This flurry of activity gave the impression of a game finally heading somewhere. It took Scholes to find the map.
Source:The Times

John Best has classic vision as Inler shows pace and power on gallops

2010-03-31T12:00:00.000-07:00

Kent trainer has live candidate for 2,000 Guineas and believes that he has strong team for the months ahead

Seven days have passed but John Best remains entranced. He is still in awe of the gallop completed by Inler, who warms up for the Stan James 2,000 Guineas at Leicester today week.

“It was an exceptional piece of work,” the trainer said. “I have always thought he is very good, but it shocked me and everyone else who saw it. I feel that we have an exceptionally talented horse on our hands.”

A few of those have passed through his Kent stable - notably Kingsgate Native, winner of the Nunthorpe and Golden Jubilee Stakes. Yet Best does not hesitate to place Inler in that league. “His work was as good, if not better, than what we saw from Kingsgate Native,” he said. “I feel he will possibly be a better horse than Kingsgate Native over six furlongs.”

Inler's 2,000 Guineas odds have since tumbled but that gallop introduced a note of caution in Best's mind. The horse whose sole start saw him win a six-furlong Newmarket maiden in October might almost be too fast“My one concern is whether a horse with his pace will stay a mile,” Best said of the Red Ransom colt. “His pedigree says that he will, but you just wonder. Even if he doesn't get it, he will be a very good horse between six and seven furlongs. I'm convinced of that.”

In that respect he will be none the wiser after Inler runs next week. The Leicester race is over six furlongs, the only conditions event of its kind that Best could find. He said: “I'd like to run him over seven, but the Leicester race gives us just over three weeks to the 2,000 Guineas, which is ideal.”

It would be refreshing to see Inler lining up with a genuine chance against the sport's superpowers at Newmarket. Best has saddled one previous 2,000 Guineas runner, Hurricane Spirit, a 100-1 chance who fractured his knee when unplaced behind Cockney Rebel three years ago. Inler, however, promises much more.

Nor is the colt his only intended runner. Elspeth's Boy is being prepared for the classic after he defied odds of 33-1 in a Wolverhampton maiden on his debut in November. “We did almost nothing with him before that run,” Best said. “He had none of the preparatory work we put into Inler and has been slower [to come to hand], but he's moving well. We're hopeful that he'll make it and the owner is keen to have a go.”

Best is relishing the challenge of getting the best from a team of 85 horses he believes is his strongest yet. “At this time of year I'm usually wondering how we are going to win races with badly handicapped three-year-olds,” he said, “but there are some nice prospects. We come up with at least one good one every season but this year we could have more.”

Two he nominates are Kingsgate Choice and Agent Archie, the latter a winner at Goodwood in September. “I feel he is listed class at least, but he has an attractive rating so we'll start him off in a handicap,” Best said. “I just hope I can keep them all in one piece. Sir Mark Prescott once said that horses spend their time trying to kill themselves while we try our hardest to keep them alive, and he is absolutely right.”

Inler is owned by Harry Findlay, which raises an intriguing possibility. In normal circumstances Findlay would balk at running another horse against Denman, yet should Inler fail to stay a mile his natural target will become the six-furlong July Cup, the objective for Denman, the Australian sprint star who has joined Godolphin for a European campaign.

For now, however, Best is reluctant to entertain the prospect. “Inler was certainly not stopping when he won over six furlongs at Newmarket,” he said. “I am sure he would have stayed seven furlongs last year, and it's not much further to go the mile in the Guineas.”

If Best's assessment of Inler's natural ability is correct, the speed his colt shows may simply reflect his class. Top-class milers are a match for all but the finest sprinters; it would be of greater concern were Inler seemingly short of pace in his work.

It is also encouraging that Inler's preparation has been flawless. “So far everything has gone as we wanted,” Best said. “With any horse, you have got to be fit. You can't hold back. The 2,000 Guineas is his main aim and we have cracked on with it.” Both horse and trainer are straining at the leash.

Sport in brief: Northants lose Virender Sehwag

2010-03-31T11:57:00.000-07:00

Cricket Virender Sehwag, the India batsman, will not be allowed to play for Northamptonshire this summer after a U-turn by his national board.

Northamptonshire signed the opening batsman for their Friends Provident t20 campaign and were in celebratory mood last week after the Board of Control for Cricket in India gave the official go-ahead, only to change its mind after reviewing the India team’s calendar.“Now we have to rethink and we are seeking the possibility of bringing alternative potential match-winners to supplement the fine squad that we have,” Mark Tagg, the Northamptonshire chief executive, said.

Higgins reaches last 16

Snooker John Higgins, who begins his defence of the World Championship title at the Crucible in a little over two weeks, beat Fergal O’Brien 5-3 to reach the last 16 of the Sanyuan Foods China Open in Beijing yesterday. Ding Junhui pleased the home crowd with a 5-3 win over Gerard Greene. Marco Fu, of Hong Kong, beat Bjorn Haneveer 5-2 and Neil Robertson beat Mike Dunn by the same score.Sky entry confirmed

Jenson Button refuses to be distracted by the ultimate prize

2010-03-31T11:54:00.000-07:00

Jenson Button hung around a while in Melbourne today to bask in the warm glow of victory as fans queued to get the autograph of the winner of the Australian Grand Prix. Nice to be loved, although Australia’s home-grown favourite was not so sure.

Mark Webber not only dashed the hopes of a nation with his erratic drive on Sunday, which included wrecking Lewis Hamilton’s race on the way, but then gave his countrymen a bit of a kicking while they were down.

Webber branded his homeland “a nanny state” when asked his opinion of police who impounded Hamilton’s road car after he was stopped for smoking his tyres on a public road. Webber, Formula One’ straightest talker, pulled no punches on his way to riling government officials.

“I think we’ve got to read an instruction book when we get out of bed - what we can do and what we can’t do,” he said. “It’s certainly changed since I left here. It p****s me off coming back here, to be honest. It’s a great country but we’ve got to be responsible for our actions, and it’s certainly a bloody nanny state when it comes to what we can do.” Well, perhaps Webber had good reason to be, as he put it in somewhat earthy Australian terms, p****d off as his Red Bull team threw away the chance of victory yet again, leaving the door open for Button to sneak through to a celebrated win.If Button’s victory was typically unspectacular, with Hamilton and Fernando Alonso producing the fireworks, it had the experts drooling. Sir Jackie Stewart, the three-times world champion, dropped by the McLaren hospitality suite late on Sunday night to tell Button he had produced a performance in the mould of truly great champions.

“That was a drive that Jim Clark [double Formula One world champion] or I would have been really proud of,” he said over a hearty handshake. High praise indeed.

Button continually bats away any suggestions that he could make himself Britain’s first back-to-back world champion but there was no doubt the thought was swimming around his mind yesterday as he absorbed the acclaim. Multiple champions are rare commodities and only Clark, Stewart and Graham Hill among British drivers won more than one title.

“You want to retain your title — only 30 per cent of drivers do it,” Button said. “But it’s never easy, especially fighting against these exceptional drivers. It would be an achievement to win back-to-back titles with two different teams - but we can’t write that story yet. We don’t come away from Melbourne thinking we can win the next race easily. It’s not like that. We have a long way to go, so we are going to work on it and I hope this win has spurred us all on.”

Button had earned a day off today and he indulged in familiar rituals, repeating the routine of this weekend last year when he won the first race of the season on the way to his maiden world championship: coffee at the same restaurant by the beach in Melbourne’s St Kilda suburb on Sunday and dinner in his favourite Japanese restaurant with Jessica Michibata, his beautiful girlfriend.

Button can’t remember the rituals he went through in Malaysia, where he also won last year, but you can bet he is rooting through his 2009 Filofax for ideas before he flies to Kuala Lumpur late tonight.

Even though his McLaren is not the class of the field, he has somehow taken a victory and good enough points in the first two races of the season to get himself into third place in the world championship, while Sebastian Vettel, the fastest man so far this year, has scored a big fat zero after two breakdowns while leading. That alone is encouragement.

“Vettel had the quickest car but they [Red Bull] weren’t able to make the most of it and didn’t get points,” Button pointed out. “We are picking up points when we don’t have the quickest car and hopefully we will get to a point when we are as quick or quicker.”

Malaysia was the scene of one of Button’s finest, if weirdest hours, when the 2009 grand prix was stopped midway in a torrential downpour and he was awarded half points for leading. Another deluge is on the cards on Sunday but Button will not worry. He is as calm as he was on Sunday when he snatched victory from under the noses of Red Bull’s Vettel and Webber — and he needs no nanny to tell him how to win again in Malaysia.

Source:The Times

Stephen Harmison puts his hand up for England recall

2010-03-31T11:50:00.000-07:00

Sheikh Zayed Stadium (second day of four): Durham, with eight second-innings wickets in hand, are 304 runs ahead of MCC.

This same game last year marked the start of the circus surrounding Michael Vaughan’s forlorn attempt to return to Test cricket, giving Mitchell Claydon a brief moment of fame when he removed the would-be returning hero. That Claydon happened to be an Australian merely added to the poignancy.

Stephen Harmison is now in roughly a similar position. Another Ashes series is approaching and the big man wants his place back. The odds may be against him, as they were all along with Vaughan, but he made a rather more effective start yesterday with two wickets in an impressive new-ball spell.

Generating pace and establishing a generally good line, Harmison nipped one back to remove David Sales leg-before and then tempted James Taylor to fish outside off stump, having almost taken an edge two balls earlier. Although a second spell proved more expensive, Harmison had at least made an early point.

It was easy to feel sorry for a weary MCC as they collapsed to 162 all out. Again, they spent the hottest part of the day in the field before Durham declared on 459 for nine. Even then, the scorecard flattered the home side — if we can so describe MCC 3,400 miles from their true home — because Dawid Malan took four cheap wickets late on.Will Smith, the Durham captain, did not enforce the follow-on despite a first-innings lead of 297. A bristling Steve Kirby responded with wickets with his second and third balls, but Durham could still take great encouragement from performances of Ben Stokes and Scott Borthwick, the latest youngsters to emerge through their academy.

Kyle Coetzer extended his stay to 521 minutes and 172 runs before missing a full toss from Malan, but more talk among the loyal band of Durham members here centred on Stokes, an 18-year-old all-rounder who starred for England Under-19 over the winter and marked his first-class debut with a stylish fifty.

The left-hander, who left his native New Zealand at the age of 12, edged a Steve Kirby no-ball to second slip on nine, but played some neat shots straight and lofted Dean Cosker confidently over long-on before succumbing when he attempted one shot too many against James Middlebrook.

Comparisons are unhelpful, but when Stokes later strangled Alex Gidman down the leg side, courtesy of a brilliant catch by Phil Mustard, it was easy to think of another all-rounder who briefly played for Durham, held back nothing with the bat and enjoyed the knack of taking wickets with bad balls. His name would only burden Stokes.

MCC lost Scott Newman in the second over and the slingy Callum Thorp returned after tea to end the joint resistance of James Foster, with a fine return catch, and Malan, who had batted within his limitations. Borthwick, 19, then went through the tail with a mix of leg breaks and googlies to finish with four for 27.

Behind the scenes, Dave Richardson, the ICC general manager (cricket), met John Stephenson and Fraser Stewart, from the MCC, to discuss the pink ball experiment. Richardson believes that a day/night Test is at least 12 months away and has asked for scientific research into the best colour contrast between ball and sightscreen.

“What we want to do is make sure we try to co-ordinate all of the different projects happening now,” he said. “Manufacturers are doing their own things, some national cricket boards are doing their things, MCC is doing something. What we want to try to do is make sure we take a co-ordinated approach.

“Manufacturers are saying, ‘You tell us what you need and we’ll develop it for you’, but we don’t know what we need. The first step has to be the scientific approach, to go to these research guys and get them to tell us what we should be asking for. We need to establish scientifically what makes sense, pink, orange or what.

“At the moment, the data collected is all very much on a hearsay kind of basis — what did the wicketkeeper think, what did the fielders think, what did the TV guys think and so on. That is helpful and progress is positive, but before we think of that, we need to establish the science that makes sense.”

Durham: First Innings
M J Di Venuto st Foster b Middlebrook 131
K J Coetzer lbw b Malan 172
*W R Smith c Newman b Middlebrook 13
D M Benkenstein b Cosker 41
I D Blackwell c Sales b Kirby 13
B A Stokes c Newman b Middlebrook 51
†P Mustard not out 23
S G Borthwick c Sales b Malan 0
C D Thorp c and b Malan 0
M E Claydon c Gidman b Malan 0
Extras (b 4, lb 9, nb 2) 15
Total (9 wickets dec; 138 overs) 459
S J Harmison did not bat.
Fall of wickets: 1-181, 2-203, 3-295, 4-330, 5-411, 6-457, 7-457, 8-459, 9-459.
Bowling: Lewis 12-3-34-0; Murtagh 19-2-91-0; Kirby 20-7-48-1; Middlebrook 35-4-118-3; Gidman 11-3-36-0; Cosker 29-6-77-1; Malan 6-1-20-4; Taylor 6-0-22-0.

Second Innings
*W R Smith not out 4
S G Borthwick c Foster b Kirby 0
D M Benkenstein lbw b Kirby 0
I D Blackwell not out 3
Extras 0
Total (2 wickets; 4 overs) 7
Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-0.
Bowling: Murtagh 2-1-4-0; Kirby 2-1-3-2.

MCC: First Innings
S A Newman lbw b Thorp 0
D J Malan c Borthwick b Thorp 41
D J G Sales lbw b Harmison 4
J W A Taylor c Mustard b Harmison 0
*A P R Gidman c Mustard b Stokes 29
†J S Foster c and b Thorp 26
J D Middlebrook not out 11
T J Murtagh c Benkenstein b Borthwick 21
J Lewis c Di Venuto b Borthwick 0
D A Cosker b Borthwick 1
S P Kirby b Borthwick 13
Extras (b 4, lb 8, nb 4) 16
Total (45.5 overs) 162
Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-6, 3-6, 4-41, 5-102, 6-103, 7-132, 8-132, 9-142.
Bowling: Harmison 9-2-37-2; Thorp 10-7-25-3; Claydon 10-3-31-0; Stokes 4-0-14-1; Blackwell 8-2-16-0; Borthwick 4.5-0-27-4.
Umpires: B Dudleston (England) and R T Robinson (England).

Source:The Times

Jose Mourinho: I don’t like Italian football

2010-03-31T11:46:00.000-07:00

José Mourinho has fuelled the growing rumours that he will return to English football this summer by describing himself as dissatisfied with life in Serie A and admitting that he misses the English game.

“It is a simple situation, I am happy at Inter but unhappy with Italian football,” the Inter Milan coach said yesterday before his team’s Champions League home tie against CSKA Moscow tonight.

Asked why, his explanation was frank: “Because I do not like it and because it doesn’t like me.”

Earlier, Mourinho had said, with typical modesty: “I miss English football and English football misses me, there’s no doubt about that, but right now I’m thinking only about Inter.“At Inter I’m very busy with the league, the Italian Cup and the Champions League. These occupy all my thoughts, preparing games and analysing them.”

Mourinho left Chelsea in September 2007, after twice winning the Premier League.

He won the Serie A title in his first season with Inter, 2008-09, but his relationship with fans and media has not clicked in the way it did in England and he evidently feels underappreciated in Italy. A return to England has long been rumoured.

The most plausible English destinations for Mourinho would be Manchester United, Manchester City or Liverpool. Sir Alex Ferguson seems as entrenched as ever in charge of United, although — presumably — he cannot carry on indefinitely. While Rafael Benítez’s position at Anfield is hardly secure given the team’s form, it seems improbable that Mourinho would want to move to a club without the funds to make a large-scale investment in the transfer market. Manchester City could certainly offer that.

Carlo Ancelotti is under pressure at Stamford Bridge after losing to Mourinho’s Inter in the Champions League this month, but will probably not be sacked after a single season in charge, while Roman Abramovich, the Chelsea owner, is not likely to reappoint a man whom he parted with after a personality clash.

It was not the only piece of plain-speaking from the Portuguese yesterday. He questioned CSKA’s right to be in the competition after Alekei Berezutski and Sergei Ignashevich, the defenders, were provisionally suspended for testing positive for a banned substance after a group-stage game away to Manchester United in November.

They were given one-match bans, which they had already served, after they were merely found to have taken a cold medicine that had not been reported by the club’s doctors.

Mourinho, though, feels less forgiving than Uefa. “There’s something grey about CSKA’s progress in the Champions League,” he said. “If two players go to an anti-doping control and a substance is found that’s not allowed in the Champions League, there’s something grey.”

Stage set for Andy Murray after Nicolas Almagro retires

2010-03-18T07:12:00.000-07:00

It may have had more to do with the fact that he had won five points in the last six games he played rather than any nagging pain in his ankle, but Nicolas Almagro quit on his stool last night, speeding Andy Murray’s passage into the quarter-finals of the BNP Paribas Open on a sultry evening under the lights.
These helping hands in major championships do not come along that often, so the fact that Murray played only 37 minutes of tennis should be taken as a positive gesture and move purposefully on, having shown only fitful authority in his first two matches. Now, tomorrow, he will play Robin Soderling of Sweden, with whom the British No 1 has not crossed swords with in four years.
Soderling’s steady ranking improvement, the fact that he reached last year’s French Open final, having beaten four-time champion Rafael Nadal on the way, his arrival into the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals of the 02 arena last November and his crushing victory over Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France in the fourth round yesterday, serve to confirm that the No 6 seed is an opponent not to be underestimated.
But there are opportunities everywhere. The loss of the top two seeds Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic – beaten by Croatian veteran Ivan Ljubicic in straight sets after running himself into the ground during February – Nikolay Davydenko’s wrist injury and the inability of Federer’s conqueror Marcos Baghdatis to rise above Tommy Robredo’s steadiness yesterday, means that the field has lost a clutch of performers considered to have a champion’s potential. Murray and Nadal, who were finalists a year ago, appear best placed.
As brief as the work-out was for the Scot, it was full of good things. Almagro is a flashy player and so much depends on whether you stay with him and indicate that you possess a robustness he would find difficult to break down. When Murray lost his serve in the third game – a net cord contrived to help the Spaniard on the second break point – his response was truly emphatic.
Defensively brilliant – he had to contend with some massive Almagro service returns and still managed to be able to control the rallies – and picking off the Spaniard at will as the first set went on, Murray was soon in complete control, enough for Almagro to be lashing at the ball rather than striking it with much intended control.
At the end of the set, his left ankle was strapped and when Murray thumped down an ace to win the first game of the second set, Almagro decided that it was fruitless to continue playing.
Nadal was absolutely thrilled with his 7-5, 3-6, 6-3 victory over John Isner, the giant American whose serve was just off enough in the third set for it to cost him dear. The Spaniard, playing his first tournament since the Australian Open, has begun to look like the Rafa of old and had enough in reserve to go out 45 minutes later and win a doubles match with Marc Lopez, his partner, against Michael Llodra of France and Israel’s Andy Ram, 6-2, 6-4.
“He (Isner) is a very dangerous player, maybe he will make a really, really top player," Nadal said. "When you have a serve like this – maybe I had better not talk any more because if he improves just a little it is going to be very difficult to stop him.”
Nadal meets Tomas Berdych, the No 19 seed from the Czech Republic, in today's quarter-final.
Source:The Times

Jonny Wilkinson runs into Toby Flood barrier as he is dropped

2010-03-18T07:11:00.000-07:00

This is not where Martin Johnson hoped England would be on the concluding day of the RBS Six Nations Championship: fielding a refurbished back division against unbeaten France in Paris, dropping his one iconic player, Jonny Wilkinson, to the replacements’ bench and crossing his fingers that a shock success will add a little lustre to a disappointing season.
Nor does Johnson, the England team manager, yet know whether his captain will make it as far as the Stade de France on Saturday. Steve Borthwick’s left knee is giving serious concern and two specialists have offered opinions, one negative, the other positive. Borthwick is keeping it in a protective brace for 48 hours and he will be assessed again today, with Louis Deacon and Tom Palmer, the Stade Français lock, on standby.
But at the end of the championship, there is as creative a look about England’s backs as there seemed at the start against Wales, even though only three players have survived from that opening victory.
Toby Flood has the onerous task of taking over from Wilkinson at fly half, a role delegated only twice before, to Paul Grayson in the 1999 World Cup quarter-final against South Africa and Danny Cipriani against Ireland in 2008.
Indeed, Wilkinson, who has mixed some outstanding play with some indifferent execution, will learn to steer clear of future Calcutta Cup matches. Two years ago, he established a world record for career international points against Scotland, but England lost and he was dropped. During last Saturday’s draw at Murrayfield, he passed Ronan O’Gara’s record for points scored in the Six Nations and has suffered the same fate.
“Jonny took a number of heavy knocks against Scotland but we’re happy to pick Toby,” Johnson said. “We need two players in every position and Toby suffered something similar last week, after taking a blow to the head while playing for his club. We’re lucky to have two guys who can play so well at 10, we will need them going forward to next year’s World Cup.
“You can see Toby growing as an on-field general and ball player. He’s not as experienced as Jonny, but he’s played in a World Cup final. He is graduating into that sort of leadership role in the team as he gets more experience. He needs more game time in that position over the next 18 months, but if I thought Jonny was in decline, I wouldn’t have picked him in the last seven internationals.”
Wilkinson is only one of seven changes (one positional) from the team that played out a drab 15-15 draw against Scotland and can finish no higher than third in the championship.
There is a first cap on the wing for Chris Ashton, whose first representative appearance in rugby league four years ago was on the winning side against France at Headingley, and a 61st appearance for Mike Tindall, who makes up the same midfield trio (with Flood and Riki Flutey) that functioned so well against France at Twickenham last year.
Ben Foden makes his first international start at full back and will look for good ball from a pack strengthened by the return of Simon Shaw at lock while Lewis Moody, having been dropped one week, returns at open-side flanker, with Joe Worsley displacing James Haskell on the blind side.
If Borthwick withdraws, Deacon will be his replacement, although Johnson was coy about naming a replacement captain. Tindall would be one candidate, Nick Easter another, but England’s state at the end of a demanding campaign is such that David Flatman and Hendrik Fourie joined training yesterday to allow Tim Payne and sundry back-row players to rest.
Scotland named an unchanged XV to play Ireland at Croke Park on Saturday, although amendments to the bench bring in Richie Gray for the injured Nathan Hines, Mike Blair for Rory Lawson and Alasdair Dickinson for Geoff Cross. Simon Taylor, the former Scotland No 8, is to join Bath on a three-year contract after three seasons with Stade Français.
England (to play France at Stade de France on Saturday): B Foden (Northampton); M Cueto (Sale Sharks), M Tindall(Gloucester), R Flutey (Brive), C Ashton (Northampton); T Flood(Leicester), D Care (Harlequins); T Payne (London Wasps), D Hartley (Northampton), D Cole (Leicester), S Shaw (London Wasps), S Borthwick (Saracens, captain), J Worsley (London Wasps), L Moody (Leicester), N Easter (Harlequins).Replacements: S Thompson (Brive), D Wilson (Bath), L Deacon (Leicester), J Haskell (Stade Français), B Youngs(Leicester), J Wilkinson (Toulon), M Tait (Sale Sharks).
Source:The Times

How the races unfolded on day three of the Festival

2010-03-18T07:08:00.000-07:00

Copper Bleu continues winning run for Philip Hobbs and Richard Johnson, left, with determined success in the Jewson Chase.

1 Copper Bleu (R Johnson) 12-1
2 Othermix (P J Brennan) 50-1
3 The Midnight Club (Paul Townend) 16-1

4 China Rock (N P Madden) 9-1
20 ran. Also: 6-1 fav Rivaliste
Copper Bleu won an eventful renewal of the Jewson Novices’ Handicap Chase, the first race on day three of the Cheltenham Festival.
There were plenty of casualties throughout the two-mile-five-furlong contest, but Richard Johnson weaved his way through the field to lead at the final fence.
Philip Hobbs’ eight-year-old, who was fourth in the Supreme Novices’ last year, began to idle out in front which enabled Paddy Brennan to have another go on runner-up Othermix.
The pair crossed paths on the run-in, but Johnson showed his strength to galvanise his mount once more and score by three and a half lengths.
Willie Mullins’sThe Midnight Club ran on well for third, with the well-backed China Rock in fourth.
Johnson said: “He ran well here last year (fourth in the Supreme) and I always felt on that form he had a good chance today.
“The tongue-tie helped and I think the extra trip has also helped today. He was having a look around on the run-in but it’s just fantastic to have a winner.
“It’s a funny place when you are on your own. He wasn’t stopping, he was just looking around.”
Hobbs’ wife, Sarah, said: “The horse is still very green but he jumped super and Richard gave him a great ride. I thought to have one winner [Menorah won the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle on Tuesday] was great, but to have two is fantastic.”
Philip Hobbs added: “He developed a breathing problem over the last couple of months so I tied his tongue down.
“The plan was to be handy, but Richard said he was flat-out all of the way. He also got lucky avoiding any trouble going down the inner.
“We’ll probably go to Punchestown, where he won last year, for a two mile five furlong novice handicap chase.”
Tom George, trainer of the runner-up: “Obviously we are delighted with the run, he’s improving and he’ll keep on doing so.
“Blinkers definitely sharpened him up and I’d say he’ll go to Aintree because we are only just getting him right.”
Mullins said: “I’m delighted with the run. They’ve gone a good gallop from start to finish and the ground was a little bit too lively. His jumping kept him in the race and he stayed all the way to the line.
“Today’s race was only two miles and five furlongs which is on the short side for him. The Irish National is an option but that may come too soon so the big novice in Punchestown is more likely.”
Source:The Times

The Spike Bar: Tiger Woods's return - in the player's own words

2010-03-18T06:58:00.000-07:00

Peter Dixon recalls the Woods saga, bemoans the ludicrous pro-am and welcomes back a Ryder Cup favourite.

After the best part of four months away from the game, Tiger Woods has announced his comeback. It has been quite a ride since he had that argument with a fire hydrant outside his Florida home at the end of last year and here, through the words of the man himself, The Spike Bar looks back at the way events have unfolded.
November 15, 2009
On winning the JBWere Masters in Melbourne:
"I'm very, very thankful to come here and play in front of such great people and put together some good rounds. My friends and family came down and everyone had a great time."
Elin, his wife, was at home. But among those friends was one Rachel Uchitel, party hostess and catalyst for everything that was about to follow.
November 17, 2009
In an interview for New Zealand television, it was put to Woods: “Family first and golf second. Always been that way?”
Tiger's reply: “Always. Always."
Ten days later, his world came crashing down. Literally.
November 27, 2009
Statement on Tiger's website:
"Tiger Woods was in a minor car accident outside his home last night. He was admitted [to hospital], treated and released today in good condition. We appreciate very much everyone's thoughts and well wishes."
... and now go away.
November 29, 2009
Statement on Tiger's website:
"Although I understand there is curiosity, the many false, unfounded and malicious rumors that are currently circulating about my family and me are irresponsible."
And which false, unfounded and malicious rumours might they be?
December 2, 2009
Statement on Tiger's website:
"I have let my family down and I regret those transgressions with all of my heart. I have not been true to my values and the behavior my family deserves."
Transgressions? With 12 mistresses and counting, I suppose that's one way of putting it.
December 11, 2009
Statement on Tiger's website:
"After much soul searching, I have decided to take an indefinite break from professional golf. I need to focus my attention on being a better husband, father and person."
And with that, it was time to head off for a touch of therapy - the rich man's get-out.
February 19, 2010
That apology in front of family, friends and associates ... and millions of television viewers worldwide:
"I thought I could get away with whatever I wanted to. I felt that I had worked hard my entire life and deserved to enjoy all the temptations around me. I felt I was entitled. I was wrong. I was foolish. I don't get to play by different rules ...
"I do plan to return to golf one day, I just don't know when that day will be. I don't rule out that it will be this year."
... all said with hand on heart (or was it wallet?) and, in truth, toe-curlingly awful. The one thing that made everybody sit up was the announcement that he had no idea when he might play again. Reduced to a husk of his former self, the world No 1 did not look like a man who could return to competition any time soon.
And then, 25 days later ...
March 16, 2010
Statement on Tiger's website:
"After a long and necessary time away from the game, I feel like I'm ready to start my season at Augusta." (The Masters, April 8-11).

"I have undergone almost two months of inpatient therapy and I am continuing my treatment. Although I'm returning to competition, I still have a lot of work to do in my personal life."
And so the soap opera moves on to Augusta next month. One thing is for certain. It will not be dull.
Anti pro-am
Desperate times call for desperate measures I suppose, which probably explains why the European Tour's Trophée Hassan II golf tournament in Morocco this week is in that most dreaded of formats - the pro-am. You would not send Joe Public on to the pitch with Wayne Rooney would you? And yet for some reason, professional golf seems content to let the happy hackers get in the way of their star performers. Put it down to money, sponsors' money.
At least in this instance the tour has seen sense in discarding the amateurs after 36 holes and letting the professionals get on with their real jobs over the final two days. It is something that should be considered for the Dunhill Links Championship that takes place at St Andrews, Carnoustie and Kingsbarns each October. Why not let the amateurs play the three courses and then clear the decks when the pros go for the line at St Andrews on the final day? With big money and world ranking points at stake things suddenly become very serious. And by this stage, the amateurs are getting in the way - and they know it.
McGinley back in the fray
On the subject of Morocco, it is good to see that Paul McGinley is playing again after four months recuperating from a sixth operation on a knee he damaged while playing Gaelic football as a teenager. One of the most articulate and engaging of golfers, McGinley still harbours hopes of qualifying for the Ryder Cup team that will take on the United States at Celtic Manor, Newport, in October. If he fails in his quest - and even he would admit that he is up against it - then the Irishman is expected to become one of Colin Montgomerie's vice-captains. And rest assured, with the Ryder Cup coursing through his veins, McGinley would be a great addition to the team.
Money talks when it comes to the World Cup
I see the World Cup, that most unloved of golfing events, will become a biennial competition from next year. It was dropped from the calendar this year, but will resurface at the Mission Hills Resort, on Hainan Island, China, in November 2011.
In 2009 much criticism was levelled against the Americans, who could barely get together a two-man team to represent their country. But do the organisers really believe that by increasing the prize fund by $2 million, golf's spoilt and pampered stars are going to jump on their private jets and head to the other side of the world? When the Molinari brothers won in 2009, they shared a first prize of $1.4 million. How much more do these guys need?
Hansen's taxing problem
One man who might be only too pleased to play for such riches is Soren Hansen. The Dane finds himself in court in Denmark this week on a charge of tax evasion. The Ryder Cup player has been accused of misreporting his earnings in the six years up to 2006, claiming that he lived most of that time in Monaco and not Denmark. The taxman is seeking 9.6 million kroner (about $1.75 million) and up to an additional 10 million kroner as a penalty payment if he were to be found guilty.
Source:The Times

Bernie Ecclestone wants boffins to steer clear of rulebook

2010-03-18T06:52:00.000-07:00

Formula One supremo pondering the wisdom of allowing engineers and scientists to devise the sport's regulations.
Bernie Ecclestone wants to stop Formula One’s boffins writing the rules after criticism over a dull season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix poured into his office yesterday.
The first race of 2010 was one of the most eagerly awaited in years with four world champions on the track. But the race was a flop as new regulations, including a ban on refuelling, led to a procession with almost no overtaking.
Ecclestone, Formula One’s commercial rights-holder, believes that allowing the engineers and scientists who work for the teams to write the technical regulations has led to a sport in which staring at computers and worrying about tyre pressures have become more important than the spectacle. But he does not want a radical overhaul of the new rules yet.
“There is no panic, no crisis for F1,” he said. “I think there is nothing we can do immediately and we should not just knee-jerk into changes.

“I had a meeting with the teams and tried to explain to them what our business is about — racing and entertaining the public, not about playing with computers and going fast over one lap. The problem is that you cannot really have teams in any shape or form having a part in the sporting or technical regulations. You cannot have the inmates writing the regulations.”
Ecclestone wants to hand the job to a team of outside experts but that is a long-term objective and the question is whether Formula One needs a rapid change now. Christian Horner, the Red Bull team principal, wants the immediate introduction of two mandatory pitstops to break up the field.
That is likely to be rejected by Jean Todt, the new president of the FIA, the sport’s governing body. He will want to see what happens at the next three races, in Australia, Malaysia and China, before being pushed into making any sweeping alterations.
Ecclestone believes that the rules need to be given time, while Ferrari, for whom Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa took a 1-2 finish in Bahrain, will veto any proposals to add to pitstops.
Jacques Villeneuve, the 1997 world champion, also believes that the new regulations need time to work.
“The rules are fine,” the Canadian said. “One race doesn’t mean anything. The worst thing would be for sudden changes before everybody is sure what they want.”
Source:The Times

Angus Fraser: Eoin Morgan can step up to Test cricket

2010-03-18T06:40:00.000-07:00

England may be forced to "take a punt" on Eoin Morgan to discover if he is cut out for Test cricket, according to Angus Fraser, Middlesex managing director.
The Irish left-hander has emerged as one of England's most dynamic limited-overs batsmen, scoring a match-winning century in the second one-day international against Bangladesh in Dhaka.
However, his participation in England's short-format squads and in the Indian Premier League (IPL) will leave him with little Championship cricket ahead of the Test series this summer. He did not make England's Test squad to play Bangladesh.
But Fraser says Morgan should still be considered for the summer series against Bangladesh. "The fixture list doesn't allow him to play a great deal of championship cricket," Fraser said.
"He's got the skill and ability to adapt to the longest form of the game. It may come down to whether England will be prepared to take a punt on him. Maybe the Bangladesh series would have been a good time."
Morgan went immediately from Bangladesh to join up with Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL.
The Dubliner's startling impact in Twenty20, capped by a match-winning 67 not out for England against Pakistan in Dubai last month, means he should be a shoo-in for England's final 15-man squad for the World Twenty20 in May.
But if Morgan were to be considered for England's first Test against Bangladesh at Lord's later that month, it is likely he would not have played a single LV County Championship match to prepare.
"The biggest thing for Eoin is to compartmentalise," Fraser said. "He's got a game in one-day cricket that works very well for him and he's confident with. He might have to make a few adjustments to be as effective in the longer format. The skill is to able to change from one to the other without them affecting each other."
Source:The Times

Glazers hope to cut down Red Knights in battle for Manchester United

2010-03-18T06:38:00.000-07:00

The Glazer family are considering a second round of refinancing in an effort to remove Manchester United’s huge debt burden.
The American owners also hope that the move would help to stave off a planned takeover by the Red Knights.
Initial talks have taken place within the Glazers’ inner circle about how to get rid of their payment in kind (PIK) loans that could total £588 million by the time they are due to be repaid in 2017, The Times has learnt.
No final decision has been taken and a deal could be many months away, but a second refinancing would represent an about-turn for the Glazers, who, publicly at least, have shown little concern about the PIK loans until now.
The debt, which stood at £202.1 million according to the latest accounts, is rolling up at an astonishing annual interest rate of 14.25 per cent.
The club’s £716.5 million total debt has been cited by the Red Knights, a group of City financiers-cum-United fans, as the key driver behind their plans to organise a takeover.
It also emerged yesterday that the multimillionaire boss of one of the UK’s biggest hedge funds is one of dozens of rich United fans considering joining the Red Knights. Jon Aisbitt, the Man Group chairman, has held talks with Nomura, the Knights’ investment bank, about signing up.
Despite the debt, United’s commercial revenues are soaring, with the club expected to announce today a sponsorship agreement with a mobile telecommunications company in southern Africa, their third such deal in a week.
The Glazers have yet to appoint a bank to oversee the planned refinancing, although it is likely that they will turn to J.P. Morgan, their trusted financial adviser, which drove through the recent £504 million bond issue.
There are a number of ways in which the Glazers could refinance the PIK debt. A source close to the Americans said they had already had several approaches from investors who would want to buy a stake in the club.
A well-placed banker told The Times: “The Glazers have been approached by lots of groups about a deal.” Rather than sell a stake, however, the Glazers would prefer to refinance the PIK at a more favourable rate of interest.
“Crazier things have been done than this,” the banker said. “What you will see in periods of buoyant global markets like this is that investors become anxious to get their hands on new bond issues.”
Because the interest rate could rise to 16.25 per cent if a debt threshold outlined in the PIK notes is exceeded by August 16, there is good reason for the Glazers to secure a refinancing package as quickly as possible.
Under the terms of United’s bond, the Americans will be able to use up to £70 million of the £117 million of cash on the club’s balance sheet to start repaying the PIK notes, for which they are personally responsible.
A spokesman for the owners declined to comment.
Source:The Times

Elena Baltacha offers British tennis an antidote

2010-03-13T08:17:00.000-08:00

The antidote to the ills pervading British tennis was discovered in a far-off desert oasis last night. Elena Baltacha, who has been through so much and endured it all with a determination to make the most of her career, defeated a top ten player for the first time in her life.

Baltacha's 7-6, 2-6, 7-6 victory over Li Na of China, a semi-finalist at the Australian Open five weeks ago, was the finest she has produced and marked a moment for all of the game to cherish. Six days from the debacle of Lithuania, when the Davis Cup team was beaten and chastened, the British No 1 woman player produced a performance in keeping with the blue skies all around.

Into the third round of the BNP Paribas Masters, where she now meets the unseeded Alicia Molik of Australia who is putting her own career back together, Baltacha was rightly thrilled with her performance. From 5-1 down in the final set tie-break, she survived three match points to the No 7 seed and on Baltacha's first, the Chinese player laced a backhand into the sidelines. At no time did defeat cross Baltacha's mind; she never took a backward step. This was a victory that resonated with heart, determination and unquenchable belief. It was Li who double-faulted on her third match point; the nerves tightened, she struck a forehand into the net and then missed that last backhand.

One doubts that victory ever tasted sweeter for the 26-year-old Baltacha. From the moment she stepped out to play this year, at No 87 in the world, she has refused to look back and feel sorry for all the times when she might have been forced to stop playing altogether. She knows the list better than anyone - the severe illnesses, the aches and strains, the ankle and the back problems and it is as if the gifts she has deserved are being showered in her direction all at onceHaving qualified for this championship, she has gone on to win two matches in three sets, to become the first British player in 15 years to win back-to-back main draw matches in an event of this magnitude. The last time a British woman had beaten a top ten opponent was at Wimbledon in 1998 when Sam Smith defeated the 1994 champion Conchita Martinez in the third round (Martinez was in attendance at the tournament here yesterday, just to add a further touch of piquancy).

Li could have won the first set, but missed backhands on her two set points in the twelfth game and made two errors off the same flank in the tie-break that surrendered the initiative. At the end of the first set, Baltacha took the opportunity to call Nino Severino, her coach, onto court for a few words of wisdom. Li declined the chance to summon Thomas Hogstedt, the Swede, and when he shouted out a few words to her as she walked back to re-start, the umpire warned Li for coaching. You could not make it up.

When she stumbled her way through the second set, it did not look particularly encouraging for the British No 1 and, having lost her first service game in the third, a swift departure appeared the likeliest outcome. But Baltacha is a battler - she immediately recovered that break and gave as good as she got from the back of the court in a final set of real intensity and classic hitting as the sun dipped over the horizon and the lights flickered on.

The tie-break was Li's to win when she struck a couple of glorious backhand winners down the line to lead 5-1. Baltacha willed herself to hang in, she struck two passes herself and on Li's first match point, the depth she found, her refusal to take a step back, brought her back from the brink. It was a stunning victory, and her embrace with Severino at its end spoke volumes for the work he has done to help piece her career back together.

Baltacha said: "When I broke into the world's top 100 in September last year, I felt like I really belong, and that was a defining moment. I'm not struggling with anything major, I'm practising hard, I'm feeling confident and that all helps. When you are playing the better girls more often, you are seeing a more consistent, faster ball and unless you adapt to that, you aren't going to survive. I have stuck in there, I think playing three matches already in the event helped but I felt from 4-4 in the final set that I was the one in charge of the match. It took abut ten seconds for me to realise she had missed that last backhand but of course I'm elated. I'm playing as well as I've ever played and I'm really excited about my prospects."

Source:The Times

Superb Wigan give Hull and Long severe reality check

2010-03-13T08:15:00.000-08:00

Any pretentions that Hull and Sean Long had of leapfrogging Wigan at the top of the Engage Super League were ruthlessly dashed by the unstoppable Warriors at the DW Stadium on Friday night.

Long, the former St Helens scrum half, whom Wigan had courted before Hull made him a two-year offer, was roundly booed each time he touched the ball; in truth, that was not often. Hull were denuded of possession through their indiscipline and Wigan inflicted the away side’s second defeat of the campaign with an eight-try romp.

Victory stretched Wigan’s lead in the table to two points and handsomely bolstered their scoring difference, thanks to two tries apiece by Darrell Goulding and Sam Tomkins, leaving Long to nurse wounded pride, as well as a head cut that necessitated the bizarre bandaging of his dreadlocks.

Wigan built on a 26-4 lead at the break, mindful that they let slip a 20-point half-time advantage against Bradford Bulls the previous FridayDesperation to atone for that first defeat of the season was characterised by the barnstorming contributions of Stuart Fielden and Mark Riddell. Hull’s difficulty containing Wigan’s front row was exacerbated by their vulnerability to the home team’s pace and precision out wide.

Pat Richards took his try tally to nine in six matches in collecting the ubiquitous Sean O’Loughlin’s looping pass for the first of Wigan’s four first-half tries. Darrell Goulding, one of the homegrown youngsters a more enlightened regime at the club is building the side around, turned on a sixpence in scooping up a loose pass and outmanoeuvring the Hull cover.

The “Black and Whites” struck back through Richard Whiting, who took advantage of Richard Horne’s break for a try, which the centre would have supplemented had he been expecting Craig Hall’s inside pass on the Wigan line. Instead, Hull succumbed twice in six minutes, first to Martin Gleeson’s exploitation of a sizeable gap, then to Amos Roberts seizing O’Loughlin’s intelligent kick into space.

Any chance of last week’s implosion being repeated was scotched by Wigan taking advantage of three successive penalties conceded by Hull for Goulding’s second try after more incisive work by O’Loughlin. The Warriors ensured no let-up, and when Sam Tomkins slipped Whiting’s leash, the England stand-off carved his way beneath the posts for the first of his tries, which Cameron Phelps added to.

Long scored in a belated three-try Hull revival but this was never going to be his night.

Scorers: Wigan Warriors: Tries: Richards, Goulding 2, Gleeson, Roberts, S Tomkins 2, Phelps. Goals: Richards 8. Hull: Tries:Whiting, Hall, Long, Horne. Goals: Tickle 4.
Wigan Warriors: C Phelps; A Roberts, M Gleeson, D Goulding, P Richards; S Tomkins, T Leuluai; S Fielden, M Riddell, A Coley, H Hansen, J Tomkins, S O’Loughlin. Interchange: P Prescott, P Bailey, E O’Carroll, L Mossop.
Hull: J Tansey; C Hall, R Whiting, K Yeaman, T Briscoe; R Horne, S Long; M O’Meley, S Berrigan, E Dowes, D Tickle, W Manu, C Fitzgibbon. Interchange: E Lauaki, P Cusack, L Radford, D Houghton.
Referee: T Alibert.

Source:The Times

Leading owner finds success par for the course on racetrack

2010-03-13T08:10:00.000-08:00

Clive Smith, who owns outstanding chasers Kauto Star and Master Minded, talks to Alan Lee about life, horses and love.

A précis of Clive Smith's lifestyle could have every man in the land drooling with envy. He lives on an exclusive golf course and has the time and money to enjoy it. He has two vintage Lagondas in the garage. And for good measure he owns the two finest steeplechasers seen for a generation.

Misogynists might also delight that there is no wife intruding on this male hedonism but Smith, 67, is a reluctant bachelor. “I regret never marrying,” he admitted. “I was always trying to find the right one.”

It is probably why he found racing as an alternative focus, and why he bought Kauto Star - though that so nearly did not happen.

Whatever his other horses achieve - and Master Minded, the dual two-mile champion, has achieved plenty - Kauto Star will be Smith's racing legacy. On Friday, if he can conquer Denman, his stablemate, once more, he will emulate Arkle and Best Mate with a third Cheltenham Gold Cup. Yet Smith almost paid twice as much for an infinitely inferior horsePerched on a sofa in his ten-bedroom mansion on the Wentworth estate, Smith recalled the May day in 2004 when life could have taken a different course. Having had horses with Jenny Pitman, David Elsworth and Martin Pipe, he had switched to Paul Nicholls, who had gone to the Doncaster sales with the type of instructions trainers relish. “I told him I wanted fun out of racing. Rather than buy another house, or a boat, I would invest £1m in horses.”

Smith was in Cambridgeshire, supervising the Lagonda Classic golf tournament that he created in 1975, when Nicholls called. He was trying to buy a horse called Garde Champetre. “I stayed on the mobile and kept bidding. My last bid was 490,000 guineas before J.P.McManus came in with the knockout.”

Garde Champetre will be at Cheltenham defending a title, but in the niche sphere of cross-country chasing. As a Gold Cup prospect, he flopped. Two weeks after narrowly failing to spend half his budget, Smith paid £280,000 for a promising French horse. The rest is history.

Smith seems an outrageously lucky owner. Even his first horse, Hawthorn Hill Lad, bolted up by 20 lengths on his debut in 1987, then won at Cheltenham. “A journalist came to me that day and said it would be all downhill from then on,” he recalled. “Whatever you pay for a horse, there has to be a big element of luck. But I've always felt something guiding me to do the right things.”

This might fancifully be ascribed to his birth in Jerusalem, where his father, an Army officer, “swam out to the middle of the river Jordan to fetch the waters to have me baptised”. Still, he took a few diversions before discovering his lifetime path.

There was the young love of an Irish nurse that “interrupted my studies”, and the year spent “dabbling in stockbroking”. Then, after accountancy training, a business degree at Loughborough and a spell with Chrysler, Smith was ready. “I decided I didn't like company life and I was more of an entrepreneur,” he said.

Golf had been his game since caddying on the Surrey circuit - he still has a carefully compiled book of his clients and their payments - and Smith now had a vision. “I felt there was a gap in the market for ordinary chaps to play, so I advertised in Farmers' Weekly for 50 acres of land to build a public course,” he said.

This was groundbreaking in the mid-1970s. It was also brave. “I sold my house, my car and some shares and borrowed money from the bank,” he said. “I was £70,000 in debt. But we opened a nine-hole course near Woking in May 1978. I had a caravan as the clubhouse and I sat there taking the green fees. It was extraordinary how it took off.”

Two more courses followed, one on a disused racecourse near Maidenhead, and he has since sold both fruitfully. His pride is justified. “My parents didn't have any money and all I had was a bit of drive,” he said. “I'm a grammar school boy who saw a lot of snobbishness in golf. I felt I cracked it open.”

A snap decision in August 2003 has brought fame to go with his fortune. “I just decided to drop in on Paul Nicholls,” he said. “I didn't know him but I saw him as the man on the way up. I walked into a deserted yard that Sunday morning and called out, ‘Is anyone home?' Paul put his head out of the office window and, in the next hour, I sensed he had an enthusiasm to match mine. He's streets ahead of other trainers.”

On the day Kauto Star won his first race at Newbury, Nicholls told Smith that someone was willing to give him a 100 per cent profit to take the horse. He refused. “I often wondered if it was J.P.McManus, or even Paul Barber. But I knew Paul wouldn't tell me,” he said.

Thanks to that decision, Smith will be surrounded by 108 friends in a private marquee on Friday, a single man in his element. “Last year, we had a dinner after Kauto won and three of the ladies told me it was the greatest day of their lives,” he said. “I said they must rank it behind their wedding days but they said, 'Oh no, it was much better than that.'”

Source:The Times

Paramedics suspected Tiger Woods’s wife had beaten him up, new records suggest

2010-03-13T08:08:00.000-08:00

Paramedics barred Tiger Woods’ wife from riding in the ambulance with him on the night of his car crash because they suspected she had beaten him up, it emerged last night.

Newly released records from the Florida Highway Patrol show that when paramedics collected Woods “one of the crew stated that (his) wife could not go in the ambulance because this was a domestic”.

The early morning incident in November in which Woods hit a hedge, fire hydrant and tree while leaving his mansion triggered a series of revelations of affairs by the world’s No 1 golfer.

Last month, in his first public appearance since his fall from grace, Woods apologised to family and fans for cheating on his wife, Elin Nordegren, and said that he was undergoing therapy. But he denied there had been any physical violence between him and his wife“It angers me that people would fabricate a story like that. She never hit me that night or any other night. There has never been an episode of domestic violence in our marriage. Ever.”

The police records also confirmed previous media reports that Woods had been on prescription drugs at the time of the incident. They record that his wife handed paramedics two pill bottles before they drove her husband away, telling them that he had taken some of them. One of the bottles contained the painkiller Vicodin.

They also show that state troopers immediately set about looking for evidence that Woods was drunk at the time of the accident.

The golfer was later charged with careless driving and fined $164.

The police records show that they found no evidence of domestic violence but reveal that their inquiries into whether Woods was sober were thwarted by workers at Health Central Hospital in nearby Ocoee, who found excuses not to provide them with medical paperwork.

Source:The Times

Michael Schumacher put in the shade by young pretender

2010-03-13T08:07:00.000-08:00

So first blood to the young pretender. On a day when all eyes were on Michael Schumacher’s comeback to Formula One after three years in retirement, it was his team-mate who stole the show in practice for the Bahrain Grand Prix.

Nico Rosberg emerged from Schumacher’s shadow to post the fastest time of the day in what is becoming an intriguing national contest between England and Germany. Rosberg, with Schumacher in third place, in their Mercedes cars ahead of the McLarens of Lewis Hamilton, in second and 0.445 seconds off Rosberg’s pace, and Jenson Button, who was fourth.

Schumacher admitted he had felt rusty on his return to the grid and conceded he needed to "raise his game" if he was to compete with Rosberg. "The car felt much better in the second session although I've got to raise my game a bit and I'm sure I'm able to," he said. "I certainly feel a little bit rusty, certainly on the one-lap issue I can do better. On long runs and consistent runs things are pretty good, I'm quite happy. I will just use the rest of the weekend in order to tweak out the little bits."

Sebastian Vettel rounded off the top five for Red Bull, but there was little sign during the day of the twin Ferraris of Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa. They could be playing a waiting game but it was strange to see the expected big names gradually rise to the top of the timesheets as the two practice sessions progressed while Massa, who finished seventh, and Alonso, ninth, showed no signs of the pre-season pace that had them marked down as title favourites.

Alonso admitted Ferrari needed to make some changes before tomorrow's qualifying session but said he was still hopeful of getting on pole. "It's still completely unknown," he said. "For sure, out of the four big teams, any can be on pole. And there could be a surprise like Force India, who seem very quick on this type of circuit. We are in a position to attack 100 per cent. We are confident with the car - we need to make changes to improve the grip but there is nothing wrong."

Inevitably, on the first day of any Formula One season, there was one technical issue to cause some minor explosions among the teams. This time it was McLaren’s controversial new wing assembly, said to be controlled by the drivers altering the airflow through the car cockpit, which is then directed onto the rear wing. That means they can control the amount of drag over the wing and potentially lift the speed of the car by up to six mph on the straights.

The FIA, the governing body, has declared the wing design legal and the sound and fury was dying out last night with teams resigned to having to replicate the McLaren innovation.

That is unlikely to apply to the three new teams on the grid, who had a mixed start to their careers in Formula One. The Lotus Cosworths of Heikki Kovalainen and Jarno Trulli look as though they have a chance of improving, but Virgin Racing’s two cars could be struggling, while HRT, the new Spanish team, were so far off the pace, they might be quicker calling a taxi for qualifying tomorrow.

Only Bruno Senna managed to get in some running, finishing a mighty 11.559 seconds off Rosberg’s fastest time, while Kanun Chandhok, the rookie who has never driven a Formula One car, will have to wait a little longer for his big moment. Mechanics had still not finished building his car by the end of practice, raising the prospect that the Indian will have to do his first runs in qualifying on Saturday afternoon – if he is allowed to run at all this weekend.

Bahrain Grand Prix: Second free practice session
1 Rosberg Mercedes 1m55.409s
2 Hamilton Mclaren 1m55.854s
3 Schumacher Mercedes 1m55.903s
4 Button Mclaren 1m56.076s
5 Vettel Red Bull 1m56.459s
6 Hulkenberg Williams 1m56.501s
7 Massa Ferrari 1m56.555s
8 Petrov Renault 1m56.750s
9 Alonso Ferrari 1m57.140s
10 De La Rosa Sauber 1m57.255s
11 Kobayashi Sauber 1m57.352s
12 Sutil Force India 1m57.361s
13 Barrichello Williams 1m57.452s
14 Liuzzi Force India 1m57.833s
15 Kubica Renault 1m58.155s
16 Alguersuari Toro Rosso 1m59.799s
17 Webber Red Bull 2m00.444s
18 Kovalainen Lotus 2m00.873s
19 Trulli Lotus 2m00.990s
20 Glock Virgin 2m02.037s
21 Di Grassi Virgin 2m02.188s
22 Senna Hrt 2m06.968s
23 Buemi Toro Rosso No Time
24 Chandhok Hrt No Time

Source:The Times

England power ahead against Bangladesh

2010-03-13T08:04:00.000-08:00

Paul Collingwood followed captain Alastair Cook's example with an untroubled century as England declared on 599 for six on the second afternoon of the first Test against Bangladesh.

Cook's was the only wicket to fall in the morning session, departing for a career-best 173, then Collingwood scored 145 to register his tenth Test century.

His fifth-wicket partner Ian Bell came close to a hundred himself, but was caught out for 84, and the declaration followed immediately afterwards.

Despite earlier questions over his fitness, Stuart Broad proved that he is certainly strong enough to be in the side, removing Kayes and Siddique in the seven overs Bangladesh had at the crease before teaGraeme Swann came on at the start of the evening session and continued his uncanny habit of striking in his first over, removing Aftab Ahmed, who was caught by Bell at short leg for one.

Yet Mahmudullah was going well in support of the opener Tamim Iqbal and hit one of the shots of the day to heave Swann back over his head for six, and clubbed Tim Bresnan for successive boundaries as the fourth-wicket pair scored at pace.

But Swann had him for 51, with a suggestion of glove as the ball floated to Collingwood at slip.

Shakib looked set to reach stumps alongside Tamim but lost his off stump to Swann attempting a rash shot.

Nightwatchman Shahadat almost followed but the third umpire turned down England's appeal for caught at silly point.

Bangladesh: first innings
Iqbal not out 81
Kayes c Prior b Broad 4
Siddique c & b Broad 7
Aftab Ahmed c Bell b Swann 1
Shakib Al Hasan b Swann 1
Shahadat Hossain not out 0
Extras (lb7 w1 nb1) 9
Total 5 wkts (39 overs) 154
Fall of wickets: 1-13 2-27 3-51 4-145 5-149
Mushfiqur Rahim, Naeem Islam, Abdur Razzak, Rubel Hossain to bat
Bowling: Broad 10-1-30-2; Bresnan 10-1-47-0; Swann 14-5-40-3; Finn 5-1-30-0.

England: first innings (overnight 374-3)
Alastair Cook c and b Mahmudullah 173
Michael Carberry lbw b Mahmudullah 30
Jonathan Trott c Rahim b Rubel 39
Kevin Pietersen b Razzak 99
Paul Collingwood c Tamim b Razzak 145
Ian Bell c Rubel b Shakib 84
Matt Prior not out 0
Extras (b6, lb9, nb11, w3) 29
Total (for 6 wickets decl; 138.3 overs) 599
Fall of wickets: 1-72 (Carberry), 2-149 (Trott), 3-319 (Pietersen), 4-412 (Cook), 5-596 (Collingwood), 6-599 (Bell).
Bowling: Shahadat 17-2-73-0 (nb4, w2), Rubel 19-0-97-1 (nb6), Shakib 34.3-4-133-1, Naeem 12-1-42-0, Mahmudullah 23-1-78-2 (nb1, w1), Razzak 31-1-157-2, Ahmed 1-0-2-0, Tamim 1-0-2-0.

Source:The Times

A seven-point plan to rescue British tennis

2010-03-10T09:02:00.000-08:00

After the debacle of Great Britain’s Davis Cup defeat in Lithuania at the weekend, which is almost certain to cost John Lloyd, the captain, his job, the LTA promised a review of the tie and where it could have done better.

Here, The Times becomes the governing body’s chief executive for a day and says what it would do in seven steps to turn the sport around.

1, Scrap the National Tennis Centre

The Roehampton renaissance building in southwest London is a £40 million cradle of elitism, too opulent and cosy and not fit for purpose. It is everything that the sport has no right to think that it is. There are six indoor courts and more than 60 people staring into computers. There are not enough players of sufficient quality to make the figures stack upAndy Murray was asked if he would vacate a court last week to make way for a mini-tennis tournament, so he went to practise in nearby Chiswick. One young player who used the NTC for the first time wrote to his parents saying that “everyone in there thinks they are God”.

Use it as a reference point for sports science and competitions, but abandon the pretence that it should be a high-performance centre.

2, Disband national training and support independent centres

When Judy Murray said that, rather than building one £40 million centre, the LTA should have funded forty £1 million centres across the country, she was spot on. Independence is the way forward, with competitive squads across Britain that are funded centrally but run on strict licensing guidelines. We must free the regions to do their own thing, invest in young British coaches, give them the freedom to flourish from under the iron hand of national interference. Make sure that all the courts in these centres have free access to children under the age of 16 from 6.30 to 8.30am every day.

3, End the love affair with foreigners

What do Belgians know about British tennis that British people do not? Do we really need a Belgian as player director, a 26-year-old Belgian as head of coach education and a Belgian as head of research (what is that?), as well as Belgian coaches? Yes, Belgium struck gold in Justine Henin and Kim Clijsters, but what has it achieved since? How much does this insistence on bringing foreign people into key positions in the sport motivate the young coaches in Britain?

4, Breathe new life into a moribund club system

The whole environment of British clubs, the way they are run, staffed and organised, needs to be changed if ever we are going to inspire young people to play there. We have to invest more in places to play, but also youngsters need to be able to play at the same time as their parents or grandparents, not fobbed off as outcasts A ten-year-old can learn more about strategy by facing a 70-year-old who slices and dices the ball than he ever could with a soft red ball on a half-sized red court with a cut-down racket. This absorption with mini-tennis is a scourge on the game.

Do they play mini-tennis at the Bollettieri or Casal-Sánchez academies, two of the best in the world? Of course they don’t.

5, Hand over the responsibility of wild cards into Wimbledon

Rather than have to spend countless days explaining why the performances of British players who cannot get into the Championships by right are so poor, let the All England Club decide who should fill their eight wild-card places. If it wants to give them to British players, so be it, but the LTA should leave the reckoning up to them and not be involved in the process at all.

6, Make tennis live and make it relevant

Give the coach the stature in a tennis club that a golf professional has in his. Rather than crush him with daft targets and box-ticking, let him live the dream and pass it on to his protégés. Offer free tennis equipment to every primary school in the country.

7, Be inspirational, be honest and, most important, be realistic

There is an inherent weakness at the top and tennis requires a leader of courage, wisdom and experience who stands up for his sport with concise words and strong character.

I would stop making outrageous claims, stop raising expectation to levels that cannot be realised and be prepared to take responsibility when things did not work out, not just say that I would. So if I made mistakes I would own up to them and if I made too many and the game was going down the plughole, I would resign.

Source:The Times

Paul Cooke set to be reunited with John Kear at Wakefield Wildcats

2010-03-10T08:58:00.000-08:00

Paul Cooke is set to leave Hull Kingston Rovers, three years after his controversial cross-city move from Hull, and join Wakefield Wildcats on loan for the rest of the season.

Whether the deal will be completed in time for Cooke to play against his parent club in Friday’s Engage Super League fixture at Craven Park is unclear.

Cooke, who has been dropped for Rovers’ past two matches, confirmed to team-mates yesterday that he was moving to link up with John Kear, for whom Cooke, 28, played at Hull.

The stand-off will also be reunited at Belle Vue with Danny Brough, his former half-back partner at Hull, where the pair were instrumental in the 2005 Challenge Cup final defeat of Leeds Rhinos under Kear. The Wakefield head coach retained his admiration for Cooke, who scored a late try from loose forward against Leeds at the Millennium Stadium five years ago before Brough kicked the winning conversionCooke’s switch from Hull to their fierce rivals, which earned him a four-month suspension for an illegal approach to Rovers while still a contracted Hull player, caused uproar in the city. At Craven Park, he never scaled the heights he did playing for the “Black and Whites” and Hull KR had told him that he would not receive a new contract beyond this season.

Robin Dickin rejuvenated by exploits of Festival fancy Restless Harry

2010-03-10T08:56:00.000-08:00

Trainer indebted to a horse that has saved his training career and his health inside the space of a year.

Robin Dickin says he will try not to cry if Restless Harry wins at Cheltenham on Friday week, but we should not hold him to it. This, after all, is the horse that has saved his training career and his health inside a year. A few tears of joy would be fitting.

Last spring, Dickin was at a low ebb. Down to a dozen horses, he had trained three winners all season and the strain was evident, even before he collapsed in his Warwickshire yard. “My doctor thought it must be heart-related but it was just stress,” he recalled.

“I'd begun using savings to support a business that wasn't working. Syndicates were losing members who just couldn't afford it any more in the recession. Because I didn't want to let the others down, I would finance them. The overdraft was getting bigger and I couldn't fix it.

“Normally, I sleep for England but I was waking up in a muck sweat, then pacing the house worrying. I'd already given up ten boxes and a cottage and I didn't know what to do next. I was depressed at the very idea of not being able to carry on training.Richard Whitehead, friend and long-standing owner, did not waste words on sympathy. “He said, come on, let's get going and buy a horse.” So they went to the Cheltenham sale and acquired ‘Harry', a West Country point-to-point winner, with their first bid of £12,000.

Dickin, 56, spent the next 24 hours regretting it so vividly he might easily have ended up back in hospital. “He went mad in the lorry taking him home and, next morning, he'd wrecked his stable and was galloping round it like a motor bike on the wall of death. An agent then rang to tell me the horse was known to be nuts.”

He considered sending him back. Life may have taken a bleaker course had he done so. Instead, Dickin surveyed his purchase across the quaint yard he shares with a vintage car garage and a Victorian bathroom builder, then rode him over the fields himself and changed his mind. “He was so wonderfully athletic,” he said.

Yesterday, placidly munching his food, you would not have known ‘Harry' had been restless, let alone nuts. A mirror in his stable helped - “an idea I borrowed from Martin Pipe” - but natural ability conquered temperament. He is a strong second favourite for the Albert Bartlett Novices Hurdle, immediately before the Gold Cup.

One good horse really can transform a stable. “We've had 13 winners this season. Having such an athlete in the yard raises everybody's game. I haven't been through the books with an accountant, and I know we've got a way to go, but I'm feeling very positive.”

If Dickin gets his Festival winner, it will not be out of turn. He has been trying for 40 years, as jockey and trainer, since leaving the Shropshire of his childhood to join the fledgeling training regime of the late David Nicholson.

“I spent 11 happy years there. David was a verbal bully but under that bark, there was no bite. I was just a farmer's son without much education but I got an honours degree in life from the Nicholsons.”

Dickin recalls how Nicholson would arrange for his staff to attend Cheltenham each Gold Cup day. He will be there in his own right this year, still reminiscing. “I miss him still. I always thought he felt I'd be no good at training. I wish he could be there next week.

“I'm hoping, if 'Harry' wins, I'll have the composure not to bawl my eyes out. But I wear my heart on my sleeve. I promise I'll do a lot of laughing, too.”

Source:The Times

Tiger Woods working with Hank Haney as comeback looms

2010-03-10T08:55:00.000-08:00

Tiger Woods's long-awaited comeback appears to have moved a step close after it emerged the world No1 is back working with his swing coach, Hank Haney.

Reports in the United States suggest that Haney, who has coached Woods for seven years, arrived in Florida on Sunday and has spent the past few days working with the disgraced golfer at Isleworth, the private country club near Orlando.

Mark O'Meara, one of Woods's closest friends during his 14 years on Tour, added further weight to the reports today when he said he “would not be surprised” if the world No1 decides to play on his team at the Tavistock Cup in 12 days time.

O'Meara is captain of the Isleworth side in the two-day exhibition match which takes place on the same gated-community complex as Woods' Florida home. “I would not be surprised if Tiger plays,” O'Meara said. “Hank [Haney, his coach] has come to town and they're working on stuff they normally work on. I know it's been a rough road these last three months for him and his family, but golf is what Tiger does. The Tavistock Cup might be a right fit to come back. Play that event and then, maybe, Bay Hill straight afterwards.”

Charles Howell and J.B. Holmes backed up O'Meara's claims after admitting they had seen Woods practicing at Isleworth. And O'Meara, who introduced Haney to Woods, believes his friend has ample time to find his best form before the Tavistock Cup and then later that week the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill.“It wouldn't take them too long,” said O'Meara. “I would imagine a few weeks Tiger would be good to go.”

Woods, 34, has won 14 major titles, four shy of the all-time record set by Jack Nicklaus, and this year's first three majors will be played on courses where Woods has taken record-setting triumphs. Woods could play at Augusta National, where he has won the Masters four times, and then the US Open at Pebble Beach, where he captured the 2000 US Open by 15 strokes, followed by a British Open at St. Andrews, where he won the event in 2000 and 2005.

Source:The Times

Ross Brawn plays down Mercedes GP's title chances

2010-03-10T08:53:00.000-08:00

Ross Brawn, the Mercedes GP team principal, has play down their chances of defending their Formula One world title on the eve of the season-opening grand prix in Bahrain.

Mercedes are returning to F1 55 years after they last graced the sport, but the returning Michael Schumacher has blown hot and cold in recent weeks as to whether they can compete this year.

"Everyone at the team is proud to be representing the rich motorsport pedigree of Mercedes-Benz as we start the season as the first Mercedes works team for over half a century," Brawn, who captured both titles with his own team last year prior to Mercedes' takeover, said.

"In addition, knowing we go into the new season as the reigning world champions gives the team confidence and a fierce pride to defend our position"However, this is a new season and a new challenge. We had a strong pre-season testing programme with the car, but we have not quite reached the level of preparation we would have liked prior to Bahrain.

"The car shows promise and we have a strong development programme planned for the season, but there is a lot of hard work ahead to ensure we will be in the fight for the title."

Brawn's words are echoed by Norbert Haug, Mercedes motorsport boss. "Judging our competitiveness for the first couple of races, my impression is we are not quite where we want to be and I would not see our team in the role of favourites," Haug said.

"Having said that, I am fully convinced the whole team and our drivers Nico (Rosberg) and Michael are fully prepared to get on top of our job and fulfil our targets which are winning races and fighting for world championships."

Source:The Times

Graham Onions ruled out of the first Test against Bangladesh with a back injury

2010-03-10T08:51:00.000-08:00

Graham Onions has been ruled out of the first Test against Bangladesh with a back injury.

The England seamer missed the three-day warm-up match against Bangladesh A after suffering a series of back spasms, although an MRI scan later revealed no structural damage.

Onions had bowled in the nets during that game as he attempted to prove his fitness, however Andy Flower, the England coach, later revealed he had struggled to overcome his injury.

Stuart Broad remains a doubt and will undergo a rigorous examination with Huw Bevan, England's fitness trainer, today. If he comes through that without a recurrence of the spasms that he has suffered, he will be passed fit for the first Test, which gets underway on FridayBroad's presence is essential for the balance of the England side, with Jonathan Trott expected to open the batting ahead of Michael Carberry in a side containing five, rather than six, specialist batsmen.

Should Broad fail to prove his fitness, Flower may hand Steven Finn his Test debut. The 20-year-old seamer only arrived in the country on Saturday as cover but he caught the eye against Bangladesh A and may have leapfrogged the likes of Liam Plunkett and Ajmal Shahzad.

"I wouldn't rule Finn out," Flower said. "He's been added to the party and he's a contender for selection.He's bowled with pace on a slow pitch and bowled with accuracy; he's quite a good prospect."

James Tredwell is also in contention after taking eight wickets against Bangladesh. "He's [Tredwell] got a bit of confidence now and, if we decided to play two spinners in the Test, he's feeling good about himself," Flower added.

Two thirds of Manchester United supporters may not renew season tickets

2010-03-10T08:48:00.000-08:00

Manchester United could be facing a fresh backlash from their supporters as it was revealed that two thirds of fans are considering not renewing their season tickets next season.

The figures, which have been published in a study conducted by Virgin Money, suggest that supporters are stepping up their revolt against Malcolm Glazer's ownership, which has gained fresh momentum over the past few weeks following interest from a group calling themselves the Red Knights.

There has been widespread discontent among the supporters ever since the American and his sons bought the club in a highly-leveraged takeover in the summer of 2005.

Many United supporters have already been driven away by huge ticket price increases, with the average season ticket price going up from £487 pre-takeover to £722 this year. The effect has been that while there has traditionally been a long waiting list for season tickets as demand far outstripped supply, for the first time in living memory a limited number of season tickets were available on general sale last summerThe survey suggests that 15 per cent of season-ticket holders will give up their tickets completely, while another 44 per cent will only buy tickets for matches occasionally. Wolverhampton Wanderers also rate highly in the survey, with 54 per cent of supporters considering giving up their season tickets.

“The drop in costs is welcome but season tickets are still priced astronomically compared with other major European leagues such as Spain, Italy and Germany," Malcolm Clarke, Chairman of the Football Supporters’ Federation, said. "Shamefully, Manchester United was the only Premier League club that put up their prices for the current season. Every other club froze or reduced them.

"They also sold Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid. Huge numbers of United fans are in open revolt against the Glazer family’s huge cash drain on the club. They’re paying the price for the leveraged buy-out in 2005 that has loaded a massive £700 million debt on to United’s books. The Glazer regime has put up ticket prices by half in less than five years. No wonder almost six out of ten Old Trafford season-ticket holders are thinking of not renewing.”

According to reports yesterday, thousands of fans are preparing to boycott the opening ten minutes of tonight's Champions League match against AC Milan, leaving the television cameras to pan empty seats in a visual demonstration of anti-Glazer feeling. The prime mover behind the green and gold movement, the Manchester United Supporters Trust (MUST) sought yesterday to play down talk of a mass boycott tonight - although the ploy may be used at other matches.

The backlash against season tickets comes despite figures showing that the cost of attending games has fallen by 6 per cent in the past year. According to the study, fans of Liverpool and Stoke City are the least likely to give up season tickets next year with just 9 per cent of supporters considering cut backs.

Percentage of fans considering cancelling season tickets

Manchester United 59
Wolves 54
Burnley 31
Fulham 29
Everton 28
Blackburn 28
Portsmouth 28
West Ham 27
Aston Villa 24
Sunderland 23
Wigan 21
Tottenham 19
Manchester City 18
Birmingham 17
Chelsea 17
Hull 17
Arsenal 14
Bolton 13
Liverpool 9
Stoke City 9

Source:The Times

I do not fear Olympic bobsled track, says Shelley Rudman

2010-02-16T09:47:00.000-08:00

Shelley Rudman says her lingering fears over the safety of the Olympic bobsled track have been put to rest.

The 29-year-old athlete, who won a silver medal in the skeleton bob in Turin four years ago, expressed her concerns over the safety of the track after the death of Nodar Kumaritashvili, who was killed during practice for the men's luge in Vancouver last Friday. The Georgian racer died after losing control of his sled and slamming into a trackside steel pole at nearly 90 mph.

In the wake of the fatal accident, Olympic and International Luge Federation (FIL) officials stated that the ice track was not at fault and blamed “pilot error”. However, alterations have been made to the track, with the length of the run shortened and the ice wall at the fatal corner 16 raised.

Rudman, who is considered one of Britain's best medal hopes, says she is convinced that changes to the course have made it safe"I would always think of my own safety and what happened was very difficult for everybody," Rudman said. "I did feel more at ease when I saw the changes made by the officials and now I don't feel it is a dangerous track.

"Ella is my number one priority and I wouldn't do something that was absolutely high risk. If there's been an accident on the road am I not going to drive my car any more? I'm here, I'm safe and I've just got to perform."

Rudman's two-year-old daughter Ella will be track-side for her attempt to become a two-time Winter Olympic medallist on Friday night and Rudman says her presence will help to keep things in perspective.

"[Ella] cheers me on at the start-line," she added. "She asks me every day, 'did you have a good day of sliding today, Mummy? Did you slide fast?"'

"Obviously I know everyone wants me to get gold and I want to get gold but these are totally different circumstances in this sport. I've got better as a slider but everybody else is really aggressive in our sport. I can honestly say I couldn't have done anything better in the last four years in preparation for this week. I just hope I have two good days of sliding and not a situation where I think, 'why did this have to happen?'

"I just want it to be as neat and tidy as possible with nothing freakish happening around it. You don't want to hit a groove or anything like that when you've had four years preparing for it."

Source:The Times

Royal Liverpool to host Open Championship in 2014

2010-02-16T09:41:00.000-08:00

Royal Liverpool Golf Club is to host The Open Championship in 2014.

The Royal & Ancient confirmed that the course, also known as Hoylake, will hold golf's oldest major for the twelfth time in its history.

Tiger Woods won the last Open to be staged at Royal Liverpool in 2006, becoming the first back-to-back champion since Tom Watson in 1983 as the tournament returned there after a 39-year absence.

"We are delighted that The Open is returning to Royal Liverpool after a relatively short period of time," David Hill, the R&A's director of championships, said"In 2006, Hoylake showcased links golf at its best and players, spectators and officials were united in their praise for the course, and for the venue as a whole.

Paul Cassidy, captain of Royal Liverpool Golf Club added: "We are very proud of our club's rich heritage and the many memorable golfing moments staged at Hoylake since our founding in 1869, and are extremely thrilled to be invited to host The Open Championship in 2014."

Source:The Times

Alice Powell, 17, aims to be Formula One's female Lewis Hamilton

2010-02-16T09:40:00.000-08:00

A 17-year-old girl is hoping to become Britain’s first female Formula One driver for more than 30 years after securing a contract to race for the company that launched Lewis Hamilton’s career.

Alice Powell started driving go-karts aged 8, before attracting the attention of the racing team Manor Competition, which developed the careers of both Hamilton and the Finnish driver Kimi Raikkonen.

Alice, who is studying for three A levels, will attempt to beat her 28 male rivals in the 150mph Formula Renault UK series before tackling Formula One.

She said that her ambition was to inspire a generation of female racing drivers. “I’m a human being, exactly the same as the boys, and there’s no reason why I can’t beat them. If a girl is out there doing well then more women would watch the sport,” she said“There are no female role models and parents see it as a dangerous sport for their daughters. I must admit my mum does worry. I did roll a car once — it was fine though. If you have a fear of crashing then you are definitely in the wrong career because you are going to have a crash at some point.”

Only five female drivers have competed at the top level of motorsport racing. Divina Galica became the first, and only, British female Formula One driver between 1976 and 1978 but failed to score a point in the drivers’ championship.

Source:The Times

Brett Lee says he may never play cricket again

2010-02-16T09:38:00.000-08:00

Brett Lee, the Australian fast bowler, has conceded he may never play cricket again.

An elbow injury ruled the 33-year-old out of the entire Australian summer and he underwent surgery in December.

The news will come as a huge blow to Australia's plans, although may serve as a filip to England who travel Down Under for the Ashes series at the end of the year.

Lee has revelled in his role as England's tormentor-in-chief since the retirement of Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne, although he missed last summer's Ashes with a side strain, suffered before the opening Test in CardiffLee has not played in a Test match since late 2008 and while he has remained an important part of Australia's one-day team, he admits he may never wear the baggy green cap again.

"As far as my cricket goes, anything is possible - I may play one-dayers, or no cricket at all," he said. "I may never bowl another ball and if that's the case, I'm so satisfied with my career and my longevity. I'm not saying it's definitely over, but I'm not sure what I want to be just yet.

"To be perfectly honest, I'm not sure what I still want to do in my cricketing life. I need to get to the stage where, if I want to, I can do what I need to do on the field. If it's the case that I don't play again, well, that's the case. There is a part of me that would like to play some sort of cricket again."

Lee has suffered his share of injuries during a career in which he has taken 310 wickets in 76 Tests, but says his current problem has been the most painful of his career.

"This has been the hardest surgery I've been through. It's certainly been the most painful," Lee said. "There's no miracle treatment for me. It's taking time. I still don't know when I'll be able to bowl again. I can't even give you an exact time.

"I will see how the arm pulls up because I can't achieve any aspirations in cricket unless my body is functional. It just takes time, really. It's something I can't rush."

In Lee's absence, Ben Hilfenhaus, Peter Siddle and Doug Bollinger have emerged as capable international players. And although Lee admitted immediate retirement was not be out of the question, he says he would speak with his close friends, including Ricky Ponting, before making up his mind.

"There'll be some key people I confide in," he said. "I'll keep it mainly in-house, then talk to the team, but at some stage I will sit down with Punter [Ponting], if that's needed. I'm making a lifestyle decision here as opposed to a cricketing one."

Source:The Times