Put Faith in Heroic Purton to start 2023 with a Flash January 3, 2023 NO PRIZES for guessing reigning champion Zac Purton is the jockey to follow when racing resumes for the first time in 2023 at Happy Valley on Wednesday. The five-time HK champion, who celebrated his 40th birthday yesterday, has surprisingly only six rides on the nine-race programme, but all can be given first-rate chances. With a [...]
Chung to build on recent success with Villa Fionn January 3, 2023 WITH a field consisting of some pretty ordinary middle-distance performers, and many looking past their sell-by dates, division one of the Tsun Yip Handicap (11:45am) over the extended mile at Happy Valley won’t take much winning. Newcomer Eighteen Palms will be the focus of attention, especially with Zac Purton in the saddle, after leading all [...]
English rugby attendances reach season high, but there’s more to do January 3, 2023 Attendances in rugby union’s English Premiership reached a season high across the New Year weekend, when five games saw an average crowd of 13,160. Gloucester Rugby’s low-scoring 8-6 win over London Irish sold more than 16,000 tickets, while Bath, Saracens and Northampton Saints claimed sell-outs too. Sale Sharks did not sell out at the weekend [...]
Zhao Xintong: 2021 UK snooker champion is 10th player suspended in match-fixing probe January 3, 2023 Former UK champion Zhao Xintong has become the 10th Chinese player to be suspended from the World Snooker Tour as part of a match-fixing investigation. The World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) added Zhao and compatriot Zhang Jiankang to the already lengthy banned list today. Both men are entitled to appeal but it means [...]
Chelsea set to take spending to £350m under Todd Boehly with record Fernandez signing January 3, 2023 Chelsea are set to take their spending under Todd Boehly past £350m in just seven months with a Premier League record deal for World Cup-winning Argentina midfielder Enzo Fernandez. The Blues will pay Portuguese side Benfica €127m (£112m) to secure the 21-year-old in the January transfer window, according to multiple reports. If completed, the move [...]
Damar Hamlin: NFL star in critical condition after suffering cardiac arrest during game January 3, 2023 NFL star Damar Hamlin is in critical condition after the Buffalo Bills player suffered a cardiac arrest during a game with Cincinnati Bengals on Monday night. Hamlin, 24, received CPR and oxygen as visibly distressed players looked on before he was taken from the field by ambulance and the NFL took the rare step of [...]
Ronaldo to be unveiled as player for Saudi side Al Nassr TODAY January 3, 2023 Cristiano Ronaldo will be presented as an Al Nassr player in Riyadh at 1600GMT on Tuesday. The 37-year-old former Real Madrid, Manchester United and Juventus star has flown to Saudi Arabia to undergo a medical before his first public appearance in the club’s colours at the 30,000-seater stadium Mrsool Park at 1900 local time. “All [...]
Liverpool beaten 3-1 by buzzy Brentford in Premier League January 2, 2023 Liverpool’s hopes of closing the gap to the Premier League top four took a blow tonight as they were beaten 3-1 by Brentford at the Gtech Community Stadium in London. The Bees netted through an Ibrahima Konate own goal before Yoane Wissa doubled their lead. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain cut the deficit but Bryan Mbeumo scored to [...]
Fifa president Infantino to ask every country to name stadium after Pele January 2, 2023 The president of football’s governing body Fifa, Gianni Infantino, has said he will ask every country to name a stadium after the late Pele. The legendary footballer died last week and his funeral took place on Monday in Santos, Brazil. “We’re going to ask every country in the world to name one of their stadiums [...]
Martina Navratilova diagnosed with throat and breast cancer January 2, 2023 Eighteen-time tennis Grand Slam winner Martina Navratilova has been diagnosed with throat and breast cancer. The 66-year-old said both of the cancers had been caught early. The Prague-born tennis star, who previously had breast cancer in 2010, said: “The double whammy is serious, but fixable, and I’m hoping for a favourable outcome. “It’s going to [...]