Sam Torrance: Thomas Pieters is playing the best golf of his life January 24, 2022 Thomas Pieters’ victory at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship on Sunday wasn’t just the biggest of his career – it was also the best performance I’ve seen from him. Pieters was a picture of composure as he played beautifully all day, making 16 pars in a 72 to keep his nose in front of Rafa [...]
Cricketer Taylor reveals ban after spot-fixing cocaine blackmail plot January 24, 2022 Former Zimbabwe cricket captain Brendan Taylor says he is facing a ban for failing to quickly report a spot-fixing approach. Taylor says he reluctantly took a payment of $15,000 during a business trip to India in 2019 after being blackmailed with footage of him taking cocaine. The 35-year-old waited four months before reporting the incident [...]
Navratilova blasts Australian Open for ‘pathetic’ Peng Shuai stance January 24, 2022 Martina Navratilova has criticised Australian Open officials after they removed “Where is Peng Shuai?” T-shirts and banners at the tournament. The retired 18-time Grand Slam winner called the act “pathetic” amid continued concern for the welfare of Chinese tennis player Peng. “That’s just pathetic,” Navratilova wrote on social media. “The WTA [Women’s Tennis Association] stands [...]
Champions Cup: Round of 16 draw confirmed after last series of games January 24, 2022 Rugby’s most prestigious club competition has completed its pool phase. Through to the round of 16 are teams from three countries, each with a shot at the Champions Cup in May’s finals weekend in Marseille. Here’s what we have learned from the group stage. English challenge Although Harlequins romped to a surprising domestic title last [...]
Liverpool and Chelsea breathe new life into Premier League title race January 23, 2022 Call off the trophy engravers; hold that order of sky blue ticker tape; put Pep Guardiola’s dancing shoes away for now: we may have a Premier League title race after all. Leaders Manchester City’s slip-up at Southampton on Saturday dropped blood into the water and 24 hours later Liverpool and Chelsea showed they still have [...]
County cricket fixture changes not enough to save England’s Test team January 23, 2022 When the County Championship fixture list was announced last week, many hoped it would include a healthy amount of August four-day games as England’s international Test side look to rebuild from a humiliating Ashes campaign. Alas, the domestic game is in for another season without the long-form game taking place across the height of the [...]
Formula E and Channel 4 enter multi-year broadcast deal January 21, 2022 Formula E and terrestrial broadcaster Channel 4 today announced a multi-year free-to-air partnership. The broadcaster will show more races of the Season 8 edition of Formula E than fans have seen in previous seasons. Channel 4 will also offer race highlights on its platform as well as the new 22-driver qualifying format on its YouTube [...]
EP: 108 Ascot, Haydock, Lingfield & Hong Kong January 21, 2022 The City A.M. Punter Podcast A terrific weekend of racing awaits, starting with the Grade 1 Clarence House Chase at Ascot on Saturday where the current top rated chasers in the UK & Ireland take on last year’s winner First Flow over 2 miles and a furlong Kim Bailey, First Flow’s trainer joins us as [...]
Djokovic: Tennis star’s visa fallout assessed by lawyer January 21, 2022 Many commentators have said the whole Novak Djokovic situation could have and should have been dealt with before he ever arrived in Australia. The fact it did not owes much to the disconnect between the organisers of the tournament, the government, Djokovic’s advisors and the International Tennis Federation (ITF). Clearly there is now time and [...]
Virat Kohli’s succession options show the depth in Indian cricket January 21, 2022 “Everything has to come to a halt at some stage and for me, as Test captain of India, it’s now.” With those words earlier this month, Virat Kohli announced that he was stepping down, leaving the world’s No3 Test side without a skipper. It means there will be a new man at the helm when India [...]