My good form is no guarantee of going far at the Australian Open, says Britain’s Johanna Konta January 15, 2017 Britain’s Johanna Konta has played down her status as Britain’s most credible female grand slam contender since Virginia Wade as she prepares to begin her Australian Open campaign on Tuesday. Konta goes into the year’s first major tournament at a career-high ranking of ninth in the world and buoyed by a string of fine performances [...]
Graeme Storm capitalises on reprieve to see off Rory McIlroy and win first European Tour title for 10 years January 15, 2017 Forgotten man Graeme Storm completed his remarkable turnaround in fortunes over the last three months by beating world No2 Rory McIlroy to the South African Open on Sunday. Storm looked to have missed out on his tour card by the slimmest of margins when he bogeyed the last at the Portugal Masters in October, only [...]
UFC president Dana White puts up $50m for Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor to fight January 14, 2017 UFC president Dana White said he is prepared to fork out $50m to make a hoped-for fight between Floyd Mayweather Jr and Conor McGregor take place. The idea of a meeting between retired boxer Mayweather, who never lost a professional fight, and Irish UFC star McGregor has circulated amongst the fight community since the latter was granted a [...]
James DeGale v Badou Jack purse: How much money will boxers earn from supper-middleweight showdown? January 14, 2017 British boxer James DeGale will come out quids in from his super-middleweight showdown with Swede Badou Jack, whatever the outcome. The two world title holders are going head to head at the Barclays Centre in Brooklyn tonight for the chance to take the 168 pound division throne. IBF super-middleweight champion DeGale has reportedly secured the larger purse of [...]
Dakar Rally: Sam Sunderland takes motorbike title at third time of asking January 14, 2017 Sam Sunderland has won the motorbike classification of the Dakar Rally, becoming the first Briton to win the iconic race. The 27-year-old KTM rider, who bases himself in Dubai finished well ahead of his nearest rival, Austrian Matthias Walkner, to today take the title. Read more: The Volvo V40 Cross Country T5 defies all categorisation Sunderland took [...]
Barcelona director fired for suggesting Lionel Messi wouldn’t be as good without teammates January 13, 2017 A Barcelona director has been sacked by the club after claiming Lionel Messi relied on his teammates to get to the top of the game. Pere Gratacos is a key figure in the club's famed La Masia academy but has been fired from his role as director of training and education after questioning their star player's ability. Messi's contract [...]
Chelsea financial results: Exact cost of sacking current Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho revealed January 13, 2017 Sacking Jose Mourinho cost Chelsea £8.3m last season, new financial accounts released by the club have revealed. Yet dismissing the current Manchester United boss following a disastrous start to the season in 2015 proved to be significantly cheaper than the £67m paid to terminate another high-profile deal — the club's kit manufacturing partnership with Adidas. Last [...]
Football clubs represent high integrity risk to banks, says Dutch regulator January 13, 2017 Financial institutions need to up their game to combat football corruption, an investigation by the Dutch central bank has concluded. Reporting today, the regulator said banks were exposed to greater "integrity risks" when taking on football clients. And the central bank said this meant financial institutions should "apply a higher risk classification" when dealing with football [...]
Football pays tribute to true gent Graham Taylor January 12, 2017 Sir Alex Ferguson led a chorus of tributes from English football to former Three Lions manager Graham Taylor, who died yesterday aged 72 following a suspected heart attack. Taylor boasted an outstanding CV in club management having led Watford from the old Fourth Division to runners-up spot in the top flight in just six seasons, [...]
The Kite Runner at Wyndham’s Theatre is competent and compelling but never really takes off January 12, 2017 If you weren’t content with only a book and a film, now The Kite Runner has been turned into a West End play. Fresh from a tour of the UK, this remarkably stripped back production could have done with a little beefing up now it’s found a stable home for a few months. The vast, [...]