Andy Murray begins Olympic title defence in style and heaps pressure on himself to win second gold medal August 7, 2016 Defending Olympic champion Andy Murray began his quest to retain his title with a crushing straight sets victory over Serbia’s Viktor Troicki in the opening round of the men’s singles at the Rio Games. Murray, Great Britain’s flag bearer at Friday’s opening ceremony, dispatched Troicki 6-3, 6-2 to progress to round two where he will [...]
Friendly round-up: Arsenal and Chelsea both suffer defensive injuries a week before start of Premier League season August 7, 2016 Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger’s defensive crisis deepened a week before his side’s opening Premier League fixture as centre-half Gabriel was stretchered off during today's 3-2 friendly victory over Manchester City in Gothenburg. Wenger is short of defensive reserves after a knee injury ruled World Cup winner Per Mertesacker out for up to five months and Laurent [...]
Leicester City 1, Manchester United 2: Jose Mourinho backs Paul Pogba to complete his Old Trafford jigsaw after green light given for world record transfer August 7, 2016 Conundrum-solving Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho has backed midfielder Paul Pogba to prove the final piece of his Old Trafford jigsaw after the Old Trafford club beat Leicester to lift the FA Community Shield yesterday. Summer signing Zlatan Ibrahimovic emerged as the match-winner inside the final 10 minutes, handing Mourinho his first piece of United [...]
Alastair Cook’s delight as England take unassailable lead against Pakistan August 7, 2016 Captain Alastair Cook savoured one of the best wins of his tenure after England bowled Pakistan out for 201 to claim the third Investec Test at Edgbaston and take an unassailable lead in the series. Five bowlers took two wickets apiece as Pakistan’s middle order collapsed from 124-3 to 125-7 in just 23 balls and England, [...]
Paralympics does what Olympics wouldn’t and bans all Russian athletes from Rio Games August 7, 2016 International Paralympic Committee (IPC) president Sir Philip Craven has issued Russia with a stinging rebuke and confirmed that none of their athletes will be allowed to compete at this month’s Paralympic Games in Rio. Craven said the IPC had sanctioned the blanket ban on all of the country’s competitors that their Olympic counterparts shied away [...]
Rio Olympics 2016: What to watch on Monday including Tom Daley, Louis Smith, James Guy and Missy Franklin August 7, 2016 There are 14 gold medals on offer on Monday and a good proportion of those have a high chance of ending up in British hands by the end of the day. A good time to take a lunch break from work would be at 12.30, just in time to catch the first heats for the [...]
Why rugby sevens at the Rio Olympics represents a game-changing moment for the sport’s global growth August 7, 2016 The rugby world is excited. After a 92 year absence, the sport has returned to the Olympics in the sevens format and for many of the game’s stakeholders the next week marks one of the biggest moments for the sport since it entered the professional era in 1995. Along with golf, sevens is one of two [...]
Russian athletes to be barred from Rio 2016 Paralympics August 6, 2016 Russian athletes are to be banned from taking part in the Paralympic Games in Rio later this month. The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) has suspended Russian athletes provisionally in response to the report from Professor Richard McLaren that uncovered the extent of doping in Russia, according to the Observer. Read more: The most marketable athletes at the 2016 Olympic and [...]
FC Twente director says Manchester City and Chelsea use Dutch club to help spin profit on young players they’ll never use August 6, 2016 Manchester City, Chelsea and other big European clubs sign young players who they know will never reach the first team but could make them a profit claims the director of Dutch club FC Twente. Technical director at the Eredivisie team Jan van Halst argues that young players such as City's Turkish teen Enes Unal — loaned to FC Twente this summer — [...]
Rio Games kicks off with stunning ceremony August 6, 2016 Rio 2016 opened with a bang last night as fireworks flew from the Maracana stadium in a ceremony that featured supermodel Gisele Bündchen, former marathon runner Vanderlei de Lima, and Andy Murray leading Britain's athletes into the arena. Brazil shrugged off criticism that it wasn't ready for the games after months of concern about political protests, the Russian [...]