British No1 Johanna Konta slays Venus Williams but admits to doubting her ability to giant kill at Australian Open January 19, 2016 British No1 Johanna Konta admitted that she initially doubted her ability to beat eighth seed Venus Williams after outclassing the seven-time grand slam champion in the Australian Open first round yesterday. Konta, who reached the fourth round of last year’s US Open, blitzed out-of-sorts former Wimbledon winner Williams 6-4, 6-2 in just 79 minutes, and [...]
Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool appear to have run out of gas but the German is the right man for the Anfield job January 19, 2016 It was the 6-1 rout of Southampton, their seventh win from eight games, that appeared to confirm that Liverpool had made a dream managerial appointment in Jurgen Klopp. Yet little more than six weeks later Klopp’s reign has taken on a different complexion, with just three wins from 11 fixtures since then and a tricky [...]
Powerhouse centre Mathieu Bastareaud omitted from France’s Six Nations squad as new coach Guy Noves looks to 2019 World Cup January 19, 2016 Newly-appointed France coach Guy Noves has cited the need to build a squad capable of challenging for the 2019 World Cup after omitting Toulon centre Mathieu Bastareaud from his 31-man Six Nations party yesterday. Former Toulouse coach Noves replaced Philippe Saint-Andre in November following France’s 62-13 thrashing against New Zealand in the World Cup quarter-final [...]
Football supporters’ groups given government backing and extra £1m funding from Premier League in new report January 19, 2016 Premier League and Football League clubs have been instructed by the government to consult more regularly with supporters' groups in a new report. Clubs should meet with fans' groups at least twice a year and consult them on any major changes to the club's identity such as a colour change, new club crest or relocating [...]
Cancer Research UK to sponsor Oxford and Cambridge Boat Races thanks to BNY Mellon and Newton Investment Management donation January 19, 2016 Financial services firms Newton Investment Management and BNY Mellon have agreed to hand over their prestigious title sponsorship of the Oxford and Cambridge Boat Races to Cancer Research UK. Announced as the official charity partner of the event last year, Cancer Research UK will now be its headline sponsor for the next two years following Newton [...]
The athletics doping scandal has no quick fix – IAAF president Seb Coe must face up to a 10 year clean-up project January 19, 2016 Last week, the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) published its report on the International Amateur Athletics Federation (IAAF), in which Wada highlighted the "embedded corruption" within the IAAF. The conclusion was not unexpected: Last year the industrial-scale doping activities of Russia were revealed and it was alleged that former IAAF president Lamine Diack had taken payments [...]
Tennis match-fixing: Andy Murray calls for greater transparency and protection of young players January 19, 2016 Andy Murray has argued for greater transparency across all sports in response to the match-fixing allegations that have overshadowed the early stages of the Australian Open. The world No2 was responding to claims made in a BuzzFeed News and BBC investigation that players in the top 50 have been reported to tennis authorities on suspicion [...]
Swansea City 1, Watford 0: Swans right to dilute my role and bring in experienced boss, admits Curtis January 18, 2016 Interim boss Alan Curtis admitted that the club were right to bring in an experienced manager and dilute his role after guiding Swansea to a priceless victory in his final game in sole command last night. Centre-half Ashley Williams proved the match-winner with a first-half header in front of the watching Francesco Guidolin, who starts [...]
Roger Federer calls for suspected tennis fixers to be named as Novak Djokovic explains how we was offered six-figure sum to throw a match January 18, 2016 Former world No1 Roger Federer has called for suspected cheats to be named and shamed following allegations that a number of leading tennis stars may have fixed matches. Federer, speaking after his first-round win over Georgia’s Nikoloz Basilashvili at the Australian Open on Monday, addressed claims that 16 players to have been ranked in the world’s [...]
Australian Open 2016: Heather Watson and Kyle Edmund lose in first round as injuries hamper Brits at the first hurdle January 18, 2016 British No2 Heather Watson blamed injury after her miserable run at the Australian Open continued with a dramatic first-round elimination in Melbourne on Monday. On a bad opening day for Britons at the grand slam, Watson served for the match against Hungary’s Timea Babos before succumbing to a 6-7 (4-7), 7-5, 7-5 defeat against the world [...]