Sport Comment: Modern day Roy of the Rovers ought to savour fairytale rise February 12, 2015 DO NOT adjust your set. You heard correctly: the new Premier League broadcast rights deal is worth £5.1bn; the era of the £10m game is upon us; top stars may soon be earning £500,000 a week – and yes, an elite club manager did appear to throttle an opposing player. In the midst of all [...]
Murray sets up Simon clash after surging into Rotterdam last eight February 12, 2015 BRITAIN’S Andy Murray set up a quarter-final clash against Gilles Simon after brushing aside Canada’s Vasek Pospisil in straight sets at the ABN Amro World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam yesterday. Top seed Murray was hampered by an ankle knock at the start of the second set but powered through after fighting back from a break [...]
Briton drops to fourth in Qatar February 12, 2015 BRITAIN’S Ian Stannard slipped to fourth place overall at the Tour of Qatar after Norway’s Alexander Kristoff seized third spot by claiming victory during the fifth stage in Madinat Al Shamal yesterday. Team Sky’s Luke Rowe also dropped a place to seventh overall as Slovakia’s Peter Sagan usurped him courtesy of the six bonus seconds [...]
13 February on this day… February 12, 2015 1988: THE Calgary Winter Olympics began on this day and produced the unlikeliest sporting heroes ever to grace the snow and ice: the Jamaican bobsleigh team. The men from the Caribbean, making their Winter Olympic debut, stole the show. After crashing badly during the four-man event with their helmets smashing against the ice wall, they [...]
Balder looks primed to give Alan King a second Ascot Chase success February 12, 2015 BILL ESDAILE PREVIEWS THE BEST OF THE WEEKEND RACING ACTION WITH just over three weeks to go until the start of the Cheltenham Festival, the excitement is really starting to build. Most of the key protagonists have now had their prep runs but there are still a couple of decent trials to look forward to, [...]
Road to Cheltenham February 12, 2015 THE purpose of this column is to find horses that are going to turn up at the Festival at a shorter price and the Ryanair Chase has an attractive look to it from a betting perspective. Don Cossack is the 4/1 favourite, but I’m keen to take him on. He’s four from four this season, [...]
In-form Australia should prove too hot to handle for inconsistent England February 12, 2015 HARRY MADLEY PREVIEWS ENGLAND’S CRICKET WORLD CUP OPENER AND PATRICK CALLAGHAN LOOKS AT IRELAND V FRANCE IT’S PROBABLY the longest, hardest and most engaging sporting rivalry that there has ever been. Covering numerous sports and exemplified by countless battles – England versus Australia always attracts the attention of fans across the globe. Tomorrow morning, England [...]
France unlikely to roll over in Dublin as Six Nations heats up February 12, 2015 IRELAND were scrappy rather than fluid in Rome as they started their defence of the Six Nations. Italy put up a better fight than the 26-3 scoreline suggests and if it hadn’t been for hooker Leonardo Ghiraldini getting sin-binned in the second half – which helped Ireland to finally penetrate an impressive home defence – [...]
Maximum excitement on the CWC with sporting index February 12, 2015 WITH nearly 20 specials markets for England’s Cricket World Cup opener against Australia, Sporting Index really does have something for everyone. As well as total wides, total sixes and total fours, there are also unique markets like 50-Ups, Ton-Ups, Zero Tolerance and Full English. 50-Ton-Ups are a prediction on the aggregate total of players’ runs [...]
Premier League: Spotlight falls on Ivanovic in headbutt row February 11, 2015 CHELSEA 1 EVERTON 0 EVERTON manager Roberto Martinez insisted Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic should have been sent off for violent conduct after the Premier League leaders struck late to maintain their seven-point advantage last night. Attacking midfielder Willian’s 89th-minute deflected shot snatched the points, moments after the visitors had seen midfielder Gareth Barry sent off [...]