Europe’s Miracle at Medinah, the rise and rise of McIlroy: 2012 has been a vintage year December 18, 2012 THIS year was a vintage one but two stories stand out above all others: European golf’s finest hour at the Ryder Cup, and Rory McIlroy’s irrepressible ascent to the pinnacle of the game. The Ryder Cup contained a countless number of spine-tingling highlights as Jose Maria Olazabal’s Europe surged back on the final day to [...]
Benitez ready to shake on it with Warnock December 18, 2012 CHELSEA manager Rafael Benitez has declared he intends to shake hands with Leeds manager Neil Warnock ahead of their Capital One Cup quarter-final tie at Elland Road tonight despite their history of bad blood. The pair clashed in 2007 when Warnock, in charge of Sheffield United, accused Benitez of fielding a weakened Liverpool side against [...]
Tube strike to hit Arsenal’s West Ham tie December 18, 2012 ARSENAL’S Boxing Day London derby against West Ham at the Emirates Stadium is likely to be postponed due to the threat of a tube strike. London Underground drivers are planning a strike for 26 December, due to a dispute over Bank Holiday pay, which threatens to cause travel chaos across the capital. If the game [...]
UK Sport rewards boxing for knockout showing at Olympics December 18, 2012 BOXING and water polo have received huge cash boosts after UK Sport revealed a record £347m funding programme for the Rio 2016 Olympics. The investment will support Britain’s elite Olympic and Paralympic athletes and UK Sport has distributed the money based on whether the sports met their medal target at the highly successful London 2012 [...]
Brit Chilton lands 2013 F1 drive December 18, 2012 ■ FORMULA ONE: British driver Max Chilton has signed to race for Marussia in 2013. The former GP2 star was their reserve driver at the Japanese Grand Prix in October and made his F1 debut during practice in Abu Dhabi.
England rest India Test heroes December 18, 2012 ■ CRICKET: England stars James Anderson and Jonathan Trott have been rested for January’s five-match one-day series in India. Both played key roles in the Test series victory this month and have been replaced by Chris Woakes and Jos Buttler.
DeGale poised to take on world December 18, 2012 ■ BOXING: Britain’s James DeGale has relinquished his European super-middleweight title, which he defended twice, to pursue a world title. DeGale beat Fulgencio Zuniga a fortnight ago to pick up the WBC silver title, a belt he wishes to defend worldwide.
Party like it’s 2011 December 17, 2012 TRIUMPHANT England captain Alastair Cook has hailed yesterday’s historic first Test series victory in India for 27 years as the equal of their landmark 2010-11 Ashes success in Australia. Centuries from batsmen Jonathan Trott and Ian Bell comfortably secured a draw in the fourth Test in Nagpur and with it a 2-1 series win in [...]
Watershed series has transformed this England team December 17, 2012 TO PUT England’s long-awaited triumph in India yesterday in context: the last time they won there I was still playing. The length of time everyone in English cricket has waited for this moment says it all. It is a terrific achievement and, in recent memory, second only to winning the Ashes in 2005. Ashes victories [...]
Anderson was the key, says India skipper December 17, 2012 INDIA captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni singled out seamer James Anderson as the difference between the sides after England clinched a landmark series win yesterday. Anderson took 12 wickets over the four-match series – fewer than spinners Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar – as the tourists fought back to beat the hosts 2-1. But Dhoni identified [...]