Hants and Sussex reach final July 5, 2009 CRICKET: Hampshire and Sussex will contest this year’s Friends Provident Trophy final on 25 July after rallying to semi-final victories. An opening stand of 186 between Jimmy Adams (78) and Michael Lumb (76) helped Hampshire to 271 against Lancashire at Old Trafford, who were never in the hunt in reply, falling 64 runs short despite [...]
Giants climb up to third July 5, 2009 RUGBY LEAGUE: Two tries from David Faiumu helped Huddersfield maintain their Super League play-off hopes with a 30-14 victory over Wakefield which moved the Giants to third in the table. Castleford Tigers are also still in the play-off hunt after they beat struggling Bradford 40-38 in a thrilling game which saw both sides touch down [...]
Sea The Stars set to Eclipse his rivals July 2, 2009 I’VE spent a lot of time this week trying to find a horse to beat SEA THE STARS in the Coral Eclipse and I finally have to admit defeat. There is often a danger of trying to be too clever in your search for reasons to oppose a horse who looks unbeatable on paper. I [...]
the INSIDER July 2, 2009 SEA THE STARS is top of my ‘back until beaten’ list and I will be backing John Oxx’s stable star tomorrow. A case can be made for both Rip Van Winkle and Conduit but the evidence isn’t that strong and they are simply playing for places. On the rest of the Sandown card there are [...]
Hot Rodd can make it a nervous wait for Murray July 2, 2009 ANDY MURRAYWIMBLEDON SEMI-FINAL 1ANDY RODDICK TODAY BBC1WIMBLEDON fever is at its highest for years as Andy Murray bids to become the first British finalist since Bunny Austin in 1938. At 1/4 Murray is a huge favourite, and looking at the head-to-head record it’s not hard to see why as he leads Andy Roddick 6-2 on [...]
LIONS THIRD TEST PREVIEW July 2, 2009 THE FURORE surrounding South Africa coach Peter De Villiers’ defence of the Schalk Burger eye-gouging incident has ensured that anticipation for tomorrow’s ‘dead-rubber’ is still high. Many thought that the chips would be down in the Lions camp after Morne Steyn clinched the series with a remarkable last-gasp penalty on Saturday, but the tourists will [...]
I’m no thug, claims eye-gouging Burger July 2, 2009 SOUTH AFRICA flanker Schalk Burger has refused to apologise for eye-gouging Lions wing Luke Fitzgerald in last weekend’s bruising second Test. Burger has been banned for eight weeks after being cited for the offence in the Springboks’ series-clinching 28-25 win in Pretoria. But, ahead of tomorrow’s third and final clash in Johannesburg, Burger defended his [...]
Ade and Gallas will stay with Gunners, says boss Wenger July 2, 2009 ARSENE WENGER says he does not expect either Emmanuel Adebayor or William Gallas to leave Arsenal this summer. Adebayor has been linked with a move to AC Milan and Manchester City, while reports in Italy suggest Gallas is a target of Inter Milan. But boss Wenger insists there has been no contact for either player, [...]
Serena and Venus set up fourth final July 2, 2009 DEFENDING champion Venus Williams will face her sister Serena in tomorrow’s Wimbledon singles’ final after the siblings clinched their places in vastly different fashion. Venus, vying for her third successive title and her fifth in total at SW19, obliterated top seed Dinara Safina 6-1, 6-0. Earlier, Serena had to save a match point against another [...]
Kaymer shoots record 62 July 2, 2009 GOLF: Germany’s Martin Kaymer fired a course record-equalling 62 to leave the rest in the shade in the France Open. Kaymer, 24, shot an eagle and eight birdies to shoot to nine-under-par and lead a cluster of players by three shots including England’s John Bickerton, Sweden’s Peter Hanson and last week’s BMW International hero Rafa [...]