SPORTING NEWS OF THE WEEK 10

HEADLINERS AT COMMONWEALTH GAMES

A Few Of The Gold Medals!

Leon Baptiste, Athletics.
Tom Daley x2, Diving.
Rebecca Adlington x2, Swimming.
Liam Tancock x2, Swimming.
Fran Halsall, Swimming.
James Goddard, Swimming.
Imogen Cairns, Gymnastics.
Luke Folwell, Gymnastics.
Andy Turner, Athletics.
Steve Walton, Shooting.


FOOTBALL
· Ian Holloway is given a touchline ban after his altercation with a referee.
· Liverpool’s bidders are turned down by RBS as the Scouse club are left in further turmoil.

Internationals

Tuesday 12th October
European Championship Qualifying
Azerbaijan 1 - 0 Turkey
Kazakhstan 0 - 3 Germany
Belgium 4 - 4 Austria
Armenia 4 - 0 Andorra
Slovakia 1 - 1 Rep of Ireland
FYR Macedonia 0 - 1 Russia
Faroe Islands 1 - 1 Northern Ireland
Estonia 0 - 1 Slovenia
Belarus 2 - 0 Albania
France 2 - 0 Luxembourg
Finland 1 - 2 Hungary
San Marino 0 - 2 Moldova
Holland 4 - 1 Sweden
Latvia 1 - 1 Georgia
Greece 2 - 1 Israel
Switzerland 4 - 1 Wales
England 0 - 0 Montenegro
Denmark 2 - 0 Cyprus
Iceland 1 - 3 Portugal
Liechtenstein 0 - 2 Czech Republic

European Championship Qualifying
France 2 - 0 Romania
Israel 1 - 2 Croatia
Kazakhstan 0 - 2 Belgium
Austria 3 - 0 Azerbaijan
Germany 3 - 0 Turkey
Armenia 3 - 1 Slovakia
Andorra 0 - 2 FYR Macedonia
Rep of Ireland 2 - 3 Russia
Serbia 1 - 3 Estonia
Northern Ireland 0 - 0 Italy
Slovenia 5 - 1 Faroe Islands
Luxembourg 0 - 0 Belarus
Albania 1 - 1 Bosnia-Herzegovina
Hungary 8 - 0 San Marino
Moldova 0 - 1 Holland
Georgia 1 - 0 Malta
Greece 1 - 0 Latvia
Montenegro 1 - 0 Switzerland
Wales 0 - 1 Bulgaria
Cyprus 1 - 2 Norway
France 2 - 0 Romania



F1
· Vettel takes pole and victory at Suzuka as the Championship starts to turn into a 3-horse race between Mark Webber, Fernando Alonso and Vettel himself. Webber was 2nd, with Alonso 3rd as 14 points separate the 3 with three races remaining.


TENNIS

· Novak Djokovic retained his ATP China Open Title as he disposed of David Ferrer in 2 sets.
· Caroline Wozniacki enjoyed a great week as she become World No.1 as well as winning the ATP China Open Title dispatching Vera Zvonerava 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.


BOXING
· New Commonwealth Heavyweight Champion Derek “Del Boy” Chisora has accepted a fight with Wladimir Klitschko in Germany on 11th December. If victories the Londoner would then face Wladimir’s brother Vitali.
· Devon Alexander and Tim Bradley are set to fight on 29th January in a WBC, IBF and WBO World Light-Welterweight Unification bout with the winner likely to fight Amir Khan.
· Michael Sprott claimed the Prizefighter Heavyweight Crown after beating Matt Skelton on a split decision at York Hall, Bethnal Green.
· James DeGale is set to take on British Super-Middleweight Champion Paul Smith in Liverpool on 14th December.
· Frank Warren is putting together another boxing showpiece for his 30th anniversary of boxing. Kel Brook, Matt Macklin and Nathan Cleverly are set to be appearing.


CRICKET
· India have wrapped up a 2-0 series victory over Australia with a win in Bangalore.
Australia 478allout – M. North 128, R. Ponting 77, T. Paine 59, S. Watson 57. Singh 4-128.
India 495allout – S. Tendulkar 214, M. Vijay 139. M. Johnson 3-105.
Australia 223allout – R. Ponting 72. Z. Khan 3-41, Oija 3-57.
India 207/3 – C. Pujara 72, S. Tendulkar 53*.
INDIA WIN BY 7 WICKETS!

Sporting News of the Week 8

FOOTBALL

• All English teams triumph in their Champions League matches, with Arsenal beating Partizan Belgrade 1-3. Chelsea defeated Marseille 2-0 at the Bridge. Man Utd found an 85th minute winner through Chicharito to win 0-1 at the Mestella against Valencia. Rafeal Van Der Vaart had a busy night as Spurs demolished FC Twente 4-1 at White Hart Lane.

• Barcelona were held at Rubin Kazan, whilst Inter destroyed Werder Bremen 4-0 with the help of an Eto'o hat trick.

• Frank Lampard and opposing number Cesc Fabregas are both ruled out of the biggest of London derby's when Chelsea take on Arsenal this Sunday.

FORMULA ONE

• Just like in Monza, Fernando Alonso secured both pole position and all 25 points in an interesting Singapore race. He was in a race with Sebastian Vettel and managed to triumph as Lewis Hamilton again failed to finish as he was nudged by Mark Webber trying to make a risky move around the outside. With 100points left to claim, only 25points separate the top 5 drivers - Webber, Alonso, Hamilton, Vettel, Button - who will all be fighting hard till the last!

CYCLING

• Tour De France Winner Alberto Contador has tested positive in his latest drugs test, to shed yet more shame on a sport that really doesn't need the controversy.

•  This week's in-depth reports are on; Chelsea v Arsenal, Tottenham v Aston Villa, West Ham v Fulham, and by special request of my wonderful friend Ulli, Liverpool v Blackpool and Sunderland v Man Utd.

SPORTING NEWS OF THE WEEK 6

FOOTBALL

• Safety fears hit football as 3 legs are broken in 3 days. The unlucky recipients were; Bobby Zamora, Luka Modric and Antonio Valencia.

• Europa League – Man City 2 v 0 Salzburg: Silva and Jo the scorers.

 Liverpool 4 v 1 Steaua Bucharest: Ngog x2, Cole and Leiva

CRICKET

• England win both the 1^st and 2^nd ODI’s versus Pakistan;

1^st ODI

England – 274/6 (41overs) = S Davies 87, Trott 70, Strauss 41, Bopara 35*.

Pakistan – 250/9 (41overs) = K Akmal 53, U Akmal 43.

ENGLAND WIN BY 24 RUNS.

2^nd ODI

Pakistan – 294/8 (50overs) = K Akmal 74, Shafiq 74, Broad 4-81.

England – 295/6 (49.3overs) = Strauss 126, Trott 50.

ENGLAND WIN BY 4 WICKETS

• Clydesdale Bank Semi-Final’s;

1^st Semi

Somerset – 312/6 (40overs) = Trescothick 76, Compton 55, Suppiah 42*, Butler 36.

Essex – 217allout (29.3overs) = Foster 58.

SOMERSET WIN BY 95 RUNS.

2^nd Semi

Yorkshire – 257/5 (40overs) = Rudolph 106, Brophy 64.

Warwickshire – 260/6 (35overs) (D/L) = Chopra 76, Bell 57.

WARWICKS WIN BY 4 WICKETS ON D/L.

• The sad news has emerged that Andrew “Freddie” Flintoff, one of England’s finest ever all-rounders, has been forced to retire from all forms of cricket due to a troublesome knee. His presence will be missed from the game but his legacy will live on forever as a superb athlete, player, character and performer.

TENNIS

• A great couple of week’s tennis at Flushing Meadows for the US Open has come to an end. After defeating Novak Djokovic in a superb finale in 4 sets, Rafa Nadal finally completed his career slam. This came alongside Kim Clijsters beating Zvonareva in the Women’s tournament.
• The best match of the tournament was not the final though. Instead the epic semi-final between Djokovic and Federer which went to 5 sets with Djokovic finally prevailing after having gone 1-0 and 2-1 down. It was a match played with heat, intensity and rhythm and was the very finest brand of tennis that has been seen for quite some time.
• A very close friend of mine, Pearl, is a huge Djokovic fan. I would like to pay homage to her as, though her hero put her through just about every emotion (something relayed quickly on to me!) she never lost hope in him and supported him to the bitter end with great pride. She also taught me much about the passion in tennis and I must admit, I have more of a soft-spot for Djokovic than I did, even supporting him in his semi and final! “I am so proud of Nole”, says Pearl. “He played so well, I was crying when he had his match point against Federer after Federer had had two of his own”.

A magnificent spectacle for tennis and here’s to hoping for more of it next season!

FORMULA ONE

• After taking a brilliant pole-position, Ferrari man Fernando Alonso backed it up with a superb victory in front of the Tifosi to kick-start his championship challenge. After having been overtaken by Button to the opening corner things didn’t look good for him. His pit-stop managed to catapult him ahead of Button – who finished 2^nd – and he never looked back.

BOXING

• Amir Khan agrees a defence of his WBA light-welterweight title against Marcos Maidana for December 13^th in Las Vegas.

• Wladimir Klitschko successfully retained his IBF and WBO Heavyweight belts against Samuel Peter, stopping him in the 10^th round in front of the Frankfurt crowd.

• Ricky Hatton has entered rehab after allegations of cocaine snorting has appeared.