Category: Sport

Postive responce from Tennis stars as Madrid Masters reverts to red courts

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Andy Murray is preparing for the French Open by participating in the Madrid Masters. The organisers made a controversial decision by changing the court colours from red to blue and as a result; the organisers have decided to return to the iconic red courts. The surface was also deemed too slippery for the tennis player.

Murray, who incidentally missed last year’s tournament through injury, has been practising on the Madrid courts and is impressed by the playing surface. “The courts are fantastic. They’re excellent.”

Defending Madrid masters champion Roger Federer hopes to see better tennis this term compared to previous years. “i don’t know if it was due to the colour of the court, but this tournament has in the past, had issues with quality. From what I’m hearing from other players, it’s a good quality court and hopefully we’ll see better tennis this year.”

Home favourite Rafa Nadal has also spoken of the courts, “the only thing I can say is thank you to the tournament for the money they have invested to have the highest quality courts here. I think the courts last year were not up to the levels we needed”.

As well as Murray, Federer and Nadal participating in the Spanish capital, World number 1 Novak Djokovic, Spaniard David Ferrer and Tomas Berdych will fancy their chances in the tournament.

Murray, Berdych and Djokovic find themselves in the top half of the draw whilst Nadal, Federer and Ferrer make up the bottom half of the draw.

You can catch all the action on Sky Sports.

Special return for the Special one?

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After being defeated by Bourssia Dortmund in the Champions League semi-final last night, Jose Mourinho dropped his biggest hint yet that he could be making a dramatic return to England in the summer.

In an interview with ITV, Mourinho was asked if we would see him next season in the top European competition with the Spanish giants; “maybe not….” was the special one’s response. This was followed by the question “where?”- The Madrid boss replied “somewhere where I’m loved…” the interview was disappointingly shortened as ITV had to cut off.

In a later interview he expressed his love for the English fans, media and ‘especially one club’.  As speculation grows about the Portuguese manager’s future, Chelsea boss Rafa Benitez today declared it was none of his business and has a job to finish at the London club this season.

Chelsea does seem the most favoured destination for Mourinho if he does leave Madrid at the end of the season- although teams such as Manchester City and PSG may also be interested in the 3-times champions’ league wining coach.

“I can Win a Race in 2013”- Hamilton

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Lewis Hamilton believes his Mercedes is capable of helping him achieve a maiden win with his new team and told Sky Sports that he can win a race this year. The 2008 World Champion has made a decent start to the 2013 season, although Bahrain didn’t go to plan for the silver arrows.

Although Mercedes have only won a solitary race in their 3 seasons of competitiveness, Hamilton has expressed his confidence of standing on top podium at some stage this season.

“I am Hopeful we can win this year, particularly as we have things coming in the pipeline with upgrades and improvements for the car”. Hamilton told Sky Sports f1’s Martin Brundle in an exclusive interview.

When asked about his view on moving teams in the close season, Hamilton stated “The team is different, different set of people who I’m really enjoying working with and it’s a new set of challenges, which is what I wanted”.

Lewis Hamilton has obviously enjoyed making the transaction from Mclaren to Mercedes and his next opportunity to try and win for the first time with Mercedes is the Spanish GP in two weeks time.

Six of the Best for Brighton HA

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Brighton have near enough secured a play off place after a crushing a relegation threatened Blackpool side 6-1 at the Amex on Saturday afternoon- although the seagulls can mathematically miss out on the top 6- Brighton fans can relax a little more now a four point window has opened between themselves and Leicester, who are sitting seventh at time of writing.

Will Buckley opened the scoring after just nine minutes for the seagulls, when he released a curling left footed strike past a helpless Matt Gilks into the top left corner. Not too long after it became two- nil when Matthew Upson, currently on loan from Stoke City, netted his first Albion goal. The game was over by half-time, as Orlandi danced through the Blackpool defence and rifled a shot into the far corner.

The rampant Brighton didn’t show any signs of resistance in the second half, as David Lopez added a fourth for the promotion contenders.  But Blackpool grabbed an unlikely consolation; something for the travelling fans to celebrate even if it wasn’t going to affect the game. A cross from Tom Ince was headed into his own net by Dean Hammond. Gus made a couple of changes- bringing on Kazenga LuaLua and Bruno Saltor, indicating that the Brighton boss wasn’t going to hold back. And LuaLua was key to Albion’s fifth, as his cross was put in by Ashley Barnes- his first appearance since getting a seven match ban for tripping the referee in the Bolton game back in March. Barnes netted again late on to end Blackpool’s misery and Brighton’s jubilation.

A win against Leeds United next weekend will confirm the seagull’s participation in the Play-offs and the chance to gain the ultimate…. a place in the Premier League next season.

Sussex Smash Yorkshire in Season opener

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Sussex began their county championship campaign against Yorkshire at Headingly cricket ground. Sussex were looking to start strong in this season’s top division but Yorkshire, celebrating their 125th anniversary, hoped to celebrate with a win.

Sussex were in full control on day one, bowling out Yorkshire for a low score of just 96. Debutant Chris Jordan was the hero of the innings, with figures of 6-48. And the team from the south coast finished the day on 104-2.

Sussex were bowled out for 356 in their first innings, with Joyce and Brown leading the attack for the southern county. They both scored 90’s on their way to cementing a huge lead for Sussex.

Yorkshire fought as hard as they could to snatch a draw but Sussex bowled them out for 248, meaning that Sussex won the match by a huge innings and 12 runs. The win leaves the county joint top of Division one, and a dream start to 2013.

2 German, 2 Spanish….But no English????

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The semi-finals of this season’s Champions League will be contested by four clubs representing two nations- Spain and Germany.  So where does this leave English football as a pose to Spanish and German football. With no team representing England in the quarter finals this year, it seems that the football as hindered continentally whereas German football in particular has progressed.  

Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund are the two remaining German clubs; compared to Barcelona and Real Madrid who are representing the Spaniards. All four teams have prevailed in games against British outfit which furthermore questions if England has the best league in Europe. Munich destroyed Arsenal at the Emirates in the last 16; although Arsenal did fight back at the Allianz. However the first leg display by the newly crowned Bundesliga champions proved that they are a force to deal with. In their quarter final, they stuffed Juventus 4-0 on aggregate, a team that had smashed both Chelsea and Celtic earlier in the competition.

Dortmund really showed their attacking force against Manchester City in the group phrase. The premier league champions were unable to hold back wave after wave of yellow and black. Players such as Mario Gotze and Robert Lewandowski destroy defences although the team only just managed to make the final four after two very late goals against Malaga gave them a 3-2 win.

Real Madrid have played Manchester City and Manchester United this campaign, and they were comfortable throughout- be it thanks to a little help from the referees. Jose has got his team playing again after a slow start and now hopes to achieve the ultimate objective for many Madrid coach, a 10th European cup. The team from the Spanish capital overcame Turkish giants Galatasaary to make it to the Semis.

Barcelona are well…Barcelona. Although this year they haven’t hit top gear in the competition and have had some scares along the way. Defeat to Celtic in the group stages followed by a 2-0 defeat in Italy to AC Milan showed the continent that this Catalan team aren’t as solid at the back as they were a few seasons back, and it took that little argentine to help secure a sixth successive season in the final 4 of the Champions League.

So back to the dilemma of the English clubs- they all played these teams at some stage and failed to win. But I believe the reason for this is because we have a far more competitive league. Our clubs play bigger games then our “friends” abroad. For example, Man United could have to play Tottenham on Saturday, Dortmund on Wednesday and then Arsenal the following Sunday- competing for the Premier League title.  Teams like Madrid, Barcelona, Munich and Dortmund haven’t got competition in their leagues and can fully focus on Champions League glory.  

I believe that England has the most competitive league in the world, because anyone can beat anyone and places in the Champions league are fiercely fought for each year whereas continentally you can tell who will make the champions league etc.

Tiger made Favourite for 1st major of the year

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After returning to the top of the rankings, Tiger Woods has unsurprisingly been made favourite for the forthcoming Masters in Augusta, Georgia this weekend. The American will be hoping to secure his fifth green jacket of his career come Sunday evening.

Tiger Woods won his first green jacket on April 13th 1997, he became the youngest ever win of the major championship when he claimed victory. He completely outplayed the rest of the field on the greens of Augusta- winning the competition by 12 strokes.

It wasn’t until 2001 that Tiger Woods won the tournament for the second time; however this victory was closer than his previous win, with only two strokes separating him from runner up David Duval.

A year later and Woods won the tournament for a third time. Although Woods hit an average 71 scorecard on the final day, his previous rounds meant he managed to clinch back-to-back jackets by 3 strokes by Retief Goosen.

April 10th 2005 was the next and up to now his last win at the Masters- and it was his closest victory too. He was taken to a play off by fellow American Chris DiMarco, and managed to beat him on the 18th hole. That was Tiger Woods fourth jacket and his last to date. He is joint 2nd on the list of most wins at the Masters, with the great Jack Nicklaus topping the list with 6 Masters Victories.

Tiger has been made 4-1 Favourite for the tournament this weekend; Looking for his fifth win in Augusta.

PSG: All about the Money?

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After the 2-2 with Barcelona last night, many still fancy PSG to make the semi finals of the Champions League. This is a huge achievement by the club, who let’s not forget, were mingling in mid-table in Ligue 1 before the rich Qatar owners took over the club. The team from the French capital have revolutionised hope of domination both domestically and continentally but is it because of the players they have now in their team? More importantly is it because of the football or the money?

PSG are perhaps the most backed club financially in the world; the team that played last night in the Champions League quarter final against Barcelona cost around £250 million pounds. Obviously the owners want PSG to become the biggest club in the world- but are they just “buying” their way there, or is the football that the team play making the headlines?

Zlatan Ibrahimovic is the man leading the French club up front and the Swedish international is happy to be the man leading the team towards world domination. He was sold to PSG by AC Milan for 20 million Euros but the striker’s wages are what anger some football fans around the world. He is on a massive £250,000 a week but that’s not the end of it. PSG pay for the taxation for the striker’s home in Paris which means the Swede gets in fact around £500,000-600,000 a week.

He is however, putting the goals in for PSG- including a goal last night against Barcelona, but is the striker focused on the football or the money?

Another player to move to the French capital for huge amounts of money is defender Thiago Silva- again from AC Milan. He cost double the price for Ibrahimovic as the French club paid 42 million Euros for the centre half’s services.  Another blockbuster contract sees Silva earn 7.5 million a year- just to kick a ball around remember!

Some will argue that even David Beckham has joined PSG for the money that he can donate to charity. At 37, Beckham hasn’t got the same legs as before and cannot complete a full match like before, but the ex-Manchester United, Real Madrid and LA Galaxy midfielder proved last night against the Spanish giants that he still has what it takes to play on the biggest stage in European football.

PSG will no doubt be one of the biggest clubs in the world for years to come, but only because of the finances they have now- forget the money, and play the game.

Murray up to 2nd in world after Miami victory

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Andy Murray came from a set down to beat David Ferrer in the final of the Miami Masters to clinch the title and also a rise in the rankings to 2nd position, replacing Swiss legend Roger Federer who is now 3rd in the world.

The US Open champion is now only one place behind Serbian Novak Djokovic, who was knocked out of the Miami Masters in the quarter finals by unseeded Tommy Haas- a shock defeat to some extent. This gave the Briton the extra incentive to win the tournament.

Spaniard David Ferrer was the man attempting to ruin the party for Murray. Ferrer, seeded third in the tournament behind Murray and Djokovic, made the perfect start- finding himself 5-0 up in the first set and cruised to a 1-0 set lead.

Murray improved massively in the second set but Ferrer kept clawing back and when the score reached 4-4, Murray looked rattled and out of control. Ferrer didn’t make his dominance pay however and a poor game from him followed by an easy served game for Murray levelled the match 1-1 and we went to a final set.

All looked lost in the third and final set when Ferrer took a 6-5 lead and on match point, Murray hit a shot that was close to the baseline, as all the British fans watched their TVs, Ferrer called for a Hawk Eye challenge. The cameras showed that the ball was in and Murray supporters could breathe again. This gave Murray that extra bit of effort and the Scot won the tie break to claim his second Miami Masters.

Murray’s victory and rise in the world rankings will hopefully led him to a success clay season- perhaps the Scots weakest playing surface- and he can mount a serious challenge on the French Open, a competition dominated by Rafa Nadal. All we can do is watch and hope that Murray claims his second Grand Slam in France comes June 9th.

Sunderland Sack O’Neill

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Sunderland have sacked manager Martin O’Neill after just sixteen months in charge of the premier league club. Sunderland are on a abysmal run of form and find themselves just a point above the drop zone with seven games remaining.

O’Neill took over the Wearside club in December 2011, when the club found themselves in a similar position around the relegation zone. O’Neill’s first game in charge was a 2-1 win over Blackburn Rovers at the stadium of light. The club pushed on to secure a mid-table finish.

In the summer of 2012, O’Neill spent big on both striker Steven Fletcher from Wolverhampton Wanderers and Adam Johnson from Manchester City. Many anticipated that Martin O’Neill would take Sunderland to new heights and hopefully achieve European football. However this season hasn’t materialised as planned and Sunderland are hovering above the drop zone and now searching for a new manager.

The timing of O’Neill’s sacking has surprised many. With only seven games of the season remaining, it’s difficult to see who Sunderland can bring in to make an instant impact and turn the clubs form around.

Whoever is O’Neill’s successor has a tricky start, with trips to Chelsea and Newcastle followed by a home game with Everton.  Early bookmakers at time of writing have made Paulo Di Canio the shock front runner for the job just ahead of ex-England boss Steve McLaren and Mark Hughes.

Martin O’Neill leaves Sunderland with a win percentage of 38%.