Analysis, features, news plus more – on European football and sports galore!
40 singles’ matches were played – 20 on each tour – as the French Open main draw kicked off across a busy Sunday of sport worldwide – especially in Europe. The biggest headline featured Maria Sakkari, a tournament semi-finalist two years ago, being stunned in two tight sets 7-6, 7-5 against the same woman who knocked her out prematurely twelve months ago: Karolina Muchova. Continue reading “French Open 2023: Sakkari highest seed to fall on Day 1, while Kokkinakis KOs Evans”
It was a slow start, very messy for sustained periods and physically gruelling as expected. Yet that all paled into insignificance for Chris Billam-Smith, who scored three knockdowns en route to a stunning world championship win over twelve rounds against now-former titlist Lawrence Okolie – his former stablemate – as 15,000 cheered their local hero on at the Vitality Stadium.
Continue reading “Billam-Smith beats Okolie via MD12, is new WBO world cruiserweight champion”
England were second best early on and did well enough defensively to survive multiple waves of France pressure as the scoreline remained goalless. Despite fashioning a few promising opportunities which fell to Justin Oboavwoduo and substitute Zak Lovelace, Ryan Garry’s side were beaten late after Mathis Lambourde’s 89th-minute penalty strike – sending them into the semifinals. Continue reading “France 1-0 England – U17 Euros: Lambourde’s late penalty stings Young Lions in quarter-final”
So, we’re here now. The wait is over, a jam-packed Saturday schedule with three UK boxing shows featuring world title fights, but only one in a stadium. Chris Billam-Smith on home soil at Bournemouth’s Vitality in-front of 15,000, looking to dethrone unbeaten WBO cruiserweight champion and former stablemate Lawrence Okolie, achieving a dream many wouldn’t have thought possible.
Continue reading “Chris Billam-Smith interview: Riakporhe, visualisation, retirement plans and more before tonight’s world title fight”
Eyebrows were raised after Carlos Alcaraz’s straight-sets defeat by Hungarian qualifier Fabian Marozsan in Rome last week. However, given just how much the world no. 1 has played recently worldwide to make up for lost time after injury, that early Masters 1000 exit might have served him well before bigger things await, starting this Sunday as one of the clear French Open favourites. Continue reading “Alex Corretja calls Rome upset loss the best thing to happen to Alcaraz – he’s right”
Two goals in eight first-half minutes by in-form forward Lautaro Martinez saw Inter recover from an early setback to topple Fiorentina in yesterday’s Coppa Italia Final. Naturally, their chairman Steven Zhang has publicly praised their growing big-game mentality though head coach Simone Inzaghi stressed a desire for his side to maintain this red-hot form before Istanbul on June 10. Continue reading “Inzaghi insists Inter must keep going after Lautaro’s Coppa Italia-winning brace”
2021 Australian Open semi-finalist Aslan Karatsev, who quietly enjoyed a resurgence in Madrid this past month, is among the top-ranked players currently vying for a main draw berth at this year’s French Open, kicking off on Sunday. As for the women, Camila Osorio vs. Mirra Andreeva is a compelling final round clash while Tamara Zidansek is also in the qualifying competition. Continue reading “French Open 2023: Karatsev, Osorio and Zidansek headline final round qualifiers”
Two-time league MVP Nikola Jokic broke more records with a 30-point triple-double, as the Denver Nuggets erased a 15-point half-time deficit and crucially made some big defensive plays late to fend off a persistent Lakers display in Los Angeles, en route to securing their first NBA Finals berth in franchise history.
Continue reading “Denver down Lakers to complete series sweep, reach the NBA Finals for first time”
Erik Spoelstra’s Heat team joined the Denver Nuggets in earning a 3-0 Conference Finals series lead after blasting the Celtics into submission on their Miami return, having snatched the initiative in Boston. Point guard Gabe Vincent led the way with a new career-high 29 points, as their role players stepped up in style as they’re now one game away from another NBA Finals trip.
Continue reading “Vincent vanquishes Celtics as Miami join Denver with commanding 3-0 series lead”
Her team described it as ambush mode. Chantelle Cameron played the spoiler role perfectly, en route to making the first defence of her undisputed light-welterweight titles with a majority decision victory against Katie Taylor in Dublin, inflicting the hometown star’s first pro career defeat overnight.
Continue reading “Cameron composed to retain undisputed titles in MD10 win, Taylor’s first pro loss”
Most of the 14,436 fans in attendance at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand fiercely disagreed with the verdict, but Devin Haney eked out a unanimous decision win over three-division world champion Vasiliy Lomachenko to stay unbeaten at 30-0 after a tactical battle which swung the Ukrainian’s way in the latter rounds.
Continue reading “Haney retains undisputed lightweight titles with narrow UD win vs. Lomachenko”
Two weeks shy of 12 years since their first meeting as amateurs, undisputed light-welterweight champion Chantelle Cameron looks to play spoiler as Katie Taylor makes her long-awaited Irish homecoming tonight. Over the course of a month in the build-up to this bout, I spoke to a series of boxing folk – current and former champions among them – with some contrasting opinions to share. Continue reading “Pros pick: Katie Taylor vs. Chantelle Cameron – Intrigue surrounds Dublin headliner, as it should”
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