Thursday, February 3, 2011
Sports World |
- Snooker Shoot Out Enjoys Successful Start
- Henson joins British cash-driven exodus
- Alabar Victoria Derby Final, Tabcorp Park, Saturday
- Torres to net against former club?
| Snooker Shoot Out Enjoys Successful Start Posted: 03 Feb 2011 07:54 AM PST Snooker's latest innovation took place last weekend at the Circus Arena in Blackpool and apart from the investigation currently going on into some dodgy snooker betting patters that emerged before the Jimmy Michie and Marcus Campbell match, and the fact that the final was contested between two outsiders, the tournament appeared to be extremely successful. The rules of the tournament are thus: SHOOTOUR RULES ON THE BAIZE Typically Sky Sports who helped pioneer the format took responsibility to promote the tournament, which meant the annoying little interviews, conducted by an equally annoying little presenter after each game that seemed to be aimed more at propagandising the tournament with each player confirming of how much they loved the format. Sky also used the glamorous escort girls to guide the players to their chairs and introduced a dreadful robotic, fairground voice to announce the Shot Clock changes and winner and loser at the end of each match. The players, referees and the Sky Sports team were encouraged to interact with the crowd, who were also given suitable encourage to count down the clock at the end of the ten minutes. All 64 of the top players in the world played the event, which was fantastic for ticket sales, however, none of the top players made the final which was won by Nigel Bond, ranked well down the order at number 37. Once a runner up at the Crucible, Bond defeated the little known Robert Milkins in the final which gave him the top prize of £32,000. Biggest cheer of the weekend however was reserved for the 'Rocket' O'Sullivan who became the first player to record a century break in the tournament. His 113 was scored against Marco Fu in the first round. O'Sullivan, sadly for his many fans was eliminated by Milkins in the semi final. Overall the tournament offered a new exciting innovative format which will be enjoyed by plenty but not necessarily by snooker traditionalists. That said, Sky employed legendary snooker commentator Clive Everton, to do the talking for the TV audience and he admitted at one point to never having enjoyed a snooker tournament so much. Moreover, former world champions, Steve Davis and Stephen Hendry both thoroughly enjoyed themselves but Hendry in particular commented beforehand that it is the type of format that could be won by any single one of the players and how right his words proved to be.  |
| Henson joins British cash-driven exodus Posted: 03 Feb 2011 04:29 AM PST The drain of talent from British rugby to France has continued with the move of Gavin Henson from Saracens to Toulon. The glamorous, big spending, south-coast club are perhaps a suitable choice for a player whose off-the-pitch image is greater than anything he has achieved on the field in recent years. Though the former Ospreys fly-half insists the move is purely to do with rugby. His desperation to earn a Welsh recall – currently scuppered by a calf injury anyway – led to him asking Saracens for a move. It is a World Cup year of course and Henson, who has only just made a comeback from a two-year self-enforced sabbatical, wanted to play as many games as possible to force his way into Warren Gatland's plans. But since making his debut for the London club at Wembley on Boxing Day he only made four appearances, and crucially none in his preferred positions of fly-half and inside centre. Not that the fans were too enamoured with him either. They disliked the showbiz circus that appeared to follow him around, without the performances to back it up. Those following the live score goalwire wouldn't have been too impressed by his brief stint at the club. He has also massively contradicted himself. Henson made the move to Saracens – a club with a big name manager a chance of Heineken Cup glory – in order to be closer to his two children, as well as escaping the limelight in Wales. Now, with Sarries out of Europe and coach Brendan Venter gone, he has chosen to move away from his family to the South of France and to one of European rugby's most high profile clubs. In his defence he should at least get the chance to play in his favoured positions in France, with Toulon signing Henson as a 'medical wildcard' replacement for the injured Clément Marienval, Felipe Contepomi and Six-Nations bound Jonny Wilkinson. Fans will no doubt be keeping an eye on the rugby live scores to see if he can make an impact for his new club. But you can't escape the fact that he is going to play in a wage-cap free league, with Wilkinson and Paul Sackey already playing their trade at Toulon and Henson's Welsh team-mates James Hook and Lee Byrne also sealing big money moves across the channel. If that is his true motivation, then Sarries may feel they are better off without him.  |
| Alabar Victoria Derby Final, Tabcorp Park, Saturday Posted: 03 Feb 2011 03:59 AM PST It's not all about the Big6 Hunter Cup this Saturday at Tabcorp Park. There are a couple of other highlights and the first of those is the Alabar Victoria Derby Final, a race which is worth a whopping $200,000 and has attracted a great line-up following the heats. Plenty of horses come into this race as prolific winners in previous harness racing results, making it a very competitive contest. Daryl Douglas will be partnering Devilish Smile, who was second in his Australian harness racing heat last time out but is well-drawn and can lead. Despite the defeat last time, it was probably his best run for a long time as the clock will indicate. He should certainly be feared. Former New Zealander The Gold Ace comes here having made his Australian debut in the heat for this. He should not be underestimated though as his time in that race showed he was up there with some of the best of these. He is still unexposed and has a chance. Kerryn Manning runs his contender The Phantom, who will be attempting victory off the second line. Beaten into third in its heat last time out was no disgrace as that race was a very quick run first mile and on that effort must go close, hence his draw. What must be noted, though, is that the last time he contested a Derby contest he disappointed. Sushi Sushi is one of the biggest prize money earners in the line-up and is another who should be considered, partnered by Greg Sugars who gets on well with this son of Art Major. Sushi Sushi was placed in this track's big 2yo race last year and he has a chance against his own age again here. He is one of the main prize money earners in the field also and a big run is assured at a track he likes. Abettorapunt deserves a mention also. This one races off the second line but has closely matched form with Sushi Sushi from last year when they met here as 2yos. That form would see him be a big threat. He is still relatively lightly raced and has improvement in him in abundance following his heat success. There are a few with chances here and we will side with the second line contender in Sushi Sushi, who represents strong form coming into the race which is encouraging. Also, he has the beating of Abettorapunt on their run here in 2010 and, with a strong early pace expected from the pace-setters on the opening line, there could be a set-up situation for strong finishers.  |
| Torres to net against former club? Posted: 03 Feb 2011 02:21 AM PST Fernando Torres would have no problems scoring against Liverpool, despite ending his unhappy spell there by signing for Chelsea on Monday. Torres made the switch to west London in a £50million move during the dying embers of the January transfer window. In a bizarre twist of fate, he could make his Blues debut against his former club on Sunday. There have been no reports that Torres has asked to be left out of his football side's clash against Liverpool even though Reds fans were clearly angry with his defection. Speaking about the prospect of playing against his former club, the Spanish striker said: "It is like destiny. "It is not perfect for me but we will see what happens and I only have good words about Liverpool. They made me a top player and gave me the chance to play at the top level. "I will never say anything bad about Liverpool. I have been very happy there, but now the history is different and I am playing for Chelsea. "If I have the chance to play, I will do my best for Chelsea and hopefully I can score."  |
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