TOP 100 SPORT SITES
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| Polamalu doesn't expect to practice, play PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Steelers safety Troy Polamalu didn't practice again because of his injured left knee ligament and doesn't expect to play Sunday against Baltimore.... hosted.ap.org |
Big freeze hits racing and rugby union • Lingfield and Kempton abandoned, with more inspections due• Sale Sharks and Newcastle games among postponementsThere will be no horse racing today following the abandonment of both scheduled all-weather meetings, with the freezing conditions wiping out a series of sports fixtures across the country.Lingfield abandoned after their second inspection at 8.30am and Kempton followed suit ahead of a planned midday look at conditions there.Both courses are due to race tomorrow. Lingfield have called an inspection at 6.30am but officials say they are "hopeful" as they expect to have their access issues resolved. Racing is also scheduled at the midlands venue at Southwell where they raced yesterday and where they have yet to report any problems.The icy weather is continuing to decimate the jump racing fixture-list and Friday's National Hunt fixtures at Fontwell and Bangor have been called off while Saturday's meetings at Sedgefield and Wincanton and Sunday's at Hereford have already gone.William Hill make Saturday 16 January the 4-5 favourite to be the next date on which a jump meeting will be held, with this Saturday at 5-2. That is the date the Welsh course Ffos Las are planning to race on a card which includes the Welsh Champion Hurdle and the Tolworth Hurdle which has been transferred from Sandown last Saturday.Currently Ffos Las has two inches of snow on the track but officials are planning to remove that tomorrow and are still hopeful of racing this weekend.Although the track at Lingfield would have been raceable today, four inches of overnight snow left the Surrey venue, and its surrounding areas, treacherous for the general public. Kempton's track today was raceable, but heavy snow in the area has left the Sunbury venue inaccessible.Ayr's fixture on Monday is already under threat, with an inspection called for 11am tomorrow. The track is frozen and under three inches of snow, with prospects of the meeting taking place looking slim."There's three inches of snow on the track, which is also frozen solid, and the temperatures are going to be freezing - day and night - all week," said clerk of the course Hazel Peplinski. "There is no glimmer of hope from the Met Office whatsoever so it's looking grim. It's not going to happen and we're going through the motions."The weather has also hit other sports. While Arsenal are hopeful that their game against Bolton will go ahead, two scheduled Guinness Premiership games have also fallen victim to the weather. Sale Sharks' match against Saracens at Edgeley Park and Bath's game against Northampton Saints on Saturday have been postponed, while Newcastle's Kingston Park game with Gloucester the following day is also off.The remaining games are at Worcester, Harlequins and Leicester on Saturday, with Leicester having brought forward their original 5.30pm kick-off time to 3.15pm.Elsewhere, the Magners League match between Ulster and the Ospreys in Belfast, scheduled for Friday evening, has been postponed following a pitch inspection at Ravenhill, as has Connacht v Dragons. And athletes attending the first ParalympicsGB preparation camp at the University of Bath found themselves stranded.Some 42 athletes from five sports were due to leave the camp today, and 40 more were scheduled to arrive to take their place. However, ParalympicsGB have cancelled the second wave and advised the athletes currently training there to stay put until the weather and road conditions have improved. The university has closed, with only certain operational staff on site to ensure that the stranded athletes are provided for.The ParalympicsGB performance director Penny Briscoe said: "The university has been fantastic in putting emergency plans in place to ensure that all the athletes currently here are kept warm and well fed."Horse racingRugby unionguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
The Sunday Times stumps South Africa over Imran Tahir’s registration SOUTH AFRICA suffered a humiliating setback as they prepared for Thursday’s crucial Test match against England when they were forced to withdraw the uncapped leg-spinner Imran Tahir from their squad after inquiries by The Sunday Times revealed that he was not eligible to play for them. feeds.timesonline.co.uk |
Portsmouth fail to block winding up order Portsmouth's attempts to block a winding up order from Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs have been dismissed in the High Court. feeds.timesonline.co.uk |
Juan MartÃn del Potro defeat offers Andy Murray glimpse of glory • US Open champion loses 5-7, 6-4, 7-5, 5-7, 6-3• Marin Cilic will now play Andy RoddickIt is hard to think of anything more dangerous than looking past Rafael Nadal when the Spaniard is your next opponent and, as he prepares for his showdown with the defending champion here on Tuesday, Andy Murray is experienced enough to know that. But should he find a way past Nadal then the path to the final was theoretically eased today after a surprise defeat for Juan MartÃn del Potro.The US Open champion was edged out 5-7, 6-4, 7-5, 5-7, 6-3 by the Croatian 14th seed Marin Cilic, who will now play Andy Roddick, himself a gutsy 6-3, 3-6, 4-6, 7-5, 6-2 winner over the Chilean Fernando González in the night match. On paper a semi-final against Cilic or Roddick is a more attractive proposition than taking on Del Potro, though Murray will be well aware of the dangers they pose, having lost to Roddick in the semi-finals at Wimbledon last summer and then to Cilic in the fourth round of the US Open last September.Del Potro had survived an epic five-set match with James Blake in the second round on his way to the last 16, but today he simply ran out of steam. It was not without a fight but in the end Cilic proved too strong. "We played a hard match, five sets again," Del Potro said. "Marin is playing great tennis. I think he did better than me and he won."Nagging pain in his right wrist had almost stopped Del Potro from competing here and the Argentinian said he would go home to recover for the tournaments ahead. As for Cilic, he has now made consecutive grand slam quarter-finals, his movement has improved enormously in the past 12 months and as Murray can testify, he is a dangerous shot-maker.At the rate she is going, former world No1 Justine Henin will surely be back near the top of the women's rankings before too long. In only her second tournament after returning from retirement, the Belgian fended off compatriot Yanina Wickmayer 7-6, 1-6, 6-3 to reach the quarter-finals.Next up is the Russian Nadia Petrova, who followed up her shock win over Kim Clijsters by beating another Russian, the third seed Svetlana Kuznetsova. Clijsters won the US Open last September in just her third tournament back after two years off but Henin said it was too soon to say if she could complete what would be an incredible Belgian double. "Of course, I have dreams," she said. "I'll try to go as far as possible and if it's until the end, it would be amazing, but it's still too early to talk about that."The second seed Dinara Safina withdrew during the first set of her match with the Russian Maria Kirilenko because of a back injury. Kirilenko will play Jie Zheng of China for a semi-final spot.Australian OpenJuan MartÃn del PotroAndy RoddickJustine HeninTennisSimon Cambersguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |