America’s multi-million dollar meeting will overshadow the Melbourne Cup and the jumps racing at Aintree this weekWith all due respect to Australia, where the Melbourne Cup is due to stop the nation at around 4am GMT on Tuesday, the attention of the racing world this week will focus squarely on the Kentucky bluegrass, and the 14 Grade One events that make up the 39th running of the Breeders’ Cup at Keeneland in Lexington this weekend.This news may also grate with diehard fans of the jumps, who will argue that the Grand Sefton Chase over the National fences at Aintree will generate far more betting turnover in the UK on Saturday than any of the events in Kentucky. But the simple...
As the chess furore between Carlsen and Niemann rolls on, we take a look at some enduring disputes in sportNot since Netflix’s The Queen’s Gambit enthralled 62 million viewers has chess captured mainstream attention to such an extent.Last month the Norwegian grandmaster Magnus Carlsen, world No 1 and already the “rock star” of chess – see GQ profiles and multimillion‑pound apparel collaborations – accused the American Hans Niemann of cheating after the 19-year-old ended Carlsen’s over-the-board 53-match winning sequence. Continue reading...
This rip-roaring spectacle delivered a celebratory atmosphere in a vibrant reprise of England captivating an entire nationUnder an almost full moon, England poured a few more golden rays of sunshine. As homecomings go, this ticked most boxes: a celebratory atmosphere; the national stadium near enough full; the palpable sense of occasion as the tube station funnelled its public down on to Olympic Way. Then there was the rip-roaring spectacle delivered inside and the invigorating sense that, while the Lionesses’ summer heroics were its springboard, there is still no telling exactly where they will land.The answer may be known by 20 August, when the World Cup’s two best teams will square off at Stadium Australia. It is hardly outrageous to suggest...
Last year she was kicked off a practice court in a New York park; now Cincinnati run hints at a return of that carefree youngsterAn hour into Emma Raducanu’s startling third-round match at the US Open last year, she still, somehow, had not lost a single game. In the second grand slam event of her career, the 18-year-old had lined up against the eternally steady Sara Sorribes Tormo, a match-up that seemed destined to push Raducanu to her limits. Instead, the youngster tore her apart. Raducanu led 6-0, 5-0 with a match point on her opponent’s serve, then a game later, served out the win over her top 50-ranked opponent. With it, the idea of what she could really achieve...
The Australian’s searing form this year has only intensified the spotlight on him before the New York grand slamYou wouldn’t know Nick Kyrgios is getting sued based on his Instagram page. While a Wimbledon fan he accused of being drunk was preparing her legal papers, the subject of her litigation was cruising around Manhattan in a rickshaw, a Book of Mormon program in hand, grooving to beats, enjoying the Times Square tourist jaunt. “LUV NY,” he captioned the video.Start spreading the news, he’s leaving today. Kyrgios is in New York and everyone is watching. Rarely does the Australian not command international attention, but perhaps never has there been so much of it as now, in the week before the US...