Two members of a martial arts group have won gold medals at the World Championships in Rome.

The two kick-boxing competitors from React Martial Arts in Rowley Regis – the coach Arron Walker and junior member Harvey Adlam – won their world titles earlier this month.

Arron and Harvey, who is aged 11 from Cradley Heath, competed in ring continuous, mat continuous and boxing, at 85kg and 35kg respectively.

Arron won the gold in ring continuous and bronze in the other two disciplines and Harvey got gold in mat continuous, silver in ring continuous and bronze in boxing.

“It was a highly competitive world championships on 3 and 4 November, with teams from Spain, Sweden, USA, Mongolia, Morocco and Italy, to name just a few,” said Arron.

“It is a great achievement for our small club we managed to get medals from six categories with only two fighters,” said Arron.

Arron said the club, which was set up in 2014 to encourage kick-boxing in the area, were now anxious to get some new faces in the squad to train-up for future championships.

Arron said the club we were an active member of the community activity network (CAN) co-ordinated by Matt Hill and now attend regular public health meetings with Matt.

As part of the CAN, the club received some funding from Sandwell to help promote new sessions to encourage more young people to take up the sport. Members have worked in primary and secondary schools in Sandwell.

Sandwell Council's cabinet member for leisure, Councillor Bill Gavan said: "I was very pleased to hear of these amazing achievements by members of the local club.

"I hope their efforts encourage more people to get involved in this highly successful organisation."

ESL welcomes back the best crowd in Dota 2 to create more history and break more records.

Twelve of the world’s best Dota 2 teams will return to the UK in 2019 for an all improved ESL One Birmingham powered by Intel. The event will take place from May 31 - June 2, 2019 at Arena Birmingham, for three days of intense Dota 2 action in front of one of the best crowds in esports history, battling it out for a share of the $300,000 prize pool.

The teams will be divided into two groups of six, with a round-robin best-of-two group stage that will decide which eight teams qualify.  All eight matches will be played in the incredible atmosphere of Arena Birmingham. Regional qualifiers for ESL One Birmingham will take place in March and April 2019 across Europe, North America, China, and South-East Asia. Group stage matches will be played from May 28 - May 30.

The UK community shocked the world by making ESL One Birmingham ESL’s fastest-selling Dota 2 event to date and illustrated the strength of the burgeoning UK scene.  ESL has since been busy preparing an event that is not only a world-class Dota 2 tournament but also a festival of esports. The scene’s most passionate fans are invited yet again to fill the arena.

Margot James, Minister for Digital and the Creative Industries, said: “I’m delighted Birmingham will once again play host to an ESL tournament. It is a testament to the brilliant fans who made this such a success last year, and we look forward to welcoming fans from across the world. ESL’s presence here is a great boost for the Midlands region and further proof that esports in the UK is going from strength to strength.”

“We witnessed unimaginable levels of support from the UK community which genuinely surprised us all earlier this year”, said James Dean, Managing Director at ESL UK. “We can’t thank everyone enough for making ESL One Birmingham an event to truly remember and ecstatic to be returning with more next year. We’re working on implementing improvements and some additional surprise features based on superb feedback from the community this year”

ESL One Birmingham, the UK’s first Major broke crowd capacity and streaming records across multiple platforms.  More than 30 million people viewed the action online across the five days of competition this year, and fans attended from more than 38 different countries and 120 different areas of the UK. ESL One Birmingham was also broadcast on BBC Three for the first time, with thousands of streams and hours of content watched across the weekend. ESL One Birmingham will deploy ESL’s best-in-class production team and equipment to deliver an incredible tournament experience for players and fans.

Cricket has the potential to unite communities and help countries towards their development goals, Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland has said. She was speaking at the ‘Bringing the Commonwealth to the ICC Cricket World Cup’ event – launching a landmark collaboration between the Commonwealth, International Cricket Council (ICC) Cricket World Cup 2019, and England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB).

High commissioners, renowned sportsmen and community project leaders were among those attending the presentation at the Commonwealth headquarters in London. The initiative aims to shift the focus beyond the playing field to the greater impacts of sport such as accelerating development, promoting peace and improving health and education.

Welcoming the new partnership, the Secretary-General said, “Sport is one of the great shared traditions across Commonwealth member countries. This collaboration will utilise our Commonwealth convening power - which is truly remarkable - to champion and promote cricket and broader sport-based initiatives being delivered by a diverse range of organisations, using the sport as a tool for development and peacebuilding.”

Secretary-General Scotland spoke about the Peace at the Crease initiative she launched earlier this year to enhance the impact of cricket as a tool for development. The programme will create a network of governments, cricketing and sporting bodies and community organisations, and includes training and capacity building to use cricket and sport more generally to advance development goals such as good health and wellbeing, peace and gender equality. Contributing to Peace at the Crease there are Commonwealth Community Cricketing Cups, with special exhibition matches and tournaments to mobilise action on specific development challenges.

The Commonwealth will also support the ICC Young Flagbearers programme, which will recruit young people from diaspora communities of each of the 10 world cup competing nations.

Commenting on the partnership with the Commonwealth, Managing Director of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019, Steve Elworthy MBE said: “It is an honour to work alongside the Commonwealth ahead of what is a huge year for both the sport and the participating countries.

“The event provides a great opportunity for all members of the Commonwealth to be part of the World Cup and show how their communities can be part of cricket in the future,” he added.

Panel discussions at the event focused on the role cricket can play to promote social cohesion and sustainable development in local communities, as part of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 Social Legacy programme.

Participants also learnt about related Commonwealth initiatives such as ‘Faith in the Commonwealth’, which was created to improve global citizenship and religious literacy among young people and build stronger social cohesion through greater respect and understanding across faiths and cultures.

Team England has today revealed its new look and feel at the proposed site of the Birmingham 2022 Athlete’s Village.

Five members of Team England, who represented the nation at the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, alongside Chief Executive Paul Blanchard unveiled Team England’s new logo on the proposed site that will aim to host 6,500 athletes and officials at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.

While the organisational name for Commonwealth Games England remains the same, Team England is being pushed as the consumer facing name of the team, with its diverse group of athletes at the heart of it.

As part of this re-brand, Commonwealth Games England – working with award-winning creative agency Matta – consulted a number of its athletes that competed at the Glasgow 2014 and Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games, to establish their understanding of Team England and its proposed position.

At the proposed site of the future Athletes’ Village, Commonwealth Games England Chief Executive, Paul Blanchard, was joined by Birmingham artistic gymnastics star Dom Cunningham, hockey star Lily Owsley, double Commonwealth S14 swimming champion Tom Hamer, Birmingham-born rhythmic gymnast Mimi Cesar and Commonwealth bronze medal winning basketball player Siobhan Prior.

Hamer, Cunningham and Prior also attended Commonwealth Games England’s Annual General Meeting which took place at the ICC in Birmingham and saw a number of panel discussions with Team England athletes and officials.

Prior, Hamer and Blanchard were joined by Team England’s head doctor Dr. Mike Rossiter on a panel discussing Team England at the 2018 Commonwealth Games – reflecting on the nation’s successful medal haul, including 45 gold medals, as well as the achievement of taking the largest ever sporting team to leave the UK for an international Games.

With Birmingham set to host the 2022 edition of the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, gymnast Dom Cunningham, who came away from the Gold Coast with two medals, formed part of a Birmingham 2022 focused panel. He sat alongside Commonwealth Games England Chairman, Ian Metcalfe, Interim CEO for Birmingham 2022, Ian Reid, and Paul Oldfield from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.

Commonwealth Games England Chief Executive, Paul Blanchard, said:

“Team England is a brand that the nation can get behind – it is diverse, united and representative of England.

“With a home Games on the horizon, and after a hugely successful 2018 Games, now is the right time to refresh our brand as we begin preparations for Birmingham 2022.”

Artistic gymnastics team Commonwealth champion, Dom Cunningham, who was born in Birmingham added:

“Birmingham is my home town, and England is my nation – so to be able to represent Team England at Birmingham 2022 will be an incredible honour.

“I am very excited to be here today where hopefully I will be in less than four years’ time wearing this logo and getting the chance to compete for Team England in Birmingham, in front of my home crowd.”

Jonny Clayton overcame three-time champion Michael van Gerwen 5-4 in one of the greatest games ever seen at the bwin Grand Slam of Darts, as three players qualified from the group stage on a memorable Sunday in Wolverhampton.

Despite Van Gerwen averaging 107.92, and bordering on record-breaking territory for much of the game, Clayton punished the Dutchman's three missed match darts to edge a classic contest and end the reigning champion’s 21-game winning run in the tournament.

Clayton now tops Group A, while Rob Cross, James Wade and Gary Anderson became the first players to secure qualification to the knockout stages on a day which saw ten players average over 100 at the Aldersley Leisure Village.

"I don't think I'll stop shaking for a week after that one! I'm so happy to have won that game," said Clayton, who also defeated Joe Murnan in his opening game.

"Michael is a phenomenal player but I always concentrate on playing my own game and now I can take massive confidence from that win."

Day two of the £450,000 event saw all 32 players in action, with Saturday's winners facing off and Saturday's losers playing each other.

The other match in Group A saw debutant Gary Robson produce a stunning turnaround from 4-1 down, surviving two match darts in his 5-4 win over Murnan.

A masterclass from UK Open and World Matchplay champion Anderson saw him average 112.54, the fourth highest ever seen at the Grand Slam, in his 5-1 demolition of Ian White.

Anderson opened the tie with the first two of seven 180s, and although he missed out on a nine-darter the Scot powered to a second win of the weekend.

"I was thinking 'don't hit the nine-darter' because it can all go wrong if you do that!” said Anderson, a former Wolverhampton finalist.

"Ian is a great player and a good friend of mine so I knew I had to be at my best to win against a top player."

Group D's other tie saw German BDO qualifier Michael Unterbuchner take a big step towards qualification with a 5-2 win over Steve Hine, eliminating the Coventry man in the process.

World Champion Cross became the first player through to the knock-out phase after surviving a match dart to beat World Youth Champion Dimitri Van den Bergh 5-4 in a repeat of their World Championship quarter-final.

Cross, who missed just two darts at a double, trailed 3-2 to the young Belgian before battling back to force a last-leg decider and, after Van den Bergh missed a dart at the bullseye, the world number three found double eight with his last dart in hand for the win.

"It's a good feeling to be through after two games and I had to play really well to beat Dimitri, he's a class person both on and off the oche,” said Cross.

"I have been feeling the pressure a bit in the last couple of months but as long as I play well for the rest of the year it doesn't matter."

Elsewhere in Group H, Ryan Searle's hopes of qualification were ended as he went down 5-4 to BDO number two Mark McGeeney.

European Champion and World Series of Darts Finals winner Wade extended his winning run on TV to 12 matches with a 5-3 victory over Keegan Brown in Group C.

Wade averaged 104.7 and fired in three ton-plus finishes, including a 101 to win the tie, as he saw off Brown - who averaged 102.1 in an exceptional match.

"Of course it's pleasing to get through after two games but this is just the start of the tournament,” said Wade.

"I always take my opportunities and I think my experience carried me through that one. Now I'm want to keep the winning run going."

The other game in the group saw three-time quarter-finalist Mark Webster eliminated following his 5-3 defeat to Dutch BDO qualifier Wesley Harms.

In Group E, 2017 runner up Peter Wright also made it two wins out of two as he beat German number one Max Hopp 5-2, while Josh Payne earned a 5-2 victory over BDO number three Jim Williams.

Stephen Bunting fired in a 104.36 average as he picked up a 5-3 win over Mensur Suljovic in a high-quality Group G affair, and former Lakeside Champion Scott Mitchell recorded a 5-1 rout of German youngster Martin Schindler to keep his qualification hopes alive.

Welshman Gerwyn Price struck seven 180s as he edged past Lakeside Champion Glen Durrant 5-4 in a gripping Group F contest, while superior doubling proving to be the difference for European Championship runner-up Simon Whitlock in his 5-2 victory over Andrew Gilding.

Former champion Raymond van Barneveld survived a scare as Adam Smith-Neale missed four darts to dump him out of the tournament, with Group B's second game seeing Premier League finalist Michael Smith produced a top-class 13-dart deciding leg to edge past Krzysztof Ratajski 5-4.

The final group matches will take place on Monday and Tuesday, with the top two players from each group progressing to the last-16 knockout stage.

University of Wolverhampton (UWR) Race Team engineering students narrowly missed out on the top place position in this year’s national MSV F3 Cup Championship title – coming third in the competition.

For the past two years, the Race Team has clinched second place in the national F3 Cup Championship title – marginally missing out on a first place spot last year by 1 point.

As the only University competing in the MSV F3 Cup competition, the Race Team has competed at Brands Hatch, home of the British Grand Prix, Silverstone, and Donington Circuit.

An investment of £10 million in the University’s engineering facilities at its Telford Innovation Campus in Priorslee has recently been completed, creating world class education facilities for engineering students including industry standard design, development and testing facilities as well as Motorsport workshops.

UWR takes part in the F3 Cup, the IMechE Formula Student competition, the British Hillclimb Championship (driven by University of Wolverhampton Honorary Graduate, Graham Wynn OBE) and also work on two Morgan development cars which the team raced in this year’s AR Morgan Challenge on behalf of the Morgan Motor Company.

‌Professor Ian Oakes, Deputy Vice-Chancellor at the University of Wolverhampton, said: “"Although this has been a challenging year, we are delighted with the progress we have made in all of the championships in which we have competed, including the F3 Cup, the AR Morgan Challenge and Formula Student.

“The massive investment that has gone into our facilities provides a really attractive course offering for students who want to study engineering.

“We have committed sponsors on board, students have their own cars to work on and we’re competitively racing, providing real, hands-on engineering experience for the team.”

Shane Kelly, UWR Racing Driver, said: "After a third season in F3Cup, UWR have always been in the top 3 for the driver standings, which is a phenomenal achievement. We’ve come so far and learned so much, and this wouldn’t be possible without our Engineering students who commit so much of their time to a full season of Formula 3 racing.

"These students have raced all over the Country, in all-weather scenarios, winning and losing together.

“We are already looking forward to the 2019 season and more than 100 students from the School of Engineering have expressed an interest in being a Racing Wolf.”

Anyone interested in studying Engineering courses on offer at the Telford Innovation Campus should register for the next Open Day on Saturday 17^th November 2018. Follow the UWR Race Team’s progress on Facebook, YouTube and Twitter@UWRacing and Instagram@uwracing.