Sports News

Auchterarder Golf Club’s Rory Franssen proved his readiness to take on some of the world’s best after a five-under par round of 66 at Close House saw him secure qualification in the no.1 position for The International Series England.

Franssen will now compete alongside the likes of Ryder Cup heroes Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter when the main event returns to the North East between August 17-20th, and will be hoping for a repeat performance with a US$2m prize purse to play for.

Crystal Palace forward Wilfried Zaha and rapper Stormzy have agreed a deal to buy non-league club AFC Croydon. The pair, who both grew up in the South London borough, are part of a three-man consortium alongside former Palace head of player care Danny Young.

AFC Croydon compete in the ninth tier of English football and, following the announcement, the club said: "The consortium will own, operate and develop their childhood hometown football club.

Two-time champions West Indies face an almighty task to qualify for the Cricket World Cup after losing to the Netherlands in a thrilling final group game decided by a super over.

Nicholas Pooran's second hundred of the qualifiers propelled West Indies to a commanding 374-6, but Teja Nidamanuru hit 111 in reply and the Dutch needed one from the final ball for victory. Jason Holder took a brilliant catch to deny Logan van Beek as the scores finished tied, but Van Beek blasted Holder for 30 runs in the super over to set up a remarkable win in Harare.

Kazakhstan's No. 1 and the leader of the national men's team, Alexander Bublik, has won a prestigious Terra Wortmann Open tennis tournament in Halle, Germany. In the final, Bublik defeated the world's No. 7, Russian Andrey Rublev, in a hard-fought match – 6:3, 3:6, 6:3.

The game was played on grass and lasted 1 hour and 35 minutes. Bublik has aced 21 times and won two break points out of six.

The Great Britain and Northern Ireland squad were fifth in the final standings at the European Team Championships in Silesia, Poland.

21.10m earned Scott Lincoln (Paul Wilson, City of York) a brilliant second place in a stacked men’s shot put competition. It was an impressive series for the 2020 Olympian with two throws over 21 metres; the second and third best of his career.

Ottawa Tourism has welcomed the announcement that TD Place in Ottawa will host the Pacific Four Series women’s rugby tournament this summer. The tournament will benefit the city’s business events offering. It will feature Canada, Australia, reigning world champions New Zealand, and the United States.

The win demonstrates the city’s incredible event infrastructure. It also delivers legacy and benefits to the Canadian capital’s wider business events portfolio.

Great Britain and Northern Ireland got off to a fantastic start on day one of European Team Championships First Division, sitting second in the standings behind Italy on 131.5 points after 12 events.

There was a second-place finish for Hannah Nuttall (coach: Helen Clitheroe, club: Charnwood) in the women’s 5000m, as well as third positions for Jeremiah Azu (Marco Airale, Cardiff) and Zak Seddon (Geoff Wightman, Bracknell) in the men’s 100m and 3000m steeplechase respectively, all adding crucial points to the team total. Hannah Nuttall produced a superb display of 5000m running in only her second ever track 5000m race, as she finished in second position overall in a time of 15:29:49.

The US$1.5 million St Andrews Bay Championship will be the 12th leg of the 2023 Asian Tour season and the sixth stop on The International Series. “As our first tournament in the country that gave golf to the world, the St Andrews Bay Championship promises to be a momentous week for us,” said Cho Minn Thant, Asian Tour Commissioner & CEO.

“It’s fitting, therefore, that we should have Major champions such as Sergio and Charl and players of the calibre of Joaquin and Mito to grace this auspicious occasion.”

The first wave of Great Britain and Northern Ireland junior athletes has been selected for the European U20 Championships which take place in Jerusalem, Israel on 7-10 August. Following the completion of round one in the selection process, 21 athletes have earned a call-up to the GB & NI team.

They booked their place in the squad after winning at the Trials held at the England Athletics U20 Championships in Chelmsford last weekend as well as achieving the qualification standard. The final team will be selected on July 10.

Acorns will be the face of the Bears’ Vitality Blast game against Worcester Rapids after lead partner Talbots Law donated their match sponsorship to the children’s hospice.

Talbots Law – the Bears lead Blast sponsor – has invited Acorns to be their chosen charity for the clash to help raise awareness of their work with local families and much needed funds. Acorns Children’s Hospice provides specialist palliative care for life limited and life threatened children across Birmingham, Worcester and the wider West Midlands, as well as support for their families.

Australia finally came out on top in what was a testing and compelling Edgbaston Ashes Test in a two-wicket victory, to take a 1-0 lead in the series against England.

In a breathless match, it was down to the Aussie strike bowlers, Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon, to win the match for the ‘Baggy Green Caps’ – with the bat. Their unbroken unbeaten knock of 55 at the crease got the tourists over the line to their target of 281 in the final hour of play.

Reigning Olympic champion, Swede Daniel Ståhl and Slovakian 2022 world gold medallist Kristjan Čeh will headline a stellar line-up of Olympic and world medallists in the men’s discus at the London Athletics Meet on Sunday 23 July. With more than 40,000 tickets already sold for the meet, it will be the biggest athletics fixture since the World Athletics Championships London 2017.

Čeh – who threw the joint fourth furthest throw in history at a meeting in Estonia on Friday at 71.86m - has two Diamond League wins to his name so far in 2023 after victories in Doha and Rabat.

With just over a month until the London Athletics Meeting on Sunday 23 July, more than 40,000 tickets have been sold making it the biggest athletics fixture since the World Athletics Championships London 2017. The tenth stop of the Wanda Diamond League series will see the event return to the London Stadium for the first time since 2019 and the best athletes in the world are lining up to compete in the series’ most prestigious fixture.

Several Paralympic medallists will be heading to the London Athletics Meet on Sunday 23 July, joining a stellar programme of events. Five para events will be included in the programme alongside the Wanda Diamond League events, with many of those athletes set to compete returning from the 2023 World Para Athletics Championships which take place in Paris one week prior.

The Great Britain and Northern Ireland team for November’s (5) IAU 50km World Championships in Hyderabad, India, has been announced with seven athletes set to represent at the 2023 edition of the Championships following medal success at the Europeans in 2022.

Andrew Davies – the individual bronze medallist at the 2022 European Championships - returns to the fold as a member of the men’s quartet. He was also part of the gold medal winning men’s team at the Europeans, as was Will Mycroft who will receive his second GB & NI vest at the Championships.

Edgbaston’s status amongst the world's leading cricket venues has been underlined after the England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) confirmed the stadium will host major men’s and women’s international fixtures until 2031.

ECB’s home international schedule – covering the period from 2025-31 – includes a mouth-watering selection of Tests, ODIs and IT20s at the stadium. And it promises to bring a much-welcomed economic boost to the city’s hotels, bars and restaurants – estimated at around a quarter of a billion pounds over the seven years – as well as promoting the West Midlands on a global stage.