Tag: transfers

Nathan Aspinall was knocked out by Stephen Bunting as James Wade and Raymond van Barneveld also failed to progress; watch the double in, double out World Grand Prix Darts from the Morningside Arena in Leicester up until the final on October 8 – live on Sky Sports

Nathan Aspinall, James Wade and Raymond van Barneveld suffered first-round exits on the opening night of the 2023 World Grand Prix.  

Stephen Bunting overcame some poor finishing to knock out 2022 runner-up and world No 5 Aspinall in a 2-1 victory.

Bunting showed his strength on the doubles to cruise to a 3-1 win in the first set, a ghastly leg for Aspinall saw him take 12 darts to find the double.

Aspinall then found a clutch 140 to take the match to a deciding set but Bunting held strong under pressure, a huge maximum in the deciding leg helping him to the D16 finish for the victory.

Van Barneveld was defeated 2-1 by Martin Schindler, a disastrous opening leg foreshadowing his early exit.

‘Barney’ came back to take the second set, but Schindler’s scoring proved too much as he broke the throw on the deciding leg to seal the match and a second-round spot.

Krzysztof Ratajski pulled off an unlikely comeback to win 2-1 and knock out two-time winner Wade.

Wade found himself 2-0 up in the final deciding set but Ratajski fought back and was near perfect on the trebles to take three legs in a row and clinch an astonishing victory.

Smith shows skill as Anderson and Price also progress

World champion Michael Smith showed his brilliance and dropped just one leg as he raced to a 2-0 victory over Callan Rydz.

Smith got off to a flying start against Rydz, a 124 checkout helping him to a first-set win that included two breaks of throw.

Despite Rydz rallying with a brilliant 126 checkout to take a leg, Smith then won three more in a row to wrap up the match and lay down a marker in the competition.

Gerwyn Price demolished Danny Noppert in a 2-0 routing, ‘The Iceman’ showing his class to take the first set, 112 and 101 finishes to break the throw plus a dominant deciding leg giving him the upper hand.

From there, Noppert could not respond, and the Welshman cruised through three back-to-back legs to wrap up the win, his scoring on the doubles too good for the Dutchman.

Dirk van Duijvenbode was the first to be knocked out as he fell 2-1 to Brendan Dolan.

Van Duijvenbode got going quickly as he raced to take all three legs in the first set against the throw for a 1-0 lead but Dolan fought back to clinch the second set and take the match to a decider.

It was then his turn to take all three sets as he found the doubles much quicker than his opponent, sealing the win and the spot in the second round with a tops finish.

The next clash saw an in-form Gary Anderson take on the ‘Special One’ Jose de Sousa, the Portuguese No 1 averaging 102.5 to clinch the first set on a break of throw in the deciding leg.

However, the ‘Flying Scotsman’ fought back and showed why he is one to watch in this year’s tournament, taking four legs in a row, with some huge maximums along the way, plus a nervy deciding leg for the 2-1 win.

The final clash of the night saw Rob Cross and Andrew Gilding in a tight, albeit low-quality, affair as Gilding sealed the 2-1 win in a last-leg decider.

Cross missed three match darts for the victory and Gilding held his nerve to hit tops and seal only his second-ever World Grand Prix win.

Tuesday at the World Grand Prix

Michael van Gerwen will begin his defence of the title against Josh Rock in a mouth-watering first-round tussle.

Van Gerwen, who lifted his sixth World Grand Prix title in 2022, will open his challenge against world youth champion Rock.

Third seed Peter Wright will play German No 1 Gabriel Clemens in his opener, with Hungarian Darts Trophy winner Dave Chisnall up against Luke Woodhouse.

Watch the double in, double out World Grand Prix Darts at the Morningside Arena in Leicester every night up until the final on October 8 – live on Sky Sports. Stream the World Grand Prix and more with NOW for £21 a month for six months

Raymond van Barneveld eventually secured the opening leg against Martin Schindler after both players spurned multiple opportunities to hit a double finish.

Take a look at all the action from Sunday in the Rugby World Cup, with Australia taking on Portugal and South Africa facing Tonga.

Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez insisted he is back to his best after he dominated Jermell Charlo on Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in a battle of undisputed champions.

Justin Thomas holed a pressure par putt on the 15th hole at the Ryder Cup in Rome to stay one up with three to play in the fourballs match against Viktor Hovland and Tyrrell Hatton.

Sky Sports’ Gary Cotterill and Ron Walker discuss why Chelsea’s victory over Brighton could prove to be a turning point for Mauricio Pochettino’s side.

Novak Djokovic drove the green at the par four 16th hole at Marco Simone Golf & Country Club in Rome during the Ryder Cup All Star Celebrity Match.

Vitality Roses legend Chelsea Pitman spoke with Sky Sports on why her decision to call time on a stellar international netball career was fuelled by a dream to become a mother, and how she hopes talking openly about her fertility issues might inspire other athletes to do the same

Chelsea Pitman has spoken candidly about her fertility issues before. The England legend had no qualms about retelling her story after announcing her retirement last week in an attempt to get other athletes to do the same.

The 35-year-old featured in her country’s first netball World Cup final match in Cape Town earlier this year, when England were beaten 61-45 by Australia.

A month later, she has now walked away from the international game to delve deeper into her issues and work on shifting the narrative around taboo topics surrounding pregnancy and reproduction.

“I think I’ve been honest that I’ve had two ectopic pregnancies and two miscarriages,” the former England goal attacker said on Sky Sports.

“My body has been my office for so long, and I lead an extremely healthy lifestyle. So, for me to encounter such difficulties time and again was quite a shock – and I live quite a physical lifestyle, too.

“I need to take this time to get more tests done, to look at the timeline of egg-freezing. That’s not a week, and there’s so much I still don’t know about my hormones. I hope my opening up and talking about it creates a safe space for other athletes and women to share their stories.

“I know I held it in for such a long time, and it wasn’t until I spoke about it and shared it [that] a weight was lifted off my shoulders, and I found myself in a community with many other women who go through the same thing.”

Pitman is open about the fact that her decision to retire, although a tough call to make, was partly fuelled by her dreams of becoming a mother.

“It was one of the most difficult decisions [I’ve ever made],” she said.

“I’d love to be able to say that I could play till I was 50, but just the landscape of where I am away from the netball court, I need to focus a little on that, and that sadly is due to age, and the commitment and sacrifice it takes to play for your country.

“We have our regular season, and then in our off-season, if you aren’t part of [an] international [team], you get to do what you want. But if you’re an international player, you’re giving up months of your life.

“At 35, I feel quite honest to say that looking down the fertility path, I want to be a mum. I need to make that sacrifice for me, for the future, knowing that I’ve achieved everything I’ve ever wanted to achieve”.

The next steps in her domestic playing career should help facilitate that.

She said: “I’m going to be playing in Australia in the Suncorp Super Netball League, but there’s a CPA (Collective Player Agreement) still not being signed, so contracts are not available for players to sign, which is quite frustrating.

“But it is the way it is at the moment, and I can’t let that stress me, so I’ve verbally agreed to a team – that’s as much as I can say, and I’m excited. I’m stepping away from the international stage, but I will still play elite netball.”

Team Europe fought back in the foursomes match as Leona Maguire and Anna Nordqvist took a hole off Team USA’s Nelly Korda and Allisen Corpuz with a long birdie putt at Finca Cortesin.

Paul Gilmour and Flex look back at Manchester United’s 4-3 defeat to Bayern Munich in the Champions League.

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Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag gives his verdict on why the club opted for Rasmus Hojlund ahead of Harry Kane.