Pedersen Conquers Croatia

Before this season, Nicky Pedersen had never won a race in Gorican, Croatia. But he turned it round to win this year's Croatia GP, moving just six points behind standings leader Greg Hancock. The Dane beat Andreas Jonsson, Thomasz Gollob and wildcard Jurica Pavlic, who was racing on the track that his dad built, to take the victory.

Pedersen only finished second in the semi-finals as Pavlic beat him to the line. Chris Harris had a great night following a decent World Cup but could only finish third on the restart after Freddie Lindgren lost the bike in the initial race. After a slow start to the meeting, Gollob took the second semi-final ahead of Jonsson, they beat Hancock and Jason Crump to the places in the final.

The night began well for the Championship leader who won the opening heat. Crump took the second heat with Harris fourth and Pavlic in third behind Bjarne Pedersen. Jonsson won the third heat with Chris Holder starting his night with a point. With Jaroslaw Hampel still out of action, Slovakia's Martin Vaculik, who won the Gorzow GP, could only start his second GP with a fourth behind Gollob, Kenneth Bjerre and Nicky Pedersen taking his first heat of the night.

But Vaculik responded by winning the fifth heat ahead of Hancock. There was a false start in heat six but the restart saw Harris win his first race of the night ahead of Nicky Pedersen. Holder continued his Championship charge by taking heat seven ahead of Crump who could only manage third behind Bjerre. Jonsson made it two heats from two in heat eight ahead of Pavlic, Emil Sayfutdinov and Gollob.

Harris also secured two wins in two races in heat nine in a tough heat against Holder, Gollob and Hancock. But Jonsson wasn't to be outdone and he quickly made it three heats out of three in the tenth. Pavlic then set the stadium alight by taking heat-11 ahead of Nicky Pedersen. Crump would take his second heat of the night ahead of Vaculik in heat-12.

That was followed by Nicky Pedersen also taking his second heat of the night ahead of Crump, Jonsson and Hancock. Heat-14 initially saw Lindgren pack up but he would end up winning the restart after Holder had a nasty crash due to his chain breaking. After suffering a crash last week in the Elite League, this crash was enough to see Holder end his night without participating in his final heat. Gollob won heat-15 with Hans Andersen taking heat-16 ahead of Harris.

Hancock would then win his second heat of the night in heat-17 ahead of Bjerre, Pavlic and Peter Ljung who failed to score a single point in the meeting. Gollob also took his second win, making it two heats from two, with Crump only finishing fourth. Lindback took heat-19 with Harris securing a point that would ensure his place in the semi-finals. Substitute, Dino Kovacic, took Holder's place in heat-20 but only finished fourth while Sayfutdinov won it ahead of the two Pedersens.

The standings after seven rounds: 1.Hancock 97, 2.N.Pedersen 91, 3.Crump 87, 4.Holder 84, 5.Gollob 77, 6.Lindgren 72, 7.Sayfutdinov 65, 8.Jonsson 62, 9.Hampel 46, 10.Lindback 46, 11.Andersen 39, 12.Harris 38, 13.B.Pedersen 38, 14.Ljung 36, 15.Bjerre 35

Hamilton's Hungarian Hat-Trick

A hat-trick of wins in Budapest leaves Lewis Hamilton fourth in the overall standings going into the Summer break. Before this race, only one from the last seven Pole sitters went onto take the chequered flag. So it was perhaps a surprise to see a race without many overtakes and Hamilton winning the race without any real problems.

The start of the race was delayed by a lap as Michael Schumacher's day began by not being able to start. The rest of the field had to do a second formation lap while Schumacher got pushed into the pit lane, where he would be able to start the race.

The start was a clean one and Jenson Button was able to overtake Sebastian Vettel into third. Mark Webber made a better start, moving up seventh while Fernando Alonso moved up to fifth with Felipe Massa dropping to ninth. Schumacher's race became hindered even more when he received a drive through penalty on lap four for speeding in the pit lane from the start of the race.

The overtakes mainly came from the pit lane and it even then it didn't come until the second pit phase. Lap-39 saw Vettel get ahead of Button who had stopped quite a few laps before and was stuck behind Bruno Senna in eighth.

Webber also looked have got the better of Alonso on lap-44 again after the second pit stop phase. But the Australian required to have a third pit-stop which ended up leaving him in eighth. Two laps later, Kimi Raikkonen, who pitted much later than the rest to lead after Hamilton had pitted, managed to jump the pack and came out just ahead of team-mate Romain Grosjean. The pair had a little battle before the Finn managed to get away and try to hunt the leading McLaren.

Pastor Maldonado once again received a drive through penalty for his eclectic driving style. He tried overtaking Paul Di Resta on lap-52 and ended up forcing the Force India off the track. The Venezuelan received his penalty for causing a collision. Schumacher's nightmare finally came to an end on lap-60 when he had to retire, that means he has now retired from seven of the 13 races. Narain Karthikeyan would also retire after crashing into a barrier five laps later. Race result:

1.Hamilton (McLaren), 2.Raikkonen (Lotus), 3.Grosjean (Lotus), 4.Vettel (Red Bull), 5.Alonso (Ferrari), 6.Button (McLaren), 7.Senna (Williams), 8.Webber (Red Bull), 9.Massa (Ferrari), 10.Rosberg (Mercedes), 11.Hulkenberg (Force India), 12.Di Resta (Force India), 13.Maldonado (Williams), 14.Perez (Sauber), 15.Ricciardo (Toro Rosso), 16.Vergne (Toro Rosso), 17.Kovalainen (Caterham), 18.Kobayashi (Sauber), 19.Petrov (Caterham), 20.Pic (Marussia), 21.Glock (Marussia), 22.De La Rosa (HRT) DNF: Schumacher (Mercedes), Karthikeyan (HRT)

Lucky Thirteen For Taylor

Phil Taylor wins the World Matchplay for a massive 13th time as James Wade fails to topple the Power for the seventh time in a major final. The final wasn't the most explosive, but it did offer plenty of intrigue as neither player ever really took full control of the match.

The first three legs of the match went against throw before Taylor finally held it to lead 3-1, Wade would respond to make it 3-2 after the first session. The first four legs of the second session did go with throw until Wade looked to crucially break in leg ten to level the match at 10-10.

But Taylor came back to the oche after the second interval to instantly break back before two more legs went against the throw. Taylor then secured a vital hold before Wade kept in touch at 8-7 by the end of the third session. Session four looked to be a crucial one as Taylor secured two 45-finishes which was then followed by three legs won by Wade to level the score at 10-10.

The response by Taylor during the fifth session was immense and it looked like he would win the match from here. He took the first four legs of the session, to lead 14-11, the first point in which someone led by three legs at the end of a stint.

But Wade still wasn't beaten. A 112-finish quickly followed by a 114, but the deficit would still be two legs as Taylor led 16-14 at the end of session six. It could well have been a single leg between them as Wade missed a dart at double ten for a fabulous 140-checkout, leaving Taylor to secure 32 to that that 16-14 lead.

Wade did take another leg, the most legs taken against Taylor in a Matchplay final, before Taylor took the final two legs required to win that 13th Matchplay title. The victory also seals his world number one spot which was under threat from Adrian Lewis at the start of this tournament.

TaylorWade For Success

Phil Taylor and James Wade will compete in Sunday's final for the World Matchplay title in Blackpool. The two had varying semi-final experiences and know they are now just one game away from victory.

Wade made it through after an extremely topsy-turvy match against Terry Jenkins. It was Jenkins who made the better start and found himself 4-1 then 5-2 ahead. Wade stemmed the tide a little by scoring a 164-checkout before Jenkins responded with a ton to make it 6-3. The game began to change from there as Wade stormed through to take six consecutive legs and lead 9-6. Within that sequence, the Machine took out 103 in leg-11, 127 in leg-13 and 107 in leg-14.

This time it was Jenkins to turn the game on its head at 11-9. Legs 16-20 were all taken by the Bull with the highlight being a 96-finish via double-18 double tops in leg-19. Wade would then take a 13-11 lead with two more ton plus checkouts, a 130 in leg-21 before a 144 in leg-23. But the game still wasn't done as Jenkins again fought back to level the match at 13-13.

The final six legs was a bit like Noah's Ark. Wade again took a two leg lead at 15-13 before a 40 and a 20 checkout from Jenkins once again levelled the score at 15-15. But Wade finally struck a vital blow, breaking the Jenkins throw in leg-31 after the Bull missed darts at the double. He then finally took out 12 to win the game 17-15.

Taylor had a much easier game in comparison against Ronnie Baxter, but the Blackpool boy did show signs of fight throughout. A 114 from Taylor in the opening was a warning of what was to come as the Power stormed into a 6-0 lead. Baxter avoided the whitewash before a 109-checkout in leg-eight helped Taylor move onto an 8-1 lead.

But then Baxter came to life at the end of the second and the beginning of the third session. The Rocket would win five legs on the spin to reduce the arrears to 8-6. Taylor then moved into a 10-6 lead before Baxter responded with a 110 finish. Three consecutive legs then moved Taylor to within four legs of victory.

Baxter's last highlight of the tournament came in leg-22 when he scored a 103-checkout to make the score 14-8. Baxter would then secure one more leg before a 118-finish from Taylor would classily win the match 17-9. Setting up another fantastic final with Wade.

Hamilton Heads For Hungary Win

After quick practice sessions, Lewis Hamilton transferred that into a qualification Pole for tomorrow's Hungary GP. Red Bull looked very much out of it until third practice, but it was Sebastian Vettel, not Mark Webber, who mustered third behind Romain Grosjean in the Lotus.

Jenson Button suffered from quite a bit of under-steer throughout the session and will start fourth ahead of the second Lotus, Kimi Raikkonen. The two Ferraris will line up side-by-side in sixth and seventh with Fernando Alonso, who will lead the standings going into the Summer break not matter what, ahead of Felipe Massa.

For the first time this season, Bruno Senna made it into Q3 meaning that both Williams cars will be in the top ten to start off with. Pastor Maldonado will start eighth with Senna ninth. Nico Hulkenberg rounds off the top ten with a good performance for Force India.

Despite topping the time sheets in practice three, Webber failed to get the working properly and could only manage 11th, meaning perhaps another frustrating race for the Australian tomorrow. Paul Di Resta will be alongside him in 12th. Mercedes had a poor qualifying also, Nico Rosberg could only get 13th with Michael Schumacher all the way down in 17th. Between the two Mercedes' are Sergio Perez and Kamui Kobayashi in the Saubers with Jean-Eric Vergne in 16th in Toro Rosso.


Daniel Ricciardo was the one to fall from Q1 and will start 18th. Heikki Kovalainen once again out-performed his team-mate Vitaly Petrov as the pair sit 19th and 20th. Charles Pic will lead the Marussia charge in 21st with Timo Glock 22nd. Pedro De La Rosa yet again out-qualifies Narain Karthikeyan as the two HRTs bring up the rear.

2012 World Matchplay Darts: Quarter Finals

The drama and the tension returned over two sessions in the Winter Gardens as the quarter finals took place.  The opening match of the night saw home town lad, Ronnie Baxter, continuing his resurgence and getting himself into the last four in front of his home crowd.

Baxter faced Justin Pipe and the opening four legs went with throw. It was advantage Pipe early on who secured the break and hold in legs five and six. But Baxter regained his composure to level the match before taking a stunning 107-checkout to take a 5-4 lead. The Rocket wasn't done there as he then produced a 150 finish to extend his advantage to 7-4.

The deficit remained two/three legs until the score read 7-9. Baxter then kicked on to take five legs on the spin to take him to within two of victory. The score then became 15-10 before Baxter completed the job with a 13-darter, taking him to his first televised semi-final for three years.


The second quarter final saw a little heat between Adrian Lewis and Terry Jenkins. It wasn't the first time that someone was upset with Lewis' antics but to see Jenkins show his distaste for the World Champion was quite unexpected. But whereas the likes of James Wade have faltered after getting angered, Jenkins continued to go onto win the match.


Again the first four legs went with throw until the Bull broke and won a further two legs to lead 5-2. But Lewis remained undeterred and managed to go into the second interval at 5-5. It then read 6-6 until two 121 finishes on the bull gave Jenkins an 8-6 lead. That then became 10-6 as Jenkins continued to assert his authority on the game. Lewis did bring it back to within two legs before Jenkins made it 11-8 and that was where he showed his distaste for Lewis, giving him the ultimate daggers before signalling that Jackpot was full of talk behind his back.


The pair went off stage for a third time at 11-9 with the pair looking somewhat reconciled. The outburst did look to have put Jenkins off his game as Lewis restored parity. But then the Bull kicked back up the gears to take a 14-11 lead before Lewis pulled a leg back. But Jenkins wasn't going to allow the World Champion to fight back and he took the next two legs to run out a 16-12 winner.     


Phil Taylor returned the oche with his old darts back in his hand as he overcame a much tougher test in Andy Hamilton. Hamilton took a 2-0 lead courtesy of a 110-checkout in the second leg but Taylor responded with a 126 followed by a 127 both culminating on the bull. Taylor would then take a 4-2 lead before Hamilton roared back to level at 4-4.


The pair traded blows again as Taylor stormed into a 7-4 lead before it then became 7-6 as Hamilton refused to go away. The Power then had a 10-7 lead but again Hamilton responded, this time with a 124 finish on the bull on his way to making it 10-9. But four legs on the spin put the ball firmly in Taylor's court with Hamilton offering a 108-checkout in resistance. But it wasn't enough as Taylor would classily end the game via a 170 finish to win the game 16-11.   


James Wade completes the semi-final line-up after fighting off a persistent Michael Van Gerwen. After a 116 finish on the second leg from Wade, Van Gerwen fought back to level the match at 2-2. But the Wade completely asserted his authority on the game, taking five legs on the spin to make it 7-2. It became 9-3 when Wade hit a 146 finish before a simpler 40-checkout.

A 122 looked to be the final nail in the coffin as he made it 11-5. But Van Gerwen responded with four straight legs to begin to make a fight of it. That soon became six legs from seven to get to within a leg of Wade. But the Machine wasn't to be pegged back and he managed to take four of the final six legs to make it 16-13.    

Two Nine Darters In Two Days

Another batch of second round matches, another nine dart finish. Wes Newton managed to match Michael Van Gerwen who managed the feat just 24 hours earlier in yet another magical day in Blackpool. The opening match of the night saw Andy Hamilton take full advantage of a lacklustre and despondent Mark Webster. After taking the opening leg of the match, the Welshman found himself 3-1 which then turned to 6-3.

Webster did show some fight by coming back to level the match at 6-6. But any hopes of Webster kicking on and making a battle of it were left wanting after the inconsistent Welshman returned. Hamilton managed to go onto take the next seven legs to win the match 13-6, the highlight being a 127-checkout in leg-17.

The last time Newton and Justin Pipe met on stage, Newton got so frustrated with Pipe's slow throw he had a mini tantrum that turned the game sour. This time, we were treated to that colossal nine darter but unlike Van Gerwen, Newton failed to win the match despite leading 10-8.

Two 32 finishes from the Fleetwood man were cancelled out by a 104 and a 40 from the Taunton man. Legs five and six went in the way of Newton before a 132 finish via bull bull double-16 from Pipe made the score 4-3. It then went to 5-3 but Pipe again fought back with a 38 and a ton via two double tops to level the match.

The 180, 177 and then the 144-checkout saw the nine darter come for Newton in leg-11. But again Pipe equalised before Newton finally scored a break and hold of throw in legs 13 and 14, making it 8-6. A 126 finish from Newton soon made it 9-7 before it became 10-8 with a 90-checkout. But the energy seemed to have left Newton as Pipe managed to roar back with four legs on the trot to win the game 13-10 and steal that last eight place.

Phil Taylor's new darts looked to playing havoc with him for most of his match against Ian White. But it didn't stop him from heaping a 13-3 thrashing on Diamond. White did have darts at the double in all three opening legs, yet found himself 2-1 down. That became 5-2 when Taylor secured a 109-checkout. White's final leg win in this tournament came in leg nine to make it 6-3 before Taylor reeled off seven consecutive legs to romp home, setting up a quarter final tie against Hamilton. Taylor's highlights were a 107 finish in leg-11 before a majestic 170 two legs later. Not Taylor's greatest performance but still had his usual flashes of brilliance to keep hold of his number one spot.

The final quarter-final place was taken by local hero, Ronnie Baxter, who ran out a 13-8 winner over Dean Winstanley. Baxter started in fine form, quickly taking a 3-0 lead. Winstanley's problem throughout the match was his doubles, but he did pull it back to 4-2. Legs 8-10 were also taken by Winstanley to then level the match 5-5.

But Baxter responded with three consecutive legs of his own, including a 110-checkout in leg-13. That soon became six legs in seven to give him an 11-6 lead, capped off with a 40 finish via double one double-19. Winstanley held off the procession for a further two legs before a 52-finish followed by a 116 secured the Blackpool man's progression into the last eight.

Nine Darter in Second Round

The second round in Blackpool began with a nine-darter, the highlight of four fantastic matches. Michael Van Gerwen cemented the accolade ten years after Phil Taylor did it in The Winter Gardens. His opponent was Steve Beaton who couldn't do an awful lot to stem the Dutch tide.

The first six legs all went with throw, with Van Gerwen securing a 108 finish in the third leg and a 116 in the fifth. Beaton was the first to break the throw in the seventh before Van Gerwen broke back with a 128-finish. Then the Dutchman made history, six perfect darts was followed by the 141 finish to secure that emphatic nine darter.

Van Gerwen wasn't done there, he then posted his fifth ton plus check-out, this time of 116, in leg-11 to make it 6-5 before Beaton again levelled the match. The Dutchman then pounced, winning four legs in a row to secure a lead of 10-5. The last hoorah for Van Gerwen came in leg-19 where he scored a Shanghai finish on the way to taking two of the next three legs to win the match 13-9.

James Wade played just as well as Van Gerwen for the majority of his match against Mark Walsh, who didn't put up as much of a fight as Beaton. Wade took a 2-0 lead before Walsh managed to secure a 121 finish in the third leg. Wade wasn't to be out done though and The Machine responded with a 158 in leg five to take a 4-1 lead.

He would then reel off a further two legs before he managed to secure a 140-checkout, taking his lead to 7-1. It soon became eight consecutive legs until Walsh stopped the rot in leg-12. Walsh would win a further two legs to end up on the end of a 13-4 thrashing. Wade and Van Gerwen will now meet in the quarter finals.  

The third match of the night was a thriller between Raymond Van Barneveld and Terry Jenkins, with The Bull managing to progress into the last eight. The first legs went with throw before Barney fired a 109-checkout to steal the first session 3-2.

But Jenkins broke straight back before holding the throw in leg seven via a double-18 followed by double-11 after initially missing the board with his first dart. Barney secured three legs on the spin from leg ten to 13, the highlight being a 104 finish in leg-13 to lead 7-5. But Jenkins would then five of the next seven legs to turn the match around to lead 10-9. A 110 followed by a 36 left Jenkins requiring one leg to win the match, which he got in leg-23 to win the match 13-10.

The last match of the night didn't look like it'd finish 13-8 after the start Adrian Lewis had over Andy Smith. A 116 finish from Jackpot in leg three was just one of the opening seven legs. The World Champion lost his first leg of the tournament in the eighth before smashing a 138-checkout to lead 8-1.

Smith restored some pride with three legs on the spin, culminating in a two double tops ton finish in leg-12. That then became six legs out seven for the Pieman who had now reduced the arrears to 9-7. But a 149 broke the momentum which allowed Lewis to take two of the next three legs to win the game and secure his passage into the last eight.

2012 World Matchplay Days: Day Four

The final group of first round games witnessed three débutantes grace the oche alongside three local lads and a game that went into extra time. The first of these débutantes was Joe Cullen who had a tough battle against the unrelenting Justin Pipe.

Pipe slowly took a 4-0 lead with a 112 checkout in leg four. That then became 6-1 before Cullen posted the highest, 170, checkout to temporarily stop the rot. Cullen then secured a 108 finish, making the score 8-3. The 23-year old would secure another leg before Pipe won the match 10-4, easing into the second round.

 The second débutante was 2012 Youth World Champion, James Hubbard. He had just a tough time against local lad, Fleetwood born, Wes Newton. Newton kicked the game off with a 105-checkout. Hubbard stayed in touch to make it 3-3 before Newton broke the throw to gain a two leg lead. The score then became 6-5 before Newton kicked up a gear to take four legs in a row to win the match 10-5 and set a second round date with Pipe.

The shock of the night saw Gary Anderson go 6-2 ahead to eventually lose in extra time to the third débutante, Dean Winstanley. A checkout of five doesn't sound great but doing it with two double ones makes it a bit more special, this was done by Anderson in leg three on his way to taking a 5-0 lead.

Winstanley finally got a leg on the board with a fantastic 127-checkout on the bull. With Anderson then cruising with a 6-2 victory, it was surprising to see his throw all of a sudden go to pot and Winstanley would reel six legs off to take an 8-6 lead.

Anderson then responded with a Shanghai finish following two legs of his own to retake the lead at 9-8. An 82-checkout on the bull from Winstanley forced extra time. It would be the debutante who crucially broke the throw on leg-25 before securing a 13-11 victory.

It was St.Helens against Blackpool in the final first round match as Dave Chisnall faced Ronnie Baxter. Baxter took a 3-0 lead with a 133 finish in leg three before a 170 from Chisnall in the fourth once again brought the house down. Chisnall followed that with a 136-checkout in leg nine to make it 5-4 in Baxter's favour. Baxter then broke the throw with a 108 finish to make it 8-5 before sharing the next four legs to ultimately win the match 10-7.

2012 World Matchplay Darts: Day Three

The penultimate group of first round matches gripped Blackpool with four rather tense matches. First up was last year's semi-finalist, Andy Hamilton, up against World Matchplay debutant, Brendan Dolan. Despite taking the opening leg, Dolan found himself 3-1 down with Hamilton scoring a 118-checkout in leg four. Dolan did respond with a 117 finish to make it 4-3 to Hamilton.

The match could still have gone either way until leg-13 when Hamilton secured a second consecutive leg to make it 8-5. Dolan did manage to pull it back to 8-7 with a 111 finish in leg-15. But any hopes of a comeback were dashed when Hamilton took the following two legs to secure the 10-7 victory.

It was a better debut for Ian White who played superbly to dispatch Vincent Van Der Voort. Three consecutive legs including a 161-checkout on the bull in leg five gave White a 4-1 going into the first break. The Dutchman was unhappy with the lighting and complained to the referee but it didn't change Van Der Voort's fortunes. White took out 164 again on the bull to extend his lead to 7-3. The next five legs was split between the players, giving White the 10-5 victory, progressing into the Matchplay second round.


Phil Taylor's World Number One spot is under threat in Blackpool, and almost lost against an inspired Mervyn King. A 101 check-out from King gave him a 4-3 lead but throw still dictated play. Taylor would then break the throw on his way to sealing three consecutive legs, giving the Power a 7-5 lead. King broke back to make it eight apiece. But any thoughts of extra time were quashed when Taylor broke the King throw to squeeze into the next round with a 10-8 win.


The final match of the night saw Mark Webster win an intriguing battle against Colin Lloyd. Webster won the final two legs of the first session to take a 3-2 lead. He then returned to take a further two legs, including a 110-checkout in leg six to give the Welshman a 5-2 lead. It became 6-4 when Lloyd spectacularly finished 140 with two double tops. But a 116 finish from Webster in leg-14 ended any chances of a Lloyd comeback at 9-5. The final two legs were split to earn Webster a 10-6 win and safe passage into the second round.

2012 World Matchplay Darts: Day Two

Day two at Blackpool and we were treated to another session of darting drama. The opening game of the night was a tale of missed doubles as Mark Walsh waited until the 17th leg to take the lead and overcome Colin Osborne.

The game began with Osborne taking two double tops before Walsh responded to level at 2-2. Osborne did miss three darts to lead 3-1 but would soon lead 4-2 with Walsh missing five darts at the double. A 96-checkout helped Ozzy on his way to extending his lead to 6-3. Walsh did get to within a leg before the scoreline read 7-5. A 126-checkout from Walsh did level the match before an easier 40 finish made it 8-8. With extra time looking imminent, Walsh pulled out a further two legs to initially take the lead for the first time and then win the game.

The Players Champion, Kevin Painter, lost out to Steve Beaton in the second game of the night. After initially taking a 3-1 lead, Painter soon lost his form and found himself 6-3 down, the highlight being a 78-checkout on the bull in leg six. Painter did leave his mark on the tournament with a 160-checkout in leg 12 to make it 7-5. Beaton would then take three of the next four legs to progress into the second round.

There was no such drama for James Wade, although Richie Burnett did threaten a mini comeback. Wade was business like on the oche to begin with, taking a 3-0 lead before strolling into an 8-1 advantage. Burnett had been beating himself up throughout the match as he never looked quite with it. But the Welshman came back after the second break to win four of the next five legs, making the score 9-5. But Burnett's resistance was soon broken as an 83-checkout was enough to seal Wade's place in the next round.

The final game of the night saw perhaps the surprise of the night as Michael Van Gerwen dumped Simon Whitlock out of the competition. Van Gerwen showed no nerves and instantly took a 3-0 lead. The Dutchman missed darts in the following two legs to take a 5-0 lead going into the first break, instead he went off stage with a 3-2 advantage.

Whitlock returned from the break and turned the game on its head, taking a 5-3 lead including a 116-checkout in leg nine. That was then 6-5 before Van Gerwen battled back, taking the lead via a 110 finish. The 21-year old followed that with a further three darts to take the game 10-6, scoring a 104-checkout on the way.

Alonso's Hockenheim Haul

Fernando Alonso led from start to finish to extend his lead over Mark Webber in the Championship standings. A controversial over-take from Sebastian Vettel fall from second to fifth after the stewards brandished a 20-second penalty after the race. This meant that Jenson Button gained second with Kimi Raikkonen finishing third for team Lotus.

The news from the start of the race was that Sergio Perez was demoted to 17th due to impeding Raikkonen in qualifying. Mark Webber was also demoted to eighth on his 100th race for Red Bull, where he would finish, due to a gearbox change. The Australian had a very quiet race, looking very anxious for the most part as he seemed to struggle with grip.

The start was largely a clean one apart from Felipe Massa losing his front wing and Romain Grosjean going off track. Button had got himself up to fifth and Webber had moved into seventh. Massa, Grosjean and
Bruno Senna would find themselves in the pits at the end of the opening lap.

Lewis Hamilton's 100th Grand Prix was virtually ended when he received a puncture from Massa's debris that had been left on the track on lap three. He immediately called for a retirement but the team disagreed and got him back out once he had made it back to the pits. Button's attacking race began on lap eight when he overtook Nico Hulkenberg into fourth before getting in front of Michael Schumacher three laps later. 


After the first set of pit-stops, Webber had to over-take Pastor Maldonado to regain ninth place on lap-20. Raikkonen overtook Schumacher a lap later to take fifth in a Lotus car that improved as the track got hotter. By lap-35, Hamilton had been lapped by the leaders but a fresh set of tyres meant he was able unlap himself against Vettel. This angered Vettel but it also allowed Button to catch the front two. It also helped Hamilton who was ushered into 16th courtesy of following Alonso past the further back markers.

Button then got his man on lap-42, over-taking Vettel on the pit exit after the McLaren had pitted a lap earlier than the Red Bull. Hamilton's race was over on lap-58 when they decided to retire him since he wasn't going to get anywhere. The controversy came on lap-66 when Vettel battled back and managed to get level with Button going into an apex. Vettel had the edge but needed to go off the track to complete the over-take. This move angered Button and the stewards duly sided with the McLaren, rewarding Vettel with a 20-second penalty, demoting him to fifth. Race result:

1.Alonso (Ferrari), 2.Button (McLaren), 3.Raikkonen (Lotus), 4.Kobayashi (Sauber), 5.Vettel (Red Bull), 6.Perez (Sauber), 7.Schumacher (Mercedes), 8.Webber (Red Bull), 9.Hulkenberg (Force India), 10.Rosberg (Mercedes), 11.Di Resta (Force India), 12.Massa (Ferrari), 13.Ricciardo (Toro Rosso), 14.Vergne (Toro Rosso), 15.Maldonado (Williams), 16.Petrov (Caterham), 17.Senna (Williams), 18.Grosjean (Lotus), 19.Kovalainen (Caterham), 20.Pic (Marussia), 21.De La Rosa (HRT), 22.Glock (Marussia), 23.Karthikeyan (HRT) DNF: Hamilton (McLaren)

2012 World Matchplay Darts: Day 1

The first four opening round games of the 2012 World Matchplay took place in the Winter Gardens, Blackpool. The opening match of the night saw a shock as Paul Nicholson lost to the 'Pie-man', Andy Smith. Smith finally put his Blackpool hoodoo behind him, winning his first ever match in the Winter Gardens. It would be Nicholson who took an early 2-1 then 3-2 lead before an 86-checkout from Smith levelled the match.

Smith then made it 4-3 before Nicholson secured a ton checkout to level. The ninth and tenth legs went to Smith to finally secure a two leg advantage. Nicholson would keep up with Smith up to 7-6. Three consecutive legs meant that Smith would be the first man into the second round with a 10-6 victory over the Asset.

Kim Huybrechts' Blackpool debut ended in misery after missing six darts to beat Terry Jenkins. The Bull continues his winning streak over the Belgian who has yet to overcome the veteran Bull. The match began in fine fashion with Huybrechts securing a 167-checkout before Jenkins responded with a 140 finish. Jenkins then took the lead before Huybrechts took four legs on the bounce, securing a 152-checkout in the fifth leg, to make it 5-2. 

Huybrechts' lead was then stretched to 9-5 before a Shanghai, 120, finish started a Jenkins comeback. A further three legs on the spin, Jenkins had managed to level the match at 9-9 to force extra time since the winner had to be by two legs. The Bull would finally take the lead for the first time since the third leg before taking the 20th leg to dump Huybrechts out.

The penultimate match of the night saw the World Champion, Adrian Lewis, take the UK Champion, Robert Thornton. The Scot has had rough fortune in Blackpool, losing to Phil Taylor in the first round two years ago before exiting last year courtesy of a 10-0 whitewash by Gary Anderson. Unfortunately for Thornton, history would repeat itself again as Lewis decimated The Thorn by the same scoreline. The highlight came in leg nine with a 126 finish, on his way to continuing his 100% TV record over Thornton.

The final match of the night saw one of the pre-tournament favourites, Raymond Van Barneveld, begin his campaign against Michael Smith. The Dutchman looked in fine form, storming into 5-1 lead. Smith gave us a glimpse of what's in store in the future with a 126-checkout. Smith would then win a further two legs before a double eight gave Barneveld a 10-4 victory and a safe passage into the second round.

Alonso Shines In Wet Hockenheim

The sun may finally be shining in England, but there was more wet weather in Hockenheim, causing confusion across the Formula One drivers. McLaren looked strong in the dry but, when the rain came, Fernando Alonso once again claimed Pole ahead of Sebastian Vettel who pipped Mark Webber to second. Michael Schumacher just about made it into Q2 and was last out as the rain began to get heavy, but he miraculously managed to get the Mercedes into fourth.

Another German, Nico Hulkenberg, also managed to perform in the treacherous conditions and will start ahead of Pastor Maldonado in fifth. Lewis Hamilton was fastest in Q2 but the McLaren's faltered with the wet tyres on, leaving him eighth behind team-mate Jenson Button. Both Force Indias made it into Q3, a fantastic achievement, with Paul Di Resta qualifying ninth with the fastest man in Q1, Kimi Raikkonen, making the top ten.

The rain began to fall slightly towards the end of Q2, hence why Hamilton was fastest. Daniel Ricciardo managed to cement 11th ahead of Sergio Perez. The second Sauber, Kamui Kobayashi, will be right behind his team-mate and alongside the disappointing Felipe Massa. The Brazilian definitely suffered due to the weather and could only get 14th. Romain Grosjean had got himself into Q2, finishing 15th, but he receives a five place grid penalty for changing his gearbox and will now start P-20. This pushes Bruno Senna into 15th.

Nico Rosberg also received a five place grid drop and will begin the race in P-22. This means that Jean-Eric Vergne, P-16, Heikki Kovalainen, P-17, Vitaly Petrov, P-18, and Charles Pic, P-19, move up two places from where they had originally qualified. Timo Glock also moves up P-21 courtesy of Rosberg, leaving the two HRTs at the back, no surprises to see Pedro De La Rosa out-qualify Narain Karthikeyan in the inter-team battle.

Thriller In Malilla

The 2008 World Champions, Denmark, came through the race-off to go onto win the 2012 Speedway World Cup in Malilla, Sweden. It was a tight fought contest with Australia, Sweden and Russia with tactics very much coming into play. Denmark would eventually finish three points ahead of Australia who had battled with the Danes throughout.

Mikkel B Jensen returned from Event 1 to replace Leon Madsen to help Nicky Pedersen, Niels-Kristian Iversen and Michael Jepsen Jensen. Australia had also made a change with Darcy Ward coming back from a broken hand to replace Troy Batchelor, Davey Watt kept his place alongside Jason Crump and Chris Holder.

The Russian side remained unchanged, meaning Emil Sayfutdinov, Roman Povazhny and both Artem and Grigory Laguta continued to race in their colours. Sweden's team saw no place for GP rider Antonio Lindback. Fellow GP riders, Andreas Jonsson, Freddie Lindgren and Peter Ljung did race for the host nation with Thomas H Jonasson, who made it into the final of the Swedish GP as a wildcard, filling the team.

Holder got Australia off to the best start before a false start in the second heat allowed Pedersen to give Denmark a one point lead after two rides. A win for Crump put Australia and Denmark level with a second place for Ward just enough to give the Aussies a one point lead after four heats. They sat on nine with Denmark on eight. A win for Jonsson put Sweden on four points after failing to score in the opening two heats. A third from Sayfutdinov and a second from Grigory Laguta placed Russia on three points as they failed to score in the third and fourth heats.

A second win for Crump extended Australia's lead to two points. But wins from Jepsen Jensen and Pedersen meant Denmark and Australia were locked on 16-points after seven heats. Peter Ljung did fall in heat six but got off the track to allow the result to stand. Povazhny would then fall on the final lap of heat eight but the race was again allowed to finish. This was good new for Iversen as his second place, ahead of Watt in third, was enough to give Denmark a point lead after eight heats. The Danes were now 18 with Australia on 17. A joker won by Jonsson in heat eight boosted Sweden's tally to 11. Just a third place from Sayfutdinov added to Russia's total which was now just five.

Ward grabbed second ahead of Pedersen in heat nine which once again put Denmark and Australia level on points. A win four Iversen in heat ten with Watt finishing fourth in heat-11 gave Denmark a two point lead before Holder's second win placed them level again, this time on 24 after 12-heats. A win for Jonasson in heat nine before a second place for Lindgren in heat-11 gave Sweden 16-points. A win for Sayfutdinov in heat-11 alongside a third from Artem Laguta and a second from Grigory Laguta meant Russia were now into double figures on 11-points.

A false start from Povazhny in heat-13 delayed Lindgren's only win of the night. A second place from Jensen gave Denmark that one point lead again. That was extended to three when Jepsen Jensen picked up a victory with Watt only managing third. The gap became five when Iversen won heat-15 with Ward again only managing third. The tactics were then played in heat-16. Pedersen was easily going to get second with Crump third, but the Dane slowed down on the final corner to allow Crump to overtake him. This meant the gap became four, preventing Australia from being able to use their joker in the next heat. Denmark had 33-points after 16-heats with Australia on 29. A further second place from Lindgren put Sweden on 21 with Artem Laguta adding to Sayfutdinov's heat-16 victory giving Russia 16-points.

Jensen tried doing the same trick in heat-17. But this time Watt was aware of it and he himself slowed down, allowing Ljung to take third. This meant the gap was now six courtesy of that second place for Jensen. Sayfutdinov played Russia's joker in that heat and won all six points to put them level with Sweden.

Holder would instantly play Australia's joker in heat-18 and would take all six points. Jonasson did fall initially, leading to a restart, and Artem Laguta kept Pedersen in third place. This meant Australia had now closed the gap to the just one point. Grigory Laguta was the spoiler as he took heat-19. But Jepsen Jensen finished second ahead of Holder to give Denmark a two point cushion going into the final heat.

The final heat saw four GP riders take part, Jonsson, Crump, Sayfutdinov and Iversen. Crump got all out of shape after the first corner and this put him into fourth. That would ultimately be where Crump would finish with third being enough for Iversen to claim the World Cup for Denmark. Sayfutdinov did win the final heat which meant they cemented third ahead of Sweden. Denmark finished on 39 with Australia second on 36. Russian ended up with 30-points leaving Sweden fourth on 24.

Denmark Into Final

The 2012 Speedway World Cup race-off was won by 2008 champions, Denmark, in Malilla, Sweden. The Danes won the meeting by four points and were only behind after heat two. Nicky Pedersen came back from his week off in  Grand Canaria, to slot into the Denmark side ahead of 17-year old Mikkel B Jensen.

Second placed Poland also made one change for the race-off, Krzystof Buczkowski replacing Grzegorz Walasek who didn't win a heat in event one. Czech Republic and Britain remained unchanged from event two but neither were expected to really mount a challenge for a place in the final.

The opening heat saw Thomasz Gollob go down under a challenge from Niels-Kristian Iversen, but referee, Craig Akroyd, deemed Gollob to have gone down too easily and was subsequently excluded. Iversen went onto take the heat with Tai Woffinden second. Leon Madsen was the only Dane not to win a heat in the race-off and began the night by falling in the first corner and getting excluded. Josef Franc surprisingly took the heat to give Czech Republic the lead, the only time Denmark didn't have it.

Ales Dryml became the third faller in three heats, but he got up, allowing the heat to continue. Nicky Pedersen won it before Michael Jepsen Jensen made it three heats from four for Denmark. This gave the Danes nine points. With Scott Nicholls the only Brit not to finish second, Britain sat on seven points after four heats. Czech Republic and Poland were both on four points.

The next three heats were all taken by Denmark. Nicholls packed up in heat seven, opening up an eight point lead between Denmark and Britain. They responded with Woffinden playing Britain's joker and won heat eight, Madsen finished fourth which closed the game back down to two points. Denmark sat on 18 with Britain on 16. Second places from Maciej Janowski and Piotr Protasiewicz helped Poland onto nine points with a second place from Franc putting Czech Republic on eight.

Heats 9-12 weren't won by a Dane, yet they still had a three point lead at the end of it. Buczkowski took heat nine before Woffinden made it two heats in a row. Ales Dryml false started in heat-11 and was excluded, Gollob won it but a second place for Chris Harris meant Britain were now just a point behind Denmark. Gollob then used Poland's joker and claimed his second heat in a row, Danny King could only manage fourth, meaning Poland were now level with Britain on 22-points. Iversen finished second, meaning Denmark had 25-points after 12-heats. Czech Republic were now further down, Lukas Dryml's third place in heat-12 the only point they managed in the four heats, keeping them on nine points.

Denmark once again extended their lead with Iversen taking heat-13. Czech Republic used their joker in heat-14 and Franc won the heat to give them a much needed six points. Jepsen Jensen took his second heat of the night to reassert Denmark's authority. Gollob's win in heat-16 meant Denmark had a four point lead going into the final four heats. The Danes had 34-points with Poland on 30. A third from Harris and a second from Woffinden saw Britain's challenge fall away as they sat on 25-points. Lukas Dryml earned another point for Czech Republic who bounced to 16-points.

Czech Republic's final points came in heat-17 courtesy of a victory for Ales Dryml. Madsen came second, extending the lead to five. Harris replaced King in heat-18 and managed to win the heat. Another second place, this time from Pedersen, meant the gap was now six and anything other than two last places would be enough to see Denmark make the final. That was confirmed in heat-19 with Iversen getting second behind Buczkowski, claiming his second heat of the night. The final heat was taken by Gollob but another second place from Jepsen Jensen meant the winning margin was four points. The final tally for Denmark was 42 with Poland on 38. Britain fell away towards the end and finished on 30-points with Czech Republic way behind on 19. Denmark will now face Russia, Australia and Sweden on Saturday.

Speedway's Ashes Battle

The second event of the 2012 Speedway World Cup was held in King's Lynn and ended up being a battle between Britain and Australia for a place alongside Russia and Sweden in Saturday's final. The favourites started slowly, allowing Britain to take a good lead. But that was diminished by the joker as Australia regained control. The meeting went down to the final two heats, where Australia finally won the meeting by four points. Britain and Czech Republic will go into the race-off on Thursday with Germany finishing 15-points behind in fourth.

The Australian team had their two GP riders, Jason Crump and Chris Holder, flying the flag with the familiar faces of Troy Batchelor and Davey Watt backing them up. Britain's GP rider, Chris Harris, captained the side with Scott Nicholls and Tai Woffinden both having GP experience. Daniel King was Britain's fourth member who was a reserve at the 2007 British GP. Only two heats weren't won between these two teams throughout the night.

The Czech Republic team were, on paper, due to battle Britain in a tough battle for second. The two Dryml brothers, Lukas and captain Ales, raced alongside Josef Franc and Matej Kus who have all had some sort of GP experience. The German team were arguably the team making up the numbers, Martin Smolinski captained the side with Kevin Wolbert and Max Dilger the most recognisable names of the four. Tobias Kroner rounded off the team.

Australia were dubbed to be dominant in the meeting and it began that way with Holder easily taking the opening heat. But Woffinden, Harris and Nicholls all stormed their way to victory, giving themselves ten points after four heats. Australia sat second on seven with Czech Republic on six as Franc was the only Czech to finish second. Germany sat on a solitary point courtesy of Smolinski's third place in heat four.

Britain's reign continued as Harris and Nicholls took heats five and six. That saw Australia fall six points behind and they immediately responded with the use of their joker. Crump raced it and took heat seven with King finishing third to go to within a point of Britain. A win for Holder in heat eight was enough for Australia to take the lead on 19-points, Woffinden could only finish third which put Britain on 18. Second places for Ales Dryml and Kus put Czech Republic on 11 points with Wolbert adding two more points to Germany's total with a second place in heat seven.

Heat nine had to be restarted due to a false start, Kus then went too early again and was subsequently disqualified. At the third time of asking, Crump took his second heat in a row with Nicholls in second. There was drama in heat ten as Holder and Harris went hell for leather. The two battled it out until the final lap when Holder took Harris out. The race was allowed to continue with Holder seemingly looking to have won the heat. But the referee went back and disqualified Holder, awarding the victory to Harris, a result that put Britain a point ahead.

But disaster struck for Britain in heat-11 as Woffinden packed up, allowing Watt to claim his first victory of the night. Wolbert had used Germany's joker in that heat and picked up four points. But King responded with another win for Britain to put them onto 26-points after 12-heats, one point ahead of Australia. Czech Republic had fallen to 16-points with Germany now on double figures.

King then went from hero to villain as he took Smolinski out of the heat, forcing an exclusion for the Brit. The German would then pack up on the restart on the final lap which Watt won, putting Australia two points ahead. That was then extended to three when Batchelor finished second ahead of Woffinden in third, Ales Dryml played Czech Republic's joker and took all six points, putting them just three behind Britain.

Australia would then have a seven point lead after 16-heats when Holder and Crump took their heats. Nicholls finished second in heat-15 but Harris packed-up in the 16th, leaving them on 29-points. The gap was now four as Czech Republic had moved up to 25 with a second place for Smolinski giving Germany 14-points with four heats left.

Britain used their joker in heat-17. Harris was chosen ahead of King and earned the six points, unfortunately Batchelor finished second so Australia still had a three point advantage. Three wins would mean Britain would potentially draw level with Australia and it began with Woffinden finishing ahead of Watt, closing the gap to two.

But the fight was all but over when Holder got the better of Harris on the final lap to give Australia the win and their three point lead back. The only chance Britain had in the final heat was if Nicholls would win and Crump came last. That looked very unlikely and it didn't happen as Crump took second ahead of Nicholls' third. Ales Dryml would win his second heat of the night to round Czech Republic's night off in positive fashion. Australia finished on 45-points with Britain on 41. Czech Republic finished 11-points behind on 30 with Germany way off on 15.  

2012 Speedway World Cup Meeting One

The 2012 Speedway World Cup kicked off in Bydgoszcz, Poland with the first four nations vying to take their place alongside reigning champions, Sweden, in Saturday's final. The 2009 and 2010 champions faced 2008 champions Denmark, Russia and a returning USA team.

It would be Russia who made it into the final in a last heat shoot-out. Denmark and Poland will meet again on Thursday to compete in the race-off while USA are the first nation to crash out of this year's tournament. Four wins from five, including a joker, by Emil Sayfutdinov was enough to put his country through by a solitary point.

It was a familiar looking Russian line-up with GP rider Sayfutdinov joined by the Laguta brothers and resident captain, Roman Povazhny. Poland were missing GP rider Jaroslaw Hampel and Janusz Kolodziej through injury. 2010 world champion, Thomasz Gollob, captained the side with Piotr Protasiewicz, who declined a place in this year's GP series, also headlining. Grzegorz Walasek and U-21 world champion, Maciej Janowski were also in the team.

It was no surprise to see current world champion, Greg Hancock, captaining the American side. 1996 world champion, Billy Hamill, had retired in 2008 but performed a U-turn to compete in this monumental tournament for American speedway. Ryan Fisher and Ricky Wells were the other two in the USA side.

The Danish side was perhaps the most surprising. All four GP riders; Kenneth Bjerre, Hans Andersen, Bjarne Pedersen and Nicky Pedersen, had been omitted from the side. Two time World Cup winner, Niels-Kristian Iversen, captained the side with three youngsters all under his wing. 23-year old Leon Madsen, 20-year old Michael Jepsen Jensen and 17-year old Mikkel B Jensen (the latter two appeared in the Danish GP earlier this year) completed the inexperienced looking side.

The first four heats saw all 'number one' riders take the chequered flag. Two second places from the Laguta brothers meant that Russia had an early lead on seven points. A second from Protasiewicz and a third from Walasek saw Poland have six points with Denmark also on that score courtesy of third places from the other three Danish drivers. USA were fourth with five points, Ricky Wells the only other points scorer apart from Hancock, picking up second in the opening heat.

The first restart of the night came in heat five when someone was Walasek was adjudged to have false started. It looked minimal but the Pole would eventually fall from his own mistake on the last corner to miss out on the points, Hancock again took the win. Gollob and Iversen continued their dominance as did Sayfutdinov in heat eight after a bit of drama. It had to be restarted when three of the four drivers crashed in the opening corner, thankfully no-one was injured and all four could continue. After eight heats Russia lead with 15, Poland and Denmark had 12 with USA still within touching distance on nine.

Iversen then became the first 'number one' rider to fail to win a heat as Janowski took heat nine for Poland. This was followed by Madsen edging Hancock out in heat ten and Jensen beating Gollob in heat-11. Sayfutdinov continued his winning ways, making it three heats from three. Walasek's night got worse in that heat as he packed up in the final corner. The third win helped Russia to 20 points, but it was only enough to see them in second. Denmark were now in the lead on 22 with two wins and two seconds in the third set of heats. Poland were now on 18 with a 1-2-3-4 sequence of results with USA falling behind on just 12.

Janowski would then make it two heats in a row as Hancock played the joker for USA, gaining four points for his second place finish. Madsen would do the same in heat-15 after Jepsen Jensen gave Denmark another victory in the previous heat. Sayfutdinov played Russia's joker in heat-16 and his fourth victory was enough to level with Denmark. Madsen's win saw Denmark move up to 28 with Russia on 22, Sayfutdinov's victory meant Russia also scored 28 with Iversen finishing in fourth to keep Denmark on the same score. Poland were still in touch on 26 courtesy of second place finishes from Protasiewicz and Gollob to back up Janowski's second win. USA were now seemingly out of it, languishing on 19 points.

Artem Laguta took heat 17 which meant Russia gained a point over Denmark as Jensen finished second. But wins from Protasiewicz and Janowski, his third of the night, meant that Russia had 34, Denmark 33 and Poland 32 going into the final heat. It would be the ultimate showdown as well as Sayfutdinov, Gollob and Hancock took to the stage with Jepsen Jensen carrying the weight of Denmark on his shoulders. Hancock crashed the party, sending USA off with his third win of the night. Gollob sealed second but a third place for Sayfutdinov meant it would be the Russians who scraped through by a point. Final result:

Russia     35
Poland    34
Denmark 33
USA       23

Seventh Heaven For Federer Alongside Five Star Williams

It was going to be an historic day whatever happened at SW19 today but, for many, it didn't go quite as planned for the home crowd. Roger Federer matched Pete Sampras' record of seven Wimbledon titles in a great battle against Andy Murray, placing himself back as world number one.

Murray became the first Brit in a Wimbledon final since 1938 and also took his first set in a Grand Slam final.  Murray booked his place in the final by beating Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-3 6-4 3-6 7-5. On the other side, Federer continued his record setting assault by beating the, now former, world number one Novak Djokovic 6-3 3-6 6-4 6-3 to make it into the final.

The day began in optimistic fashion when Murray broke the opening game of the match. He then managed to hold onto this break of serve by claiming the first 6-4. Murray then looked to be on the charge when was a break ahead in the second set. But Federer came back before the rain disrupted proceedings.

This would mean that Wimbledon would have a men's final completed under the roof for the first time. The five time US Open champion would always perhaps have the upper hand in the indoor conditions and ended up taking the second 7-5 to level the match.

Murray was then broken early on in the third set and the Swiss took full control of the set, and possibly the game, running out a 6-3 third set winner. Murray continued to show his heart and made sure Federer fought hard for his victory. But Federer again managed to break the Murray serve early on in the fourth set, leaving Murray with too much to do to comeback. Federer did have to serve his way to victory, taking the fourth set 6-4 to claim his seventh title.

The women's draw concluded yesterday with Serena Williams claiming her fifth Wimbledon victory against third seed Agnieszka Radwanska. It would ultimately be another final where history would be made regardless of the result.

The American looked in ominous form when she dismantled Radwanska 6-1 in the opening set. But the Pole rallied round to make a final of it, taking the second set 7-5. Unfortunately, the third set was as close as the second, relieving the crowd of any nervous tension. Williams took the third set 6-2 to reclaim her place amongst the elite of current ladies tennis, as well as the elite in the whole of ladies tennis.

It's not all bad news for the British tennis players. Jonathan Marray won the doubles title with his Danish team-mate, Frederik Nielsen. They faced fifth seeds, Robert Lindstedt of Sweden and Horia Tecau of Romania in an epic five set battle. The seeded pairing took the opening set 6-4 before Marray and Nielsen levelled the match via a 6-4 second set victory. They then took the lead with a 7-5 tie-break victory in the third before Lindstedt and Tecau equalised with a 7-5 tie-break win of their own. The fifth and final set finished 6-3 to Marray and Nielsen. Marray becomes the first Brit to win the doubles championship since Pat Hughes and Raymond Tuckey took the title in 1936.  

Webber Wins Silverstone

After a rain soaked weekend, the sun finally shone on the Silverstone track as Mark Webber came out victorious, becoming the second driver to win two races this season. Pole sitter, Fernando Alonso, looked relatively comfortable throughout the race until the final tyre selection ultimately prevented the Spaniard from winning his third race.

The news before the race was that Vitaly Petrov's Caterham was unable to make it out onto the track, so we  inevitably began the race with 23-drivers. From the start, the only real mover was Felipe Massa who overtook Sebastian Vettel to claim fourth. The drama from the start saw Paul Di Resta suffer a rear puncture via contact from Jean Grosjean. The Scot did make it back to the pits, but the damage was too great and the Force India was finally retired on lap four.

Massa has been continuing his case to remain a Ferrari driver with his vast improvement in recent races. The Brazilian managed to overtake Michael Schumacher to move into third on lap-11, before the opening pit stop phase got under way.

The only collision of the race was between Pastor Maldonado and Sergio Perez on lap-12. The Mexican looked to have overtaken the Williams before Maldonado slid around the corner, picking up the Sauber on the way. Perez was unable to continue the race whereas the Venezuelan managed to continue despite suffering a puncture. After the incident, Perez spoke of his disappointment but urged the stewards to review Maldonado's driving style. The Mexican stated that the rest of the drivers feel his driving is too dangerous and needs to be tones down. Perez's most damning words were 'Maldonado has no respect for other drivers'.

The only time Alonso was behind in the race before he lost it was when Lewis Hamilton didn't take his pit-stop until late. Hamilton's tyres eventually lost its speed, allowing Alonso to retake the lead on lap-19 with Hamilton finally pitting a couple of laps later.

Hamilton would finish eighth but managed to get up to sixth on lap-24 after the pit-stop phase was well and truly completed. Kimi Raikkonen over-took Schumacher to gain fifth before the McLaren followed the Finn two corners later. The decline began on lap-35 when a much quicker Grosjean claimed eighth and, following the next phase of pit-stops, Schumacher took seventh from Hamilton on lap-46.

Alonso began the race on the hard tyres before transferring to the soft compound during the final pit-stop. Webber, on the other hand, began the race on soft tyres before using the harder compound on both of his stops. This was ultimately the better strategy as the Australian was able to overtake the Ferrari on lap-48 to all but secure his race victory.

Bruno Senna would finish ninth courtesy of over-taking Nico Hulkenberg on the last lap. This unsettled the German, who end up going off the track, allowing Jenson Button to steal the final point on offer. Race result:

1.Webber (Red Bull), 2.Alonso (Ferrari), 3.Vettel (Red Bull), 4.Massa (Ferrari), 5.Raikkonen (Lotus), 6.Grosjean (Lotus), 7.Schumacher (Mercedes), 8.Hamilton (McLaren), 9.Senna (Williams), 10.Button (McLaren), 11.Kobayashi (Sauber), 12.Hulkenberg (Force India), 13.Ricciardo (Toro Rosso), 14.Vergne (Toro Rosso), 15.Rosberg (Mercedes), 16.Maldonado (Williams), 17.Kovalainen (Caterham), 18.Glock (Marussia), 19.Pic (Marussia), 20.De La Rosa (HRT), 21.Karthikeyan (HRT) DNF: Di Resta (Force India), Perez (Sauber) DNS: Petrov (Caterham)

Ladies' Semi-Finals

The sun shone on Wimbledon today as the ladies' semi-finals took place. Eighth seed Angelique Kerber faced third seed Agnieszka Radwanska in the first of the two ties. But Radwanska wasn't in the mood to hang around and quickly took the first set 6-3. Only one break was required in the second set as Radwanska then took the second set 6-4 to book her place in Saturday's final. She creates history by becoming the first Polish woman to feature in a Grand Slam final.

Radwanska would meet either sixth seed, Serena Williams, or second seed, Victoria Azarenka. Williams also looked like she wasn't looking to stay for long, taking the opening set 6-4. Azarenka then forced a tie-break in the second set and forced it into over-time, but Williams managed to take it 8-6 to force her way into the final. The American will now be looking to seal her fifth Wimbledon triumph.

Murray Into Semis

Andy Murray makes it into the Wimbledon semi-finals for the fourth consecutive year after facing his toughest test so far. Murray faced the lively David Ferrer who pushed the fourth seed all the way. Three of the four sets went to a tie-break and Ferrer had three set points to go 2-0 ahead.

The Spaniard had broke Murray on in the first set and took a 5-4 lead, serving for the set. But Murray broke and the set was forced into a tie-break which Ferrer won 7-5. The sixth seed then took a 5-3 lead in the second set before Murray fought back to force a second tie-break. This time, Ferrer was 5-2 in the lead before Murray overturned the deficit to take it 8-6.

Play was suspended midway through the third set due to the British weather. When play resumed, Murray took the third set 6-4 before Ferrer pushed for a third tie-break in the fourth. Murray again came out on top, sealing the match with the 7-4 tie-break victory.

With Rafael Nadal out of the picture, all that lies between Murray and a place in Wimbledon's final is fifth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. The Frenchman was also in a tight battle against Philipp Kohlschreiber but also came through in four sets. The opener went to the tie-break which Tsonga took 7-5.

The German proved that he wasn't there to make up the numbers and took the second set 6-4 to make the match a best of three sets. The third set also went to a crucial decider which Tsonga took 7-3. This looked have broken Kohlschreiber's spirit as Tsonga ran out a 6-2 fourth set victory to set up the semi-final tie.

It was a little easier for the other semi-finalists as both Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer came through in straight sets to set up their date. Djokovic took on Florian Mayer and took the game 6-4 6-1 6-4. Federer looked even more impressive beating Mikhail Youzhny, seeded five places higher than Mayer, 6-1 6-2 6-2. Suggesting this year's Wimbledon champion is likely to come from this gargantuan semi-final.

Murray Through to Quarters

Andy Murray comes through in straight sets to book his place in tomorrow's quarter-finals. On paper, he has faced a tough draw but Murray still hasn't looked ruffled against any of his opponents. His fourth round opponent was Queens winner, Marin Cilic.

After a rain affected day yesterday, Murray and Cilic came back onto court one with Murray a set and 3-1 up. He continued where he left off and strolled to take the second set 6-2 and then asserted his dominance to take the third set 6-3, easing into the last eight.

Murray's tough matches keep on coming as he will face seventh seed, David Ferrer, in the last eight. They have met ten times, never on grass, and both have won five matches. Ferrer took on ninth seed, Juan Martin Del Potro, and also went through in straight sets. Ferrer took the first set 6-3 before making it 2-0 with a 6-2 second set victory. Del Potro didn't play badly, but he was totally overwhelmed by the Spaniard who took the third 6-3 to book his place in the quarters.

With only one quarter-final match-up decided yesterday, the remaining five places had to be finalised. Novak Djokovic had already booked his place in the quarter-finals but wasn't sure who he would be playing. He now knows it will be 31st seed, Florian Mayer, who perhaps surprisingly beat 18th seed, Richard Gasquet. The German took the first two sets 6-3 6-1 to take a commanding lead. Gasquet forced a fourth set by taking the third 6-3 before Mayer won the match with a 6-2 victory in the fourth to set the tie against the world number one.

The last quarter-final will see fifth seed, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, battle it out against 27th seed, Philipp Kohlscreiber. Tsonga had to see off a difficult Mardy Fish, seeded tenth, in four sets. Another shock was possible when the American took the opening set 6-4. The second set went to a tie-break which Tsonga crucially won 7-4. The Frenchman then took the following two set 6-4 to progress into the final eight. Kohlscreiber took on another American in the form of impressive Brian Baker. The German steam-rolled his way to a 6-1 first set victory. Baker managed to fight back and force a second set tie-break but he lost it 7-4. The German then took the third set 6-3 to book his place alongside Tsonga.

Today was ladies' quarter-finals day and, despite rain showers, all four were completed with three of them played under the roof of centre court. The second of which saw sixth seed, Serena Williams, face fourth seed and defending champion, Petra Kvitova. Williams stormed into a 6-3 first set victory and a mistake from the Czech allowed the American to break the second at 6-5. Williams then held her serve to take the second set and the place in the semi-finals.

Williams will now face second seed, Victoria Azarenka, who managed to oversee Eastbourne champion, Tamira Paszek. Azarenka took the first 6-3 before Paszek battled to a second set tie-break, but the Austrian  couldn't overcome the Bulgarian and Azarenka took it 7-4.

The first quarter-final of the afternoon was an all German affair. 15th seed, Sabine Lisicki, faced eighth seed, Angelique Kerber. It was Kerber who would take the first set 6-3 and would then miss two match points to take the second set, a set that went to tie-break. Lisicki fought hard and it paid off, taking the tie-break 9-7 to force a final set. Kerber again saw herself with three match points taken away from her before she finally won the set 7-5, booking her first semi-final place at Wimbledon following her first appearance on centre court.

Kerber will take on second seed, Agnieszka Radwanska, who endured the rain to come through against 17th seed, Maria Kirilenko. The match started a 2:20 but didn't end until 7:15 because of various rain delays. We were treated to a three set thriller though as Radwanska took the first set 7-5. Kirilenko battled hard and forced the final set with a 6-4 second set victory. The third and final set also went all the way before Radwanska took the 12th game to book her place alongside Kerber.  

Sharapova Out

Women's tennis continues to be unpredictable as world number one, Maria Sharapova, is the latest big name to fall from Wimbledon. She faced last year's semi-finalist, Sabine Lisicki, who continued her loving relationship with SW19 with another brilliant display.

Lisicki managed to break Sharapova on her way to taking the opening set 6-4. The French Open champion tried her hardest to fight back and produced some great offensive tennis. But it proved to be insufficient against Lisicki who took the second set 6-3 to book her place into the quarter-finals. The 15th seed will now   face fellow German, eighth seed Angelique Kerber, who dispatched Kim Clijsters 6-1 6-1.

But there are still five seeds from the top ten, including Kerber, in the quarter finals. Second seed Victoria Azarenka beat former number one, Ana Ivanovic, 6-1 6-0 to set up a quarter final tie against Eastbourne champion Tamira Paszek. World number three, Agnieszka Radwanska, saw off Camila Giorgi 6-2 6-3 to face Russia's Maria Kirilenko in the final eight.

Fourth seed, Petra Kvitova, saw off a tough test in Francesca Schiavone. The Czech came from a set behind to win 4-6 7-5 6-1. She will now face sixth seed Serena Williams in the quarter final. The veteran American saw off Yaroslava Shvedova 6-1 2-6 7-5 to progress through.

The men's quarter final draw is far from complete after rain stopped play. Novak Djokovic was able to complete his match and progress into the final eight. The world number one took on fellow Serb, Viktor Troicki, and won 6-3 6-1 6-3.  He will face either Richard Gasquet or Florian Mayer, their fourth round match was postponed with Mayer taking the first set 6-3 and having a 2-1 lead in the second.

The only quarter-final we do know about is third seed, Roger Federer, will be taking on Mikhail Youzhny who makes it into the last eight for the first time. Federer needed four sets to see off Belgium's Xavier Malisse, the Swiss took the first set 7-1 on the tie-break and then won the second 6-1. Malisse took the third set 6-4 before Federer ended the game with a 6-3 fourth set victory. Youzhny beat Denis Istomin 6-3 5-7 6-4 6-7 7-5 to go through.

Andy Murray will go into tomorrow with a 7-5 set one victory and a 3-1 second set lead against Croatia's Marin Cilic.      

Viva Espana (Again)

Spain line-up: Casillas (c), Ramos, Pique, Alba, Arbeloa, Xavi, Silva (Pedro, 59'), Alonso, Fabregas (Torres, 75'), Iniesta (Mata, 86'), Busquets
Italy line-up: Buffon (c), Chiellini (Balzaretti, 21'), Barzagli, Abate, Bonucci, Pirlo, Marchisio, Montolivo (Motta, 57), De Rossi, Cassano (Di Natale, 45'), Balotelli 

Spain once again create history as not only do they become the first European side in history to win three major tournaments on the bounce, they also set the record for the highest winning scoreline in a European Championships. Italy's togetherness ultimately couldn't cope with Spain's overwhelming strategy and it didn't help when substitute Thiago Motta was stretchered off just after the hour mark, with Italy already having made all three substitutions.

Spain began the night quashing the thoughts that they are just a passing nation and they play boring football by developing a shoot on site policy. Xavi, Andres Iniesta and David Silva all had early shots from outside the box that were blocked by the stern Italian defence.

The game had a different look about it compared to the 1-1 draw in the opening game of the group stage. Spain were more attacking and Italy didn't look to have as much of a goal threat despite having the tools required.

Italy's defensive resistance was broken after just 14-minutes when Spain's orchestrator, Iniesta, slipped a ball into Cesc Fabregas down the side of the box. Fabregas then lofted a ball across the goal for David Silva to head into the unguarded net.

Italy's attacking threat always came from set pieces. Their whipped corners and floated free-kicks were all dangerous but Iker Casillas was able to get fingertips to all of them, preventing the strikers from getting a head to it and equalising.

Giorgio Chiellini's final got even worse when he picked up an injury after 21-minutes and had to be replaced by the more attacking Federico Balzaretti. The change did actually seem more positive as Balzaretti provided some really teasing crosses that Casillas was again equal to.

Towards the end of the half, the dominance in possession meant that Italy needed to get into the dressing room only one goal adrift. This would have enable them to regroup and regain their attacking intent. But this wasn't to be as Spain found a way in behind the defence courtesy of another magnificent ball from Iniesta. He played his new teammate, Jordi Alba, through on goal and the new Barcelona signing slotted past Gianluigi Buffon four minutes before the half-time whistle.

Italy made a positive change at half-time, bringing Antonio Di Natale on for Antonio Cassano. But neither he nor the instrumental Mario Balotelli could ever really get in the game. That's not to say Italy didn't create chances to get themselves back in the contest.

Di Natale did get a chance right at the start of the half, but his header went over the bar. The Udinese had an even better chance just six minutes into the half when Riccardo Montolivo played him in in the box, but his shot was fired straight at Casillas who managed to smuggle to second attempt away.

Italy's third and final change saw Motta come on for Montolivo on 57-minutes. But Motta's final only lasted five minutes when he pulled his hamstring. He had to be stretchered off and go straight down the tunnel, leaving Italy with only ten men for the duration of the second half.

From there, Spain began to, once again, control the game and it almost became a question of when Spain wanted to score their third goal. It came six minutes from the end when substitute Fernando Torres gave himself the Golden Boot, despite levelling with Mario Mandzukic, Mario Gomez, Mario Balotelli and Alan Dzagoev. Once again, Spain cut Italy open with Torres now through on goal and the Chelsea striker, with Roman Abramovich in attendance, slotted coolly into the corner.

Juan Mata got his first run out of Euro 2012 and within two minutes, he marked the occasion with Spain's record breaking fourth. This time Torres became provider, the Golden Boot clincher, he was once again played in on goal, this time he slipped the ball across to his Chelsea teammate to just roll it into the net.

Italy weren't embarrassed by any means, but they ultimately went one step too far despite easily putting their 2010 World Cup shame behind them. It was fitting that the previous two World Cup winners should contest this year's final and the question remains, who can topple Spain?