Murray Does It

After 77-years of British pain, Andy Murray has finally done it. He's won Wimbledon. Murray managed to continue his unbelievable trend against Novak Djokovic, not dropping a set against him on grass. In an enthralling match, Murray was able to dig deep and win the crown despite missing three Championship points.

Every year that Murray has entered Wimbledon, the pressure has increased tenfold which led to bitter disappointment last year. But he put that behind him with some fantastic performances to get him to this second consecutive SW19 final against Djokovic in a rematch of last year's Olympic semi-final.

Neither player could really get a hold of the opening set as Murray would break in the third game only for Djokovic to reply in the fourth. Murray finally broke for a second time in the seventh game and proceeded to take the first 6-4.

The second set looked like it was going to belong to Djokovic. The Serb took a 4-1 lead and was on course to level the match. But Murray managed to fight back in true Braveheart fashion to level the set. Djokovic was visibly shaken and became irritable after a few tough calls by the umpire. This lapse of concentration may have cost the world number one as Murray took the second set 7-5 to heighten the hope amongst the packed crowd.

Murray looked to have started the third set in great form, taking a 2-0 lead. But the resurgent Djokovic fought back and won four straight games before Murray again came back to level the set at 4-4. That was the game that broke Djokovic and Murray ended up able to serve for the match at 5-4. He raced to 40-0 but failed to convert any of his Championship points. The game fell in to deuce and Djokovic continued to hold on. He managed to gain advantage three times but he just couldn't stop Murray. Murray finally got ahead and ended up winning the match on his fourth Championship point to rewrite British history.

Vettel Wins At Home

For for the first time in his career, Sebastian Vettel has won a race in July and, more importantly, has won his home grand prix. Vettel virtually led from the first corner and had to stave off a late attack by Kimi Raikkonen who had passed team-mate Romain Grosjean via team orders, giving Lotus a two-three finish. Lewis Hamilton was mugged by both Red Bulls from the first corner and had to settle for fifth. Mark Webber would have been contender today one feels, but a horrific pit stop meant he had to come from the back and claim seventh.

Hamilton was perhaps too defensive from the start as he tried to cut across and stop Vettel. It didn't work as Vettel managed to around the outside of the Mercedes with Webber coming from the inside and Vettel took the lead after just one corner. Felipe Massa had a decent enough start, moving up to sixth. But the Ferrari's race was over after just four laps when the Brazilian seemed to just spin out from nothing and couldn't restart the car.

With the tyres under so much scrutiny this weekend, no-one was really sure what they could on them and luckily there were no incidents to speak of. For a three stop race, the window seemed to open between laps five and six as seven cars performed a stop. Paul Di Resta was lucky to have not been penalised for an unsafe release that caused Jean-Eric Vergne to slam the brakes. The incident is due to be looked at.

Hamilton was the first of the front runners to pit on lap seven and came back out in to tenth. Vettel followed a lap later and remained ahead of Hamilton, giving Webber the temporary lead. The second Red Bull pitted on lap nine and was guilty of a dramatic unsafe release, again an incident to be looked at; one of the wheels wasn't on the car properly and it quickly flew off. The runaway wheel then rolled and jumped down the pit lane before unfortunately hitting a cameraman from behind. Fortunately, the cameraman has only suffered some cuts and bruises after being taken to hospital. Webber did somehow make it back to the pits and came out at the back of the grid albeit a lap behind.

At this point, Grosjean led the race. Fernando Alonso pitted on lap-13 from second and came out ninth, behind the front runners. Grosjean would pit a lap later and it worked a treat as he managed to claim third, behind Vettel but ahead of Hamilton who had just overtook Nico Rosberg to claim fifth.

Lap-15 saw Raikkonen overtake Rosberg for sixth and Grosjean had overtaken Jenson Button to claim second. Three laps later, Raikkonen had overtook Hamilton to move in to fourth after Button had come in for his pit stop. By lap-21, Alonso was right up Hamilton's gearbox before they traded overtakes, Hamilton finally buckled and pitted on lap-23 to allow the Ferrari to pass.

The race was disrupted on the same lap as Jules Bianchi was forced to retire. A huge amount of smoke came out of the back of the Marussia before a fire started. It was an easily distinguishable fire but the drama continued as the empty Marussia began rolling back down the hill and across the track. Luckily no-one was near enough to get caught up in and the rolling chassis was stopped when it rolled over one of the advertising boards next to the track. Inevitably the Safety Car was called and it gave everyone a chance to dive in to the pits. Away from the drama, it emerged that Vergne was also forced to retire after suffering a hydraulics problem, similar to last week.

In compliance with the Safety Car rules, Webber was now able to unlap himself and now had a great chance of getting something out of the race. The Safety Car came in on lap-30 and Vettel got away perfectly. Within three laps, Webber had managed to move up to 15th before getting stuck behind a stubborn Esteban Gutierrez.

Vettel pitted for a third time on lap-42 and remained just ahead of Grosjean who had pitted a lap before. Three laps later and Vettel had overtaken Hamilton to claim fourth. Grosjean did the same on lap-46 which was a sure sign that the Mercedes should probably come in for its third stop.

Raikkonen and Alonso pitted on lap-50 to come out third and fourth with Raikkonen on the soft tyres. At this point, Webber had moved up to tenth. Button and Sergio Perez met once again on track on lap-51 with Button claiming fifth from his Mexican counterpart.

Grosjean was told a couple of times on the radio that Raikkonen is on the the softer tyres and that he shouldn't hold him up. By lap-55, Grosjean had heeded to the instructions and Raikkonen was now second and able to track the Red Bull down, but ultimately fell a second short. The final lap saw Hamilton overtake Button to claim fifth and Webber had overtaken Perez to steal seventh. Result:

1. Vettel (Red Bull), 2. Raikkonen (Lotus), 3. Grosjean (Lotus), 4. Alonso (Ferrari), 5. Hamilton (Mercedes), 6. Button (McLaren), 7. Webber (Red Bull), 8. Perez (McLaren), 9. Rosberg (Mercedes), 10. Hulkenberg (Sauber), 11. Di Resta (Force India), 12. Ricciardo (Toro Rosso), 13. Sutil (Force India), 14. Gutierrez (Sauber), 15. Maldonado (Williams), 16. Bottas (Williams), 17. Pic (Caterham), 18. van der Garde (Caterham), 19. Chilton (Marussia) DNF: Massa (Ferrari), Bianchi (Marussia), Vergne (Toro Ross)

2013 European Darts Championship Round Two

Jelle Klaasen 10-6 Justin Pipe: The Dutchman has returned to darts in fine form and continues that by booking his place in the quarter finals for first time in three years on television. Pipe had actually started the better by taking a 3-1 lead. But Klaasen fought back with checkouts of 127, 121 and 110 to go 4-3 in front. Pipe managed to turn it around once more by taking leads of 5-4 and 6-5 before the pair were locked together after 12-legs. But Klaasen again found an edge, hitting checkouts of 167 and 106 before also winning the following two legs to take the match 10-6.

Andy Hamilton 10-8 Paul Nicholson: The Hammer sees off Nicholson in a tight affair but this game may be more remembered for Nicholson’s spat with Eric Bristow on Twitter afterwards. The first four legs went with throw before both players proceeding to break, making the score 3-3. Hamilton missed four darts to win the eighth leg and Nicholson was soon 6-3 in front. That became 7-4 before Hamilton managed to fight back and level after The Asset missed a dart to win the 14^th leg. Nicholson would then miss a further four darts in the next two legs, putting Hamilton just a leg away from victory. The Hammer would then see of Nicholson in the 18^th leg, 10-8.

Simon Whitlock 10-6 Colin Lloyd: The reigning champion is through after a comfortable second part to this match. The first eight legs went with throw before Whitlock finally broke and managed to take a 6-4 lead with a hold in the tenth. The score would then translate to 8-6 before Whitlock took the next two legs, with Lloyd missing darts to win the 15^th leg, for Whitlock to win 10-6 and continue his defence.

James wade 2-10 Jamie Caven: The surprise of the afternoon was definitely Caven’s fantastic victory over Wade. With seven points between them in the averages the key was the finishing, Caven managed a 56% checkout rate with Wade only a 22%. Caven started like a train, taking a 4-0 lead with Wade only getting one chance at a double, in the fourth leg. Wade did manage to pull two legs back before Caven reeled off six straight legs to win in emphatic fashion, without giving Wade much of a chance throughout the contest.

Adrian Lewis 10-6 Kevin Painter: Lewis continues his hunt for a major since his double world triumph. Checkouts of 158 and 103 put Jackpot 3-2 ahead before Painter managed to level the match. Lewis, somewhat back to his best, went in to a 5-3 lead which would become a 6-4 one. Lewis would then take the next four legs to power through and win the match 10-4 with an average of 100.34.

Robert Thornton 10-9 Raymond van Barneveld: There was a piece of personal history as Thornton managed to beat van Barneveld for the first time ever in a competition. Barney crucially missed four darts to take a 3-1 lead and Thornton actually went in to the first break 3-2 in front. Thornton was next to miss a great chance, missing three darts to go 4-2 ahead and, after missing another five darts, van Barneveld actually managed to 5-4 in front. But Thornton again came back and turned it around to lead 6-5 and would then miss two darts to make it 7-5. Checkouts of 133 and 142 either side of a 64-finish put the Scot 9-6 in front a one leg away from victory. The beleaguered Barney then managed to pick himself to hit a 164-checkout before managing to force a deciding leg after Thornton had missed three match darts in leg-17. Thornton threw first in the final leg and managed to get to the double first, but missed his first three attempts. Barney stepped up but missed his two match darts, allowing Thornton to take the final leg and squeeze through.

Phil Taylor 5-10 Ronny Huybrechts: The Belgian performs one of the shocks of the tournament against a very un-Tayloresque performance. Take nothing away from Huybrechts though, he took the match to Taylor from the get go and, after losing the opening leg, would storm in to a 5-1 lead. Huybrechts would miss six darts to win leg eight and Taylor had managed to fight back to 5-4. But instead of crumbling, Huybrechts picked it up a gear and again continued the offensive. The Belgian won the next three legs to go 8-4 in front before missing a dart in the 13^th leg to move to within one of winning. Again, it didn’t faze Huybrechts and, after Taylor missed three darts, he managed to get to the line before crossing it with a fantastic 104-checkout to round off a 10-5 victory, the best of his career so far.

Mervyn King 3-10 Michael van Gerwen: If van Gerwen was extremely flat on Friday; he definitely got his together against King to remain the man to beat in this tournament, and the world of darts at the minute. After sharing the first two legs, the Dutchman moved in to a 4-1 lead with a 136-checkout in leg four. Van Gerwen then added a 130-checkout to that in leg seven before King replied with a 111-checkout to make it 5-3 to the Dutchman. Van Gerwen would the win the next five in an astonishing ten minutes, with a second 136-checkout on the way, to win it 10-3 in devastating fashion.   

2013 German Grand Prix Qualifying Result

1. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
2. Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull)
3. Mark Webber (Red Bull)
4. Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus)
5. Romain Grosjean (Lotus)
6. Daniel Ricciardo (Toro Rosso)
7. Felipe Massa (Ferrari)
8. Fernando Alonso (Ferrari)
9. Jenson Button (McLaren)
10. Nico Hulkenberg (Sauber)
11. Nico Rosberg (Mercedes)
12. Paul Di Resta (Force India)
13. Sergio Perez (Sauber)
14. Esteban Gutierrez (Sauber)
15. Adrian Sutil (Force India)
16. Jean-Eric Vergne (Toro Rosso)
17. Valtteri Bottas (Williams)
18. Pastor Maldonado (Williams)
19. Charles Pic (Caterham)
20. Jules Bianchi (Marussia)
21. Giedo Van Der Garde (Caterham)
22. Max Chilton (Marussia)

2013 European Darts Championship Day Two

Day two of the European Darts Championships saw the conclusion of the first round but it left more disappointment on the lips of many. The action, like yesterday, was exciting and dramatic but the German crowd was so lacklustre that the atmosphere was unbearable. Just like on Thursday, the world’s top players looked like they were just down the local, albeit rather large, tavern with the odd punter shouting out.

ITV haven’t helped much and to be honest, the darting world should remain split between the BBC and Sky because their coverage cannot be beaten. With very little advertising and the only allowing of some games, including the whole Saturday afternoon session, to be viewed via the internet is absurd and does nothing to help promote the sport.

For those that did watch the second part of the first round, they managed to see the favourite Michael van Gerwen and double world champion Adrian Lewis win their matches. There were also victories for Justin Pipe, Paul Nicholson, Andy Hamilton, Mervyn King, Jelle Klaasen and Kevin Painter as Germany’s final entrant exited the stage and a magic 170-checkout was hit.

The hosts’ participation ended when Nicholson managed to see off 16-year old Max Hopp. Thanks to ITV, those who were unaware of the internet coverage could only join this match with Hopp 3-2 in front. That became 4-3 before Nicholson managed to dig deep in front of the partisan crown to take the following three legs and win it 6-4. Before that, internet viewers would have seen Pipe see off Finland’s Jani Haavisto 6-3.  

Hopp’s match was probably the only time the German crowd lifted their voices and added something to this tournament. 

The lack of atmosphere may have affected some of the performances as van Gerwen was noticeably flat against Belgium’s Kurt van de Rijck. It would have taken a miracle for van de Rijck to have won the match anyway, but he certainly didn’t need the devastating news that his grandfather had passed away a few hours previously. The Belgian did manage to win leg four which ended up being in the middle of van Gerwen’s blocks of three consecutive legs. Van Gerwen wasn’t anywhere near his best though and, with a lot of missed doubles, he’ll be hoping to improve in round two.

The first deciding leg came in to play when Hamilton faced Terry Jenkins. After a nervy start with missed doubles aplenty, Jenkins managed to take the opening leg. Hamilton turned it around before Jenkins fought back with three straight legs to lead 4-2. Ever the fighter, Hamilton again roared back with a 112-checkout before going 5-4 in front. The Bull managed to set up an 11^th leg which Hamilton ended up winning to progress. There was also a deciding leg in the following match when Ronnie Baxter faced King. It was a very rare occasion where the bull to decide who threw first was the most crucial dart in the match. Every single leg went with throw, despite Baxter having two chances to break in a couple of legs, to leave King with a 6-5 victory.

Last year’s runner-up, Wes Newton, failed to make it past the first round this year after losing to Klaasen. It was a topsy turvy affair as Klaasen had taken a 2-0 lead before Newton reeled off four consecutive legs to go 4-2 in front. But the Dutchman responded with four consecutive legs of his own, including a 129-checkout with two double-18s in the ninth leg and a 112-checkout in the tenth, to win the match 6-4.

6-4 was the same scoreline in the other two matches as Lewis faced Austria’s Mensur Suljovic and Painter faced Canada’s John Part. Suljovic began his match with a 111-checkout and took a 3-1 lead before missing darts to make it 4-1. That turned out to be the turning point as Lewis took the next two legs to go 4-3 in front. Suljovic did level before Lewis took the following two legs to progress. The crucial darts in the final game came in the third leg when Part missed five darts to level the match at 2-2. The lead was 4-1 before Part came back and ended up taking out a colossal 170-checkout in the seventh leg and then levelling in the eighth. But Painter would take out the next two legs to also take the final place in the second round.

2013 European Darts Championships Day One

The 2013 European Darts Championships begin in fine fashion last night, not that many people from Germany would know. The tournament is being held in Mulheim but it was a shame to see the venue half empty and without much of that fantastic atmosphere that is becoming entwined with darting majors.

Maybe it was because it was the opening round or that it was a Thursday or a combination of both, either way it didn’t stop eight great games to begin the tournament. There were mixed results for the Huybrechts brothers and wins for the World Champion, world number four and the reigning European champion along with wins for Jamie Caven, Colin Lloyd, Robert Thornton and Raymond van Barneveld.

Ronny Huybrechts started the night with perhaps his best performance in a major tournament. The older of the Belgian brothers managed to score an average of over 100 on his way to beating Stuart Kellett 6-3. Younger brother Kim didn’t have the same fate, but he did have the unenviable task of facing the reigning champion, Simon Whitlock. Huybrechts missed too many doubles and soon found himself 4-1 down after initially winning the opening leg. But the Belgian managed to fight back and level the scores before missing three darts to go 5-4 in front. Whitlock then completed the 6-4 victory with a great 110-checkout to keep his title defence alive.

Phil Taylor was magical last weekend as he managed to win a PTC in Minehead. He looked to continue that form here with a first round victory of Netherlands’ Vincent van der Voort. A ton checkout ensured that The Power had a 3-0 lead before missing five darts at the double and allowing van der Voort to claw it back to 6-2. The doubles seemed to be the only real blip in a steady Taylor performance that saw him lead 5-2 before winning the match 6-3.

James Wade possibly proved that it doesn’t matter who you play against, it’s how you play the board. This is because The Machine was due to play Gary Anderson before the Scot pulled out with illness, with everyone hoping he will be okay to play in the World Matchplay later this month, allowing Mark Webster to take his place. But the change obviously didn’t faze Wade as he took an instant 3-0 lead. That would become 4-2 before Wade continued his efficient performance to seal a 6-2 victory and comfortably progress.

On the face of it, 6-2 and 6-1 scorelines for Thornton and van Barneveld would suggest they had relatively easy matches and played well, but neither match was quite that simple. Thornton did play extremely well against Brendan Dolan and was 4-0 ahead without any real trouble. The only problem for Thornton was the fact that he had pulled a muscle in his back and it was proving very painful for him. But he battled on and hit a 100-checkout to go 5-1 ahead before taking the eighth leg to win the match 6-2.

Van Barneveld began his tournament against Germany’s own Tomas Seyler and, without disrespecting the world 93; the Dutchman would have had problems against someone with a higher calibre. Barney stormed in to the game with a fantastic 156-checkout in the opening leg. Seyler did equalise but would then miss a total of 16-darts at the double to help Barneveld secure a 6-1 victory. The Dutchman’s performance can be monitored by noting that he required four double fours to win two thirds of his legs.

Perhaps the ‘biggest’ upset of the night goes to Lloyd who managed to see off the in form Peter Wright. Lloyd had managed to go 2-1 in front before Snakebite retaliated with an 84-checkout on the bull. Lloyd returned to go 4-2 and then 5-4 in front before winning the match with an impressive 116-checkout. But the performance of the night was to go to Caven who managed to whitewash the world number ten, Dave Chisnall. Caven is in the form of his career after recently publishing a book and managed to beat Chisnall with a ton plus average and a highlight of a 118-checkout in the penultimate fifth leg. 

Brazil Create Magic in the Maracana

   

Brazil line-up: Julio Cesar, Alves, Thiago Silva, David Luiz, Marcelo, Oscar, Dias, Paulinho (Hernanes, 88'), Fred (Jo, 80'), Neymar, Hulk (Jadson, 73')

Spain line-up: Casillas, Pique, Ramos, Arbeloa (Azpilicueta, 46'), Alba, Iniesta, Xavi, Busquets, Torres (Villa, 59'), Pedro, Mata (Navas, 52')

Brazil lay down their marker for next year’s World Cup by claiming their third consecutive Confederations Cup. Two goals from Fred and another from Neymar saw Spain’s hopes of winning all three major international tournaments wiped out in stunning fashion. Gerard Pique was sent off at and Sergio Ramos also missed a penalty at 3-0 as Spain played their worst competitive game in a long time.

The Maracana was magic before a ball was kicked. The Brazilian national anthem was awe-inspiring once again and definitely spurred the hosts in to action. The crowd were rewarded within two minutes when Hulk’s cross caused a mad scramble in the box. The ball fell under Fred, who was on the floor, but the striker managed to react as it rolled and he kicked the ball over Iker Casillas to give Brazil the lead.

Spain, just like in the semi-final, were second best for nearly all of the game and they should have been 2-0 down after eight minutes. A good bit of build-up ended with the ball deflecting off of Alvaro Arbeloa to Fred. Fred then laid it off to Oscar but the Chelsea man dragged his effort wide. Spain still hadn’t created anything by the time Paulinho had tried to chip Casillas but the keeper had got back to his line yet still had to parry it down on the line before clutching.

It could have got worse on the quarter of an hour mark when there was a case for the World Champions to go down to ten men. The ball was hit over the top and Neymar would have been clean through. But Arbeloa dragged him down on the halfway line to prevent Neymar getting in. It wouldn’t have been a surprise to see Arbreloa sent off but the distance between the foul and the goal may have saved him. The decision did cause a little bit of handbags amongst the players but there was nothing in it and the game continued.

Spain finally got an effort on target after 20-minutes when Andres Iniesta’s long effort was parried by Julio Cesar for a corner. The resulting set piece did find Fernando Torres but his header went wide.  Sergio Ramos was potentially lucky to also stay on the field when he cynically brought Oscar down on the edge of the box, although Oscar was already on his way down because Hulk’s ball through to him was a little over hit. It should have been 2-0 on 32-minutes when Brazil managed to break after Jordi Alba was guilty of giving the ball away. Neymar managed to thread a glorious ball through to Fred but the striker could only hit his shot at Casillas, who was able to parry it away.

Spain’s best chance in the whole match came four minutes before half-time. They managed to break two on one with Juan Mata rushing down the wing. Mata then fed the ball across for Pedro and the Barcelona man curled his effort around Julio Cesar. It was going towards goal, only for David Luiz to slide in and fantastically clear the ball off the line for a corner. This was arguably the game’s biggest ‘turning’ point.

Just three minutes later, Brazil had finally scored their second. It came from another break with Neymar again at the heart of it. He played the ball across to Oscar before the Chelsea man returned the favour, playing Neymar in down the line in the box. The player of the tournament managed to smash his effort in to the back of the net before Casillas had chance to react.

Spain needed something to build on in the second half. What they didn’t need was Brazil to score a third just two minutes in to the half to virtually end the game there and then. It was a move that began with Marcelo; it came off a Spanish foot before the ball fed in to Fred was side stepped by Neymar and Fred curled his effort beautifully in to the bottom corner.

Spain were offered a small chance of getting back in to the game on 54-minutes when Marcelo stupidly clipped substitute Jesus Navas, after just two minutes of being on the field, in the box when he was going nowhere. Ramos stepped up but managed to put his penalty wide, summing up the match for Spain.

Iniesta again tried to lift his team but his shot was straight at Julio Cesar. This allowed Brazil to counter and one ball over the top again beat the defence. But Casillas was quick to get off his line and prevent a fourth from going in. Marcelo would also have an effort from an audacious angle hit the side netting.

The final nail in the coffin came on 68-minutes when Spain went down to ten men. Neymar was bursting through once again and Pique dived in to stop the run on the edge of the box. The referee had no option but to send Pique off, much to wife, Shakira’s, dismay. Spain did try to give themselves something to cheer about but Julio Cesar was in fantastic form and fully deserved a clean sheet, ending Spain’s run in major tournaments in shocking fashion.

Earlier, there was the small matter of the third/fourth play-off between Uruguay and Italy. Italy took the lead on 25-minutes when Alessandro Diamanti’s free-kick dipped on to the post. The rebounded off of Fernando Muslera’s back before David Astori tapped the ball home on the line for his first ever goal. However, the decision to award Astori with the goal didn’t come until late in to the second half, so much for this fast goal line technology.

Uruguay equalised 13-minutes in to the second half when Edinson Cavani managed to curl the ball low around Gianluigi Buffon. Italy retook the lead on 73-minutes when Diamanti sent curled a great free-kick past Muslera. This ended up being out-done five minutes later when Cavani levelled once again with a brilliant free-kick of his own which gave Buffon no chance. Riccardo Montolivo would be sent off in the second half of extra time which meant he missed the penalty shoot-out. Mattia De Sciglio missed Italy’s first penalty before Diego Forlan and Martin Caceres both missed for Uruguay. Goals from Alberto Aquilani, Stephan El Shaarawy and Emanuele Giaccherini made it 3-2 with Uruguay needing to score their fifth and final penalty. Walter Gargano stepped up but it was saved by Buffon, which meant they claimed third place without the need for their fifth penalty.