Sports & Casinos UK

There are urgent calls for Australia to take action before the team return to Iran but with no word from the players themselves the situation is fraught and uncertainTheir forward was once suspended when her head scarf slipped off during a goal celebration. Their youngest player is just 18. Another once worked as a personal trainer overseas. These are the women of the Iran football team, who are at the centre of an international diplomatic incident, even as the US and Israel rain missiles down on their family back home.The team remains in a hotel on the Gold Coast, where they played their third and final match of the Women’s Asian Cup on Sunday. Their departure from Australia is imminent, even if it’s not clear whether they want to go. Continue reading...

British driver fourth in Melbourne behind teammate Charles LeclercToto Wolff acknowledges Ferrari pose threat after Australian GPLewis Hamilton has declared he is fired-up and optimistic in his belief that Ferrari will be in the world championship fight with Mercedes after the new Formula One season opened in Australia on Sunday.The race in Melbourne was won by Mercedes’ George Russell, with his teammate Kimi Antonelli in second but Ferrari claimed third and fourth for Charles Leclerc and Hamilton. Both drivers executed superb starts to make up places to first and third respectively and for the opening 12 laps were very much in the fight with Russell at the front of the field. Continue reading...

American wins 6-1, 6-1Aryna Sabalenka sets up Naomi Osaka meetingEmma Raducanu suffered a heavy defeat in just 52 minutes to Amanda Anisimova in the third round at Indian Wells. The British No 1 was well below par in a 6-1 6-1 loss to the American world No 6.Raducanu, seeded 25, may have been struggling with a fitness issue as she repeatedly refused to chase down drop shots. The 23-year-old’s first serve misfired badly and she hit just two winners to her opponent’s 21. Continue reading...

The Magpies didn’t enjoy the best off-season but they excelled in opening round at the MCG as too many fumbles and shanks cost St Kilda dearlySt Kilda spent the summer talking up Sunday night’s opening round game, and Collingwood spent the summer being talked down. It was St Kilda’s occasion, but it was Collingwood’s game. The Saints had the hope, the hyper-inflated recruits, the best paid player in the sport and the largest home-and-away crowd they’d ever played in front of. But Collingwood had cool heads, manic pressure, a wily old fox in his 426th game and two brothers who had 77 touches between them.The Pies didn’t have the greatest of summers. It felt like the majority of pundits, including this one, had them missing the top 10 (do I have to say that now?). There were all sorts of rumours swirling about regarding the coach Craig McRae, which he and the club were forced to confront publicly. Their captain Darcy Moore was injured. They were coming off less than convincing scratch matches at La Trobe University and Ballarat. Continue reading...

Bhatia wins on first playoff hole at Bay HillBerger had led by four shots on the back nineA straightforward conclusion to the Arnold Palmer Invitational is apparently impossible. Palmer himself would approve, even if events at the tournament still played in tribute to a golfing icon can feel grisly at times. This, the Florida swing, is the PGA Tour’s most testing spell. Glory came to Akshay Bhatia after one sudden death hole in competition with Daniel Berger. The 24-year-old Bhatia, a charismatic left-hander, will bounce towards Sawgrass and Thursday’s Players Championship.A year after Collin Morikawa stumbled in painful fashion at Bay Hill, Berger was dragged into the most unlikely of scraps by Bhatia. Berger had led by four at the Sunday turn. Bhatia jabbed back, courtesy of four birdies in a row. Berger secured leeway again at the 15th, where Bhatia’s missed attempt at par came after officials had told the pair to pick up the pace. Game over? Not at all. Bhatia flew a wonderful approach to the par five 16th, setting up the eagle that reduced Berger’s advantage to one. Shot of the day? It was shot of the tournament. The duo were all square on the 18th tee after Berger three-putted the penultimate hole. Continue reading...

Full-back scores only goal of derby at San SiroWolfsburg sack head coach Daniel BauerMilan cut Inter’s lead at the top of Serie A to seven points after a 1-0 victory in the derby at San Siro. Pervis Estupiñán’s first-half strike helped Milan complete a Serie A double over their fierce rivals for the first time since 2011.Inter had gone 15 league matches undefeated since their 1-0 loss to Milan in November but it was the full-back Estupiñán who found the only goal in the 35th minute. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Goldsmith and brother Ben the major investors in trkradio, which is due to go to air next monthThe former Conservative minister Zac Goldsmith is launching a new sports radio station, trkradio, in the run-up to the men’s football World Cup this summer.The Track Radio Corporation is understood to have been granted a licence by Ofcom last week, with Goldsmith and his brother Ben, a financier and environmentalist, the major investors. Continue reading...

Team claim third successive men’s ICC trophy‘We want to continue and never stop,’ says captainIndia’s captain, Suryakumar Yadav, has set his sights on an extended period of white-ball dominance after the team secured a third successive ICC men’s trophy with a one-sided victory against New Zealand in the T20 World Cup final.The country went more than a decade without winning a major trophy, but since 2024 they have banked two T20 World Cups and a Champions Trophy. “I’m very excited by the way things have gone since then,” Suryakumar said. Continue reading...

Police say arrests have been made after Scottish Cup tie‘Officers and stewards faced with hostility and violence’Police Scotland have condemned the behaviour of some supporters as “shameful” and said arrests have been made after clashes at the end of the Scottish Cup quarter-final between Rangers and Celtic at Ibrox.Chief Superintendent Kate Stephen said: “The behaviour of a number of supporters at the Scottish Cup quarter-final between Rangers and Celtic at Ibrox today was shameful. It must be condemned by everyone involved in football and wider society. Continue reading...

After Southampton and Port Vale caused shocks, could Philippe Clement mastermind a third of the day for Norwich? The answer was a resounding no as Leeds United cuffed their guests aside and progressed to a first quarter-final in 23 years.Leeds have not contested a semi‑final since 1987 when losing 3-2 against Coventry after extra time but are only 90 minutes away from breaching a 53-year gap to the pre­vious walk-out at Wembley in the competition: the 1973 showpiece, which Sunderland won 1-0. Continue reading...