Wolverhampton secures major international event

Wolverhampton is set to play host to a major urban sports international event this year after the council secured £390,000 from the West Midlands Combined Authority’s and HM Government’s Commonwealth Games Legacy Fund.

Wolverhampton teenager becomes World Champion Power Lifter

Wolverhampton teenager, Jason Simms has won the British Drug Free Power Lifting Association (BDFA) World title for the strongest person for his age and weight. Competing in September he won the National title, and on Saturday (November 27) in Dublin, he became World Champion when he lifted the international title.

Wolverhampton to host snooker’s top stars

Aldersley Leisure Village in Wolverhampton will host one of snooker’s biggest tournaments next year when the sport’s leading stars contest the Cazoo Players Championship.

The world ranking event will run from February 7 to 13 in 2022 when Aldersley Leisure Village stages a major snooker event for the first time.

Tickets will be on sale from this Friday, May 28th, at 10am, with all details at www.wst.tv/tickets

There is a special half price offer for selected rounds for early bookings, so fans are urged to book fast while availability lasts.

The Cazoo Players Championship will feature an elite field of the top 16 players on the 2021/22 one-year ranking list. John Higgins won the title last season, playing some of the best snooker of his career as he beat Ronnie O’Sullivan 10-3 in the final, having come through a field of cue kings including Judd Trump, Mark Selby and Neil Robertson. A strong field is expected again next year.

It’s the second of three events in the 2021/22 Cazoo Series and will receive extensive live television coverage on ITV.

A World Snooker Tour (WST) spokesman said: “We are delighted to bring one of our biggest events to Wolverhampton for the first time. We know there is tremendous support for snooker in this area and the Aldersley Leisure Village is a superb venue.

“Any fans who love the exhilaration of live sport should secure their seats quickly as many of the sessions will sell out fast.

“The key element to the Cazoo Players Championship is that the field is the best 16 players of the season so far, so everyone in the line-up is at the top of their game. Every player on the tour starts the season on zero, and battles for every ranking point to earn a place in the extremely prestigious and lucrative Cazoo Series.

“They are events of the highest quality, as John Higgins proved with his incredible performance at the Cazoo Players Championship last year.”

City of Wolverhampton Council Cabinet Member for City Environment & Climate Change, Councillor Steve Evans, said: “We are absolutely delighted the World Snooker Tour has chosen Wolverhampton to stage one of its prestigious televised events.

“The successful staging of the Grand Slam of Darts and big-name comedy events at WV Active’s Aldersley Leisure Village showed what a great venue it is – and now it will host some of snooker’s greats.

“This is all part of our overall five-year events strategy to bring the very best in art, music and sport to the city to boost the local economy, create new jobs and build an outstanding cultural reputation.

“2022 is set to be a huge year for events in Wolverhampton with the Cazoo Players Championship adding to British Art Show 9, Creation Day music festival, Commonwealth Games cycling time trial, and the reopening of the refurbished Civic Halls.

WST has led the sporting world in the post-lockdown return of live audiences and will continue to work closely with the UK Government on Covid-19 regulation. Fans can be assured that all necessary precautions will be taken at events to minimise the risk of virus transmission, keeping safety as the highest priority.

Wolves and fellow-Premier League sides chooses Veraco to protect their club

Premier League clubs like Wolves face a huge challenge to create a hygienically safe environment in the battle against Coronavirus. Touch surfaces like doors, handles, rails and touch screens are a breeding ground for germs. The rise in demand for new innovative products to help combat bacteria and viruses spreading from person to person has been huge and British company Veraco has been part of that growth and demand. Veraco produces Antimicrobial products that make touch points safer to use and they have been improving hygiene standards for businesses and organisations in education, sport, healthcare, manufacturing and hospitality.

The technology uses ‘Silver Ions’ that break down the biological makeup of dangerous pathogens, killing 99% of common bacteria and superbugs on touch, as well as being effective against Human Coronavirus. Antimicrobial silver technology is not new and has been used in surgical environments for a long time, but the technology now has much broader relevance, so their use at football stadiums like Molineux is understandable and overtime measures like this will become normal.

Stuart Jones from Wolves said: “We have to do as much as we can to create an environment that’s safe, hygienic and clean and especially on match days and at our training ground. Working with Veraco has been great and in my opinion, it’s products like these that are the new standard of hygiene now and for the future.”

Veraco’s Harrison Dingle said: “We are thrilled to be supplying our products to Wolves and to be part of helping them meet the new challenges they are facing. Working with them is a great milestone in our mission to create affordable, easy to install solutions for all hygiene critical touchpoints.’

Wolves Krazy Races announced for 2024

After its huge success earlier this year, Krazy Races will once again return to Wolverhampton for the third time in 2024 and teams are encouraged to enter quickly to ensure their place.

Women’s World Athlete of the Year 2022 shortlist announced

Jamaican sprinters Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Shericka Jackson are among the 10 nominees for World Athletics' Women's Athlete of the Year award. World 400m champion Shaunae Miller-Uibo of the Bahamas and Kenya's 1500m world champion Faith Kipyegon are also on the list.

Five athletes will be shortlisted in November before the winner is announced in December. Jamaican sprinter Elaine Thompson-Herah won last year's award.

Worcester Warriors suspended for season and relegated from the Premiership

Worcester Warriors have been suspended for the rest of the Premiership season and will be relegated from the top tier. The decision was taken by the RFU (Rugby Football Union) club financial viability group to give time to find an investor and the "best chance for a long-term sustainable future".

Work begins on stunning new motorsports circuit in Tennessee

Construction has started on a brand-new motorsports park that is “unlike any other venue in the world”, according to the circuit’s Partner and President Rusty Bittle. Flatrock Motorsports Park and Motorclub will be a premium racing facility, combining both a 2.67-mile competition ‘Grand Prix’ track and a 3.50-mile ‘Club’ layout for track car owners. These two courses can be combined to create an undulating 5.9-mile, 34-turn circuit situated in beautiful, rolling Tennessee countryside.

Work begins to remove Ricoh signs from Coventry Building Society Arena

Work has begun to remove the large Ricoh signs from the roof of Coventry Building Society Arena. A huge 32 metre boom lift is being used to reach the four-metre-tall roof signs which can be seen clearly from miles around and on major roads near the Arena.

The signs, which have been in place for over ten years, are made of a canvas-type material stretched over metal frames and will have to be dismantled before they can be removed. Coventry Building Society Arena signs will take their place in a few months’ time and an indication of what they will look like was given last week when the new logo for the Arena was revealed.

World champion Asher-Smith to race over 100m AT Müller Birmingham Diamond League

World and European champion Dina Asher-Smith will compete at the Müller Birmingham Diamond League at the Alexander Stadium.

The two-time Olympic relay bronze medallist - British record holder over 100m (10.83) and 200m (21.88) - is the reigning world 200m champion and was the silver-medallist over 100m and 4 x 100m in Doha 2019.

World Champion Grant Holloway to take on 60m Hurdles at Birmingham World Indoor Tour Final

Reigning World Indoor 60m Hurdles champion Grant Holloway (USA) has been confirmed to race in the short sprint hurdles at the Birmingham World Tour Final on Saturday 25 February 2023.

The 2022 indoor season was a huge success for Holloway as he broke Colin Jackson’s long-standing world record when he clocked 7.29s in Madrid. It sliced 0.01s off the Briton’s time from 1994 to re-write the record books. Following his record-breaking exploits, the American went on to win his maiden world indoor title in Belgrade.

World champion Jake Wightman lines up for the Birmingham World Indoor Tour Final

With 100 days to go until the Birmingham World Indoor Tour Final, world 1500m champion Jake Wightman has confirmed he will race at the Utilita Arena on Saturday 25 February 2023.

Wightman has enjoyed a landmark 2022 track season as he added European 800m silver and Commonwealth 1500m bronze to his ever-growing collection, following his triumph in Eugene where he superbly beat the Olympic champion, the Norwegian, Jakob Ingebrigtsen, to the gold medal.

World Champion, Littler, hits nine darter during Belgian Open victory

Luke Littler hit a nine-darter as he won the Belgian Open on his European Tour debut on Sunday.

World champions South Africa looking to join the Six Nations fold Rumours are intensifying over the possibility of Rugby Football Union world champions South Africa joining the Six Nations with perennial ‘whipping-boys’ Italy being taken out of the tourna

Rumours are intensifying over the possibility of Rugby Football Union world champions South Africa joining the Six Nations with perennial ‘whipping-boys’ Italy being taken out of the tournament.

The Springboks are currently committed to Rugby Championship - until 2025 – but it has been reported that they have told the southern hemisphere’s governing body that they are exploring their option of joining the Six Nations after their tenure is complete as plans for a major overhaul of the global calendar grows.

World Cup 2022 Is Under Way!

The Qatar FIFA World Cup is finally up and running with the Gulf nation opening its door with this tournament set to go down as one of the most talked about and controversial World Cups in history.

The build-up to the first tournament to be held in a Muslim country in the Middle East has been overshadowed by a number of controversies, but all 32 competing nations have been told to "focus on the football", but players have been urged to use their influence to speak up about the issues in the country.

World Cup anthem set to galvanise support in Qatar

It is rare indeed that a complete unknown pens a tune so infectious as to be irresistible! But that is exactly what Bucket (a.k.a. James Fox) has achieved with ‘It’s England’s Time’, a footy anthem that has everything needed to join the England football song successes ‘Three Lions’ and ‘Vindaloo’ in the ‘most memorable’ category.

World finalists recognised on British Athletics world class programme

68 Team GB athletes have been offered membership to the Olympic World Class Programme (WCP) for 2020.

Jake Wightman and Tom Bosworth, who finished fifth and seventh in the 1500m and 20km race walk respectively at this year’s World Championships in Doha, have been recognised for their performances by being moved from Olympic Podium Potential to Olympic Podium level.

Following his fourth in the 200m in Qatar, Adam Gemili, who also claimed 4x100m relay silver, has been added to Olympic Podium as an individual while long jumper Abigail Irozuru has been welcomed onto the WCP as a new member at the highest level having finished seventh at the World Championships.

There are ten new additions to the WCP in total with seven athletes being offered membership at Olympic Podium Potential including world 1500m finalist and British champion Neil Gourley and triple jumper Ben Williams who added 54cm onto his lifetime best across the course of the season to end 2019 seventh on the UK all-time list with 17.27m.

Jamie Webb is also added having won a superb European indoor silver in March and finished 2019 as the British No.1 in the 800m while Jodie Williams and Jessica Turner join at Olympic Relays following their contribution to the women’s 4x400m relay team throughout the summer.

The British Athletics WCP is UK Sport’s National Lottery-funded initiative to support the delivery of success at the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Membership onto the WCP for 2020 is based upon an athletes’ potential to win a medal at Tokyo 2020 or Paris 2024.

There are three levels of membership of the WCP at Olympic level with numbers for 2020 broken down as follows: Olympic Podium (16), Olympic Podium Potential (29), and Olympic Relays (23).

Athletes can use their discretion should they not wish to accept membership to the WCP. Endurance athletes funded separately to the WCP will be announced in due course. British Athletics Futures Programme athletes will be announced within the next week.

Due to the late staging of the World Para Athletics Championships in 2019, the full WCP for 2020, including Paralympic levels, will be announced in the new year.

BRITISH ATHLETICS OLYMPIC WORLD CLASS PROGRAMME 2020:

Olympic Podium (16)

Dina Asher-Smith, Tom Bosworth, Holly Bradshaw, Mo Farah, Adam Gemili, Callum Hawkins, Sophie Hitchon,, Zharnel Hughes, Abigail Irozuru, Katarina Johnson-Thompson,, Nick Miller, Laura Muir, Reece Prescod,, Lynsey Sharp, Lorraine Ugen and Jake Wightman.

Olympic Podium Potential (29)

Andrew Butchart, Taylor Campbell, Melissa Courtney, Tim Duckworth, Niamh Emerson, Tom Gale, Elliot Giles, Neil Gourley, Charlie Grice, Dewi Griffiths, Josh Kerr, Morgan Lake, Kyle Langford, Chris McAlister, Eilish McColgan, Sarah McDonald, Naomi Ogbeta, Shelayna Oskan-Clarke, Andrew Pozzi, Aimee Pratt, Charlotte Purdue, Jemma Reekie, Daniel, Rowden, Jazmin Sawyers, Steph Twell, Jamie Webb, Laura Weightman, Callum Wilkinson and Ben Williams.

Olympic Relays (23)

Amy Allcock, Kristal Awuah, Cameron Chalmers, Zoey Clark, Emily Diamond, Beth Dobbin, Eilidh Doyle, Miguel Francis, Matthew Hudson-Smith, Richard Kilty, Imani-Lara Lansiquot, Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake, Daryll Neita, Ashleigh Nelson, Laviai Nielsen, Asha Philip, Martyn Rooney, Danny Talbot, Jessica Turner, CJ Ujah, Jodie Williams, Bianca Williams and Rabah Yousif.

World Gold Medallists and reigning British Champions set to star in the field at the Müller British Athletics Championships

 
With the Müller British Athletics Championships three weeks away, two more World Para Athletics champions – Aled Davies and Jonathan Broom-Edwards - and several reigning British outdoor champions including Morgan Lake and Sophie McKinna, join the journey to the event hosted at the Manchester Regional Arena on 4-5 September.
 
Aled Davies secured his fourth consecutive world shot put title last season in Dubai, just a few weeks after becoming a father, and he’ll be throwing competitively for the first time since November. The Welshman has been a regular at the British Athletics Championships over the last few years, and he will face a strong field including defending champion Scott Lincoln who leads the entries as he seeks a sixth consecutive British outdoor title.
 
Another world champion to grace the in-field will be Jonathan Broom-Edwards who will compete in the men’s high jump. At the World Para Athletics Championships in the UAE, the Newham & Essex Beagles athlete scored his first title at that level in the T64 high jump. He’ll join 2019 British champion Allan Smith who has already been confirmed.
 
In the women’s equivalent, Commonwealth silver medallist Morgan Lake will target a fifth consecutive British outdoor title after dominating the event since 2016.
 
Sophie McKinna contests the women’s shot put with the outdoor champion returning to action. The world finalist will take on 2020 indoor champion Amelia Strickler who secured that title in Glasgow back in February.
 
Among the reigning Müller British Athletics outdoor champions who are returning to defend their title is Harry Coppell who cleared a remarkable PB of 5.71 metres in Birmingham last year to qualify for the men’s pole vault at the World Athletics Championships in Doha.
 
In the men’s discus, 2019 gold medallist Nic Percy will face a strong field including Lawrence Okoye (Croydon) who currently leads the 2020 UK rankings after a throw of 65.15 metres last month.
 
In the women’s equivalent, Kirsty Law will be aiming to retain her British crown and she goes up against current UK lead Jade Lally who is also among the entrants.
 
Meanwhile, Jess Mayho and Laura Whittingham return as the reigning British champions in the women’s hammer throw and javelin respectively.
 
Britain’s best athletes will be lining up to provide athletics fans with their fix of the country’s favourite Olympic and Paralympic sport.
 
The format and shape of the competition and guidelines that will be adhered to for competitors and those helping to stage the Championships will be subject to the government guidelines in place.
 

World heptathlon champion Johnson-Thompson joins star-studded long jump field at Müller Birmingham Diamond League

Reigning world and Commonwealth heptathlon champion Katarina Johnson-Thompson (GBR) will compete in the long jump at the Müller Birmingham Diamond League on Saturday 21 May.

The 29-year-old, who is ranked third on the British all-time list for long jump with a personal best of 6.93m (indoors), is also a world indoor pentathlon champion (2018), world indoor long jump silver medallist (2014) and European Championships silver medallist (2018); her outdoor best is 6.92m.

World No.4 seed Tsitsipas says Djokovic is 'playing by his own rules'

World No.4 Stefanos Tsitsipas has said that Novak Djokovic is playing by his own rules and has made vaccinated tennis players look like fools. Record nine-time winner and top seed Djokovic, 34, remains in the Australian Open draw as the decision over whether the defending champion can stay in the country drags on.

"For sure, he's been playing by his own rules and has been doing what not many players had the guts to do," Greece's Tsitsipas told India's said. "Especially after the ATP announced certain criteria for players to enter the country."