January 2012 Other Sports Preview

 

2011 has finish and 2012 is starting and the Rugby is going to be coming thick and fast. There is no time to breath as we get straight into it. So what going to be on in January.

 

Tennis

The Tennis season is restarting at the moment with all the English players featuring this month. There are 8 ATP tour tournaments and 4 WTA tournaments. With the 1^st of the 4 majors of the year starting on the 16^th of January. The Australian Open is a competition that all of the English players will want to be part of.

There are 4 Female players in with a possibility of qualifying for the Ozzie open. Keaothavong(72), Watson(92), Robson(133) and Broady(196). The 1^st 3 have a realistic chance of making it but they may have to go through the tough and grueling qualifying process, with Broady having her work cut out if she is to qualify. If they do get through to the main draw then they will be fighting for bigger money and ranking points that comes with the majors. They will want to be there and have that chance for success.

There is only 1 real male player in with a chance of making the main draw. James Ward who caused those big shocks back at Queens last year. Ward is currently ranked 162 and will also have to go through the qualifying phase to get into the main draw.

There are a few English Juniors that will be at the Australian Open playing in the Junior tournament and if the recent Juniors major competition are to go by then we are in a with shout of seeing an English Junior champion especially in the Boys category.

All of the top English players are in Australia or New Zealand trying to get any many points as they can in the build up competitions so that they can try and get straight into the main draw without qualifying. Good luck to them all and we hope to see you in the Australian Open and doing well.

It is worth mentioning that the Scots of Elena Baltacha and Andy Murray are the best British players at the moment and will both be in the main draws in Oz with Andy Murray having a great chance of winning his 1^st major and the 1^st British major champion in 75 years.

 

Golf

The Golf season kicks off in January. The European tour starts down in the beautiful South Africa on the 5^th to the 8^th of January at the Africa Open follow by the Joburg Open on the 12^th till the15th and the Volvo Golf Champions on 19^th till the 22nd with Paul Casey defending his title from last year. Then the last tournament of the month is the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship on the 26^th till the 29^th of January. All of the English players will be looking to get a good start to the season as this year is a Ryder Cup year and everyone would love to play in the Ryder Cup.

The PGA tour also starts in January with 2 tournaments in the glorious Hawaii starting with Hyundai Tournament of Champions on the 6^th to the 9^th followed by the Sony Open from the 12^th to the 15^th.  Then the tour moves to sunny California when they play the Humana Challenge Clinton Foundation tournament and the Farmers Insurance Open at the world renowned Torrey Pines. There are 13 English players that played on the PGA tour last year. All the English boys will be wanting to watch and take notes about the US players for the Ryder Cup and to play on US turf to get us to the playing field.

All the English players will be wanting to continue the great form of the English lately and to try and get as many ranking points and prize money as possible.

 

Cricket

England are starting the year as the World number one test team. They now look to keep a top of the ranking tables when they take on Pakistan. Pakistan are a big cricket country and are a formidable force in world and test cricket. England will play a 3 match test series in the UAE. The 1^st test match in on the 17^th to the 23^rd of January in Dubai and then just 3 days later the 2^nd test starts on the 25^th to the 30^th with the 3^rd test being played in the beginning of February. England will hopefully have the series wrapped by the end of January and be 2-0 so they can take it easy in the 3^rd test before the ODI’s and the Twenty20 matches in February.

 

Athletics

The English Athletes are starting what could be the biggest and most important year of their lives. They will be training hard and doing everything in their power to do what is needed to make Team GB for the Olympics.

The Great Winter Run is on the 7^th of Jan up in the cultured city of Edinburgh. The low distance runners will use this event as good training running in the cold hills of Edinburgh. With a lot of the world’s best in attendance including such people as Mo Farah.

Then we move a few miles down the road to Glasgow for the Aviva international on the 28^th of Jan. There are 17 events planed for this day. Currently there are 10 English competitors confirmed but with there still being over 3 weeks to go to the day there will be many more by the day of competition. There are 4 male and 6 female English competitors, the main one being once again Mo Farah who will be in the final event the 1500metres.

 

So what are you looking forward to this month?

Major Sports 2012

2012 is about to start and there is a lot of sport to be including some huge sporting events. Lets see what’s going to be on.

Olympics

The main sporting event of 2012 is by far the Olympics. The Olympics are a big deal whenever they are on but this year time they’re extra special. This time they are in London. London are holding the Olympics for the 1^st time since 1948. London is the only city to hold the Olympics 3 times in the modern era. The Olympics starts on the 27^th of July and finishes on the 12^th of August. The London 2012 Olympics is not expected to be the great spectacle that Beijing was because of the economic climate. So the talent will be the stars of the show. There will no sportsman that won’t what to be involved in the Olympics. So the best the planet has to offer will all be in London in the summer trying to get the gold.

Great Britain have got plenty of talent that are trying to make the GB for Olympics. There are expected to be 1200 Athletes representing Great Britain at the Olympics and Paralympics.  There are still many athletes trying to get into the team GB but some have already made. Paula Radcliffe and Ben Ainslie are 2 examples. So if they stay injury free then we will see them going for gold in the summer. These 2 will be amongst our best chances for gold. Great Britain excel in certain sports such as rowing, sailing and cycling in the past and we will be hoping that continues. GB will also be hoping to get some track and field gold medals with people like Ennis, Idowu and Ohuruogu the most likely to do so. In the pool Adlington and Jackson are going to be going for gold’s.

We hope that we can get as many medals as possible and beat our last total of 47. 19 being Gold, 13 Silver and 15 Bronze.  Good luck to all.

Football

Football has always got the regular season events going on every year. With the Domestic leagues, FA and League Cups all coming to conclusion in May with exception of the League Cup which finishes in February. Also the Champions league and the Europa leagues will continue until their finals in May.

This year though we have got a huge international tournament in the Summer. The Euro’s are due to start on the 8^th of June in Poland and finish on the 1^st of July in Ukraine. There will a month of great football being played by the best teams in Europe competing for the Championship title. England have been drawn with France, Sweden and Ukraine in the group stage.

For more info on the Euro 2012 draw go to https://sweetengland.wordpress.com/2011/12/20/england-euro-2012-draw/

Rugby

In Rugby there will also be the regular season competitions going on. The Aviva Premiership will continue to surprise us. It looks like a 2 horse race for the League win but the playoff places still up for grabs. The European cups will also be continuing with the English teams needing to pick up their form if we are to have an English team come out as the winner at the end of the season.

The England rugby team will be playing their 1^st matches together since the torrid World Cup in late 2011. They will be competing in the 6 Nations, a competition they won last year. We will all be hoping they do the same again and help to try and bury the memories of the dreadful last performance. England will be a much change side. There have been a number of retirements including the legend that is Johnny Wilkinson and Captain Lewis Moody. Martin Johnson has also gone and is temporarily replace with Stuart Lancaster. Who will be incharge for the 6 Nations after which the RFU will appoint a permanent manager to take on the next World Cup campaign, which is 2015 in England and I think is a must win for England.

Cricket

The England Cricket team have got 11 test matches scheduled for 2012. Starting with 3 against Pakistan, then 2 vs Sri Lanka followed by 3 at home to the West Indies and finishing with a 3 test series against South Africa. England will also be having numerous One Day internationals and Twenty20 matches against the same opponents as above.

Boxing

The 1^st big boxing match involving an English boxer is Dereck Chisora facing up against the WBC World Heavyweight Champion Vitali Klitschko for the title in Germany on 18^th of February. Nathan Cleverly then defends his WBO Light Heavyweight title against Tony Bellew on the 25^th of February. There is the possibility that David Haye could be returning to the ring to take on Vitali Klitschko later in the year after Chisora has had his turn.

Formula 1

The Formula 1 2012 season starts in late March at Melbourne Australia. With the Brits of Hamilton and Button trying to fight for their 2^nd championships. Vettel will still be the man to beat but with Mclaren drivers finishing very strong last year you can be sure to expect they will be doing their all to win that title off Vettel and try and take the constructors title for Mclaren away from Red Bull. Be sure to watch as they will all be giving everything to go round the tracks fastest than anyone else and in November become the 2012 Formula 1 Champion.

Tennis

The Tennis season kicks off on the 1^st day of the year. With all of the English men and women all trying to get as many points as they can. With the Olympics this year the English players will want to be playing at London 2012. They need to be in the top 56 to be certain of a place. At the moment the top women’s players are Keothavong, Waston and Robson who are 72, 92 and 133 respectively. So all 3 players will need to improve. The top 3 men are Ward, Baker and Goodall who are 162, 241 and 283 respectively. These 3 are unlikely to qualify and will just have to look at getting points to improve their ranking. In all honesty we might have to be supporting 2 Scots in Murray and Baltacha who will still be part of Team GB. Murray will be one of the favorites for the gold.

Other that trying to make the Olympics the players will all be playing in the ATP,WTA and ITF tours that have weekly competitions. Then there is the 4 majors. The big one being Wimbledon where there are often a dozen players involved in the different main draws. The 1^st major that could have affects on the rankings is the Australian Open on the 16^th of January. There is also the end of season competition at the O2 for the men. There are also many tournaments being played all over the country in the month build up to Wimbledon.

Golf

England are having a great time in golf at the moment. The top players will all be trying to continue their dominance. The top 2 players are currently English. Donald and Westwood. Rose, Poulter and Casey are in the top 20. With the English doing so well they need to push on and get a major title. England are without a major since Nick Faldo at the Masters in 96. The British Open is at the Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club this year on the 19^th to the 22^nd of July. Then there is the yearly BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth.

What are you looking forward to in 2012?

Major Sports in 2012

2012 is about to start and there is a lot of sport to be including some huge sporting events. Lets see what’s going to be on.

 

Olympics

The main sporting event of 2012 is by far the Olympics. The Olympics are a big deal whenever they are on but this year time they’re extra special. This time they are in London. London are holding the Olympics for the 1^st time since 1948. London is the only city to hold the Olympics 3 times in the modern era. The Olympics starts on the 27^th of July and finishes on the 12^th of August. The London 2012 Olympics is not expected to be the great spectacle that Beijing was because of the economic climate. So the talent will be the stars of the show. There will no sportsman that won’t what to be involved in the Olympics. So the best the planet has to offer will all be in London in the summer trying to get the gold.

Great Britain have got plenty of talent that are trying to make the GB for Olympics. There are expected to be 1200 Athletes representing Great Britain at the Olympics and Paralympics.  There are still many athletes trying to get into the team GB but some have already made. Paula Radcliffe and Ben Ainslie are 2 examples. So if they stay injury free then we will see them going for gold in the summer. These 2 will be amongst our best chances for gold. Great Britain excel in certain sports such as rowing, sailing and cycling in the past and we will be hoping that continues. GB will also be hoping to get some track and field gold medals with people like Ennis, Idowu and Ohuruogu the most likely to do so. In the pool Adlington and Jackson are going to be going for gold’s.

We hope that we can get as many medals as possible and beat our last total of 47. 19 being Gold, 13 Silver and 15 Bronze.  Good luck to all.

 

Football

Football has always got the regular season events going on every year. With the Domestic leagues, FA and League Cups all coming to conclusion in May with exception of the League Cup which finishes in February. Also the Champions league and the Europa leagues will continue until their finals in May.

This year though we have got a huge international tournament in the Summer. The Euro’s are due to start on the 8^th of June in Poland and finish on the 1^st of July in Ukraine. There will a month of great football being played by the best teams in Europe competing for the Championship title. England have been drawn with France, Sweden and Ukraine in the group stage.

For more info on the Euro 2012 draw go to https://sweetengland.wordpress.com/2011/12/20/england-euro-2012-draw/

 

Rugby

In Rugby there will also be the regular season competitions going on. The Aviva Premiership will continue to surprise us. It looks like a 2 horse race for the League win but the playoff places still up for grabs. The European cups will also be continuing with the English teams needing to pick up their form if we are to have an English team come out as the winner at the end of the season.

The England rugby team will be playing their 1^st matches together since the torrid World Cup in late 2011. They will be competing in the 6 Nations, a competition they won last year. We will all be hoping they do the same again and help to try and bury the memories of the dreadful last performance. England will be a much change side. There have been a number of retirements including the legend that is Johnny Wilkinson and Captain Lewis Moody. Martin Johnson has also gone and is temporarily replace with Stuart Lancaster. Who will be incharge for the 6 Nations after which the RFU will appoint a permanent manager to take on the next World Cup campaign, which is 2015 in England and I think is a must win for England.

 

Cricket

The England Cricket team have got 11 test matches scheduled for 2012. Starting with 3 against Pakistan, then 2 vs Sri Lanka followed by 3 at home to the West Indies and finishing with a 3 test series against South Africa. England will also be having numerous One Day internationals and Twenty20 matches against the same opponents as above.

 

Boxing

The 1^st big boxing match involving an English boxer is Dereck Chisora facing up against the WBC World Heavyweight Champion Vitali Klitschko for the title in Germany on 18^th of February. Nathan Cleverly then defends his WBO Light Heavyweight title against Tony Bellew on the 25^th of February. There is the possibility that David Haye could be returning to the ring to take on Vitali Klitschko later in the year after Chisora has had his turn.

 

Formula 1

The Formula 1 2012 season starts in late March at Melbourne Australia. With the Brits of Hamilton and Button trying to fight for their 2^nd championships. Vettel will still be the man to beat but with Mclaren drivers finishing very strong last year you can be sure to expect they will be doing their all to win that title off Vettel and try and take the constructors title for Mclaren away from Red Bull. Be sure to watch as they will all be giving everything to go round the tracks fastest than anyone else and in November become the 2012 Formula 1 Champion.

 

Tennis

The Tennis season kicks off on the 1^st day of the year. With all of the English men and women all trying to get as many points as they can. With the Olympics this year the English players will want to be playing at London 2012. They need to be in the top 56 to be certain of a place. At the moment the top women’s players are Keothavong, Waston and Robson who are 72, 92 and 133 respectively. So all 3 players will need to improve. The top 3 men are Ward, Baker and Goodall who are 162, 241 and 283 respectively. These 3 are unlikely to qualify and will just have to look at getting points to improve their ranking. In all honesty we might have to be supporting 2 Scots in Murray and Baltacha who will still be part of Team GB. Murray will be one of the favorites for the gold.

Other that trying to make the Olympics the players will all be playing in the ATP,WTA and ITF tours that have weekly competitions. Then there is the 4 majors. The big one being Wimbledon where there are often a dozen players involved in the different main draws. The 1^st major that could have affects on the rankings is the Australian Open on the 16^th of January. There is also the end of season competition at the O2 for the men. There are also many tournaments being played all over the country in the month build up to Wimbledon.

 

Golf

England are having a great time in golf at the moment. The top players will all be trying to continue their dominance. The top 2 players are currently English. Donald and Westwood. Rose, Poulter and Casey are in the top 20. With the English doing so well they need to push on and get a major title. England are without a major since Nick Faldo at the Masters in 96. The British Open is at the Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club this year on the 19^th to the 22^nd of July. Then there is the yearly BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth.

 

What are you looking forward to in 2012?

September Review

September has come to an end and it is now time to have a quick look back at what happen in English Sport over the month.

 

Tennis

The Us Open finished at the beginning of the month with 3 English Women making in through to the main draw. Heather Watson and Anna Keothavong couldn’t get past their 1^st round opponents. Laura Robson did get through to the 2^nd showing that she is still a future star in the making. The English Boys were fantastic this year and dominated the Boys tournament. Edmund and Morgan made the Semi Finals with Oliver Golding winning the Boys tournament to earn his 1^st Junior Gran Slam title. These 3 are showing that the future of English men’s tennis is looking bright.

 

Football

England played 2 Euro’s 2012 qualifiers early on in September. England beat Bulgaria 3-0 away and then beat Wales 1-0 at home. The 1^st game showed potential for England. They didn’t have their full strength 1^st team out. Smalling made his debut with England playing well and looking good in the 1^st half. Cahill got the 1^st goal with Rooney getting the next 2 goals. In the 2^nd half England just made sure that they were tight at the back and not let the Bulgaria’s through on goal. In the 2^nd game against Wales England were a lot less convincing and even though they had most of the chances Wales didn’t let England have many clear cut chances. Young and Downing played well together and combined for the only goal of the game. England now have only Montenegro to play. Knowing that if they win or draw then they have qualified for the Euro’s. Which is of course what we all hope they do. If they lose then they could be open to all sorts of trouble.

 

The Barclays Premiership was well and truly into full swing in September after the International brake. Both Man Utd and Man City dropped their 1^st points of their campaigns. Chelsea lost their 1^st match, away at Man Utd. Liverpool got destroyed by Tottenham. Arsenal improved and struggled in the same month. Bolton still can’t find a point for love nor money since the opening day of the season and all of the new boys picked up wins against teams that will be in the regulation battle with. Southampton and Middleborough are on top of the Championship with Bristol City, Millwall and Coventry desperately trying to get any points at the bottom.

 

Rugby

The Rugby World Cup 2011 in New Zealand started in September and England are hoping to get to the final for 3^rd time in a row and many go one step further than last time and win it again. England have struggle through the Pool stage but have come out on top and without a loss. They are having discipline issue’s on and off the field. England will need to sort it for the knockout stages. However it’s great to see that there will be defiantly be a Northern Hemisphere team in the final.

 

The Aviva Premiership started as well last month. With Harlequins having an amazing start being undefeated in their 1^st 4 games. Exeter proved to be the shock team and had a great start even beating the mighty Leicester Tigers at Welford rd who haven’t had a good start to the season. The Falcons lost all of the their 1^st 4 games and will be looking to change this asap. With Northampton are also struggling and needing to improve. However throughout October the players from the various countries in the World Cup will be returning and some of the better teams that have struggled so far will start to find there form again.

 

Cricket

England finished their cricket series against India. They had beaten them in the test series in August and then moved onto the One day international series. England won the ODI series 4-0. The 1^st match didn’t finish because the rain. England then won the next 2 matches, the first by 7 wickets and the 2^nd by 2 wickets. The 4th match was called a tie after the rain stopped play with England only needing to get 11 runs from 7 balls. The last match England won by 10 wickets in another rain affected match. England then beat West Indies 2-1 in a ODI series in the last couple of weeks.

 

Formula 1

There were 2 Grand prix last month. The Italian and the Singapore races. Both of these races were won by Vettel which has made him 1 point away from retaining the Championship. Button has had a great couple of races finishing both of them 2^nd and has now been on the podium in the last four races. He is the only one that can stop Vettel from winning the title. (Button can only win if Vettel doesn’t score another point and Button wins every race). Button is leading the close race for 2^nd place in the Championship and with the way that he has been driving lately I think he’s the best bet for 2^nd place. Hamilton however is still having trouble. He has managed to finish 4^th and 5^th in the 2 September races. Which isn’t bad but it is good either. Has is getting criticized all over the place for his driving as he is still causing accidents. I think it is great to watch because you know he’s go to give it a go even if the gap is tight. He’s fantastic to watch. He is currently 5^th in the Championship and 14 points behind 4^th place Webber so it might be worth him playing it safe to try and get some better and bigger points for the next couple of races, but we all know that’s not going to happen because that is not Hamilton.

 

Cycling

Mark Cavendish won the Road World Championship on the 25^th of September. It was a close race at the end and it was because of Cavendish formidable end of race sprinting ability that won him the title. He is the 2^nd British man to achieve this feat.

 

What did you enjoy watching the most?

 

 

October 2011 Preview

 

We are now into Autumn. The summer has gone but that doesn’t mean that the sport has too. There is lots of great sport to look forward to. It is only really the mainstream sports that have things on this month. However there are some big sporting occasions happening. So lets see what’s on.

 

Rugby

On the Saturday on the 1^st of October England play their last Pool B game of the RWC 2011 against Scotland. This is the deciding game of the Pool. If England get a bonus point and lose then they are still through to the Quarter Finals. Any result better than this for England means that they qualify and Scotland are out (unless Argentina lose to Georgia which is unlikely). England will then play in the Quarter finals on the weekend of the 8^th & 9^th of October. Providing that England do beat Scotland then their opponents will be France. The Semi Finals of the RWC are then on the weekend of the 15^th & 16^th with the Final being played on the 23th of October. Hopefully we will see England progress through all of the stages to get to the Final for the 3^rd time on the trot. You never know we could even win the Rugby World Cup for the 2^nd time.

 

There is also the Rugby Union English domestic league matches going on every weekend. With all the teams in the Aviva premiership trying to get as many early points as they can. Quins have had a great start to the season winning 4 from 4 and will look to continue this great form. Where as Newcastle Falcons will be desperate to get there 1^st win of the season as they have lost there opening 4 games.

 

Football

England will play their last European Championship Qualify on the 7^th of October against Montenegro. England are away but if they can get a draw or a win then they will have qualified for the Euro’s as group winners.  However Montenegro held England to a draw at Wembley this time last year. It could be tough to get an away win from them.

 

There is a lot of domestic football happening still all through the month. The Premiership is well under way with the bigger teams already pulling their weight and even Arsenal have started to catch up.

 

We also have the European competition happening on the 18^th & 19^th & 20^th of October. The English team will be out to get a win. The 2 Manchester clubs had problems in there last Champions league matches so will be looking to get maxium points from their 3rd group stage matches.

 

Formula 1

There are 3 grand prix’s in October, which is brilliant. We have the Japanese on the 8^th & 9^th, then the Korean a week later on the 15^th & 16^th before Formula 1 goes to India for the 1^st time on the 29^th & 30^th of October. Vettel is all but guaranteed the Championship and will defiantly have won by the end of this month. Button and Hamilton will be fighting for 2^nd place in the Championship and will still be doing so at the end of the month as will Mclaren in the constructors.

 

What are you looking forward to watching?

October 2011 Calendar

October 2011 Calendar

August Sport Review

August is well and truly over and it looks like it took the summer with it. So how did the English do in sport last month? Lets take a look.

 

In cricket England had an amazing month. They became the World number 1 test cricket team in the world by beating the ex world number 1 team India. England won 4-0 in the series. They were fantastic throughout the series. Yes there were a couple of average innings. However they made it up with some great batting and bowling in the next. Cook, Bell and Pietersen all had innings of over 200 runs as well as Swann getting 6 wickets innings, Bresnan, Broad and Anderson all getting 5 wicket innings.

 

In the WGA Bridgestone Invitational we had Lee Westwood and Luke Donald finishing in the top 10. Westwood was T9 and Donald had a great few days and finished T2. Donald showed why his world number one at the moment.

 

We then had the PGA Championship where once again Donald and Westwood both finished in the top 10 at T8. They are both regularly finishing in the top 10 of the major competitions recently so hopefully soon they will actually finish top of the pile one day soon. Is also worth mentioning that Brain Davis had a great tournament ending up T19.

 

The England rugby team had 3 warm up games for the World cup. They beat and lost to Wales and then they beat Ireland away. England were not very convincing in any of these games but hopefully that is just because they were playing around with the team and trying to find there 1^st 15.

 

All of the English football teams got through their playoff European matches to make the group stages of either the Champions league or the Europa league. Some have had better starts to their groups than others but hopefully all of them will improve and get through to the knock out stages.

 

The Premiership started and the 2 Manchester clubs was amazing in August. Manchester United smashed Arsenal an unbelievable 8-2 and Tottenham 3-0. While City beat Spurs 5-1 away and their new star Aguero is having the best start to the Premiership by any player ever.

 

The Formula 1 season also returned after the compulsory summer break. The Belgian grand prix had a lot of overtaking due to the high top speed long straights. This was thought not to favor the Red Bulls but they ended up coming out with a one-two. Button was 3^rd after a great performance coming through the pack having started 13^th. Hamilton was doing well and may have had a chance to get towards the front if he didn’t have a collision with Kobayashi early on, which put him out of the race. This meant that Vettel and Red Bull extended their leads in the Championships making it even more likely to secure back to back Championships.

 

What did you enjoy most of all in August and what did you watch the most of?

 

There has been an article on nearly all of the major sport events that happened this month. So if you want to read in more detail about any more of the sports mentioned above then check out our home page and you’ll see all the different categories at the side so you can find what you are after. Enjoy.

 

https://sweetengland.wordpress.com/

September 2011 Calendar

September 2011 Calendar

How did the English do in July

The month of July was a good month for English sport. We had some great moments.

 

To Start with the Cricket England team won their one day international series. They beat Sri Lanka by 16 runs. This was as predicted a tight match. England batted 1^st making 268 for 9 in their 50 overs. Sri Lanka were looking good with 233 for 6 even though they were 29 for 3. However they could not get to the 268 and lost 4 wickets for 19 runs at the end. This was a great team effort with the batters and bowlers doing theirs jobs well.

We also had the 1^st test of the Test Series against India. England came out onto, winning by a huge 196 runs. The 2^nd test started on the 29^th of July and even though we started off terribly we had a massive 2^nd innings of 544 that India just couldn’t get close to and we then bowled them out for 158 giving England a monumental 319 runs win. There was moment of great sportsmanship in our 2^nd innings when Bell thought his ball had gone out for a four and started to walk off for tea as it was the last ball before tea. After an appeal from India he was deemed to have been run out. However in the tea break the Indian Captain Singh Dhoni withdrew the appeal and let Bell go back out after tea.

The next test is on the 10^th of August where England could have the series won if they just don’t loss. This would also make them world number 1 in the test rankings. Well done England and keep it up.

For more on England vs India check this article written last month.

https://sweetengland.wordpress.com/2011/07/15/cricket-england-vs-india/

 

The Tour de France happened in July and England had its 1^st Jersey winner with Mark Cavendish winning the Green Jersey for being the best sprinter on the tour. Ben Swift was also on the tour and it was good to see a young English cyclist coming through and getting much need experience at the top level. Bradley Wiggins unfortunately crashed and broke his Collarbone early on and would have had a good chance of finishing high up in the chase for the Yellow Jersey. For a more detailed review please go to the link below.

https://sweetengland.wordpress.com/2011/07/28/tour-dr-france-english-riders-review/

 

On the 9^th and 10^th of July we had the British Grand Prix at Silverstone. It was a great occasion and everyone was talking about how great the atmosphere was and always is. They new paddock complex was a quite something to look at and was said to be amazing inside. There had been some confusion over a rule change and they were discussing it up until 5minute before the qualifying. It has however been agreed to go back the old rules for the next race and the remainder of the season.

Button and Hamilton qualified 5^th and 10^th respectively and looked well off the pace in qualifying. In the race the condition’s were very changeable and in the wet at the beginning you would have thought that both Button and Hamilton who strive in those conditions would come flying through however even though Hamilton did exactly that and got up to 4^th after the 2^nd lap. Button was struggling with his car and setup which he managed to get sorted and comfortable, just in time for the mechanics to not put a wheel nut on one of the tires and forcing him to retire coming out of the pits. Hamilton managed to get into 3^rd and then heard the sentence that every driver dreads. “You need to save fuel or we wont make it the end of the race”. Which means he dropped down to 4^th and would have been 5^th if it wasn’t for some great last corner driving to save off Massa. So a disappointing race overall for the English drivers and Team at there home Grand Prix in front of 100,000 plus fans.

 

At the German grand Prix on the 23^rd and 24^th of July the English drivers did improve and gave us a much better performance. The race was at the world famous Nurburgring this year. Hamilton had was he says probably his best every lap in qualifying. Unfortunately he is racing the Red Bull who have controlled Saturdays for the 18 months and Webber went .055 fastest to take pole and leave Hamilton 2^nd but on the front row which proved very important for the race. Button was disappointing again being down in 7^th. Button had to retire half way through the race with a hydraulics problem which means that it is 2 races without a which is no good for the Championship. Hamilton had a great start and took the lead into turn 1 after Webber got bogged down at the start. Hamilton, Webber and Alonso had a brilliant to watch race with them changes places a lot around the pits stops and each team trying the undercut. Hamilton made a great move on the outside of turn 2 to take the lead off Alonso as Alonso came out of the pits in front. Hamilton then managed to keep Webber and Alonso at bay to take well earned and surprising win to get a much needed 25 championship points.

 

On the 14^th of July we had the Open Championship. This was played at the Royal St George at Sandwich in Kent. The weather played a nasty role in the 4 days of golf. This caused all of England big guns to fall short of the required score to make the cut and they had there weekend off. There was a great performance by Tom Lewis the amateur who after the 1^st round was joint leader. However Simon was the top Englishman at T9 on 2 over par.

For a detailed review go to the link below.

https://sweetengland.wordpress.com/2011/07/23/the-open-championship-2011-review/

 

The Women’s US Open and the British Open was this month. Karen Stupples was the best place women in both competitions. She was the only English women to get through the cut. Karen was T15 at 6 over par, which was a huge 9 shots behind the leader at the Broadmoor in Colorado for the US Open. At Carnoustie for the British Open she was T22 on  under par. She double bogeyed the last hole, which means she would have been 5 under and T14 if she had just pared it. But I suppose that’s golf for you. Rachel Jennings also had a good British Open finish 3 under par as well. Melissa Reid managed to finish level par and T37 after an up and down tournament. Their were 5 women altogether to get through the cut. So well done ladies.

 

The last thing to happen in July was the 2014 World Cup draw. England have got an average group and should qualify without to big a scare. England are drawn in Group H of the European section and have Montenegro, Ukraine, Poland, Moldova and San Marino. The winner of each group qualifies for the Finals in Brazil. Then the best 8 second placed teams in the European sector will played each other in a play off to determine the last 4 sports. There will 13 countries in total coming from Europe. England are currently in a group with Montenegro for qualification stage of the Euro’s. Both teams are currently unbeaten and it was a goal less draw when they met at Wembley in October last year. Hopefully England will beat them in the Podgorica in a couple of months and in the 2014 group matches to qualify for both tournaments.

What did you think of last months sports action?

English Sport in August

We are sadly heading towards the end of the summer.  There is however one more great summer month of sport coming up. So what has the next month got in store for us?

The 2^nd Test of England vs India started on the 29^th of July at Trent Bridge and will continue through to the 2^nd of August where we hope that England will come out successful and be 2-0 up in the series. I do know that the 1^st day of the 2^nd day is not going to well for England. The 3^rd test starts on the 10^th of August till the 14^th.  With the 4^th test on the 18^th till the 22^nd. If England win by 2 matches then they will become number 1 in the world test rankings. England do also have a One day international against Ireland on the 25^th of August before the T20 international of England vs India on the 21of August at Old Trafford. (For more info on the England vs India test go to my article https://sweetengland.wordpress.com/2011/07/15/cricket-england-vs-india/ and have a read)

On the 4^th of August we have the Golf WGC Bridgestone Invitational at the Firestone course in Akron Ohio. Tiger Woods will be returning to the golf course for the 1^st time in a few months after injure. So there will be a strong field and the English boys will be doing there best to win here. It has yet to be confirmed who is going to be playing but the prize purse of 8 and half million dollars makes it a lucrative prospect for the players of the European and PGA tours.

On the 11the of August we have the last golf major of the year with the PGA Championship at the Highlands course at the Atlanta Athletic Club in Johns Creek, Georgia. All the big players will be there. Westwood, Donald and Poulter will be looking to be a lot better than the last major outing where they all missed the cut. Paul Casey will look to have good tournament having played a lot in the US. I think however Simon Dyson will be a good outsider for the tournament or for a high finish. He was T12 last year and his best is T6 in 2007 at the PGA Championship. Dyson also was the only Englishman in the top 10 at the British Open.

We have the got the Rugby Season starting again. In September the Rugby World Cup starts in New Zealand so we have got many of the home nations having warm up matches against each other this month. England’s 1^st match is against Wales at Twickenham on the 6^th of August. Their 2^nd is again against Wales a week later at the Millennium Stadium on the 13^th. Then there final game in August is on the 27^th of August against Ireland in Dublin at the Aviva Stadium. England will be trying out a couple of players and some tactics to see what works for best for them in preparation for the World Cup. They will be wanting and needing to win those matches because there is nothing better than winning to boast confidence and belief in yourself and the team. Which will be needed in the build up to the world.

The Rugby Union National League Division’s also starts on the 27^th of August. Where teams with start the season long fight to get promoted or to save off regulation.

The football season also starts this month with the Football league season beginning on the 6^th of August. With all teams hoping for good starts to the season. England has a friendly against Holland at Wembley on the 10^th of August in the evening. I think this is a strange decision to play a friendly when the Premiership only starts 3 days later. I think that if this game was a Euro qualifier it would be fair enough however as a friendly I think we are gonna risk burning our players out again as we always do for next years European Championship. The players already play to many games a season so why not let them have this one off.

So as I mentioned the Premiership returns on the 13^th of August. There will be a fight right from the start of the season amongst the big dogs. With I think 4-5 teams that will think they have a chance of winning the title with another couple of teams thinking that they might be able to sneak into the Champions league slots. At the other end the teams that will be fighting for safety and hoping to get as many points as early as possible. The last few years the Premiership has been very exciting and hopefully it will be the same again. Some teams have dived into the transfer market and bought some great players but it wouldn’t surprise me if there were more purchases from every team.

All of the teams except Manchester United, Manchester City and Chelsea that have qualified for the different European tournaments start their European campaigns. We have got Arsenal in the Champions league playoff 1^st leg on the 16/17^th and the 2^nd leg 23/24^th of August. Fulham have already started their Europa League having qualified through the fair play award into the 1^st qualifying round. Stoke city start in the 3^rd qualifying round having qualified through being FA Cup runners up to Manchester to City who qualified for the Champions League. Tottenham finish 5^th in the league so will go straight into the play off round of the Europa league on the 18^th and 25 of August. With Brimingham city who got regulated to the Championship last year will be joining them in the play off round of the Europa league having won the League Cup last year.

Formula 1 has a break of 4 weeks after the Hungarian Grand Prix this weekend until the last weekend of the month with the Belgium Grand Prix on the 27^th and 28^th of August. Where the English pair of Button and Hamilton in the Mclaren’s will continue to try and close the gap to Vettel and the Red Bulls. Spa is such a fantastic track for the drivers and they all say that is in their top 3 tracks with the famous Eau- rouge an amazing section of the track. I love this track and cant wait for this race, as it is my favorite to watch.

We have got a couple of Athletics meeting with the London grand prix at part of the Diamond league at Crystal Palace on the 5^th and 6^th. All the British Athlete’s will get there last chance to get a competitive race before the World Championship in Daegu, South Korea on the 27^th of August until the 4 of September. The world Championship’s will give us a good idea of who is likely to be giving us medals at next years Olympics in London next year.

Lastly on the 29^th of August the last tennis major of the year starts. The US Open is at Flushing Meadows in New York and always brings about a great atmosphere with the world best turning up to try and win the great tournament. There have already been 2 English women accepted into the main draw with Anna Keothavong and Heather Watson. They will both be trying to get as far as possible and hopefully they will both get into the 2^nd round if not the 3^rd of the tournament. Heather Watson is having a great year and hopefully it will continue into the US Open. The men’s draw has yet to announce if there any English players to go into the main draw otherwise they will have to get in through qualifying. It has not been decided who will enter but I would be surprised if all the top English players don’t at least try and get into the main draw through qualifying. I think the men will have a harder time doing well unless James Ward has other blinding tournament like he did at the Queens Club in June.

So what are you looking forward too this month. Are any of you going to try and go to any of these sports events?