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Monday, 20 January 2014

Sports Ladder (13th Jan - 19th Jan)

UP - Ronnie O'Sullivan - Not only did Ronnie O'Sullivan claim his fifth Masters title this week, but he did it in such style. Leading 7-1 after the first session against defending champion Mark Selby, O'Sullivan finished him off, eventually winning 10-4. Brutal from Ronnie who only dropped seven frames throughout the entire tournament. Absolutely no pot luck about it.

UP - Australian Open - Where to begin? It's been an eventful week down under. Ridiculous weather ranging from a four day extreme heatwave to freak lightning storms. Seeds have toppled early in Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova, Juan Martin Del Potro and Caroline Wozniacki. Fedberg is proving to be a dangerous partnership. Oh, and Murray is quietly going about his business. Roll on the second week.

UP - Lizzy Yarnold - Yarnold is one of a number of British hopefuls who will soon be departing to Sochi to take part in the Winter Olympics. Normally we are happy to celebrate just getting one medal but this time there is a genuine chance of a number of medals. Yarnold in the Skeleton, Christie in speed-skating, and both curling teams are notable prospects in amongst a whole host of others.

UP - Hyde - Hyde fans were celebrating their first victory in 30 matches this week as they claimed a 2-0 victory against Welling United. Their last victory came all the way back in April and such a poor run of results has left them eighteen points adrift of safety. With just seven points and one win all season, it seems extremely unlikely that they will avoid the drop but you never know! Stranger things have happened.

UP - Jamaican Bobsleigh Team - This is a story with so much history. After Jamaican qualification to the 1988 Games led to the film Cool Runnings, it looks like Jamaica will be back, qualifying for the first time in 12 years. Courtesy of an issue with the Dutch team not meeting their National qualifying standard, it looks as though the two man team will qualify for Sochi. Then, they just need to raise the money to actually get there. Nothing warms the soul like a Caribbean country competing at the Winter Olympics..

DOWN - Alexis Ruano - I'm still wincing despite reading this story on Friday. Whilst a Messi wondergoal and a Neymar ankle injury stole the headlines, Alexis Ruano certainly came out of that game badly. After what seemed like a routine coming together Ruano was carried off on a stretcher. It was later revealed that the Getafe player suffered 'broken veins' in his testicle leading to it swelling up to an enormous size. I'm squirming just typing this.

DOWN - Jermain Defoe - Jermain Defoe's transfer to MLS side Toronto has been on the cards for months and this week it finally became official. However a combination of an overenthusiastic promotion video and a geographical nightmare has made the transfer a bit of a joke this week. The video [below] is hugely entertaining but it was Defoe stating that he was "happy to be in the USA" which stole the headlines. Who wants to tell Jermain that Toronto is actually in Canada?

DOWN - Rory McIlroy - Poor Rory. Just when he thinks he's back in form he's slapped with an unfortunate but required two stroke penalty meaning he ultimately finished just one shot behind. He claimed a moral victory as he literally hit the fewest shots despite not winning. Nevertheless, it was a strong showing from McIlroy who looked to be back to his best. Perhaps his upcoming marriage has given him a new lease of life?

DOWN - England Cricket - It just won't stop. The English men's cricketing collapse continued this week as they lost the ODI series 3-0 with two matches still to play. The second match was tight but the other two were feeble efforts and Captain Cook really needs to reassess the situation down under. At least the women are showing us how its done, closing in on an Ashes victory to show the men up.

DOWN - Serena Williams - The Queen has been dethroned! Well, technically she wasn't actually the Queen of Melbourne, just the Queen of tennis. Regardless, her loss this morning to Ana Ivanovic was by far the biggest shock of the tournament so far and has blown the women's draw wide open. Azarenka will now be the odds on favourite to claim a consecutive Aussie Open title.



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