Sports Ladder (6 Jan - 12 Jan)

UP - Thomas Hitzlsperger - It shouldn't have to be a story but the fact that it is means that it must be addressed. In today's society Thomas Hitzlsperger must be commended for coming out as homosexual in the sporting environment. It's a tough world to come out in and hopefully it will encourage others to do the same.

UP - Broad and Prior - Another serious story this week as Matt Prior and Stuart Broad successfully managed to talk a man out of jumping off a bridge. In particular, Broad applauded Prior for being "pretty inspirational" in the way he successfully managed to talk the man down. It certainly puts all of the sledging that occurred over the last series into perspective after controversy surrounding the withdrawal of Jonathan Trott.

UP - Stephen Bunting - Probably the last time darts will feature on the sports ladder for a while as Christmas AKA 'Darts Season' has finished. Nevertheless, a big congratulations to first seed Stephen Bunting for winning his maiden BDO World Darts title at Lakeside. He successfully dispatched a number of top players including Robbie Greene and Alan Norris, the two in-form players of the tournament. Surely only a matter of time before he converts to the richer PDC.

UP - Bournemouth Fans - Who says the beauty of the FA Cup is dead? When rain defeated the FA Cup tie between Bournemouth and Burton it was postponed to a later date. However with Burton fans making a pointless 300 mile journey to get there, Bournemouth did not want to see them disappointed. Between the fans they managed to raise nearly £3000 for the return trip. Good on the cherries!

UP - Bayern Munich - Similar to Bournemouth with regards to tickets. The cost of a ticket for a match at the Emirates has been a topic of some controversy for a number of seasons after it has gained an accurate reputation as the most expensive football trip in England. Therefore Bayern Munich decided to subsidise their fans half the price of the ticket for the Champions League clash. This after they last year refunded all fans for League games because it was not competitive enough. Lucky fans 'ey?

DOWN - Juan Martin Del Potro - Del Potro won the Sydney International in the run-up to this week's Aussie Open and it seeded fifth with an outside chance at the title. However, a strange story emerged yesterday regarding his lack of rackets. Del Potro announced that he only has two of his preferred Wilson K-Frames left compared to the six-eight rackets his opponents will probably have. Let's hope he doesn't snap a string!

DOWN - Theo Walcott - Bad news for both Arsenal and England this week as it was announced that he is out for the remainder of the season and will miss the World Cup with ligament damage. Walcott will be gutted after already missing a large part of the season through injury. Tottenham fans will no doubt see the funny side though, after he mocked them upon departure from the pitch by holding the two fingers in the air to signify the 2-0 advantage in the game.

DOWN - Kevin Pietersen - Despite being the highest England run scorer during the Ashes calamity, Pietersen has certainly been the main 'fall-guy'. His wild shot selection and apparent attitude problems have led many to question whether he deserves to play for England again. Captain Alistair Cook also refused to back Pietersen which would certainly suggest there are problems there and the question remains to be asked whether we will see Pietersen in an England shirt again.

DOWN - Mike Jones - I never like to pick on referees as we all know they have a hard job, but it was a very strange decision to disallow Cheick Tiote's goal against Manchester City on Sunday. Ignoring the fact it was a lovely strike, it didn't actually break any rules. Unless, Gouffran getting out of the way of the shot counts as interfering with play, then there really was no reason for it to be disallowed. Hart would never have got there and his view was impeded by four City players. It could have been a very different game.

DOWN - Lindsey Vonn - The 2014 Winter Olympic games has suffered a big blow in the loss of one of its more recognisable athletes as Lindsey Vonn announced this week she would not be partaking. A persistent knee injury has meant that Vonn will be unable to compete in Sochi and defend her Downhill gold won in Vancouver four years ago. Maybe a Brit could win it instead! Or maybe not.

Bunting beats Norris to BDO Title

Stephen Bunting claimed his maiden BDO World Darts title with a marvelous 7-4 victory over the unseeded Alan Norris.

The match was perfectly poised at 3-3 during the interval but it was 'The Bullet' who emerged after the break, winning the opening three legs before eventually going on to win 7-4.

Despite his dominance of the BDO in recent years, the Lakeside World Championship was one trophy which has always proved elusive. Today though, Stephen proved why he was the top seed with a mature performance throughout both the final, and the Championship.

The match started slowly, both players losing their throw in the opening two sets as they struggled to close out the early legs. Bunting missed four doubles in the 4th set at 2-1 up allowing Norris to eventually level at 2 sets of piece.

As the match progressed both players picked up pace, averaging 100+ over their first nine darts. Nevertheless, neither player could grasp full control of the match, Bunting especially missing three darts to take a 4-2 lead, going into the break at 3-3.

The earlier missed opportunity was obviously playing on Bunting's mind as he missed a further five darts in the 7th set to break Norris. However the pendulum began to swing in his favour, as he broke Norris to take a 5-3 lead, the first two set lead of the match so far.

The situation began to get the better of Alan Norris, who started missing doubles, allowing Bunting to take a 6-3 lead. From that point it was only a matter of time, although Norris clawed one back with a brilliant 140 check-out.

The atmosphere became extremely tense inside the Lakeside Arena as the crowd sensed the end was in sight. The final legs were certainly scrappy, but in the end Bunting prevailed, claiming the final set 3-1 to claim his 7-4 victory over Norris.