22 NEWS
THE WEEK 7 May 2022Sport
Rugby union England beat
France 24-12 to clinch their
fourth Women’s Six Nations
title in a row.
Athletics Sir Mo Farah
finished second behind club
runner Ellis Cross in the
Vitality London 10,000 road
race, a race he has won on
seven previous occasions.
Afterwards, the four-time
Olympic gold medallist
admitted his career as an elite
track athlete might be over.
Football Liverpool beat
Villarreal 3-2 (5-2 on
aggregate) to secure a
place in the Champions
League final.Little in life has been straightforward for Ronnie
O’Sullivan, said Elgan Alderman in The Times. His
father, a Soho sex-shop boss, was convicted of
murder when his son was a teenager, and spent 18
years in prison. His mother also had a spell inside
in the 1990s – for tax evasion – leaving young
Ronnie to care for his eight-year-old sister. And
O’Sullivan himself “has endured drug and alcohol
addiction”, as well as often crippling bouts of
depression. But on Monday night at the Crucible
in Sheffield, with his father and two children, Lily
and Ronnie Jr, cheering him on, he “fulfilled 30
years of destiny” by beating Judd Trump 18-13 in
the final of the World Snooker Championship. It is
the seventh time O’Sullivan has won in Sheffield,
and he is now level with Stephen Hendry as the
player with the most world titles. At 46, he is also
the “oldest world champion in snooker history”.It’s somewhat ironic that O’Sullivan – the “fastest-thinking and
most dashing snooker player of them all” – has needed so long
to fulfil his “destiny”, said Jeremy Wilson in The Daily Telegraph.
Prodigiously talented as a junior – he made his first competitive
century break when he was just ten – he exploded onto the
professional scene in his teens, winning his first rankings
tournament aged 17 in 1993. Yet he struggled to keep his focus
early in his career, and it would be another eight years before hewon his first world crown. The six titles since
have also been widely spaced apart. It’s true that
O’Sullivan has never dominated the sport as
totally as Hendry in the 1990s, or Steve Davis
before him in the 1980s, said Peter Carline in the
Daily Mail. But such has been his sheer longevity
that he has amassed virtually all of snooker’s
significant records. There’s little doubt that with
this latest victory, he cements his status as the
“greatest player the game has ever seen”.O’Sullivan, who believed himself finished in his
mid-30s, credits his success over the past decade
to his work with the sports psychologist Steve
Peters, said Aaron Bower in The Guardian. And
worryingly for his rivals, “the Rocket” only seems
to be “getting better and better”. At this year’s
championship, he brushed most opponents aside,
and he struck more centuries (15) and 50-plus breaks than in any
of his previous world title runs. In fact, there was only one serious
moment of worry all tournament, when Judd Trump briefly
rallied to cut O’Sullivan’s lead in the final from 12-5 to 14-11.
Suddenly, those present wondered if they “could be witnessing
the greatest comeback in snooker history”. But with a further
series of superb breaks, O’Sullivan swiftly completed the task.
Afterwards, clearly emotional, he gave Trump a “lengthy
embrace”, and described the win as “probably my greatest result”.Snooker: “the Rocket” fires himself into the record books
It was billed as a gamechanger, the “biggest night
in the history of women’s boxing”, said Bryan
Armen Graham in The Guardian. And for once, the
“breathless hype” was justified. On Saturday night
at Madison Square Garden, Katie Taylor and
Amanda Serrano – long regarded as the two finest
female boxers in the world – faced off for the first
time and produced an “unforgettable encounter”.
This was a history-making bout in more ways than
one, said Gareth A. Davies in The Daily Telegraph: it
was the first time two women have earned “million-
dollar purses” and the first time women have
headlined the “hallowed mecca in Manhattan”. The
20,000 fans who packed the arena witnessed a
contest of “battle, skill and wit” whose outcome was
in doubt till the very end. After ten rounds, the judges were split,
but two of the three narrowly favoured Taylor. So the Irish fighter,
who has never lost a professional fight, retained her undisputed
lightweight crown. What made the encounter all the more rivetingwere the two fighters’ contrasting styles, said Michael
Foley in The Times. Serrano, 33, from Puerto Rico, is
a boxer of immense punching power, while 35-year-
old Taylor is renowned for her agility and ring-craft.
In the fifth round, Serrano inflicted a “succession of
ferocious assaults” on her opponent, but deploying
all her experience, Taylor gradually wrested back the
initiative, “capping an awesome reversal” by landing
several big blows near the end.Taylor, who grew up in an “impoverished
neighbourhood” in County Wicklow, and who first
considered a career as a footballer, became an Irish
icon when she won gold at the 2012 Olympics, said
Chris Mannix in Sports Illustrated. She turned
professional four years later, at a time when there was barely
a commercial market for women’s boxing. Since then, the sport
has made big strides forward – largely thanks to her success and
global popularity.Boxing: the “greatest” women’s fight in history
O’Sullivan: fulfilling his destinyTaylor (left): “awesome”Everton fight to avoid the “abyss” Sporting headlines
Everton went into their match
against Chelsea on Sunday
“staring into the abyss” of
relegation, said Paul Joyce in
The Times. Defeat would have
all but guaranteed an end to the
Toffees’ “68-year stay in the top
flight”. Instead, the afternoon
was one of “renewed hope”.
Frank Lampard’s side put on a
gutsy display to snatch a 1-0
victory, with Brazilian striker
Richarlison scoring the winner. Yes, they remain
in the bottom three – the relegation zone – but
now their “Premier League fate remains in their
own hands”, since Leeds United, two points
above them, have played one game more.
If Everton do go down, said Jamie Carragher
in The Daily Telegraph, “they’ll be the biggestclub in Premier League history
to suffer that dismal fate”.
They hold the record for most
seasons in the top flight (119);
only three English clubs
(Manchester United, Liverpool
and Arsenal) have more league
titles than their nine. They were
the biggest threat to Liverpool’s
dominance in the 1980s; they
were one of the “big five” (with
Liverpool, Man U, Arsenal and
Tottenham Hotspur) which led the breakaway
when the Premier League was formed in 1992.
When he bought the club in 2016, the professed
goal of new owner Farhad Moshiri – who since
then has “spent a King’s ransom” on players
and managers – was to get into the top four. For
now, simple survival will seem like a triumph.Richarlison: “renewing hope”