Sport news in brief
GB wins bobsleigh silver at World Championship
Great Britain yesterday won a four-man bobsleigh medal at the World Championships with silver in St Mortiz. Brad Hall, Taylor Lawrence, Greg Cackett and Arran Gulliver finished joint second with Latvia. Germany took a comfortable gold. Britain’s most recent four-man medal, also a silver, came in Cortina in 1939. Britain’s men last won a World Championship medal in any discipline in 1966, when Tony Nash and Robin Dixon took two-man bronze in Cortina.
Norrie sings praises as Great Britain reach Davis Cup Finals
Cameron Norrie has paid tribute to a “fired up” Great Britain team after their victory in Colombia secured them a place in this year’s Davis Cup Finals. The world number 11 won a tense encounter against Nicolas Mejia in Bogota 6-4 6-4 on Saturday to hand Britain an unassailable 3-1 lead. His success came after Dan Evans and Neal Skupski defeated Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah in the doubles earlier in the day to put the visitors ahead for the first time in the tie. “It was a good day, with Dan and Neal coming out strong, they came out firing with a tough ask against some of the best doubles guys in the world, especially in these conditions in Bogota,” Norrie said. “It really gave me a lot of confidence going into my match, being 2-1 up rather than 2-1 down.” Captain Leon Smith said he had “immense” pride in his team’s performance, which was produced despite the short turnaround following the Australian Open.
Navas impresses as Forest beat Leeds
Keylor Navas immediately showed his class on his Nottingham Forest debut as he helped his new club to a 1-0 win over Leeds United in a crunch clash at the bottom of the Premier League. The three-time Champions League winner with Real Madrid was part of Forest’s recruitment drive in January, making a loan switch from Paris St Germain, and he produced a string of saves in the first half to keep Leeds at bay. He had already saved from Luis Sinisterra by the time Brennan Johnson’s 14th-minute goal put Forest ahead and then he kept out Luke Ayling and Willy Gnonto to ensure the three points. The win is massive for Forest in their bid to move clear of the bottom three and they are now six points above 18th-placed Everton and may now begin to look up rather than down after strengthening their squad last month. Leeds are definitely looking over their shoulders as after a seventh game without a win they are out of the bottom three on goal difference alone, with two games against Manchester United coming up in the next seven days. Forest enjoyed a busy end to the transfer window as they added three signings on
deadline day and brought in Andre Ayew as a free agent two days later.
Gavins claims second World Tour title
England’s Daniel Gavins survived an incredible final-hole blunder to claim his second DP World Tour title in the Ras Al Khaimah Championship. Gavins was in danger of squandering a three-shot lead when he twice found the water on the par-five 18th at Al Hamra Golf Club, only to hole from 25ft for a doublebogey seven. That gave the 31-year-old a total of 17 under par and a one-shot victory over Alexander Bjork and Zander Lombard, who was unable to convert an eagle putt from 24ft on the last to force a play-off. “I’m pretty speechless to be honest,” Gavins, who did not have a practice round this week due to a back injury, told Sky Sports. “I’ve been struggling off the tee the last two weeks and it’s not a very nice tee shot to have [on 18], even with a two-shot lead. It was a difficult hole to get through and to be fair I thought I was holing that putt for a play-off. I didn’t realise Bjork had made bogey.”
Chelsea go top in WSL with victory at Spurs
Chelsea replaced Manchester United at the Women’s Super League summit as Emma Hayes’s defending champions won 3-2 at Tottenham. After Jess Carter’s early header had been cancelled out by former Chelsea forward Bethany England in the 16th minute, Lauren James restored the visitors’ advantage with a fine solo effort just before the half-hour mark. Guro Reiten added a third for Hayes’s side on 64 minutes, with Nikola Karczewska reducing the deficit with two minutes of normal time remaining but Spurs were unable to avoid a sixth successive league defeat. Chelsea moved two points clear at the top, with United having been held to a 0-0 draw at Leigh Sports Village by fifth-placed Everton. Liverpool rose to eighth, pushing Tottenham down to ninth, with a 2-0 home win over 11th-placed Reading.
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