Maguire Wins in China

Stephen Maguire got his preparation for the World Snooker Championship off to the perfect start after winning the China Open in Beijing. Maguire defeated 2005 World Champion Shaun Murphy in a nail biting 10-9 victory.

The win moved Maguire closer to the Official World Number 1 title after already winning the Northern Ireland Trophy in November. As long as the 27-year-old progresses further in the World Championship than Ronnie O’Sullivan and Shaun Murphy then he will take top spot.

In the Beijing Students University Stadium, Maguire overcame Fergal O’Brien 5-3 in the first round, Barry Hawkins 5-2 in the second round, Nigel Bond 5-0 in the quarter final, and Ryan Day 6-5 in the semi final. In the 6-5 win over Day, Maguire potted a maximum 147, which was only the second in his career – his first being made in 2000. It was the first in an Asian tournament which was televised and also the first in an Asian ranking event.

That maximum break of 147 gave the former World Amateur Champion £22,000 in prize-money, along with the £48,000 for winning the tournament. £70,000 for a week’s work is pretty good if you can earn it.

According to the Provisional World Rankings, Maguire has been the most successful player in the 2007/2008 season by racking up 20,975 points, compared with nearest rival Ronnie O’Sullivan who has amassed 20,400. The rankings are calculated over 2 years, and because Murphy and O’Sullivan had more successful seasons in 2006/2007, then Maguire must progress further than them in the final tournament of the season to claim the title of World Number 1.

Maguire faces Anthony Hamilton in the 1st round of the World Championship which starts on the 19th of April. He is one of 4 Scots trying to take the title of World Champion. Stephen Hendry is gunning for a record 8^th World Championship and will take on Mark Allan in the 1st round. Defending champion John Higgins will look to take a third title as he takes on Matthew Stevens in the 1st round. The fourth player is 2006 World Champion Graeme Dott who will take on Joe Perry in the 1st round.

Maguire is currently joint 3rd favourite with the bookmakers (Coral) for the World Championship at 8-1, but will be hoping to defy the odds and win his first World Championship and become Number 1 in the World.

Scotland Under 17s Qualify for Euros

Scottish football fans have reason to be optimistic as their young guns came through the Elite Round to be one of eight nations to qualify for the European Championships in May. The squad has come through two rounds of qualifying to make it, winning five games and losing just one on the way to qualification.

Their journey started on the 19^th of September 2007, at in Kirkcaldy at Starks Park (Raith Rovers FC’s ground) where they were convincingly defeated 4-0 by Slovakia. After the game, journalists and supporters alike were dismissing the youngsters’ chances. However, the young Scots defied the critics by beating Liechtenstein 8-0 at Almondvale (Livingston FC’s ground) and Belarus 5-1 at Broadwood (Clyde FC’s ground). These two wins took them through to the Elite Round of the competition, to determine if they would qualify for the Euro Championships in Turkey.

The squad then travelled to Northern Ireland for three games which would decide their future in the competition. At Belfast they faced hosts Northern Ireland and ripped up the script and won 3-1 with a double from captain John Fleck and a Robert McHugh goal.

The squad then moved on to Newry where they had a double header against Wales and Slovenia. A 1-0 victory over Wales, with a goal from Archie Campbell which sent the Scots to the top, and they only needed a draw going into their final match with Slovenia.

They accomplished their aim, and more. A solitary John Fleck goal was enough to win 1-0 and send the Scots through to as they now turn their focus to the May tournament in Turkey. They will aim to emulate the Scotland Under 19 side which made it all the way to the European Championship final in 2006.

Tartan Army fans will be on the lookout for future heroes, as many players look to make the step up. One player to do that is Steven Fletcher who was in that Under 19 side of 2006. The Hibs frontman was called up to the senior side this week and is expected to get his first cap in the friendly against Croatia on Wednesday night.

More and more of the Tartan Army are now increasingly aware of the success of the younger teams and attendances at these games are increasing because of the higher standard of the young sides. Many see the young Scotland international teams as the overall standard of Scottish football and success in the younger sides seem to be making their way to the top as the senior side continue their success – ‘Long May It Continue’ is the cry from the Tartan Army.

Scots Golfers in Global Tournaments

This weekend, 18 Scottish golfers will be teeing off at 4 different venues as they all look to find some winning form on the highest stage. The Madeira Islands, Portugal, will stage the European Tour as 13 Scots will be trying to vie for the title and pick up a €116,660 cheque and win exemption for all of the 2009 European Tour tournaments. Leading the Scottish charge at the tournament will be former Open winner Paul Lawrie, Alastair Forsyth, Andrew Oldcorn and Andrew Coltart. Most of the rest of the Scottish players are from the Challenge Tour but are able to play at the tournament because the top European Tour players taking part in the CA Championship in Doral, Florida.

One of those players who is competing in CA Championship in Florida is Colin Montgomerie. The 44-year old needs a fourth placed finish or higher if he is to qualify for the first Major of the season – The Masters at Augusta. The CA Championship is part of the World Golf Championship series as they bid to pull in the world’s top golfers in an attempt to increase global competition. Monty missed the cut last week at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in Florida, and will be looking to get back to form, although he will have to compete with the world’s best and may need to beat the likes of Tiger Woods, Phil Mikelson, Ernie Els and Vijay Singh if he wants to participate at The Masters.

Also in Florida this week is the PGA Tour’s Puerto Rico Open. One Scotsman who is a unknown figure in Scotland is Martin Laird. Glasgow born Laird graduated from the Nationwide Tour last year after finishing in 13th place on the money rank list and he is now bidding to consolidate his place on the PGA Tour so he can continue his career on its upward trend. Most of the PGA Tour’s top players are at the CA Championshipso it is seen as a chance for all the players playing at the Puerto Rico Open to get a victory and keep their place on the PGA Tour for the 2009 season.

Finally, there is 3 Scots competing in the Asian TourInternational in Thailand. Dubai based Ross Bain, Simon Dunn and former Walker Cup player Lloyd Saltman are competing to win the tournament and collect their first win of the season on the Asian Tour. Special attention will be paid to Saltman after he put in a brilliant performance for the Walker Cup team and then turned professional in 2007. After missing out on European Tour qualification, he turned to the Asian Tour for the 2008 season in aim to establish himself in professional golf.

World Golf Championships – CA Championship

• Colin Montgomerie

European Tour – Maderia Islands Open

• Andrew Coltart, David Drysdale, Alastair Forsyth, Paul Lawrie, Craig Lee, Andrew McArthur, Alan McLean, Jamie McLeary, George Murray, Steven O’Hara, Andrew Oldcorn, Gary Orr, Peter Whiteford.

PGA Tour – Puerto Rico Open

• Martin Laird

Asian Tour – Asian Tour International

• Ross Bain, Simon Dunn, Lloyd Saltman

David Coulthard’s Season Preview

David Coulthard and his fans will line-up for the 15th Formula 1 season in the early hours of Sunday morning. The Red Bull Racing driver will be looking to get off to a flying start at Melbourne, Australia after a relatively steady season in 2007.

The Scot is now the oldest driver in the field with his 37th birthday only weeks away. He has also entered the most grand prixs in the field with number 230 coming up in Melbourne.

These stats and figures haven’t put Coulthard off; in fact he seems to relish the prospect of giving the youngsters a run for their money. He has also stepped into the unofficial spokesman role for the drivers concerning safety, as well as the recent spying scandal which embarrassed the sport.

The former McLaren and Williams driver is coming to the end of a glittering career which has seen him finish runner-up in the drivers championship in 2001 and 13 race wins between 1995 at Portugal and 2003 at Australia. His most notable wins came twice at his home grand prix, Silverstone, and twice at his current residence, Monaco.

Since his move to Red Bull in 2005, Coulthard has proved the critics wrong by consistently being strong in races including a podium finish at Monaco, to which he wore a Superman cape in 2006. Notably he has finished above his team-mate in his 3 seasons at the Red Bull Racing team, with Christian Klien, Vitantonio Liuzzi and current team-mate Mark Webber all falling short of the Scots season total.

This season sees a new addition for Coulthard and the rest of the drivers with a night race in Singapore. The race will be staged mostly on the streets of the city with only part of the race being held on purposely built track for the race. The race will commence at 8pm, Singapore time in September as history will be made when the red lights go out.

An exciting amendment has also been made to the final qualifying session with only ten minutes to clinch pole position on the grid. This will result in less time of the burning off fuel stage and more flying laps being recorded.

Red Bull as a team will want to improve on their 5th placed finish of last season, although they will find the task more difficult since McLaren’s points will be recorded this season, and a stronger looking Renault team with Fernando Alonso back on board. The team will look to finish ahead of their closest rivals: Williams and Toyota, while trying to cling on to the coattails of the Renault and BMW Sauber team.

Coulthard himself will want to improve on his 10th place finish of the 2007 season as well as the 14 points which he gathered. His personal aim will probably be aiming for at least the top 8. However, this will only be fulfilled if Red Bull’s reliability improves from the 2007 season.

Franchitti Back on Track

Life has never been busier for Bathgate-born Dario Franchitti after his Indy 500 win in the Indy Car series last year. The former karting driver, who won Scottish & British Junior Karting Championship as well as the British Senior Karting Championship went on to win the 2007 Indy Car Championship after 3 other individual race wins at Newton, Iowa; Richmond, Virginia; and Joliet, Illinois

The Indy 500 champ is also married to American actress Ashley Judd as the hectic showbiz lifestyle continues. With the media clamouring for the new celebrity couple to replace Posh & Becks, Franchitti is never out of the limelight.

After his Indy Car Championship win, NASCAR came calling and he signed up for Chip Ganassi Racing and is racing in both the Nationwide Series and the Sprint Cup in the 2008 season.

 Franchitti also has to adjust from racing a one-seater car to a stock car. This transition will take time for the 34 year old but he has already made significant progress in NASCAR – especially the Nationwide Series.

As said earlier, the Nationwide Series has brought the Scot relative success in his first 3 races with a 20th, 24th and most recently a 6th place finish. This has left Franchitti in 9th place in the overall standings for the series.

The Sprint Cup, however, is a much more competitive series and the Scot has struggled to break into the top 25 with a 26th, 33rd, 32nd and another 33rd place finish to leave him 36th in the overall standings.

These figures may suggest doom and gloom for Franchitti but he currently shows that he has adjusted best to NASCAR compared to his fellow rookies. He currently tops the Raybestos Rookie of the Year for the Sprint Cup standings ahead of his 4 rivals.

Things are expected to pick up for Franchitti in future Sprint Cup races as he begins to grow the necessary experience in NASCAR. The team are trying to make the process speedier by entering him into the Nationwide Series to gain racing experience in a Stock Car and smooth out the transition from Indy Cars.

With 24 Sprint Cup races and 32 Nationwide Series races still to take place there is plenty of time for Franchitti to improve on performances and make it into the top 12 of the Sprint Cup standings to qualify for the ‘Chase for the Sprint Cup’ races at the end of the season.