Maguire and Hendry Fly the Flag at Sheffield

Stephen Maguire and Stephen Hendry have filled two of the eight quarter final spots at the 2008 World Snooker Championship. However, former World Champions John Higgins and Graeme Dott have both crashed out.

Stephen Hendry turned back the clock to make his way into his 17th World Snooker Championship Quarter Final. After coming through his 1st round match 10-9 against Northern Irishman Mark Allan which has been dubbed “the best match of the tournament so far”, Hendry then went on to demolish China’s Ding Junhui 13-7. The 39-year-old, who is bidding for a record 8th World Title, is now 3rd favourite to win the tournament and will face Welshman Ryan Day in the quarter finals.

The form man of the tournament is Stephen Maguire. After two routine wins against Englishman Anthony Hamilton (10-3) and Austrailian Neil Robertson (13-7), the 27-year-old will face Joe Perry in the quarter finals. Maguire form has been impressive enough to joint favourite with Ronnie O’Sullivan to win the tournament.

Defending champion and World Number 1 John Higgins went out to Welshman Ryan Day in the second round, going down 13-9. Higgins had defeated another Welshman – Matthew Stevens 10-5 in the first round, but was subject to the shock of the tournament so far. His victor Ryan Day will hope to repeat his victory against Stephen Hendry in the quarter finals.

Graeme Dott, who decided at the last minute to compete in the World Championship was knocked out in the first round. The 2006 World Champion is suffering from depression but decided to participate despite experts’ advice not to. However, there was some hope for the future in Dott’s performance despite losing 10-7 to Englishman Joe Perry.

Hamilton Win 1st Division Title

Hamilton Accies won the 1st division title and promotion to the SPL on Saturday with a 2-0 victory over Clyde. The victory was just the climax of a fantastic season for the club, who were in the 3rd Division as recently as the 2000-2001 season. The club have spent just four seasons in the 1st Division, as the Accies established themselves as a 1st Division club with 7th, 3rd and 4th placed finishes in the first three seasons.

This season, manager Billy Reid has put a squad together which has been full of mainly youth players and only a few old heads to guide the youngsters to the title. Richard Offiong has been in inspired form this season for the Accies contributing 19 league goals along with two young midfielders James McCarthy and James McArthur, who have each scored 6 and 5 league goals respectively.

Building on their youth development reputation, Hamilton Accies has had the lowest age squad in the division, helped especially by regular starters: 17-year-old James McCarthy, 19-year-old Tony Stevenson, 20-year-old James McArthur and 20-year-old Brian Easton. McCarthy caused controversy when he decided to play for the Republic of Ireland instead of Scotland. The midfielder has recently attracted interest from Chelsea and was subject to a £1m bid from Liverpool in the summer of 2007.

Chairman Ronnie McDonald has vowed to carry on their youth development programme in the SPL, and replace outgoing stars (potentially McCarthy and McArthur) with players from the Under-17 squad. He has also declared to the fans that he will not follow some SPL club’s methods in signing old pros who are looking for their final career pay-packet and instead concentrate on bringing through their own young players.

Accies will however, be counting the cost of being promoted to the SPL. A new stand will need to be in place by the start of the season to comply with the SPL’s minimum requirement of a 6,000 seater stadium. The Lanarkshire club will also need to replace their current AstroTurf pitch with grass and an undersoil heating system, again to comply SPL rules. The chairman and the board will be hoping however that TV revenue, increased attendances at games and increased sales in merchandise will balance out the expenditure for next season.

It has been Hamilton Acidemicals’ first 1st division title in 20 years and their first ever season in the newly formed SPL and they will be looking to make the most of it, following clubs such as St. Mirren, Inverness CT and Falkirk in establishing themselves as an SPL side. They will also be trying to avoid the situation which Gretna got themselves into, by getting their stadium ready on time and not lavishly spending out on contracts for ‘old-pros’. With Hamilton’s stadium, New Douglas Park, accomodating office space for local businesses, there is already an income flowing in even when there is no football on.

Accies will be confident of emulating the success of smaller SPL clubs, especially if they are able to keep a hold of their young stars. Most SPL clubs will welcome the freshness they will bring to the league and will also be happy with the current financial situation which Hamilton are in.

Scots Win Silver At Curling World Championship

The Scottish Men’s Curling Team lost out on a gold medal at the World Championships in North Dakota on Sunday night to a strong Canadian team. Canada won 6-3 in a nail biting encounter which was close throughout with only one shot in it by the end of the eighth end.

David Murdoch and his team had earlier beaten favourites Canada in the play-offs but had also lost to the them in the round robin clash. Canada, who are ranked World Number 1 by some distance, had to come through a second playoff match, this time against Norway to reach the final.

In the early round robin matches, it looked as though the Scots would fail to even qualify for the playoffs after three defeats in five games to the Czech Republic, USA and Canada. However the 2006 World Champs won their six remaining matches to qualify in 2nd with eight wins and three defeats. Canada managed to qualify 1st with ten victories and a solitary loss against China – the lowest ranked team in the tournament.

The Scots victory in the playoff match against the Canadians came somewhat as a shock especially after going 6-2 behind after the fourth end. However, the Scots showed superb resilience to comeback and win 7-6 after stealing three of the last four ends.

Murdoch and his team took a days rest as Canada defeated Norway in the final playoff match to set-up a rematch with the Scots, and they took their revenge with a 6-3 win.

Scotland will rise to 2nd place in the World Rankings after their silver medal – adding to their European Championship title success, which was gained in 2007. 

• David Murdoch’s Team Achievements
• 2003 European Championship Gold Medalists
• 2005 European Championship Bronze Medalists
• 2005 World Championship Silver Medalists
• 2006 European Championship Silver Medalists
• 2006 World Championship Gold Medalists
• 2007 European Championship Gold Medalists
• 2008 World Championship Silver Medalists

Forsyth Rises Into World Top 100

Alastair Forsyth has risen into the top 100 in the World Rankings after finishing tied 2nd in the Estoril Open de Portugal this week. Forsyth missed out on his 2nd title in 3 tournaments in a playoff with David Howell and eventual winner Gregory Bourdy.

The Scot won the Madeira Islands Open just 2 weeks ago, defeating Hennie Otto in a playoff, to climb 70 places in the World Rankings from 179th to 109th. The following week he finished in a tie for 25th place in the MAPFRE Open de Andalucia in Spain to move up another 2 places to 107th. His tied 2nd finish at the Estoril Open de Portugal has ascended the 33 year old to 91st in the World Rankings.

This is a stark contrast to the start of Forsyth’s 2008 season after missing the cut at his first 5 tournaments. After amassing a grand total of €0 in prize money for his first 5 tournaments of the season, Forsyth has turned it all around, now sitting 28th in the European Tour Order of Merit, with his prize fund sitting at €235,025 for just 3 tournaments.

Forsyth now seems to be hitting the best form of his career and he will be hoping to gain his best finish in the Order of Merit at the end of the year. His best year on the European Tour was in 2003 where he finished 19th, thanks to €850,180 in prize-money.

 

The 2002 Malaysian Open winner is now only the 2nd Scot in the top 100 of the World Rankings alongside Colin Montgomerie, who is 73rd in the World Rankings. Golf in Scotland looks to be heading to an era where Monty will not be the top Scot, and with only 18 places separating the pair it is looking increasingly likely.

 

Forsyth now takes a well earned break as the Masters in Augusta commences, although he will be looking to qualify for next year’s tournament as one of the top 50 ranked players in the world.