Tag Archives: beaten

John Higgins hits 147 but loses to Mark Davis

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Higgins hits 147 but suffers agonising defeat to Davis in UK Championship

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UPDATED:

00:18 GMT, 6 December 2012

John Higgins fired the seventh maximum break of his career but it was small consolation as he bowed out to Mark Davis after a thrilling contest in round two of the williamhill.com UK Championship.

Davis won 6-5, having looked to have blown his chance when he led 5-2 but allowed Higgins back to 5-5.

A lifeline came his way though when Higgins, seemingly on a victory charge, missed the pink. Davis got it, and that was enough. He will take on Matthew Stevens in the quarter-finals.

Spot on: John Higgins after scoring a 147 during his second round match

Spot on: John Higgins after scoring a 147 during his second round match

'I'm gutted. Normally clearing up in the last frame I'd have done it,' Higgins said. 'I didn't deserve to win that match. Who knows where the 147 came from'

The four-time world champion initially looked a beaten man when Davis pulled to within a frame of victory with back-to-back breaks of 106 and 103.

A comeback by the Wishaw man was fired by the 147 in the eighth frame, bringing the crowd at York's Barbican Centre to their feet and rousing the 37-year-old Scot who earns 10,000 for his effort.

Higgins got back to 5-5 but again looked to be heading out as 40-year-old Hastings potter Davis built a 53-0 lead in the deciding frame.

There was a twist, as Davis missed a difficult red to centre that gave Higgins a half chance. In went a brilliant long red to the yellow pocket, and he reached 49, the pink seemingly a formality with the black surely to follow.

Through: Mark Davis recovered to beat Higgins and progress in York

Through: Mark Davis recovered to beat Higgins and progress in York

Somehow Higgins missed, and after a safety tussle he left Davis a difficult cut to the yellow pocket, which he made quite brilliantly. It was the ball he required, and Higgins rose from his chair to offer a congratulatory handshake.

Delighted winner Davis said: “I didn't expect John to miss the pink but he wasn't just rolling it in. It was a tough shot under pressure.

'It gave me another chance which in the end I managed to take. I was going for doubles and all sorts in the end. It was like the 1985 World Championship final.'

Asked where it ranked in his victories, Davis said: 'This is at the top. I've not got a good record against John at all. It's my best result for a very long time.'

Chelsea hotel vibe was all wrong, now it is time for Pep Guardiola: Andy Townsend

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Chelsea team hotel in Turin was full of bad vibes. It was uneasy and tense. I've never felt an atmosphere like that before…

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UPDATED:

13:58 GMT, 21 November 2012

I was staying at the same hotel as Chelsea in Turin. There was a bad vibe. It didn’t feel like a big club building up to a big game together.

I’ve stayed in the team hotel before big games, both as a player and since working with ITV.

No unity: Andy Townsend says there was a lack of togetherness in the Chelsea hotel

No unity: Andy Townsend says there was a lack of togetherness in the Chelsea hotel

There is often time to kill before a
game. The players will be resting, in their rooms. The staff will sit
together and talk football.

But the Chelsea staff seemed disjointed. People were sitting apart, sitting alone or in small groups. It was uneasy and tense.

Beaten man: Roberto Di Matteo looked resigned to the fact he could lose his job after defeat to Juventus

Beaten man: Roberto Di Matteo looked resigned to the fact he could lose his job after defeat to Juventus

The next man Andy Townsend is keen for Chelsea to appoint Pep Guardiola

The next man Andy Townsend is keen for Chelsea to appoint Pep Guardiola

It felt odd. I thought: ‘Are you working together, or are you working apart’

I haven’t sensed an atmosphere around a team like that before.

Chelsea,
like all big clubs, have an army of staff – but it felt like some of
them were keeping themselves to themselves. There wasn’t enough unity.

Is this what happens when you’ve had eight coaches in nine years and more caretakers than my old school

Now I would like them to get on with appointing their man. Get Pep Guardiola, pay him enough money so he can’t say no.

Offer him a contract that says: ‘Get on a flight from New York now.’

There is nothing worse for a dressing room to have a caretaker manager, so I hope Chelsea don’t go down that path again.

Andy Townsend is a former Chelsea captain who made over 130 appearances for the Stamford Bridge club between 1990 and 1993. Townsend now works as a commentator and pundit for ITV Sport.

Lionel Messi – My image of the week by Graham Chadwick

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Graham Chadwick: My image of the week – Lionel Messi as we don't often see him

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UPDATED:

14:42 GMT, 25 April 2012

Here's one for all you Chelsea fans.

This picture was taken during the first leg of the Champions League semi-final between the Blues and Barcelona at Stamford Bridge.

Barca star Lionel Messi looked like a beaten man – something we don't see very often – after home striker Didier Drogba scored the only goal of the game in west London.

And we all know what happened in return leg at the Nou Camp.

400mm lens
f/ 2.8

Hard to take: Lionel Messi comes to terms with Barcelona's defeat at Chelsea

MASTERS 2012: Tiger Woods: I played some of my worst ever shots

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Woods shoots level par to stay in contention but insists he played 'my worst ever' shots

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UPDATED:

00:57 GMT, 6 April 2012

Tiger Woods headed straight for the driving range at Augusta after hitting 'some of the worst golf swings I've ever hit'.

The four-time Masters champion somehow managed a level par opening round of 72, but it contained two penalty drops in the trees and several other stray ones.

Tough start: Tiger Woods hits his second shot off the pine needles in the rough on the first hole

Tough start: Tiger Woods hits his second shot off the pine needles in the rough on the first hole

'I just hung in there and grinded my way around the golf course and stayed very patient, stayed in the moment,' he said after two closing bogeys had dropped him off the leaderboard.

'Unfortunately that was about as good as I got right there. I could have shot one, maybe two better, but I got a lot out of that round.'

Off the beaten track: Woods plays a shot out of the rough on the second hole

Off the beaten track: Woods plays a shot out of the rough on the second hole

He blamed it on 'old patterns' – slipping back into bad habits, that is.

'Some of my old stuff from a few years ago,' Woods added. 'I've had to try and kind of work through it and every now and again it pops up.'

Downcast: Woods reacts to a missed shot on the eleventh green but still shot 72

Downcast: Woods reacts to a missed shot on the eleventh green but still shot 72

The penalty drops came at the long second and 18th.