Sport news

• Blackpool & Exeter into League Two play-off final as both ties finish 6-5 on aggregate

  18-05-2017 23:59 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Stuart Moore's injury-time own goal sends Blackpool into the League Two play-off final with an aggregate win over Luton Town.
  
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• Saracens stalwart Michael Rhodes wants England call

  18-05-2017 23:57 via dailymail.co.uk
  
  EXCLUSIVE: The best player in the best team in Europe is a South African who wants to represent England. Michael Rhodes is keen to join Saracens’ vast contingent when he qualifies on residency.
  
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• England not heading for another World Cup group exit

  18-05-2017 23:52 via dailymail.co.uk
  
  The man responsible for appointing Stuart Lancaster and Eddie Jones insists there will be no repeat of England’s catastrophic 2015 World Cup display when it kicks off in Japan.
  
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• Dylan Hartley in line for British & Irish Lions call-up

  18-05-2017 23:43 via dailymail.co.uk
  
  Dylan Hartley is on standby for an emergency Lions call-up after hooker Ken Owens suffered an ankle injury during Scarlets training on Monday, just a fortnight before the tour.
  
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• Wada demands Isinbayeva removal from Russian anti-doping role

  18-05-2017 23:40 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Yelena Isinbayeva needs to be removed as Russian Anti-Doping Agency chair if the country is to be ruled compliant with Wada's codes, it says.
  
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• Van Gerwen wins third Premier League Darts title

  18-05-2017 23:33 via bbc.co.uk
  
  World number one Michael van Gerwen beats Scotland's Peter Wright to win his third Premier League Darts title.
  
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• Middlesbrough will not sell Ben Gibson this summer

  18-05-2017 23:33 via dailymail.co.uk
  
  EXCLUSIVE: Middlesbrough defender Ben Gibson will not be sold this summer. Steve Gibson is determined to keep his nephew at the club and lead the promotion charge.
  
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• Leicester 1-6 Tottenham: Kane nets FOUR as Spurs run riot

  18-05-2017 23:33 via dailymail.co.uk
  
  LAURIE WHITWELL AT THE KING POWER STADIUM: Harry Kane netted a stunning four goals to take his season tally to 26 Premier League goals and help Tottenham blow away Leicester.
  
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• Manchester United stars attend Player of the Year awards

  18-05-2017 23:32 via dailymail.co.uk
  
  Manchester United's end-of-season Player of the Year awards ceremony are underway in earnest with the vast majority of their first team in attendance alongside Jose Mourinho.
  
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• Is Jose Mourinho betraying Man Utd's spirit of adventure? 

  18-05-2017 23:31 via dailymail.co.uk
  
  IAN LADYMAN: Back in 1991, Sir Alex Ferguson's team did finish 24 points behind champions Arsenal but they also reached the final of the League Cup and then won a major European trophy.
  
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• English football finally getting tough on divers

  18-05-2017 23:31 via dailymail.co.uk
  
  Sportsmail revealed a fortnight ago that the Football Association were discussing ways to stamp out simulation by bringing in new rules. This was confirmed on Thursday at an FA council meeting.
  
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• Dame Mary Peters knows the value of gold

  18-05-2017 23:31 via dailymail.co.uk
  
  RIATH AL-SAMARRAI: This summer will mark 45 years since she won pentathlon gold at the 1972 Olympics in Munich and the 77-year-old is in the mood to reminisce.
  
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• Wagner's raisins the recipe for success at Huddersfield

  18-05-2017 23:30 via dailymail.co.uk
  
  Wagner's impact has been remarkable, leading this West Yorkshire club to within one win of the Premier League despite working with one of the smallest budgets in the Championship.
  
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• UEFA kick up over Manchester City match switch

  18-05-2017 23:30 via dailymail.co.uk
  
  CHARLES SALE - SPORTS AGENDA: UEFA are claiming they weren't given any notice about the Premier League rescheduling Man City's game against Stoke to a Champions League night.
  
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• Maria Sharapova wildcard puts money over morals

  18-05-2017 23:30 via dailymail.co.uk
  
  MIKE DICKSON - EXCLUSIVE: An internal memo admits that financial and ticket-selling considerations have superseded any worries about helping someone coming back from a ban.
  
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• Manchester United have become a side that clings on: Keown

  18-05-2017 23:30 via dailymail.co.uk
  
  MARTIN KEOWN: In the second half against Southampton on Wednesday, they were clinging on. They mustered just one shot on target all night — and that was from Eric Bailly
  
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• Ion Tiriac defends Ilie Nastase over Fed Cup controversy

  18-05-2017 23:30 via dailymail.co.uk
  
  MIKE DICKSON - EXCLUSIVE: Nastase, it turns out, has three lawyers fighting his suspension by the International Tennis Federation, including a human rights specialist.
  
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• Gylfi Sigurdsson is better off at Swansea than bigger club, says Paul Clement

  18-05-2017 23:30
  
  • ‘He can’t have another situation like he had at Tottenham,’ says manager
  • ‘I hope he stays but I also hope in the future he gets to play for really big club’Paul Clement believes Gylfi Sigurdsson is better off being the key player at Swansea City rather than moving on this summer and risking a repeat of his experience at Tottenham Hotspur, where the midfielder spent two years trying to hold down a regular first-team place.Speaking after Sigurdsson had s
  
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• Luton 3-3 Blackpool (5-6 agg): Tangerines grab late win

  18-05-2017 23:22 via dailymail.co.uk
  
  ADAM SHERGOLD AT KENILWORTH ROAD: It was the most heart-breaking way to end the marathon slog of a long season, like stumbling 10 seconds before the finish line.
  
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• Korea no-go zone to open for 2018 Winter Olympians

  18-05-2017 23:21 via bbc.co.uk
  
  North Korean athletes will be allowed to travel through the demilitarised no-go zone into South Korea for next year's Winter Olympics.
  
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• Kane leads Premier League golden boot race after hitting four at Leicester

  18-05-2017 23:16 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Harry Kane scores four times as a dominant Tottenham hammer Leicester City to secure their 25th league win of the season.
  
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• Exeter 3-2 Carlisle (agg 6-5): Grecians through to final

  18-05-2017 23:14 via dailymail.co.uk
  
  On-loan midfielder Jack Stacey scored a dramatic late winner as Exeter City saw off Carlisle United to book their place in the League Two play-off final at Wembley.
  
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• Nicky Hayden, former MotoGP champion, has 'serious cerebral damage' after crash

  18-05-2017 23:11
  
  American remains in intensive care in Italian hospital35-year-old was struck by car while training on bicycleFormer MotoGP world champion Nicky Hayden remains in intensive care in an Italian hospital after being injured in a cycling accident on Wednesday. The 35-year-old American, who currently races for the Red Bull Honda World Superbike team, was hurt while on a training exercise along the Rimini coastline when his bicycle was in collision with a car. He had competed in the Superbike World Cha
  
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• Dylan Hartley in line for surprise Lions call-up for tour to New Zealand

  18-05-2017 23:05
  
  • Injury to Wales hooker Ken Owens opens door to England captain
  • Neil Jenkins: Ken misses big Scarlets game but we hope he will be OK for LionsThe England captain, Dylan Hartley, is in line for a call-up to the British & Irish Lions tour of New Zealand if Ken Owens fails to recover from an ankle injury.Owens sustained the injury training with his region, the Scarlets, this week and will be assessed by the Lions before the squad leaves on Sunday for a training camp in Dublin. He h
  
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• Stuart Lancaster’s England appointment no reason for regret, says Ian Ritchie

  18-05-2017 23:01
  
  • Chief executive retires after stabilising RFU and appointing Eddie Jones
  • Ritchie: ‘I still think Stuart did a huge number of positive things’Ian Ritchie says he has no regrets over hiring Stuart Lancaster as England’s head coach despite the disastrous home World Cup campaign in 2015, and having announced his retirement as chief executive of the Rugby Football Union, he claims he leaves a side far better placed to make amends at Japan 2019. Related: Success for unp
  
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• 5 talking points from Tottenham's 6-1 victory at Leicester

  18-05-2017 22:58
  
  The 23-year-old’s bid to retain his title as the Premier League’s top scorer is pretty much the only prize still on the cards at Tottenham, and he has gone a long way towards achieving that goal tonight.There was a similar moment early on tonight as Kane dispossessed Yohan Benalouane and immediately aimed for the far corner with an ambitious effort, overlooking both Heung-Min Son and Ben Davies, who threw his arms up in despair.
  
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• Konta knocked out of Italian Open in last 16 by Venus Williams

  18-05-2017 22:56 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Johanna Konta loses to Venus Williams to miss out on a quarter-final place at the Italian Open as Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal reach last eight.
  
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• Leicester City 1 Tottenham 6: Four-star Kane pulls clear in Golden Boot race

  18-05-2017 22:49
  
  Tottenham now have more points this term than Leicester City did when they won the title last season after their 6-1 rout of the Foxes.
  
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• Tottenham’s Harry Kane strikes four in 6-1 thrashing of Leicester

  18-05-2017 22:41
  
  A team does not necessarily need a title to show their class, although Tottenham Hotspur do crave one. Spurs demonstrated their excellence at the King Power by swatting aside last season’s champions with regal aplomb and, in the process, Harry Kane struck four goals to enhance his chances of being crowned as the Premier League’s top scorer for the second season in a row. His tally for the campaign stands at 26, two more than Everton’s Romelu Lukaku with one round of matches to
  
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• Celtic one game from unbeaten league season after 5-0 Partick win

  18-05-2017 22:35 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Champions Celtic are one game away from an unbeaten Premiership season after a dominant victory over Partick Thistle.
  
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• MLB hopes to stage games in Europe in 2019

  18-05-2017 22:28 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Major League Baseball hopes to stage regular-season games in Europe in two years' time.
  
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• Mayweather in expletive-laden row with Walsh brothers

  18-05-2017 22:17 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Floyd Mayweather is involved in an expletive-laden row with the brothers of world title hopeful Liam Walsh at a London news conference.
  
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• LeBron James headlines All-NBA team as Paul George misses out on $200m deal

  18-05-2017 21:54
  
  Harden is lone unanimous first-team pick, appearing on all 100 ballotsJames matches all-time NBA record with 11th first-team selectionPaul George, Gordon Hayward omissions cost them $207m contractsHouston’s James Harden was unanimously voted to the All-NBA first team, while Cleveland’s LeBron James tied an all-time record with his 11th first-team selection, the NBA announced on Thursday.Oklahoma City’s Russell Westbrook, San Antonio’s Kawhi Leonard and New Orleans’
  
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• Andy Murray’s conqueror Fognini backs Alexander Zverev as future world No1

  18-05-2017 21:53
  
  • Zverev knocks out Fognini and Novak Djokovic beats Roberto Bautista Agut
  • Johanna Konta defeated 6-1, 3-6, 6-1 by 36-year-old Venus WilliamsFabio Fognini, whose blazing two-set destruction of Andy Murray this week left the world No1 with a major headache on the eve of the French Open, thinks his own conqueror, Alexander Zverev, will one day usurp the Scot and the rest of the competition as the best player in the world. Related: Andy Murray is struggling and anxious – it may be
  
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• Former Manchester United winger Depay explains tattoos

  18-05-2017 21:52 via dailymail.co.uk
  
  The former Manchester United man is now plying his trade at Lyon, but during his time in the Premier League he received perhaps his most impressive ink - a huge lion across his back.
  
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• The FA ratifies required reform, but don’t mistake it for revolution | David Conn

  18-05-2017 21:41
  
  The Football Association has passed modest reform, which will see more women on its governing council and board and bring it in line with Sport England requirements, but the game has a long way to goThe Football Association has ratified the modest reforms proposed to its governing council and board, so mercifully drawing to a finish a torturous and long‑winded saga of internal reordering. The immediate consequence is that the FA’s structure and makeup of its board, which will have th
  
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• Hughie Morrison faces 10-year training ban after horse fails drug test

  18-05-2017 21:35
  
  • Trainer in shock after steroid test on filly proves positive
  • Our Little Sister tested after finishing last in all-weather race in JanuaryThe British Horseracing Authority said on Thursday afternoon that it has charged the trainer Hughie Morrison with a serious breach of the anti-doping rules after traces of the anabolic steroid nandrolone and one of its metabolites were found in a sample taken from his filly Our Little Sister after a race at Wolverhampton on 14 January.Morriso
  
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• England v South Africa: AB de Villiers says hosts have 'earned respect'

  18-05-2017 21:25 via bbc.co.uk
  
  England's one-day team have "earned a lot of respect" since hitting "rock bottom" in 2015, says South Africa captain AB de Villiers.
  
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• Kevin Pillar apologizes for using homophobic slur during bench-clearing game

  18-05-2017 21:02
  
  Blue Jays outfielder appeared to call Jason Motte a ‘faggot’Pillar issues apology after saying he displayed ‘lack of respect’The Toronto Blue Jays’ Kevin Pillar has apologized after directing a homophobic slur at the Atlanta Braves pitcher Jason Motte.Pillar was incensed after Motte struck him out with a quick pitch. The two confronted each other and Pillar appeared to call his opponent a “faggot”, and players from both teams left the benches as tempers
  
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• Southampton set to axe Puel after clashes with players

  18-05-2017 20:38 via dailymail.co.uk
  
  The Frenchman has had a largely disappointing first year on the south coast masked somewhat by their run to the EFL Cup final, where they were beaten by Manchester United.
  
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• Michail Antonio defends West Ham manager Slaven Bilic

  18-05-2017 20:32 via dailymail.co.uk
  
  West Ham United winger Michail Antonio has defended manager Slaven Bilic after an indifferent season at the London Stadium.
  
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• South Africa star AB de Villiers: I'm no mercenary

  18-05-2017 20:29 via dailymail.co.uk
  
  De Villiers has defended his decision to put the Indian Premier League before Test cricket as South Africa began their tour knowing they must take on England without their best batsman.
  
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• Sevens making giant strides as it returns to Twickenham

  18-05-2017 20:13 via dailymail.co.uk
  
  EXCLUSIVE - WILL KELLEHER: The Sevens schedule may sound like a list of ambitious stag-do venues, but rugby's rockstars might be some of the most impressive athletes on the planet.
  
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• Kell Brook 'keeping it clean' as he undergoes drug test

  18-05-2017 20:11 via dailymail.co.uk
  
  USADA, who are one of three control bodies overseeing the Spence fight, along with UKAD and the VADA, stopped by at his training camp in Fuerteventura to ensure everything was in order.
  
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• West Ham stars discuss Andy Carroll bicycle kick goal

  18-05-2017 20:05 via dailymail.co.uk
  
  West Ham striker Andy Carroll's stunning bicycle kick goal against Crystal Palace was no accident, according to his team-mate and the man who provided the cross, Michail Antonio.
  
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• FA approves bans for diving next season - plus vote result

  18-05-2017 19:57 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Players who dive in English football will face bans from next season under new Football Association regulations.
  
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• Rangers fan grabs matchball during Aberdeen clash 

  18-05-2017 19:53 via dailymail.co.uk
  
  Football fans will resort to a number of actions when their team are playing particularly poorly, but one Rangers fans took a unique course of action when he stole the matchball at Ibrox.
  
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• American tennis player given 10-year ban

  18-05-2017 19:50 via bbc.co.uk
  
  American Nikita Kryvonos is banned for 10 years after being found guilty of breaches of tennis' anti-corruption programme.
  
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• Giro d'Italia: Gaviria completes hat-trick on stage 12

  18-05-2017 19:32 via dailymail.co.uk
  
  Colombian rider Fernando Gaviria won a bunch sprint at the end of the longest stage of the Giro d'Italia on Thursday to earn his third victory in his first Grand Tour.
  
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• Nottingham Forest confirm takeover by Greek consortium

  18-05-2017 19:23 via dailymail.co.uk
  
  Nottingham Forest's drawn-out takeover by Greek shipping magnate and Olimpiacos owner Evangelos Marinakis has been completed after it was given the go-ahead by the Football League.
  
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