Vítor Pereira had promised Nottingham Forest would approach this assignment with a “Champions League mentality” and his players did not disappoint him. A fabulous attacking performance featuring four different scorers (plus an own goal) and a clean sheet not merely succeeded in denting a shell-shocked Sunderland’s European ambitions but also...
Victorian parlours, whiff-whaff and a Soviet spy: ping-pong’s coming home
A century on from the first tournament in London, the table tennis world championships are back – with a fascinating history attached The way Wang Chuqin plays, ping-pong is a physical impossibility. By the time you made it to the end of the first two words of that sentence, Chuqin, the...
Cricket’s April wasteland: Cook and Pietersen row like barbecue dads in the battle for Bethell | Barney Ronay
In the end it doesn’t matter if you prefer the IPL or red-ball cricket, or which is better. The war is over April is the cruellest month, Breeding likes on the feed (nets with Virat). Continue reading...
Arsenal second, Spurs facing relegation: is there really panic on the streets of north London?
Fans of both sides are feeling similar levels of stress at different ends of the Premier League table Zadie Smith once wrote that “the square mile around Arsenal’s stadium could be a suitable surrogate for the whole wide world”. Perhaps you only really glimpse this on a match day, when...
59,000 runners, 93,024 energy gels and £100m for charity: the London Marathon is booming
The prodigious growth of running clubs, fuelled by young women, has seen the popularity of the event sky-rocket There is always magic in the air on a London Marathon morning. But this year the event promises to dazzle and soar more than ever. A world-record 59,000 people will take part...
FA Cup semi-final buildup, plus crunch games at both ends of the Premier League – matchday live
⚽ News, discussion and buildup before the day’s action⚽ Sunderland 0-5 Nottm Forest | Fixtures | Mail us here At the other end of the table, Arsenal host Newcastle as they look to leapfrog Manchester City and move back to first in the Premier League. The Gunners slipped to second...
‘Cries of delight’ as Sumatran orangutan filmed using canopy bridge to cross road for first time
After a two-year wait, video of a young male crossing above a road gives hope that critically endangered species can survive habitat fragmentation The critically endangered Sumatran orangutan has been filmed for the first time using a canopy bridge to cross a road. In 2024, conservationists in the Pakpak Bharat...
‘Kraken-like’ giant octopuses 100m years ago crunched bones of prey
Study of fossilised beaks shows patterns of wear and suggests some ancient species were up to 19 metres long Giant “kraken-like” octopuses that used powerful beaks to crunch through bones of prey were among the most formidable predators of the Cretaceous oceans, according to research. Analysis of dozens of newly...