Ice Hockey: Viktor Tikhonov, who coached the Soviet Union and Unified Team to Olympic ice hockey gold at three straight Games, has died at the age of 84 in Moscow, the Russian Ice Hockey Federation said. In addition to winning gold at the 1984, 1988 and 1992 Olympic Games, Tikhonov also won eight World Championships as a coach. He was also in charge of the Soviet team that lost to the United States in the semi-final medal round of the 1980 Olympics in a game known as the “Miracle on Ice”. “He passed away overnight and the legendary coach had been suffering from a long term illness,” stated the Russian federation on its website.
Snooker: Box office records for the UK Championship are set to be smashed. The tournament starts at the York Barbican today and runs until December 7, with top stars like Ronnie O’Sullivan, Mark Selby and Neil Robertson gunning for the top prize. Nearly 7,000 tickets have already been sold, with sales more than 20 per cent up on the equivalent time last year. World Snooker said: “We are well on course to smash all previous box office records for this tournament and we have already sold almost as many tickets as we did by the end of last year’s tournament. It’s testament to the enthusiasm for snooker among the people of York and the surrounding area, which shows no signs of abating. We have also made some changes to our marketing methods for the event which has clearly been successful.” Tomorrow, Tony Drago plays Dominic Dale and Alex Borg takes on Rod Lawler.
Swimming: China’s Olympic champion Sun Yang served a three-month ban for a failed doping test earlier this year, the China Anti-Doping Agency (CHINADA) said yesterday. The agency said Sun had tested positive for trimetazidine, a stimulant that was added to the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) banned list this year. Sun tested positive in May during the national championships and although he said he took the drug for medical reasons, Chinese officials said it still warranted a penalty. “Sun Yang in this matter was not completely responsible and the positive test is his mistake, but the mistake is not very serious or negligent,” CHINADA deputy director Zhao Jian said. “Because of this the three-month ban is reasonable.”
Golf: Rory McIlroy admitted he did not play well enough to win the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai. He closed to within a shot of the lead with his fourth birdie of the day but was unable to pick up any further shots in a final round of 68. The world no.1 finished joint second behind defending champion Henrik Stenson, who birdied the last two holes. “I just did not play well enough to win but that’s a real positive, not just for next year but the rest of my career,” the 25-year-old said. “In seasons gone by a bad week would have been middle of the pack or battling to make the cut.”
Formula One: The futures of Jenson Button and Kevin Magnussen will be discussed by the McLaren board in early December, group head Ron Dennis has said. Dennis said after Sunday’s season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix that decisions about the team’s 2015 driver line-up would not be his alone. “It wouldn’t be appropriate. Any decision has got to be supported by shareholders and board,” the Briton, who also owns a stake in the company, told Reuters. “Whatever the decision, it won’t be taken until then.”