Sailing: Portsmouth will host America’s Cup World Series sailing races in Britain in 2015 and 2016 as part of the build-up to the main event in 2017. British challenger Ben Ainslie is building a base in Portsmouth for his Ben Ainslie Racing (BAR) team, which aims to win the America’s Cup in 2017 and bring the “Auld Mug” back to Britain for the first time since it was held in 1851 in the waters of the Solent off the south coast of England.
Snooker: Peter Ebdon survived a scare in the first round of the UK Championship as he had to fight back to beat Ross Muir 6-5 in York, yesterday. The Scotsman raced out into a 2-0 lead, aided by a break of 85 in the second frame but, after claiming a scrappy third, the 2002 world champion registered a 73 in the next to level things up. The two men then exchanged frames until the contest got to 5-5 and Ebdon edged a decider to move into the second round.
Other results: Dott bt Ursenbache 6-2; Milkins bt Leslie 6-0.
Cycling: The 2016 Grand Depart of the Tour de France will take place in Manche, race officials have announced. The department in Lower Normandy has welcomed the race 23 times in history but has never previously hosted the race start. Next year’s Tour start will take place in July in Utrecht in the Netherlands.
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Cricket: Phil Hughes (picture), Australia’s batsman, is in a critical condition and having surgery on a head injury after being hit by a bouncer in a Sheffield Shield match. Despite wearing a helmet, the 25-year-old collapsed face first onto the Sydney Cricket Ground pitch, having been hit on the head after playing and missing at a bouncer from Sean Abbott. The incident in the game between New South Wales and Hughes’s South Australia side prompted play to be abandoned for the day, while it was later announced the match has been postponed entirely as the players come to grips with what has happened. “He is in a critical condition and undergoing surgery,” said hospital spokesman David Faktor in quotes on Cricket Australia’s official website. “He underwent a set of scans to assess the injury.”
Swimming: Michael Phelps has been crowned Male Athlete of the Year for a fifth time at the 2014 USA Swimming Golden Goggle Awards despite being suspended for six months after a drunken driving arrest. Phelps was not at the New York ceremony where Keenan Robinson, an official from his training base, accepted the award on his behalf and confirmed Phelps had returned to the pool. The 18-time Olympic gold medallist stepped away from training in October. Olympic gold medallist Katie Ledecky capped her memorable 2014 season by claiming three awards, including USA Swimming’s Female Athlete of the Year.