Motor Sport: Team England duo Andy Priaulx and Jason Plato won the Nations Cup at the Race Of Champions event at the Olympic Stadium in London. Drivers from the Formula One, Le Mans, IndyCar, Rallycross and touring car motor racing series have gathered on Friday and Saturday to see who will be crowned the overall ROC ‘Champion of Champions’. Jenson Button and Sebastian Vettel were among six current F1 drivers in the field on the pursuit-style track. But it was touring car pair Priaulx and Plato who triumphed against Vettel and fellow German Nico Hulkenberg in the final.
Golf: Next year’s Alstom Open de France will play a massive part in deciding who qualifies for Europe’s Ryder Cup team after the European Tour strengthened its support for the event. A re-working of the PGA Tour’s 2016 calendar to accommodate golf’s return to the Olympics saw the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational brought forward to the end of June, bringing it into direct conflict with the French Open at Le Golf National, venue for the 2018 Ryder Cup. The European Tour responded by withdrawing its sanction of the WGC event just two days after Shane Lowry won it in August, meaning money won in Akron will not count for Ryder Cup points or towards the Race to Dubai.
Horse Racing: Red Cadeaux, who won the hearts of Australian racing fans after finishing runner-up at the Melbourne Cup three times, has been euthanised after “irreversible” complications from surgery on his injured leg, Racing Victoria said yesterday. The Ed Dunlop-trained stayer pulled up in the final straight of the country’s richest race earlier this month and it was later confirmed he had broken his left foreleg. The 10-year-old gelding had emergency surgery after the race and the initial prognosis was positive. Red Cadeaux became a fan favourite in Australia after brave runs to finish second at the Cup in 2011, 2013 and 2014.
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Winter Sport: Less than two years after returning from a doping suspension, Russian speed skater Pavel Kulizhnikov (picture, right) continued his sizzling form when he became the first man to break the 34-second barrier in the 500 metres. Competing at a World Cup meeting on the Olympic track in Salt Lake City, the 21-year-old Russian rocket closed strongly to clock 33.98 seconds. The time by Kulizhnikov bettered his own world record set six days ago when he clocked exactly 34 seconds in Calgary.
Basket, NBA: Golden State Warriors moved within one win of equalling the best ever start to an NBA season after two late Harrison Barnes three-pointers secured a 106-94 triumph over Chicago Bulls. Golden State’s 14th straight victory meant they equalled the 1957-58 Boston Celtics record mark to open a season for reigning champions. A win tonight in Denver would match the 15-0 starts by the 1948-49 Washington Capitols and 1993-94 Houston Rockets.
Basket, NBA: Namibia international Raymond van Schoor has died at the age of 25, five days after collapsing while playing for his country. Several media outlets have reported Van Schoor, who played more than 200 matches in all formats for his country, suffered a stroke.