World Matchplay Darts 2025 LIVE RESULTS: Luke Littler in action later after Humphries and Aspinall crash OUT
Luke Littler gets his campaign underway against Ryan Searle before Stephen Bunting's clash with Ryan Joyce closes the show.
James Wade booked his place in the second round on the opening night, after a comfortable 10-3 win over Joe Cullen.
But they'll certainly be a new champion as Luke Humphries CRASHED OUT of the World Matchplay Darts in the first round against Gian Van Veen.
Nathan Aspinall is also out, after losing to Wessel Nijman.
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The Independent
10 minutes ago
- The Independent
Michelle Agyemang's youth team hails Lioness as girls' football enjoys boost
Michelle Agyemang's former youth club has praised the England striker's impact on the next generation of young footballers ahead of the Lionesses' Euro 2025 final. The 19-year-old Arsenal forward, who scored dramatic equalisers in both the quarter-final and semi-final, began her footballing journey at Brandon Groves AFC in South Ockendon, Essex. Roy Enright, 45, who manages the girls' team, said her legacy has led to a surge of new recruits. He said: 'It's great for the girls to see someone like Michelle who's played at the same club, from the same area, and from her hard work made it to the highest level. 'When I set the girls' team up in 2022, I started with zero players. 'When Michelle was here, she even had to play on the boys' team. 'Now I've got a squad of 20 girls at my age group and that has all come from the Lionesses – especially their success at the last Euros. 'Given that Michelle is from the area, played for the club, and is doing so well, we're getting even more girls joining up. 'That's the legacy she has left for us.' Terry Tisdall, 40, who manages the boys' under-11s, said: 'The girls are so proud of her – she's the star of the show. 'They used to wear shirts with men's players' names on and now they've all got Agyemang on the back.' Agyemang left Brandon Groves for Arsenal's academy when she was around 10 years old before becoming one of the most highly rated youngsters at the Gunners. She recently invited the Brandon Groves players to St George's Park, the home of the England team, so they could watch the Lionesses train. Mr Enright said: 'It meant the world to them – it just goes to show how Michelle cares. 'She was fantastic – she took the time out to speak to all the girls, take selfies and sign autographs.' Agyemang has become one of the Lionesses' stand-out players this summer after netting in the quarter-final and semi-final. Mr Enright, who works as a tech consultant, said: 'The impact is fantastic – there's so much excitement with the girls.' Mr Tisdall added: 'The WhatsApp group chat was going crazy when she scored those goals.' Agyemang, who only made her senior England debut in April, is now expected to feature in Sunday's final against Spain in Basel. And the girls from Brandon Groves will be watching the final together at a local social club. Mr Enright said: 'Everyone's so excited – we're all behind Michelle and it's going to be a fantastic day.'
Times
38 minutes ago
- Times
Sarina Wiegman: what makes England head coach so special
If this is a 'proper England' team, the mantra that has helped a fearless and at times scrappy squad reach the European Championship final, then the unshakeable figure at its very core is typically Dutch. Immediately, she made us all wait. For 13 months the FA, which had announced her signing in August 2020, patiently watched Sarina Wiegman finish her contract with the national team of her homeland. She was loyal, and no amount of money or prestige would change that, eventually taking charge in September 2021. As it transpired, 13 months was rather inconsequential to the 56 years of hurt Wiegman ended by lifting the European Championship trophy on home soil in the heady summer of 2022. The 55-year-old's strong character was forged growing up in the Hague, where girls were not allowed to play in boys' teams. Instead, she cut her hair like a boy and carried on regardless, alongside her twin brother. Many times, in her formative years, she was told 'girls should not be doing that'. She resolved to take no notice. She had enough talent not just to defy the critics, but to play for her country. The 1988 Fifa Invitational Tournament was her first taste of the truly international game, as a teenager in China. She remembers the luxury of the White Swan hotel, where the Netherlands were based, something she had never experienced before. Her other memory of that tournament is that despite the thousands in attendance, they were not fans of women's football and would laugh when the players made mistakes or misplaced a pass. She did not believe a career in football, or coaching, was possible for a woman, so became a PE teacher, the basis of many skills which are now useful in her professional career. She juggled that alongside her playing years, winning 99 caps for the Netherlands, with the same steely determination and 'serious' attitude she has today. She became assistant coach of the Netherlands in 2014 and was given the head coach role on a permanent basis in January 2017, six months before the start of their home European Championship. Just as she replicated in England in 2022, she used the pressure of the home nation as a positive. She made difficult decisions too, dropping the captain Mandy van den Berg, whom she considered a friend, for the majority of the tournament. There was the cut-throat side to Wiegman which Steph Houghton, and several others, would later experience. Yet it is the foundation for her success. Euro 2025 is her fifth major tournament as a head coach — two with the Netherlands, three with England. She has reached the final in all five. To do so, her key coaching philosophies have remained the same, but she has tweaked her attitude and relationships with players. When she first arrived at the England camp in 2021, those present say there was immediately an aura around her, not least because she was someone who had done what everyone at St George's Park was so desperate to do: win. She was struck by the very English habit of talking around difficult topics instead of tackling them head on — more of a straightforward, typically Dutch approach. She told staff and players she would prefer them to be direct. 'You can just say what you think and still be very respectful,' she explained. Initially she was irritated by the jewellery and watches players wore, such were the fine details she focused on. Over time she has relaxed, realising that the players have thrived with the trust she has given them — as the bonds have grown, so too has the mutual respect. While other England teams, men's and women's, have had cliques and negative rivalry within, she has trusted them to sit with whom they wish, and authentically create friendships. Love Island, it is fair to say, is not Wiegman's cup of tea. But she is happy for her players to sit together and watch it, if it is something that helps them to relax. She has also encouraged players to share their footballing stories with one another. 'We've made ourselves very vulnerable . . . Sarina herself has made herself really vulnerable,' Beth Mead, the England winger, told the BBC. 'I think that gives us so much more togetherness, so much more trust in each other, that we're willing to share really tough moments with each other and how can we help each other. Sarina has really instilled that into us as a team. She's got our back, we've got her back.' The squad has dealt with difficult off-pitch events too. Mead lost her mother, June, to cancer, the same disease that Ella Toone's dad, Nick, died of. Wiegman's elder sister, Diana, died in June 2022 from ovarian cancer. Wiegman now has a tattoo on her right wrist, an infinity symbol featuring a small rose, as a tribute to Diana, and of endless love. Keira Walsh reflects that Wiegman has been more open, particularly in her celebrations and what the team has meant to her, in recent months. 'She's probably one of the best managers I've played for in terms of trying to make everyone feel loved,' the midfielder added. As Izzy Christiansen, the former England midfielder said on The Game podcast, Wiegman is the kind of manager players wish they had the chance to play for. She does so, with a hug — like the one she gave Michelle Agyemang after her semi-final heroics — but also with blunt honesty. Each player knows their role in the squad, as starter, or finisher, her version of substitutes. That has been hugely effective in all three of her tournaments in charge, despite clear weaknesses in squads at left back, and midfield depth. She has faced criticism for her late use of substitutes (Agyemang was not brought on until the 85th minute of the semi-final against Italy), but there is no one in the footballing world — at least the women's game — less influenced by the sway of public opinion than Wiegman. She believes wholeheartedly in the way she does things and will not change. 'She's not forcing me [to start her],' Wiegman said of Agyemang. It does not matter how dire the situation, how deep into borrowed time her team appear to be, they will look over and see Wiegman calm and collected. That honesty and directness also created a pre-Euros crisis, of sorts, when Mary Earps and Millie Bright both withdrew from selection for the squad, citing mental and physical fatigue. Wiegman would have liked to select both, but it is understood she had told them that they might not be guaranteed starters. During the 2023 World Cup, Wiegman was asked whether Lauren James's brilliant performances had 'let the cat out of the bag', amusing those in the press conference room as she looked utterly confused at the idiom. Now Wiegman considers herself more English, even stating she 'doesn't beat around the bush' when explaining those conversations with Earps and Bright. She enjoys a roast dinner and chicken tikka masala, as well as the country's obsessive sporting culture. She likes to relax with yoga, which she has perfected in the close confines of hotel rooms, and walks in nature. Her family — her husband, Marten, and their daughters, Sacha and Lauren — will explore the local areas around where England play, and that suits Wiegman, to know they are happy, and every now and again touch base with a coffee. She is not able to relax fully, in 'work mode' for the length of the tournament, but finds the increased spotlight on her baffling. Her family are one of the reasons she has continued to live in her homeland. She could have tried to change herself to be the Lionesses head coach — and there were plenty of detractors saying she should have been forced to move to England — but she has done things unapologetically her way. Mark Bullingham, the FA chief executive, said before the tournament that even if England had departed early, Wiegman's job would be safe. He has since added there is 'no price at all' which would see the FA part with her. Her contract lasts until after the 2027 World Cup and whenever she does choose to depart, it will be as a national hero — and with an honorary CBE which could be upgraded to a damehood if England win on Sunday. Wiegman never likes to make headlines or give any focus to non-performance matters, but she does understand, and is proud of, the wider ability of the Lionesses to effect societal change. After Euro 2022 and their celebrations in Trafalgar Square, squad members, including the defender Lotte Wubben-Moy, spoke on the team bus of how important it was that their victory should make real change for young girls. That was the foundation of a government pledge to ensure that girls and boys are offered the same sports during PE lessons and extracurricular periods. Wiegman was fully supportive and encouraged her players to use their platform for things they were passionate about. Aside from the external significance of Sunday's final, it is also the final match in which she will sit alongside her assistant, Arjan Veurink, on the touchline. He will depart to become the head coach of the Netherlands, having been integral to England's success. In the 2023 World Cup, his suggestion to change formation took an injury-hit squad all the way to the final. The duo are close, often huddled on the bench looking over an iPad or tactics board and if anyone is to convince Wiegman a different approach is needed against Spain, it will be him. There lies the complexity of Wiegman's leadership, an ability to delegate, valuing the opinion of others, with a caring touch of someone whom the players consider as similar to a mum. Make no mistake though, her word is final, her approach steadfast. In doing so, she has forced change, on the pitch and in society, in a way that felt simply impossible to deny. Now her team operate in the same manner, never beaten, even when the odds are stacked against them — the same grit that led Wiegman to the grandest of stages in the first place. England v Spain
Daily Mirror
40 minutes ago
- Daily Mirror
Pubs, supermarkets and bookies expecting huge boost when Lionesses play Euro final
Millions are expected to tune in to the must-watch clash between England and Spain, whether it be from home, pubs, beer gardens or in front of big screens Pubs, bookies and supermarkets are gearing up for a bumper weekend as the nation gets ready to roar on the Lionesses in the Euros final. Punters will be drinking until the wee hours after pubs received special permission to stay open as late as 1am to celebrate the occasion. And those planning to watch it at home have already begun stocking up - as supermarket giants expect a huge boost in sales. Asda has forecasted 1.3 million sales of bags of crisps and 300,000 pizzas. Meanwhile Tesco expects to sell three million cans of beer and cider, over 3.5 million bottles of wine, 450,000 bottles of champagne or sparkling wine, and 70,000 pizzas across the weekend. But despite the opposition, the supermarket believes that Spanish brews such as San Miguel, Cruzcampo, and Estrella are likely to be the beer of choice. Spanish lager is now by far the most popular beer bought in the UK, with volume growth at Tesco last year up by more than 15% versus the year before. And the bookies are also predicting a surge, as the Barmy Army back their beloved Lionesses to go all the way. Betting shop Coral expects this Sunday's Women's European Championship final to be to see a record-breaking number of fans having a flutter. Coral's John Hill said: 'Millions of pounds will be bet on the women's Euros final with British bookmakers, and the majority will be on the Lionesses to lift the trophy. For the first time in this tournament, England will start a match as the underdogs, but that tag might just suit them." William Hill added that 66% of bets taken in the Women's Euros have backed England. And after the government gave pubs a special dispensation to stay open late, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper wished the Lionesses good luck ahead of the final. She said: 'The Lionesses have shown throughout this summer why they are true national stars. They have shown unbelievable grit and determination and are an inspiration to us all. 'Watching football in the local pub is a great British tradition and by extending licensing hours, we will hopefully be able to celebrate late into the evening. I want to wish the best of luck to Sarina Wiegman and the England squad, who we hope will be able to bring it home once again and continue on as champions of Europe.'
