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BBC News
05-05-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Trailblazer Zhao set to take snooker to 'another level' in China
Within minutes of becoming China's trailblazing world snooker champion, Zhao Xintong was draped in his country's flag as he started to take in the enormity of his defeated three-time winner Mark Williams 18-12 on Monday to become the first Asian player and amateur to triumph at the called the 28-year-old a "superstar", and Jason Ferguson - chairman of the sport's governing body - said Zhao was set to take snooker "to another level"."We are talking about a national hero - he has entered the history books of this sport and in China he will probably be one of the biggest stars there, " Ferguson, chairman of the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) told BBC Sport."Snooker is so big in China. He is young, talented and entertaining and speaks both English and Mandarin. This is going to take snooker to another level."China loves its heroes and winners. Some countries back underdogs but in China they really celebrate their champions. He has the ability to become the most popular sporting star in the country."The 28-year-old also became only the third qualifier after Terry Griffiths and Shaun Murphy to capture snooker's biggest prize since the tournament moved to Sheffield in achievement is all the more extraordinary given he only returned from a 20-month suspension earlier this season after being one of 10 players from China sanctioned in a match-fixing he carried over the scintillating form he has shown all season on the amateur Q Tour and remarkably became the first player to come through four qualifying matches and then lift the trophy at snooker's most famous the final Williams said: "I'm glad I'll be too old when he's dominating the game. I've got nothing but admiration for what he's done, coming through the qualifiers. He hasn't played for two years, bashed everybody up. There's a new superstar of the game."Zhao's success completes a double for the country, which has more than 300,000 snooker clubs for its population of 1.4 Yulu was the first Chinese winner of the women's world championship in 2024 and will defend her title in her homeland this Zhao, who is in Sheffield to report for the International Sport Press Association, added: "Zhao's victory is not only a personal triumph but also a historic breakthrough for Chinese snooker."I think he will be given a huge reception when he returns to the country and this win is sure to inspire the younger generation in China and drive the development of the country's training system and structure."It has the potential to reshape the commercial landscape of the game. He is not just a champion - he is a trailblazer for a new era of Chinese snooker." A seismic moment for Chinese snooker While a record 10 Chinese players qualified for the televised stage of the World Championship this year, prior to the start of the tournament only four, Ding Junhui (sixth), Zhang Anda (11th), Xiao Guodong (12th) and Si Jiahui (14th) sat inside the game's elite top should also be noted that the top five players in the world are all British, and that world number one Judd Trump and 13th-ranked Shaun Murphy won the two other Triple Crown events - the UK Championship and the Trump and 2024 world champion Kyren Wilson won seven major finals between them this season, while until Monday evening Chinese success has been limited to two events on home soil and Lei Peifan's win in the Scottish Zhao's achievement, which will parachute him in at number 11 in the world rankings, feels like a seismic and long-awaited moment for the sport. Snooker has appeared ready to embrace an Asian champion ever since a shy Ding Junhui defeated seven-time world champion Stephen Hendry to win the 2005 China Open, two days after his 18th contest was watched by a reported television audience of 110 million in the country and since then, Ding, who lost the 2016 world final 18-14 to Mark Selby, has long been the flagbearer for Chinese snooker in a period when its popularity has exploded. John Parrott, who won the world title at the Crucible in 1991, said: "We have been talking about it for years and years."Ding has been close and a real ambassador for China, but Zhao being in the final means the viewing figures will be off the charts. Just imagine what it will do for the game over there." 'The tide has turned' Zhao's success is also a fillip for those who expect the game to be dominated by players from the Far East over the coming years, especially given the 'Class of 92' of O'Sullivan, Williams and John Higgins, have reached or are close to, their 50th there is not a formal national curriculum dedicated specifically to snooker in China, the WPBSA is aware of the game being integrated into the school system through academies."I've seen first-hand children coming into the building at 09:00 handing in their phones and then spending hours playing snooker, alongside traditional lessons," said Matt Huart, the WPBSA head of World Championship final was available to every TV household in China on CCTV5 and World Snooker expected a potential audience of up to 150 is also snooker's biggest market in the television landscape, making up more than 50% of its global audience."A lot of people have spoken about the volume of Chinese players in the later stages but if you turn the clock back 10 years this Tour was predominantly players from England and the other home nations," added Ferguson. "The tide has turned a little bit but you have to remember we are putting events on in cities over there that are half the size of the UK. It is a volume issue around clubs and participation. That means more stars are going to come through. "Snooker is in schools, it is a mainstream sport. It is something we have to fight in this country [the UK] because you don't see snooker in schools, but you can do athletics, rugby, football and all the other sports."In China snooker is seen as being as good as Olympic sports and that is making the difference to talent pathways."
BBC News
29-04-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
London Marathon: How ultrarunner's viral moment inspired change
Sophie Power had not even laced up her trainers for her first run when she signed up to an what was initially a fresh challenge after being made redundant has manifested into a life-changing passion that has led to positive change for women in 2018, a photograph of Power breastfeeding her then three-month-old son during a 106-mile race went had been no option for her to defer her place until she was fit to compete and it highlighted what she saw as a major issue facing women and many of the world's biggest events, including the London Marathon, have implemented pregnancy deferral policies and Power's work has been central to that change. A starting dilemma Power signed up for her first 250km (155-mile) ultramarathon at the age of 26, shortly after having been made redundant from her job in she was not a runner and never had been, a friend had recently completed the challenge himself and recommended she try it, as he believed she could have the stamina needed due to her time in the air squadron at university."I went for my first run the next day and realised pretty quickly that I loved ultra-running. I love being outside, the breadth of phenomenal people you meet [who] you wouldn't come across in everyday life," the 42-year-old, who lives near Guildford in Surrey, told BBC Sport."And really kind of pushing my body to the limits in a new way."Immediately hooked, Power devoted her time to training and travelling to compete in stage races around after the birth of her second child, Cormac, she was faced with a dilemma. Having given up her entry to the iconic Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc (UTMB) race while she recovered from the birth of her first child, Donnacha, three years before, she was not prepared to do so many races, UTMB had no pregnancy deferral policy at the not being able to run so soon postpartum, Power entered the 106-mile event with a view to starting and maybe walking the first 43.5 hours after setting off she completed the challenge, that included 10,000m of climbing, inside the cut-off time, walking the whole way except for a short stretch after one of the highest points when she was worried she might get hyperthermia. She crossed the line with then three-year-old moment is one she looks back on with immense pride, though it was a photograph of her taken with her younger son that day that would inspire what followed. The image that helped spark change French photographer Alexis Berg was at UTMB photographing the 2018 race, as he is at many ultra events. And it was at one of the refuelling stations that he saw something he had never previously seen at one of these events."I knew it was unusual. At that moment it was impossible to realise the photo would have such an impact, but I just pushed one button that day and everything else that has happened is because of Sophie," he he captured was Power sitting down and breastfeeding her baby son during a break from the race."That photo has undoubtedly changed the course of my life. I worked out I should never have been on that start line," she said."I should have been given the opportunity to complete that kind of dream race when I was fit and healthy, not three months postpartum, trying to go 106 miles around a huge mountain by breastfeeding my baby. It was crazy." Power wanted to ensure returning mums did not face the same choice and put their bodies through the same risk as she had founded the charity SheRaces with the core aim of breaking down barriers preventing women from entering events alongside men and safeguarding returning the photo went viral, many male directors contacted her almost immediately to say they had added pregnancy deferrals to their programmes and expressed embarrassment that it was something they had not thought of engaged with more than 2,000 women to find out what prevented them from getting on the start line of races alongside research went far beyond elite level sport. Power is not a professional athlete herself and her real passion is for other women and girls who had been like her."Girls drop out of sport at such a high rate. There's a massive dream deficit for girls compared to boys," she believes a big reason for this is the language used when promoting sports and sporting events."It's 'hardest, toughest, baddest', and for a lot of women that's quite off-putting," she said."How do we redesign sport in a female lens? Can we make sure that the opportunities for girls are tailored to them, and what they want and sports provided in the right places in the right way?" 'Winning battles and driving change' The result of her research was a set of nine principles that organisers could commit to in order to make their events more inclusive for included adapting the use of language and imagery on websites to reflect and appeal to female runners, changing cut-off times, providing female toilets, period products, changing facilities and event T-shirts made specifically for female entrants, rather than unisex ones for all, and a safeguarding and harassment for elite races includes equal exposure for the female race on social media coverage and prizes for female has seen change in some of the world's biggest policy, external since 2023 for some of its marquee events entitles those who are pregnant, have a pregnant partner or are adopting or birthing via surrogacy to a full refund and priority re-entry for up to five she says there is still a long way to go. The New York, Boston and London marathons now all have pregnancy deferrals in place, yet mothers must pay the entrance fee for a second time when they use the deferral scheme, she charity's criteria requests races to implement a two-year deferral to allow people enough time to recover fully from their pregnancies."The majority of races are commercial, it's a business. If they can get more people on their start lines then they're going to do it and the purpose of the guidelines is they're almost non-cost. It's a no-brainer," she said."There are a lot of brands out there who say they are pro-women, yet they're sponsoring women's races that don't have pregnancy deferrals, that don't treat women equally."And then there are dinosaurs, they don't value the voice of female athletes."Then there are races that still need to make improvements, I put London Marathon in that bracket. They have listened to us, they are phenomenally inclusive, they've got loads of initiatives that they put out for diversity on their start lines, but they still want to make women pay twice for their place when they have a baby."I've definitely lost faith in some race organisers because of it but so many are changing and becoming better. You always feel like you fail at the battles you don't win but we're winning so many battles and driving so much change."The London Marathon's policy, external allows entrants to defer for up to three years after giving birth. The event's organisers did not respond when asked why users of the deferral system must pay their entrance fee again. Pushing her body to new limits As the scale of her work and its influence has grown, Power's propensity for testing her physical limits has grown with is now the holder of two Guinness world records - becoming the fastest woman to run the length of Ireland, last completed the gruelling 340-mile route in three days 12 hours and eight minutes, smashing the previous record set by Mimi Anderson by more than three route took her through Munster, where husband John was born, and to County Cork, where many of the Power family live, running through torrential rainfall, experiencing the early stages of sun stroke and sleeping for little more than two hours, while sustaining herself on a diet of jam-filled tortilla wraps, gels, chews and ice tongue was burned after two days of eating nothing but fruit and sweets. She pushed herself to the brink of total exhaustion."I was seeing nativity and Christmas scenes everywhere in this town. And all the trees had turned into plastic. The hallucinations were phenomenal, crazy," she has since gone on to set a second world record for the longest distance covered on a treadmill by a female in 48 hours and has once again been selected for Great Britain in the 24-hour World Championships in France this will also be hosting her own women-only ultra races in the Peak District in how will she know when she has achieved what she set out to do?"My ultimate goal for SheRaces is that we don't exist because it's not needed anymore and every woman is able to get on the start line," she added."Part of the reason I created it was to have something that wasn't just me and was owned by all women. We can all help each other and demand fairness."
BBC News
28-04-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
'We don't referee differently with VAR'
Match officials do not referee matches any differently despite the "safety net" of video assistant referees, says retired Premier League official Darren 56, retired this month after over 1,000 games as an assistant referee, including a record 579 in the Premier VAR system was introduced in the Premier League at the start of the 2019-20 is often a suggestion that referees do not make a decision on the pitch because they know VAR should make the right one."Not everybody likes VAR and I accept that view," Cann told BBC Sport."But from a match official's point of view, it is a really valuable tool. "I would like to dispel a myth. People think we referee differently because there is VAR but nothing could be further from the truth. "My mindset is to eradicate VAR from that 90 minutes by getting my decisions right. Our mindset is to make the right decision. "If we do make a clear and obvious error we do have the safety net of VAR."Cann has welcomed the introduction of semi-automated offside, which came into the Premier League on the weekend of his final technology uses artificial intelligence and special cameras to make the judgement of tight offside calls quicker and easier."In previous seasons it could take up to 50 seconds just to draw the lines before they came to a decision," said Cann."With semi-automated offside the lines are automatically drawn at the point where the ball is kicked. That speeds up the checks. "It won't affect the assistant referees on the pitch. They still make their calls. But it does speed up the checks."Cann's biggest two games came in 2010 - the Champions League final and World Cup final."Before VAR I got an offside wrong in a Premier League game that still haunts me to this day," said Cann."It was only half a yard and was one of those where a forward and defender cross over at high speed. I just got my timing wrong and flagged when I shouldn't have. "I lost concentration. That is 20 years ago and it still hurts."
BBC News
28-04-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Glanton's brain damage threat 'disgusting' - Billam-Smith
Former world cruiserweight champion Chris Billam-Smith has labelled comments made by opponent Brandon Glanton in the build-up to their recent fight as "vulgar and disgusting." The 34-year-old from Bournemouth defeated his American opponent on Saturday by unanimous decision at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. At the final press conference before the fight, Glanton said: "I'll give you brain damage, dog". He later apologised for the remark. "That was just vulgar and disgusting," Billam-Smith told BBC Sport."In a sport where people end up with brain injuries and sometimes fatalities happen, it was really hard to listen to."I only heard it after the press conference and that got me really riled up, when he said that it got to me."It didn't feel like me winning in the fight, it was about me not letting someone with that vulgarity win. It was important to let integrity win and thankfully it did."Throughout fight week, Glanton went after Billam-Smith, shouting threats at him at a public workout and then aiming insults at him at a subsequent media conference. His justification for the verbal onslaught was Billam-Smith apparently not shaking his hand when Glanton was part of Lawrence Okolie's team for his fight with BIllam-Smith back in Saturday night 'The Gentleman' won on each of the scorecards by a number of rounds, having landed the more eye-catching shots. After the final bell both fighters shared some emotional words, with Billam-Smith looking to make a point after the controversy of the week. "I just told him that we can't be saying things like that," he said."There was thousands of kids watching the build-up and this is one of the biggest shows in the last few years."I just said we have to show what the sport should be about, if we are to be given a platform of this size then we need to be better role models - back and forth is fine but let's not overstep the line."In a sport where we give everything and we risk our lives, you don't need to be like that, we need to show some decency and humility. He did apologise." It was Billam-Smith's first victory since defeat in Saudi Arabia when he lost to Gilberto Ramirez in a WBO and WBA unification bout. He says he still has ambitions of returning to world from Ramirez the other champions are Australian Jai Opetaia, with the IBF belt, and Swedish boxer Badou Jack, who holds the WBC title. "There's opportunities around. I will have to wait a bit though, I feel," Billam-Smith added. "I think Zurdo Ramirez and Jai Opetaia are in talks to fight each other. If those two fight then the WBC route would be most likely for me, but we'll see."For now it's all about family time, having a bit of a rest from boxing and staying fit and then we'll see where we go."
BBC News
28-04-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Burnley keeper Trafford not surprised by success
Burnley goalkeeper James Trafford has said he is not surprised by the level of success he has achieved with the club this 22-year-old has kept 29 clean sheets in the Championship this term and conceded just 15 goals as part of a stunning addition to winning promotion with the Clarets, Trafford was rewarded for his efforts by being named in the Championship team of the season at Sunday's EFL Awards."Every year throughout my professional career I've tried to improve my game and myself and luckily this year there's a lot of stats that indicate I have," he told BBC Sport."But last season I improved so much and the season before, so it's not a surprise that I've done well this season and improved because every day I try to get better."It's just that everyone is seeing the numbers and stats that show that." Burnley boss Scott Parker described him as "world-class" for his efforts this term, hailing his resolve to become the best stopper in the Championship this term after losing his place in the side at the tail-end of last addition to his league achievements, Trafford was named in Thomas Tuchel's first England squad earlier this year, though he is yet to make his full Three Lions the back of an incredible campaign, Trafford said he is aware that there will be interest in him this summer, but he intends to remain grounded."I've got an incredibly good circle around me. It's very small but it's incredibly good. When the season ends I'll go on holiday and relax from football and then I'll start getting ready for the national team in the summer," he added."I don't go on my phone too much. I'm not naive enough to say I don't see any of the noise around me but it doesn't bother me. Whatever happens will happen. I've done all I can this season."
