Angela Copson could break a UK record as the Vitality Westminster Mile incorporates the British Masters Championships

While the major attention will be on the senior performances by the likes of Laura Muir and Chris O’Hare, Sunday’s Vitality Westminster Mile also holds the British Masters Championships and there are separate men’s and women’s masters races with a record entry of 278 runners.

The British Masters Athletic Federation (BMAF) only recently set up record times over the road mile and there should be a number of UK records at Westminster.

The main men’s race should be competitive but there is little chance of records given the previous fast quality runs of James Thie and Anthony Whiteman.

A time of 4:30 is likely with M35 Andy Graham, M40s Mick Hill, Mark Wynne and Craig Sharp and M45 Simon Coombes all capable of that sort of time on their best track form.

Also likely to be close to the front is world masters indoor 800m and 1500m champion Mark Symes and the UK M50 record looks on borrowed time with Andrew Haines also capable of bettering the 4:44 mark.

The M55 race looks competitive with little between Rob Andrew, Chris Ireland, Tony Tuohy and Anthony Roper.

One other men’s record in danger is the M65 mark with Nigel Gates, who set an indoor 3000m mark in winning the British title in the winter, though the 800m and 1500m champions Kevin Archer and Dave Bedwell are also capable of records if Gates falters.

The women’s race is likely to see a battle between last year’s winner Charlene Jacobs-Conradie and world masters indoor 1500m and 3000m champion Zoe Doyle.

One interesting entry is Olympic marathoner Alyson Dixon who hopes for a time of around five minutes but is not known for her speed and is making a step up to ultra running.

Last year, Clare Elms was only a fraction behind Jacobs-Conradie in setting a W50 record and the W55 mark should be well within her range this time.

The most sure fire record though will be in the W70 category as Angela Copson (pictured) could take close to a minute off the current record and she will be a huge favourite for the overall age-grading award given to the top male or female.

Other favourites include M60 Alastair Walker, M85 Richard Pitcairn-Knowles, W50 Sue McDonald, W60 Anna Garnier and W65 Ros Tabor.

Full details of the results of these races will be given on the AW website and in the magazine.

Men’s UK road mile records
M35 James Thie 4:09 Cardiff 24.5.14
M40 Anthony Whiteman 4:08 London 24.5.15
M45 Anthony Whiteman 4:08 London 28.5.17
M50 Andrew Ridley 4:44 Cardiff 3.10.15
M55 John Thomson 4:48 Markinch 6.5.14
M60 Martin Rees 5:00 Cardiff 2.5.14
M65 Peter Molloy 5:27 Cardiff 4.10.14
M70 Brian James 5:47 Ealing 2.6.17
M75 Victor Shirley 6:16 Scunthorpe 17.8.18
M80 Edmond Simpson 7:38 Cardiff 30.9.17
M85 Eric Shirley 9:29 London 29.5.16

Women’s UK road mile records
W35 Helen Clitheroe 4:39 Newcastle 18.9.10
W40 Helen Clitheroe 4:35 London 24.5.14
W45 Clare Elms 5:00 Battersea 20.6.10
W50 Clare Elms 5:16 London 27.5.18   (chip time 5:13
W55 Jane Clarke 5:38 London 14.6.15
W60 Breege Nordin 6:06 London 19.6.16
W65 Ros Tabor 6:15 London 24.5.15
W70 Patricia Gallagher 7:31 Cardiff 1.10.16
W75 Anne Martin 7:39 Cardiff 4.10.14
W80 Ruth Anderson 10:16 South Shields 3.11.15

PB performance at the British Milers’ Club Grand Prix puts the teenager second on the UK under-17 1500m all-time list

Teenager Ethan Hussey moved to second on the UK under-17 1500m all-time list after improving his personal best to 3:46.45 at the British Milers’ Club Grand Prix meeting at SportCity, Manchester, Kevin Fahey reports.

Running in the A race the 16-year-old from Leeds finished strongly to carve almost four seconds from his personal best set last year and move up 16 places – overtaking the likes of Steve Cram and Charlie Da’Vall Grice in the process – in the British rankings with only Matthew Shirling ahead of him on 3:44.11.

Hussey finished sixth in the race which was won by Matthew Wigelsworth in a PB of 3:44.03.

Another top performance came in the men’s 800m as 18-year-old Oliver Dustin not only raced to his first Grand Prix A victory but also set a PB of 1:48.01 which took him inside the European U20 Championships qualifying standard of 1:49.00

Runner-up Alex Botterill also finished inside that standard, clocking 1:48.46.

Other juniors to achieve qualifying standards for the European U20s in Sweden included Erin Wallace in the 1500m (4:18.94), Grace Brock in the 3000m (16:08.82) and Rory Leonard in the 5000m (14:16.35), with the latter pair both making their debuts at the distance.

The men’s 5000m was won by Petros Surafel, whose PB of 13:52.79 was inside the European U23 Championships qualifying standard of 13:53.

British internationals Lynsey Sharp and Jess Judd were both winners, Sharp winning the 800m in 2:06.56 and Judd holding off a spirited challenge from Claire Duck with 15:39.00.

Studies help Nouran Gohar to focus on her squash
By SEAN REUTHE in Hull

France’s World No.4 Camille Serme will be the only non-Egyptian in action on finals day at the 2019 Allam British Open as she overcame England No.1 Sarah-Jane Perry at Hull’s Allam Sports Centre earlier today to earn her spot in the title deciders alongside Egyptian trio Nouran Gohar, Ali Farag and Mohamed ElShorbagy.

Serme became the first Frenchwoman ever to win the sport’s longest-running tournament when she beat former World No.1 Laura Massaro in 2015, and she will have another opportunity to etch her name into the history books after getting the better of World No.6 Perry by a 12-10, 7-11, 11-6, 13-11 scoreline.

Perry, the 2017 champion, had her chances and led 7-3 in the fourth, but a tenacious performance from Serme saw her take a win which sees her reach a first PSA World Tour Platinum final since January 2017. Serme will play 2016 runner-up Gohar in the women’s final.

“It was difficult today, she had a lot cheering, but the crowd were very fair, they enjoy good squash, and even though the English player didn’t win, they clapped at the end,” said Serme.

“Sarah-Jane was playing better [in the fourth], she was finding her length and I was trying to get in front of her again. It seems I play better when I’m behind.

“She [Gohar] has been playing very well for the last few months and she’s in very good form. I’m looking forward to a good battle, and I’ll be ready for it.”

Gohar followed up a semi-final dismantling of World No.1 Raneem El Welily with a superb display against World No.3 Nour El Tayeb to earn a place in a second Platinum tournament in a row.

The World No.7 has been in fine form recently after advancing all the way to the El Gouna International title decider last month and the hard-hitting 21-year-old outplayed El Tayeb to earn an 11-9, 11-2, 6-11, 11-9 victory.

Gohar, a construction engineering student at the American University in Cairo, sat her final university exams in the build up to the tournament, but says her lack of preparation for the tournament has been a blessing in disguise rather a hindrance.

“I had my final exams before coming here, so I wasn’t playing that much squash, I was just studying a lot,” the Egyptian said.

“I think it helped today and throughout the week. Sometimes when you don’t play so much squash, you’re really fresh, moving on court fast and have new ideas. I think that was the case today.”

In the men’s draw, the world’s top two players – Ali Farag and Mohamed ElShorbagy – will do battle after they defeated World No.6 Paul Coll and World No.4 Karim Adel Gawad, respectively.

Farag will appear in his 10th PSA final of the season – and third in a row – after prevailing in a thrilling 77-minute encounter with New Zealand’s Coll to reach the British Open final for the first time.

The duo put on a semi-final clash befitting of one of the sport’s most prestigious tournaments, with Coll playing some accurate squash to take the opener. Farag stayed calm though and some incredible retrieving from the 27-year-old saw him finally get the better of his opponent by an 10-12, 11-7, 11-4, 10-12, 11-7 scoreline.

“It is unfair to talk about it [this match] in just a few sentences. It is one of those matches that you are going to remember forever,” Farag admitted.

“Win or lose, you would have been proud to have been a part of it. I think Paul and I represented our sport very well and we did our sport proud. Also, what an occasion to do it, on semi finals day at the British Open.”

Farag and ElShorbagy will now meet for the fifth time this season after ElShorbagy displayed some of his best squash against Gawad to earn an 11-9, 11-3, 11-9 victory.

Gawad was suffering with a shoulder injury sustained during his 89-minute quarter-final with Germany’s Simon Rösner and never really got going as he fell victim to an immaculate performance from ElShorbagy, World No.2.

ElShorbagy hasn’t dropped a game all tournament and will appear in his fourth British Open final after winning the event in 2015 and 2016, and reaching the final last year against Colombia’s Miguel Rodriguez.

“Ali had to go through a lot of tests today, and again he passed the test,” said ElShorbagy.

“At the end of the day, he is the one in the final and I am the one who has to face him. You have to forget the rest of the tournament and now there is one big match tomorrow and there will only be one winner.” 

2019 Allam British Open, University of Hull Sports and Fitness Centre, Hull, England.

Men’s Semi-Finals:
[1] Ali Farag (EGY) bt [4] Paul Coll (NZL) 3-2: 10-12, 11-7, 11-4, 10-12, 11-7 (77m)
[2] Mohamed ElShorbagy (EGY) bt [5] Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY) 3-0: 11-9, 11-3, 11-9 (47m)
Men’s Final:
[1] Ali Farag (EGY) v [2] Mohamed ElShorbagy (EGY)

Women’s Semi-Finals:
[7] Nouran Gohar (EGY) bt [3] Nour El Tayeb (EGY) 3-1: 11-9, 11-2, 6-11, 11-9 (45m)
[4] Camille Serme (FRA) bt [6] Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG) 3-1: 12-10, 7-11, 11-6, 13-11 (52m)
Women’s Final:
[7] Nouran Gohar (EGY) v [4] Camille Serme (FRA)
 

Report by SEAN REUTHE (PSA PR and Media Manager). Edited by ALAN THATCHER.

Pictures courtesy of PSA

England narrowly missed out on reaching the Cup quarter-finals as they hosted the latest World Rugby Sevens Series event in London.

England needed to beat New Zealand by at least 10 points in Saturday's final game but had to settle for a 17-12 win.

That meant New Zealand and Ireland progressed from Pool C for Sunday's Cup knockout stage at Twickenham.

It also saw New Zealand join the United States and Fiji in clinching qualification for the 2020 Olympics.

There is still one place available via the World Rugby Series, with the London Sevens the penultimate event of the 2018-19 series.

But South Africa are ahead of England in the overall standings in fourth and won all three games on Saturday to reach the Cup quarter-finals as Pool A winners.

If England fail to finish in the top four they can still earn Team GB a place at Tokyo 2020 via a European qualifying tournament in July.

The hosts suffered a losing start to the day as they were upset 21-17 by Ireland, who were invited to take part before becoming a core team for the 2019-20 series.

England won their next two games to finish level on points with New Zealand and Ireland while Scotland, who are 10th in the overall standings, were bottom of Pool C after losing all three games.

Wales are 14th and beat Spain 21-17 to avoid finishing bottom of Pool D. The team that finishes 15th - the lowest core team - will be relegated for 2019-20.

Japan are currently 15th and they face Wales in Sunday's Challenge Trophy quarter-finals, while England play Samoa and Scotland take on Kenya. Ireland face three-time series winners Fiji in the Cup quarter-finals.

Gloucester head coach Johan Ackermann hopes Danny Cipriani's England chances will not be judged on one game.

Premiership player of the year Cipriani struggled to make an impression as his Gloucester side were well beaten by Saracens in their play-off semi-final.

England head coach Eddie Jones was among those watching as the fly-half finished on the losing side.

"If we'd played better, we probably could have helped Danny, but we made some silly errors," said Ackermann.

Cipriani, 31, has been pivotal in helping the Cherry and Whites to a top-four finish in his first campaign with the club, leading to calls for him to break into England's World Cup squad.

But he could not add to his season tally of 14 assists and three tries on an afternoon when, despite taking an early lead, defending champions Saracens were too good.

"It will be tough if Danny's judged on the one game," added Ackermann. "You have to look at the whole season.

"He can make a difference. It's the way you want to play and it is a tough choice for Eddie (Jones).

"I do believe that Danny can do it. Danny can come off the bench and make a huge difference."

Cipriani's last England appearance came against South Africa in Cape Town last June as he started at fly-half alongside Owen Farrell at inside centre.

An England XV are due to face Barbarians at Twickenham next Sunday in a non-cap international, with the squad being announced on Monday.

CONCORD, N.C. – After a blistering start to Saturday’s Alsco 300, a shredded tire at the end of the second stage ruined polesitter Christopher Bell’s afternoon at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Bell, who qualified first and cruised to the opening stage win, had a right-front tire fail on his No. 20 Rheem Toyota Supra with two laps to go in the second stage, sending him hard into the outside wall.

The Norman, Okla., young gun tried to stay on track in an effort to remain on the lead lap, but his flat tire shredded coming to the green-and-white checkered flag signaling the stage break, ripping the right side of his car to ribbons and leading to a small fire in the right-front wheel well of his machine.

Bell climbed from his car quickly after limping it to pit road, his day done after just 90 of 200 laps. He was officially credited with the 31st finishing position.

“I’m honestly not sure what happened,” Bell said after being checked and released from the infield care center. “The balance was really good on our car for the first part of the race there. I had no warning of blowing the right front; I was actually a little bit loose that entire run.

“I guess we ran something over, because I piledrove the fence … and then going down the back straightaway, I saw my teammate do it there,” he added. “I hate our day is over, but we had a really fast car.”

Bell was looking for his series-leading fourth win of the season, as well as his first NASCAR Xfinity Series win at Charlotte’s 1.5-mile quad-oval. Instead, the young star walked away dejected after a heartbreaker that he felt could have easily been a victory.

“We had the car, man,” Bell noted. “It’s a real bummer.”

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship fans searching for connections to Sunday’s 103rd Indianapolis 500 won’t have to look far.

Two-thirds of the drivers in the 33-car field have at least one start in IMSA’s top series. That includes the WeatherTech Championship or its predecessors, the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series and the American Le Mans Series. Ten of these 22 drivers have made at least one WeatherTech Championship start in 2019.

WeatherTech Championship full-timer Helio Castroneves, who shares the No. 7 Acura Team Penske ARX-05 DPi with Ricky Taylor, is second in the 2019 WeatherTech Championship DPi point standings. He will be pursuing his fourth Indy 500 victory – which would tie him with A.J. Foyt, Al Unser and Rick Mears for the most all-time.

“I’m just very fortunate to have a phenomenal team, to be able to give me the opportunity to go back, and I see all the fans really looking forward to being part of history,” Castroneves said. “I won’t give up until I make that dream come true.”

The weekend after Indy, Castroneves will reunite with Taylor for the 100-minute Chevrolet Sports Car Classic at Detroit’s Belle Isle Park.

The Team Penske lineup for Sunday also includes polesitter Simon Pagenaud, the third driver in the No. 6 Acura Team Penske machine for IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup races at Daytona, Sebring and Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta alongside full-time drivers Dane Cameron and two-time Indy 500 winner Juan Pablo Montoya. Pagenaud was the 2010 ALMS LMP champion and is a 10-time IMSA race winner.

Castroneves and Taylor’s endurance teammate, Alexander Rossi, meanwhile, will be going for his second Indy 500 victory in the No. 27 Andretti Autosport Honda after winning in 2016.

Sebastien Bourdais is a second WeatherTech Championship full-timer of sorts in the field. The Frenchman has competed in all four GT Le Mans races thus far in 2019 in the No. 66 Ford Chip Ganassi Racing Ford GT alongside co-driver Dirk Werner. Bourdais is usually the No. 66 team’s third driver for the Michelin Endurance Cup events at Daytona, Sebring and Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta.

But an illness sidelined regular driver Joey Hand for the last two races, prompting the team to call in Bourdais as a substitute. Bourdais placed the No. 66 Ford GT on the class pole position at Mid-Ohio and is currently fifth in GTLM points, although his full-time status is expected to end with Hand ready to return.

Bourdais’ actual full-time gig is driving the No. 18 Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan Honda IndyCar. The team whose co-owners, Jimmy Vasser and James Sullivan, also field the pair of Lexus RC F GT3 machines in the WeatherTech Championship under the AIM Vasser Sullivan banner and won in the GT Daytona class at Mid-Ohio earlier this month for the team’s first win.

The Ganassi team, meanwhile, fields a pair of Indy 500 entries, including the No. 9 Honda for Scott Dixon, the 2008 Indy 500 winner and a three-time Rolex 24 At Daytona winner. Dixon is the endurance driver for the No. 67 Ford GT alongside Ryan Briscoe and Richard Westbrook.

Dixon and Bourdais – who won the Rolex 24 overall in 2014 and the GTLM class in 2017 – are two of six Rolex 24 winners in the 2019 Indianapolis 500 field.

Colton Herta, who became the youngest winner in IndyCar history earlier this year, won his first Rolex 24 in January. He co-drove the No. 25 BMW Team RLL M8 GTE to the GTLM class victory alongside Connor de Phillippi, Philipp Eng and Augusto Farfus. The others are Tony Kanaan (2015), Graham Rahal (2011) and Charlie Kimball (2013) who each claimed an overall Rolex 24 victory with Chip Ganassi Racing.

The Indy field also includes three previous winners of the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Presented by Advance Auto Parts. Bourdais is a two-time winner (2006 and 2015), Kanaan won in 2007 and Ryan Hunter-Reay took an LMP2 class win at Sebring in 2011.

Hunter-Reay – the 2014 Indy 500 winner – also won the 2018 Motul Petit Le Mans season finale alongside Jordan Taylor and Renger van der Zande in the No. 10 Konica Minolta Cadillac DPi-V.R. Earlier this month he co-drove the No. 55 Mazda DPi with Jonathan Bomarito to a third-place result at Mid-Ohio standing in for Harry Tincknell.

Perhaps the biggest story of Sunday’s final round of qualifications at Indianapolis also has strong 2019 IMSA ties. Kyle Kaiser, who has made three 2019 WeatherTech Championship starts in the No. 50 Juncos Racing Cadillac DPi, dramatically bumped his way into the field in the No. 32 Juncos Chevrolet as the final qualifier in the Last Row Shootout.

He bumped Fernando Alonso, who started 2019 with a Rolex 24 At Daytona victory in the No. 10 Cadillac DPi alongside Jordan Taylor, van der Zande and Kamui Kobayashi.

The Indy 500 field includes a total of eight teams with owners who also field entries in the WeatherTech Championship: Penske, Scuderia Corsa, Vasser-Sullivan, Andretti Herta with Marco & Curb Agajanian, Rahal Letterman Lanigan, Ganassi, Meyer Shank Racing and Juncos.