The week in sport
Hardest Geezer runs the marathon, FA Cup semis, the wonder of Underwood, Raducanu's fortunes improve, couch to 5k
It’s the London Marathon on Sunday. Runners include Ted Lasso’s Phil Dunster, Romesh Ranganathan, Natalie Pinkham and James Cracknell. But they’ll be outrun by Russ Cook, the “Hardest Geezer” who ran the length of Africa. Cook, from Worthing, West Sussex, finished his 352-day challenge on 7th April, in which he covered more than 16,000km. He passed through 16 countries before crossing the finish line in Ras Angela, Tunisia’s most northerly point. London’s 26.2 miles will be a doddle.
Can you answer these questions about places along the London Marathon Route?
The bookmakers are expecting an all-Manchester FA Cup Final this May. It’s the semis this weekend and both City and United are odds-on to beat their opponents. You can get 8/13 on City beating Chelsea and 10/21 on United beating Coventry. For those who like a long-shot, Coventry are 30/1 to win the Cup.
NHS Couch to 5K, the free fitness app has surpassed seven million downloads.
Launched in 2016, the app offers a progressive nine-week, three-times a week running programme. And now there’s Beyond Couch to 5K, a new feature to help make running habitual. The new feature will also help runners improve further on speed, stamina and technique. Each Couch to 5K session is led by a choice of eight familiar voices, including Olympic heptathlon champion Dame Denise Lewis and 1500m world champion Steve Cram.
England spinner Derek Underwood died this week. Comparing Underwood’s style to India’s Bishan Singh Bedi, another legendary left-arm spinner who passed away last year, former England captain Michael Atherton wrote in The Times. “He relied not on flight or guile, but on accuracy and a devilishly quick pace — the polar opposite of, say, Bishan Singh Bedi, the great Indian spinner, who was an exact contemporary and who died six months ago. Whereas Bedi might lure batsmen into indiscretions by deceiving them in the air, Underwood came in off a long run and bowled at almost medium pace, driving the ball into the surface.”
Geoff Boycott, former England batter and Underwood’s teammate, described the latter’s approach to bowling in a Test match. “Derek loved bowling with four people around the bat - just like a spider weaving its web to catch a fly. And he did not want you to escape to the other end to get a single. If you were a fielder and not on your toes, maybe nodding off a bit and you allowed the batsman to sneak a quick single, he would glare at you. He would never say anything but you could tell that he was cross,” wrote Boycott in The Telegraph.
Things are looking up for Emma Raducanu. She won this week with a straight-set win over Angelique Kerber in the Stuttgart Open first round. Raducanu was rarely troubled by the former world number one and wrapped up a 6-1 6-2 win in one hour 26 minutes. It was the 21-year-old's third win in a week after she won both her matches to help Britain beat France in the Billie Jean King Cup at the weekend. She also released her company’s accounts. She set up her company Harbour 6 Ltd in 2020, and is the sole director and only employee. Raducanu earned £9.6 million in the year ending February 28, 2023. Raducanu’s total career earnings from tennis prize money are a mere £3.2 million. It is her lucrative sponsorship deals that have made her the cash. The list of her corporate sponsors is quite something: Porsche, Tiffany, Dior, British Airways, Evian, Wilson, Nike, HSBC and Vodafone.