‘I just kept digging and played my best squash at the end’
By ELLIE MAWSON in Manchester

Tenacious Tesni Evans produced a monumental comeback to take out Egypt’s World No.3 Nour El Tayeb and reach the biggest PSA final of her career at the 2019 Manchester Open.

Wales’ World No.9 was facing defeat at 2-0 down as top seed El Tayeb took control of the opening phase of the match at the National Squash Centre.

However, Evans demonstrated her brave resilience as she fought back in a gladiatorial battle to win 7-11, 9-11, 11-7, 11-9, 11-9 in 72 minutes to reach the final of the inaugural women’s-only PSA World Tour Silver tournament, where she will face New Zealand’s World No.5 Joelle King tonight.

Evans, 26, from Rhyl, said: “I felt even in the first two games that I was actually playing quite well. I just couldn’t string a few points together. I’m really happy with myself because I never let that get to me and I just kept digging and digging, just to see how far it would get me and I can’t believe it in the end.

“I think the more matches I play, the better I get. I just don’t normally get the opportunity to play more than a couple of matches. My squash was probably the best I’ve played at the end of the match and I’m really proud of myself.

“It’s probably my biggest win because she is No.3 in the world and reached the final of the World Championships.”

Meanwhile, World No.5 King overcame United States’ No.1 Amanda Sobhy in straight-games to reach her second final of the season, following her victory at the Hong Kong Open in November.

Both players enjoyed strong wins in the last round, with Sobhy continuing her excellent run of form to down Egypt’s World No.7 Nouran Gohar, while King saw off England’s former World No.3 Alison Waters in straight games.

A positive first game from both players saw them consistently trade blows with both pulling out some of their best squash for the occasion. As the game progressed into an extended tiebreak, it was King who was able to take the advantage, winning 17-15.

From then on, the momentum stayed with the World No.5 as she didn’t put a foot wrong and adapted to the conditions of the warm court well to advance against World No.8 Sobhy.

“It’s no secret that Amanda has been coming back strong this year,” said 30-year-old King.

“It’s credit to her that she’s in the semi-finals of a Silver tournament not so long after coming back from injury. Overall this week, I’ve been feeling mentally quite good. Even in my other matches if I had lapses, I was able to close out in the business end and I guess that is one of my strengths when I’m playing well.

“I was down in the first and I was able to claw my way back and take a crucial first game and I’m pretty happy with my mental performance.

“I think at the start of this year, after winning Hong Kong, I put a bit of pressure on myself to do well and it didn’t work out so well for me. I’ve tried to come into every tournament and treat it like it’s my last one and it seems to be working, so hopefully it will carry on.”

The final take place today (Monday May 13) at 19:00 local time (UTC+1) and the action will be broadcast live on SQUASHTV (rest of world), Eurosport Player (Europe only) and to multiple broadcasters around the world. 

PSA $76,000 Women’s Manchester Open 2019, National Squash Centre, Manchester, England.

Semi-finals:
[6] Tesni Evans (WAL) bt [1] Nour El Tayeb (EGY) 7-11, 9-11, 11-7, 11-9, 11-9 (72m)
[2] Joelle King (NZL) bt [8] Amanda Sobhy (USA) 17-15, 11-5, 11-8 (39m)
Final:
[6] Tesni Evans (WAL) v [2] Joelle King (NZL)

Report by ELLIE MAWSON (PSA Media Team). Edited by ALAN THATCHER.

Pictures courtesy of PSA

Sale have signed South Africa prop Coenie Oosthuizen on a three-year deal.

The 30-year-old will join from the Super Rugby side Sharks and is Sale's latest South African recruit following Lood de Jager's move.

Oosthuizen has won 30 caps for South Africa, making his debut against England in 2012 and last playing for the Springboks in November 2017.

"Coenie joining us, along with Lood, is a huge statement of where we want to be," said Sale boss Steve Diamond.

He joins Sale's growing South African contingent that includes scrum-half Faf de Klerk, fly-half Robert du Preez, centre Rohan Janse van Rensburg and hooker Akker van der Merwe.

"He is 130kg, can play on both sides of the scrum and has a skill set away from the set-piece that is unique for a prop of his size," added Diamond.

"He also has considerable experience playing with Akker van der Merwe at the Sharks, so I think he will fit in perfectly at Sale."

Australian full-back Israel Folau says he resisted opportunities to make his situation "a little bit easier" and return to playing because it would be doing "Satan's" work.

Folau was found guilty of breaching Rugby Australia's (RA) player code of conduct after he said "hell awaits" gay people in a social media post.

The 30-year-old had his four-year RA contract terminated in April.

However, he requested a hearing which will decide if his sacking stands.

Folau was speaking to his church congregation in Sydney on Sunday.

"There have been many opportunities to potentially make the situation a little bit easier," said the fundamentalist Christian.

"I could go back and play the game, get everything back to the way it used to be.

"The way Satan works is he offers you stuff that could look good to the eye and makes you feel comfortable, and if you go down that path all the worries and troubles will go away.

"It is always the will of God that comes first."

Folau - who won 73 international caps - lost his sponsorship deal with sportswear brand Asics last week, the second sponsor to have cut ties with him after Land Rover withdrew a car issued to him.

The three-person panel which presided over Folau's hearing will now take written submissions from the player and RA before deciding what sanction he will face.

He escaped punishment for similar comments last year.

BOWMANVILLE, Ontario – Blancpain GT World Challenge America is set to bring its exciting brand of sports car racing north of the border from May 17-19.

Drivers from more than 10 nations, piloting GT3 machinery from the world’s top marques will take to Canadian Tire Motorsport Park’s renowned 2.459-mile Grand Prix circuit, including four Canadians returning to compete at their home track.

Closing in on the midpoint of the season, the driver and team championship battles are starting to heat up. Leading the team championship heading into the Canadian Tire Motorsport Park weekend is K-PAX Racing’s No. 3 Bentley Continental GT3.

Driver championship co-leaders Rodrigo Baptista from Brazil and Maxime Soulet from Belgium are coming off a thrilling victory at Virginia Int’l Raceway, the K-PAX duo’s second win of the season following an opening day triumph at Circuit of the Americas.

Canadian team R. Ferri Motorsport comes into the weekend second in team points and will look to get back into victory circle, after last winning at COTA in round two. Their No. 61 Ferrari 488 GT3 will be piloted by Spain’s Miguel Molina and Finland’s Toni Vilander.

Molina and Vilander sit tied in second in the driver championship coming into the weekend.

K-PAX Racing’s second entry, the No. 9 Bentley Continental GT3, will be piloted by former series champion Alvaro Parente of Portugal and his Spanish teammate, Andy Soucek.

Both drivers sit third in the driver championship and were victorious in race three at VIR.

Vancouver’s Scott Hargrove and teammate American Patrick Long, a two-time series champion, will co-pilot the No. 58 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R entry. Throughout his career, Hargrove has had numerous wins at CTMP and he’ll be looking to repeat the feat at his home track.

Long has also had success at the track, including a dominant series performance back in 2016, when he won both weekend races.

Wright Motorsports currently sits third in the team championship standings, while the drivers sit fourth in the driver’s championship.

Other Pro competitors to watch include Toronto’s Daniel Morad and American Michael De Quesada in the No. 22 Alegra Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R. Morad won last year’s CTMP Sprint round five race and, like his other fellow Canadian drivers competing this weekend, has spent hours at the track that is located just east of Toronto.

German teammates Wolf Henzler and Marco Holzer will co-pilot the No. 24 Alegra Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R. Alegra Motorsports sits fourth in the team championships.

Meanwhile, Canadians Martin Barkey and Kyle Marcelli sit atop the Pro/Am Cup driver standings after back-to-back wins in rounds two and three.

Both have considerable experience at CTMP and will co-pilot the No. 80 Acura NSX entry.

The Pro/Am field also features the American team of George Kurtz and Colin Braun piloting the No. 04 Mercedes-AMG GT3; the No. 38 Porsche 911 GT3 R of Americans Kevan Millstein and Alex Barron; the No. 43 Acura NSX of Americans Bret Curtis and Dane Cameron; American David Askew paired with Scottish driver Ryan Dalziel in the No. 63 Mercedes-AMG GT3; and the American/Norwegian pairing of Anthony Imperato and Dennis Olsen in the No. 91 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R.

Gradient Racing has also entered its No. 5 Acura NSX GT3 for the weekend, with drivers Marc Miller and Till Bechtolsheimer behind the wheel.

The Japanese team of Naoto Takeda and Takuya Shairasaka are the lone Am/Am class entry and will co-drive the No. 96 BMW F13 M6 GT3.

KANSAS CITY, Kan. – For a driver making just his second Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series start, Tyler Reddick sure didn’t look like a rookie on Saturday night during the Digital Ally 400 at Kansas Speedway.

Reddick, the reigning NASCAR Xfinity Series champion, was returning behind the wheel of the No. 31 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Richard Childress Racing and caught a big break on lap 218, when a caution flag waved in the middle of a cycle of green-flag pit stops for Ryan Newman’s wayward tire on pit road.

In an instant, the Corning, Calif., driver went from complaining of the motor “changing pitch” and fearing a potential failure to being one of just seven drivers on the lead lap inside of 50 to go.

That seismic shift in momentum led to Reddick surging on the outside during the ensuing restart, with the 23-year-old climbing to as high as third before settling in among the back half of the top 10.

Reddick later drifted just outside that top 10, but a caution that set up an overtime restart allowed him to come down for fresh tires. He then charged his way from 12th to finish ninth with the new rubber.

After the race, Reddick circled the timely yellow with 50 to go as the moment his fortunes changed.

“We were very fortunate to have a lot of cars that were trapped down a lap or two. It honestly saved us from having a pretty unfortunate finish for how good we were at times throughout the race,” noted Reddick. “I think we could have definitely had a little more there with the way the situation played out. From that aspect, it’s disappointing, but a top 10 has a lot of positives. It was a lot of fun driving the car.”

However, in the same breath, Reddick’s competitive nature showed through as well, as he believed his team’s finish could have been a good bit higher – something he was driven to try and attain as well.

“It was a unique opportunity, but I always want more,” Reddick said. “I’ve raced against some of these guys in the Xfinity Series. It’s still a lot of fun to finish in the top 10, but we didn’t come here to run top 10.

“We came here for the win and that’s what I hope we can get one of these times.”

While Reddick doesn’t have any more Cup Series starts on his calendar as of yet, he heads to Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway in two weeks’ time as the Xfinity Series point leader and locked into the playoffs, thanks to his April victory at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway over Gray Gaulding.

Reddick has never won at Charlotte, but has momentum in his back pocket as he looks to improve on a career-best mark of 10th at the 1.5-mile quad-oval, set in 2017 with Chip Ganassi Racing.

ROSSBURG, Ohio – Logan Schuchart nearly tracked down Donny Schatz during the opening act of #LetsRaceTwo weekend at Eldora Speedway, but in the end, a half second back was as close as he got.

The Shark Racing driver made mincemeat of a two-second deficit to Schatz after surging into the runner-up position at lap 13 of Friday night’s 30-lap feature, looking like a driver hell-bent on scoring his second World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series win at the half-mile dirt oval.

However, traffic in the final laps was Schuchart’s nemesis, as lap cars put themselves in the paths he needed to go in to try and make time on the No. 15 Tony Stewart Racing/Curb-Agajanian mount.

That left the No. 1s entry one spot short of its ultimate goal, with Schuchart not quite able to replicate his winning effort from the #LetsRaceTwo kickoff two years earlier.

“You always want to be one spot better, but our car was really strong,” noted Schuchart. “I kind of wanted a yellow at the end, just to see what we had, and never ended up getting it. I was running the top, and that’s where I felt like I was really gaining on Donny (Schatz) a little bit, but the lap cars we ran into at the end took my line and made it to where I couldn’t get by.”

Friday night marked Schuchart’s third second-place finish in a row at Eldora during the May weekend.

“It’s all good. Last year I ran second to Donny both nights, and I just wanted another shot at him on Saturday night,” Schuchart said. “The weather didn’t agree, unfortunately, but this race team works hard on these cars and it’s fun that we’re running up front. We’ve been putting ourselves in good spots.”

– Lost in the frenetic battle for the win on Friday night between Schatz, Schuchart and outside polesitter Carson Macedo was a quiet top-five finish for Schuchart’s Shark Racing teammate, Jacob Allen.

Allen came forward from ninth to fifth in the 30-lap main event, earning just his second top-five finish in 14 attempts so far this season. He sits 13th in the series standings, while Schuchart is sixth in points.

Of note on the statistical side, Schatz is the only driver to have top-10 finishes in all 14 races this year.

– Looking down the box score, qualifying well on Friday night didn’t particularly lead to a good run come feature time, as neither driver who topped World of Outlaws qualifying cracked the top five.

Flight-A fast qualifier Shane Stewart was a disappointing 13th, while Flight-B quick timer Parker Price-Miller ended his Friday night in eighth.

– A solid last month for Kraig Kinser continued Friday night with KSE Hard Charger honors at the Eldora half-mile.

Kinser, the last driver to transfer into the feature from the Last Chance Showdown, rallied from 24th on the grid to finish 12th, advancing more places than any other driver in the field.

The son of 20-time World of Outlaws champion Steve Kinser sits 10th in points through 14 races.

– So far this year, the Outlaws have lost eight of 22 races to weather, accounting for a third of the series schedule over the first three months on the calendar.

The next series event is Wednesday night’s Gettysburg Clash at Pennsylvania’s Lincoln Speedway.

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KANSAS CITY, Kan. – When Brad Keselowski took the checkered flag Saturday at Kansas Speedway, it wasn’t just symbolic of another victory for Team Penske in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.

It was a tribute to the man who helped launch not just Keselowski’s career at the national level, but the careers of many present-day household names from the NASCAR garage.

Keselowski’s first thoughts during his victory lane interview were not about his own performance, but about paying tribute to the memory of the late Mike Mittler, who passed away Friday afternoon at the age of 67 following a lengthy battle with cancer.

Mittler was a longtime team owner in what is now the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series, with 301 career starts as an owner, and gave drivers like Keselowski, Carl Edwards, Jamie McMurray, Justin Allgaier and Regan Smith some of their earliest NASCAR national series starts.

All of those drivers, Keselowski included, went on to race in the premier Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series after plying their trades early on with Mittler’s small team.

“I’ve got to dedicate this win to Mike Mittler,” said Keselowski. “He helped a lot of guys in their career, and I was one of them, and he passed away … and it’s just such a huge loss for the NASCAR community.  He’s one of those unsung heroes that worked in the garage and gave his whole life to this sport, and there’s so many of those guys.

“Man, it just hurts to see those guys go away.”

Though several of Mittler’s drivers went on to stardom on asphalt – Edwards earned one of MB Motorsports’ three top-10 finishes at Kansas in 2002 – Mittler’s closest shaves with victory actually came on the dirt.

With dirt late model ace Bobby Pierce at the controls of the iconic No. 63 truck, Mittler watched one of his entries contend for victory in 2015 on one of the sport’s biggest stages – Eldora Speedway.

Pierce qualified fastest, won his heat race and then led 39 laps from the pole position, dicing back and forth throughout the 150-lap feature with midget and sprint car star Christopher Bell, who was then a relative unknown in NASCAR circles, much like Pierce was himself at that time.

Though Bell ultimately stood in victory lane that night, Pierce and Mittler marveled afterward at what they had accomplished by fighting tooth-and-nail against some of the Truck Series’ fiercest competition.

“I thought if it stayed green, we’d have every opportunity to work (Bell) and get by him, but it just didn’t go that way, “ Mittler told NASCAR.com at the time. “I just thought, ‘Wow, what a phenomenal opportunity that after 20 years, we’re in position to finally have an opportunity to win a race.’

“That’s why you’re in this sport, to be in contention to win. It wasn’t a fluke. We were there all day. It was no fluke at all. The kid’s the real deal. He said this is a dream come true for him. It is for me, too.”

Pierce came back to Eldora the next year with Mittler, won his heat race and started from the pole position again, leading 102 laps before crashing out inside of 25 to go.

Perhaps Mittler’s lasting legacy in the NASCAR garage area was his willingness to give chances to and to mentor largely-unproven talents, such as Pierce.

That label could have easily applied to McMurray and Edwards as well, when they drove for Mittler back in 1999 and 2002, respectively. In fact, it was a quality McMurray paid tribute to over the weekend.

“Mike Mittler gave me my first big break in NASCAR,” McMurray wrote on social media. “He loved racing as much or more than anyone I have ever been around. I will always cherish the time I spent racing for Mike and the time I spent with he and his wife Bev.

“Mike helped so many people in our sport,” added McMurray on FOX Sports 1. “His impact was wide-reaching and he’s going to be dearly missed, I can say that for sure.”

Though Mittler never scored a win in NASCAR competition, it could be argued that he was as much a winner as any of NASCAR’s top owners, by virtue of his grit, determination and passion for the sport.

It’s that passion that will be forever missed by so many in the NASCAR garage.

“(We received) very sad news with the passing of Mike Mittler,” said NASCAR executive vice president and chief racing development officer Steve O’Donnell. “We’re thinking about his family, MB Motorsports and the No. 63 (team) tonight. Mike was a special guy who was beloved in the racing community and a true representative of what NASCAR is all about.”

Mittler got what the spirit of NASCAR is made of at its roots: competition, a never-give-up attitude and a willingness to help others beyond just making one’s own operation better.

His impact and legacy will never be forgotten, but his presence at the race track will be forever missed.

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DUBUQUE, Iowa – Though he tried high and low, the latter worked in the end for Jeremiah Hurst Sunday evening at Dubuque Speedway.

The Dubuque ace slid by early leader Terry Neal after a caution and ultimately won the 25-lap Eichman’s Bar and Grill IMCA Late Model season opener.

“They (his crew) were down at the turn waving me to stay low and it worked,” Hurst said in Hoker Trucking Victory Lane. “The car was great. The track was great. It was a special night.”

The track, under new promoter Trackside Promotions, finally got the opener on the fifth try due to bad weather through April and first weekend of May.

Andy Nezworski also got by Neal for the runner up spot in the end, while Matt Ryan and Jeff Tharp rounded out the top five.

Jeff Larson weave his way through two and three wide groups to take the 20-lap Merfeld Brothers Automotive IMCA Modified feature. Early leader Jaden Fryer, a charging Tyler Madigan, Jed Freiburger and Austin Moyer came next.

Tyler Soppe launched from his P3 start and held off Gage Neal in a very competitive Peosta Warehousing Logistics IMCA SportMod finale. Wes Digman, Jason Roth and Jacob Ellithorpe completed the top five.

Dakota Simonsen went to the front early and capped the Kinsella Concrete IMCA Hobby Stock 12-lap feature, ahead of Daniel Wauters, Quinton Miller, Brandon White and Roger Winkers.

Wauters took the Trackside Back Row Challenge, hoping to win a bonus for coming from the back to the win, but fell one position short.

Cole Mather beat Kyle Merkes and Reece Norton in the IMCA Stock Car 12-lap feature, while Joe Zrostlik won the 4 Cylinder main over John Campbell, Robbie Harding, Jacob Welter and Rick Hempstead.

A total of 67 race teams hit the track on a chilly Mother’s Day evening to start the season.

BOSTON -- After a 6-2 blowout against the Boston Bruins in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals, Carolina Hurricanes captain Justin Williams said his team needs to rediscover who they are -- and that process might not be so palatable.

"You spend all this time leading up, with everyone writing articles about how great we are," Williams said Sunday. "You come out, and sometimes you gotta eat a poop sandwich. It doesn't taste good. You have to chew on it for a couple days, we'll have to do it for a couple days, and hopefully get the taste out next game."

After allowing just five goals over four games to the New York Islanders in the second round, the Hurricanes have allowed the Bruins to score 11 goals in the first two games of this series. Carolina is in an 0-2 hole with Game 3 on Tuesday in Raleigh.

It was an eventful game for the 37-year-old Williams, who was baited in the second period into taking a holding penalty after an altercation with Bruins winger Brad Marchand. As Williams skated to the penalty box, Marchand appeared to taunt him by pointing to the box and miming a "C" on his chest. The Bruins scored on the ensuing power play.

Williams scored the Canes' first goal in the third period, but by then, the game was out of hand, as Boston had already built a 6-0 lead.

"I think he was a little frustrated that he fell down," Marchand said of the altercation. "But it was just good that we capitalized on that opportunity. I've been on that side plenty of times. It's not fun. He's their captain. He's their leader over there and bounced back with a big goal late to get them going. So he's got a lot of character, he plays hard, and he's a good player for them."

When asked if he was showing Williams which way the penalty box was, Marchand laughed. "Yeah, I guess," he said.

On the penalty, Williams said. "I'm old enough. I gotta know better."

There was some curiosity as to why Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour did not pull goalie Petr Mrazek. The 27-year-old goaltender sustained a groin injury in Game 2 of the second-round series against the Islanders and missed Games 3 and 4 before returning this series.

Brind'Amour, a rookie NHL head coach, has not pulled a goaltender for performance all season. Mrazek has given up 10 straight goals in this series.

Brind'Amour said the only bad goal was the first one, which "was no good, and he knows that." The coach said he considered pulling Mrazek and chatted about it, but the goalie said he didn't want to come out.

"He's a battler," Brind'Amour said. "A lot of other guys on the bench deserve to come out if that's what we're doing. That's not how we do it."

The Hurricanes also fell behind 0-2 in their first-round series against the defending Stanley Cup champion Washington Capitals. They won the next two games at home and won the series in Game 7. Williams is nicknamed "Mr. Game 7," as he has scored 15 goals in nine Game 7s -- the most in NHL history -- and orchestrated Brock McGinn's game-winning goal against the Capitals with an assist.

"We certainly don't think we can't do it," Williams said of climbing out of another 0-2 hole. "If they are going to advance, we're certainly going to make it as tough as we can on them, and it won't be easy."

Williams promised that his team will be much better when it returns to Raleigh.

"We gotta chew on it," Williams said, referring to his sandwich metaphor. "And Game 3 is ours."

Bruins thump Hurricanes 6-2, take 2-0 lead in East finals

Matt Grzelcyk scored twice -- his first career multigoal game -- and Tuukka Rask made 21 saves Sunday to lead the Bruins to a 6-2 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes and a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference finals.