Our sympathies to Essex player Ben Nicholson after Sri Lanka tragedy 
By LEE HORTON – Squash Mad Reporter

The heartfelt thoughts of everyone in squash go out to Essex player Ben Nicholson, whose wife and two children were killed in the horror bombings in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday.

In a statement released over the weekend, Mr Nicholson, formerly from Grays in Essex, said: “I am deeply distressed at the loss of my wife and children. Anita was a wonderful, perfect wife and a brilliant, loving and inspirational mother to our two wonderful children.

“Alex and Annabel were the most amazing, intelligent, talented and thoughtful children and Anita and I were immensely proud of them both and looking forward to seeing them develop into adulthood. They shared with their mother the priceless ability to light up any room they entered and bring joy to the lives of all they came into contact with.”

Mr Nicholson is a partner in the Singapore office of international firm Kennedys. In a statement this morning, Kennedys confirmed the ‘devastating news’ and said it is supporting Ben in every way it can.

The spokesperson added: “Ben is now surrounded by the loving support of his family. This is devastating news and our thoughts are very much with Ben at this difficult time. Understandably, we ask that you respect Ben’s privacy at this tragic time.”

Mr Nicholson revealed how his wife and two children were blown up at a breakfast table in Sri Lanka and said they had ‘mercifully’ died instantly.

Newspaper reports said: Ben Nicholson, 43, was seen wandering the streets of Colombo in a blood-soaked T-shirt in a desperate search for news amid the Easter Sunday massacre which killed at least 321 people, including 45 children.

His wife Anita, 42, son Alex, 14, and daughter Annabel, 11, were killed in the restaurant bombing at the Shangri-La Hotel in Colombo when two suicide bombers walked in and blew themselves up at breakfast.

Mr Nicholson said they had ‘mercifully died instantly and with no pain or suffering’, in the Table One cafe on the second floor of the hotel, where they were staying on a family holiday.

Mr Nicholson will have many friends from his time playing at Tilbury Squash Club and the Rackets Club at Corringham in Essex. He was also a member at Lamb’s Club in London. His father Eddie also coached at Tilbury.

The Squash Mad team sends our heartfelt condolences to Mr Nicholson and his family at this most tragic of times. 

Saracens and England winger David Strettle will retire from professional rugby at the end of the season.

The 35-year-old played 14 Tests for England between 2007 and 2013, scoring two international tries.

The former Rotherham Titans and Harlequins player rejoined Sarries last summer following a spell with French side Clermont Auvergne.

"I spoke to my wife and we decided now is the time to say goodbye to rugby," he said.

"There are some more adventures for me elsewhere.

"I'm lucky enough to be able to look back, be very proud and privileged to have done some of the things I've done."

Strettle helped Saracens win two Premiership titles in his first spell with the north London club between 2010 and 2015, and he also helped Clermont win the Top 14.

He has scored 122 tries in over 325 appearances over the course of his 17-year club career.

TALLADEGA, Ala. – Veteran Stanton Barrett will return to the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series this weekend to drive the No. 52 Chevrolet for Rick Ware Racing.

The Bishop, Calif., native is set to make his 24th career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series start, but first on a superspeedway. Barrett efforts for his first Cup Series race of the season will be supported by Swedish-based Huski Chocolate.

Huski Chocolate will utilize Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race to help launch the company’s ready to drink chocolate beverage, while also explore other business-to-business initiatives for the Huski Chocolate hot chocolate line.

“I’m glad to be back at the race track this weekend,” said Barrett who recently completed his stunt work in the upcoming expected summer blockbuster John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum. “I’ve been super busy with my companies, but it’s exciting to come back to NASCAR and not only bring a new sponsor to the sport – but one that is sure to resonate with NASCAR fans.”

Over the course of his NASCAR career, Barrett has made five starts at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway between the NASCAR Xfinity Series and NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series. In 1999, he earned a personal track best of 15th.

While expecting a very competitive race abreast a new rules package and the introduction of tapered spacers, Barrett says a good day will be finishing the race in one-piece with a solid finish.

“There are a lot of unknowns going into this weekend’s race. I’ve ran up front many times at superspeedways and seem to get caught up in the “big one” but we hope this weekend will be different,” added Barrett. “We’re already locked into the race – so we’ll be working on finding the right balance with our No. 52 Huski Chocolate Chevrolet and make sure when we need to put ourselves in the right place we can do so.

“Bringing a good finish will give us some momentum to maybe hopefully come back in the fall.”

Rick Ware, team principal of Rick Ware Racing says the team is thrilled to welcome Barrett back to the team. Barrett made his most recent Cup Series start for Rick Ware Racing last year at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval.

“Stanton and I have worked together for a lot of years and I’m always happy to have him behind the wheel of one of our cars,” Ware said. “I think Sunday is a race where we can go and be competitive and he (Stanton) can work with the 51 car and have the chance to bring home our best results of the season.”

J.D. Beach turned heads in the motorcycle racing fraternity when it was announced he would be contesting both the American Flat Track and MotoAmerica Superbike championships this season.

Beach will race Yamahas in both series — an Estenson Racing Yamaha MT-07 in AFT Twins competition and Attack Performance-Estenson Racing Yamaha YZF-R1 in Superbike.

It’s going to be a whirlwind of activity with potentially 28 national events stuffed into a seven-month timeframe.

For the first three decades of professional motorcycle racing in America, the path to the national championship included both road races and flat-track races. From the inception of the AMA Grand National Championship in 1954 to the 1985 season, if a rider wanted to be AMA Grand National champion their chances of winning that No. 1 plate would be greatly increased if they were good on both dirt and tarmac.

Legendary riders such as Joe Leonard, Dick Mann, Gary Nixon, Kenny Roberts, Bubba Shobert and Nicky Hayden proved to be not only champions, but racers who could go fast on any type of track.

INDIANAPOLIS – More than 20 U.S. Air Force recruits were on hand at Indianapolis Motor Speedway Tuesdsay as Conor Daly joined U.S. Air Force Recruiting Service Commander Brig. Gen. Jeannie Leavitt to unveil the No. 25 Indianapolis 500 livery.

Paying tribute to fighter jets throughout America’s Air Force history, Daly’s Indianapolis 500 colors display the iconic shark teeth war paint often carried into battle by the A-10 Thunderbolt, F-16 Fighting Falcon and F-35 Lightening.

“We’ve based the Indy 500 livery off of such a recognizable Air Force paint scheme and a tradition that spans 75 years now – stemming from the 75th anniversary of World War II and honoring our heritage,” said Major Ross McKnight, Chief, Air Force National Events Branch at Air Force Recruiting Service. “It’s meant to be a representation of how we’ve grown from our Air Corp days and WWII and all the way up to now. We’re working to honor and recognize the transition of technology from an American Volunteer Group and the P-40 Warhawk, in transition to the 23rd Fighter Group at Moody Air Force Base with the iconic A-10 and on to our fifth-generation fighters. We think the No. 25 car looks great and is a proper tribute to that history. We are looking forward to Conor getting out on track and officially entering the month of May.”

“Last year the fans loved our iconic thunderbird livery and I have a feeling they will appreciate this one just as much, if not more,” said Daly. “The aggressive look we’ve got going this year is fantastic. Paying tribute to the history of the fighter jet is an incredible honor and I can’t wait to finally get behind the wheel.”

The Indianapolis 500 will take place Sunday, May 26. He’ll be a teammate alongside Indianapolis 500 teammates Alexander Rossi, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Marco Andretti and Zach Veach.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — U.S. 13 Dragway recently kicked off its season in a big way.

After renewing its commitment to the International Hot Rod Ass’n with a new sanctioning agreement, the Delmar, Delaware track enjoyed a big crowd over a sunny weekend.

The historic facility, which opened in 1963, features a quarter-mile drag strip and a half-mile clay oval known as Delaware Int’l Speedway.  For track owner Charlie Cathell, being a part of the IHRA and the Summit SuperSeries makes sense.

The 76-year-old Cathell was one of the earliest supporters of bracket racing. The IHRA Summit SuperSeries program with track champions qualifying for the IHRA Summit World Finals in Memphis is similar to a program ran decades ago at his dirt track.

“A bracket program was something we had initially in the 70s,” he said. “We were also affiliated with a dirt organization where they had a program if you qualified at your local dirt track, you went to their version of the world finals at Syracuse. It was something good to offer the local racers.

“At the time, we were struggling along with everyone else. Class racing was starting to draw back and the tracks didn’t have the same standards. We were ready to fold the drag strip and I put bracket racing on table as a solution that might help us all. Bracket racing has been the salvation of a lot for a lot of drag strips.”

That being said, Cathell isn’t talking about the big-money event, but more supporting the local tracks with programs such as the IHRA Summit SuperSeries, the largest and most prestigious program in bracket racing.

Daryl Beauchamp won Top and Mod track championships, while Brett Holston captured the Junior Dragster titles at US 13 Dragway last season.

Just a few moments with Cathell and it’s easy to hear the passion in his voice. He tells the history of how the track got started.

His parents were the original owners of the track and he describes them as hard working people, who owned a small trucking company and other businesses. When they decided to venture into track ownership, they put a deposit down on a piece of property in Maryland. The local laws prohibited any businesses outside of movie theatres charging admission on Sundays.

One of Cathell’s friends had the land in Delaware, which his parents purchased and soon got a right-of-way off U.S. Route 13. Cathell caught the racing bug, finding success in a number of muscle cars.

The track was late getting started and Cathell said the crowds and race cars were a little shallow.

They opened a dirt track on the property in 1965. It was four years later after a renovation to bring fans closer to the action, that the property started to really take off. Now, the speedway part of the property features such cars as Big-Block Modifieds and Super Late Models.

With his lifetime of experience, Cathell has an appreciation for other track owners.

“Anybody that owns one of these knows it’s an ongoing struggle,” he said. “The biggest competition is Mother Nature.”

As for his part, Cathell is always looking to better the facility with a number of safety improvements unveiled before the 2019 season. A common refrain heard at many IHRA member tracks, Cathell said a key to success is the family atmosphere at US 13 Dragway.

“We’re blessed to have what you call Eastern Shore hospitality,” Cathell said. “When you come here to race, if it’s your first race, you’ll find someone over there talking to you and they will do something to help you. Now when you pull on the starting line, they’re going to try to whip your tail.

“But if you’re broke, you have needs, there are people there to help you get in the buy-back program. It’s not just us, it’s what I call our racer family. We’re in the third generation of ownerships and third generation of racers.”

CONCORD, N.C. – When the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series and zMAX Dragway first made plans for a four-wide drag race in 2010, Cruz Pedregon considered himself a fan of the concept.

Heading into this weekend’s 10th annual NGK Spark Plugs NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at the state-of-the-art facility, not much has changed for the two-time Funny Car world champion.

Pedregon still enjoys the most unique experience in drag racing, picking up his first four-wide win a year ago. It broke a long winless streak and now the veteran driver looks to grab his first win of 2019 in his 10,000-horsepower Snap-On Tools Dodge Charger. Based on previous performances, Pedregon, who is currently 11th in Funny Car points, has high expectations for the weekend as he again looks to thrive at one of the biggest spectacles in motorsports.

“Ten years for this race is a great milestone, and I’ve liked it from the very beginning,” said Pedregon, who has 36 career Funny Car wins. “It’s a little different and it mixes things up a little bit, but I like it. You get four Funny Cars out there, it’s quite a scene. It’s a lot of power. I like the facility and I love the track, and I’ve made some of my best runs in Charlotte.”

Steve Torrence (Top Fuel), Pedregon (Funny Car), and Jerry Savoie (Pro Stock Motorcycle) were last year’s winners. It is the sixth of 24 events during the NHRA season and Pedregon will look to cash in during the special 10th anniversary of the race.

Pedregon thrived in the unique conditions a year ago at zMAX Dragway, and he believes he’s bringing a better car to the race in 2019. He has qualified in the top half of the field at four of the first five races, qualifying third in Las Vegas. It has translated to just two round wins thus far, but Pedregon believes that luck is about to change. Things have come together well early in the season, and Pedregon remains confident in the path his team has taken.

“We’re on track and if we keep chopping wood, we’ll break through,” Pedregon said. “The main thing to do is not try too hard. You can’t press too hard whether you’re tuning or driving, and you just have to be confident in what you’re doing can carry you through. When you start pressing, that’s when you start making mistakes. This isn’t our first rodeo. The car is running well and we’re confident in what we’re doing away from the track and at the track will pay off.”

With the schedule picking up, including a stretch of three races in four weeks and seven in nine weeks, Pedregon knows he will need to be in prime form. Throw in the fact he’ll be competing against the likes of points leader Robert Hight, who has three wins in 2019, defending world champ J.R. Todd, John Force, Ron Capps and Phoenix winner Matt Hagan, and things get even more difficult. But Pedregon likes performing when things get challenging, and he seems to excel during the frenetic pace of the NGK Spark Plugs NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at zMAX Dragway.

“Every driver has a track where they do well, and for whatever reason Charlotte has been good to me,” Pedregon said. “I love going there. Our car is as good or a tick better than last year, so we’ll just try to go out and do what we did last year. For me, I prefer this type of year when it gets busy. I can get in more of a groove and we feel like the breaks will start to come for us.”

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Vegas Golden Knights coach Gerard Gallant called San Jose Sharks coach Peter DeBoer "a clown" for accusing Gallant of trash-talking Sharks players from the bench during their contentious playoff series, which ends with Game 7 at SAP Center on Tuesday night.

On Monday, DeBoer was asked if the chatter between the teams had dissipated as the series has worn on. "There's still chatter," he said. "Their coach is probably doing the most chatter. He's talking to our players constantly, which is something that I haven't seen before. That's probably where most of the chatter is coming from now. The players are playing."

DeBoer said one of the targets of Gallant's taunts was Sharks center Logan Couture, calling his counterpart's behavior "ridiculous."

Gallant heard about those comments and responded on the morning of Game 7.

"I really don't want to talk about that, but I think I'm going to have to a little bit. For that clown to say that in the paper yesterday, it's not right," Gallant said.

"There might have been two incidents that happened, and I'll tell you both of the incidents. Logan Couture -- I thought that was an embellishment, so I'm yelling at the referee. Not Logan Couture," Gallant said, in reference to a Game 5 incident in which Couture had teeth knocked out by a Jonathan Marchessault high stick but the on-ice officials didn't initially call a penalty.

"The other one, Game 2, Evander Kane is yelling at Ryan Reaves between the benches. Evander yells at me and says, 'Hey, Coach, when are you going to send your big guy on the ice and play him more than four minutes?' And I said, 'He's played 10 minutes every game, and he's going to play a lot more.'"

Gallant said those were the only two occasions in which he made comments regarding a Sharks player.

"If I'm going to be a chirper or a loudmouth -- I think people know me as a coach and respect me as coach. If he's going to yap about that, that's a little un-classy for me," he said.

Vegas players including Marchessault said they were unaware of any egregious "chirping" coming from their coach. "I never saw [Gallant] talk to another guy on the ice other than us. I would not assume that," Marchessault said. "Maybe they're a little extra sensitive."

This isn't the first time DeBoer has gotten into it with an opposing coach. In 2012, while with the New Jersey Devils, DeBoer and New York Rangers coach John Tortorella got into a war of words on the benches and in the media. At one point DeBoer dismissed Tortorella's criticisms of the Devils players as "comical."

As each NHL team is eliminated from playoff contention -- either mathematically or by losing in the postseason -- we'll take a look at why its quest for the Stanley Cup fell short in 2018-19, three keys to its offseason and a way-too-early prediction for what next season will hold.

What went wrong

What went wrong? You mean, besides the humbling inequity of the NHL's playoff format, in which the team with the fourth-most points in the Eastern Conference was forced to play the team with the third-most points in an opening-round playoff series? A system that has seemingly created a debilitating "Groundhog Day" scenario in which the Toronto Maple Leafs were forced into a first-round matchup with their primary tormentors, the Boston Bruins, only to suffer another soul-crushing Game 7 loss?

Beyond that, the Leafs remain a team that scores a ton of goals (3.49 per game) but gives up too many of them (3.04), and they continue to have issues with shot suppression, as only seven teams gave up more per game than did the Leafs in the regular season (33.1). The acquisition of John Tavares turned Toronto into a three-lines-deep offensive machine, but there's work to be done to get to true Stanley Cup contention level.