Two snooker veterans upset the form book at the 19.com English Open, leaving them as the only Welshmen left standing as the third round gets underway. Against the odds, Dominic Dale secured a place in the last 32 of a ranking event for only the second time in 23 attempts. The 47-year-old eased through 4-1 against Xu Si – conqueror of Matthew Stevens in round one – to set up a clash against world number 68 Tian Pengfei.

Aaron Ramsey is set to return for Juventus this weekend – less than week after missing Wales’ Euro 2020 qualifier against Croatia because of injury. The Wales midfielder has trained with his Italian club and is in contention to return from a groin injury to face Genoa in Turin on Saturday. That will be a mixed blessing for Wales manager Ryan Giggs, who must now hope Ramsey can sustain fitness until Wales’ decisive final qualifiers in Azerbaijan on November 16 and at home to Hungary three days later.

Goalkeeper Alex Harris kept a clean sheet for the Martyrs, but they left Dorset feeling they should have taken all three points. Merthyr Town faced a Dorchester Town team who have now gone six BetVictor Southern League fixtures without a win and are deep in relegation trouble. The Martyrs created chances and hit a post […]

Ken Owens is backing the strength of shared experience to prove the decisive factor in Wales’ favour when they meet France in Sunday’s World Cup quarter-final. The Wales hooker made his Test debut at the 2011 World Cup and is now one of the most experienced players in the squad that will be bidding for a place in the last four in Oita. Owens was a wide-eyed youngster back then and back-up to current Wales conditioning coach Huw Bennett, but the Scarlets captain has since gone on to pass Bennett’s half century mark of appearances and will earn his 71st Wales cap on Sunday.

The World Cup quarter-final is looming, with Wales firm favourites with the bookies to beat a disjointed, and often disorganised France. Robin Davey doesn’t find any reason to disagree and says it all points to north v south in two epic semi-finals. It’s Le Crunch, with Wales just 80 minutes away from securing a place in the last four of the World Cup, and with it, revenge against France who controversially dumped them out of the 2011 tournament. Wales will go in to Sunday’s quarter-final as favourites, having won all four of their pool games – one of only two sides to achieve that with hosts Japan being the other – whereas, France have again looked anything but convincing.

Rhiannon Linington-Payne swapped the desert climate of Doha for the muddy autumnal parkland of Cardiff’s Llandaff Fields last weekend. Less than a week before, the Welsh Athletics employee was one of an army of officials and volunteers ensuring the smooth running of the IAAF World Athletics Championships in Qatar. Now, having spent a fortnight working in 40-plus degree temperatures in Doha, Linington-Payne could be found squelching around in her wellies, helping to ensure the annual Cardiff Cross Challenge ran just as efficiently as the World Championships.

Wrexham’s dreadful run of form continued with a 1-0 home defeat against fellow Vanarama National League strugglers Chesterfield at the Racecourse. Manager Dean Keates watched in dismay as the Dragons slipped to defeat, courtesy of a first half own goal, and slipped into the relegation zone. A moment of miscommunication between goalkeeper Rob Lainton and […]

Tesni Evans has highlighted the impact of her home crowd after coming back from the brink to beat Joelle King as the Welsh Wizards earned their first win of the season on Tuesday night. Evans – the world number nine – produced a stunning comeback from a game down, and then 6-0 down in the decider, to world number six King as the Wizards beat St George’s in round two of the Premier Squash League. The victory by Wales’ Commonwealth Games bronze medalist – against the New Zealander who took gold last year – sent the Wizards on their way to an emphatic 4-1 victory.

Cardiff Devils 2, Frolunda Indians 9 Cardiff Devils were shot down by a teenage Swedish sniper in their Champions Hockey League match against Frolunda Indians in Cardiff Bay. Los Angeles Kings NHL draft pick Samuel Fagemo, a 19-year-old Gothenburg-born forward currently playing for his home city club, scored four goals at the Viola Arena and sent […]

Sam Surridge has pinpointed promotion to the Premier League as his driving ambition with Swansea City as he returns following the international break. The Swans striker – currently on a season-long loan from Bournemouth – was a late call-up to the England U21 squad and scored on his debut in the 2-2 draw in Slovenia. Surridge was then an unused substitute in the 5-1 thrashing of Austria which took England to the top of their Euro U21 qualifying group.

Neil Jenkins wants to extend Warren Gatland’s coaching reign with Wales for three more matches – and one World Cup trophy – before the New Zealander leaves his job after 12 years. Gatland’s time as coach will end on Sunday if the Six Nations champions lose to World Cup quarter-final opponents France in Oita. But Jenkins – who as assistant coach and kicking specialist has been with Gatland every step of the way – wants to prolong the long goodbye to the maximum.

By Simon Kendal-Williams Mark Williams booked his place in the second round of the 19.com English Open – before hinting that he may hang up his cue at the end of the season. The three-time world champion was made to dig deep by fellow Welshman Jamie Clarke at the K2 Centre in Crawley, eventually closing […]

Wrexham play Chesterfield at home this evening – and the same teams clash again in a cup tie on Saturday. The Spireites, from Derbyshire, play a Vanarama National League match at the Racecourse tonight, while the Dragons travel to the Proact Stadium for an Emirates FA Cup tie on Saturday. “It has to be three […]

England international Jo Harten broke Celtic Dragons’ hearts with a magnificent personal display in the British Fast5 All-Stars. Harten scored all 35 points for Loughborough Lightning during a devastating 35-33 defeat in the semi-finals at London’s Copper Box Arena. The top eight teams from Vitality Netball Superleague 2018-19 qualified for the Fast5 and Dragons were […]

Ipswich Town (u-23) 3, Cardiff City (u-23) 1 Teenager Shamar Moore, who has made one first team appearance for the Bluebirds this evening, scored Cardiff City’s goal in their Professional Under-23 Development League match against Ipswich Town.  Attacking player Moore, who replaced Isaac Vassell for the second half of the Carabao Cup tie against Luton […]

Cardiff Devils have flown into Europe ‘On the Wings of an Army’ this season – and tonight, in Cardiff Bay, their Champions Hockey League campaign reaches a climax. Captain Joey Martin and his team can still qualify for the last 16 knockout stages from their group if they beat reigning CHL title winners Frolunda Indians […]

As the months tick down to less than one year to go to next year’s Paralympics, Graham Thomas looks at the Welsh athletes who have already booked their places – and those striving to join them. Jim Roberts is rarely slow off the mark as one of the UK’s leading wheelchair rugby players and he has got there ahead of the rest when it comes to next year’s Paralympics. Welshpool-born Roberts became the first Welsh athlete to book his place for Tokyo next year as the countdown begins to the Games which are now just less than a year away.

Anna Kimberley, footballer turned squash player, makes her Premier Squash League debut for Welsh Wizards in Cardiff this evening (Tuesday) when they entertain St George’s. The 24-year-old Kimberley, from Colchester in Essex, was intent on becoming a professional footballer when she was introduced to squash at her primary school. Now the former Trinity University, USA […]

Joe Allen had admitted his regret at the yellow card that will cost him a chance to help put Wales a step nearer Euro 2020 qualification – but still backs Wales to do the job in Azerbaijan. Allen will miss the crunch clash in Baku on November 16 after being booked in the 1-1 home draw against Croatia on Sunday. The influential Stoke City midfielder was cautioned four minutes from time and his third yellow card of the competition means he must sit out the penultimate qualifier.

The muddy cross country trails of Llandaff Fields may not quite have been the green, green grass of home for Mike Ward, but the Cardiff-born runner was delighted to be back on home soil last Saturday. The Cardiff AC athlete, who is back in Britain after spending the past five years studying and competing successfully in the United States, is now setting his sights on a place in Wales’ team for the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. Last weekend’s Cardiff Cross Challenge proved to be the ideal event for Ward to make his competitive return on Welsh soil as he finished third in a top quality field gathered from around the United Kingdom.