National coach Ray Williams hailed a staggering treble silver haul by Welsh weightlifters at the Commonwealth Championships in Samoa. Commonwealth Games champ Gareth Evans led the way with a British record breaking display to finish second in the 67kg category. And the future of the sport looks assured with 15-year-old Josh Lynch taking silver in […]

As players go back into regional pre-season training this month, they will be hearing plenty of different accents – Aussie, Kiwi, Ulsterman, English . . . but just not Welsh. Robin Davey wonders why it’s so deeply unfashionable to have learned your coaching trade in the nation that has just won the Grand Slam. It is one of the great ironies of Welsh rugby that while players who have left the country are being encouraged to return home, native coaches can’t get a look-in. The dismissal of Jason Strange from Cardiff Blues proves yet again that when it comes to coaching, anything stamped “import version” is best in the eyes of the WRU and the regions.

Wales’ two-weight British Champion Liam Williams is promising to put on a spectacular show at London’s O2 Arena on Saturday night. The Church Village man is bidding to claim the WBC silver middleweight crown against durable Frenchman Karim Achour. And the man they call “The Machine” has pledged to become the first man to stop Achour, who has taken the likes of former world champion David Lamieux the distance in the past.

Rising Welsh middle distance star Jake Heyward launches his European Under-23 1500m title challenge on Thursday evening. The Cardiff AC athlete will take to the track at 7pm local time in the Swedish city of Gavle in the first round of the 1500m. Heyward is a European champion at Youth and under-20 age grades and goes into this year’s Under-23 Championships as the fastest man in the field on paper with a personal best of 3:36.90 – just ahead of nearest rival, Frenchman Baptiste Mischler, who has a PB of 3:37.17.

St Asaph-born Suzy Drane, the current golden girl of Welsh netball, is 101 not out. Drane, a full-time lecturer at Cardiff Metropolitan University, has powered past the century landmark in senior international appearances for Wales – and is closing in on record holder Helen Weston. Wales completed their summer Test series in Cardiff with four […]

Wrexham return to North Wales from their ‘fantastic’ tour to the Algarve believing they are on course for a successful National League season. The Dragons have suffered back-to-back 1-0 pre-season defeats – against Fleetwood and Portuguese club Portimonense – but manager Bryan Hughes says: “It was a fantastic training camp in Portugal. For a National […]

Wales’ Phil Pratt will lead GB’s Wheelchair Basketball squad at the European Championships in Poland next month. The Newport ace skippered the team to World Championship glory in Hamburg last year when they beat defending Paralympic champs the USA. Now the 12-strong squad will be looking to add the European title (August 30-September 8) and qualification for next year’s Tokyo Paralympics hots-up.

Wales can make the breakthrough and become a top four European nation in Australian Rules football – in both the men’s and women’s game – according to national coach Tom Case. Both national teams recently returned from the Euro Cup in Sweden, where countries from across the continent competed in a sport which continues to expand away from its heartland Down Under. Wales men finished seventh – which was a disappointment for a side hopeful of elbowing their way into the elite – but the women enjoyed their best placing yet of sixth.

By Matthew Burgess The New Saints were left stunned as FK Feronikeli made a sensational comeback to draw 2-2 – and deny the Welsh side what had seemed a certain first-leg victory in their Champions League clash. Second-half goals from Greg Draper and Aeron Edwards had put The New Saints in control of the home […]

Evan Hoyt isn’t the only Welsh tennis player who has been sampling the rarefied atmosphere of life in the second week of Wimbledon. While the Llanelli mixed doubles quarter-finalist is blazing a trail not ventured by a Welshman in the senior tournament since 1975, two Welsh Juniors have also been in action in SW19 today.

Versatile Welsh runner Remi Adebiyi has been added to the Great Britain team for the European Under-20 Championships in Sweden later this month. Adebiyi will join fellow Welsh athletes Jeremiah Azu, Sarah Omoregie and James Tomlinson, who qualified automatically for the team and were named in the original selection of 30 athletes two weeks ago.

Blair Riley is heading to Cardiff intent on making a major impact for Elite League play-off champions Devils. The Canadian hit man from Kamloops left EIHL title winners Belfast Giants in the Middle of a two-year contract – and had every right to do so. “Devils were the only team in Britain I would have […]

George Byers has signalled his determination to push for promotion with Swansea City after signing a new three-year contract at the club. The former Watford midfielder enjoyed a breakthrough campaign last season and was one of the club’s most consistent performers from the turn of the year. Along with Daniel James and Oli McBurnie, Byers was one of the reasons why the Swans were able to come with a late surge that almost took them into the play-offs, before they finally fell away.

Wrexham take on top-flight Portuguese club Portimonense SC on the Algarve this evening (7pm). The pre-season fixture is at Estádio Municipal de Portimão and Dragons’ defender James Jennings says: “They beat Benfica last season so it is going to be a difficult game. “But it is always good to test yourself.” This is the third […]

Hannah Powell and Catrin Jones got Wales’ campaign at the Commonwealth Weightlifting Championships off to a medal winning start in Samoa. Powell set new personal bests in the snatch, clean and jerk and total to bag the silver medal in the senior event.

Colwyn Bay travel to Ellesmere Port club Vauxhall Motors this evening as they begin preparations for their first season back in the Welsh football system (7.00). Following their decision to leave the English system after 35 years, Colwyn Bay will get their pre-season programme underway ahead of their debut season competing in the new Tier 2 Championship North & Mid league. After taking on Vauxhall, Colwyn Bay travel to Caernarfon Town on Saturday to face the Cofis at The Oval in their second pre-season outing.

Evan Hoyt’s epic Wimbledon adventure is contain using after he reached the quarter finals of the mixed doubles. The Llanelli-born player and partner Eden Silva’s produced a superb comeback to beat Belgium’s Joran Vliegen and Saisai Zheng of China in the third round.

Alun Wyn Jones’ decision to stay with the Ospreys has been welcomed as a chance to continue the Wales captain’s legacy, according to his regional coach Allen Clarke. The likely World Cup skipper has ended uncertainty over his future by agreeing a new two-year deal to stay at the Liberty Stadium. Even though the Welsh Rugby Union have scrapped dual contracts, they have made an exception with Jones in a deal that ties him to both. It also means that at the age of 33, the second row is now likely to see out his playing career with his home-town region.

If it’s early July, and most of the football world is heading back to pre-season training, then The New Saints must be playing in the Champions League. Their striker Greg Draper knows the storyline, but this time he wants a different ending, as Matthew Burgess reports. The Champions League qualifying rounds are familiar territory for Welsh Premier League champions The New Saints. This evening’s visit of Kosovan side Feronikeli marks their eighth successive season in the competition, and although it’s a well-trodden path, the club are yet to truly make their mark on the European stage.

Cardiff Devils are preparing for their Champions Hockey League fixtures with confidence says head coach Andrew Lord. Elite League play-off winners Devils have been drawn in a tough group which includes European champions Frolunda Indians. The powerful Swedish club, based in Gothenburg, have won the CHL title three times in the last four seasons and […]