Daily Sports News, July, 11th.
Welcome to the Daily Sports News :
- Harlequins and Sale kick off the return of Premiership on August 14 ;
- England v West Indies: Stuart Broad 'angry' at being left out of Test ;
- Wimbledon: How Pete Sampras defied injury to become 'the greatest' in 2000 ;
- Champions League draw offers possibility Barcelona-Bayern clash in Lisbon ;
Harlequins and Sale kick off the return of Premiership on August 14
Harlequins and Sale Sharks will have the honour of kicking off the resumption of Gallagher Premiership Rugby season on Friday August 14.
All attention will turn to the Twickenham Stoop, 159 days after the last Gallagher Premiership Rugby match was staged.
Following the opener in west London, there will be four compelling matches on Saturday at Bath Rugby, Worcester Warriors, Bristol Bears and leaders Exeter Chiefs before the weekend ends at Franklin's Gardens where Northampton Saints face Wasps.
Premiership Rugby can also confirm that the Premiership Rugby Final 2020 will take place on Saturday October 24.
Clubs will have to prepare players for midweek fixtures, with a minimum turnaround of four days, but Premiership chief executive Darren Childs insists all 12 teams have been hugely supportive of plans to ensure the final nine rounds of the 2019/20 season are completed.
"The reaction has been really positive. It was very clear early on we wanted to keep the integrity of competition and, if possible, we could avoid cancelling rounds and awarding points," said Childs.
England v West Indies: Stuart Broad 'angry' at being left out of Test
England pace bowler Stuart Broad says he is "angry, frustrated and gutted" to have been left out of the first Test against West Indies in Southampton.
Broad, England's all-time second-highest wicket-taker in Tests, was omitted in favour of James Anderson, Jofra Archer and Mark Wood.
"I've found the last couple of days quite tough," the 34-year-old told Sky Sports.
"To say I'm disappointed would be an understatement."
Broad has taken 48 wickets at an average of 23.52 in Tests in the past year - only Australia's Pat Cummins has taken more.
He had played all of England's Tests in that period, all while each of Anderson, Archer and Wood endured long injury lay-offs.
However, with all three fit to play in Southampton, England restored Anderson, their all-time leading wicket-taker, and combined the extra pace of Archer and Wood for the first time in Tests.
"It is quite a hard decision to understand," added Broad. "I've probably bowled the best I've ever bowled in the last couple of years.
Wimbledon: How Pete Sampras defied injury to become 'the greatest' in 2000
The flashbulbs flickered and illuminated a Centre Court close to darkness.
In the middle of Wimbledon's greatest stage was Pete Sampras. He had just been crowned the greatest men's tennis player of all time.
Often inscrutable, the American welled up as the magnitude of his achievement hit home. It was a rare sight. Yet it wasn't surprising considering the circumstances.
On 9 July 2000, Sampras beat Australia's Pat Rafter in a classic SW19 final to win his 13th Grand Slam and surpass Roy Emerson's 33-year men's record.
A rain-disrupted thriller ending at 8.57pm also extended Sampras' record of Wimbledon men's singles success to a seventh title in eight years.
But there was more behind the tears.
There was relief from the mental pressure endured during two weeks where he could barely walk between matches. There was pride at achieving his ultimate goal in front of his parents, witnesses at a major title for the first time.
"Whatever happened in my career or my tennis or mentally, it happened for a reason," Sampras said. "In a lot of ways, I felt like I was born to win Wimbledon."
Champions League draw offers possibility Barcelona-Bayern clash in Lisbon
Barcelona and Bayern Munich will meet in the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League should both sides make it through, Friday's draw for the final eight confirmed.
Barcelona and Bayern Munich will meet in a blockbuster Champions League quarter-final should both sides make it through, after Friday's draw for the latter stages of the competition which will be played out in Lisbon in August following a long suspension because of the coronavirus.
Barca and Bayern, who have each won five European Cups, are hoping to be among the eight teams who will head to the Portuguese capital for a 'Final Eight' mini tournament behind closed doors, with the final on August 23 at Benfica's Estadio da Luz.
Bayern, who won their eighth straight German Bundesliga title last month, already have one foot in the quarter-finals having won 3-0 away to Chelsea in the first leg of their last-16 tie in March, while Barcelona have more work to do after a 1-1 draw with Napoli in the first leg in Italy.
"We all know what's happened, but football is back now and we're up for the Champions League campaign," Guillermo Amor, Barcelona's director of institutional relations, told UEFA.com.