The Guardian

The Sauber driver has had a long wait to race on home soil and expectations are off the charts in Shanghai There has been no little wait for the home crowd and their local hero Zhou Guanyu but what a moment it will be when, finally, this weekend he becomes the first Chinese driver to compete at the Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai. Already the star of a documentary, the only Chinese driver to compe…

Manager says team must toughen up if they are to win the title Klopp takes hope from return of key players from serious injury Jürgen Klopp has admitted Liverpool have become “too easy” to play against and must toughen up if they are to stand any chance of winning the Premier League title. Klopp’s side travel to Fulham on Sunday in third, two points behind Manchester City and below Arsenal on goa…

Race distance seen as pinnacle of human achievement since time of ancient Greece is no longer the finishing line for what body can endure The Olympic marathon held 120 years ago saw 32 people start, 14 finish, the winner disqualified for spending most of the race in a car, and another competitor undergo emergency surgery for the damage caused by inhaling dust thrown up by the cars and bicycles th…

Ominous Barcelona side are in the way to another Champions League final but recent missteps pale against her achievements Emma Hayes steps into the technical area at the Estadi Olímpic on Saturday after a draining few weeks on and off the pitch. The task is huge. Over two legs, Hayes must navigate Chelsea past a Barcelona side who are laden with World Cup stars and play the most delicious footbal…

A compelling matchup between two of America’s brightest young boxing talents has been overshadowed by questions about the the social-media superstar’s state of mind One of the most unusual build-ups to a major prizefight in recent memory came no closer to normalcy on Thursday afternoon when Devin Haney and Ryan Garcia came together for the final press conference ahead of their intriguing but unse…

As the Coventry manager prepares to meet his old club, his former United teammates discuss that goal in 1990 Legend has it that Mark Robins saved the career of an ailing Manchester United manager in 1990. On Sunday at Wembley he could influence the future of another. When Robins was 20, amid a United run of 11 matches without a league win, Alex Ferguson hoped his young striker could provide a muc…

Lock hopes for a repeat of deafening support at Twickenham as favourites England take on Ireland in Women’s Six Nations The England lock Zoe Aldcroft calls for the ball as soon as she sees Sarah Beckett has punctured the French defence. The forward offloads to Aldcroft, who beats Émilie Boulard to weave her way to the line for England’s fifth try in the first half against France in their grand sl…

Eight teams are fighting to avoid two relegations spots with short-term approaches holding them back It is tough at the bottom of the Championship as a collection of former Premier League teams fight to avoid the ignominy of being relegated to the third tier. Six points separate eight clubs, with three games to play and two places below the red line up for grabs. There have been numerous routes t…

The manager has given fans memories for life over the last nine years. Keeping them up on Saturday would be a perfect end By Steven Pye for the Guardian Sport Network All good things must come to an end. After nine years at the helm, Boreham Wood manager Luke Garrard takes charge of his last match for the club on Saturday. There will be a few crying eyes at Meadow Park. Hopefully there will also …

News, Premier League previews and European reaction Barney Ronay: City fail to deliver as Madrid’s power tells The decision to scrap FA Cup replays from the first round next season has caused much outrage. As I write this, Mark Palios, former chief executive of the FA and executive chair of Tranmere Rovers, is venting his spleen on TalkSport. He’s also quoted in the story below. This is very much…

County Championship updates from day one’s action And you can post BTL or mail Tanya with your thoughts Just back from a lovely walk in the woods where the sun had decided to come out and everything was that perfect lime green that should be bottled up for November days. Meanwhile Gary Naylor is at Lord’s: “Greetings from an overcast Lord’s on a ‘bowl first and hope you’re not bowling again befor…

San Jose have goalkeeping problems, the Whitecaps are defending in a unique way and Miami are given a helping hand Welcome back to the Guardian’s MLS Power Rankings, where I have a beef with your specific team and your specific team alone. MLS roster rules might be changing in the middle of the season, but as for this column? It’s following the same format as it has all season. We’re still rankin…

Our writers pick the winner, key players and dark horses as the NBA postseason gets into full swing Golden State Warriors. It feels flat-out wrong to have a postseason without Stephen Curry, but regardless of how good he still is, that’s the way the cookie crumbles when you don’t give him an adequate supporting cast. Hopefully the Warriors will take the summer to retool a clearly insufficient ros…

Owner of British Cricket Balls warns over ECB rash decisions Kookaburra has been used in early Championship matches The maker of Dukes balls has entered the debate on the trial use of the Kookaburra ball in county cricket and invited Rob Key, the England and Wales Cricket Board’s managing director of men’s cricket, to talk to him about the type of ball he wants to see. Dilip Jajodia, the managing…