GOLFING GLORY ...
Britain’s Charley Hull, who won her first pro event, the Lalla Meryem Cup, before she was 18 in March, has a chance to finish her extraordinary year as Europe’s top golfer in the season finale, the Dubai Masters, on Wednesday (Sky Sports 4, 9.30am). She leads the European Order of Merit and, should she finish ahead of France’s Gwladys Nocera, will become the youngest player to top the order and the first Briton to do so since Laura Davies in 2006. Elsewhere, having taken his girlfriend, Katharina Boehm, out as his caddie and on to a win at the Thailand Open in 2013, Sergío Garcia has decided to defend his title this year with the former French Open winner Juan Carlos Ferrero on the bag. The now-retired Spanish tennis player defeated Martin Verkerk to take his only grand slam title in 2003 and the pair, who have played golf together in the past, decided it would be just the ticket to pair up for the tournament (from Thursday, Sky Sports 4, 6am).
CLUB WORLD CUP ...
Unable to host the Africa Cup of Nations due to fears of the Ebola virus, Morocco has no such qualms when Fifa’s garish and largely unwanted beano, the Club World Cup begins on Wednesday. The competition features Argentina’s San Lorenzo de Almagro, Australia’s Western Sydney Wanderers, Algeria’s ES Sétif, Mexico’s Cruz Azul, New Zealand’s Auckland City and Morocco’s Moghreb Tétouan but is chiefly of interest through the participation of the seventh side: Real Madrid. They are on a club-record run of 16 wins across all competitions (last defeated by Atlético Madrid on 13 September), an achievement they will not want to see dashed against largely inferior competition. The quarter-finals are on Saturday but seeding means Real and San Lorenzo are not involved until 16-17 December at the semi-final stage
BIG FIGHT ...
Amir Khan takes on Devon Alexander next Sunday at a proper boxing venue: the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, (Sky Sports 1undercard begins 2am, , fight from approximately 4am) with the winner looking to book a slot against the WBA super and WBC welter-weight world champion, Floyd Mayweather. The American – “Alexander the Great” – is a former two-time world champion but Bolton’s Khan is a real draw in the US and he needs to win convincingly to go after Mayweather. Both are clever boxers and this is a match-up made for an impressive and entertaining bout. Kahn currently has the edge but if Alexander gets into his rhythm he is a tough fighter to beat.
OLYMPIC DECISION ...
The full IOC membership meet in Monaco on Monday and Tuesday to make final decisions on the 40 proposals set forth for the future of the Games in the Olympic Agenda 2020 which was revealed in November. Among the changes that may be implemented is allowing hosts to hold events outside the Olympic city or even outside the country - in an attempt to offer smaller nations a chance to hold the Games. It has also been proposed that the bidding process be made more transparent and cheaper, limiting the number of international meetings for presentations. On the sport front, the committee will consider allowing new events, specific to each Games, to maximise their impact in the host country. Tokyo 2020, for example, would expect to be allowed to add baseball and softball to their programme. While the reaction to homophobia around Sochi 2014 has led to non -discrimination on sexual orientation being suggested as an addition to the Olympic charter.
TOUGH TEST ...
Playing India in their first match since the death of Phillip Hughes will not be easy for Australia. The first Test was postponed from Thursday, the day after the funeral, and the series will now begin in Adelaide on Tuesday (Sky Sports 2, midnight). It will be a difficult and emotional time for everyone. Australia’s coach, Darren Lehmann, wrote in his Australian column: “We hope the boys can find the inner strength to play the game in the way Phillip would have wanted and that they can honour what he had done.”
