Sport

On this Day, July 20 2014: Rory McIlroy won the Open

Rory McIlroy won the Open in Liverpool in July 2017  
Rory McIlroy won the Open in Liverpool in July 2017   Rory McIlroy won the Open in Liverpool in July 2017  

ON THIS DAY IN SPORT

1871: Football Association secretary Charles Alcock first suggested the idea of the FA Challenge Cup.

1885: The FA legalised professionalism in football.

1986: Britain's Frank Bruno challenged Tim Witherspoon for the world heavyweight title. He was knocked out in the 11th round.

2003: Ben Curtis of the United States was a surprise winner of the Open at Royal St George's, Sandwich.

2005: Peter Crouch joined Liverpool from Southampton for £7million.

2006: Zinedine Zidane, who had already retired from football, was suspended for three matches and fined £3,260 for his headbutt on Marco Materazzi in the World Cup final. Materazzi was banned for two matches and fined £2,170.

2009: England won the second Ashes Test, beating Australia by 115 runs at Lord's to take a 1-0 series lead. They went on to win the series 2-1 to reclaim the urn.

2012: Alex Ferguson confirmed Manchester United had made a bid for Arsenal captain Robin van Persie. The Red Devils eventually signed the Dutchman, whose goals played a key role in United winning the 2012-13 Premier League title.

2014: Rory McIlroy won the Open at Royal Liverpool by two strokes.

2015: Zach Johnson defeated Louis Oosthuizen and Marc Leishman in a play-off for the Open Championship after Jordan Spieth failed to keep his grand slam dream alive at St Andrews.

SPORT BIRTHDAYS

Charlie Magri (boxing) - former world flyweight champion, born 1956.

Paula Ivan (athletics) - Olympic 3,000 metres gold medallist for Romania in the 1988 Seoul Olympics, born 1963.

Claudio Reyna (soccer) - former Rangers, Sunderland, Manchester City and United States midfielder, now director of football operations for New York City FC, born 1973.

Debashish Mohanty (cricketer) - former India bowler, born 1976.

Alex Yoong (motor racing) - ex-Formula One grand prix racer for Minardi, born 1976.

Damien Delaney (soccer) - Irish midfielder, currently with Crystal Palace, born 1981.

Niall McGinn (soccer) - Irish winger, currently with South Korean club Gwangju, born 1987.

QUICK QUIZ

1. Gary Lineker scored twice for England against Cameroon in the 1990 World Cup quarter-final, but who put them ahead?

2. South Africa captain Faf Du Plessis has played county cricket for which team?

3. How many WTA titles has Johanna Konta won?

4. Who was the British and Irish Lions' top points scorer on their recent tour of New Zealand?

5. Name any of the last three Open winners at Royal Birkdale.


Answers below

SPORT ON TV

Today (Thursday, July 20)

GOLF: The Open, first round at Royal Birkdale - Sky Sports Main Event & Sky Sports Golf 0630.

CRICKET: NatWest T20 Blast, Durham v Leicestershire - Sky Sports Cricket 1830; ICC Women's World Cup, second semi-final (Australia v India) - Sky Sports Cricket 1000.

CYCLING: Tour de France, 18th stage between Briancon and Izoard - Eurosport 1 1130, ITV4 1145 & S4C 1400.

RUGBY LEAGUE: Betfred Super League, Warrington v Widnes - Sky Sports Main Event 2000.

TENNIS: WTA, Bucharest Open - BT Sport 2 1200-1800 & 1830-2030.

ATHLETICS: World Para Athletics Championships London 2017 - Channel 4 1930.

BASEBALL: MLB, Los Angeles Angels v Washington Nationals - BT Sport/ESPN 0300 & Boston Red Sox v Toronto Blue Jays - BT Sport/ESPN 1830.

Tomorrow (Friday, July 21)

GOLF: The Open, second round at Royal Birkdale - Sky Sports Main Event & Sky Sports Golf 0630.

CRICKET: NatWest T20 Blast, Surrey v Middlesex - Sky Sports Cricket 1800.

CYCLING: Tour de France, 19th stage between Embrum and Salon de Provence - Eurosport 1 & ITV4 1100.

RUGBY LEAGUE: Betfred Super League, Wigan v Leeds - Sky Sports Main Event 2000.

TENNIS: WTA, Bucharest Open - BT Sport 2 1200-1800 & 1830-2030.

ATHLETICS: World Para Athletics Championships London 2017 - Channel 4 1930.

SOCCER: MLS, Orlando City v Atlanta United - Sky Sports Main Event 1205 (Sat).

BASEBALL: MLB, Chicago Cubs v St Louis Cardinals - BT Sport/ESPN 1915 & Baltimore Orioles v Houston Astros - BT Sport/ESPN 0000 (Sat).

QUICK QUIZ ANSWERS

1 David Platt; 2 Lancashire; 3 Three; 4 Owen Farrell (31); 5 Padraig Harrington, Mark O'Meara, Ian Baker-Finch.

********************

EVERY weekend on www.irishnews.com/sport

Test your sporting knowledge with the The Irish News multi-choice Sports Quiz on www.irishnews.com/sport

Take the quiz and share your results with friends on social media to find out who the real sporting buff is...

*******************