Can the dream continue for Jessica Ennis-Hill?

It has been a dream day of athletics for Lollipop and I at the IAAF World Championships in Beijing.

Not only did good conquer evil as Usain Bolt narrowly beat Justin Gatlin to take the 100m gold but our Olympic champion Jessica Ennis-Hill also achieved gold in the Heptathlon.

Ennis-Hill had already written herself off as she told BBC Sport that she would have been happy with third place.

“This is definitely one of the greatest moments of my career, I still can’t believe it,” she said. “Me and coach Toni (Minichiello) spoke about coming here, and we only wanted to come if I was able to compete for a medal.

“We spoke about the bronze medal and that it would be amazing for a silver medal, but we never spoke about gold. I kind of thought it was a little beyond me this year.”

However thanks to young British rival Katerina Johnson-Thompson showing some inexperience and recording no-jumps in her three long jump attempts the defending champion remained ahead.

On Sunday Ennis-Hill  recorded a season’s best of 6.43m in the long jump, just nine centimetres off her personal best, and then threw 42.51m in the first round of the javelin to open up a gap of 86 points over Nadine Broersen of the Netherlands in the silver medal position and 94 over Theisen-Eaton in third.

This gave Ennis-Hill a lead of just under six seconds as the athletes lined up for the 800m, one of Ennis-Hill’s best events. She stormed ahead of Broersen in the last 100m then fell to the floor with her hands over her face to cover her elation.

Our comeback queen returned to the championships stage to do what no other multi eventer has done before – win a world title just 13 months after giving birth to son Reggie.

Despite Ennis-Hill’s disbelief she produced a peerless performance to take gold and showed what an inspiration she is to mummies everywhere.

But can she do it again in Rio 2016?

22-year-old Johnson-Thompson was clearly devastated today by her loss but there is no doubt in Lollipop’s mind that she is still a threat to Ennis-Hill and a future champ.

Ennis-Hill triumphed as her rivals under performed and made callous errors however everyone will have learnt from this event. They will know exactly where they went wrong and will comeback stronger.

Ennis- Hill admitted that this was her toughest year to date as she struggled to get back into shape.

Just last month, she finished fourth in Gotzis and was unsure whether she would be competing in Beijing.

She only started full training again in November following the birth of her son. Then at the London Anniversary Games her form improved as she recorded three season’s bests in the 100m hurdles, long jump and 200m, marking an incredible turnaround to become the best in the world today.

Although Ennis-Hill has made huge strides in her performance her competitors will only get stronger in the countdown to Rio.

Can Ennis-Hill keep ahead of the pack Lollipop or was London 2012 her last Olympic gold medal?

Lollipop and I marked her out of this competition and were wrong to do so.

We won’t be doing the same in Rio.

Gold for Jessica Ennis-Hill.

And the Winner of the Best Return of Serve goes to…

Novak Djokovic champion of Wimbledon for the third time in his career.

Lollipop and I were treated to an incredible final where The Serb, 28, won 7-6 (7-1) 6-7 (10-12) 6-4 6-3 to overtake the likes of Jimmy Connors, Andre Agassi and Ivan Lendl in the all-time list of major winners against seven time Wimbledon champ Roger Federer.

Ok so it is not as great as Serena Williams securing the title and holding all four slams for the second time in her career but it is still incredible.

With nine grand slams under his racket Djokovic is catching up to his rivals Rafael Nadal and Federer. So why is he not as loved?

On the BBC Sports poll 72.3% of us backed Federer to win the championship. Despite the Swiss not reaching a Grand slam final all season his form though out the tournament and his overwhelming popularity made him the favourite. So much so that we keep overlooking talented players like Djokovic.

The world number one was awarded the World Tours Finals Trophy at the end of last year after Federer was forced to retire from the tournament for the first time in his career. He then started 2015 by beating our former Wimbledon champ Andy Murray in the Australian Open final after a thrilling four set match.

His only major slip up was when he lost to Swiss no. 2  Stan Wawrinka at the French Open. Having prevailed in the first set and being up a break in the fourth set and up 40-0 on Wawrinka’s serve in a subsequent game. He lost six of the final seven games of the match. After becoming only the second man to beat Nadal on clay Djokovic was denied his first overall victory at the French Open and a personal career Grand Slam.

Tennis fans clearly doubted he could come back from such a loss and win at Wimbledon. But he proved Lollipop wrong today.

Despite Federer looking like he was back to his best when he beat Murray in straight sets in the semi finals on Friday Djokovic found a way to win today.

Federer is clearly the best mover on grass where as Djokovic often slipped and slid his way through points. However the Swiss served up more errors in the match with a total of 35 in comparison to the Serb’s 16.

The champ also beat Federer in second serve points win, total serve returns in and break points won.

Djokovic was clearly the overall winner but we will have to wait till the US Open to see if he will won over more tennis fans.

It may not be a Serena Slam for Djokovic but a third Wimbledon title is an incredible achievement and Lollipop will be cheering for him throughout the US Open in August even if the rest of the audience are backing the Swiss no.1.

Congrats Djokovic. Lollipop is with you all the way unless you play this guy of course.

Watson to win Wimbledon?

After Heather Watson’s heroics on centre court at Wimbledon this evening where she took world no.1 Serena Williams to a third set but lost 6-2, 6-4, 7-5 why can’t she win a Grand Slam Lollipop?

The 23-year-old battled back from a set down, winning six straight games from 3-3 in the second set.

Watson served for the match at 5-4 in the decider but five-time Wimbledon champion Williams recovered to win 6-2 4-6 7-5 in two hours and 15 minutes.

Williams will play her elder sister Venus next. But it almost could have been Watson in the fourth round. Even Williams said the Brit deserved to win.

“I thought she played unbelievable, I thought she served well. I think she did everything great,” added Williams after the match but yet the 20-time Grand Slam champion showed more strength to win such a thrilling encounter.

In a couple of years or even next season Watson could go further than the third round for the first time in her career. All she has to do is figure out how to beat a champion Lollipop.

Watson’s serve is a big factor. Williams can hit a serve at 122 miles per hour where as Watson can only reach 108 in comparison.

Williams is also probably the most aggressive player of her generation and at some points it intimidated Watson today. The Guernsey born Brit needs to hit back more if she wants to become Britain’s next champion since Virginia Wade in 1977.

Today Watson showed she has the stamina and talent to go all the way so despite the fact that she lost the biggest match of her career the whole of Britain is very proud including Lollipop.

“Retweet if @HeatherWatson92 just made you feel really effing proud. Favourite if she made you feel really effing proud,” tweeted 2013 Wimbledon champ Andy Murray.

The whole court had goosebumps in the final set so imagine how effing proud Lollipop would feel when she wins Wimbledon?

Because it could happen if she continues to play against any opponent like she’s playing Williams.

Watson was the only British female in the competition so now Lollipop will have to turn her attention to the men.

Up next Murray vs Italian Andreas Seppi currently ranked 27 in the world and James Ward who has reached the third round of Wimbledon for the first time plays the number 2 Canadian Vasek Pospisil.

Lollipop is hoping we don’t say goodbye to another Brit or to another Centre Court favourite.

Go Brown…

Manchester Thunder unveil new coach

Ever since Manchester Thunder lost Superleague winning coach Tracey Neville to the England Netball team Lollipop has been on tenterhooks wondering who will become head of the former champions.

But the wait is over for Thunder supporters as the team announced ANZ Championship side Adelaide Thunderbirds assistant coach Dan Ryan as the new head coach.

We won’t lie Lollipop and I had no clue who this guy was but Ryan is an experienced netballer and coach. (Yes. Men play Netball too).

Victoria-born Ryan, 31, plays goal attack for the Australia men’s team and won the title with Thunderbirds in 2013 after joining the Southern Australia side in 2012. He also coached Southern Force in the ANL.

Our new coach is a qualified journalist and freelance sports broadcaster, notably with Australia’s Network Ten and travelled to Delhi, India in 2010 as part of the commentary team for the Commonwealth Games.

Ryan also guest coached with Neville last year at Manchester Thunder so perhaps his appointment was planned way in advance Lollipop.

The Australian netballer said: “I’ve always kept a close eye on the Superleague and head coaching in the competition has always been on my radar. I can’t wait to get back into the head coach seat after four years working as an assist with the Adelaide Thunderbirds. The opportunity to lead a great club like Manchester Thunder is really exciting and the timing of it seems perfect for me at this point in my coaching career.”

So far it seems like the best decision for Thunder but Ryan was widely tipped to be head coach at the Thunderbirds after Jane Woodlands-Thompson announced in April that she would be stepping down. But the job was given to Australian Diamonds assistant coach Michelle den Dekker.

Perhaps Manchester Thunder was his second choice or even a last resort. Also despite winning the ANZ Championship in 2013 Thunderbirds finished 8^th in 2014 and are currently 5^th this season.

Ryan left his side that are not performing at their best to come to a team who despite winning the Superleague in 2014 failed to reach the finals this season after a dismal semi finals loss to Hertfordshire Mavericks.

The Australian coach may have an impressive resume but he is new to the Superleague and to England Netball.

So for Lollipop whether Ryan is the coach to lift Manchester Thunder back to the very top of the Superleague remains to be answered.

Behind the scenes Thunder managing director Debbie Hallas said: “We are so pleased to have Dan join us at Manchester Thunder.

“He brings with him invaluable experience coaching in the most high profile and best netball league in the world.

“We are sure Dan will fit in perfectly at Thunder and will continue to bring the absolute best out of our players, who I am sure will relish a new challenge under a new coach.”

Ryan is due to take up his role at Thunder in the late summer. The team are clearly behind him and despite our concerns so is Lollipop who is already missing the Superleague drama.

Three cheers for Dan Ryan…

Where Have all the Good Women Gone?

Day four of the French Open has hit Lollipop with many surprises as the top seeded women at Roland Garros are falling short.

Fifth seed Caroline Wosniacki was the first big name to fall today alongside last year’s finalist Simona Halep who lost in straight sets to 33-year-old Croat Mirjana Lucic-Baroni and sixth seed Eugenie Bouchard who lost 6-4, 6-4 to clay specialist Kristina Mladenovic.

The US open finalist lost in straight sets 6-4, 7-6 to Germany’s Julia Georges ranked 72^nd in the world meaning the two are even in their head-to-head matches (4-4) and the German is 3-0 against her on clay.

But for Lollipop this should not be such a surprising loss. Wozniacki has only reached the quarter finals of the French Open once in her career and was knocked in the first round last year.

Despite Wozniacki’s return of form clay is clearly not her best surface but for Georges it was.

“She’s given me trouble in the past and she gave me trouble again today,” Wozniacki said after the 6-4, 7-6 (4) loss. “And that sucks.”

The Dane must now prepare for the grass court season as does Brit no.1 Heather Watson who went out in round two for the fourth time in five years with defeat by US rising star Sloane Stephens.

The American claimed her first victory over Watson in five appearances ranked five places higher at 40, won 6-2 6-4.

Clearly her win over seven time Grand Slam title winner Venus Williams in straight sets gave her resounding confidence.

Despite Watson recovering from a break down to level at 4-4 in the second she was then broken to love, and a wayward forehand on match point gave Stephens victory.

“After a set and a bit I finally got into it, but at that point it was a little bit too late. It would’ve been a tough battle to get all the way back,” said Watson after her defeat.

Other top players did find a way to fight back. 2014 champion Serena Williams survived losing the first set to beat Germany’s Anna-Lena Friedsam 5-7 6-3 6-3.

The 2010 winner Francesca Schiavone won a gripping match over 2009 predecessor Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-7 (11-13) 7-5 10-8 in three hours 49 minutes -the third longest women’s singles match in French Open history.

Champion Schiavone saved six match points, then converted on her third match point to secure victory. At nearly 35 she is the oldest woman in the tournament.

Nine top seeded players have already fallen – four from the women’s draw. Lollipop can not call who will make the final. Last year Williams failed to make the second round of the French Open and suffered the worst loss of her grand slam career to Spain’s Garbin Murguruza. Prior to that In 2012, top seed Williams lost her only first-round match at a Slam to then-No. 111 Virginie Razzano at this same tournament.

Out of her 34 grand slam titles only 2 have been won at Roland Garros. She maybe the top seed but she is not Lollipop’s favourite on this service. She plays 27^th seed Victoria Azarenka next.

Maria Sharapova should be Lollipop’s clear winner but she faces a tough tie against Australian Samantha Stosur who won the Strasbourg Open last week and routed her opponents in the first two rounds here.

The two top seeds face difficult opponents. On clay anything could happen. Good women have already fallen. So maybe there will be a surprise US victor.

3 out of 3 for England Netball

England Netball have completed their international series victory over Trinidad and Tobago tonight at the Echo Arena with a trouncing score line of 69-36.

New coach Tracey Neville was forced to shake up the England squad throughout the series with several regulars still competing for their ANZ franchises down under.

Manchester Thunder Goal Shooter Helen Housby played all three matches, returning favourite Sonia Mkoloma came in at Goal Keeper and Captain Pamela Cookey started in Wing Attack.

So were these changes just what England needed to win three out of three matches against their Caribbean visitors Lollipop?

As the Superleague season finished on 25^th April the team were only together a few weeks. Lollipop presumed some players would be worn out but there was no sign of an end of series slump as the girls put on their best performance of the three matches.

Neville changed her team around throughout the match. GS Rachel Dunn came on for an injured Kadeen Corbin and in the second half N-Hizzle took the WA bib while Hertfordshire Mavericks captain Sasha Corbin came on at Centre and Cookey switched to GA.

Then in the third quarter Team Bath’s Samantha Cook came on at GK with Maverick’s Layla Guscoth at GD.

Player of the Series went to our newest centurion Pamela Cookey while Sara Bayman was awarded Player of the Match following another sublime display.

Having already won the series Neville could afford to switch up her side and it clearly worked as the girls strengthened their lead and showed how much England had improved since their poor performance last year at the Commonwealth Games.

The team failed to secure a medal and Neville came down hard on her new squad after their loss to New Zealand in the Semi- finals.

“There is a lot of words being used like should have and we didn’t,” said Neville to BBC Sport.

“We didn’t learn from our game against Australia and we didn’t have that closing out the game strategy on the court today.”

But tonight she seemed proud of her squad and said: “If they can learn that quickly I’m really excited going into June, July, leading into that World Cup.”

England came third in the 2011 World Netball Championships and have only made the final once in the competition’s entire history in 1975.

Neville will be hoping to pick an even stronger team that triumphed tonight and she could shake things up even more when the squad head to Belfast for Netball Europe later this week.

Neville will then name her final 12 next month that will go on to compete at the Netball World Cup in Australia.If tonight is anything to go by it will be a tough decision for the former Manchester Thunder coach.

With tonight’s opponents ranked 9^th in the world Lollipop expected England to win but not so comfortably.

England have shown they could be hard-hitting competitors in the upcoming World Cup. But of course there is always one team that stands in their way.

Trinidad and Tobago starting 7: GS – Wallace, GA- Cooper, WA – Jack C Guereo, WD – Connelly, GD – Duncan, GK – Swift.

England Starting 7: GS – K. Corbin, GA – Housby, WA – Cookey, C- Bayman, WD – Malcolm, GD – Francis, GK – Mkoloma

Ethiopia’s Tigist Tufa ends Kenyan dominance

Twenty six miles later and the 37,500 people that took place in today’s London Marathon are all done!

Everyone maybe talking about record holder Paula Radcliffe who ran her final race in two hours 36 minutes 55 seconds but Lollipop would prefer to talk about the winner. Ethiopia’s Tigist Tufa made beating Kenya’s two-time London winner Mary Keitany look easy as she sprinted clear to finish in  two hours twenty three minutes twenty two seconds. With three miles to go Tufa and compatriot Tirfi Tsegaye broke away from the rest, the champ then moved 18 seconds clear to win.

The 28-year-old was a surprise winner as only the ninth-fastest in the field but looking at her previous success maybe she should not have been.

Tuga has won major marathons in her career most recently the 2014 Shanghai Marathon where she set a new course record and a personal best time of  two hours twenty one minutes and fifty two seconds.

But today our champ set a new career high. Her major win ended four years of domination by Kenya’s women in the capital.

Despite Kenya’s victory in the men’s race with Eliud Kipchoge finishing ahead of last years winner and record holder Wilson Kipsang in a time of two hours four minutes 42 seconds the women could not complete the country’s domination.

Lollipop believes this could be the start of a new rivalry in women’s marathon racing as more and more runners step up their game to compete with Kenya’s greatest athletes.

The race had been billed as a four-way fight between a quartet of Kenyans: defending champion Edna Kiplagat, two-time former champion Keitany, half-marathon world record holder Florence Kiplagat and Priscah Jeptoo, the winner in 2013.

Champion Tufa had barely been mentioned in the build-up, but the slow pace played into her hands and she produced a 25th mile of 5mins 07secs to beat her rivals.

Last year former champ Kiplagat finished in two hours twenty minutes twenty one seconds – five minutes short of Radcliffe’s record breaking time. The race was much quicker but the sluggish start today made things more competitive. When speaking to BBC Sport even Tufa said: “The weather was very difficult for me and I found it a very slow race until the end and I was pushed.”

So the weather may have weakened Kenya’s defence but it did not stop a record breaking amount of entrants running the marathon this year.

Whether it was down to Paula’s last appearance or the This Girl Can campaign women were running in force today.

The oldest woman running in 2015 was Iva Barr, 87, born 23 October 1927 and the youngest was Paige Brown, 18 years two days, born 24 April 1997.

Lollipop would like to congratulate them all. They may not be the Kenyan or Ethiopian elites but they took part. Gold medals all round.

Defeat for Manchester Thunder but success for Netball Superleague

So a day has passed since the Superleague Semi-final where Lollipop and I watched Manchester Thunder fall to Hertfordshire Mavericks in front of a record- breaking crowd at the Manchester Arena 41-48.

It meant that the 2014 champions failed to make the final that would have been a repeat of last year’s thrilling encounter against Surrey Storm who saw off Yorkshire Jets 76-60 in the other tie.

Instead it was a dominant Hertfordshire Mavericks that clinched a place at next Saturday’s final. Despite the loss the team were thrilled to have played in front of 4,100 spectators.

Captain Sara Bayman said: “I would love to play at the arena again. We walked out of the changing rooms and the noise was incredible.

“I don’t think we expected it to be as good as it was and the Manchester public come out in force for sporting events and today was not different.

“We feel disappointed to not seal this event with a victory and for the fans, but hopefully we put on a good enough game for them to see and to come again.”

The match reflected both the growing popularity of netball and women’s sports as Sky Sports broadcasted the match live.

Coach Tracey Neville said she was proud and honoured to be sharing in what she hoped would be Thunder’s home venue in the future.

But after such a devastating defeat will Manchester City Council stay behind our team Lollipop?

Before the match Councillor Rosa Battle, Manchester City Council executive member for culture and leisure said: “Manchester Thunder’s players are local sporting heroes and we should all be proud of their success.”

Thunder were unbeaten throughout the entire Supereague season and were Netball Superleague champions 2012 and 2014.

For that alone the girls deserved to play at such an iconic venue.

Manchester has been hooked on the girls progress with The Wright Robinson Centre aka The Thunderdome regularly sold out at each home fixture.

Yesterdays feisty encounter was the perfect advert for UK Netball. By the start of the final quarter the teams were level at 35-35. Lollipop could barely watch as a miss by GS Helen Housby allowed Mavericks to capitalise 35-36. They soon pulled away from Thunder as they slowly imploded and Shooter Sasha Corbin netted her side to victory.

Coach Tracey Neville was scathing of her players and said: “I think that performance has been coming in the last few weeks and you get found out by an experienced team.

“Mavericks played their best netball and beat us. Frankly, we didn’t deserve to win that game.”

Thunder were deflated but Mavericks could go on to make Netball just as popular at London’s Copperbox next Saturday.

Third place is still up for grabs for Thunder as they play Northern rivals Yorkshire Jets but success for women’s sport has already been achieved thanks to Lollipop and the other few thousand that turned up last night.

Manchester Thunder starting 7: Kerry Almond GK, Emma Dovey GD, Laura Malcolm WD, Sara Bayman C, Chelsea Pittman WA, Kathryn Turner GA, Helen Housby GS. Substitute: Jodie Gibson GD.

Oxford women make Boat Race History

On the day of the 168^th Grand National, Premier league football and the Masters 2015 there was just one sport that mattered to Lollipop. The Women’s Boat Race 2015.

Throughout the 70 years of the women’s contest the two august universities have never been permitted to race on the same course as the men and on the same day in front of a live television audience. Until today Lollipop. Today huge crowds watched in awe as the two teams rowed the 374 yards of the River Thames from Putney Bridge to Chiswick Bridge. Touted favourites Oxford finished six-and-a-half lengths ahead of rivals Cambridge.

The Dark Blues were half a length up after the first minute and ruthlessly rowed ahead to finish 19 seconds clear.

The win marked a seventh success in eight for Oxford in the 70th staging of the women’s race. But this one was different as those previous victories were on a straight 2000m course at Henley not over the Thames with a gusty wind against the tide for the ladies to battle against.

The Oxford girls made it look easy but the race for equality was far from it. “It’s a really special moment, something I’ve been working towards for three years,” Oxford president Anastasia Chitty told BBC Sport.

“It’s even more special because so many women [have] not had this opportunity so it’s really humbling.”

The change began four years ago when Newton Investment Management offered the women’s race a modest sponsorship package – the first in its history. But Chief Executive Helena Morrisey wanted more.

Her demands were simple: move the women’s race to the championship course on the Tideway alongside the men’s and give both equal funding or the deal is off.

“We didn’t just want a name on a shirt; we wanted to do something meaningful,” Morrisey told the New York Times.

After initial reticence from the old boys of each institution, an agreement was reached on a five-year deal starting in 2012.

For years the Boat race has been all about the men but today the women finally had the chance to turn things around.

In Tokyo A women’s group held its first “Equal Pay Day” rally on April 10 by raising public awareness over the wage gap between genders.

The Tokyo-based National Federation of Business and Professional Women’s Clubs of Japan organized the event to highlight the fact that Japanese males who work full time, on average, receive 329,600 yen ($2,740) per month, while females receive 238,000 yen, or just over 70 percent of that figure,

In America women are also fighting for equal pay and equal rights as Winner of Best supporting Actress at the Oscars Patricia Arquette injected some political fervour into the ceremony by calling for equal pay for women at the end of her speech.

All over the world women are still fighting for the same thing. Equality. So for Lollipop today was not just about a Boat Race between two posh universities. It was about a barrier being broken for women everywhere.

Money or popularity clearly is not an issue as thousands came to watch the annual boat race. Nothing is stopping Lollipop now from rowing up the River Thames although she may need some training first.

Halep breaks through at Indian Wells

The drama is over at the Indian Wells women’s singles final as  Simona Halep secured the biggest win of her career against former no.1 Jelena Jankovic 2-6 7-5 6-4 in 2 hours 37 minutes.

Lollipop cheered on the champion as she showed her grit in the final set to break serve when Jankovic flagged a forehand into the net and the Romanian moved ahead 5-3.

Halep was then just four points away from the title but her backhand went long giving Jankovic an unexpected break back point. Jankovic instantly broke back and forced the match into another game only this time it would be on her serve.

But Halep fought on. A ninth double fault gifted her three Championship points and she powered a forehand down the middle of the court to wrap up her third title of the year with victories at the Shenzen Open and the hard court event in Dubai.

After regaining her World No. 3 ranking Lollipop has high hopes for Halep. The Romanian reached the finals of  the French Open and Wimbledon in 2014 but could not beat the resilient Maria Sharapova in a pulsating three hour match nor Canadian Eugenie Bouchard as she suffered from an ankle injury throughout.

But 2015 could be different for the always runner up. Despite a disappointing Australian Open where Halep reached the quarter finals but lost in straight sets to 10^th seed Etatarena Marakova the Romanian has kept her resolve.

Many say Halep got lucky after Australian Open champ Serena Williams pulled out of their semi final tie before the match with a knee injury. But Halep had already overcome two gruelingly tight ties against top 15 players Karolina Pilskova and Carlo Suarez Navarro to get to the final. Plus the Romanian has beaten Williams before in straight sets at last years WTA Finals in Singapore. Who says she could not have done it again?

“Simona was unbelievable,” said Jankovic. “We were running like two dogs and in the end I couldn’t keep up any more. She’s the younger one.”

But Jankovic was the 2010 Indian Wells Champion. That title should have given her the belief to win however both players were not at their best which led to an epic match riddled with 18 breaks of serve.

The Romanian ended it on top and Lollipop believes she could stay on top this season. She has already proved she can beat the best. Now all that’s left Is a grand slam title.