Michael van Gerwen promises ‘more to come’ after fast start at PDC worlds
Michael van Gerwen began his bid for a fourth PDC world title with a comfortable 3-0 victory against England’s James Hurrell.Van Gerwen, champion in 2014, 2017 and 2019, has struggled for form of late and not won a major televised tournament this year.But the Dutchman eased past Hurrell, who beat Jim Long on his world championship debut on Tuesday, in winning each set 3-1.“I think I played OK, of course like everyone knows it’s been a tough year for me,” Van Gerwen, the No 3 seed, told Sky Sports after his second-round victory.“To stand up here and do the thing you want to do always takes a lot of energy.
“But overall I put in a good performance.My doubles were there, I was confident, and the most important thing is that I won the game.“It wasn’t spectacular but I don’t really care because I won the game.It’s only the start of my campaign and there’s more to come.”Sandro Eric Sosing was taken to hospital before his scheduled first-round match at the PDC World Darts Championship after suffering chest pains.
Sosing withdrew from his match against Ian White on medical advice after feeling unwell during practice.The 41-year-old is one of four Filipino players in the draw for the 2025 tournament at Alexandra Palace, having earned his place by reaching the PDC Asian Championship final in October, losing to compatriot Lourence Ilagan.“Sandro Eric Sosing has withdrawn from his match with Ian White on medical grounds,” read a PDC statement published shortly before the game was due to begin on Friday afternoon.“Sosing reported chest pains whilst practising and following an on site assessment by medical staff, he has been taken for further treatment.”The absence of Sosing, who lost 3-0 to Lee Evans in the first round last year, means that the former quarter-finalist White receives a walkover and will face Ritchie Edhouse in the second round.
The news cast a shadow over the afternoon session, which featured just three matches as a result,Stephen Bunting, the eighth seed, was put under early pressure by Germany’s Kai Gotthardt, who took the first set 3-1 and had the chance to go two sets clear,But after mistakenly hitting a double-bull in his setup shot, Gotthardt missed three set darts at double eight and Bunting pounced with double 10 to level the match,Bunting then broke his opponent’s throw with a 13-dart leg on his way to taking the third set, and took charge of the fourth with another break in the second leg,The Masters champion closed out victory on double top to reach the third round, where he will face either Dirk van Duijvenbode or Madars Razma.
Ed Sheeran was in attendance at the Ally Pally, a change of scenery for the singer after being regularly spotted at Ipswich Town games.Sheeran, who owns a minority stake in the Suffolk club, was shown on the big screen and promptly serenaded by the crowd with his own personal chant: “Ipswich get battered, everywhere they go.”Wessel Nijman, tipped by many observers as a dark horse for the world title after his impressive form this season, almost fell at the first hurdle before edging through a thriller against South Africa’s Cameron Carolissen.Nijman began in ominous fashion, taking the first set 3-0 as his opponent showed nerves in missing several doubles.The second set was a tighter affair but the Dutchman took it in a deciding leg, only for his opponent to bounce back with a third-set whitewash.
Carolissen moved ahead on averages as Nijman began to feel the pressure, and he set up a decider by checking out on double 16 against the throw.The final set went with the throw until the decisive fifth leg, when Nijman pounced to take out 25 in two darts, booking a second-round meeting with Joe Cullen.In Fridaythe afternoon’s other game, Dutchman Alexander Merkx beat Stephen Burton 3-0 in a scrappy contest, with both players averaging below 80.
FTSE 100 share index records biggest weekly loss in a year, as US shutdown fears hit markets – as it happened
London’s stock market is sliding this morning, as investors worry that the US government could shut down tonight in a spending row.The FTSE 100 index of blue-chip shares has dropped by 55 points, or 0.7%, to 8050 points, with banks among the big fallers.That means the FTSE 100 has lost 3% of its value this week, the worst weekly drop since August 2023.European stock markets are also in the red, with Germany’s DAX and France’s CAC 40 both down 1
Reeves may have to U-turn over no more tax rises, warn economists
A dramatic slowdown in economic growth and rising borrowing costs since the budget could undermine the government’s finances and force the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, to U-turn on pledges not to further increase taxes, analysts have said.With inflation on the rise again, the London stock market at its lowest point for more than a month and the Bank of England forecasting economic stagnation in the final three months of 2024, the government heads into the Christmas break weighed down by a gloomy outlook for the new year.The prospect of a trade war with the US after Donald Trump is inaugurated in January has also weighed on markets. In statements on social media on Friday, the president-elect threatened the EU with tariffs on exports to the US, which could be extended to include the UK.City economists said the rise in inflation over the past three months would force the Bank to maintain high interest rates, which would weigh on household spending and dent Reeves’s plans to grow the economy
EU should spare carmakers from ‘punitive’ emissions fines, says Scholz
The EU should refrain from “punitive” fines on carmakers that fail to meet emissions standards, the German chancellor has said, adding to the heated debate on the future of the key European industry.Olaf Scholz, who is running for re-election in February at a time when Germany’s biggest carmaker, Volkswagen, is planning unprecedented plant closures in its home market, made the comments after meeting fellow EU leaders in Brussels.His intervention comes days before the sector faces stricter standards on cutting carbon emissions from their new cars. From 2025 until 2029 the average new car in Europe should emit no more than 93.6 grams of CO2 for each kilometre, to get the industry on track for the phase-out of petrol and diesel vehicles from 2035
Boohoo shareholders vote to block Mike Ashley from joining board
Boohoo shareholders have blocked Mike Ashley and an associate from joining its board in a blow to the Sports Direct founder’s attempt to control the struggling online fashion retailer.Investors representing 64% of Bohoo’s stock voted against appointing Ashley and Mike Lennon at a special meeting on Friday morning called by Ashley’s Frasers Group.The chair of Boohoo, Tim Morris, said shareholders had given “a resounding vote of confidence in our board” at the meeting.He said 99% of those that voted – excluding the 27% stake in Boohoo controlled by Ashley’s Frasers Group – had chosen to block Ashley’s appointment.Morris said Boohoo would now “like to get on with running our business”, although it is not clear how Frasers will respond to the vote
Starbucks workers’ strike could reach hundreds of stores by Christmas Eve
Workers at Starbucks stores in three cities plan to go on strike on Friday after a union representing more than 11,000 baristas in the US said it was making little progress with the giant coffee chain’s owners over pay and conditions.The walkouts will start in Los Angeles, Chicago and Seattle, with strike action set to spread each day and, subject to a deal, reach hundreds of stores by Christmas Eve.The strike comes as workers at the online giant Amazon was also hit by a worker’s walkout.Starbucks Workers United, the union that has organized workers at 535 company-owned US stores since 2021, said Starbucks has failed to honor a pledge to meet to reach an agreement this year.“Union baristas know their value, and they’re not going to accept a proposal that doesn’t treat them as true partners,” said Lynne Fox, president of Workers United
Donald Trump tells EU to buy more US oil and gas or face tariffs
The US president-elect, Donald Trump, has warned the EU that it will face trade tariffs on its exports to the US unless its member states buy more American oil and gas.Trump reignited fears of a looming trade war between the US and the EU in his first public statement regarding trade since he was elected president in November.“I told the European Union that they must make up their tremendous deficit with the United States by the large scale purchase of our oil and gas. Otherwise, it is TARIFFS all the way!!!,” he said in a post on his social media site Truth Social.The US is the world’s largest producer of oil and has also emerged as the biggest supplier of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to the bloc since Russian supplies of pipeline gas to its European customers petered out after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in early 2022
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