Author: The Guardian

You know, this happens all the time. There will eventually come a day when genes, environment, chance and roasting combine to produce the perfect dart specimen. It’s a very simple skill and the barrier to entry is very low. Statistically speaking, there may be people who are born with a natural talent for darts like Luke Littler. All it takes is one of them realizing it.Now that he’s 16 and in the quarterfinals of the World Championships, he’s a little happy, a little confused, but most importantly, not surprised at all. There was no suggestion in his demeanor or demeanor…

Key eventsShow key events onlyPlease turn on JavaScript to use this featureThe last match of the night is a potential humdinger: Luke Humphries v Joe Cullen. I’m going to wrap this blog up so that I can enjoy it as a punter. Thanks for your company and emails – goodnight!Littler will play Brendan Dolan on New Year’s Day for a place in the semi-finals. Dolan is the kind of player you subconsciously underestimate even when you’re telling people not to underestimate him. He is really good and has taken out Gerwyn Price and Gary Anderson in the past week. But…

Mauricio Pochettino maintained a positive attitude after Chelsea nearly threw away a 3-0 lead against Luton in a thrilling game at Kenilworth Road.A stunning comeback as Luton responded to Cole Palmer’s brace and Noni Madduk’s fine finish, with goals from Ross Barkley and Elijah Adebayor coming soon. However, Chelsea, still in tenth place, managed to avoid relegation, with their young side ending a dismal year of four straight away defeats.”I’m very happy,” Pochettino said. “It’s never easy. We need to win. I thought we controlled the game until the second half. Then, when you throw in the towel, you increase…

Key eventsShow key events onlyPlease turn on JavaScript to use this featureFull-time: Wolves 3-0 EvertonAnother good result for Gary O’Neill’s Wolves. Everton are tough to beat so this is a fine win.We might have an answer on Dyche here:Full-time: Crystal Palace 3-1 BrentfordOlise delivers for the Eagles, a first win in nine for Roy Hodgson’s side.Roy Hodgson on the winning side. Photograph: Katie Chan/Action Plus/REX/ShutterstockUpdated at 18.04 CETWe have nine minutes of added time at Villa Park. Will there be another twist?Full-time: Manchester City 2-0 Sheffield UnitedAll over, routine win for City. The Blades were very passive after the break.Goal! Aston…

SNicholas Winton, who saved hundreds of children from the Nazis, was so humble, according to producers, that he turned down an initial offer to make a movie about him. a lifeAn upcoming biographical drama about a British humanitarian.Ian Canning tells observer Whedon, who died in 2015 aged 106, and producer Emile Sherman visited him at his home in Maidenhead about five years ago during a break from filming. The speech of the king.Over tea, they broached the subject of a film about the 669 children who helped save German-occupied Czechoslovakia on the eve of World War II, but Winton politely…

More than 100 people stranded while fishing on an ice chunk that broke free on a Minnesota lake were rescued on Friday, authorities said.The anglers were on an ice floe in the south-eastern area of Upper Red Lake in Beltrami county – about 200 miles (322km) north-west of Minneapolis – when it broke loose from the shoreline.An emergency call shortly before 5pm said the people were stranded with more than 30ft (9 meters) of open water separating them from shore, according to a statement by the Beltrami county sheriff’s office.Nobody had fallen through the ice. But before first responders arrived,…

Emma Raducanu says she feels “reborn” as the former US Open champion prepares to return to competition next week at the Auckland Classic following ankle and wrist surgery.The 21-year-old, currently ranked 298th in the world, missed most of last season due to wrist and left ankle surgeries. Raducanu has not played on the WTA Tour since losing to Jelena Ostapenko in Stuttgart in April.”Yeah, I feel reborn in a way. I feel fresh, I feel ready, I feel happy, I feel excited,” Raducanu said. “Overall, I feel positive and relaxed.”A year after she tearfully retired with a sprained ankle, Raducanu…

Aoife, 50 The vulnerability I feel with Jude is occasionally a bit terrifying Jude is very vocal in bed, which I love. I never have to wonder whether or not he’s enjoying himself. For the first few months of our relationship, we only had oral sex, because I had a skin condition which made penetration very painful. But if Jude felt frustrated about what my body couldn’t do, he never let me feel it. When he went down on me, he did it with so much obvious enjoyment and care that he made me feel we weren’t missing out.From our…

When you stop to think about it, the strange thing about conventional new year resolutions – the big, ambitious, change-your-life-completely kind – isn’t that they never seem to work. It’s that we ever imagined they might.Consider the situation. For one thing, you’re too busy (who isn’t?), so it’s not as though making time for several new daily habits is likely to prove straightforward. For another thing, you’re a good person, who generally seeks to do their best – so the fact that you’re not already working out thrice weekly, or meditating daily, or doing more to reduce your carbon footprint…

oxygenIn 2023, Formula 1 is an almost unremarkable event. Max Verstappen’s charge for the title is at a pace unprecedented in the sport, with confidence and dominance. However, after the final checkered flag fell, there were further signs of the unease, distrust and conflict boiling at the heart of the sport.Two days before Christmas, news broke that Steve Nielsen, sporting director of F1’s governing body the FIA, was resigning after less than a year in the job. He was appointed in January to address lapses in the FIA’s management of race control, particularly after the controversy over the 2021 Abu…