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Shorts
“Hurricane” Higgins laid to rest
The funeral of the former world snooker
player Alex Higgins has taken place in
his home city of Belfast. Past and present
stars of the game, including Stephen
Hendry, Ken Doherty and Joe Swail
joined mourners in St Anne’s Cathedral to
remember his life.
Hundreds more people gathered outside
the cathedral to pay their respects.
The Dean of Belfast, Houston McKelvey,
who led the service described him as a
person of prodigious talent at his chosen
sport. He said the player had encountered
two of the greatest temptations possible -
fame and fortune, and had found it difficult
to cope with both.
The 61 year old died last month after a
long battle with throat cancer.
Higgins won the snooker world
championship twice, in 1972 and 1982.
A controversial figure, he was banned
from five tournaments and fined £12,000
in 1986 when he head butted UK
Championship tournament director Paul
Hatherell.
In 1990 Higgins was banned for the rest of
the season after he punched a tournament
director at the World Championship.
Despite his numerous fights and rows
with referees, he continued to play the
game regularly and appeared at the Irish
Professional Championship in 2005 and
2006.
Spurs signs innovative shirt
sponsorship deals
Tottenham Hotspur has signed an
innovative new shirt sponsorship
agreement with Autonomy Corporation
PLC that sees the infrastructure software
company become the club’s shirt sponsor
during Premier League games only. The
club has also signed a deal under which
specialist bank and asset management
firm Investec will become its second
shirt sponsor for Champions League and
domestic cup competitions for the next
two years.
The Autonomy deal is worth £20m, and
the Investec deal is believed to be worth
£5m over two years, although the club
has not disclosed the value.
The move to split the shirt sponsorship
between league matches and cup
competitions is understood to have been
the idea of club chairman Daniel Levy.
However it remains to be seen how many
fans will fork out for both shirts.
The club is also looking for a naming rights
sponsor for its proposed new stadium.
Other Premier League clubs will bear new
sponsors on their shirts this season with
Liverpool agreeing a deal with £80m four-
year deal with Standard Chartered and
Aon Corporation’s deal with Manchester
United also beginning.
AT LEAST six people died and 10 were
injured in an amusement park accident in
the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen.
The China Daily said the accident
happened about 4:45 pm local time in the
state-run Overseas Chinese Town East
amusement park, after the malfunction
of a rocket launch simulator that allowed
passengers to experience double gravity.
The simulator was divided into 11 cabins,
each of which accommodated four
people.
Yantian district publicity official Xiao
Wenhong confirmed the six deaths and
said five of the 10 injured were in serious
condition.
“There was a power cut when the accident
happened, and I smelt something burnt.
We managed to open the door to escape
before firefighters arrived to rescue
others,” said one patron.
“I heard a bang and then lost
consciousness,” said another injured
rider, commenting from his hospital bed.
The theme park, which covers nine
square kilometres, includes attractions
such as Swiss-style houses, golf courses,
spas and themed hotels.
Six dead in China amusement park accident
The remainder of the fund is subject to a
second stage of funding agreement and a
further bidding round in 2011.
The Mayor said: ‘The beauty of sport is
its ability to get people together from all
backgrounds to join in positive activity. As
well as helping young people stay healthy,
it can provide immense mental stimulation
and as such help tackle issues such as
crime, educational underachievement
and a lack of community cohesion.’
PlaySport London is the overall brand
being given to all sports-related activity
funded from the £15.5m Olympic legacy
funding from the London Development
Agency.
Mayor of London unveils £4m sport fund
Mayor of London Boris Johnson has
launched a new £4m fund aimed at
projects in the capital that use sport to
tackle a range of social issues, as well as
increasing participation in sport.
The new fund aims to help turn around
the lives of local communities through
sporting activities as well as aiming to
increase participation.
Funding applications are open until 1st
October 2010 and will provide winning
projects with £50,000 - £250,000 over the
next two years.
The first bidding round is open from 23rd
August and applies to £2m of the fund.