There was a stunning success for Chris and Gabby Adcock in the BWF Superseries Finals in Dubai while Scotland and England performed well in the Cape Town leg of the World Sevens series. Here’s our review of the last 24 hours.
Victory might take a while to set in for Gabby Adcock, after she admitted she was overcome with emotion when she triumphed alongside husband Chris in the season-ending Dubai Superseries Finals.
The world number seven pairing ensured they ended the year in the best possible fashion as they comfortably dispatched South Korea’s Ko Sung Hyun and Kim Ha Na in Sunday’s final.
In the end it took just 37 minutes for victory in a dominant display 21-14 21-17 which will see them earn their share of the one million dollar prize money on offer in the Middle East.
It is the duo’s second Superseries title of their career after they took victory in the Hong Kong Open back in 2013.
“I am in shock and I can’t believe we won. I am overwhelmed with emotion,” said Gabby. “This is a very big win as the Korean pair have been good all year.”
The Commonwealth champions now take a break before coming back to competition in next year in the build up to Rio 2016.
Chris added: “We have fought hard to put things right all week as there have been some really tough matches.”
It was Scotland who got the better of their oldest rivals England in the Bowl event of the Cape Town Sevens and captain Scott Wight believes it was their defence that made the difference.
After both sides had missed out on the Cup quarter-finals on Saturday, they made smooth progress through the Bowl with the Scots downing Samoa then Wales, while England saw off Portugal and Canada.
But when it came to the final, the Scots proved too strong, emerging 19-0 winners to go one better than last week’s Bowl loss to France.
Wight said: “You can’t really beat it. To get England in the final and turn them over is just spot-on!
“We spoke a lot about the defence, especially after Dubai last week, so this week we changed our mentality; we said we were going to go out and make tackles and I think we reaped the benefits of that, this weekend in South Africa.
“It was part of our gameplan to try and stretch them, and we’re known as a passing team, but when we keep hold of the ball for phases the spaces open up for us. As you can see, in the final it worked and we were able to score three tries.”
Sir Bradley Wiggins has confirmed that he will compete in the Dubai tour in early February to launch his 2016 season that will culminate with the Olympics in Rio.
Wiggins will ride with his Wiggins team and the event should be the perfect preparation for the Track World Championships in London the following month.
The flat roads in the Middle East should provide great preparation for the track riders taking part, while defending champion Mark Cavendish will also return to the event.
"I’m really excited to be racing with my team at the 2016 Dubai Tour. It’s a really exciting event and we’re looking forward to competing with some of the best teams in the world,” said Wiggins.
John Jackson took the next step on his return from an Achilles injury at the World Cup in Konigsee as he guided Great Britain to eighth in the four-man bobsleigh.
Jackson last competed at the top level at the Winter Olympics in Sochi 22 months ago before missing all of the 2014/15 season with a long-standing Achilles injury.
He won silver on European Cup duty in Winterberg last week and wasted little time in reminding the world that he belongs with the very best as he and his crew of Brad Hall, Bruce Tasker and Ben Simons beat 16 other sleds in the final World Cup event of the calendar year in Konigssee.
“I’m delighted for John Jackson: it’s been a long road back and to finish in the top 10 on his first World Cup race since Sochi is a huge plus,” said Great Britain Bobsleigh’s Performance Director Gary Anderson.
“John and his crew - all of whom are also pilots on our Accelerated Driver Programme - produced two strong runs and they’ve set a platform for us to kick on in the New Year.
“Our start times for both our crews show we are one of the best in the world in that department and that is very important as we build towards the World Championships in Igls in February.”
Jackson and his team finished less than half a second outside the medals, finishing seventh and ninth on their runs, while German driver Nico Walther won the event. Sportsbeat 2015