Another feather in Henry’s cap

London: Thierry Henry became the first player to win England’s Footballer of the Year award in successive seasons when he swept almost 90 per cent of the votes cast in the annual poll announced on Monday. Arsenal’s French international striker finished clear of Chelsea’s England midfielder Frank Lampard and Arsenal and France teammate Patrick Vieira to win the award from the English Football Writers’ Association.

Since the award was introduced in the 1947-48 season no player had previously won it in successive seasons and only six men had won it twice — Sir Stanley Matthews (1948 and 1963), Sir Tom Finney (1954 and 1957), Danny Blanchflower (1958 and 1961), Kenny Dalglish (1979 and 1983), John Barnes (1988 and 1990), and Gary Lineker (1986 and 1992).

Henry joined that select band and made history of his own just two weeks after his peers voted him Player of the Year for a second successive season. Henry will be presented with the award at an FWA dinner on May 20.

Chelsea eye Hargreaves

Berlin: Premiership runners-up Chelsea have rekindled their interest in Bayern Munich midfielder Owen Hargreaves according to a report in German magazine Kicker. Chelsea made an approach for the England international, 22, at the start of the season but were given a red light by Bayern. However, Munich’s failure to land any silverware this season has prompted manager Ottmar Hitzfeld to call for a shake-up and Chelsea hope to entice Hargreaves away from the Olympic Stadium.

Jordan set for Asian tour

Oregon: Basketball legend Michael Jordan will make a four-city tour of Asia next week. Jordan will begin his tour from May 19-20 at Beijing, visit Hong Kong on May 21 and Taipei on May 22, before finishing it on May 23 in Tokyo. In addition to promoting his clothing line, Jordan will speak to the youth about his dedication to excellence and the importance of hard work and determination. “If you aspire to excellence in everything you do, the sky is the limit,” Jordan said in a news release.

US pole-vaulter in elite bracket

Modesto (California): US vaulter Toby Stevenson became only the ninth man in history to clear six meters in the pole vault after clearing exactly that height to win the event here on Saturday at the Modesto Relays.

Stacy Dragila won her event by clearing 4.55m, beating fellow-American Tracy O’Hara by 10cm.

Inger Miller was the star on the track — winning the women’s 100m in 11.06 seconds and the 200m in 23.16.

Top stars for China Open

Beijing: Some of the world’s top tennis stars will make a beeline for Beijing in September to contest the inaugural China Open. Top-10 ranked players like Carlos Moya and Juan Carlos Ferrero will be joined by Rainer Schuettler and David Nalbandian for the September 10-26 event, tournament director Lincoln Venancio said. Also committed to play are former No. 1 Marat Safin and Paradorn Srichaphan.

The women’s draw will be announced in coming weeks.

Junior meet

Kozhikode: IWM Tania Sachdev, N. Raghavi, Mary Ann Gomes, V.K. Sindhu, Kritika Nadig and P. Priya will vie for honours in the national junior girls chess championship beginning here on Tuesday.

The meet also serves as a selection event for next year’s world and Asian championships. The tournament concludes on May 18.

Sport on Screen

Cricket: UK domestic season, Somerset vs Yorkshire, from 2.30 pm on STAR Sports Soccer: Premier League highlights, from 8.00 pm on STAR Sports
Tennis: Hamburg Masters Series, live from 8.30 pm on ESPN