DARYL Gurney put on a brave face for the punters after a thrashing from darts great Raymond van Barneveld.

The two stars shared a touching moment on stage following Barney’s 6-0 demolition of Superchin on Friday night.

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Van Barneveld averaged 98 as he raced to victory in the Czech Darts Open.

The 57-year-old veteran hit three maximums as Gurney was blown away in Prague.

Following the match, the world No. 26 could only shrug his shoulders at Barney’s dominance.

And he delighted the crowd by joining the darts legend for a rousing rendition of Sweet Caroline.

Gurney stayed on stage rather than scuttling off to the dressing rooms following the heavy defeat.

Linking arms with van Barneveld, the pair belted out the Neil Diamond classic to the delight of the capacity crowd.

“Fair play to Gurney for staying on,” wrote one darts fan on X.

“Even singing together at the end,” added another.

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“Barney keeps rolling back the years. You love to see it!” commented a third.

Five-time world champion Barney will now face Gerwyn Price in the last 32.

Earlier in the evening, reigning champion Peter Wright made it through 6-5 following a thriller against Cameron Menzies.

Snakebite sealed the deal with a 14-dart break of throw following a topsy-turvy match.

Wright said: “Cammy has beaten me the last two times we’ve played on the European Tour.

Inside Littler’s massive rise

LUKE LITTLER has taken the darts world by storm since exploding onto the scene at the PDC World Championship at the beginning of the year.

“He’s a fantastic player and I knew it was going to be a tough game, but the crowd helped me here today.

“It was a pleasure to play in front of them.”

There were also wins for Grand Prix champion Mike De Decker and Nathan Aspinall on night one in Prague.

Aspinall will now face teenage sensation Luke Littler in the next round.

Runaway Phillip Island sprint winner Jorge Martin has admitted it was “a relief” to discover that Marc Marquez had lost ground at the first corner and was thus unlikely to be a threat in the 13-lap race.

The Gresini Ducati rider quickly recovered from running wide at Doohan, making it back to second place on lap eight. But Pramac Ducati’s Martin was already three seconds ahead by then with more than half the race gone.

While the crowd was thus robbed of a battle between the two riders who had qualified first and second and who had been the class of the field in Australia so far, polesitter Martin certainly wasn’t complaining.

“I already knew before the race that Marc was [my toughest opponent]. I didn’t know what had happened to him but I saw Bezzecchi behind me at the beginning,” he said.

“This was a relief because I knew that if Marc was behind [me] it would have been a different story. Because he was able to keep the same pace as mine.”

The fastest lap times bore out Martin’s opinion, with Marquez’s best within a tenth of his 1m27.831s mark. Only one other rider, Fabio di Giannantonio (VR46 Ducati), was able to post a lap faster than 1m28s.

Martin believes a stronger showing by Marquez in Sunday’s Australian Grand Prix could have its benefits.

“We will see tomorrow. If he’s that strong [again], maybe he can go into the lead and that could maybe also be good for me. Because I could follow him and try something at the end,” he said.

Marc Marquez, Gresini Racing, Jorge Martin, Pramac Racing

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

Martin admitted to learning a lot from following Marquez at the last event in Japan. In addition, the special nature of the Phillip Island circuit – particularly the difficulty of getting heat into the front tyre – means sitting behind another rider is not as costly as it is at some other venues.

Marquez explained after the race that his problems in the first corner began with a miscalculation of Martin’s braking point.

“Jorge braked super aggressively to disengage the front device. I didn’t calculate this correctly. I almost touched him,” said the six-time MotoGP champion.

“When I reacted it was too late. So I went wide. That small mistake, plus the wind, plus the dirty track out wide, cost me a lot of positions.

“It also cost me the opportunity to fight for first position, but honestly speaking Jorge was a bit faster than me.

“Let’s see if we can avoid that [first corner] mistake tomorrow and fight with him!”

Second place ahead of factory Ducati rider Enea Bastianini nonetheless moved Marquez from fourth in the points standings into a tie for third with the Italian.

With the sprint victory, Martin stretched his advantage over Francesco Bagnaia at the top of the points table to 16.

Ulster hope to have hookers Tom Stewart and Rob Herring back in the “next couple weeks”.

Neither of the Irish internationals have featured this season with Andy Farrell’s side set to face the All Blacks in Dublin on 8 November.

Leinster pair Dan Sheehan and Ronan Kelleher are both set to miss that Aviva Stadium encounter and the return of either Stewart or Herring in time would represent a significant boost to the depth in the position.

“The boys are in a good space, they’re both returning, both running,” said Ulster’s forwards coach Jimmy Duffy after the province’s 36-12 win over Ospreys on Friday night.

“Tom scrummed with us last week and Rob is not far off as well. Hopefully we’ll get those guys back on the paddock in the next couple of weeks.”

In the pair’s absence, young hooker James McCormick has appeared five times in the United Rugby Championship this season and scored his first pair of senior tries against the Ospreys.

“He’s been great,” added Duffy.

“I worked with James with the under-20s back in 21-22 and he’s been growing.

“This was his fifth cap and he looked really good. He is maturing and he’s got good people around him so it’s encouraging to see him coming through.”

By Kostas Lianos, Digital Sports Reporter

IT was back in 2019 when Greece legend Vasilis Torosidis – the heir to Euro 2004 hero Giourkas Seitaridis – retired from international duty after 101 caps.

A giant void was left behind at right-back, many talented players tried to step up – and none of them could fill those big boots.

But, soon enough, I started to hear whispers about a Premier League ace with Greek heritage who’s a starter week-in and week-out…

That was none other than George Baldock, born in Buckingham on March 9, 1993, to English parents but qualified for Greece through his grandmother.

And what a season he was having. The right-back starred for Sheffield United as they surprised the Prem in the 2019-20 campaign – their first in 12 years – by finishing in the top half of the table.

Baldock was among their standout players as he registered a staggering 3,420 minutes played – the joint highest along with the likes of Declan Rice and Virgil van Dijk.

The defender was keen to make the big step to the international stage with his grandmother’s homeland – and it didn’t take long until he shook hands with the Greek football federation (EPO) chiefs.

However, a long and arduous paperwork slog stood in the way – with the then Sheffield United star claiming Covid-19 and Brexit slowed things down.

Greece finally got the right-back they were begging for for years as Baldock made his debut on June 2, 2022 in a Nations League clash at Northern Ireland as a late substitute.

It didn’t take long until the English-born ace owned the right flank at the back and impressive performances followed.

Perhaps none compare to the Euro 2024 qualifier against France in June 2023 when Baldock did the unthinkable and kept Kylian Mbappe quiet for 104 MINUTES, despite being injured and playing through “unimaginable” pain.

I still remember speaking to then-Greece manager Gus Poyet about his player’s stunning performance, and I will never forget the big smile the Chelsea legend had on his face.

Poyet reminded me of a proud father as he took me through the injury hell the full-back endured before squaring up against perhaps the world’s best player for his country.

A beaming Poyet told me: “Against the Republic of Ireland [three days beforehand] – and now that it is finished I can say it – after 20 minutes he had a very bad twist in his ankle, very bad. He was very close to come out. I asked him, ‘Can you hold until half-time?’

“At half-time his ankle was very, very swollen. He asked for a strapping and he asked me for five minutes. Give me five minutes and we’ll let you know. And he had an unbelievable second half running up and down and being outstanding.

“You don’t imagine the ankle after the game. You don’t imagine the ankle the day after, after the flight to France. Black and blue – swollen. And a day-and-a-half later you need to play against Mbappe.

“Ninety per cent of people will think, no chance. And I keep talking to him, individually. And he keeps saying to me, ‘Coach I’m gonna be there no worries’.

“And he didn’t play 20 minutes, he didn’t play 60 minutes, he played 104 minutes because the referee gave 14 minutes of injury time against Mbappe.”

It’s easy to understand how loyal Baldock was to every team he ever played for during his 15-year career, just by looking at his stats.

The Greek ace started his career at MK Dons in 2009 where he amassed a staggering 125 appearances throughout an eight-year stint that also saw him playing on loan for Northampton Town, Tamworth, IBV and Oxford United.

The defender joined Sheffield United in 2017 and registered a whopping 219 appearances in seven years that also saw him helping his team achieve two Premier League promotions.

Baldock’s work ethic and commitment was no different in Greece as he proudly stated two years ago: “To play for the national side is a great honour and a lot of pride involved for me and my family.

“Representing my country through my late grandmother, it’s a very proud moment for me and my family. I love the country and I will fight for every success”

Baldock never played for England at any level, but he always competed like a lion and he proved it on Sunday in his last ever match when he started for Panathinaikos, whom he joined in the summer, against eternal rivals Olympiacos in perhaps the most intense derby in Europe.

He served his team with honour as he helped them pick up a valuable point in a goalless draw against their in-form foes, who had just played their best game of the season with a 3-0 win over Braga in the Europa League a few days earlier.

He only managed 12 caps for Greece before his sudden and tragic death at the age of 31 on Wednesday in Athens.

But his fighting spirit and charisma at right-back with the white and blue, as well as his remarkable run in the Premier League and the Championship, show that he is leaving a legacy behind for many Greek and English fans to look up to.

This week Celtic were fined nearly £17,000 by Uefa after some supporters used pyrotechnics at their recent Champions League defeat at Borussia Dortmund.

The club were also hit with a suspended ban on selling tickets to away fans for one European game, should there be more breaches of the rules by supporters in the next two seasons.

Rodgers urged fans not to land the club in more trouble, stressing pyrotechnics are not necessary for supporters to generate a good atmosphere.

“If you do keep doing it, you’re showing that you don’t really care,” Rodgers said.

“You don’t really care for the team. You don’t care for the support and you don’t care for your club because the club ultimately are getting fined as well.

“So if you keep doing it, you’re clearly showing that you’re actually not really worried about your own club, you’re worried about yourself. So it doesn’t need it.”