Sports news and briefs

Ben Hamilton

June 21, 2012 - 11:41

Laudrup’s historic first - Golfers disappoint - Smarty pants out of pocket - Woz can win – so she says - Le Man comes second - Sad times on the sofa

Michael Laudrup becomes the new manager of English Premier League club Swansea City. (Photo:Scanpix)

Michael Laudrup was confirmed as the new manager of English Premier League club Swansea City last week on Friday. The Welsh club has only been in the top flight for one season, but earned widespread plaudits for its tiki-taka style of play – an ethos the club said Laudrup is a perfect fit for. He has signed a two-year deal and becomes the first Dane to manage in the EPL.

All three Danish golfers missed the cut at the US Open, golf’s second major the season, which concluded on Sunday in San Francisco. Søren Kjeldsen shot the second worst opening round – an 85 that included a 12-over outward nine – and finished sixth from last overall. Thomas Bjørn recovered from a poor first round to miss the cut by a stroke, while Anders Hansen slumped out of contention on day two.

Nicklas Bendtner has been fined 735,000 kroner and given a one-game ban by UEFA for revealing the name of a bookmaker on his “lucky underpants” after scoring an equaliser in Denmark’s 3-2 defeat by Portugal last week on Wednesday. UEFA rules ban all kinds of advertising. Furthermore, one of the Danish FA’s main sponsors is English bookie Ladbroke’s. Bendtner plans to appeal.

Caroline Wozniacki is tenth favourite (Ladbroke’s: 40/1) to win Wimbledon, which starts on Monday 25 June. The draw will be announced on Friday. The Dane, who at the time of going to press was warming up in the grass-court AEGON International in Eastbourne, told English newspaper the Daily Mail: “I believe I can win Wimbledon this year,” adding she was hopeful Denmark would win Euro 2012.

Tom Christensen failed to win his ninth Le Mans 24-hour race over the weekend, finishing in second place – his 12th time on the podium. Audi took the first two places, with last year’s winners – Marcel Fassler, Andre Lotterer and Benoit Treluyer – again taking first, followed by their sister team, Allan McNish, Rinaldo Capello and Kristensen. The 44-year-old Dane last won Le Mans in 2008.

Some 2.378 million people tuned in for Denmark’s 1-2 defeat by Germany on Sunday night – the most watched football game since the country’s 2-3 loss to Brazil in the quarter-finals of the 1998 World Cup. In comparison, 2.6 million watched the Euro 1992 final. While the figure exceeded the highest ever ‘X Factor’ audience (2.2 ml), it was a long way short of the all-time record: 3.6 million for the final episode of drama ‘Matador’.