MICHAEL PEARLMAN SAYS: What a feast of sport (From South Wales Argus)

MICHAEL PEARLMAN SAYS: What a feast of sport

12:20pm Thursday 4th June 2009

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FILLING that dreadful void between the end of the football season and the start of the Ashes should be particularly easy this summer for those of us in this part of the world.

The sun is shining, the transfer madness (Gareth Barry, to Manchester City!) provides an easy distraction and for those of you in Gwent, this very weekend brings two excellent opportunities to watch some top class live sport.

Firstly, the Celtic Manor Wales Open, a terrific chance to see some of the finest golfers in the world strutting their stuff on the new Twenty Ten Ryder Cup course.

Like it or not, the third biggest sporting event on the planet is heading to Newport in just 16 months.

The rumour mill has been suggesting that economic difficulties will see the tournament pulled from Wales at the 11th hour, but those fears were directly addressed yesterday by First Minister Rhodri Morgan, Celtic Manor Resort owner Terry Matthews and European Tour chief executive George O’Grady.

Newport, and indeed Wales (this is bigger than the rugby World Cup), will never have seen anything like it with the world’s media and around 50,000 supporters a day descending upon this part of the world.

First of all, though, is the first of two dress rehearsals and with the weather so fine, this is a great time to get up to the Celtic Manor and see what all the fuss is about for yourselves.

Stephen Dodd, struggling to stay in the world’s top 1000 at the start of the season and now in the top 200, offers a very realistic hope of a Welsh winner in a tournament that has been somewhat dented this week with three Ryder Cup players, including the majestic Swede Robert Karlsson, withdrawing.

However, we still have the dual attraction of Ryder Cup skippers Corey Pavin and Colin Montgomerie, home interest in the shape of Newport’s Phillip Price and Blackwood’s Bradley Dredge, Ryder Cup hero Miguel Angel Jimenez and some of the brightest young guns in the sport, including Nick Dougherty and Oliver Fisher, who was part of the Faldo Series academy based here in Newport.

It promises to be a fantastic four days.

Also providing a welcome distraction from the vastly overrated television spectacles of the Lions Tour and the Twenty20 World Cup, where England should just about beat Holland, is a top quality night of boxing in the Newport Centre tomorrow.

It’s a fantastic month of British boxing with both David Haye and Amir Khan challenging for world titles and it’s great to see that Newport once again hosts a large card giving an opportunity to showcase local talent.

Bristol-based father and son promoters Chris and Jamie Sanigar have now put on more than half-a-dozen bills in the Principality and I understand the latest one is set to be their first sell-out.

Robbie Turley and Dai Davies fight for a Welsh title in the main event and several other St Joseph’s prospects, including Justyn Hugh and Lee Churcher from Newport, will be hoping to make a big impression.

We also have the added intrigue of two of Enzo Calzaghe’s stable stepping back into the ring, Newport light heavyweight and former bin man Hari Miles and Merthyr’s Kerry Hope, who has had more than his share of bad luck in the past month.

Tickets are still available and are selling fast and with spectators such as Bradley Pryce, Nathan Cleverly and even Joe Calzaghe expected, I would suggest it’s an evening well worth attending

* What I haven’t mentioned, of course, is the Azerbaijan versus Wales World Cup qualifier in Baku on Saturday.

With several injury problems and with confidence surely at an all-time low, it’s a huge job for John Toshack to pick up his players, the prospect of defeat is far greater than one would hope or expect from what should be an away win banker.

However, I can’t be alone in having massive concerns not just on the game, but also on one of Wales’ top prospects, Gwent’s own Jack Collison. I fear he won’t be one of Wales’ top prospects for much longer.

Collison definitely won’t feature on Saturday after suffering a knee injury and that means he still hasn’t played a second’s competitive football for Wales, opening the door for the Watford-born West Ham midfielder to opt to play for England after all.

Collison should have been selected for a proper game long before now and if England do end up selecting him, it’ll be yet another error on John Toshack’s ever more blotted copy book.

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