Sports-On This Day... April 4
April 3 (Reuters) - ON THIS DAY -- April 4
April 4, 1993
SOCCER - Ian Wright celebrates Arsenal's 1-0 FA Cup semi-final victory over north London rivals Tottenham Hotspur at Wembley Stadium.
Skipper Tony Adams scored with a towering header at the back post in the second half but Arsenal were tested when they went a man down after Lee Dixon's red card.
They would go on to win the FA Cup as well as the League Cup that season, beating Sheffield Wednesday in both finals.
April 4, 2000
BOXING - Heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis works on his timing on the bag ahead of his title defence against American Michael Grant at New York's Madison Square Garden.
Lewis beat Evander Holyfield to become the undisputed heavyweight champion but was stripped of his World Boxing Association belt for choosing to fight Grant instead of WBA mandatory challenger John Ruiz.
Grant came into the contest with a 31-0 record and was taller and heavier than Lewis, but the Briton floored him three times in the first round before knocking him out in the second.
April 4, 2004
FORMULA ONE - Smoke rises from the brakes of Michael Schumacher's Ferrari as he leads the pack into the first corner of the inaugural desert Grand Prix at the newly built Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir.
Defending world champion Schumacher led team mate Rubens Barrichello from the front row of the grid to a one-two finish in the first ever Formula One race to be held in the Middle East.
The track's first corner was named after Schumacher a few months after he suffered head injuries in a skiing accident in December 2013 that resulted in him being put into a medically induced coma.
April 4, 2005
SUMO - Sumo wrestlers enter the Expo Dome for the grand sumo tournament in the 2005 Aichi world exposition in Nagoya, Japan.
The sumo tournament was held with nearly 40 sumo stars, including grand champion Asashoryu Akinori.
Mongolian Akinori, who attained sumo's highest rank of 'yokozuna', was the first wrestler to win all six 'honbasho' (sumo tournaments) in the same year.
April 4, 2009
CRICKET - India's fast bowler Zaheer Khan celebrates his fifth wicket after dismissing New Zealand's Tim Southee during their third test match in Wellington.
After India's batsmen scored 379 in the first innings, Khan ran through the top order to finish with figures of 5-65, allowing India to gain the upper hand after the home side were bowled out for 197.
India would eventually set New Zealand footballandcricketonline.blogspot.com a stiff target of 617 to win and nearly bowled them out again before rain came to the home side's rescue, with India needing two more wickets to win. The match ended in a draw but India won the series 1-0.
April 4, 2010
GOLF - Yani Tseng of Taiwan and her caddie jump into the lake at the 18th hole to celebrate winning the LPGA's Kraft Nabisco Championship golf tournament in California.
Winners of the event take a ceremonial leap into Poppie's Pond, a tradition that began in 1988 when American Amy Alcott and her caddie took the plunge.
Tseng, who was tied for seventh after the first two rounds, surged ahead on the last two days to finish 13-under overall, beating Norway's Suzann Pettersen by a single stroke.
April 4, 2013
BASEBALL - Cincinnati Reds' second baseman Brandon Phillips jumps to avoid a hard sliding Los Angeles Angels' Howie Kendrick as he breaks up the double-play attempt during the second inning of play at the Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati, Ohio.
In his new role as a cleanup hitter, Phillips was instrumental in a 5-4 victory for the Reds when he hit a three-run homer in the fourth inning.
As a second baseman, Phillips won the Gold Glove award for outstanding individual fielding performances four times between 2008 and 2013.
April 4, 2018
SOCCER - Liverpool fans set off flares and throw missiles at the Manchester City team bus outside the stadium before the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final tie at Anfield.
City players and staff escaped without injuries but two police officers were hurt, with one struck by an object and another cut by glass.
The intimidating atmosphere paid off for Liverpool, however, who romped to a 3-0 win and advanced to the semi-finals as 5-1 aggregate winners after the return leg in Manchester a week later.
April 4, 2018
SOCCER - Barcelona's Luis Suarez celebrates scoring their fourth goal in a 4-1 victory over Italy's AS Roma in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final tie.
Although Suarez scored 37 goals for club and country that season, this was his first in the Champions League -- scored more than a year after his last goal in the competition.
Barcelona looked certain to reach the semi-finals but Roma bounced back to win the second leg 3-0 and sent the Spanish side out on the away goals rule.
April 4, 2019
HORSE RACING - Jockey Robbie Power celebrates winning the Aintree Hurdle riding Supasundae on the opening day of the Grand National Festival at Aintree Racecourse, Liverpool.
Power was competing in his first race since returning from injury and Supasundae, who finished second the previous year, toppled hot favourite Buveur D'Air by a length and a quarter.
The race requires horses to jump hurdles and Power took advantage when race leader Melon fell at the hurdle before the home stretch, hampering Buveur D'Air who was in second place.
(Compiled by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Simon Jennings)
