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Good week/Bad week: Best and worst from the sporting world in the past seven days

Image: Brendan Rodgers: Sitting pretty at the Premier League summit

So much can change in a week of sporting action and, sure enough, there have been numerous highs and deflating lows over the past seven days.

Steven Bowditch
Steven Bowditch endured a nervy finish to secure his first PGA Tour win and a dream Masters debut with a one-shot victory in the Valero Texas Open at TPC San Antonio. Although his nearest competitors struggled to mount a charge on the final day, the Australian battled to a four-over 76 in difficult conditions to claim his maiden tour win. Bowditch suffered a scare on the 17th as a supporter screamed at the top of his voice as the 30-year-old reach the top of his backswing; but he managed to stop and compose himself, yet when he did eventually get his drive away, it was wayward. A bare lie in the dirt saved Bowditch as he managed to chip onto the green, where he two-putted to maintain a two stroke advantage as he teed off on the par five 18th.

Bad Week

Jose Mourinho
Chelsea's tenure at the Premier League summit came to an end this weekend as they slipped to defeat at Crystal Palace, while Liverpool cruised to victory over Tottenham. The cause of Chelsea's downfall? A Crystal Palace ball boy, well partly according to Jose Mourinho, at least. The Blues boss launched a scathing attack on the touchline junior, who he accused of slowing play down as Cesar Azpilicueta prepared to a take a throw-in, in a show of clear frustration as their title hopes suffered an unexpected and hefty blow at Selhurst Park. Mourinho went on to hint at a strike-force clear out after his first ever defeat to a newly-promoted club handed the initiative to Liverpool and Manchester City as the title race rages on.
England Cricket Team
First, there was hope. Then came disappointment as England's turbulent week at the World Twenty20 in Bangladesh ended in elimination. Admittedly, expectations were riding so low ahead of the competition, anything short of embarrassing failure after their woeful winter in Australia could be seen as quiet relief. When Alex Hales blitzed an unbeaten 116 to see England to victory over top-ranked T20 side Sri Lanka on Thursday, there was a glimmer of semi-final hope. Despite Stuart Broad's public pronouncements of England's title credentials, the Three Lions never looked likely to challenge; and such was confirmed on Sunday as they fell three runs short of South Africa, who secured their own passage to the semi-finals in the penultimate round of Super 10 fixtures.
Peter Wright
Peter 'SnakeBite' Wright's dream start to his maiden Premier League Darts campaign was stunted this week as Michael van Gerwen usurped top-spot in an ill-tempered Dublin affair. With the pantomime rivalry between the pair developing at a rate of knots, Van Gerwen and Wright locked horns in a top-of-the-table clash, which came close to stealing the headline act from Phil Taylor and Raymond van Barneveld. Wright did his best to get under the skin of the defending champion, who was visibly riled by the newcomer's tactics. It was Van Gerwen that had the final say, though, snatching victory in the deciding leg with a slick 128 checkout before the war of words continued into the post-match interviews.
Daniel Ricciardo
As debut seasons go, Daniel Ricciardo's start to life as a Red Bull racer is up there with the worst after he became the first victim of a double unsafe release penalty in the Malaysian Grand Prix. Two weeks after being disqualified from second place at his home Australian GP, Ricciardo was on course to finish fourth behind team-mate Sebastian Vettel at Sepang, only for his fortunes to nosedive once more when he was released from his final pitstop without his front-left wheel nut fully attached. After stopping in the middle of the pitlane and being pushed back to the Red Bull pit so the team could secure the wheel, Ricciardo soon suffered a front-wing breakage on his return to the track and then a five-second stop-and-go penalty for Red Bull's pitstop infringement. However, under new regulations introduced this season to clamp down hard on teams releasing cars unsafely, it was confirmed after the race that Ricciardo had also been hit with a ten-place grid penalty for the next grand prix in Bahrain. As ever you can give us your nominations and suggestions by using the feedback form below.

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