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Good Week/Bad Week

We analyse the winners and loses from the last seven days in the sporting world

Another week in the world of sport and another batch of heroes and zeroes have emerged for us to analyse.

Stuart Hall
Darlington bantamweight Stuart Hall completed what his promoter Dennis Hobson described as a "real-life Rocky story" by claiming the IBF bantamweight title in Leeds on Saturday night. Hall's unlikely journey from the drink-and-drug dens of Ibiza to world title glory was realised after a unanimous points win over South Africa's Vusi Malinga in a genuine fight of the year contender. The 33-year-old Hall fought the last three rounds with his left eye clamped tightly shut and a cut over his right eye which required stitches, as did his bruised and vanquished opponent. He took the bout 116-111 and 117-110 twice on the three judges' cards after a thrilling, action-packed war.

Bad Week

England cricket team
Australia head into the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne with an unassailable 3-0 lead and chasing a 5-0 clean sweep in the remaining two Tests over Christmas and New Year. England defeated Australia 3-0 in the five-match home series in July and August before quickly handing the urn back to their rivals Down Under. A battling maiden Test century from Ben Stokes wasn't enough to stop the hosts securing victory by 150 runs in Perth. And then, just a few days after defeat one of England's greatest spin bowlers Graeme Swann stunned the cricketing world by announcing his retirement from the game with immediate effect.
Phil Taylor
Michael Smith pulled off a major upset by dumping an off-colour Phil Taylor out of the PDC World Darts Championship at Alexandra Palace. The 16-time world champion was well below his best as he slumped to a 4-3 defeat against world youth champion Smith after an error-strewn display in the second round. Smith, 23, finished Taylor off in style, producing 11 and 13-dart legs in the decider before clinching the set 4-2 on the bull.
Andre Villas-Boas
Andre Villas-Boas was sacked as Tottenham manager on Monday in the wake of the embarrassing 5-0 defeat at home to Liverpool the day before, which followed a 6-0 drubbing at Manchester City. Villas-Boas used the proceeds from the sale of Gareth Bale to Real Madrid in the summer to fund some £107million of new talent arriving, with the likes of Paulinho, Christian Eriksen, Roberto Soldado, Nacer Chadli, Etienne Capoue, Vlad Chiriches and Erik Lamela all joining. However, trying to get all those new men to integrate proved in part his downfall, with the Spurs boss eventually shown the door by chairman Daniel Levy.
Worcester Warriors
Four penalties from England international Billy Twelvetrees helped Gloucester leap to ninth place in the Aviva Premiership as bottom side Worcester remain without a league win. Twelvetrees' strikes, against two from Worcester fly-half Ignacio Mieres, were all the sides could muster in a match delayed for 30 minutes in bizarre circumstances. As part of the pre-match entertainment, fans were invited onto the pitch to try to get one of two giant inflatable balls between the posts. They brought one side of the crossbar down at the Kingsholm Road end minutes before kick-off, with groundstaff frantically trying to repair the damage and get the game on while the teams waited in the dressing rooms.

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