Sport

Manchester Storm this week announced their first pre-season matches following their return, 18 years after the original team closed due to financial problems.

Manchester City’s Steph Houghton and Lucy Bronze helped England’s Lionesses overcome a 1-0 deficit against former champions Norway to set up a World Cup quarter-final with hosts Canada on Saturday.

Liam Phillips, 2013 BMX world champion, moved to Manchester seven years ago and is currently preparing for the July 21-25 World Championships to be held at Circuit Zolder in Belgium, a site better known for its Formula 1 pedigree.

Finishing second in the group and with two successive wins from three, England’s women are on their way to the last 16 where they will face Norway.

Amateur athlete Laura Nuttall does the ‘inhuman’ as she faces the UK’s largest non-stop ultra-marathon this Saturday – running 69 miles in just 24 hours for charity Manchester Mind.

British Cycling last week decided to review changes to the BMX youth competition structure proposed at the start of the month following criticism from several corners of the cycling community.

Ellie Simmonds has swapped Loughborough University for the National Performance Centre in Manchester this year as she turns her attentions towards Rio 2016.

Holland and Littleborough Lakeside Cricket Club were awarded a grant of £2000 through the England & Wales Cricket Trust (EWCT) Small Grant Scheme, supported by Waitrose, something ex-England captain Mike Gatting says is vital for the game’s future in this country.

Louis van Gaal lifted Manchester United to fourth in his first campaign in charge and ex-Red Devil Dion Dublin says they will land a first trophy since the 2013 Premier League next year.

World Rugby Chairman Bernard Lapasset expressed his excitement on Manchester’s role in next year’s championship, which will be hosted in June at Sale Sharks’ AJ Bell stadium alongside Manchester City’s Academy stadium.

With no World Cup or European championship on the menu this summer, Manchester’s soccer stars will be jetting off on their holidays before pre-season training commences in mid-July.