• May 8 down the years

Carling reinstated as England captain

After public outcry Will Carling was reinstated as England manager © Getty Images

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1995
Will Carling was reinstated as England captain after being sacked only two days earlier for referring to the RFU as 57 old farts. He was almost right - there were not 57 of them.

On the same day, South African snooker player Peter Francisco was banned for five years for his involvement in a betting scam. He was about to play Jimmy White in that year's World Championship when all betting was suspended after a sudden rush of wagers on White winning 10-2. When the match ended with precisely that score, an inquiry was held. Francisco was cleared of match-rigging but found guilty of 'unprofessional conduct'. Any explanations gratefully received.

1977
The first World Championships in badminton were held in Malmö in Sweden. Cheered on by supporters who made the short crossing, Danes won both singles titles. Two of them contested the men's final. Joint top seed Flemming Delfs had no trouble with veteran Svend Pri, winning 15-5, 15-6. And Lene Köppen won two hard games against Britain's Gillian Gilks, 12-9, 12-11. There were almost two British players in the final. Margaret Lockwood lost to Köppen in the semis. Gilks also lost in the final of the mixed and never won a world title.

The 1983 World Championships were to last in which British players reached a final. In fact they reached two - and even won one. Martin Dew and Mike Tredgett lost the men's doubles to two Danes in Denmark, but Nora Perry won the mixed after losing in the final three years earlier. With her Swedish partner Thomas Kilhström, she beat two other Danes 15-1, 15-11. In the singles. Liem Swie-King of Indonesia lost in the Final for the second time in a row, and China's Li Lingwei won the first of her two titles in the event. Perry also won the world doubles final on June 1 1980.

2004
Juan Manuel Márquez drew with Manny Pacquiao after being knocked down three times in the first round - an astounding performance against such a great boxer. Márquez actually controlled much of the fight on his way to retaining the WBA and IBF featherweight titles. They fought again four years later, this time for the WBC super-featherweight belt. Márquez was down again, and that was enough to lose him the title on a split decision. Pacquiao won a controversial close decision in their third fight in November 2011. Fourth time around, in December 2012, Márquez defeated Pacquiao by knockout with one second remaining in round six.

1996
Rugby's first major cross-code match. The English cup holders in Union and League faced each other in the first of two fixtures. The first was held at a soccer ground - Maine Road. It was played under League rules - and Wigan threw the book at Bath. The union club had practiced by playing against a reserve team in Wales, but they lost that match and were absolutely crushed here today as they struggled to cope with the pace and power of rugby league. Martin Offiah scored six of Wigan's 16 tries in an 82-6 win. The two clubs met again at Twickenham a fortnight later, and Wigan showed they had less to learn, losing only 44-19. They also won the (union) Middlesex Sevens on May 11 that year.

Jacques Villeneuve never won a championship title © Sutton Images

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1982
Gilles Villeneuve died in practice for the Belgian Grand Prix. Two weeks earlier, he had been leading in San Marino when Ferrari ordered him to slow down and he was beaten by team mate Didier Pironi. On this day he was chasing Pironi's faster lap time, when he came across the slow-moving Jochen Mass. The two collided and Villeneuve was sent flying from his crumpled Ferrari. Despite never winning a world championship title, the Canadian is regarded as one of the sport's greatest ever drivers. He wrung victories out of uncompetitive cars in Monaco and Spain in 1981 but was usually frustrated by machinery that failed to match his talent. He won only six of his 66 starts in Formula 1. He did not live to see his son Jacques (born April 9 1971) win the world title in 1997.

1982
Ray Mancini lived up to his nickname Boom Boom by knocking out new WBA lightweight champion Arturo Frias in the first round to win a world title for the first time. Both came out throwing hooks with both hands, there were a brief clinches, then a left hook put Frias down. He was bleeding when he got up, and Mancini pinned him against the ropes, throwing punch after punch. The referee had a couple of looks before stepping in.

1993
Emyr Lewis was big back-row forward who played rugby union for Wales. Before today, it is said he had never attempted a drop goal. So when he did, naturally he scored the winning points in the Welsh Cup final. All very fairytale and laudable - except that the score should never have been allowed. It came directly from a free kick, and the rules had just been changed to make this illegal. Referee Gareth Simmons admitted he might have made a grave mistake, and if so 'it will live with me for a long, long time. The law is quite clear.' Llanelli beat Neath 21-18 to win the Cup for the third year in a row. Neath had to wait until 2004 to win it again.

1961
Andrea Pollack was born to swim like the fish she shares her name with, although she did it on a diet of more than fish food. She was only 15 when she set her first world record (in the 4x100 metres freestyle) and won two gold medals at that year's Olympics, in the 200 butterfly and medley relay. At the 1977 European Championships, she was still only 16 but won the 100 fly and the same relay. American swimmers reduced her to three minor medals at the 1978 World Championships, and in their absence from the 1980 Olympics she managed only another relay gold. She set three world records in the butterfly events. But even at that age, her jutting jaw and manly face were causes for concern. Soon after her induction into swimming's hall of fame, East German officials confessed to giving her and many other swimmers steroids. It's said that Pollack offered to give her Olympic gold medals back.

1999
The first player to kick nine penalty goals in an international rugby union match. Against 14-man Tonga, Keiji Hirose broke the record of eight first set against Scotland on May 25 1991. No-one has ever kicked ten. Hirose also scored a try and kicked a conversion. Japan won 44-17, with right wing Daisuke Ohata scoring one of their other two tries.

On the same day in 2005, Hirose scored 31 points against Hong Kong, including 11 conversions, in a 91-3 win. This time Ohata scored six tries on his way to a world record total of 69 career scores (November 25 2006).

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