• April 14 down the years

A shocking sporting collapse

There was despair for Greg Norman as he was overhauled by Nick Faldo © Getty Images

Enlarge

1996
Ten years on from losing three out of four Majors on the last day, Greg Norman collapsed in even more spectacular style. Before the last round of the Masters, he led by six shots. By the end of it, he was five behind Nick Faldo, who won the event for the third and last time. This was real car-crash TV, watching a man's game fall apart in public. Norman had started with a 63 that equalled the record for any Major and made him look every inch the complete champion. No bogeys, and a 30-footer at the end. But on this terrible last day, everything caved in at the 11th, where Faldo had won play-offs on April 9, 1989 and April 8, 1990. Norman's birdie putt shaved the hole, but he missed the return from two feet and his lead was gone. At the next, the scary short 12th, his tee shot went into the water and left him two shots behind. Faldo, one of the best head-to-head fighters in Major history, couldn't fail to take advantage. But he was crying when he shook hands at the end. Norman finished runner-up in a Major for the eighth time, including four after a play-off.

2002
Tiger Woods won the event for the second year in a row and the third time in all. Going into the last round tied with reigning US Open champion Retief Goosen, he played solid golf to score a one-under-par 71 while Goosen dropped three shots, the margin of victory. The course had been lengthened and toughened ('Tiger proof'), then rain fell during the second round and 26 holes were played on the last day. On the wet greens, only one golfer shot under 70 on the last day.

On the first, Sam Snead hit the honorary first drive. Champion in 1949, 1952 and 1954, he was 89 by now but that famous swing hadn't lost all its power. His ceremonial tee-shot flattened a spectator. The victim was treated for a cut on the nose, but it was a scar to wear with pride.

1991
If Ian Woosnam had had a putting game to match his driving (huge for a man of 5' 4) and iron play, he would have won more Majors. But a lot of top golfers never won one at all. Here at Augusta, Woosie reached the last hole tied with José María Olazábal and Tom Watson but his approach shot missed the green. Luckily for him, Olazábal and Watson landed in bunkers, Olazábal twice. Woosnam holed a putt no longer than himself to win by one shot. A downcast Olazábal was in contention again on April 10 three years later.

1985
Bernhard Langer became the first German golfer to win a Major. He conquered his well-documented putting yips to complete each of his last two rounds in 68 and finish two strokes ahead of three players: Seve Ballesteros, Curtis Strange and overnight leader Ray Floyd. The big loser was Strange. He led by four shots with nine to play but at the 13th he put his second shot into the stream. Instead of taking a penalty drop, he tried to hit it out, but his first attempt didn't even move the ball. He took six, then landed in a lake when he picked the wrong club at the 15th. Even with all this, Strange would have won if he hadn't opened with a round of 80! While he was finding water, Langer was birdying the same two holes. He won the Masters again on April 11, 1993.

2002
Records fell at the London Marathon.

Paula Radcliffe won the race for the first time. She finished four seconds under two hours 19 minutes, a new fastest time for the event that was also a European record and broke the British best set by Véronique Marot, also in London, on April 23, 1989. Radcliffe broke the world record in the same race on April 13, 2003.

Tanni Grey-Thompson won the London Marathon for the sixth and last time, the most by any competitor, male or female, wheelchair or not.

When at her best Paula Radcliffe was sensational © Getty Images

Enlarge

Khalid Khannouchi, a Moroccan running for the USA, finished in 2 hours 5 minutes 38 to break his own world record by four seconds.

A big day for European golfers at the Masters. And for one American. And an agonised Australian and Argentinian.

1933 and 1954
Diane and Rosalind Rowe were born - and won their second world title. The top table tennis doubles act of their day, they won it for the first time on March 11, 1951, when they were only 17. Today, at the Albert Hall in London, they celebrated their 21st birthdays by winning an all-English final against Kathie Best and 15-year-old Ann Haydon, who later became Ann Jones the famous tennis player. The twins lost the first game, won the second easily, then had to work hard to take the last two 21-19 22-20. Diane married Germany's Eberhard Schöler, world singles finalist in 1969. Together they reached the semi-finals of the World Championships in 1971, when Rowe was very nearly 38. She'd reached the Final of the same event 19 years earlier. Diane also finished runner-up at the European Championships in 1962 and the English Open in 1960. She won the Open in 1962, Rosalind in 1953 and 1955.

On the same day that Haydon became the youngest finalist in any World Championship, the famous Victor Barna became by far the oldest. He won his first world singles title in 1930. Today, at the age of 42, he partnered Frenchman Michel Haguenauer (a spring chicken of 37) in the Final of the doubles against Žarko Dolinar and Vilim Harangozo. Relative youth told. The Yugoslavs won in three easy games: 21-15 21-11 21-10.

On the same day in 1961, another Hungarian golden oldie reached the doubles final. Ferenc Sidó was world singles champion in 1953. Now, four days short of his 38th birthday, he partnered Zoltán Berczik against Nobuyo Hoshino and Koji Kimura. The first three games were close, the Hungarians winning the second 27-25. But the Japanese ran away with the fourth 21-13.

1991
Cardiff hosted the first women's World Cup final in rugby union. For the whole of the first half, England dominated through their pack, winning ball after ball and scoring a penalty try after 15 minutes. Gill Burns converted to give them a 6-0 lead - but that was as good as it got. Instead of feeding their prolific wings, England did a lot of aimless kicking - and as the game went on, they couldn't match the American girls' tackling (especially by Candi Orsini, who earned her living as a stuntwoman) or fitness. Chris Harju's penalty made the half-time score 6-3, then the USA scored three quick tries to win the game. Claire Godwin got two of them, the first from a rolling maul, the second three minutes later from a lineout. Then scrum-half Patty Connell was on hand when Tara Flanagan broke through from another lineout. Harju kicked two conversions to make the final score 19-6. England's try was the only score the USA conceded in the whole tournament. In the semi-final, they won 7-0, New Zealand's last defeat for ten years. The States also won the inaugural women's football World Cup that year. They're the only country ever to hold both trophies, men's or women's, at the same time.

1973
Fourteen-year-old East German superstar Kornelia Ender set two world records in two days in two events. Yesterday the 200 metres individual medley, today the 100 butterfly. Both the records she broke had been set in the Olympic Games the year before.

1960
The Montreal Canadiens set one record by reaching the Stanley Cup finals for the 10th year in a row and equalled another one by winning the trophy for the fifth year in succession. As in 1959, they beat their big rivals the Toronto Maple Leafs, this time by four games to nil.

1973
The united nations of rugby. For the only time in Five Nations history, all five countries shared the title. They all won their two home matches and lost their two away. Penalty goals by Tony Ensor and Mike Gibson gave Ireland a 6-0 lead in Dublin, and France made nothing of two overlaps before finally sending right wing Jean-François Philiponeau in for a try. But Jean-Pierre Romeu missed a very kickable conversion. A draw would have given France the title outright. As it was, Ireland had a small share in it for the first time since 1951.

© ESPN EMEA LTD