Wheelchair Basketball World Championships 2010

Last week I went to the Wheelchair Basketball Championships Final at the NIA in Birmingham.

The men’s and women’s finals were packed with drama, tension and moments of sheer brilliance.  First up was the women’s final, USA v Germany and the two teams were neck and neck all the way in an exciting encounter, but USA came out on top when Natalie Schneider made her free throw with three seconds left.  With just one second left on the clock however, Germany’s Gesche Schunemann attempted a three-point shot to win the game, but missed.  USA’s Becca Murray was outstanding, and contributed 25 points to her team’s win.  The score finished 53-55 to USA.

The men’s final wasn’t as close, with Australia imposing themselves on France early on and by half time were leading 45-29.  France made a gallant effort after the break however and clawed their way back in to the match, to the delight of the crowd.  At one point the scores were 60-69, but Australia always looked capable of scoring and remained out of reach for the French.  The scores finished 69-79 to Australia.

For more info about Wheelchair Basketball visit www.gbwba.org.uk.

Filed under: August, Karen Patel, Sport

Busy times

Sorry the blog hasn’t been updated as much as it should, but we’ve been very busy here at The Vine! At the moment we are planning a fashion show to be held at our Gala Dinner in October.  If you are a model, clothes designer or stylist and want to take part please get in touch, you can email either me, Rachel or Priya:

• karen_vinemag@hotmail.co.uk
• priya_vinemag@hotmail.co.uk
• rachel_vinemag@hotmail.co.uk

We will obviously need to see photos or portfolios where appropriate.

In the August issue of the mag, we have an interview with Ron McIntosh, who commentated on the longest tennis game in history at Wimbledon a few weeks ago.  There will also be an interview with Tinchy Stryder, a review of Clothes Show London by Rachel and Priya, plus lots more.

Don’t forget to visit our new website: http://www.thevinepublication.com.

Filed under: Fashion, Sport, Update

LIVE COVERAGE: AVIVA Athletics European Trials and UK Championships

Because I’m in charge of sport at The Vine and new media, I thought I would combine the two today to live blog about today’s AVIVA Athletics European Trials and UK Championships from Alexander Stadium in Birmingham.  Click Here and a live feed will come through.

If you’ve logged on late, you can catch up with Saturday’s events which will include the Men’s 100m semi finals and final including Dwain Chambers, Marlon Devonish and Mark Lewis-Francis.

Filed under: Sport, alexander stadium, athletics, aviva, european trials, live, uk championships

The Vine EXCLUSIVE – USAIN BOLT

In the May issue of The Vine we have an EXCLUSIVE interview with the fastest man on the planet – Usain Bolt.  We will be asking Usain about his background, family, how it feels to break world records, and about his visit to Birmingham before taking part in the London 2012 Olympics.

Here is Usain breaking the world record for 100m in Berlin in 2009.

Filed under: Exclusive, Interview, Sport, Birmingham, Exclusive, Interview, London 2012, olympics, Track and field, Usain Bolt, world record

European Gymnastics Championships

Next week I’m going to the European Gymnastics Championships, which are at NIA Birmingham.  It is a two week-long competition featuring Europe’s finest male and female gymnasts, including Louis Smith of Team GB (pictured below).  Louis was a bronze medal winner at the Beijing Olympics in 2008 and he will be hoping to achieve more success in these championships.

Coverage of the event and reaction will be featured in the June issue of The Vine, but keep an eye on this blog for more updates.

For more information about the Championships and to order tickets, visit http://www.europeangymnastics2010.org

Filed under: Sport, Update, european gymnastics championships, gymnastics, louis smith, olympics, Sport