Sports-On this day... May 1
April 30 (Reuters) - ON THIS DAY -- May 1
May 1, 1994
FORMULA ONE - Three-time champion Ayrton Senna in action moments before his fatal crash in his Williams car at the San Marino Grand Prix.
The lead up to the race was overshadowed by the death of Simtek driver Roland Ratzenberger after the Austrian had crashed into a concrete barrier during qualifying.
Senna, who was the race leader, rounded the high-speed Tamburello corner and ran off the track, crashing into an unprotected concrete wall. He was airlifted to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced dead a few hours later.
May 1, 2000
SNOOKER - Wales' Mark Williams celebrates winning his first world title after defeating fellow countryman Matthew Stevens 18–16 in the final of the World Snooker Championship.
Williams trailed 13-7 but produced a remarkable turnaround to win a thrilling final and become the first Welsh player since 1979 to be crowned world champion.
Nicknamed the 'Welsh Potting Machine', Williams won the UK Championship, the Masters, and the World Championship in the 2002-03 season to complete the coveted triple crown.
May 1, 2003
BASKETBALL - Boston Celtics power forward Antoine Walker listens to the cheers of the home crowd in his side's 110-90 win over Indiana Pacers in game six of their Eastern Conference first round playoff series.
Walker scored 21 points and Paul Pierce added 27 as the Celtics sealed a 4-2 series win to advance to the Eastern Conference semi-finals where they were swept by the New Jersey Nets.
Walker was traded to the Dallas Mavericks ahead of the next season after having spent seven years in Boston. A three-time All Star, he won the NBA championship with the Miami Heat in 2006.
May 1, 2004
SAILING - Twelve 72-foot (22 metres) yachts pass under Tower Bridge, London, months before the Global Challenge, a round-the-world 30,000 nautical mile race.
The head-to-head race began in Portsmouth in October and had stops at Buenos Aires, Wellington, Sydney, Cape Town, Boston and La Rochelle.
BG Spirit, skippered by Andy Forbes, won three of the seven legs and completed the race in 166 days, over two days quicker than second-place finisher Barclays Adventurer.
May 1, 2004
HORSE RACING - Smarty Jones ridden by jockey Stewart Elliott races to victory at the 130th Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville.
With more than 140,000 people in attendance, Smarty Jones, who started as a 4-1 favourite, beat off competition from Lion Heart by two and three-quarter lengths to become just the fifth undefeated runner to win the Derby.
Smarty Jones won the Preakness Stakes later that month but could not complete the Triple Crown by winning the Belmont Stakes, where he placed second.
May 1, 2004
SOCCER - Arsenal striker Thierry Henry poses with the PFA Player of the Year trophy ahead of his side's Premier League match against Birmingham City at Highbury, London.
Henry, the first player to retain the Player of the Year award, finished the season with 30 goals as Arsenal clinched their third Premier League title after remaining unbeaten the entire campaign.
The Frenchman top scored for Arsenal in seven straight seasons and he is the club's all-time highest scorer with 228 goals.
May 1, 2005
TENNIS - Argentina's Gaston Gaudio plays a shot en route to a 6-1 2-6 6-1 win over Spain's Tommy Robredo in the final of the Estoril Open.
Gaudio blitzed the Spaniard in the first set and overcame a second-set wobble to seal a three-set victory and clinch his sixth career title.
Gaudio compiled a 42–8 record on clay that year, winning five titles, but he failed to defend his French Open crown, losing to Spain's David Ferrer in the fourth round.
May 1, 2005
MOTORCYCLE RACING - Italy's Valentino Rossi rides his Yamaha to victory in the maiden Chinese Grand Prix at the Shanghai International circuit.
Rossi finished the 22-lap race 1.7 seconds ahead of Frenchman Olivier Jacque in the Kawasaki while Italy's Marco Melandri of Honda completed the podium.
Seven-time premier class world champion Rossi won the race for the second time in 2008 - the final year it was contested.
May 1, 2010
SOCCER - Bayern Munich's Arjen Robben celebrates after a 3-1 win against VfL Bochum which, coupled with Schalke 04's 2-0 loss to Werder Bremen, sealed their 22nd Bundesliga title.
Thomas Mueller's hat-trick sent Bayern three points clear of Schalke at the top of the table. With a vastly superior goal difference, Bayern effectively sealed the title with a game to spare.
In his first season for the club after his move from Real Madrid, Robben top scored with 16 league goals. He remained with the German club for nine more seasons, winning seven more league titles before announcing his retirement in July 2019.
May 1, 2016
ICE HOCKEY - San Jose Sharks centre Joe Pavelski celebrates after scoring the second goal against the Nashville Predators in game two of the second round of the 2016 Stanley Cup playoffs at SAP Center, San Jose.
Logan Couture and Joe Thornton also got on the scoresheet for the Sharks, and Martin Jones made 37 saves to ensure San Jose secured a 3-2 victory to give them a 2-0 lead in the series.
Pavelski, who began his National Hockey League career with the Sharks in 2006, left the franchise in 2019 as their second-highest scorer with 355 goals. (Compiled by Arvind Sriram in Bengaluru Editing by Christian Radnedge)
