An 88-year-old man will star in his first ballet production this weekend after started going to dancing lessons at the age of 79.

Is this 2004 all over again, a Detroit remix, or does this American team have soul? At 5-3 down they will have to summon the iron in it if Ian Woosnam's rampant Europeans are to be denied their third unprecedented Ryder Cup in a row here tomorrow evening.

Sam Allardyce insists he can cope with the enigma that is Nicolas Anelka. The Bolton Wanderers manager is hoping that Fenerbahce will finally relent and allow Anelka to return to the Premiership after 18 months in Turkey.

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ALISON FIRESTONE was rewarded with the winner-takes-all prize of pounds 13,500 yesterday when she rode Arnica de la Barre to five clear rounds in the Kickon Masters at the Olympia Show Jumping Championships.

TIM HENMAN is practising hard ahead of today's second-round match with Jan-Michael Gambill at the Stockholm Open as he aims to get the better of the American at the third time of asking.

INJURY ENDED Greg Rusedski's defence of the Paris Indoor title yesterday. His last big match of the year is likely to be his wedding to Lucy Connor on 4 December. And for an uncomfortably long time it seemed that Tim Henman's last big match of the season would be his wedding to Lucy Heald on 11 December.

How hard is Steffi's forehand these days?" your correspondent asked Andre Agassi after the world's No 1 tennis player had spent 20 minutes practising with Steffi Graf on the Centre Court at the Schleyer Halle in Stuttgart.

ANDRE AGASSI, who has been on the losing end of more matches against Thomas Enqvist than he has won, including the semi-final of the Eurocard Open on Saturday, says the Swede hits a different ball than most players: "He handles pace well and delivers pace well."

ANNE WOOLLIAMS started off as a dancer and then became a teacher, choreographer and director, enjoying a prominent career abroad that took her to Germany, Australia, Switzerland and Austria.

Jiri Kylian steps down this year as Director of the Nederland Dans Theater. He tells John Percival about his quarter-century there

COLIN JACKSON made his best ever start to a summer season in a victorious return to the Gottlieb-Daimler stadium in Stuttgart yesterday after which he did a throughly-deserved lap of honour.