Bwin sports writer competition: The runners-up

In association with Bwin, Europe's biggest sports betting and gaming site, The Independent asked budding sports writers to send us 400 words on a sporting event of their choice.

The results were, to say the least, impressive, and so it's been with some difficulty that we've selected a shortlist of five, one of whom will go on to win a fantastic prize: the opportunity to write about four separate sporting events around Europe over September and October. Starting with a trip to Portugal for the MotoGP, our winner's write-up on the event will be featured on Independent.co.uk, as well as being considered for a place in the paper.

Below are the shortlisted entrants; click on the title of their piece to read the their contribution to the competition.

Miss Dhwani Patel - Zurich v Real madrid write up

Nick Harrisson - Kent v Surrey cricket series

Alex Richman - Arsenal v Everton

Alan Murphy - Bog Snokelling

Tom Barneby - His team's football match

The winning entry, entitled "Coffee-makers and sunflower seeds: A night with Istanbul’s Besiktas", was written by John McManus, who will be covering a variety of sporting events over the next month as part of his prize. Click here to read his piece .

Find out more about bwin's sports betting and live betting at www.bwin.com