Waterfront Hall journalist for BBC Sport NI and  
In the Northern Ireland Open final, Jack Lisowski defeated world number one Judd Trump 9-8 to win his first-ever ranking event title.
Trump’s quest for his first title since December 2024 continued with the 34-year-old’s seventh ranking event decision coming out of the final.
Lisowski now has the opportunity to win the £100,000 prize money that was previously awarded to the Alex Higgins Trophy.
tight final for Lisowski
On his sixth attempt, Lisowski won the first frame of the second half with a break of 97 before clinching the third.
A century from Lisowski tied the match after Trump restored his one-frame lead in the fifth and fourth frames after winning.
The 34-year-old was positioned well to win the game 4-3, but Trump took advantage of it and went ahead.
Before the break, Lisowski won the final frame to start a thrilling second session.
After the break, it was still a close game, with Lisowski leveling once more in the 10th with Trump winning the opening frame, helped by an 82-run run.
Gian van Veen, a Dutchman, won his first PDC title at the European Championships in Dortmund, outshining world number one Luke Humphries.
The 23-year-old defeated four-time champion Michael van Gerwen 11-9 in the semi-finals before holding on to his resolve to win 11-10 against Humphries.
When I won my first TV title, I wouldn’t cry, and now I’m crying, Van Veen told ITV Sport to my girlfriend when I walked on stage.
“I will never forget this situation, or even this crowd,” she declared. winning my first major in Germany is incredible.
Van Veen’s thumb was injured during the semi-final, and he continued to appear pain throughout the match.
Humphries’ rival refused to let the 21-leg match go away from him, despite a strong start and a 4-1 lead.
The pair traded legs until the final stages of a back-and-forth encounter.
Van Veen, known as “The Giant,” jumped at the chance to win the decider by missing the double 20 when leading 10-9, but the winner was unharmed with a 100 checkout.
Diana, Princess of Wales’ funeral has been discussed by Earl Spencer, who revealed that he had initially written a “very different” eulogy from the one he read out at Westminster Abbey.
Assistant Celebrity and Entertainment Editor, Daniel Bird
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Earl Spencer has opened up about his original eulogy for Diana’s funeral(Image: Getty Images for Invictus Games)
Diana, Princess of Wales’ brother had a very different eulogy planned for her funeral. On September 6, 1997, Earl Spencer delivered a powerful eulogy to the 2,000 people who attended the service at Westminster Abbey, and made a subtle swipe at Diana’s former in-laws, The Royal Family.
However, Charles, the 61-year-old ninth Earl Spencer, has revealed that he had a very different eulogy in mind. Earl Spencer had been flying to London from Cape Town, where he was currently residing, and a flight attendant had assisted him because he was “in bits” prior to the royal ceremonial funeral.
He had been looking for writers in his contact book to help him write the touching letter to his sister. I wanted to find someone who would make the speech for her after reading through my large, thick address book. And when I reached “Z,” he claimed, “I hadn’t found anyone.”
Earl Spencer continued, “I called my mother and said, “I can’t think who’s going to give the eulogy,” after getting off the plane at Heathrow [Airport]. And she said, “Well, it is going to be you, and I have an awful feeling that it is going to be me.” Your sisters and I have chosen to say “yes.”
He continued, “[It was a] very traditional eulogy, almost like “She was very good at this as a child” and everything else. Then I realized, “Well, this is ridiculous, that’s not who she was.” After the tragic Princess passed away at the age of 36 in a car accident in Paris, Earl Spencer “realized” that his job was to “speak for” her rather than speak for her.
He said: “And I knew I’d been left at that stage – it had no legal standing – but I knew she’d left me as guardian of her sons [Prince William and Prince Harry], obviously, the other parent being alive, that meant nothing, but it meant something to me.
“That sort of duty, I think. And then I wrote it in an hour and a half and, yeah, that was it, really.” He did “take one bit out,” referencing media mogul Rupert Murdoch, as he saw it “rather unnecessary”. During the eulogy, Earl Spencer spoke about Diana’s impact across the world, praising her for her humanitarian lifestyle and philanthropy.
Diana was, he said to the congregation, “the very essence of compassion, duty, style, and beauty.” She was a global example of selfless humanity. A very British girl who transcended nationality, a standard bearer for the rights of the truly oppressed throughout the world. Someone who had a classless, natural nobility, and demonstrated in her last year that she still needed no royal title to continue producing her own brand of magic.
Even though God gave you only half a life, today is our chance to thank you for the way you have changed our lives. We will always feel cheated that you were taken from us when you were young, but we must grow to be appreciative of how you came along. We only now realize how much of what we currently have is left behind, and we want you to know that life is very, very difficult without you.
After her divorce from the then Prince Charles, his statement about Diana “needing no royal title” appeared to be a rip-off of hers.
He continued to say that he and his family would not permit William and Harry to be “anguish” in any way. He stated, “On behalf of your mother and sisters, I swear that we, your blood family, will do everything we can to keep you from leading these two exceptional young men in an all-out effort to ensure that their souls don’t just get sucked into duty and tradition but can sing freely as you intended.”
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We fully respect the culture from which they were both born and will always support and encourage them in their royal roles, but we, like you, also recognize the need for them to get as many different aspects of life as possible to prepare them for the years to come. You must have had high expectations of us, I am certain. We all fought so hard for you today, William and Harry.
Jannik Sinner won the Vienna Open final against Alexander Zverev, earning him his fourth title of the year on Sunday.
Sinner , who won the 22nd title of his career, came off Zverev 3 3-6, 3 6-3, 7-5, before making a comeback.
His second success in Vienna, where he won the same prize in 2023, and his 21 victories in indoor hard courts will lead to Paris’ final Masters 1000 championship game next week.
The top seed had to overcome their setbacks as Zverev, who had won four of his previous meetings, only managed one break before the second set, which would have allowed the first to take the lead.
Sinner remarked, “It was such a challenging start to this final.”
I had some chances in the first set but couldn’t use them, so I went broke down. I just tried to stay there mentally and play my best tennis when it came, even though he was serving very well.
Sinner responded, however, by forcing a decider against the 2021 champion by racing 3-0 ahead in the second set.
In the fifth game of the third set, Zverev saved two break points, but Sinner maintained the pressure despite suffering from a thigh cramp in his first competition since Shanghai Masters retired.
Sinner won a protracted rally the following point to snatch the key break, allowing him to grab another opportunity at 5-all with a blistering backhand down the line.
The 24-year-old reached the final of eight of his previous ten matches this year, winning at the Australian Open, Wimbledon, and Beijing, with a routine hold.
“The third set was a little rollercoaster,” Sinner continued, “but I was feeling the ball very well at times, so I tried to push.”
Unreleased songs by Liam Payne reveal details about his thoughts before he tragically passed away at the age of 31 after falling into his own death.
Digital Reporter Jessica Clarke
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Liam fell from the third floor of the Casa Sur Palmero Hotel around 5pm local time on 16 October 2024(Image: Getty Images)
One year on from Liam Payne’s tragic death, details have been revealed on new songs he had recorded for his second solo album, which reportedly includes a song called Safe In Heaven. One Direction star Liam Payne died at age 31 after he had fallen to his death from a hotel balcony in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where he was alone after his girlfriend Kate Cassidy, 26, flew home.
On October 16, 2024, Liam fell from the third floor of the Casa Sur Palmero Hotel at around 5 p.m. local time, with his funeral being held in Amersham, Bucks. A source has now claimed that Liam completed his second album before he passed away, which included two tracks titled Rainbows and Safe In Heaven.
“I got all these rainbows over my head, but somehow I see the sun creeping out the mess,” according to the lyrics to the song Rainbows. Although I occasionally tend to blur lines, it seemed like a wise choice when I did it. I turned around after blacking out.
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According to a source, “Liam was very pleased with his second album, but the label worried that he wasn’t in the right direction to release it.” In the end, this caused them to separate from one another. The entire album has a very moving, almost autobiographical feel. The most intimate piece of writing and recording has been done by Liam.
The publication claimed that future album-related discussions are “on hold.” Following the one-year anniversary of his death on October 16, there was a surge in tributes to the late star.
Kate Cassidy, the girlfriend of Liam, shared an emotional tribute to the late One Direction star. Sharing a black and white picture of the two of them on Instagram, she captioned it: “Today marks a full year without you here. I will forever hate goodbyes. I miss you Liam.”
Kate is smiling while keeping her eyes closed while Liam, who has her arm wrapped around her and kissing her cheek, is pictured. Additionally, she shared a picture on her Stories. Liam beams at the camera while Kate, who is covered in a coat, hat, and scarf, hugs him from the side in black and white.
Louis Tomlinson, Liam’s bandmate, tearfully admitted that, after the tragic fall of the star from a hotel balcony, he would never “accept” his pal’s death.
Louis acknowledged in a candid interview with The Independent that, at this point, “I naively believed that I might be a little bit more experienced with grief than other people my age.”
Before he spoke about Liam’s death, Louis said, “I thought that might mean something, but it didn’t at all.” I don’t believe anything.
The singer’s most recent open interview comes after he revealed the tragic death of his pal. Tomlinson claimed to be in Los Angeles at the time of Payne’s passing while speaking with Steven Bartlett on the podcast The Diary of a CEO. In LA, in the car. He continued, “He was definitely struggling at that time in his life, and I found out through Niall.”
Liam Payne’s sister Nicola also shared a heartbreaking tribute as she wrote on Instagram: “A year ago today marks a date I never wanted to see again. The day our lives changed forever and our hearts were left broken, with pieces missing. That night, unaware of what you were going through, that you were alone.”
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She continued, adding that she “wishes” that she would “always” talk about him and that she hoped that he would be content. I love you, Liam, Nicole concluded a lengthy tribute. I’ll always be so proud of you and never forget how much I miss you.
Ruth, Liam’s sister, claimed that Ruth had been “paralysed” by the grief and that she had also sent her own message to her younger brother. She wrote in a post that she thought I had underrated grief. It keeps paralyzing me every day. You are the loss of my life, the one person I will miss most of the time in my life, even though I didn’t think I had experienced it before. What a cruel lesson I learned in our 30s, that a sibling is not guaranteed to be a lifer, and that I have to deal with this without you, I had assumed.
Lando Norris of McLaren won the Mexico City Grand Prix, giving him the first-ever championship lead since April.
Norris held on to the lead from pole position until the first corner and held the race in tact as he was quietly out of reach of some enraging battles and events.
Oscar Piastri, who came from seventh place on the grid to finish fifth, and Norris leads the championship by just one point.
With only four races left, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who placed third behind Charles Leclerc, is 36 points behind.
Verstappen was immediately able to overtake Leclerc and Piastri in the final two laps as both were moving into position to challenge for the title, preventing the race from becoming a grandstand finish.
What were the main narratives of a dramatic race:
Norris has complete control.
Before the race, Norris was worried that Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton would start second and third, making him vulnerable to either Ferrari driver starting from pole with almost 800m to go in the first corner.
However, because Leclerc and Hamilton also had to be concerned about a Verstappen attack from outside, Norris did not approve of the Turn One run down to perfection.
Norris held the lead as the chaos quickly seized hold of him.
He never even seemed remotely threatened, and he won by a 30 second margin.
It marked the end of a successful run of races since he retired from the Dutch Grand Prix at the end of August due to fuel-line failure.
Verstappen at the center of everything
Verstappen ran over the grass in the first corner and passed Mercedes’ George Russell for fourth place before returning to the track at Turn Three, going three-wide with the Ferraris he was on.
Verstappen was back in the fray shortly after Russell complained, but the stewards refused to intervene.
He soon began to take on Hamilton for third place after starting on medium tyres and all the other top runners were doing so.
On lap six, he led Hamilton’s seven-time Olympian wide before cutting the corner at Turn Three after cutting the corner.
Verstappen braked late on Hamilton’s return to Turn Four, forcing him to run off the track and cut into the corner at Turn Five.
Verstappen was delayed and passed by Bearman, who opportunistically seized advantage of the battle by passing them and Russell into Turn Six, earning Hamilton a 10-second penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage.
The British driver struggled for the remainder of the first stint with his inverted approach, but he did well in the second.
After their second pit pit, Verstappen moved up to eighth place, passing Hamilton, Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli, Piastri, and Bearman, and setting off after Leclerc.
Verstappen appeared to be a strong bet for second place with 22 laps to go and closing at almost a second a lap at the start.
Verstappen’s chance of passing the Ferrari was gone as he entered range of Leclerc’s range to allow him to use the DRS overtaking aid.
Images courtesy of Getty
Piastri started the race slowly, but in the second half, the Mercedes drivers came to an end as they raced past Bearman.
After finishing only eighth in qualifying, there was a wheel-to-wheel battle between the Haas of Esteban Ocon and his opponents in Turns Four, Five, and Six, followed by a brave and decisive move on Russell into Turn One to mitigate the damage.
Bearman was undoubtedly the race’s star. After his first stop, he led the Mercedes drivers in a strong race to hold off the Mercedes, having first placed fourth after the Hamilton/Verstappen incident early on, and third after Hamilton’s penalty.
Russell fought unsuccessfully for several laps before being able to attack Bearman by allowing his pit wall to pass past Antonelli.
However, he was unable to stop the Haas, so after the group pitted again, Piastri came out and gave Antonelli his sixth place.
