(Reuters) – ON THIS DAY — JUNE 2
June 2, 1991
GOLF – Seve Ballesteros celebrates with the trophy after winning the British Masters.
Ballesteros finished three strokes clear of the chasing pack at Woburn Golf Club in Buckinghamshire to win the 45th of his record 50 European Tour titles.
Renowned for his audacious shot making, the Spaniard, who died in 2011, was one of the most dominant figures in the sport from the mid-70s to the mid-90s, winning 90 international tournaments, including five major championships.
June 2, 1996
FORMULA ONE – Ferrari’s Michael Schumacher celebrates his first victory of the season after winning the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona.
The German, who joined Ferrari from Benetton at the start of the season, started third on the grid but took the lead after 12 laps and drove a superb race in atrocious conditions to claim his first victory for his new team.
He won two more races that season, in Belgium and Italy, but finished third in the Driver’s Championship, behind Williams-Renault duo Damon Hill and Jacques Villeneuve.
June 2, 2003
NHL – Anaheim Mighty Ducks right winger Steve Thomas is mobbed by team mates after scoring the game-winning goal 39 seconds into the first overtime period to beat the New Jersey Devils 1-0 and win Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Finals.
The goal helped the Ducks tie the series at two games each, but the Devils won the next game. The Ducks fought back to level the series again and force a deciding Game Seven for only the 12th time in 110 years of Stanley Cup history.
Mike Rupp had a goal and two assists and Martin Brodeur collected his third shutout of the finals as the Devils won the decider 3-0 to claim their third Stanley Cup in nine years.
June 2, 2004
SOCCER – Chelsea’s new manager Jose Mourinho stands in front of the club’s West Stand at Stamford Bridge stadium in London. Mourinho, then 41, replaced Claudio Ranieri on a three-year contract.
Chelsea won their first Premier League title in 50 years in Mourinho’s first season in charge and retained their crown the following season. The Portuguese left for Inter Milan in 2007, but returned to England for a second spell at the club in 2013.
He won his third league title with Chelsea in 2015 but left again in December after results faltered. Mourinho, who now manages Tottenham Hotspur, also won the FA Cup and three League Cups with Chelsea, making him their most successful manager.
June 2, 2004
SOCCER – Brazil’s Ronaldo celebrates with team mates after scoring his third goal against Argentina in the second half of their World Cup qualifying match in Belo Horizonte. Brazil beat Argentina 3-1.
Each of Ronaldo’s goals in the match came from the penalty spot and he ended the campaign as Brazil’s top scorer in qualifying with 10 goals from 15 matches.
Ronaldo won two World Cups, in 1994 and 2002, but defending champions Brazil were knocked out of the 2006 edition of the tournament by France in the quarter-finals.
June 2, 2007
RUGBY – England Saxons celebrate winning the Churchill Cup after beating New Zealand Maori 17-13 in the final at Twickenham Stadium.
The Churchill Cup, which ran from 2003 to 2011, was set up to help develop rugby in North America by providing the United States and Canada with regular international competition.
The Saxons, effectively an England fourth team, beat Scotland A and the United States to reach the final against the Maori, who were the defending champions.
June 2, 2016
SOCCER – Barcelona’s Lionel Messi arrives at court with his father Jorge Horacio Messi to stand trial for tax fraud in Barcelona.
Messi and his father were accused by the Spanish tax office of defrauding the government of 4.2 million euros between 2007 and 2009 and were later found guilty of three counts of tax fraud and sentenced to 21 months in prison.
They lost an appeal against the decision in Spain’s Supreme Court but in July 2017, a Spanish court exchanged Messi’s prison sentence for a quarter-of-a-million-euro fine. His father also had his sentence exchanged for a fine of 180,000 euros.
June 2, 2017
CRICKET – Australia players celebrate the wicket of New Zealand’s Martin Guptill in the Group A match at the ICC Champions Trophy.
New Zealand set Australia a target of 291 after a century by Kane Williamson, and Australia were at 53 for three when the match was abandoned because of rain.
Neither side got out of their group, with England and Bangladesh advancing to the knockout stages, where they were beaten by eventual winners Pakistan and runners-up India, respectively, in the semi-finals.
June 2, 2018
HORSE RACING – William Buick celebrates on Masar after winning the Epsom Derby at Britain’s Epsom Downs Racecourse.
Masar, trained by Charlie Appleby, dominated the 239th running of Britain’s richest horse race to deliver a first Derby triumph for Sheikh Mohammed al Maktoum’s Godolphin stable.
The 16-1 shot finished ahead of Dee Ex Bee (20-1), with Roaring Lion (6-1) in third, while hot favourite Saxon Warrior could finish only fourth in the 12-horse field.
June 2, 2019
SOCCER – Liverpool’s team bus travels past fans during a parade in Liverpool, England following their 2-0 Champions League title-winning victory over English Premier League rivals Tottenham Hotspur a day earlier.
Juergen Klopp’s Liverpool were beaten in final by Real Madrid in 2018, but an early penalty by Mohamed Salah and Divock Origi’s 87th minute strike sealed their sixth European Cup at the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium in Madrid.
(Compiled by Simon Jennings in Bengaluru; Editing by Christian Radnedge)
