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League of their own: 12-time winners in sport
PARIS, June 8, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Rafael Nadal will bid for his 12th French Open title on Sunday when he faces either Novak Djokovic or Dominic Thiem in the final.
Here, AFP Sport takes a look at an elite group of other athletes with 12 or more titles in the same event:
Phil Taylor
— Phil “The Power” Taylor is the undisputed greatest darts player in history with a record 16 world titles. He won the first of those in 1990 before sweeping to eight in a row between 1995 and 2002. Taylor has been instrumental in transforming darts into the force it is today. The Englishman retired from the sport after losing the 2018 final to Rob Cross.
Ryan Giggs
— The Manchester United great’s career coincided with the club’s most successful period in its history as the Welshman won a remarkable 13 Premier League titles. Giggs broke through as a teenager at Old Trafford, helping United end a 26-year wait as they claimed the 1992-93 league crown. He eventually retired in 2014, a year after United lifted the league trophy once more in Alex Ferguson’s final season as manager.
Giacomo Agostini
— The motorcycling legend won a staggering 15 world titles, including eight in the top-class 500cc. His other seven came in the now-defunct 350cc class. The Italian won all of his world championships in a nine-year span, doubling up in 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971 and 1972. Agostini sits atop the all-time list of world champions, two clear of Spaniard Angel Nieto. His total of 122 race wins is also a record.
… Reanne Evans?
— Evans has won 11 women’s world snooker titles in her career including 10 in a row from 2005 to 2014. The Englishwoman will bid for her 12th at this year’s championship, which starts on June 20 in Thailand. She also recorded another landmark in 2017 when she defeated Finland’s Robin Hull in the first round of qualifying for the men’s world championship. She was beaten in the second round by Lee Walker. Evans was beaten 10-2 in the first round of qualifying in 2019 by Chinese player Zhang Yong. Famously won the 2006 women’s world title while seven months pregnant.
BSS/AFP/AU/08:25 hrs