Poll: McIlroy’s Open injury silly but it can’t better this bunch

The Open looks to have been dealt a major blow with the news that defending champion Rory McIlroy is set to miss the tournament through injury.

Fair enough, you might think. This is sport, injuries happen and he must have strained his back polishing off his drive in preparation, right? Wrong.

No, the Ulsterman suffered ruptured ankle ligaments during a ‘soccer’ (his word not ours) kick-a-round at the weekend.

With nine days until the action at St Andrews gets underway, McIlroy’s decision for a spot of five-a-side may have been ill-advised, but it is far from the weirdest sporting injury.

He’s got a long way to go to match these five, but who suffered the strangest ailment in sport?

Dave Beasant

Any footballer can be forgiven for taking in a spot of keepie-uppies in their downtime, though usually using a football is a good start.

Instead Beasant attempted to catch a falling bottle of salad cream with his foot, only for it to smash, resulting in severed ankle ligaments for the former Wimbledon stopper.

Lionel Letizi

You know how it is when you play Scrabble. You spot an amazing word and you get a bit too excited.

Another goalie to make our list, the Frenchman wasn’t celebrating a ‘Triple Word Score’ but simply attempting to make a save, diving for a falling tile. We don’t know whether he caught it, but we do know it resulted some time out with a back strain.

Paulo Diogo

While most may wear a wedding ring as a symbol of their marriage, the Swiss now has a missing finger to show for his love.

Celebrating a goal for Servette against FC Schaffhausen, Diogo climbed the perimeter fences, only for his wedding ring to get caught on a support. As he jumped down, the ring stayed attached to the pole, as did the top of his digit.

Darius Vassell

He may be remembered for living in, and subsequently being turfed out of, a hotel during his time with Turkish club Ankaragucu, but Vassell has another strange anecdote to tell the grandkids.

Sick of a blister on his toe, the former Aston Villa man reached for a power drill to pop the pussy blighter. Short-term success ensued, but a subsequent infection might have taught the striker a lesson.

Bret Barberie

Diet can have a big effect on the performance of sportsmen, and nowhere is that truer than for former Florida Marlins player Bret Barberie.

Having helped himself to a big plate of nachos, with cheese, chillis, the works, the Olympic Gold medallist then forgot to wash his hands before putting his contact lenses in. The jalapeno effect ensured he missed the next game, as he waited for his eyes to stop burning.

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All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.

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