The Star Online: Sports
The Star Online: Sports |
| Posted: 03 Nov 2011 06:28 PM PDT LONDON (Reuters): Formula One stakeholders approved name changes for the Renault, Team Lotus and Virgin Racing teams at a commission meeting in Geneva on Thursday. While none of the teams concerned would comment on the matter, which has still to be ratified by the governing FIA's world motor sport council next month, several Formula One sources told Reuters on condition of anonymity that the three requests had been accepted. The decision will end the confusing situation of having two Malaysian-backed Renault-powered Lotus teams on the starting grid and also of a Renault team no longer owned by the French car maker. Renault will become Lotus, the team's current title sponsor, next season while Team Lotus are changing their name to Caterham, the niche British sportscar maker they recently acquired. The latter change will be the team's third name in as many years after entering Formula One in 2010 as Lotus Racing and then becoming Team Lotus for this season. Virgin Racing had asked to be called Marussia, the Russian sportscar maker that is their major shareholder and title sponsor. The requests had to be approved by 18 of the 26 members of the Formula One commission, of which International Automobile Federation president Jean Todt is one. Full content generated by Get Full RSS. |
| Keitany favorite to win NYC Marathon Posted: 03 Nov 2011 04:55 PM PDT NEW YORK (Reuters): Mary Keitany of Kenya came to Manhattan last year as a marathon debutant but returns as the favorite for Sunday's New York City Marathon through the five boroughs of the Big Apple. Keitany faded at the finish to place third in last year's race but has gone on to win the London Marathon and set a half-marathon world record this year to set the stage for a triumphant return to New York. "I'm not the same as last year," 29-year-old Keitany told Reuters on Thursday. "I think I'm believing in myself since I won in London. I know myself better, that I can do it." The women's race includes six women with times under two hours 24 minutes including Keitany, Boston Marathon champion Caroline Kilel of Kenya, Russians Inga Abitova and Galina Bogomolova, Isabellah Andersson of Sweden and Buzunesh Deba of Ethiopia, setting up the prospects of a fast race on the hilly course. Abitova, 29, finished second in London last year and along with Bogomolova is in a battle to impress selectors of the Russian Olympic team. Fastest in the field in 29-year-old Keitany, who won London in 2hr 19.19mins, the sixth fastest time by a woman marathoner, and set the half-marathon world record this year. "What I remember from last year was that it was my first marathon," said Keitany. "I think the last mile I was pretty tired. I think now I'm really more prepared than last year. I believe in myself for Sunday." Another intriguing competitor is Briton Jo Pavey, who at age 38 is campaigning for one of three British spots in the marathon for the 2012 Olympics. Pavey, a long-established track performer in distances from 1,500 to 10,000 meters, ran 2:28.24 in her maiden marathon in London. Though she met the Olympic qualifying time, competition is stiff for selection. "It would be absolutely amazing to run in the London Olympics marathon," Pavey told Reuters. "It would be absolutely lovely to run in the streets of London in a home Olympics. "I've run the 1,500, the 5,000, and the 10,000 in the Olympics, it would be quite fun to do the marathon." Pavey, who finished fourth in the 10,000m at the 2007 world championships in Osaka, said she has been inspired to take up the marathon by the achievements of world record holder Paula Radcliffe, against whom she first competed as a school girl in 1988. "As a distance runner I think you always want to see what you can do for the marathon. It was a new challenge at this stage of my career," said Pavey. "There's so many women running well at this age now. "Even the winner of the Olympics in Beijing was 38 (Constantina Tomescu of Romania), and Paula has hopes to do really well in the Olympics and she's the same age as me. I think the boundaries have been totally changed." Full content generated by Get Full RSS. |
| Posted: 03 Nov 2011 05:59 PM PDT ROTTERDAM: Nicol David will receive the ultimate recognition when she is inducted into the World Squash Federation (WSF) Hall of Fame here tomorrow. The 28-year-old from Penang, who is going for a record sixth crown at the World Open this week, will be inducted by Tunku Imran Tuanku Jaafar (pic), the WSF Patron and IOC member who is himself a former national squash champion. Nicol rules supreme in the women's game and has already achieved legendary status. After becoming the first ever double winner of the biennial world junior title in 2001, she went on to begin an unbroken reign at the top of the world rankings from August, 2006. She is now the second longest-standing world number one of all-time behind Australia's Susan Devoy, who reigned for 105 months. Nicol already has 55 Women's International Squash Players Association (Wispa) titles and equalled the five world titles won by her mentor Sarah Fitz-Gerald. She has almost single-handedly put Malaysia on the world squash map through her achievements and, earlier this year, won a record eighth national sportswoman of the year award. Nicol captured the first of her three Asian Games gold medals in 1998, aged just 15, and, in April this year, claimed her eighth successive Asian Championship in Penang. "It's great to be recognised in this way while I am still a player and have my achievements compared with the best players the game has seen," said Nicol. "It's truly fantastic and I am really honoured. "But this does not mean I am ready to ride off into the sunset. I am far from finished even though I have been playing the professional circuit for over 10 years." Nicol intends to prove just that by bagging her sixth world crown on Sunday. Related Story: |
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