The Star Online: Sports
The Star Online: Sports |
- Rallying: Loeb wins eighth title after Hirvonen quits
- Berdych ends Murray's long winning streak
- Gold Coast to host 2018 Commonwealth Games
| Rallying: Loeb wins eighth title after Hirvonen quits Posted: 11 Nov 2011 05:38 PM PST France's Sebastien Loeb won an eighth successive world rally championship title on Friday after Mikko Hirvonen's dream of ending his record run ended when his Ford stopped on the first full day of the Rally of Britain. Citroen's Loeb, who came into the season-ending rally eight points clear of Hirvonen, had his title confirmed when a Ford spokesman said his rival's car was too badly damaged to restart the event on Saturday. The Finn had hit a submerged branch and damaged the car's radiator. "He's definitely out. He's not re-starting," added the spokesman. "It's over for sure," Hirvonen told the official wrc.com website of his bid for a first title. "I have to thank the team for a really good effort and all the help. Unfortunately we have to look to the future and see what we can do." Hirvonen, who had taken the overall lead earlier in the day from Loeb, had to pull over on the road while attempting to nurse the Ford back to the service area in Builth Wells in central Wales. The Finn's Fiesta had hit the branch on the seventh stage. "There was a big slide and the rear touched the bank," he said. "I spun and it pulled the front of the car into a bank where there was a tree stump. The wood came through the radiator. There was no real damage but we lost all the water in the engine. We carried on for five-six km but that was it." Even before he stopped, Hirvonen had lost almost four minutes to Loeb, the overnight leader after three stages on Thursday, because of the incident. "It's devastating to go out in an incredible battle with Sebastien Loeb," said Ford team boss Malcolm Wilson. "It's a huge disappointment for the whole team after getting back into the championship fight again and then sadly losing it on the first day of the event." Loeb had started the rally with 222 points to Hirvonen's 214 and Citroen's Sebastien Ogier, who crashed out on Thursday, on 193 with just 25 remaining to be won. The Frenchman leads after the first leg by 1.1 seconds from Finland's Jari-Matti Latvala, with Norway's Mads Ostberg in third. The final rally of the season concludes on Sunday. Full content generated by Get Full RSS. |
| Berdych ends Murray's long winning streak Posted: 11 Nov 2011 05:35 PM PST PARIS, Nov 11 (Reuters) - Andy Murray's winning streak came to an end when the world number three slumped to a 4-6 7-6 6-4 quarter-final defeat at the Paris Masters after a three-hour tussle against the fifth-seeded Czech Tomas Berdych on Friday. British second seed Murray, who was on a 17-match winning run, was two points from victory at 5-5 in the second set tiebreak but Berdych kept his composure to set up a meeting with Roger Federer who beat Juan Monaco 6-3 7-5. World number four Federer found himself trailing 3-1 in the opening set but the Swiss 16-times grand slam champion reeled off five games in a row to take the lead. He was made to wait in the second set, breaking only in the 11th game before wrapping it up with an ace. World number one Novak Djokovic pulled out with a shoulder injury before his quarter-final match against France's Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, the sixth seed (see ), who will take on either American John Isner or Spaniard David Ferrer. Murray and 2005 Paris Masters champion Berdych, however, provided the Bercy crowd with a good, old-fashioned dogfight. The Scot, who withdrew from the Swiss Indoors in Basel last week with injury, claimed a hat-trick of titles during the Asian swing but Berdych ended his hopes of arriving at the ATP World Tour finals in London with another piece of silverware. "He didn't miss a first serve I don't think on any of the break points," Murray told a press conference. "On this surface that's a huge advantage. A couple of times he hit a forehand bang onto the line, and you can't do too much about that. "So it's easy to say, yeah, you had opportunities, but it's what - how he plays on them. If he plays well, can't do much about it." Murray staved off three break points early on, then stole Berdych's serve on his second opportunity with a powerful passing winner in the seventh game. FRUSTRATION Berdych then saved seven set points, but Murray bagged the opener on his service game on his ninth attempt with a fine crosscourt forehand winner. Berdych's forehand began to fire in the second set and he sent down some sizzling returns to move 3-0 ahead. A bout of nerves, however, cost him a break just as he served to level the tie at 5-3, but the Czech regained his composure in the tiebreak which he won 7-5. Murray's frustration boiled over in the third set with one rant at the umpire after Berdych was awarded new balls, while facing two break points. "Tomas decided that the balls were too soft - which they weren't," he explained. "The umpire gave him three brand new balls to serve with... I wasn't aware that they were just changing three brand new balls. Then that totally changed the way the ball plays and the court plays. That was what happened. I just asked, Is it not normal to let the opponent also see the balls?" Murray got a warning in the process. "Actually I said bollocks to the chair umpire and that got me a warning. I have been to watch a lot of football matches and you say a lot worse than that and you don't get yellow card," he said. Berdych broke decisively in the ninth game of the deciding set when Murray served a double fault just as the clock ticked past the three-hour mark. He followed up on serve, ending the contest after three hours 12 minutes on his second match point when Murray sent a forehand wide. "There was everything in that match. There were long games, long rallies...," Berdych told reporters. "I was feeling great." Full content generated by Get Full RSS. |
| Gold Coast to host 2018 Commonwealth Games Posted: 11 Nov 2011 05:31 PM PST Australia's Gold Coast has been chosen to host the 2018 Commonwealth Games, the event's governing body said in St Kitts and Nevis on Friday. The Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) opted for Gold Coast by a 43-27 margin over its only rival, the Sri Lankan city of Hambantota. The subtropical beachside region of Queensland will bring the Games to Australia for a fifth time, after Sydney in 1938, Perth (1962), Brisbane (1982) and Melbourne (2006). "We've done a lot of hard work and it was very clear earlier in the week that there were a lot delegates wanting to support Hambantota," a jubilant Queensland Premier Anna Bligh said. "It's been a very, very close vote. "There was a good chance that we weren't going to make it. We had seven (presentation) rehearsals, we've lobbied everybody, people have had jet-lag all week. "At the end of all that, the hard work has paid off. I am so proud of this team, I am so proud of the Gold Coast and I am so proud of being a Queenslander tonight." The Gold Coast bid represented the safer of the two with the CGF still smarting from the public relations disaster that surrounded the Delhi Games last year when last-minute government intervention was required to clean up filthy facilities and dangerous infrastructure. Many top athletes such as Jamaica's multiple Olympic sprint champion Usain Bolt skipped the 2010 Games because the timing did not fit their schedules, while other athletes stayed away because of security concerns which proved unfounded. Sri Lanka had been bidding to stage the Games for the first time, with the Asian continent having previously played host just twice with Malaysia's Kuala Lumpur in 1998 and India's New Delhi last year. Winning the right to host the 2018 Games would have given Sri Lanka a timely opportunity to change the world's perception of the war-hit country. The Indian Ocean island nation is emerging from the end of a three-decade conflict amid war crime allegations, and more than 100,000 people were killed before hostilities ended in May 2009. INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT The port city of Hambantota was ravaged by the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami and Sri Lanka had hoped to secure the 2018 Games to help attract infrastructure investment to boost redevelopment. Its supporters, including retired cricketer Muttiah Muralitharan, urged voters to give Sri Lanka a chance to rebuild their country through the Games. But despite government guarantees, there were concerns about the long-term sustainability of such a massive project. "A Games staged in the Gold Coast presents a low risk, subject to village development arrangements being secured, while a Games in Hambantota presents a medium to high risk," a Commonwealth Games Federation Evaluation Commission report said. The report on Hambantota later noted, "Should the delivery of infrastructure be delayed or otherwise materially compromised, the impact of the Games and the financing of mitigation arrangements would be substantial." Malaysia's Prince Tunku Imran, who replaced Michael Fennell of Jamaica as CGF president earlier on Friday, was asked by reporters about the need for the Games to be shared more fairly across the globe. Sixteen of the previous 19 editions have been staged in Australia, Britain, Canada or New Zealand. "Certainly in terms of making the Commonwealth Games the desirable Games for the top athletes ... the top attraction for the broadcasters ... the top attraction for spectators ... we have got to ensure that all those factors are satisfied by where those Games are located," Imran said. "In terms of geo-political considerations, these are always important. Sri Lanka has demonstrated quite clearly that a country like Sri Lanka does have the capability of hosting the Games. "It's a matter of timing. As a federation, we have to encourage others by convincing them there are real benefits of hosting the Games." The 2014 Games will be held in Glasgow, Scotland. Full content generated by Get Full RSS. |
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