The Star Online: Sports
The Star Online: Sports |
- Hayden breaks ribs, shoulder blade in training
- Donald voted writers' male player of the year
- Nicol takes steps to avoid repeat of New Year stumble
| Hayden breaks ribs, shoulder blade in training Posted: 29 Dec 2011 03:29 PM PST Former MotoGP world champion Nicky Hayden broke two ribs and a shoulder blade during a training accident in Kentucky earlier this week, the American's motorcycling team Ducati said on Thursday. Hayden suffered the injuries near his home in Owensboro and has since had x-rays, a CAT scan and an MRI. Ducati said no surgery had been scheduled but that the 30-year-old rider would have the fractures assessed by a specialist in California next week. "Obviously, injuries are never good but it's part of motorcycle racing," Hayden said in a statement released by Ducati. "Just like at Valencia, it was kind of a freak accident. "I was starting to train again, like I normally do during the winter, at a private track near my house. I came up behind another rider, and he went to move out of the way. "I wasn't going that fast, but he clipped my front wheel and I went down and landed pretty hard on my left shoulder, and that was it." Hayden, who became MotoGP world champion in 2006, had been training for the first time since he broke his wrist during the Nov. 6 Valencia Grand Prix. "It's disappointing, but there's nothing to do about it but heal quickly," said Hayden, who is nicknamed 'The Kentucky Kid'. "Anyway, this doesn't change my expectations for 2012 which, fortunately, is just around the corner." Full content generated by Get Full RSS. |
| Donald voted writers' male player of the year Posted: 29 Dec 2011 03:09 PM PST British world number one Luke Donald added another accolade to his rapidly growing resume when he was named male player of the year by the Golf Writers Association of America (GWAA) on Thursday. Taiwan's world number one Yani Tseng, who triumphed 12 times across the globe in 2011, was the runaway GWAA female player of the year while American veteran Tom Lehman was named senior player of the year. Donald, who won four times worldwide in 2011 and became the first player to clinch the money titles on both sides of the Atlantic, earned 88 percent of the GWAA votes. The 34-year-old Englishman comfortably beat Americans Keegan Bradley and Webb Simpson and Northern Irishman Rory McIlroy for the award. Bradley won his maiden major title at the PGA Championship and McIlroy claimed his first grand slam crown at the Masters but Donald eclipsed all his rivals with an extraordinarily consistent campaign. He won twice on the U.S. PGA Tour and posted a further 12 top-10s in 19 starts. Donald took over at the top of the world rankings on May 30 and went on to win the 2011 PGA of America player of the year award and the Vardon Trophy for the lowest scoring average. On Dec. 13, he became the first Briton to be named PGA Tour player of the year and just two days later was voted the European Tour's golfer of the year. Donald, Tseng and Lehman will be honoured at the GWAA's annual awards dinner on April 4 next year, held on the eve of the Masters. Full content generated by Get Full RSS. |
| Nicol takes steps to avoid repeat of New Year stumble Posted: 29 Dec 2011 03:35 PM PST KUALA LUMPUR: World No. 1 Nicol David does not intend to stumble in her first tournament of 2012 as she did this year. The memory of that shock defeat at the hands of Laura Massaro of England in the final of the Cleveland Racquet Classic in Ohio last January still bothers Nicol. But having learnt her lesson, Nicol is not resting on her laurels as she prepares for the World Series Finals at the Queen's Club in London next week. The 28-year-old Nicol, winner of seven tournaments this year, had a good two-week sparring session with Vicki Cardwell, a former Australian world No. 1, and her son George, in Penang. "I learnt a lot from her in those two weeks. I also had some tough matches with George," said Nicol, who spent Christmas in Penang with her family. Nicol, who will be playing in the eight-player World Series Finals for the first time, has been drawn in Group One with Ireland's Madeline Perry (world No. 4), France's Camille Serme (No. 10) and Australia's Donna Urquhart (No. 14). World No. 13 and national No. 2 Low Wee Wern, who is also featuring in the Finals for the first time, is in Group Two with England's Jenny Duncalf (No. 2) and Laura Massaro (No. 3) as well as Australia's Rachael Grinham (No. 6). Nicol opens her campaign against Serme on Jan 4 followed by matches against Urquhart and Perry. Nicol said there would not be any easy matches. "I can't take any of my opponents lightly even in the group stage. I believe they are all well prepared and eager to take me down. "It's going to be a challenge to play consistently well in five matches over five days," said Nicol. World No. 11 and national number one Mohd Azlan Iskandar will also compete for the first time in the men's competition. The Sarawakian is drawn in Group One with England's James Willstrop (No. 2) and Egyptians Ramy Ashour (No. 4) and Karim Darwish (No. 5). World No. 1 and two-time world champion Nick Matthew of England is drawn in the other group with Frenchman Gregory Gaultier (No. 3), Egypt's Amr Shabana (No. 6) and England's Peter Barker (No. 7). Full content generated by Get Full RSS. |
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