The Star Online: Sports
The Star Online: Sports |
- Early comeback boosts Stoner's confidence
- Sweden's Blixt wins first US PGA title
- Joker saves five match points to seal a stunning victory
| Early comeback boosts Stoner's confidence Posted: 14 Oct 2012 07:34 PM PDT MOTEGI - Reigning MotoGP champion Casey Stoner says it was worth the risk to make a comeback at the weekend's Japanese Grand Prix despite not being fully recovered from surgery on his right ankle. The Australian Honda rider, due to retire from MotoGP racing at the end of the season, finished fifth on Sunday having missed the previous three races because of his injury. "This weekend I slightly got my confidence back up," Stoner said. "During the race I had the pace to run with the front guys, probably not for the whole race. But we definitely had the pace and that's good." The 2007 and 2011 world champion crashed in qualifying for the Indianapolis MotoGP on August 19 but still raced there to finish fourth. He underwent surgery on August 30 on torn ligaments and fractures to his ankle, tibia and fibula. Stoner, who turns 27 on Tuesday, said: "(The accident) made me a lot more cautious, especially to come back here. I didn't really want to crash. Anything I do to my foot can send us back a long way." The Japanese GP was won by his factory Honda teammate Dani Pedrosa as he beat Yamaha ace and championship leader Jorge Lorenzo into second, keeping alive his hopes to lift his first premier-class title. The two Spaniards and Stoner have between them won every race this season with Lorenzo winning six against five for Pedrosa and four for the Australian. Stoner's absence has pushed him out of title contention with just three races remaining. But he has vowed to go full throttle to end his MotoGP career on a high, especially at his home Grand Prix on Phillip Island later this month where has has triumphed for five straight years. Stoner, still limping, admitted his body "started to suffer and ache in ways I didn't expect" during the race at Motegi. He could not put enough weight on the front and his bike suffered a "huge amount of chatter (vibration after braking)" as he protected his right foot, which is still undergoing extensive treatment. "We had the pace to run a lot higher and get on the podium," he said. "Unfortunately, just physically, I couldn't manage this situation. I'm a little bit disappointed." Stoner, who had initially planned to come back at the Australian GP at the end of October, said that his Japan outing might help him for the rest of the championship series which will end in Valencia, Spain, on November 11. "Maybe, this bit of work will be good for it. We'll come to the next race and might be better. I can only hope that much." The next round will be fought on Sunday at Sepang, Malaysia, where Stoner won in 2007 and 2009. "It's a physically demanding circuit and I think it's going to be a quite a lot tougher race in a lot of ways," Stoner said of the Malaysian GP. He added that he had struggled with the amount of corners on the geometric stop-start Motegi circuit. "So, hopefully, in Malaysia, it's a little bit smoother, a little more flowing," Stoner said. "It's a circuit I had fairly good results (at). We'll have to wait and see." - AFP |
| Sweden's Blixt wins first US PGA title Posted: 14 Oct 2012 06:11 PM PDT SAN JOSE, California - Swedish rookie Jonas Blixt earned his first US PGA victory after rolling in a four-foot par putt on 18 to capture the $5 million Frys.com Open by one stroke on Sunday. Blixt closed with a three-under par 68, collecting $900,000 in prize money and becoming the third rookie to win on the US tour this season. "It's unbelievable," Blixt said. "This is the biggest dream I ever had. The greatest two weeks." Blixt broke through Sunday after coming close this season with three top-10 finishes. He finished third last week at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open and tied for third at the Byron Nelson Championship. The native of Nassjo, Smaland, carded his fourth round in the 60s to finish with a 16-under 268 total on the CordeValle golf course. Americans Tim Petrovic and Jason Kokrak tied for second. Petrovic shot a 64 and Kokrak had a 68. Third-round leader John Mallinger had a 72 to tie for fourth at 14-under 270 with US compatriot Jimmy Walker, Fiji's Vijay Singh and Alexandre Rocha of Brazil. Walker closed with a 62 and Singh and Rocha shot 68. Blixt ranks third on the tour in strokes gained putting and managed to recover from a poor approach shot on 18 Sunday by two-putting for the victory. Petrovic made birdie on the 17th to get to 15-under. He two-putted for par at the last. Kokrak joined him as a runner-up after he eagled the driveable par-four 17th to gain a share of the lead. He also parred the 18th hole. Walker, who started on the back nine, shot a course record-tying 62 to vault into a share of fourth place. Last year's winner, Bryce Molder, carded a two-under 69 to tie for 11th on 273. - AFP |
| Joker saves five match points to seal a stunning victory Posted: 14 Oct 2012 05:43 PM PDT SHANGHAI: Novak Djokovic gained sweet revenge for his US Open defeat to Andy Murray yesterday, saving five match points to seal a stunning 5-7, 7-6 (13-11), 6-3 victory in the Shanghai Masters final. The iron-willed Serbian was second-best for long stretches but refused to be beaten and sealed his 13th Masters title in a contest lasting 3'21 as he pursues Roger Federer at the top of the rankings. The thrilling duel, played out in front of a packed crowd at the Qi Zhong Stadium, hinged on a monster second set tie-break that lasted more than 20 minutes, which the second seed won to stay alive in the match. The defeat was third seed Murray's first loss at the Shanghai Masters after he won the tournament in 2010 and 2011. "I'm obviously disappointed I lost the match," said Murray. "But it was a top-quality match. Both of us played some unbelievable tennis at times. "It was literally the difference of one, two centimetres in winning the match and losing it. You have to put things into perspective. It was obviously a bit frustrating but it was so close and could have been a different outcome." A gruelling first set contained seven breaks of serve as the players went toe-to-toe in a breathtaking display of power hitting, with neither able to grab the initiative. But Murray, 25, made what proved to be the crucial breakthrough in the 11th game, recovering from 0-40 to break for a 6-5 lead as an infuriated Djokovic destroyed his racquet, tossing it away in disgust. It was a different story in the second set, with both players secure on serve until the defending champion broke in the seventh game to lead 4-3 when Djokovic netted with a volley. But agonisingly for Murray, 25-year-old Djokovic, refusing to be beaten, saved a match point to pull level at 5-5 and the set went into the dramatic tie-break. The Serbian denied the Scot four more times in the shoot-out, sealing the set with a drive volley that was followed by a trademark fist-pumping celebration as the Scot destroyed his racquet. Two breaks in the decider were enough for Djokovic to claim an unlikely victory. Murray beat his rival in five sets in last month's US Open final to secure Britain's first men's Grand Slam singles title since the 1930s, just weeks after his Olympic triumph in front of home fans in London. Djokovic came into the match on a 9-0 winning streak since losing to Murray in New York, a run that included his third China Open title. The Serbian enjoyed one of the finest seasons in tennis history in 2011, winning three Grand Slams. He is hot on the heels of Federer as he tries to secure the year-end number one ranking for the second year in a row. — AFP |
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