The Star Online: Sports
The Star Online: Sports |
- Radwanska sails into Open on nine straight wins
- Dakar Rally: Peterhansel stage win overshadowed by third death(Update)
- Golf: 2013 Masters field(Update)
| Radwanska sails into Open on nine straight wins Posted: 11 Jan 2013 06:03 PM PST SYDNEY: Agnieszka Radwanska goes into next week's Australian Open the hottest women's player on form and says she believes she can win a Grand Slam. The Polish world number four crushed hapless Dominika Cibulkova 6-0, 6-0 in just over an hour in Friday's final of the Sydney International to take her unbeaten streak this year to nine. It was Radwanska's 12th career singles title and she has yet to drop a set this year. Now she steps up to take on the women's top three - Victoria Azarenka, Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova - in the year-opening slam, but her confidence is high. "Well, I think if I'm going to play like I did today, in Melbourne, I will be very happy. So we'll see," she said. The 23-year-old faces Australian qualifier Bojana Bobusic in her first match at the Open and is seeded to face China's Li Na in the quarters and Sharapova in the semis. "Wherever I go now I just always think I can win it. I think Melbourne is also that kind of tournament," she said. "Being in the top 10, top five already for a couple years, I think it means that I can also win the Grand Slam." Radwanska reached her first major final at Wimbledon last year only to be beaten by Serena Williams in three sets, 6-1, 5-7, 6-2 and has yet to go beyond the quarter-final stage at the Australian Open. Radwanska, who beat Belgian Yanina Wickmayer in the Auckland Classic final last week, has won back-to-back tournaments following her Sydney victory, but she remains at world number four heading into Melbourne. "I'm extremely happy I've won two titles in a row and have not even lost a set. Really it's been an amazing two weeks," she said. "The Australian Open is a different tournament, a different story, and I just have to start from the beginning. "I just hope I can play at the same level there as well." Radwanska said she will not have time to lavishly celebrate her Sydney win with her next match scheduled at the Australian Open on Monday. "My coach and I said if we won (Sydney) we would not to go drinking and have a party, just to have a huge piece of cheesecake," she said smiling. - AFP |
| Dakar Rally: Peterhansel stage win overshadowed by third death(Update) Posted: 11 Jan 2013 04:57 PM PST SALTA, Argentina: Ten-time champion Stephane Peterhansel extended his Dakar Rally lead on Friday, but the world's most gruelling endurance event was once again hit by tragedy when a French motorcyclist was killed. As Peterhansel claimed the seventh stage, which crossed the Andes at altitudes of around 5,000m between Calama in Chile and Salta to build a lead of more than three minutes on Nasser al-Attiyah, the event was reeling from a third death in two days. Competitor Thomas Bourgin, 25, was involved in a collision with a Chilean police car on the link road to the start of Friday's stage. "The rally's medical teams deployed on the ground were only able to certify the rider's death, probably instant," a statement on the race's official website reported. Bourgin was in 68th place in the overall motorcycling rankings of his first Dakar. On Thursday, two people were killed in a head-on collision between a rally support vehicle and a taxi near Peru's border with Chile. Going into the 2013 event, some 59 people, including 20 spectators, had lost their lives in the race. On Friday, Peterhansel finished the 218km run with a 39sec lead over compatriot Guerlain Chicherit, in an SMG, with American NASCAR driver Robby Gordon, in a Hummer, 1min 08sec off the pace. Al-Attiyah, the 2011 champion who had won his third stage of this year's race on Thursday to slash Peterhansel's overall lead down to 1min 18sec, was sixth on Friday in his Buggy, 1min 56sec behind. He remains second overall, but it is now 3min 14sec behind defending champion Peterhansel in the race for the title. "It was a very long link stage at more than 4,000 metres above sea level. We even went over 4,800 and started to feel the fatigue and headaches that can happen in that situation," said Peterhansel. "But then we got stuck into the special, just 218 kilometres and I have to admit that for the first 130km, we were flat out. "There was nothing to do, just 15 or 30 bends and we were driving at 150 kmph on average." In the motorcycling stage, America's Kurt Caselli, on a KTM, took the honours, winning in 1hr 51min 31sec, an advantage of 1min 23sec over Chile's Francisco Lopez and Olivier Pain of France. Pain still leads the overall standings by 6min 06sec ahead of Lopez. Defending champion Cyril Despres, who had been second overall, dropped to more than 14 minutes off the pace after mechanical problems left him without fifth gear for half the distance. "Cyril's problems have given me a significant gap for the lead, and that's a good thing for me," said Pain. "That's just part of racing, but I'm not forgetting that it could happen to me too, so I'm not getting cocky about it, especially since Cyril has the capacity to claw back the time he's lost." Saturday's eighth stage is a 247km timed run between Salta and Tucuman. - AFP Dakar Rally results and standings after Friday's seventh stage, a 218km timed run between Calama, Chile and Salta, Argentina: Auto Stage 1. Stephane Peterhansel (FRA/Mini) 1 h 47:27, 2. Guerlain Chicherit (FRA/SMG) at 39, 3. Robby Gordon (USA/Hummer) 1:08, 4. Orlando Terranova (ARG/BMW) 1:11, 5. Giniel De Villiers (RSA/Toyota) 1:32, 6. Nasser al-Attiyah (QAT/Buggy) 1:56, 7. Erik Wevers (NED/HRX) 3:45, 8. Leonid Novitskiy (RUS/Mini) 4:07, 9. Carlos Sousa (POR/Great Wall) 4:34, 10. Lucio Alvarez (ARG/Toyota) 6:24. Overall 1. Stephane Peterhansel (FRA/Mini) 16 h 23:43, 2. Nasser al-Attiyah (QAT/Buggy) 3:14, 3. Giniel De Villiers (RSA/Toyota) 44:03, 4. Leonid Novitskiy (RUS/Mini) 48:54, 5. Guerlain Chicherit (FRA/SMG) 1 h 17:05, 6. Ronan Chabot (FRA/SMG) 1 h 34:51, 7. Bernard Errandonea (AND/SMG) 2 h 02:18, 8. Orlando Terranova (ARG/BMW) 2 h 06:38, 9. Carlos Sousa (POR/Great Wall) 2 h 07:29, 10. Erik Wevers (NED/HRX) 2 h 31:22. Moto Stage 1. Kurt Caselli (USA/KTM) 1 h 51:31, 2. Francisco Lopez (CHI/KTM) 1:23, 3. Olivier Pain (FRA/Yamaha) 1:23, 4. Frans Verhoeven (NED/Yamaha) 1:30, 5. Ruben Faria (POR/KTM) 2:30, 6. Juan Pedrero Garcia (ESP/KTM) 2:42, 7. Jakub Przygonski (POL/KTM) 2:51, 8. David Casteu (FRA/Yamaha) 3:12, 9. Stefan Svitko (SVK/KTM) 4:06, 10. Alessandro Botturi (ITA/Husqvarna) 4:39. Overall 1. Olivier Pain (FRA/Yamaha) 17 h 28:17, 2. Francisco Lopez (CHI/KTM) 6:06, 3. David Casteu (FRA/Yamaha) 6:37, 4. Ruben Faria (POR/KTM) 9:42, 5. Cyril Despres (FRA/KTM) 14:07, 6. Jakub Przygonski (POL/KTM) 20:43, 7. Stefan Svitko (SVK/KTM) 24:51, 8. Kurt Caselli (USA/KTM) 27:46, 9. Alessandro Botturi (ITA/Husqvarna) 30:18, 10. Jeremias Israel Esquerre (CHI/Honda) 30:35. - AFP |
| Golf: 2013 Masters field(Update) Posted: 11 Jan 2013 04:18 PM PST AUGUSTA, Georgia: Augusta National Golf Club Friday announced a list of invitees expected to compete in the 2013 Masters, the first major of the golf season scheduled for April 11-14 (Players still can earn invitations through US PGA Tour victories or world rankings through the week prior to the Masters): 2013 Masters Invitees as of January 11 ('a' denotes amateur) Thomas Bjorn (DEN) Keegan Bradley (USA) Angel Cabrera (ARG) KJ Choi (KOR) Stewart Cink (USA) Tim Clark (RSA) Darren Clarke (NIR) George Coetzee (RSA) Nicolas Colsaerts (BEL) Fred Couples (USA) Ben Crenshaw (USA) Ben Curtis (USA) Jason Day (AUS) Luke Donald (ENG) Jamie Donaldson (WAL) Jason Dufner (USA) a-Alan Dunbar (NIR) Ernie Els (RSA) Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (ESP) Rickie Fowler (USA) a-Steven Fox (USA) Hiroyuki Fujita (JPN) Jim Furyk (USA) Sergio Garcia (ESP) Robert Garrigus (USA) Lucas Glover (USA) Branden Grace (RSA) a-Guan Tianlang (CHN) Bill Haas (USA) Peter Hanson (SWE) Padraig Harrington (IRL) John Huh (USA) Trevor Immelman (RSA) Ryo Ishikawa (JPN) Dustin Johnson (USA) Zach Johnson (USA) Martin Kaymer (GER) Matt Kuchar (USA) Bernhard Langer (GER) Paul Lawrie (SCO) Marc Leishman (AUS) Sandy Lyle (SCO) David Lynn (ENG) Hunter Mahan (USA) Matteo Manassero (ITA) Graeme McDowell (NIR) Rory McIlroy (NIR) Phil Mickelson (USA) Larry Mize (USA) Francesco Molinari (ITA) Ryan Moore (USA) Kevin Na (USA) Jose Maria Olazabal (ESP) Thorbjorn Olesen (DEN) Mark O'Meara (USA) Louis Oosthuizen (RSA) John Peterson (USA) Carl Pettersson (SWE) Scott Piercy (USA) Ted Potter (USA) Ian Poulter (ENG) Justin Rose (ENG) Charl Schwartzel (RSA) Adam Scott (AUS) John Senden (AUS) Webb Simpson (USA) Vijay Singh (FIJ) a-Nathan Smith (USA)) Brandt Snedeker (USA) Craig Stadler (USA) Steve Stricker (USA) Michael Thompson (USA) David Toms (USA) Bo Van Pelt (USA) a-TJ Vogel (USA) Nick Watney (USA) Bubba Watson (USA) Tom Watson (USA) a-Michael Weaver (USA) Mike Weir (CAN) Lee Westwood (ENG) Thaworn Wiratchant (THA) Tiger Woods (USA) Ian Woosnam (WAL) YE Yang (KOR) Ishikawa, Thaworn accept Masters invitations AUGUSTA, Georgia: Young Japanese star Ryo Ishikawa and Thai veteran Thaworn Wiratchant have accepted invitations to compete in the 2013 Masters, organizers of the golf's first major of the season said Friday. Billy Payne, chairman of Augusta National Golf Club and the Masters, said the field for the April 11-14 tournament so far includes 85 golfers from 21 countries, 16 first-time participants and six amateurs. "Through our established qualifications, and invitations to select international players not otherwise qualified, we historically bring together a collection of the world's top players, and this year is no different," Payne said. "The Masters has long established a tradition of supporting the global game, and we were excited to extend invitations to Thaworn Wiratchant and Ryo Ishikawa, who we hope will provide added interest and enthusiasm for golf in Asia through their participation in the tournament." Wiratchant, 46, won the 2012 Asian Tour Order of Merit. He'll be making his first Masters appearance when he competes at Augusta National in April. He holds the Asian Tour record for most career victories, having won for the 15th time at the India Open last October, a co-sanctioned European PGA Tour event. The 21-year-old Ishikawa will be making his fifth straight start at the Masters with his best finish coming in 2011 when he tied for 20th. In his final five starts of 2012, he closed out the season on the Japan Golf Tour by collecting his 10th career win and recording three additional top-10 finishes. Golfers have two more chances to qualify for the 2013 Masters by winning a PGA Tour event that awards a full-point allocation for the season-ending Tour Championship or by climbing into the top 50 of the world golf rankings published during the week prior to the Masters. - AFP |
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