The Star Online: Sports
The Star Online: Sports |
- Vettel wins maiden Canadian Grand Prix
- Zhengming the only Chinese qualifier yet to beat Chong Wei
- BAM: It’s a toss up between HK or Guangzhou
| Vettel wins maiden Canadian Grand Prix Posted: 09 Jun 2013 04:20 PM PDT MONTREAL: Sebastian Vettel claimed the 29th victory of his record-breaking career on Sunday when he triumphed for Red Bull at the Canadian Grand Prix for the first time to boost his lead in this year's drivers world championship. Starting from his third consecutive pole position at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, the defending triple world champion came home in unchallenged fashion at the end of a serene showing of dominant driving from the front. It was the 25-year-old German's third win this season and he delivered it in a time of one hour, 32 minutes and 9.143 seconds. He finished a luxurious 14.408 seconds clear of second-placed Fernando Alonso of Ferrari who fought from sixth on the grid to finish on the podium. "Yes, we've won Canada, the car was amazing," Vettel said over the team radio. A clearly delighted Vettel added, after brief boos from Ferrari fans during the podium interviews: "It wasn't that bad - not for us anyway... The sun came out as well so it doesn't get any better. "We had good races here before but it didn't come together to win, then I lost it in the last lap two years ago which was my fault but I made up for that today." Lewis Hamilton was third for Mercedes after racing at the front and leading for three laps. It was his third podium finish of the year in seven races with his new team. Australian Mark Webber came fourth in the second Red Bull ahead of Monaco winner Nico Rosberg in the second Mercedes, Jean-Eric Vergne of Toro Rosso - who came home a best-ever sixth - and Briton Paul Di Resta of Force India. Felipe Massa finished eighth in the second Ferrari, after starting from 16th on the grid, ahead of Kimi Raikkonen of Lotus and Adrian Sutil in the second Force India. Raikkonen's result meant he equalled German legend seven-time champion Michael Schumacher's record of 24 consecutive points finishes. Vettel's win lifted him to 132 points at the top of this year's championship. Alonso is second on 96 and Raikkonen third with 88. Hamilton has 77 in fourth. While Vettel and Red Bull celebrated there was disappointment for Williams. The British outfit had high hopes of picking up their first points of the season from Valterri Bottas who had qualified in third but were out of luck again when the Finnish rookie trailed in 17th. McLaren's long run of 64 races in the points came to an end with Mexican Sergio Perez finishing 11th ahead of team-mate Jenson Button. When the lights went out, Vettel made a perfect clean start. He was clearly relishing the changed conditions after poor weather in qualifying and built up his ultimately race-winning lead in the opening laps. Behind the leaders, there was plenty of action with Sutil spinning and recovering before being hit by Pastor Maldonado's Williams. And on lap 36 Webber suffered a setback when Giedo Van Der Garde, in his Caterham, closed 'the door' on him at the hairpin and they collided, Webber losing a section of front wing. The Dutchman was promptly given a stop-and-go penalty. The battle for second meanwhile was tight, with Alonso, desperate not to give Vettel any gifts in the championship, finally passing Hamilton at the second attempt -following a thrilling failed effort at the hairpin - on lap 63, making best use of the second DRS zone. Hamilton fought back and the pair touched on the following lap when the Englishman made his move, but Alonso, who had started sixth, secured and defended second in familar fashion. - AFP |
| Zhengming the only Chinese qualifier yet to beat Chong Wei Posted: 09 Jun 2013 03:48 PM PDT KUALA LUMPUR: Out of China's four men singles qualifiers for the World Championships in Guangzhou in August, only Wang Zhengming has yet to taste a win over Malaysia's Lee Chong Wei. However, the 23-year-old has a chance to end his five-year winless run, at the Indonesian Open starting on Wednesday where he has been drawn to meet top seed Chong Wei in the opening round. A win for Zhengming will surely give China a psychological edge ahead of the world meet. And the knowledge that all their players had beaten Chong Wei, who is currently their main enemy at the world meet – will surely add a smirk to the face of their national chief coach Li Yongbo. China's other World Championships-bound players are Chen Long, Du Pengyu and Lin Dan, who despite being ranked 68th in the world, has been given a wild card entry. Both Chen Long and Du Pengyu are also competing in the Indonesian Open, which is a Premier Super Series event. Four-time world champion Lin Dan, however, had withdrawn as he wanted to focus on the world meet. National singles coach Tey Seu Bock said that Chong Wei would treat his opening round match against Zhengming with great caution although the Malaysian has an impressive 7-0 record over his opponent. Zhengming had come far since his first defeat to Chong Wei at the 2009 Macau Open. In fact, in their recent meeting at the All-England in March, Zhengming gave Chong Wei a run for his money before going down 17-21, 19-21 in the second round. "I am sure it is Zhengming's mission to upset Chong Wei before the world meet. He will get a lot of support from his team to do so," said Seu Bock. "I can picture a determined and highly motivated Zhengming on court. Chong Wei cannot take him lightly at all." Although anticipating a tough match, Seu Bock is quite confident that Chong Wei would pull through. "Chong Wei is in good condition and is using this tournament as the final "warm-up" before the world meet. This is the last platform for him to gauge all his opponents – especially from China – before the trip to Guangzhou." |
| BAM: It’s a toss up between HK or Guangzhou Posted: 09 Jun 2013 05:31 PM PDT KUALA LUMPUR: It could be Hong Kong or Guangzhou. The Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM)'s exco meeting to be chaired by Datuk Seri Nadzmi Mohd Salleh tomorrow will approve one of these places as the venue for national shuttlers' 10-day centralised training stint ahead of the World Championships in Guangzhou, China from Aug 5-11. The other matter expected to be finalised during the exco meeting is the date for BAM's general election in July. Nadzmi is not seeking re-election and BAM's council will have to elect a new leader to helm the association and currently, two of their deputies – Datuk Al-Amin Majid and Tengku Kamil Ismail Tengku Idris Shah – are in the running. The poor performances of Malaysian players at last month's Sudirman Cup is also expected to be a point of discussion – with the focus mainly on national top men doubles pair Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong. Lack of discipline among the shuttlers at the national training centre is also expected to be addressed. |
| You are subscribed to email updates from The Star Online: Sports To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
0 ulasan:
Catat Ulasan