The Star Online: Sports
The Star Online: Sports |
- I will be good enough for British Open, says Woods
- Williams and Date-Krumm set up meeting for the first time
- 100th edition hopes to clear tarnished image of cycling
| I will be good enough for British Open, says Woods Posted: 27 Jun 2013 04:49 PM PDT BETHESDA (Maryland): World No. 1 Tiger Woods, unable to defend his US PGA National title this week because of a left elbow sprain, says he might not be 100% for the British Open but will be "good enough". Speaking on the eve of the US$6.5mil tournament run by his foundation and staged at the par-71 Congressional Country Club, the 14-time Major champion said he has not started to strengthen his elbow ahead of July's showdown at Muirfield. "It's nice to have a four-week break before the Open," Woods said. "I listened to my docs. I'm not touching a club. We're treating it and eventually I'll start the strengthening process of it, then start hitting balls to get up to speed for the British." Asked if he would be 100% fit for the year's next Major from July 18-21 in Scotland, Woods replied, "How about GED – good enough." "I would like to be 100% but I don't know. It depends on how the body heals. We'll see how it goes." Woods said he is using ultrasound, soft tissue massage, anti-inflammatory drugs and ice to treat the elbow. "Eventually I'll start the strengthening process," he said. "Hopefully that will be sooner than later." Woods suffered the injury in winning the Players Championship last month, his fourth triumph of the year, and aggravated it two weeks ago at the US Open, often blasting out of dense rough on his way to a share of 32nd at Merion. "I pushed it pretty good at the Open to play it and to play through it," Woods said. "Made it worse by hitting the ball out of the rough and eventually got to a point where I wasn't able to play here." Woods said he would have been wiser not to have played at the Memorial, a PGA event hosted by 18-time Major winner Jack Nicklaus two weeks before the US Open, but he did and struggled there as well as at Merion. — AFP |
| Williams and Date-Krumm set up meeting for the first time Posted: 27 Jun 2013 05:15 PM PDT DEFENDING champion Serena Williams and evergreen Kimiko Date-Krumm, two players with a combined age of 73, set up a battle of Wimbledon senior citizens yesterday. Top seed Williams extended her winning streak to 33 matches, just two behind the record set by sister Venus in 2000, with a 6-3, 6-2 win over French 19-year-old Caroline Garcia, who she also beat at the French Open. Williams, 31, chasing a sixth Wimbledon title and 17th major, wrapped up victory, the 599th of her career, in 67 minutes with 30 winners and nine aces. Date-Krumm, 42, reached the Wimbledon third round, 17 years after she last did so, with a 6-4, 7-5 win over Romania's Alexandra Cadantu, 19 years the Japanese's junior, to become the oldest woman to make the last 32 at the All England Club. The previous oldest player was Britain's Virginia Wade, who was 39 years and 362 days old when she made the same stage in 1985. Despite their many years on tour, Williams and Date-Krumm have never played each other. "Kimiko is so incredibly fit and inspiring. I have never played her but I watched her when I was super-young," said Williams. "Venus has played her, so I will definitely be talking to her about it." Date-Krumm made the semi-finals in 1996 where she lost to Steffi Graf before taking what turned out to be a 12-year break from tennis. After the shockwaves of Wednesday, which saw Roger Federer and Maria Sharapova knocked out and world number two Victoria Azarenka one of a record seven injury withdrawals and retirements, normal service was resumed yesterday. There were still hints, however, of aches and pains. Veteran French serve-volleyer Michael Llodra retired through illness after dropping the first set of his second round clash against Italy's Andreas Seppi. He was the eighth pullout of the second round, equalling the previous Wimbledon mark set in 2008. China's sixth seed Li Na also went into the third round with a 6-2, 1-6, 6-0 win over Simona Halep but not before the Romanian required treatment on a back injury. Li next plays Czech 32nd seed Klara Zakopalova who beat German teenager Annika Beck, 7-6 (7-5), 6-3. Big-hitting German Sabine Lisicki, a semi-finalist in 2011, defeated Eastbourne title-holder Elena Vesnina of Russia, 6-3, 6-1. — AFP Results Men's singles Second round: Lukasz Kubot (Pol) w.o. Steve Darcis (Bel); Benot Paire (Fra) bt Stphane Robert (Fra) 6-4, 7-5, 6-4; Adrian Mannarino (Fra) bt John Isner (US) 1-1, rtd; Dustin Brown (Ger) bt Lleyton Hewitt (Aus) 6-4, 6-4, 6-7 (3-7), 6-2; Nicolas Almagro (Spa) bt Guillaume Rufin (Fra) 7-5, 6-7 (6-8), 6-3, 6-4; Jerzy Janowicz (Pol) bt Radek Stepanek (Cze) 6-2, 5-3 - rtd; Jurgen Melzer (Aut) bt Julian Reister (Ger) 3-6, 7-6 (7-2), 7-6 (7-5), 6-2; Sergiy Stakhovsky (Ukr) bt Roger Federer (Sui) 6-7 (5-7), 7-6 (7-5), 7-5, 7-6 (7-5); Ernests Gulbis (Lat) bt Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (Fra) 3-6, 6-3, 6-3, 0-0 - rtd. Fernando Verdasco (Spa) bt Julien Benneteau (Fra) 7-6 (7-1), 7-6 (7-4), 6-4; Juan Monaco (Arg) bt Rajeev Ram (US) 5-7, 6-2, 6-4, 6-2; Kenny De Schepper (Fra) w.o. Marin Cilic (Cro); Viktor Troicki (Srb) bt Andrey Kuznetsov (Rus) 6-4, 6-3, 6-4; Mikhail Youzhny (Rus) bt Vasek Pospisil (Can) 6-2, 6-7 (3-7), 7-6 (9-7), 3-6, 6-4; Tommy Robredo (Spa) bt Nicolas Mahut (Fra) 7-6 (7-3), 6-1, 7-6 (7-5); Andy Murray (Bri) bt Lu Yen-hsun (Tpe) 6-3, 6-3, 7-5; Bernard Tomic (Aus) bt James Blake (US) 6-3, 6-4, 7-5; Andreas Seppi (Ita) bt Michael Llodra (Fra) 7-5, rtd. Women's singles Second round: Mnica Puig (Pur) bt Silvia Soler (Spa) 6-2, 5-7, 6-4; Eva Birnerov (Cze) bt Lesya Tsurenko (Ukr) 6-3, 6-4; Sloane Stephens (US) bt Andrea Petkovic (Ger) 7-6 (7-2), 2-6, 8-6; Petra Cetkovsk (Cze) bt Caroline Wozniacki (Den) 6-2, 6-2; Marion Bartoli (Fra) bt Christina McHale (US) 7-5, 6-4; Camila Giorgi (Ita) bt Sorana Cirstea (Rom) 7-6 (9-7), 7-6 (8-6); Karin Knapp (Ita) bt Lucie Safarova (Cze) 4-6, 6-4, 6-4; Michelle Larcher de Brito (Por) bt Maria Sharapova (Rus) 6-3, 6-4. Petra Kvitova (Cze) w.o. Yaroslava Shvedova (Kaz); Ekaterina Makarova (Rus) bt Garbie Muguruza (Spa) 6-2, 6-7 (3-7), 6-4; Carla Surez (Spa) bt Mirjana Lucic (Cro) 1-6, 6-3, 6-3; Eugnie Bouchard (Can) bt Ana Ivanovic (Srb) 6-3, 6-3; Vesna Manasieva (Srb) bt Jelena Jankovic (Srb) 7-5, 6-2; Kirsten Flipkens (Bel) bt Bojana Jovanovski (Srb) 6-4, 6-4; Alize Cornet (Fra) bt Hsieh Su-wei (Tpe) 6-3, 6-2; Flavia Pennetta (Ita) w.o. Victoria Azarenka (Blr). Serena Williams (US) bt Caroline Garcia (Fra) 6-3, 6-2; Kimiko Date Krumm (Jpn) bt Alexandra Cadantu (Rom) 6-4, 7-5; Sabine Lisicki (Ger) bt elena Vesnina (Rus) 6-3, 6-1; Samantha Stosur (Aus) bt Olga Puchkova (Rus) 6-2, 6-2; Petra Martic (Cro) bt Karolina Pliskova (Cze) 7-6 (9-7), 6-1; Dominika Cibulkova (Svk) bt Maria-Teresa Torro-Flor (Spa) 6-0, 6-12; Klara Zakopalova (Cze) bt Annika Beck (Ger) 7-6 (7-5), 6-3; Li Na (Chn) bt Simona Halep (Rom) 6-2, 1-6, 6-0. |
| 100th edition hopes to clear tarnished image of cycling Posted: 27 Jun 2013 05:14 PM PDT PARIS: Cycling's greatest race, the Tour de France, begins tomorrow, hoping to cast off the recent cloud of suspicion and scandal of doping with a celebration of its historic 100th edition. A total of 198 riders from 22 teams will line up for the 212km first stage from Porto-Vecchio to Bastia on the Mediterranean island of Corsica. Three weeks, 3,403.5km and 20 stages later, only the very best – and most fortunate – will finish. Last year's runner-up behind Britain's Bradley Wiggins, Chris Froome, is favourite to win the race after successes in Oman, the Criterium International, Tour of Romandie and the Criterium du Dauphine. But the 28-year-old Team Sky rider is likely to face stiff competition from 2007 and 2009 Tour winner Alberto Contador of Spain, despite his lack of victories this season. Challenging both men include Spain's Joaquim Rodriguez, who was runner-up in the Giro d'Italia in May, and Australian outsider Cadel Evans, the 2011 winner, who could become the Tour's oldest victor at 36. This year's race is the first to be held after the Lance Armstrong doping scandal, which sent shockwaves through cycling and the world of sport. The US rider, who was unmasked as a serial drug cheat in a devastating US Anti-Doping Agency report last year, was subsequently stripped of his record seven Tour wins between 1999 and 2005. Race organisers have refused to nominate a winner in his place, as cycling was plunged into a period of deep introspection about the extent of drug use in the peloton in the 1990s and 2000s. The spectre still looms large over the Tour, after the 1997 winner and three-time runner-up Jan Ullrich of Germany admitted doping last weekend - and said it was widespread. There have also been accusations that French star Laurent Jalabert used the banned blood booster erythropoetin (EPO) during the scandal-hit 1998 Tour, forcing him to step down as a radio and television pundit. Lingering questions remain, too, over the International Cycling Union (UCI) and its role in the Armstrong affair, amid claims of complicity and cover-up in his activities. The embattled UCI president Pat McQuaid is facing a challenge for his re-election, amid repeated calls for him to stand down. Tour organisers and today's riders, however, maintain that doping is largely a problem of the past, despite two high-profile positive tests for EPO use on the recent Tour of Italy. "Doping is the enemy, not the Tour, or cycling," said Tour director Christian Prudhomme. "Cycling in 2013 is not the same as in the Armstrong years." As such, the Tour intends to mark its 100th running, with celebrations and commemorations of the race that first began in 1903 with just 60 riders and only six, mammoth stages. The peloton will pass major tourist landmarks, including scenic Corsica for the first time, to UNESCO World Heritage Site Mont Saint-Michel in northern Normandy, the Pyrenees and the Alps, where there is a double, energy-sapping climb of the infamous Alpe d'Huez. The race ends on July 21 in a first ever twilight finish on the sweeping Champs Elysees boulevard, with landmarks such as the Arc de Triomphe and the Eiffel Tower lit up high above the surviving pack. —AFP |
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