Kranjcar double puts Croatia top of Group

Zagreb - Niko Kranjcar scored the first two goals and laid on the third as Croatia breezed past Malta 3-0 to go top of Euro 2012 Group F qualifying on Wednesday.

The out-of-favour Tottenham Hotspur midfielder cracked in a fierce drive from the edge of the penalty box to put the Croatians in front in the 19th minute.

Kranjcar then produced a replica effort to make it 2-0 in the 42nd.

His Tottenham team mate Luka Modric rattled the post while forwards Eduardo da Silva and Mladen Petric also went close as Croatia dominated the first half.

Michael Mifsud ballooned Malta`s best chance high over the bar early in the second period.

Substitute Nikola Kalinic came on for Petric with half an hour to go and he made sure of victory in the 81st minute by heading in a fine cross from Kranjcar.

"We are happy to be top although we feel the group is wide open. Our next two matches against Georgia will be of crucial importance," Croatia coach Slaven Bilic told reporters.

"Niko`s two goals were fantastic and I`m delighted to see him going for long-range efforts ... as his shooting ability is top notch."

The match, played on a rain-soaked pitch, marked the 20th anniversary of Croatia`s first game as an independent country, a friendly against United States.

Unbeaten Croatia have 10 points from four games, two ahead of Greece and four in front of Georgia. Malta are bottom with no points.

Bilic`s team resume their qualifying campaign in March with a trip to Georgia. (A008/A011/S026)

Read More

Still no gold for RI contingent in Asian Games

Gunagzhou - Indonesian athletes were still unable to collect a single gold medal until the fifth day of the current Asian Games in Guangzhou, China.

In view of that Sports Minister Andi Mallarangeng called on the athletes here on Wednesday to keep their spirit high and not become discouraged.

"Do not feel burdened or lose hope because you have not been able to collect a gold medal. Perform as best as possible and keep your spirit high because there is still a chance win it," he said during a visit to the Media Press Center.

Andi said there were still many chances for Indonesia to collect gold medals. He called on all athletes and officials not to be affected and fixated on the initial target.

The minister called on the athletes to continue fighting because the chances to win gold still existed. "You must not feel burdened because no gold has been collected so far while performing in the finals or semi-final rounds because it could affect your performance. Keep up the high spirit and give it your best," he said.

On the occasion the minister called on all coaches and officials to maintain the athletes` morale and fighting spirit so that they would remain able to perform optimally.

"You may lower the target for one athlete but it must become the motivation for others to rise. The stance has already shown a good result with an athlete who was not targeted to collect a medal but eventually won one ," he said.

He referred to Ivana who was able to collect a silver medal from wushu although she was not expected to win a medal in the event.

"Everybody may still have an opportunity (to win medals) as has been proven by Ivana, Citra and Irsal and so will the badminton athletes," he said.

Andi Mallarangeng on the occasion also expressed his appreciation to athletes who had fought valiantly in the 16th Asian Games.

Regarding the Indonesian contingent`s difficulty to win gold medals, the minister said the athletes s from West, South and Southeast Asia were facing the same thing.

"It is not only us who have been left far behind, the same has happened to athletes from East Asia and other countries," he said.

So far China, Japan and Korea have become the biggest three in medal collection, followed by China Taipei and Macao, from East Asia.

"The gold medal collection of the three biggest collectors of gold medals has now reached double-digit figures. Countries from West, South and Southeast Asia and even the former Soviet Union countries could not match them," he said.

The same situation also happened during the Olympic Games where China and Korea competed with each other. This will become materials for evaluation by Indonesia with regard to preparing future athletes and strategy in athletes` development, Andi said.

He was optimistic that through the "Prima" and "Pratama" athlete development programs, including focus on certain branches for the Olympic Games, change would occur in the future.

The minister denied there had been stagnation or degradation in sports achievement. "Not at all. What has happened is a rising but the dynamics is still below the surface.

We are optimistic with the strategies that we have prepared for grooming the athletes we will be able to achieve better performance," he said.(*)

Read More

RI wushu athlete Susyana wins bronze

Guangzhou - Indonesia`s wushu athlete Susyana Tjhan failed to grab a gold medal and had to be content with a bronze in the taolu event during the finals of the 16th Asian Games here on Tuesday.

Susyana who was initially expected to win a gold for the Indonesian contingent was only able to collect 9.66 points.

The gold medal in this event was won by Hong Kong`s wushu athlete Xiaoling Geng who collected 9.75 points. The silver went to Myanmar`s athlete who scored 9.67 points.

With the bronze won by Susyana, Indonesia ranked 17th in the overall medal tally. Indonesia had so far y won one silver and seven bronzes. (Uu.A014/HAJM/A014/P003)

Read More

Vettel to renew Yas Marina affair with new tyres

Abu Dhabi - The newly-crowned Formula One drivers' world champion Sebastian Vettel will be united with perhaps his favourite circuit — Yas Marina — within days after the German achieved his awesome feat.

Vettel, who became the youngest champion when he outclassed three other rivals to win one of the most closely-fought title race on Sunday, partied late into the night and then left for a press conference in Salzburg. The Red Bull driver will however be back burning rubber on his favourite circuit, the only difference is that it will be the Pirelli tyres instead of the Bridgestone that were used on Sunday.

Next year's Formula One championship will be fought on Pirelli tyres and the Italian manufacturer start their winter-testing at the Yas Marina Circuit this Friday and Saturday. Each of the 12 F1 cars present will have eight sets of tyres available over the course of the two days.
Meanwhile, Red Bull owner Dietrich Mateschitz told Austrian TV ORG that Red Bull will allow Vettel to go if they can't provide him the right car. "He [Vettel] will be a World Champion a few more times provided he is sitting in the right car. We will do our best to give him that car and if we are not able to we will let him go somewhere where he can be champion again," said Mateschitz

Early testing
Red Bull are keen to extend Vettel's contract, which ends next year, until 2015. The Yas Marina Circuit will get busy even before Vettel and the other big stars test the Pirelli tyres as the official young driver testing starts today.

Virgin Racing will be giving Luiz Razia, Jerome D'Ambrosio and Rio Haryanto the opportunity to drive the 2010 CFD-designed VR-01. Razia will drive today morning and then D'Ambrosio takes over. Haryanto will drive the car for a full day tomorrow.

Davide Valsecchi, who won the GP2 race on Sunday, will also be driving while Paul di Resta, Yelmer Buurman and Antonio Felix da Costa will test for Force India. Sauber's representatives are Sergio Perez and Esteban Gutierrez while all eyes will be on Red Bull's Daniel Ricardo.

Sam Bird will be in the young driver line-up of Mercedes, Jean-Eric Vergne for Toro Rosso and Vladimir Arabadzhiev and Rodolfo Gonzalez for Lotus. Meanwhile, Williams said Brazilian driver Rubens Barrichello will be staying and confirmed that rookie Nico Hulkenberg is leaving.

Read More

Force India upbeat about the future

Abu Dhabi - With Red Bull Racing having already claimed the Constructors Championship at the penultimate race itself, Sunday's Abu Dhabi Grand Prix not only crowned the Drivers' Champion but also decided two small battles in the Constructors' Championship.

McLaren-Mercedes and Ferrari were in the fight for the second place while lower down Williams and Force India were separated by just one point in their fight for the sixth position.

McLaren's Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button finished second and third respectively to Sebastian Vettel on Sunday and the 33 points they earned helped them push Ferrari to third in the Constructors' Championship.

Points haul
Martin Whitmarsh, McLaren Team Principal said: "We notched up 33 world championship points this evening, which is more than any other team scored today. That hefty points haul more than consolidated our second position in the constructors' world championship and indeed lifted us to a comfortable 58 points clear of our friends at Ferrari, who, as is so often the case, took the battle to us again this year."

After a closely-fought battle, Williams finished sixth to edge out Force India, with neither team having scored in Abu Dhabi on Sunday.

"To finish 12th and 16th from seventh and 15th is not something to be pleased about," Patrick Head, Williams' director of Engineering, said. "Ultimately, of the various goals for the weekend, the main one was to finish ahead of Force India and retain sixth in the championship, which we achieved."

Though Force India lost the sixth position to Williams, Dr Vijay Mallya, Chairman and Team Principal was optimistic.

"Sixty-eight points is something I, and the whole team, can take great personal pride in. When we bought the team we scored zero points the first year, then 13 last year and now more than five times that in 2010." (M. Satya Narayan)

Read More

Harradine lifts Shaikh Rashid Trophy

Dubai - Michael Harradine kept his cool when it mattered most to win the Shaikh Rashid Trophy, organised by the Emirates Golf Federation, at the Jebel Golf Resort and Spa yesterday.

The 27-year-old defied the stamina-sapping heat and humidity to close with a tidy 73 to go eight-over-par 224 for the tournament which, in the end, was good enough to beat his nearest challenger Daniel Hendry by a good four shots.

Top Saudi golfer Othman Al Mulla made his present felt in the elite field, finishing third on a gross 229, four shots ahead of Abdullah Al Musharrekh, who became the first UAE national to post a podium finish since the inception of the tournament in 1998.

The tournament, sponsored by Jebel Ali Golf Resort and Spa, turned out be a huge success with almost all leading amateurs in the UAE and a couple of them from overseas contesting for honours at three different courses from the Championship tees.

It was Harradine who held the centre stage on the final day with a solid tee-to-green golf. "It feels great to win this prestigious tournament. Overall, I am very happy the way I played. Conditions were tough, but I managed to keep the ball in play and tried to hit the greens as much possible," he said.

Hendry, who shot a 76 in the final round, had his chances, but a double-bogey on the ninth proved to be crucial in the end.

Not giving any chances
"Michael and I were eight over at that stage, but after that two dropped shots, I just couldn't match pace with him. He really played well thereafter and never gave any chances. Well, beating the heat was another big challenge. Anyway, I am really glad with the second-place finish. No regrets." said the winner of the Emirates Golf Federation's Junior Order of Merit title.

Al Musharrakh, a member of the UAE national team, carded 77 to secure a creditable fourth-place finish. "I think I could have done much better, but made some stupid mistakes. You learn new things every day in golf. The experience of playing three days on the trot will come in handy in the future," he said.

Competition was held in net division with Martin Vertigen of Emirates Golf Federation taking the honours in Division A with back-to-back rounds of 74, just ahead of Hassan Musharrekh (73 and 75). Fred Watts walked away with the Division B title with rounds of 71 and 69.

Adel Zarouni, secretary-general of the Emirates Golf Federation, and Saeed Malek, who represented the Jebel Ali Golf Club owning family, presented the prizes.

"The Shaikh Rashid Trophy will be much bigger and better next year," said Zarouni. "Quite a few players from the UK, Bahrain, Tunisia, Morocco and other countries have already promised to sign up for the event next year. Even though the tournament has returned to domestic circuit after a gap of our years, there was no dearth of enthusiasm."

Scores
Winner (gross): Michael Harradine (Jebel Ali Golf Resort and Spa) eight over 224 2, Daniel Hendry (Emirates Golf Club) 12 over 228 3. Othman Al Mulla (Saudi Arabia) 13-over 229 4. Abdullah Al Musharrekh (Dubai Creek Golf and Yacht Club) 17-over 233 5. Douglas Maclennan (Arabian Ranches Golf Club) 18-over 234 Best Net Day 1 (Al Badia Golf Club): Fred Watts net 71 Best Net Day 2 (The Els Club): Fred Watts net 69 Best Gross Day 1 (Al Badia Golf Club: Othman Almulla gross 75 Best Gross Day 2 (The Els Club): Bret Armstrong (Al Badia Golf Club) 73 Division A (scratch to 10 handicap):

Nett winner: Martin Vertigen (Emirates Golf Federation) 74 74 Net runner-up: Hassan Al Musharrekh (Dubai Cree Golf and Yacht Club) 73 75 Division B (11-18 handicap):

Nett winner: Fred Watts (Arabian Ranches Golf Club) Net runner-up: John Watts (Arabian Ranches Golf Club)

Read More

Harradine sets the pace in Order of Merit

Dubai - Michael Harradine of Emirates Golf Club set an early pace in the Emirates Golf Federation's Order of Merit for the 2010-11 season after carving up an impressive victory in the Shaikh Rashid Trophy which ended at the Jebel Ali Golf Resort and Spa on Saturday.

The 27-year-old golfer, who earned a maximum 30 points for his efforts, has opened up a six-point lead from Daniel Hendry, his fellow club member and the reigning Junior Order of Merit champion, while Abdullah Al Musharrakh is placed third with 22 points — two ahead of Arabian Ranches Golf Club's Douglas McLennan.

Khalid Yousuf, at present representing the UAE in the Eisenhower Trophy, is fifth place with 19 point, going into the Sharjah Wanderers Golf Club Men's Open, the second event on the Order of Merit on November 12 and 13.

"We had a great start to this season Order of Merit, thanks to the overwhelming response to the Shaikh Rashid Trophy," said Saeed Al Budoor, general manger of the Emirates Golf Federation.

"With as many as 12 events on this season's Order of Merit we can expect some intense fight developing before the finale in April. We welcome the addition of the Yas Links Men's Open, The Els Club Open and the Palm Sports Resort Open to the Order of Merit this season."

Read More

Archive