DAYTONA BEACH, Florida — Hall of Fame golfer Pak Se Ri said Friday that she will be sidelined indefinitely after injuring her left shoulder when she slipped on stairs Tuesday.The 25-time LPGA Tour winner has a slight tear in the labrum in the shoulder."Right now, there is no timeline for my return to the LPGA, but I know the next two months of rehab will be important for my recovery," said Pak, from South Korea. "I have a positive outlook and I fully expect to return to the LPGA Tour as soon as the time is right."
Sunday, April 29, 2012
Sharapova into Stuttgart semis
Marathon battle: Maria Sharapova plays a shot from Australia's Samantha Stosur in their quarterfinal match at the Porsche Grand Prix on Friday. Sharapova won 6-7 (5-7). 7-6 (7-5), 7-5. APSTUTTGART, Germany — Top-ranked Victoria Azarenka needed nearly 3 hours to overcome big-serving Mona Barthel 6-4, 6-7 (3-7), 7-5 on Friday for a place in the Porsche Grand Prix semifinals that feature the top four players in the world rankings.Azarenka will face fourth-ranked Agnieszka Radwanska, a 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 winner over Li Na.Second seed Maria Sharapova rallied to outlast Sam Stosur of Australia 6-7 (5-7), 7-6 (7-5), 7-5 in a match that went a minute over 3 hours. Sharapova will face third-seeded Petra Kvitova, the Wimbledon champion who beat Angelique Kerber 6-4, 6-4 in the last quarterfinal.Stosur, the U.S. Open champion, played nearly flawless tennis and a double fault by the Russian gave her a match point at 5-3 in the second set. But Sharapova saved it with a forehand winner and held serve.The first break point Stosur faced in the match came in the next game and she netted a forehand to allow Sharapova to level the score.Sharapova then started raising her game to win the tiebreaker and take control.She broke serve for a 6-5 lead and closed out the match in the next game despite a double-fault.Barthel fired 13 aces but her serve deserted her in the final game. The German failed to win a point and double-faulted on match point, one of her 16 double faults.Barthel came back from a break down and saved an earlier match point in the 10th game of the third set. The match on indoor clay lasted 2 hours, 48 minutes."She is very tough to play," Azarenka said. "She's much more confident now and her serve is right up there with the best. We were playing over two hours and she was still serving aces."Azarenka, the Australian Open champion, is looking for a tour-high fifth title of the year.BARCELONA, Spain — Rafael Nadal dispatched Janko Tipsarevic 6-2, 6-2 Friday to advance to the Barcelona Open semifinals, while Milos Raonic served 14 aces and upset second-seeded Andy Murray 6-4, 7-6 (7-3).The top-seeded Nadal moved his Serbian opponent around the red-clay court with his powerful forehand.The second-ranked Spaniard broke Tipsarevic in his first service game to set the tone for his 32nd consecutive win at the tournament. Tipsarevic earned three break points in the last game of the first set, but Nadal recovered to win five straight points.Nadal was broken for the first time to make it 2-2 in the second set, giving the fifth-seeded Tipsarevic a glimmer of hope. But Nadal won the next four games, capping a dominating performance with two straight aces to close out the match in 1 hour, 23 minutes."In the first set I was playing really well, and then at the start of the second he attacked more while I left my shots short," Nadal said. "But I am satisfied with the match. I am in the semifinals again. Tomorrow I will have to play at my highest level."Nadal, a six-time champion at the tournament, will face fellow Spaniard Fernando Verdasco after Kei Nishikori was forced to retire with an injury when trailing 4-2 in the first set.Raonic, who trains at the Real Club de Tenis, used his strong forehand to beat Murray.The 11th-seeded Canadian broke the fourth-ranked Murray to lead 4-3 and then set up a set point with an ace before smacking a forehand down the line to take the first set.Murray managed only four points on Raonic's serve in the first set and continued to struggle on the return in the second. But Murray broke Raonic when the Canadian served for the match before losing in the tiebreaker."It's very, very difficult and a big plus in confidence for me," Raonic said. "Clay's not his best surface, but he consistently does well on it. Last year he reached the semifinals at the French Open, Monte Carlo and Rome, so he can play really well on it. For me, it was a big win, regardless of the surface."Raonic is one win away from his fourth final of the season. He will next face David Ferrer, who saved three match points while rallying to beat Feliciano Lopez 6-7 (4-7), 7-6 (9-7), 6-3.Ihara living out her dream as endurance racer
Fearless: Formula 3 driver Keiko Ihara has not let being female hold her back from competing in the male-dominated sport of auto racing. SATOSHI HINODespite being a top-level female racer and entering the sport at a late age, Keiko Ihara wanted to advance to mainstream motor racing.
Determined: Keiko Ihara speaks to The Japan Times at a recent interview in Tokyo. YOSHIAKI MIURAWell, actually, when she started racing, where she wanted to get to was British Formula Three. That is perhaps because Ihara, who was already 25 years old when she sat behind the wheel of a race car, knew it was realistically the furthest she could possibly reach.But once she made it there, Ihara's ambitions increased."I wanted to compete ultimately in a world championships like the F1," Ihara said in a recent interview with The Japan Times.This year, her goal was fulfilled at age 38. Ihara earned a seat for the Gulf Racing Middle East team to drive in the inaugural World Endurance Championships.Even if you haven't heard of the endurance race, you're probably familiar with 24 Hours of Le Mans, which is considered one of the world's three biggest races along with Formula One's Monaco Grand Prix and the Indianapolis 500. Le Mans, which is held in June, is now part of the eight-race WEC series. Japan is in the series and will host the Mount Fuji 6 Hours at Fuji Speedway in mid-October.In the WEC, there are four different categories and championships — Le Mans Prototype 1 (LMP1), LMP2, Le Mans Grand Touring Endurance (LM GTE Pro) and LM GTE Amateur — and they all take the track simultaneously. The Gulf Racing Middle East, depicted by actor Steve McQueen's driving in the 1971 movie "Le Mans," is in the LMP2 class.Before being acquired by Gulf to race in the WEC, Ihara had mainly driven open-wheel formula cars, such as F3 and Asian Formula 2000. For her, it was a big adjustment, including the shape of the head-covered car and the length of each race (at least six hours).With a smile Iihara said she was thrilled to take the next challenge at the highest level.The Tokyo native said it's an incredible feeling to have reached the peak of one of the FIA-sanctioned world championship series."I didn't have an opportunity to race in F1, but I'm extremely excited to have gotten this chance to compete in another world championship," she said, "and I feel fortunate that I got there by having come to the mainstream of the sport."Ihara, a former race queen for the Benetton Formula One team in the late 1990s, competed in the prestigious British Formula Three International Series in 2005 and '06. (The British F3 has produced numerous future F1 champions: the late Ayrton Senna, Nelson Piquet, Mika Hakkinen, Jenson Button, Lewis Hamilton, among others, and is widely considered the road to get into F1.)"I've always liked to drive formula cars," Ihara said. "But in terms of the prototype cars in Le Mans and WEC, they're made only for the race, which means they are formula machines, too."Ihara said that competing in an endurance race requires completely different skills and techniques than the ones she used in sprint races in the past."Formula races are sprint races, so people may think it's not so demanding physically because it's a shorter race," Ihara said. "But it does require physical strength. You've got to go 100 percent all the time."She said endurance race drivers face different challenges in completing races, which are longer competitions, while sharing a car and driving time with your teammates (three pilots share a car in the WEC)."In the endurance race, you can't go 100 percent all the time because otherwise your car wouldn't tolerate until the end," she said. "And you may not think it's demanding physically, either. But it's a long race, you make substitutions with your teammates, and you've got to take naps and eat in between. So there are certainly some different difficulties in it."Ihara, who has had success in every international stage in which she has competed, drives Gulf Racing's No. 29, a Nissan engine-powered Lola B12/80 car.Not just in the WEC, where she's the only female pilot, Ihara is and has always been an exceptional kind because of her gender.While Danica Patrick is the world's most famous female racer, Ihara's career has overlapped with hers, though they were in different categories."When I was in Britain, she (Patrick) was there, driving in a lower category, when I was in the Formula Renault in 2001," recalled Ihara, who didn't have a regular driver's license until she decided to become a pro racer.Patrick, who moved to NASCAR from the IndyCar series this year, is now a superstar in the United States. Ihara said, however, that Patrick's current stardom doesn't particularly motivate her."(It's) because I've always wanted to be in the mainstream of auto racing," Ihara said, referring to British Formula Ford and British F3 as the motor sport's legitimate route to F1."If Danica had been successful in any world championships, such as F1 or F3, it would light some fire in me."Some skeptics may say females will get overexposure in a male-dominated sport. Ihara, on the other hand, views publicity as a good thing."I don't have any problems and am happy about it (getting media attention)," she said. "But think about it, even if you were a man, if you are a lightweight boxer and knock out a heavyweight boxer, you would get exposure. So whether I'm a woman or a man, I think if you have an astonishing result, your story will appear in the papers. So my gender doesn't really matter any more."In March, at the 12 Hours of Sebring in Florida, the first race of the WEC series this year, Ihara's No. 29 car didn't complete enough laps in the practice sessions and failed to advance to the final race.Ihara's next race will be the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium on May 5.Ex-All Blacks coach Allen passes away
WELLINGTON — Sir Fred Allen, whose record of 14 wins in 14 tests makes him the most successful All Blacks rugby coach of all time, has died of leukemia at age 92, his family said.A famously hard taskmaster dubbed "The Needle" by his players, Allen coached New Zealand from 1966 to 1968 which is remembered as one of the team's greatest eras.Allen played six tests among 21 matches at flyhalf for the All Blacks from 1946 to 1949 and was captain in all of those games. He had previously played for the famous New Zealand army team which toured Britain after World War II, playing in 28 of its 38 matches.He coached Auckland province from 1957 to 1963 when it defended the Ranfurly Shield challenge trophy a record 25 times.
Huff expresses gratitude for support
SAN FRANCISCO — Giants first baseman Aubrey Huff returned to San Francisco on Friday and issued a statement through the team's media relations department concerning his struggle with anxiety disorder.Huff thanked the fans, media and Giants organization for the "outpouring of support" during what he called a "very difficult week.""I'm especially grateful for the texts and calls from my teammates, who are like brothers and have let me know they're here for me," he said. "My goal is to get back on the field as soon as possible. To do that, I have to focus completely on getting well. I know I'm in a public job, and I've been one of the more open guys. But sometimes you have to pull back and work on things in private. This is one of those times. I appreciate your understanding and patience."Huff was placed on the disabled list Wednesday. He is batting .182 with one home run and four RBIs in 33 at-bats.
Canales out again with leg injury
VALENCIA, Spain — Sergio Canales has re-injured a ligament in his right leg and will be sidelined for another six months, Valencia has announcedCanales tore a knee ligament in Thursday's second leg of the Europa League semifinals that saw his team eliminated by Atletico Madrid.The 20-year-old attacking midfielder suffered the same injury in October and had only recently returned to action.Valencia is in third place in the Spanish League with four games to go.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)