Saturday, September 30, 2006
In Luxembourg, upsets continue as the order of the day
Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland, the 17 year old from Venus' second round loss, defeated world No.6 Elena Dementieva (whose ranking soon will begin to reflect her play if she doesn't handle her serious serve issues.)
Francesca Schiavone of Italy defeated Patty Schnyder, left, 6-1, 6-1 (ouch!) Also in the quarters, Frenchwoman Nathalie Dechy, who with Vera Zvonareva won the 2006 US Open doubles championship title, lost to Alona Bondarenko of Ukraine. Story But the other story there was all in black:
more Patty Schnyder of Switzerland:
Elena Dementieva of Russia:
Nathalie Dechy of France:
Kveta Peschke of the Czech Republic:
Photo sources: (all) Yahoo! News/REUTERS/Alain Sprimont
Doubles queen Virginia Ruano Pascual (of all people) takes out Sania 7-6 (7-3) 4-6 7-6 (7-3) in Seoul
Oh, the indemnity! Also in the quarters, Ai Sugiyama over Ruano's partner, Paola Suárez of Argentina; Greece's Daniilidou over Vera Zvonareva. Story
Left, Ai Sugiyama as she dispatched Virginia Ruano-Pascua 6-0 6-3 in today's semis. Below, Eleni Danilidou of Greece as she defeats Marion Bartoli of France 6-1 6-0 in today's other semi-final match at the Hansol Korea Open tennis tournament at Olympics Park in Seoul, South Korea. Ai and Eleni will face off tomorrow.
All photos Yahoo! News/AP Photo/Lee Jin-man
Friday, September 29, 2006
Venus reinjures wrist in second round loss in Luxembourge
Thursday, September 28, 2006
Venus reinjures wrist injury in loss
Yesterday, though
. . . While in Seoul, Sania cracks back with 4-6 6-0 6-4 second round win over the goddess
Yahoo! News/AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon; Yahoo! News/REUTERS/Lee Jae-Won; Yahoo! News/REUTERS/Lee Jae-Won
In Luxembourg, Venus is back in play; Dinara Safina defeats (the) Daniela Hantuchova 7-5 6-3 . . .
Tuesday, September 26, 2006
Michelle also to skip 2006-2007 season; 2009 worlds to be held at Staples Center
Michelle Kwan to skip 2006-07 season and attend college If, in all the years she had said that she was matriculating at UCLA, she has accumulated only a year of credits, I can't blame her. (Is a certain former high school honor student eyeing the legal profession toward a career in international relations. Be forewarned, it's a fight to get into the biennial International Law class (charm and guile, mostly guile, work).)
Previously, Sasha similarly indicated plans to skip the upcoming skating season; however, she did register for nationals prior to the deadline to maintain her options. Cohen registers for U.S. championships At right, Sasha at Cup of Russia 2002 (a Russian site; opens at the speed of a Russian site.)
The 2009 World Figure Skating Championship will be held in LA, CA March 23 - 29. (Story)
Allyson Felix, Michelle Perry strike gold in Shanghai on Saturday, Sept. 23, 2006
US women showed up at the Shanghai Golden Grand Prix Saturday. Michelle Perry, Damu Cherry and Joanna Hayes went 1-2-3 in the 100 meter hurdles. (Pictured at top, left to right, Michelle Perry, Joanna Hayes and Lolo Johnson.) Allyson Felix and Torri Edwards were gold and silver, respectively, in the 100 meters sprint. (At left, from left, Lauryn Williams. Torri Edwards and Allyson Felix.) Tiffany Ross-Williams was second in the 400 meter hurdles, and Deedee Trotter second in the 400m run. Tirunesh Dibaba did not have to contend with archrival Meseret Defar, but broke the tape in the 5000 meter race only .01 seconds ahead of Gelete Burka. Below, Nastja Ryjikh of Germany won pole vault gold. Official results
Photo sources: (in order) Yahoo! News/REUTERS/Nir Elias; Yahoo! News/AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko; Yahoo! News/REUTERS/Aly Song
Sania climbs 11 places to 59 in singles rankings
Photo source: Yahoo! News/REUTERS/Punit Paranjpe
Sunday, September 24, 2006
. . . While in Beijing, Kutzy startles Mauresmo for title
The story put succinctly At left, France's Amelie Mauresmo. Below, Russia's Svetlana Kuznetsova. Mauresmo defeated Lindsey Davenport 6-4 6-3 in the quarters, and Jelena Jankovic 6-1 3-6 7-6 (7-3) in the semis.
Photo sources: Yahoo! News/AFP/Goh Chai Hin; Yahoo! News/AFP/Peter Parks; Yahoo! News/REUTERS/Claro Cortes IV
In Kolkata, the goddess takes singles, Sania and Liezel Huber win doubles . . .
Story At left, Sania Mirza and doubles partner Liezel Huber of South Africa. Below, Olga Poutchkova of Russia (left) and Martina Hingis of Switzerland.
Photo sources: Yahoo! News/REUTERS/Jayanta Shaw; Yahoo! News/AP Photo/Bikas Das; Yahoo! News/REUTERS/Jayanta Shaw; Yahoo! News/REUTERS/Jayanta Shaw(INDIA)
Saturday, September 23, 2006
Sania Mirza meets the goddess and exits Kolkata 6-1 6-0
The potential meeting of Sania (in the bluish purple) and Martina Hinges in the semis of the $175k WTA Sunfeast Open tennis tournament in Kolkata (yes, formally Calcutta), India has been the buzz since the announcement of the draw in the tournament. Thinking as a Sania fan, I read with consternation the goddess' eagerness also to meet Sania. Story Oh, well, short work was made of that one.
2006 FIBA World Championship for Women: day last
US defeated Brazil. (At left, Iziane fouls Tamika Catchings.) Australia defeated Russia. day last results
But not to overlook the exciting contests in the 5-8 classification rounds. While a team that included all of Alana Beard and Seimone and Sue Bird and Sheryl Swoopes and Tamika Catchings and Tina Thompson and Diana Taurasi and Katie Smith scored just six (6) (VI) (these many: 1+1+1+1+1) points in a whole quarter (I mean, the public just be pissed on to our political agenda), France defeated the Czechs by 1 and Lithuania beat Spain. The next day, the Czechs beat Spain to take the seventh world rankings position and France defeated Lithuania to leave the tournament as world No. 5.
In terms of tournament play, then, these are the rankings:
- Australia
- Russia
- USA
- Brazil
- France
- Lithuania
- Czech Republic
- Spain
- Argentina
- Canada
- Cuba
- the People's Republic of China
- Korea
- the Republic of China
- Senegal
- Nigeria
But see Fiba Ranking for Women's National Teams
Photo source: Yahoo! News/AP Photo/Victor R. Caivano
the goddess in Kolkata Sept.18, 2006
Thursday, September 21, 2006
2006 FIBA World Championship for Women: day 10: Well, maybe exhale is too strong a word
The festival in Brazil has just crashed.
Russia's win over the US today must be carefully analyzed by experts; no armchair analysis on this one. Day 10 (Semi-final) results
Because to me it looked like 4 quarters the US did not play: held to 6 points in the third quarter; Russia took off in the first quarter 25 to 13.
Brazil down to Australia.
Wednesday, September 20, 2006
Brazil: in 'da house, in effect
Iziane (I think) and South Korea's Yeon-ha Beon, day 2:
Iziane and South Korea's Ji-hyun hong, day 2:
Adriana Pinto (well, it's still a good photo) against South Korea's Ji-Hyun Kim, day 2:
Karen Gustavo and South Korea's Youn-Ah Choi Laia Palau, day 2:
Helen Luz against Spain's Cintia Silva, day 3:
Adriana against Lithuania's Sandra Valuzyte, day 5:
Helen Luz and Kristi Harrower, day 6:
Iziane and (of all people) Laura Summerton (revealed, oops):
Adriana Pinto against Canada's Teresa Kleindienst, day 9:
Janeth celebrates today:
All photos Yahoo! News/AP Photo/Marcelo Hernandez
2006 FIBA World Championship for Women: day 9: . . . and exhale
Okay, USA (20 turnovers) is back on the case 90 - 56 over Lithuania (24 turnovers), sending the Lithuanians to what is going to be some really hot play: the 5-9 classification round with Spain (14 turnovers), France (10 turnovers) and the Czech Republic (16 turnovers.) Those teams were all losers today (day 9 results) ("Quarter-Finals") , creating the all too familiar semi-final matching of US (this time capital "us") versus Russia and Brazil versus Australia. Janeth (and that's Janeth dos Santos Arcain to the rest of you), Iziane (leftmost in the picture the caption said (doesn't look like her to me, but all of these pics, goodness), Alessandra (rightmost behind coach dude) and Helen can win this time (for a change) if they want to: no one will complain. Below, first, Spain's Amaya Valdemoro (21 points, 5 rebounds, 4 turnovers) passing around Russia's Maria Stepanova (14 points, 10 rebounds, 8 turnovers) today in Spain's loss; then, Team Brazil celebrating it's dispatching the Czechs to the classification round, oops.
Photo sources: Yahoo! News/AP Photo/ Andre Penner; Yahoo! News/AP Photo/Marcelo Hernandez; Yahoo! News/AP Photo/ Andre Penner
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
2006 FIBA World Championship for Women: A rest day 8 look at fashion
The four images following, featuring Brazil and Australia in play, were taken during the 2004 Athens Olympics. Australia's Penny Taylor and Brazil's Helen Luz are in the center of the first; Lauren Jackson is the Team Australia player in the following three. Sorry, I can't possible tell you the source(s) as publishing was not the intention at the time of the collection. These you can compare with the one at left which is one of six of the September 17th game between Brazil and Australia available in the tournament's official photo gallery.
