The Malaysian Insider :: Sports
The Malaysian Insider :: Sports |
| Vettel lights up Singapore in second practice Posted: 23 Sep 2011 08:04 AM PDT SINGAPORE, Sept 23 — Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel signalled his intention to secure a ninth victory of the season when the German set a blistering pace in the second free practice session for the Singapore Grand Prix today.  Sebastian Vettel turns the tables on McLaren's Lewis Hamilton during the second practice session. — Reuters pic Ferrari's Fernando Alonso was second quickest, 0.201 seconds behind Vettel, as the Spaniard seeks to record a third victory around the Marina Bay Circuit in the fourth year since Singapore joined the circuit. The only other man to win Formula One's only night race is Lewis Hamilton, and the Briton followed up his fastest time in a curtailed first practice session by taking third place on the timesheets in his McLaren after lapping in 1:47.115. The race weekend got off to a slow start when the first session was first delayed and then reduced by 30 minutes when track officials were forced to remove some loose kerbing on two of the demanding street circuit's corners. Hamilton edged out Vettel in the first free practice, which was halted twice when Heikki Kovalainen suffered a brake fire and more kerbing needed to be removed from turn seven, but the German lit up the night sky in the latter stages of the second. Completing 30 laps in the 90 minutes available, Vettel put in a number of quick laps to top the timesheets early on and returned with super-soft tyres in the final half an hour to leapfrog Alonso after the Spaniard had dipped under 1:47. Ferrari's Felipe Massa was fourth fastest overall, 0.145 seconds ahead of Mark Webber in the other Red Bull and more than a second in front of Mercedes' Michael Schumacher. Britain's Jenson Button had a disappointing day, trailing Hamilton by more than two seconds in the first session and managing just 10 laps in the second before he abandoned his McLaren after stopping on the track at turn 14. The strategy for Sunday's race could be dictated by the weather, with thunderstorms forecast for the evening but the fact the super-soft tyres were a full second faster that the softs could also have a big say in the outcome. The drivers will return for the third free practice tomorrow evening before the qualifying session takes place at 1400 GMT. — Reuters |
| Wallabies suffer injury crisis after crushing win Posted: 23 Sep 2011 06:51 AM PDT DUNEDIN, New Zealand, Sept 23 — Australia duly dispatched a second-string United States 67-5 in today's sole rugby World Cup match but it was New Zealand's clash with France tomorrow that dominated the tournament chat. Australia, beaten by Ireland last week, remain on course for a probably quarter-final meeting with South Africa but their hopes of becoming the first team to win the Cup having lost a match could be undone by a spiralling injury list.  Wallabies captain James Horwill (right) winces as he watches a replay of the tackle that knocked out Anthony Fainga'a. — Reuters pic It was the last thing the Wallabies needed from a match that was only ever going to produce one result as their backs ripped through some shaky defence en route to an 11-try victory, with winger Adam Ashley-Cooper scoring three of them in seven second-half minutes. The US had rested most of their first team with an eye on their midweek clash with Italy as they seek to win two tournament matches for the first time, and though they battled strongly and scored a try through JJ Gagiano in the first half, they were eventually blown away. Australia's scrum, poor against Ireland, was totally dominant yesterday, and the backline revelled in the time and space they had to create some excellent tries. "We spoke about being a bit smarter with our decision-making and the scoreline was flattering but I guess the best thing about the performance was the way we went about it," said captain Will Genia. The Wallabies will have concerns about their goalkicking as Beale, Quade Cooper and replacement flyhalf Berrick Barnes all had a go but missed five of the 11 conversion attempts between them. The Tri-Nations champions will hope that first-choice kicker James O'Connor recovers from his hamstring strain in time for the quarter-final, when such profligacy could prove costly. All eyes now turn to tomorrow, when England's game against Romania in Dunedin is the mere hors d'oeuvre for the Eden Park showdown between New Zealand and France. As if the most eagerly awaited match of the pool stage was not already big enough, it has been given an extra coat of gloss by serving as the occasion for Richie McCaw to become the first All Black to win 100 caps. "If you were going to pick a place to play and a team to play against, the French would be one you'd pick," said the peerless flanker. "The thing now is to make sure it is a good memory." New Zealanders, all too aware of their shocking defeats to the French in the 1999 and 2007 tournaments, are torn between condemning their rivals for selecting a weakened team and recognising that any France side contains enough devil to do damage. Thierry Dusautoir, captain tomorrow and man of the match in the 2007 quarter-final win in Cardiff when he made an incredible 38 tackles, said he hoped to spoil the occasion again. "He has been the best flanker in the world for 10 years now," Dusautoir said of McCaw. "But I'm sad because we are going to waste his party tomorrow." England also face under-strength opposition as Romania rest many of their leading players for their long-targeted game against Georgia on Wednesday. According to Scotland's team doctor, it is a sensible approach as the smaller nations are struggling to deal with the short turnaround forced upon them by the TV-driven schedule. "I don't think it's dangerous but I think it results in below-par performance," said James Robson. "People are battered and bruised, they are quite sore and they're quite stiff. It's a hard ask to do that and to perform at their best." Samoa, who have to play all four of their games inside 16 days, play the third of them against Fiji in Auckland on Sunday. That match, sure to be a colourful, noisy occasion at Eden Park, kicks off a four-match day that also includes the tough-to-call Argentina v Scotland clash likely to decide which of the teams advance to the quarter-finals. Key flyhalf Felipe Contepomi has been passed fit to play for Argentina after recovering from the rib injury sustained in their opening-game defeat by England. — Reuters |
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