The Malaysian Insider :: Sports
The Malaysian Insider :: Sports |
| Japan toil to beat Cyprus in World Cup warm-up Posted: 27 May 2014 07:31 AM PDT Japan, who looked heavy-legged after a punishing training camp last week, face Ivory Coast in their opening game at the World Cup in Brazil on June 14. Right-back Uchida broke the deadlock in Saitama when he stabbed home the loose ball after Shinji Kagawa's close-range effort had been blocked, registering only his second goal in 66 internationals. "It was nice to score coming back from injury," said Uchida, who celebrated his strike by sprinting to the touchline to hug Japan coach Alberto Zaccheroni. "I didn't know if I would be fit in time," added Uchida, returning from a lengthy spell out with a thigh problem. "I wanted to get on the scoresheet tonight." With Cyprus defending resolutely, a clever step-over from Kagawa brought the crowd of 58,000 to their feet, only for Keisuke Honda to waste Japan's only other chance of a scrappy first half. Kagawa and captain Makoto Hasebe, himself working his way back to fitness after a knee problem, went close as Japan showed more urgency after the break. Ultimately, the home side lacked the cutting edge Zaccheroni had demanded before the match. "We weren't as sharp as we can be, but the players kept probing," said the Italian, who has stubbornly refused to make any World Cup predictions. "I'm not the sort of person to make promises about results. I demand the players put in the effort required to get results. We will be 100% for June 14." Japan, who also play Greece and Colombia in Group C, have further friendlies against Costa Rica on June 2 and Zambia on June 6 in Tampa before flying to Brazil. The 'Blue Samurai' reached the last 16 at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. Japan stormed through Asian qualifying to secure a fifth successive World Cup appearance, finishing four points clear of Australia at the top of their final-round group. – AFP, May 27, 2014. |
| Li Na exits the French Open in the first round Posted: 27 May 2014 04:45 AM PDT Australian Open champion Li Na (pic), of China, was knocked out of the French Open in the first round when she suffered an embarrassing 7-5 3-6 6-1 defeat by France's Kristina Mladenovic on Tuesday. Second seed Li, who won at Roland Garros in 2011, looked impotent on another chilly day in Paris, following men's Australian Open champion Stan Wawrinka to the Roland Garros exit door. World number 103 Mladenovic, who won the juniors' title in Paris in 2009, will next face American Alison Riske, looking to make it past the second round on home clay for the first time. "I don't think I had a bad day," Li told a news conference. "The problem is myself. I don't think I'm doing well on the court. Also, during the match, I don't think I followed the game plan. I didn't have any idea how to play the match." Once dubbed the next big thing of French women's tennis, Mladenovic saved two set points in the opener, lost focus in the second but stepped up a gear again in the decider to wrap it up on her second match point. "It's incredible, without you I would not have done it," a tearful Mladenovic told the crowd. "When such a player comes back in the match, you will have to seize every opportunity. I have been working hard." She later told a news conference that her task now was to capitalise on her first-round success. "If you beat Li Na, you don't think about losing in the next round. I'll have big expectations for the next round," she said. "It can be tough sometimes for us French players to play in front of our crowd, but when you're playing a close game, it can be good for us to have the crowd with us. I could feel the atmosphere make the difference." The 21-year-old Mladenovic, who has two mixed-doubles grand-slam titles to her name with Canadian Daniel Nestor, traded breaks twice with Li early on, and after saving two set points at 5-4, she went on to break again and clinch the set when her opponent's forehand sailed long after just over an hour's play. She could not sustain the rhythm in the second set, which Li comfortably bagged following an early break. Mladenovic broke Li to love in the fourth game of the decider and never looked back, raising her arms in celebration after just over two hours on court, when the Chinese's forehand went long once again. In the men's draw, 11th seed Grigor Dimitrov, one of the young players expected to challenge the likes of champion Rafa Nadal in Paris, found the service of giant Croatian Ivo Karlovic too hot to handle. The 11th seed was beaten 6-4 7-5 7-6(4). Simona Halep, seeded fourth, narrowly missed inflicting the first double bagel of the tournament after serving for the match when leading Alisa Kleybanova of Russia 6-0 5-0. But the Romanian lost concentration and gave up two games, before winning on her first match point. The diminutive Halep won the juniors' title at Roland Garros in 2008 and her power and accuracy from the baseline will trouble all but the best here. She was the most improved player on the women's tour in 2013 after winning six WTA titles, and carried her form into the new year, reaching the quarter-finals of the Australian Open. Japan's Kimiko Date-Krumm, the older stateswoman of the WTA Tour at 43, saved four match points, but still went down 6-3 0-6 6-2 to 24th seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. Svetlana Kuznetsova, the Russian 27th seed and 2009 French Open champion, eased through 6-3 6-1 against Georgia's Sofia Shapatava. Romanian 26th seed Sorana Cirstea beat Canada's Aleksandra Wozniak 6-7(3) 7-5 6-2. – Reuters, May 27, 2014. |
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