MONDAY, MAY 5, 2014 SPORTS

Pistorius defense enters Photo of the day critical phase at trial

PRETORIA: Oscar Pistorius’ murder trial let door. He claims the killing was acciden- enters a critical phase today as his defense tal and he fired four times in quick succes- team attempts to recover from a faltering sion without thinking and while terrified, start and reinforce the disabled athlete’s believing that an intruder had climbed up a claim that he fatally shot girlfriend Reeva ladder and through a bathroom window of Steenkamp by mistake because he was his Pretoria villa in the pre-dawn hours and overwhelmed by a long-held fear of violent was about to come out of the cubicle and crime. attack him. Pistorius’ mindset when he stood on his Prosecutors charge that the story is an stumps in a bathroom and pulled the trig- intricate lie designed to cover up a murder. ger on his 9 mm pistol in the early hours of They say the couple fought, Steenkamp Feb. 14, 2013 remains the crux of the South fled to the toilet screaming and Pistorius African trial that has captured worldwide followed her and shot her through the attention and is about to start its seventh wood door while they were arguing. She week of globally televised proceedings. It was hit in the hip, arm and head. was initially scheduled to run for three Charged with premeditated murder, the weeks. first amputee to run at the Olympics faces Judge Thokozile Masipa will analyze 25 years to life in prison if convicted. He thousands of pages of testimony before was once widely admired for overcoming she reaches a verdict, but ultimately must the amputation of his lower legs as a baby ponder the pivotal question: Did Pistorius to earn the right to run against the world’s fire his gun with the intention to kill or out top able-bodied athletes. of a misplaced belief that his life was in The prosecution’s case appeared to be danger from a perceived intruder? bolstered as holes in Pistorius’ story were South Africa does not have trial by jury, exposed when the athlete was on the meaning Masipa will decide, with the help stand for a fierce five-day cross-examina- of two assessors, if Pistorius’ overall account tion by prosecutor Gerrie Nel. Nel also suc- is believable and whether the apparent ceeded in undermining the evidence given inconsistencies in his testimony count by the defense’s first two expert witnesses, against him or are unimportant in the big- a pathologist and a former police forensic ger picture. scientist. If Pistorius’ defense, which will resume But defense lawyers have only present- calling witnesses today after a two-week ed three of up to 17 witnesses they say trial recess, can show that his story of a they may ask to testify. At the outset of the Mansour Al Safran performs a tailwhip in Kuwait.— www.redbull.com tragic error is a reasonable explanation, defense’s case, lawyer Barry Roux said even the double-amputee runner’s shaky Pistorius’ actions on Valentine’s Day last testimony would be rendered irrelevant year centered on his “disability” and “vul- and the judge should acquit him of murder, nerability” and Pistorius’ team will likely legal experts say. While testifying, Pistorius seek to rebuild the overall argument that Sadler wins at Talladega sometimes contradicted earlier testimony his actions were guided by fear and not and other times said he did not remember anger in a country with a high rate of vio- details. lent home invasions. TALLADEGA: Most of Elliott Sadler’s memories “The test doesn’t end there,” former Roux said he will also show that a cru- of Talladega Superspeedway are unpleasant. state prosecutor Marius du Toit said of cial thread of the prosecution’s case is not They either involve a horrific 2003 crash in which Pistorius’ testimony. “It’s not over. They (the true; that neighbors heard a woman his car flipped several times and slid forever defense) can still show there is another screaming before and during the shots through the grass on its roof, or many different plausible scenario.” fired by Pistorius at around 3.17 a.m. on ways he’d come up empty racing for a win. Du Toit has over 20 years’ experience in the fatal night. The lawyer said neighbors Finally, he has a victory that tops all those South Africa’s criminal justice system and is who live closer to Pistorius’ house in an other disappointments. “I have such a love-hate following the trial closely. He said it must upscale gated community in the suburbs relationship with this race track. We always run be shown that Pistorius had the “sole inten- of South Africa’s capital never heard a good here, but I always doggone flip or wreck or tion” to kill Steenkamp to be convicted of woman scream. Instead, it was Pistorius’ hit hard or something,” Sadler said in Victory murder. high-pitched shrieks for help after realiz- Lane. “Every autograph session, everywhere I go, Pistorius, 27, doesn’t dispute that he ing his terrible mistake, the defense everybody always reminds me of the flip I had shot 29-year-old Steenkamp through a toi- argues. —AP down the backstraighaway here. Now maybe they can ask me about winning here.” Sadler won a three-lap shootout to the checkered flag in the Nationwide Series race. Serena, Sharapova cruise The race Saturday was stopped for a little more than nine minutes to clean the track fol- as Djokovic withdraws lowing a six-car accident that began when Jeremy Clement was turning into an outside wall MADRID: Serena Williams and Maria However she was then unable to cope and his car shot back into traffic. Sadler reflected Sharapova eased through their Madrid with Williams’ powerful groundstrokes as on many of his previous races during the stop- openers yesterday but Novak Djokovic the American raced through the rest of the page. withdrew with the right wrist injury which first set. “Under the red flag, I was playing all these could compromise his French Open dream. Williams was even more relentless as scenarios in my head,” Sadler said. “Really, how World number one Williams began the she moved into a 5-0 lead in the second set many races I’ve lost in the last couple laps not defence of her Madrid Open title with a and, despite some resistance from Bencic making the right decisions.” comfortable 6-2, 6-1 win over Swiss 17- to save match points in the sixth game, the There were three laps remaining on the year-old Belinda Bencic while Sharapova two-time Madrid champion went on to seal restart, and Sadler had to throw several blocks to was equally untroubled in a 6-1, 6-2 victory victory in just under an hour. hold off a charge from the pack of traffic behind over Czech Klara Koukalova. Such was her dominance that Williams him. Djokovic, the world number two who even racked up 21 consecutive points at It was the 10th Nationwide Series victory of had been targeting Rafael Nadal’s number one stage yesterday. Four-time Grand Slam Sadler’s career, first at Talladega, and first win one ranking, was forced to pull out after champion Sharapova made light work of since 2012. “We just stayed to the bottom and failing to recover from his ongoing wrist Czech veteran Koukalova. stuck to our guns,” Sadler said of his strategy. injury. Sharapova claimed her first title of the “We made the right blocks at the right time.” The six-time Grand Slam champion suf- year on clay in Stuttgart two weeks ago “I was disappointed last year we weren’t able to do it. It means a lot to me to get the JGR team fered the injury in losing to Roger Federer and continued her return to form after a TALLADEGA: Elliott Sadler celebrates winning the NASCAR Aaron’s 312 Nationwide series auto to Victory Lane - they work their butts off and we in the semi-final of the Monte Carlo Masters difficult start to the year to take victory in race at Talladega Superspeedway. —AP a fortnight ago. little over an hour. weren’t able to reward them.” “I am sorry for the tournament and the “It was a good start for me,” said eighth- After going winless last season, his first with the championship as strong as you want to, ning streak alive, but there’s a lot of races left,” Spanish fans that I have to pull out of the seeded Sharapova. “Obviously the first Joe Gibbs Racing, finally grabbing a victory was man, it weighed on me heavy,” Sadler said. Smith said. Elliott, who finished 19th, main- Madrid Open,” said the Serb star, the 2011 match at a new event is always challenging a heavy relief for Sadler. He left Richard “To be able to go to Victory Lane, and tained his lead as the Nationwide points leader. champion in the Spanish capital, in a state- because you don’t know what to expect, Childress Racing to join JGR in an attempt to (Gibbs) call me on the phone, was amazing to But Sadler’s victory pulled him to just one point ment. especially coming off the indoor tourna- race for the Nationwide title. Instead, after win- me. That was a feeling that is really hard to put behind Elliott. “I have done everything possible to be ment last week. ning four races in 2012 and finishing second into words, but it feels good.” David Ragan finished fourth and was fol- able to play in Madrid, which is one of the “It’s always an adjustment to get your- that year in the standings, Sadler had just nine Chris Buescher finished second and Regan lowed by Sam Hornish Jr., making his first race most important events of the year, but, self prepared for the first round. I’m happy top-10 finishes and was a distant fourth in the Smith, winner of last year’s race, was third. since losing the Nationwide title by three unfortunately, the injury I have in the right that I won in two good sets today.”Last title race. Sadler’s win ended a three-race winning streak points last season. Hornish has a seven-race wrist has become inflamed again. year’s finalist in Madrid will next face “When you come to a new place and you are for JR Motorsports, which picked up victories deal with JGR and made his debut by winning “I will now take my time to recover from unseeded American Christina McHale. running for such a respectable man and owner, from Chase Elliott at Texas and Darlington and the pole in Friday qualifying. Joe Nemechek the injury with the hope of being ready to It was a more difficult afternoon for fifth and you are not able to give back to them, and Kevin Harvick last week at Richmond. was sixth and followed by J.J. Yeley, Landon play in Rome (from next weekend).” The seed Petra Kvitova as she needed a final set not go to Victory Lane and not able to run for “We couldn’t keep the JR Motorsports win- Cassill, David Starr and Trevor Bayne.—AP injury also means that Djokovic is facing a tie-break to overcome Romania’s Sorana race against time to be fully fit for the Cirstea 6-1, 5-7, 7-6 (7/4). French Open, the only major he has yet to The former Wimbledon champion Berlocq stuns Berdych for Portugal title win, which gets under way in three weeks’ looked well on course for the second round time. Williams, a 17-time Grand Slam win- after racing through the opening set, but OEIRAS: Argentina’s Carlos Berlocq 2006) Gaston Gaudio (2005) and ner, was playing for the first time since suf- was then broken four times in the second rallied to overhaul Czech top seed Juan Chela (2004). fering a shock defeat to Jana Cepelova in as the world number 27 levelled the match. Tomas Berdych 0-6, 7-5, 6-1 yester- Berdych came to the court with a Purtell lifts Bulls Charleston over a month ago. But she Both women were more stable on serve in day to win his second career title 3-0 record in his series against the showed no sign of rustiness to set up a sec- the decider as it went to a tie-break after with victory at the Portugal Open. Argentine and had beaten Berlocq ond round meeting with China’s Peng just one break apiece and Kvitova eventual- off the bottom The world number 62 becomes on clay in Dusseldorf and in Davis Shuai. ly had too much to set up a meeting with the sixth tournament winner over Cup. LONDON: Adrian Purtell scored drop goal late on to give the American Varvara Lepchenko. There were the age of 30 this year on the ATP The Czech was bidding for the twice as moved off Giants a nail-biting 29-28 win. RELENTLESS WILLIAMS also wins for 11th seed Ana Ivanovic who with his victory in two hours, nine ninth title of his career while Berlocq the bottom of the , Kirk Dixon With Swiss compatriot Martina Hingis overcame Madison Keys in straight sets 6-1, minutes against the world number added to his other trophy from table with a thrilling 34-28 victory and also scored for the watching from the stands, Bencic made a 7-6 (7/4) and Sloane Stephens who beat six. Berdych was the South Bastad in Sweden last summer. over Warrington yesterday. Tigers but they are now two bright start and had two break points to Romanian qualifier Monica Niculescu 6-2, American’s second top 10 victim of Berdych was momentarily derailed lead 2-1 in the first set. 3-6, 6-2.—AFP Purtell, who joined the Bulls points behind second-placed St the week after putting out ninth- by a second-set time violation called from in 2012, Helens. Wakefield’s remarkable 23- ranked Milos Raonic of Canada in the by umpire Fergus Murphy. helped his side to their third victo- 16 comeback victory against Hull quarter-finals. After regaining his composure ry this season-a result which saw owed much to Jarrod Sammut, “This is truly a dream for me,” said after several games of complaining them move above London who kicked three goals and scored the winner, who found his form just about the call, Berdych found himself Broncos in the process. a try at the KC Stadium. The in time after losing the opening set in trouble-he was broken in the final Bradford were docked six Wildcats were 16-0 down after in 28 minutes. game of the second set and never points after going into administra- Danny Houghton, Jordan Rankin But the South American baseliner, recovered. tion in February, but they battled and Ben Crooks had crossed for whose on-court grunting has irritat- In the third set, Berdych dropped all the way against the Wolves the hosts. ed a string of rivals in recent years, to 0-5 before getting a break-back. A with Jamie Foster, Brett Kearney regained his poise and slowly began double-fault a game later set up a and Tom Olbison also getting in SENSATIONAL TURNAROUND to make inroads against the top seed match point, which Berdych saved on the act. Tries from Anthony But Richard Mathers, Daniel playing on a wild card. before going down to the loss when England, , Kevin Smith, Matt Ryan and ex-Penrith “To win this title today, I had to his sliding volley hit the net on a sec- Penny, Joel Monaghan and Matty Panther Sammut completed a sen- beat one of the best in the world. It ond Berlocq match point. Russell had Warrington 28-22 up sational turnaround. was an honour to play and to win “This was a tough loss but Carlos with 10 minutes to go but Elliot Meanwhile, Kevin Brown’s hat- this final,” he said. “It was really tough played really well, he opened it up Kear’s late try turned the game in trick was enough for Widnes to see for me at the start, he was playing after the first set. He showed he’s a Bradford’s favor. of Hull K R 34-29. Morgan Escare very aggressive. But I managed to big fighter and that he can do well Elsewhere yesterday, Castleford took his Super League season try slowly lift my game and get into the on his court, on clay,” said Berdych. “It slipped up in the race at the top of tally to 10 after his hat-trick match. was still a good week for me, I’m glad the table despite against Salford helped Catalan “For me, the second set was like I could come and play as a wildcard. and each grabbing Dragons to a 37-24 victory on starting everything all over again. I “Everything went well up until the tries against Huddersfield, Joe Saturday. managed to improve throughout the final. It’s always disappointing to lose Wardle, , Jermaine New Zealand-born second and third sets and somehow I a match, but it’s like that one day and McGillvary, Scott Grix and Aaron and Fijian international Daryl got the win.” Berlocq became the different the next.” Berdych suffered fifth Argentine to win at the venue only his sixth loss of the season while Murphy were on the scoresheet Millard also crossed for the French after Juan Martin del Potro (2011, Berlocq improved his season record for Huddersfield but it was Danny outfit but it was full-back Escare Brough who struck the decisive who stole the show.—AFP Maria Sharapova 2012), David Nalbandian (2002, to 9-7.—AFP