CHINA DAILY SPORTS THURSDAY JANUARY 4, 2007 23

INBRIEF Faldo swaps clubs for commentary WINTER SPORTS Czech Rezak completes Vasa- loppet hat-trick Three-time Masters Czech Republic’’s Stanislav Rezak com- pleted a winning hat-trick at the 2007 winner will appear Vasaloppet China, a top-notch cross- country skiing tournament, on Tuesday at Augusta this year, in Changchun’s Jingyuetan Park, Liaon- ing Province. but instead of playing Rezak, the 2005 and 2006 winner, was the fi rst to fi nish the 50km race, scoring he will be behind the a time of two hours and 19 minutes. He also won the VOLVO Cross-country microphone offering Sprint Tournament the previous day, beating favorite Fredrik Persson of analysis and insight into second place. In the women’s event, local skiers KAPALUA, Hawaii: Three-time champion continued to dominate as Wang Chunli, Nick Faldo will enter uncharted territory when Man Dandan and Li Hongxue raced to he returns to Augusta National for this year’s a 1-2-3. Masters in April. It’s the fourth straight podium fi nish for For the fi rst time since making his debut Li, a star of China’s national team after there in 1979, the former world No 1 will ap- winning the race three times in a row pear at the opening major of the season as a since 2004. non-competitor. Although the experience will be different, MISCELLANEOUS Faldo says he will have no regrets when he drives through the entry gate and along leafy CCTV sports channel gets Li- Magnolia Lane towards the clubhouse for the Ning backing April 5-8 tournament. Leading Chinese sportswear producer “I’ve had my playing career, I’ve been out there Li-Ning, named after former world and 30 years and this is a great opportunity for me to Olympic champion gymnast Li Ning, do something different,” the 49-year-old Briton signed with leading Chinese chan- told reporters in an interview. nel CCTV-5 to provide apparel for the Having cut his teeth as a television golf analyst anchormen and anchorwomen. for ABC Sports over the last two years, Faldo will After 11 years CCTV-5 has become perform the same duty at Augusta National for CBS Britain’s Nick Faldo hits from a sand trap to the second green as he practices at the Augusta National Golf Club for the 2006 Masters golf one of the world’s biggest and most Sports, broadcasters of the Masters since 1956. tournament in Augusta, Georgia, in this April 3, 2006 fi le photo. Three-times champion Faldo will enter uncharted territory when he returns infl uential sports channels. Li-Ning is “I don’t want to be a player who’s an amateur,” to Augusta National for this year’s Masters in April. Reuters the sponsor of several Chinese national Faldo added. “I’m now an analyst and I will be in sports teams including the successful the tower at Augusta for the whole week. “So I thought: ‘Okay it’s getting tough now course when establishing himself as the domi- week’s season-opening Mercedes-Benz Cham- table and gymnastics teams. “Obviously my golf has really been curtailed and I haven’t got the game to seriously compete nant player of his generation, Faldo has become pionship in Hawaii. The two-year contract covers the 2008 and I’m quite happy about that. My playing days at Augusta any more.’ a veritable chatterbox in the broadcast booth. The Golf Channel, signed up by the Tour for Beijing Olympic Games. aren’t completely over but my priority now is “Now I am quite happy to go up in the booth and Several leading players in the modern game 15 years, will broadcast the fi rst three events as Li Ning has signed with NBA players given to CBS.” do the best that I can calling the action,” added the say his analysis has allowed them to understand well as the Thursday and Friday rounds for the such as Shaq O’Neal, Damon Jones and Faldo, Masters champion in 1989 and 1990 Englishman, who missed the halfway cut at last more clearly his on-course thinking as a six- rest of the season. Chuck Hayes, and the world basketball before claiming a third title in 1996, realised his year’s Masters after shooting 79 and 74. times major champion. A major benefi t for Faldo, Europe’s Ryder Cup champions, Spain’s men’s team, as well playing days at Augusta National were probably “I’m very excited about it and I will take on captain for next year, is that he will be able to as their women’s team. It is also the over during last year’s tournament. the challenge again.” Commentating style closely monitor the growing number of Europe- offi cial marketing partner of ATP on the “I stood just off the ninth fairway in the rough Faldo, whose career haul of six majors also Asked to describe his commentating style, ans competing on the PGA Tour. Chinese mainland. with a three-iron in my hand going: ‘I can’t hit it included three victories at the British Open, will Faldo replied: “I just duck and dive and go with “My fi nger will be on the pulse and I will know on the green, there’s no way I can get this damn replace Lanny Wadkins as lead golf analyst for the fl ow each week. If you know what you’re go- all the scores,” he said. “I’ll certainly keep my Climbing to new high on New thing on the green’,” he recalled. CBS in the tower. ing to get, there’s no point in having me. eyes on what the guys are up to.” Year’s Day He is expected to shine in his new role, having “I’ve enjoyed giving my insight, and I’ve en- The 2008 Ryder Cup will take place at Val- The China Sports Lottery New Year’s Giant bunkers earned a glowing reputation over the last two joyed the experience of just being there watch- halla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky, from Day climbing events have been held “I had giant bunkers up the left and knew, years with ABC for his blend of wit and insight- ing the golf tournaments.” September 19-21. around the country, kicking off a new even if I hit it on the green, it would repel and ful comments. Faldo will also work as lead PGA Tour analyst year of national fi tness efforts. bounce off. Known for his taciturn persona on the golf this year for the Golf Channel, starting at this Agencies Chinese sports minister Liu Peng, China’s fi rst Olympic champion Xu Haifeng, legendary table tennis queen Deng Yaping and Beijing Olympic venue constructors took part in the event at the Badaling Section of the Great Wall in suburban Beijing. Participants Nalbandian in fi tness race formed climbing contigents in the fi ve Olympic colours – red, black, yellow, TENNIS it is too early to say if I will be fi t for top-10 player for the fi rst time.” “It was good to begin the season title here in 2003. green and blue. the Australian Open.” Earlier world No 2 and top seed with a win but I am not 100 percent Fifth seed Carlos Moya of Spain, a Climbing events were also held in CHENNAI, India: World No 8 has a distinguished of Spain opened his yet. I need some more matches for two-time champion here, overcame a Tianjin, Liaoning, Zhejiang, Shandong, Nalbandian said he was racing to be record at the Australian Open, reach- 2007 campaign with a 6-4, 6-2 win that. But I feel good with my serves slow start to beat Alexander Waske of Hunan, Guangdong, Chongqing, Tibet, fi t for the season’s fi rst ing last year’s semi-fi nal after three over the seasoned German Rainer and returns,” he said. 7-6 (7-3), 6-3. Gansu, Qinghai and Xinjiang. after crashing out of the Chennai consecutive last-eight defeats. Schuettler. Asian star Paradorn Srichaphan “This was my fi rst match in more The event started in 1996. The par- Open against little-known Kristian The 25-year-old Pless, ranked 84 Schuettler, a former world No 5 and of Thailand, seeded seventh here, than two months so it took time for ticipating cities and provinces have Pless on Tuesday. and still looking for his fi rst title on 10 years older than the 20-year-old defeated Simone Bolelli of Italy 7-6 me to get into the game,” said the 30- increased from last year’s six to 11 this The second seed from the circuit, fought back from a set Nadal, was on equal terms until the (7/5), 6-4 in the fi rst round. year-old Moya, a former world num- year. blamed a long-standing tendonitis down and then 0-3 in the deciding sixth game in which he broke the Paradorn, who withdrew from ber one who is now ranked 43rd. problem in his left leg for the 2-6, third set to record his maiden win Spaniard to lead 4-2. the singles at the Asian Games in Sixth-seeded of 6-3, 7-5 opening-round upset in his over a top-10 player. But Nadal, cheered by about 700 December due to a wrist injury, said France went through the easy way fi rst match of the year. The Dane broke in the third set’s boisterous Indian fans, broke back he was ready to go all the way in the when his rival David Skoch of the ONTV “I have had this injury since last fi fth game and again in the 11th to immediately and then dominated Chennai Open. Czech Republic, suffering a back in- year and it affected me a lot today,” dump Nalbandian out of the $416,000 the rest of the 85-minute match. “I love coming to India and hope jury, conceded the match after losing CCTV 5: said Nalbandian, who turned 25 on event. “The crowd here is just great and I I can win here. It would be just the the fi rst three games. 08:35: Snooker Welsh Open Monday. “I was very happy the way I played,” thank them for supporting me,” said start I need for the rest of the year,” 11:00: Rewind: 2006 Table Ten- “Hopefully I will recover soon but he said. “It’s a nice feeling to scalp a Nadal. “It feels like home in Chennai.” said the popular Thai, who won the AFP nis World Cup highlights 12:30: Rewind: 2006 Gymnastics World Cup 14:05: The 2006 of Top 20 SCOREBOARD Athletes 17:00: China’s Chess Premier League NBA Wednesday’s games Northwest Division Bolton 12 3 7 27 21 39 (DEN) bt David Nalbandian 18:00: Sports News Portsmouth 10 6 6 33 22 36 NEW YORK: Results of NBA games on Phoenix at Toronto Minnesota 21 17 2 115 109 44 (ARG x2) 2-6, 6-3, 7-5; Igor Andreev (RUS) 18:35: Tour of Olympic Cities Milwaukee at Washington Vancouver 21 18 1 98 105 43 Tottenham 9 5 8 26 28 32 bt Santiago Giraldo (COL) 6-3, 7-6 (7/2); Tuesday (home teams in CAPS): 19:30: The review of 2006 ORLANDO 91 LA Clippers 86 Cleveland at Boston Calgary 19 15 4 113 100 42 Everton 8 7 7 28 22 31 Carlos Moya (ESP x5) bt Alexander Waske (football) CLEVELAND 82 San Antonio 78 LA Clippers at Miami Colorado 19 18 2 125 113 40 Reading 9 3 10 30 30 30 (GER) 7-6 (7/3), 6-3; Rafael Nadal (ESP x1) 21:30: Sports World Golden State 97 N.O./ OKLAHOMA CITY Golden State at Memphis Edmonton 19 18 2 110 113 40 Man City 8 5 9 19 25 29 bt Rainer Schuettler (GER) 6-4, 6-2; Fabrice 89 San Antonio at Minnesota Pacifi c Division Blackburn 8 4 9 24 29 28 Santoro (FRA x6) bt David Skoch (CZE) 3-0 22:00: Interview with Topshot Fulham 6 9 7 22 32 27 Phoenix 97 CHICAGO 96 Seattle at Houston Anaheim 28 8 6 144 102 62 - retired; Bjorn Phau (GER) bt Olivier Pa- 22:15: Night of Football Aston Villa 5 11 6 23 25 26 DALLAS 112 Seattle 88 Philadelphia at Utah San Jose 26 14 0 116 94 52 tience (FRA) 6-4, 6-4; Davide Sanguinetti 23:15: Sports News Newcastle 7 5 10 23 28 26 NY Knicks at Portland Dallas 25 15 0 108 91 50 (ITA) bt Konstantinos Economidis (GRE) 23:50: Sports Lottery Philadelphia 108 DENVER 97 Middlesbrough 6 6 10 21 27 24 SACRAMENTO 112 NY Knicks 100 Phoenix 16 20 2 102 132 34 6-4, 6-3; (AUT) bt Bartolome NHL Sheff United 6 5 11 17 29 23 Standings Los Angeles 14 22 5 117 152 33 Vidal (ESP) 2-6, 6-3, 7-5; Karan Rastogi Star Sports Asia NEW YORK: Results of NHL games on Wigan 6 4 11 23 32 22 Eastern Conference Note: Overtime losses (OTL) are worth one West Ham 5 3 14 12 33 18 (IND) bt Thiago Alves (BRA) 6-3, 6-4. 09:00: Horse racing: FEI world Atlantic Division Tuesday (home teams in CAPS): point in the standings and are not included cup jumping qualifi ers and NY Rangers 3 NEW JERSEY 2 (o.p.) Charlton 4 4 14 17 40 16 Auckland Women’s Classic W L PCT GB in the loss column (L) Watford 1 9 10 12 26 12 AUCKLAND: Results of matches at the fi nals Toronto 13 18 .419 - Philadelphia 3 NY ISLANDERS 2 Wednesday’s games Scottish Premier League Auckland Classic women’s tournament ON 13:00: Tennis: , New Jersey 13 18 .419 - DETROIT 2 Anaheim 1 Buffalo at Ottawa GLASGOW: Scottish Premier League Wednesday: Perth, Australia, Spain vs Czech NY Knicks 13 21 .382 1 1/2 MONTREAL 5 Tampa Bay 2 Dallas at Vancouver results on Tuesday: Round 2 Republic Boston 11 19 .367 1 1/2 PITTSBURGH 3 Carolina 0 Columbus at Los Angeles Celtic 2 (O’Dea 39, McGeady 90) Kilmar- Jill Craybas (USA) bt (ARG) 6- 16:00: Football: English Premier Philadelphia 9 22 .290 4 Chicago 4 ST. LOUIS 1 3, 7-5; Emilie Loit (FRA) bt Marion Bartoli MINNESOTA 5 Atlanta 1 SOCCER nock 0 League, Sheffi eld United vs Central Division Dunfermline 0 Hearts 1 (Pospisil 16) (FRA x4) 7-5, 6-4; Paola Suarez (ARG) Arsenal Detroit 18 11 .621 - EDMONTON 4 Florida 1 English Premiership Hibernian 0 Aberdeen 0 bt Sun Tiantian (CHN) 7-5, 6-4; Camille 20:00: Nokia Football Crazy Cleveland 18 12 .600 0 1/2 Vancouver 3 CALGARY 2 Pin (FRA) bt Yvonne Meusburger (AUT) LONDON: English Premiership results on Motherwell 0 Rangers 1 (Boyd 70-pen) 21:00: Football: FA classic match- Chicago 19 13 .594 0 1/2 Standings Tuesday: 2-6, 6-3, 6-3; Eleni Daniilidou (GRE x7) Played Monday es: Blackburn rovers vs Newcas- Indiana 17 15 .531 2 1/2 Eastern Conference Arsenal 4 (Henry 30-pen, Hoyte 45, van Dundee United 1 (Robson 41) Falkirk 5 bt Marina Erakovic (NZL) 6-4, 2-6, 6-4; Milwaukee 16 15 .516 3 Atlantic Division Persie 76-pen, 90) Charlton 0 (Cregg 17-pen, O’Donnell 45, Gow 63, 76, Jelena Jankovic (SER x1) bt Emma Laine tle united, 1994/95 FA Cup 3rd Southeast Division W L Otl Gf Ga Pts Aston Villa 0 Chelsea 0 89) (FIN) 6-2, 6-1; Virginie Razzano (FRA) bt round replay Orlando 19 14 .576 - New Jersey 22 13 4 103 95 48 Monday Inverness CT 2 (Bayne 5, Wyness 22) St Daniela Hantuchova (SVK x3) 6-1, 7-5; Vera 22:00: Tennis: Hopman cup, Washington 17 13 .567 0 1/2 NY Rangers 20 17 4 122 126 44 Liverpool 3 (Crouch 61, Gerrard 63, Kuyt Mirren 1 (Broadfoot 77) Zvonareva (RUS x5) bt Laura Granville Perth, Australia, USA vs Australia (USA) 6-4, 6-1 Miami 13 17 .433 4 1/2 NY Islanders 19 17 3 112 108 41 83) Bolton 0 TENNIS Atlanta 9 20 .310 8 Pittsburgh 17 15 6 119 123 40 Fulham 0 Watford 0 Adelaide International ATP ESPN China Charlotte 9 22 .290 9 Philadelphia 11 24 4 96 146 26 Manchester City 2 (Samaras 50, 72-pen) Qatar Open ADELAIDE, Australia: Results from the Ad- 09:00: Basketball: Atlantic Western Conference Northeast Division Everton 1 (Osman 84) : Results from the $1-million Qatar elaide International tournament under the Coast Conference, Chapel Hill, Northwest Division Buffalo 29 7 3 155 109 61 Middlesbrough 3 (Viduka 36, Yakubu Open here on Tuesday: ATP’s new round-robin format at Memorial NC USA, Pennsylvania vs North Utah 22 9 .710 - Montreal 23 11 5 123 106 51 69, 76-pen) Sheffi eld United 1 (Jagielka 1st rd Drive ON Wednesday: Carolina Denver 16 13 .552 5 Ottawa 21 18 2 129 118 44 45-pen) (MAR) bt Thomas Round robin 11:00: Sport News Minnesota 14 15 .483 7 Toronto 18 17 6 131 138 42 Portsmouth 1 (Mwaruwari 29) Tottenham 1 Johansson (SWE) 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (7/1); Max Paul Goldstein (USA) bt Peter Luczak (AUS) 7-6 (10/8), 6-1; (GER) 12:00: Auto racing: rewind: Portland 13 19 .406 9 1/2 Boston 19 15 3 112 129 41 (Malbranque 50) Mirnyi (BLR) bt Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI 2006 Euromilhoes Dakar, weekly Seattle 13 20 .394 10 bt (CAN) 6-4, 6-4; Juan Southeast Division Reading 6 (Gunnarsson 12, Hunt 15, x8) 5-7, 6-4, 6-4; Federico Luzzi (ITA) bt highlights. Pacifi c Division Atlanta 24 12 6 131 126 54 Ferdinand 30-og, Doyle 36, 78, Lita 53) Jurgen Melzer (AUT) 5-7, 6-4, 7-5; Marco Martin Del Potro (ARG) bt Jan Hernych (CZE) 6-2, 6-4; Arnaud Clement (FRA x6) bt 19:00: Football: Tiger FC Locker Phoenix 22 8 .733 - Carolina 21 17 4 126 129 46 West Ham 0 Chiudinelli (SUI) bt Tomas Cakl (CZE) Benjamin Becker (GER) 7-5, 6-1; Igor Kunit- Room LA Lakers 20 11 .645 2 1/2 Washington 16 17 7 120 140 39 Wigan Athletic 0 Blackburn 3 (Heskey 37- 6-2, 6-2; Ivan Ljubicic (CRO x2) bt Denis syn (RUS) bt Martin Vassallo Arguello 20:00: Football: Nokia Football Golden State 17 16 .515 6 1/2 Tampa Bay 18 20 2 127 128 38 og, Derbyshire 58, McCarthy pen 76) Gremelmayr (GER) 6-1, 6-2; (ARG) 6-4, 6-2 Sacramento 14 15 .483 7 1/2 Florida 15 20 7 112 134 37 Newcastle 2 (Milner 33, Edgar 74) Man- (BEL) bt Sebastien Grosjean (FRA x7) 6-4, Crazy LA Clippers 14 17 .452 8 1/2 Western Conference chester United 2 (Scholes 40, 46) 6-4; Jonas Bjorkman (SWE) bt Nicolas Australian Women’s 22:30: Football: English Premier Southwest Division Central Division Standings Almagro (ESP) 7-5, 7-5; Nikolay Davydenko GOLD COAST, Australia: Results from the League, Liverpool vs Bolton Dallas 25 7 .781 - Detroit 25 9 5 117 85 55 W D L Gf Ga Pts (RUS x1) bt Lee Hyung Taik (KOR) 7-5, 6-4. Australian Women’s singles Wanderers San Antonio 23 9 .719 2 Nashville 26 11 3 133 104 55 Man United 17 3 2 49 15 54 ATP Chennai Open round 2 matches on Wednesday: Ana Houston 19 12 .613 5 1/2 Chicago 17 17 5 100 110 39 Chelsea 14 6 2 37 17 48 CHENNAI, India: Results from the Ivanovic (SER x3) bt Milagros Sequera To comment or offer tips, e-mail to N.O./ Oklahoma City 12 19 .387 12 1/2 Columbus 15 20 4 102 119 34 Liverpool 12 4 6 32 16 40 $416,000 ATP Chennai Open on Tuesday: (VEN) 6-1, 6-2; Shahar Peer (ISR x5) bt [email protected] Memphis 7 25 .219 18 St. Louis 12 20 7 92 126 31 Arsenal 11 6 5 41 19 39 1st rd: Olga Poutchkova (RUS) 6-3, 6-2.