SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2015 SPORTS Paseka lands vault title GLASGOW: Russia’s Maria Paseka upstaged of a point. Biles, who had been the top favourite Simone Biles and North Korea’s qualifier for the final, added the bronze defending champion Hong Un-jong with medal to the team and all-around golds two soaring leaps to capture the vault gold she collected earlier in the week with a at the gymnastics world championships score of 15.541. yesterday. Britain’s Ellie Downie finished fourth Paseka hit her landing with both her while Dipa Karmakar, the first Indian to vaults, an Amanar-a round-off on to the make an apparatus final at the worlds was springboard followed by a back handspring fifth. on to the vaulting equipment before flying Karmakar had the highest difficulty into the air while twisting around two-and- (7.000) of the finalists for her risky Produnova a-half times-and a Cheng, to earn an aver- vault-a front handspring into double front age total of 15.666. She earned Russia their somersault-but failed to pull it off cleanly as first gold of the Glasgow championships. her bottom touched the mat before she Hong attempted the same two vaults as bounced back on to her feet. Switzerland’s Paseka but paid the price for taking a step Giulia Steingruber’s competition ended forward after her Amanar and a step back painfully as she sat down awkwardly follow- when she landed the Cheng-a round-off ing her second jump and limped off the half twist on somersault with one-and-a- stage with her arms around two coaches half twists. She missed out on gold by 0.033 who had rushed to help her.—Reuters Uchimura claims record sixth all-around world title GLASGOW: When Kohei Uchimura golds in 2007. “This medal proves the capped a high-flying horizontal bar rou- important role I have in the Chinese tine with a perfect landing on Friday, he team,” Deng, who sports a massive scar instantly held up six fingers to the crowd on his right cheek, said.But it is Uchimura confident that he had just won a record who is leaving an inde lible mark on the sixth all-around title at the gymnastics sport. world championships. The 26-year-old, who was left fuming The Japanese hero did not even both- after falling during his floor exercise in er to hang around for the judges’ verdict qualifying and then again from the hori- to begin his celebrations, urging the zontal bar in the men’s team final, finally crowd with both hands to cheer louder. hit his target of six clean routines in When his score of 15.100 flashed up, it Glasgow. Five of his programmes broke confirmed the victory and showed his the 15-point mark, with the judges margin of success over surprise Cuban deeming his performance on the rings silver medallist Manrique Larduet was was not quite as good as the rest of his 1.634 points after the Japanese amassed impressive bodywork. SINGAPORE: Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic celebrates her win against Maria Sharapova of Russia during the singles semifinal at the WTA a combined 92.332 points across six But that was the only blemish for tennis finals. —AP apparatus. Uchimura who captured his second gold “Winning today was totally different medal of the championships after help- from my other victories because this is ing Japan to their first team title in 37 Kvitova, Radwanska turn the first time I have won an all-around years two days ago. gold after winning the team title, so that “I wanted to win the all-around title I why I was so happy after the competi- without any mistakes so I left out a few tion today,” Uchimura said after being difficult elements today,” he said. “I want- WTA Finals on its head given a standing ovation by the Hydro ed to produce a perfected performance.” Arena crowd. Uchimura has now bagged every While Uchimura picked up a ninth Olympic and world all-around title since SINGAPORE: Petra Kvitova and Agnieszka Defeat to Radwanska was a setback to Radwanska has reached the semis despite only gold at the worlds, taking his overall taking silver at the 2008 Beijing Games, a Radwanska turned the WTA Finals on its head Muguruza, who had enhanced her growing rep- winning one group match-but that victory this medals tally to 18, Larduet reduced his streak unmatched in gymnastics history. yesterday as they ousted in-form Maria utation with three impressive group wins and week was in straight sets over top seed Simona coach to tears after becoming the first No other man or woman has won more Sharapova and Garbine Muguruza to set up a was hoping to be the tournament’s first Spanish Halep. Cuban to win an all-around medal at the than three world all-around titles. surprise title match in Singapore. Kvitova had winner. “I’m just a little bit disappointed obvious- After Muguruza edged the first set, global meet. The 19-year-old had quali- When Uchimura won his fifth straight scraped into the semis after winning just one ly to lose,” Muguruza said. “But I’m happy. I did an Radwanska raced to a 4-0 lead in the second fied only in seventh place for the final all-around gold at the 2014 worlds by match in the round-robin phase, but she amazing effort and I’m proud of how I played before the Spaniard managed to hold serve, and but after Britain’s Max Whitlock dropped 1.492 points, it raised hopes among the stunned five-time Grand Slam champion here all the matches.” the Pole again seized control of the third by out of contention to win a second suc- chasing pack that they might finally be Sharapova 6-3, 7-6 (7/3) to earn a shot at her sec- The Wimbledon runner-up and China Open going 3-0 up as her opponent’s errors piled up. cessive silver medal following a crash closing the gap on the Japanese great as ond year-ending trophy. champion, who won her last four of six meetings But Muguruza wasn’t out of it yet and she landing off the horizontal bar, the Cuban it was his smallest margin of victory at Earlier Poland’s Radwanska halted the sensa- with Radwanksa, was broken seven times in an clawed the score back to 5-5, before Radwanska kept his wits in the final rotation to finish the worlds. But on Friday, he again tional debut of Spanish world number three off-key performance. prevailed and tearfully saluted the Singapore second. showed they were no closer to beating Garbine Muguruza 6-7 (5/7), 6-3, 7-5 to reach the It was the second straight year that crowd.—AFP China’s Deng Shudi fought back from him any time soon and he will be final for the first time. eighth place at the half-way point of the favourite to become the first man to win “I didn’t expect this, for sure,” Kvitova conced- competition to claim bronze-his coun- back-to-back Olympic titles in Rio next ed after her shock win over Sharapova. “I had two losses in my group, and I couldn’t really try’s first medal in the individual event year since his compatriot Sawao Kato believe I would play the semifinals. And I knew Nadal in Basel final since Yang Wei won the second of his achieved the feat in 1972.—Reuters Maria would be strong today.”“But I knew I had the game to beat her, and that I really had to BASEL: Rafael Nadal ignored an opening set Nadal then resumed his battle to catch up keep trying today,” the two-time Wimbledon knee injury worry to reach his first Swiss finally getting that break back for 5-5. champion added. Indoors final with a 6-4, 7-6 (9/7) defeat of Gasquet put over an ace to send the set to a Kvitova broke fourth-ranked Sharapova three Richard Gasquet yesterday. tiebreaker, where he trailed 4-1 before catch- times in the first set and then recovered from 5-1 The Spanish third seed admitted he got a ing up. down in the second, winning five straight games fright when he felt something in his right But he missed on a set point with a low and clinching victory in the tiebreak. knee after a sudden movement in the seventh return which proved to be a fatal error with Sharapova said she was still happy she was game. Nadal riding out the win on his second match able to play “physical matches” in Singapore He immediately called for the trainer and point on a Gasquet error. after spending months out with injury. “So I felt got a strapping below his kneecap before car- Gasquet’s defeat also settled the field for like I gained a lot. I gained that match, physical rying on. the eight-man World Tour Finals in London strength in my body as well as mental,” she said. Nadal then resumed business as usual with from November 15, with Japan’s Kei Nishikori In the earlier semi-final, Radwanska drew on a break-back of Gasquet for 4-4 on his way to and David Ferrer of Spain taking the last two her defensive prowess and deep experience to taking the set on a third winning opportunity spots. oust Muguruza, who will be in the doubles final with an inside-out forehand winner.