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TUESDAY, JULY 22, 2014 SPORTS NZ seek to extend Photo of the day rugby stranglehold

GLASGOW: New Zealand will seek to respectively, while other World Series regu- extend their stranglehold on the lars in Samoa, England, Kenya, Wales and for a Canada will be determined to challenge fifth successive time when it gets under the dominance of the mighty Sevens All way at Ibrox Stadium, their bid boosted by Blacks. The beauty of the Commonwealths the absence of arch-rivals Fiji. means there are also places for the unher- The All Blacks have won all four previous alded likes of Malaysia, Nigeria, Trinidad Commonwealth sevens tournaments, dat- and Tobago, and Uganda. ing back to the -inspired tri- Stalwart DJ Forbes, along with Sherwin umph in Kuala Lumpur in 1998, and have Stowers and Tim Mikkelson plus World Cup since dominated the IRB Sevens World winners Declan O’Donnell and , Series of a sport which will be included in headline the New Zealand team coached the Rio Olympics in 2016. by veteran . “For 16 years now Rugby Sevens has “Winning a gold medal at a enjoyed being a key part of the Commonwealth Games is very special,” said Commonwealth Games,” said Bernard Tietjens. “There is nothing better than see- Lapasset, president of ’s world ing a player being presented with a gold governing body, the IRB. medal and listening to the anthem. “To compete alongside their compatri- “I am confident if these guys can per- ots in a multi-sport environment is a matter form to the best of their ability and be on of huge pride and honour for our rugby top of their game we can go very well. “To players, who are making giant strides in win, it’s all about consistency, accuracy, this new Olympic era. We wish our rugby strong defence and dominating posses- athletes all the best in this magnificent sion. If we can play consistently well, and international event.” having a strong bench will help, then that The Fijians will not be in Scotland, how- plays a big hand in being successful.” ever, having missed qualification after the For Scottish full-back Hogg, the tourna- late inclusion of their country in the multi- ment will all be about impressing in sport event. Despite their absence, there is Glasgow, not a traditional rugby heartland a formidable line-up of teams that turn out in a country where football is king. on the IRB world circuit. There is also the added aim of home Reigning champions New Zealand have union players trying to sparkle ahead of Jamie Whincup of Red Bull Racing Australia on track while practicing for the V8 Supercars Sky City Triple Crown 2014 at Hidden been drawn in Pool A alongside Canada, selection of a British team for the Rio Valley Raceway in Darwin, Australia.— www.redbull.com Nigeria and tournament hosts Scotland, Games. who have named star international British “The Ibrox crowd will be massive, up to and Irish Lion full-back Stuart Hogg and 45,000, and it is exciting,” said Hogg, whose veteran winger Sean Lamont in the squad. last sevens appearance was four years ago Bourdais and Conway win Silver medallists four years ago in New for club side Hawick. “We want to put in a Delhi, Australia, and bronze medallists performance that makes the whole nation South Africa are top seeds in pools D and B proud.”—AFP in IndyCar doubleheader

Wiggins and Aussies TORONTO: IndyCar ran two races Kanaan, third in the first race of in Toronto on Sunday, where rain the day, was the only IndyCar driver target cycling gold wreaked havoc on both the sched- to finish on the podium in both ule and driver strategy. events. finished third as GLASGOW: Cycling gets underway at the individual pursuit titles. The series had planned to run swept the podium in Commonwealth Games on Thursday with a The 30-year-old Australian is a reigning one race Saturday and one on both races. Bourdais led points large number of world class riders spread Olympic and triple Commonwealth Games Sunday until rain washed out the leader Helio Castroneves and across track, road, mountain bike and the gold medallist and will compete in the first event. It instead began Sunday Kanaan in the first race. new games discipline of para-cycling. Track sprint events. morning, roughly five hours before Bourdais, who scored his first cycling will be one of the highest standard One of her main challengers could be the start of the second race, and win since returning to the US in competitions held at Glasgow with world team-mate Steph Morton, who has previ- won by Sebastien Bourdais. He 2011, was 11th in the second race. championship level fields in many of the ously found success at the Paralympics, broke a 52-race losing streak dating The rain during Race 2 caused one events. winning gold as a sighted guide in London to 2007 in claiming a dominating frightening moment when drivers Some of the world’s fastest men and in 2012, win on the dry street course at began to slide on the track when women on two wheels will line up on the New Zealand’s men will be hoping to Exhibition Place. the shower first started. Juan Pablo 250m track at the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome break a 12-year gold medal drought. One But the rain returned for the sec- Montoya slipped off course into a to pedal for individual and team suprema- of the favourites to bring this run to an end ond race, and IndyCar officials tire barrier, and was hit from cy. for the Kiwis is , who moved the start up 10 minutes in behind moments later by rookie Although six-time Olympic champion Sir has a good chance in the keirin, in which he an attempt to run as much as possi- Mikhail Aleshin. Chris Hoy will not compete on the track won Olympic bronze in 2012. ble in dry conditions. The sky even- The contact lifted Montoya’s car that bears his name, there will be plenty of The New Zealander’s time trial form is tually did open, the track became off its back wheels, Aleshin slid top class competitors on display in the 17 also strong and he is rated as one of the slick and drivers darted to pit road under the car, and Montoya’s car events the venue plays host to. top prospects for gold. In the individual for rain tires. landed on top of Aleshin. Montoya’s The Glasgow Games were given a boost pursuit veteran remains a quali- When the track began to dry, car had to be lifted by a tow truck when England’s ty performer shown by his bronze in the Mike Conway gambled and made off of Aleshin, and it dangled in the announced he will compete in the track World Championships in Colombia in an early stop to remove his rain air with the Colombian still in the and road events. February and he is likely to be joined by tires. A caution minutes later sent cockpit. The 2012 Tour de France winner and New Zealand youngsters and the bulk of the field to pit road to An uninjured Aleshin returned Olympic champion will be the favorite to who are tipped as ones to change their tires, and Conway shot to his pit stand and showed off his win his first ever Commonwealth Games watch. up the leaderboard. helmet, which was marred by visi- gold medal in the road time trial. The road Time Trials take place on July Conway was fifth on the restart, ble tire marks. “It was not nice at all Wiggins hasn’t competed on the track 31, only four days after the Tour de France but his dry tires were far superior to because I was sitting under the car,” since 2008 but will have a point to prove in ends, and the Road Race is on August 3. the drivers still racing on rain tires, the Russian driver said. “It was get- the individual and team pursuit events. The proximity to the Tour predictably has and he quickly moved through the ting so hot from (Montoya’s) car, I England’s golden couple Jason Kenny and impacted on who will compete in the field and into the lead. The race, couldn’t breathe at all because the Laura Trott will prove hard to beat on the men’s road race. which had been scheduled to run car is very hot. ... It was not a nice track. Double Olympic champion and However, Australia will still have plenty 65 laps or 80 minutes, whichever feeling at all.” recently crowned 2014 British National of muscle to flex in the men’s cycling event, came first, then became a timed Race 1 had its own harrowing Road Race champion Trott will be targeting despite missing several big names. race. moment. It came to an almost the endurance track events, including the Rising star Caleb Ewan, lead-out special- A multicar accident stopped the immediate halt when a multicar individual pursuit, points and scratch races. ist Mark Renshaw and all-rounder Simon clock for a cleanup with 4 minutes, crash led to a red flag on the open- Olympic champions Dani King, Joanna Clarke will be the main riders in the seven- 32 seconds remaining, and set up ing lap. After a long delay, racing Rowsell, , and Philip man team. one final restart. Conway pulled resumed with Bourdais leading the TORONTO: Sebastien Bourdais of France, driver of the KVSH Racing Hindes are also in England’s line-up. England’s Lizzie Armistead gained a sil- away on the restart and easily held field to green. He never really had Chevrolet celebrates his victory in the Verizon IndyCar Series Hoping to make headlines in the ver in the women’s Road Race at the off . to look back and led all but six of Indy Toronto Race 1 on the Streets of Toronto. —AFP endurance events will be Scotland’s Katie London Olympics in 2012 and will be want- It was the second win of the sea- the 65 laps. Archibald, who in recent months has gone ing to go one better in Glasgow over the son for Conway, who walked away It was Bourdais’ first victory since face and I can’t seem to get rid of it,” 500. Kanaan moved to from virtual unknown to becoming a world same course she claimed the British from IndyCar at the end of 2012 the 2007 Champ Car season finale Bourdais said after the victory. “The Racing at the end of and European champion in the team pur- National Road Race title in 2013. season because he no longer want- in Mexico City, but the 32nd of his whole race I was stressed out, it felt last season, and Bourdais replaced suit. The 20-year-old is also expected to Posing a threat to Armistead will be New ed to race on ovals. He was hired career. That broke a tie with Paul too easy, it felt like it was way too him in the car. compete in the time trial and road race, Zealand’s , who has been this year to split the seat with driv- Tracy and to give much under control, and it felt like “Hopefully, there’s more of that giving her five medal opportunities. consistently winning medals on the road er/owner Ed Carpenter, who was the Frenchman eighth place on the it was going to go wrong at some to come,” said KVSH co-owner Australia dominated the cycling events at for the past five years. As the reigning willing to give up his car on road all-time wins list. point.” It was KVSH Racing’s first vic- Jimmy Vasser. “When he gets on a the Dehli Games in 2010, taking 14 gold Commonwealth Games time trial champi- and street courses. “I’ve got a big smile across my tory since Kanaan won the 2013 roll, he’s unbeatable.” —AP medals from 18 events. on, Scotland’s David Millar will be looking Four-time track cycling world champion to defend that title as well as having an eye Anna Meares will be amongst one of the on capturing a medal in the road race favourites to retain her 500m time trial and before he closes his career.—AFP Tomic clinches Bogota title

MELBOURNE: Australia’s frosty relationship with immense promise with a Wimbledon quarter-final mentary said before Kyrgios’s match-up with Nadal bad boy Bernard Tomic looks set to thaw after the appearance at the age of 18 but has since failed to at Wimbledon. News of Tomic’s Bogota WIN prompt- 21-year-old displayed grit and passion to grind live up to his own lofty expectations. ed a backhanded compliment from the same media down big-serving Croatian Ivo Karlovic 7-6 3-6 7-6 in Tomic’s struggles have been magnified by the company. “Bernard Tomic finally did something the Colombian Open final on Sunday. rapid rise of 19-year-old Nick Kyrgios, who stunned right,” a headline on News Ltd media portal Too late to win automatic qualification for next 14-times grand slam champion Nadal to also reach News.com.au read yesterday. Though the victory in a month’s US Open, Tomic’s second ATP title was a the quarter-finals at Wimbledon earlier this month. minor tournament in South America may seem a timely riposte to an army of critics in his home coun- Supremely gifted and seen as a humble, whole- small step in Tomic’s comeback, footage of the try and came only days after being dumped by pow- some athlete, Kyrgios’s Wimbledon breakthrough Australian nearly breaking down in tears of frustra- erful sports management company IMG. caused a frenzy Down Under and inevitably raised tion before collapsing on the court after closing out “He’s a very difficult player,” Tomic said of comparisons with Tomic. “At last, we no longer have victory are likely to do much more for his damaged Croatian Karlovic, the second seed and defending to pretend we like Bernard Tomic,” a News Ltd com- brand in Australia. —Reuters champion, who might be sick of the sight of Australians after being edged by former world num- ber one Lleyton Hewitt at Newport earlier this month. “He won here last year. For me it was a difficult match. I kept trying and believing in myself. Against him, if you stop believing and trying he will beat you.” Tomic’s victory has lifted his world ranking up to 70 after it had drifted out of the top 100, ending a dreadful six months in which he struggled to string two wins together after coming back from surgery on both hips. Prior to the surgery, Tomic was forced to retire in the first round of his home grand slam against Rafa Nadal in January and despite his clear discomfort, was jeered by fans at Rod Laver Arena. He was further slammed by home media in Australia after he bowed out in his comeback match 6-0 6-1 to Finland’s Jarkko Nieminen at the Miami Masters, losing in 28 minutes, the quickest ATP vic- tory since records started in 1991. Once touted a future top-10 player, Australian tennis fans had become increasingly weary of the two-time junior grand slam champion who showed Bernard Tomic in action in this file photo. Bradley Wiggins celebrates in this file photo.