10
Tuesday, June 24, 2014
Destination
Sports
International
International
Tuesday, June 24, 2014
7
Returning hero Murray ready for business as usual
Nungnung Waterfalls
IBP
MANGUPURA - Nungnung waterfalls have increased in popularity for French and German visitors to Bali. The waterfalls are located near the village of Plaga in the area of Petang, Northern Badung, The way down to the source of the water is about 50 meters and used to be very difficult and steep. But now it can be easily reached through hundreds of concrete stairs. The idea to build these stairs was initiated by the people who live in the neighborhood in cooperation with the government. It takes about 60 minutes (40 km) from Denpasar to get to the location of the waterfalls by bus. Walking up and down the stairs is not as tiring as it sounds, thanks to the cool air in the mountain which makes the body fresh, as does the surrounding panorama. While having a rest we can breathe the fresh air and enjoy the beautiful scenery, which soon drives away all feelings of fatigue. Not far from the waterfalls, visitors can see the process of making wooden statues in Banjar Kerta, and in Banjar Sekarmukti, Plaga. They can observe traditional and modern painters in Banjar Batulantang or gold and silver handicraft artists and songket weavers in Carangsari Village. If visitors want to take a rest or spend a night, they can make use of the bungalows in the village of Plaga. The weather in Plaga village is cold, It is geographically similar to Kintamani and Bedugul since the village is located next to the two resorts, which have been famous for a lot longer. Food, drink and bathing are not a problem in the Plaga bungalows since everything is available, Alter having a rest visitors may continue the trip from Plaga village to Kintamani in the east or Bedugul in the west.
Reuters
LONDON - Wimbledon welcomes back a British men’s singles champion for the first time in 78 years on Monday but Andy Murray says he will allow himself only a brief moment to milk the adulation before getting down to business. Not since Fred Perry’s return as defending champion in 1936, when he went on to win retain the title in his last appearance at the tournament, has the All England Club been able to celebrate the achievements of a home favourite on the opening day of the championships.
IBP/File Photo
After his momentous defeat of Serbia’s Novak Djokovic on the final Sunday last July, Murray has the honour of opening proceedings on Centre Court against Belgium David Goffin in what he hopes will be the first step to retaining his title. “I think tomorrow, I need to enjoy that moment when I walk back on the court,” the world number five, told reporters. “But as soon as I start playing the match it’s about trying to win. I enjoy winning. That’s it. I mean I don’t really want to go out on the court tomorrow and enjoy playing and then lose. “It’s time when I get on the court to start concentrating, not think about last year. Concentrate on this year’s tournament, and that’s it.” The 27-year-old Scot has made Centre Court his home in recent years. Since losing to Roger Federer in the 2012 men’s singles final he has been unbeatable on the hallowed turf, a run that has included an Olympic gold and a Wimbledon title. Not since 2008 has Murray failed to reach the semi-finals at his home
slam, with the vast majority of those victories coming on Centre Court. Despite having withstood the huge pressure placed on his shoulders last year, however, Murray says there will still be plenty of butterflies in his stomach on Monday. “I feel kind of similar,” he said. “I feel nervous, which is good. I like that. I don’t feel that different to last year. “I think if you win a tournament like this, I feel like you get the benefits, you feel the benefits later in the tournament because you know what it takes and you know how to handle the latter stages of a tournament like this. “But I think, always when you come back to a Grand Slam, there’s always nerves and pressure there before you start the event.” Since that landmark win against Djokovic, not everything has gone to plan for Murray. Back surgery ended his 2013 season after the U.S. Open and despite recovering well he has not found the same levels of consistency. He has also parted ways with coach Ivan Lendl, under
REUTERS/Toby Melville
Andy Murray of Britain returns the ball during a training session ahead of the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London June 22, 2014.
whose guidance he became a twotimes grand slam champion. He has only played two competitive matches on grass this year, losing to veteran Radek Stepanek in the third round of the Queen’s club warm-up event - his first tournament with new coach Amelie Mauresmo watching on.
There is no sense of anxiety though from the Scot. “This has been my most consistent tournament throughout my career,” Murray said. “I’d always played pretty good tennis here.” “Last year, the final was definitely the most pressure I’d felt in all the years I’d played here.
“But I believe if I play my best tennis, I’ll give myself a chance of doing well here, you know, putting myself in a position to win the tournament. “But you can’t start off slowly in these tournaments. You need to try and be on it from the first match. I’ll be ready for tomorrow.”
Bottas says Williams finally showed potential
REUTERS/Bernadett Szabo
Winner Mercedes Formula One driver Nico Rosberg of Germany celebraates on the podium between second placed team mate Mercedes Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain (L) and third placed Williams Formula One driver Valtteri Bottas of Finland (R) after the Austrian F1 Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring circuit in Spielberg June 22, 2014.
Valtteri Bottas celebrated his “best ever weekend” after securing his first Formula 1 podium at the Austrian Grand Prix. The Finn emerged as the strongest of the Williams drivers in the race, despite team-mate Felipe Massa having started from pole position. In the end, Bottas was unable to fight for victory with Mercedes drivers Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton, but he felt the team had finally maximised its potential after several missed opportunities in previous races. “I think overall it was my best ever weekend,” Bottas, who started from second, said. “I’m really happy for us as a team. We were really strong the whole weekend. “It’s down to the hard work. We are making progress, getting closer to the positions where we belong.
“It’s nice to have a clean race and good points for the team. There has been talk about maximising what we had and today we showed what we can do.” Although Williams seemed to lose out to Mercedes in terms of race strategy, Bottas admitted his team knew it would be very hard to win. “It is a difficult one. We need to work out if there’s anything we could have done better,” said Bottas when asked if he could have won the race with a different strategy. “We need to analyse, so it is difficult to say. For the moment I am happy with what we did as a team, but we always aim for better. “From the data in practice we knew it would be difficult. We really nailed it yesterday so we knew maybe Sunday would be difficult but actually it was a bit better than expected.”