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GUYANA CHRONICLE,Tuesday July 10, 2018
Irrepressible Nadal marches past Vesely into last eight By Martyn Herman LONDON (Reuters) - The bar was set absurdly high by the time Rafael Nadal walked onto Centre Court on Monday but the Spaniard responded with a sensational 6-3 6-3 6-4 defeat of Jiri Vesely to reach the Wimbledon quarter-finals. His great rival and eighttimes champion Roger Federer had already maintained his regal progress, claiming the first set of his match against Adrian Mannarino in 16 minutes. Then came Serena Williams who posted another thumping win to continue her ominous progress towards an eighth-title. So Nadal, whose 17 Grand Slam titles are eclipsed by Federer’s 20 and the 23 owned by Williams, had a lot
to live up to in the warm late afternoon sunshine. He did not disappoint — dissecting fellow left-hander Vesely with a typically rumbustious display. Like Federer, Nadal has yet to drop a set here on reaching the quarter-finals for the first time since 2011 — since when his record at the All England Club has been mediocre. So far this year, though, it has been like watching him on a Parisian claycourt rather than a London lawn, such has been the ferocity in his brutal groundstrokes and his boundless energy. After claiming an 11th French Open title Nadal raised doubts about whether he would even play at Wimbledon. However, not only did he arrive with his batteries
charged after some Mallorcan sunshine, the 32-year-old has looked like the one who beat Federer in their epic final in 2008. Nadal has suffered some bad losses since reaching the 2011 showpiece, falling to four players with three-digit rankings. But burly Czech Vesely, more dangerous than his 93rd ranking suggest, never got close to causing an upset. NADAL’S CHANCE Nadal said it was the first time in seven years he had arrived with a chance of winning the title. “It’s always the same. If I am playing worse, the opponents play better. When I am playing better, the opponents normally play worse,” was his succinct take on matters. “It’s true that opponents
Rafael Nada
probably played some good matches, but what happened is that I was not playing the right way. We can find reasons, knees, everything. But it was more about (the fact that) I was not able to compete at the best level.” Second seed Nadal was made to work just hard enough by Veseley Czech
without ever looking in any danger. The Czech gifted Nadal the one break he needed to win the first set with a double-fault, but the Spaniard took matters into his own hands in the second, clubbing two forehand winners to grab one break and winning the set on Vesely’s serve
with a sliced winner as his opponent lumbered forward. There was a brief hiccup in the third set when Vesely broke for a 3-2 lead when a rare Nadal forehand error drew gasps of surprise from the crowd. The Spaniard hit back immediately though and sealed victory on his third match point when Vesely served at 4-5. World number one Nadal has now reached the last eight in four consecutive Grand Slams for the first time since 2011 but he will not want to stop there. His next obstacle in his quest for a third Wimbledon title will be either Argentina’s fifth-seeded Juan Martin del Potro or Frenchman Gilles Simon on Wednesday.
Guyana begin quest for regional U-17 tile today
The 14-man squad, along with the coach and manager, departed Guyana on Sunday.
CRICKET QUIZ CORNER
(Tuesday July 10, 2018) COMPLIMENTS OF THE TROPHY STALL-Bourda Market & The City Mall (Tel: 225-9230) & CUMMINGS ELECTRICAL COMPANY LTD-83 Garnett Street, Campbellville, Georgetown (Tel: 225-6158) Answers to yesterday’s quiz: (1) Shannon Gabriel-13/121 (St. Lucia) (2) Lahiru Kumara-7/135 (Trinidad) Today’s Quiz: (1) How many dismissals wicketkeeper Shane Dowrich effected in the recent WI/SL Test series? (2)How many dismissals wicketkeeper Niroshan Dickwella effected in the recent WI/SL Test series?
GUYANA’s quest for a regional Under-17 title begins today when they come up against the Windward Islands at the National Cricket Centre in Trinidad and Tobago. This championship title is the only one that has eluded Guyana at the age group level. The closest the Guyanese have come to winning the Under-17 title was in 2016 when Guyana placed second after their final game against the host nation, Trinidad and Tobago, was rained out. After today’s game, the Guyanese will then play Leeward Islands on July 12 at the Brian Lara Stadium; defending champions T&T
on July 14 at Gilbert Park; Jamaica on July 17 at Gilbert Park; and Barbados on July 17 at the National Cricket Centre. The team is led by former West Indies Under-15 captain, Sachin Singh, and comprises Andre Seepersaud (vice-captain), Seon Glasgow, Navendra Persaud, Yeudistir Persaud (wicket-keeper), Hrithik Singh, Niron Bissu, Nigel Deodat, Gevon Shultz, Badesh Parsotam, Sheldon Charles, Sylvian Williams, Leon Swamy and Dwayane Dick. The manager and coach are Nazeer Mohamed and Orin Bailey, respectively.
Australia sweat over injury to key Test batsman Marsh
(REUTERS) - Depleted Australia have concerns over another possible injury to one of their test players with long-serving batsman Shaun Marsh sustaining a shoulder problem while playing in a Twenty20 match for Glamorgan in Cardiff on Sunday. The 35-year-old was helped off the field after landing awkwardly while trying to stop a boundary in the Welsh county’s defeat to Sussex in the Vitality Blast encounter. Cricket Australia (CA)
said they would wait until they received a report from Glamorgan to decide on a course of action for Marsh’s recovery. “Shaun’s a tough guy, so it’s certainly not a bruise the way he walked off holding his shoulder,” Glamorgan coach Robert Croft said. “We’ll have to wait and see. “We hope the scan will be favourable.” Marsh scored two centuries for Australia in their Ashes victory over England and another two in a one-day international
Shaun Marsh
series defeat against the same opponents earlier this year. Australia will be hoping Marsh can recover in time for the Test tour against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates, expected to take place in October, especially in the absence of banned batting trio Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft. Frontline pacemen Pat Cummins (back), Josh Hazlewood (back) and Mitchell Starc (leg) are also racing against time to be fit for the Pakistan series.