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PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2013
Sports
Umar wants govt to support basketball By Albert Akota
T Serena Williams
Serena stumbles through in China
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erena Williams stumbled her way through to the third round of the China Open yesterday, claiming victory over Francesca Schiavone in an unconvincing two sets. The world No 1 at times appeared agitated during her 6-4, 7-5 victory over the Italian, shouting at herself over lost points. The American only showed rare moments of her trademark power-play, gaining the upper hand in the first set via a mistake from her opponent who doublefaulted on set-point. The top seed was forced to become more aggressive in the second set after her serve was broken in the first game by Schiavone, Italy’s first Grand Slam winner at Roland Garros in 2010 and the current world number 50. As the competition intensified both players’ tempers threatened to boil over, with Williams shouting and Schiavone smashing balls into the barriers at the side of the court. The 32-year-old and her sister Venus suffered a disappointing first-round exit in the doubles competition on Monday against Taiwan’s Chan Hao-Ching and American Liezel Huber.
he President of Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF), Tijani Umar has said that proper funding and support would have saved Nigeria from its poor showing at the ongoing 2013 Women Afrobasket tournament. D’ Tigress lost their quarterfinal match 77-74 against host Mozambique to crash out of the tournament. The Nigeria ladies managed to secure two wins against Kenya and Cape Verde out of five matches played in the group stage where they lost to Angola, Mali
and Cameroon at the group stage of the tournament which dunked off on Sept. 20 in Maputo. Umar told Prompt News Online in Abuja that Nigeria could go places with basketball if adequate fund was provided to carry out the developmental plans of the federation. He also regretted that NBBF as an active sports Federation does not have a budget but survives with the little support it gets from the government and its sponsors “NBBF does not have a budget in this country we are only trying to be creative by going to our partners and sponsors to
get grants but I must confess that it is not enough for the Federation” According to the NBBF boss, Nigeria was able to be represented in Maputo because of the federation’s personal effort and he reiterated the fact that countries that had succeeded in the game of Basketball did so through investments and long term planning. “The national team of this country is full of talents but talent can only take you to a certain level. Beyond that, investment, preparation, sustainability in everything you do will be the one that will make you a champion”.
Locke wants more doping tests B ritish cyclist Jonathan Tiernan-Locke wanted to undergo extra testing to counter rumours of performanceenhancing drug use after wins in 2012, his former team has said. It emerged on Sunday that the Team Sky rider has been notified of a potential discrepancy in his biological passport.
Endura defended their antidoping policy, one they stressed Tiernan-Locke has been fully compliant with. Tiernan-Locke enjoyed the best year of his career in 2012, winning the Tour Mediterraneen and Tour du Haut Var early in the season, before becoming the first British winner of the
Tour of Britain in 19 years last September. But a report in France raised doubts over his performances early in the season, prompting Endura and Tiernan-Locke to make a request to the International Cycling Union for the Devon rider to be put on a biological passport.
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Mo Farah
Clarke out of India tour with back injury
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Jonathan Tiernan-Locke
Farah in 2013 World Athlete of the Year award o Farah has been shortlisted for the 2013 World Athlete of the Year award, the International Association of Athletics Federations has announced. Farah, 30, became only the
Endura also said that TiernanLocke was made available to both Team Garmin-Sharp and Team Sky in April and May last year - two teams who had shown interest in him for physiological testing and no adverse results were reported.
second man in history to complete an Olympic and world “doubledouble” in the distance events in August. Usain Bolt is also on a 10-strong list after three golds at the World Championships in Moscow.
As well as completing a 5,000m and 10,000m double at the World Championships in Moscow, Farah also set a new British and European 1500m record in Monaco. Bolt, 27, won the 100m, 200m and 4x100m titles to become the most successful athlete in World Championships history with a career total of eight gold medals. Kenyan Wilson Kipsang, who broke the marathon world record by 15 seconds to claim the Berlin title last Sunday, is also on the shortlist. Jamaica’s Fraser-Pryce dominated in Moscow winning gold in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay. The women’s list also includes Ethiopia’s Meseret Defar, who added world 5,000m gold to her Olympic title, and Valerie Adams of New Zealand, who claimed her fourth world title in the women’s shot put.
Three male and three female finalists will be announced by the IAAF following an email poll among members of the “World Athletics Family”, with the winners revealed at the 2013 World Athletics Gala on 16 November. Men’s shortlist: Mohammed Aman (Ethiopa), Usain Bolt (Jamaica), Bohdan Bondarenko (Ukraine), Ashton Eaton (USA), Mo Farah (GB), Robert Harting (Germany), Wilson Kipsang (Kenya), Aleksandr Menkov (Russia), LaShawn Merritt (USA), Teddy Tamgho (France). Women’s shortlist: Valerie Adams (New Zealand), Abeba Aregawi (Sweden), Meseret Defar (Ethiopa), Tirunesh Dibaba (Ethiopa), Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce (Jamaica), Zuzana Hejnova (Czech Republic), Caterine Ibarguen (Colombia), Sandra Perkovic (Croatia), Brianna Rollins (USA), Svetlana Shkolina (Russia).
ustralia captain Michael Clarke has been ruled out of the tour to India and requires “extensive rehabilitation” ahead of the return Ashes series. The 32-year-old has suffered chronic back pain for much of his career and missed the Champions Trophy in June, soon after arriving in England. Clarke will be replaced by Callum Ferguson for the one-day series and Twenty20 international against India. And Clarke’s withdrawal from the seven-match ODI series will prompt questions over his availability for the start of the Ashes, in Brisbane on 21 November. Having finished bottom of their Champions Trophy group, Australia were beaten 3-0 in the Ashes - their third straight defeat in cricket’s oldest Test series before winning the one-day series 2-1. Clarke hit a fluent 75 from 76 balls in the decisive fifth ODI having led by example during the Test series too, scoring 381 runs in 10 innings at an average of 47.62. Australia physiotherapist Alex Kountouris said: “Michael Clarke has a long-standing low back injury that requires ongoing management.
Australia captain Michael Clarke