Samochody Tesla Roadster są teraz dostępne w pięciu nowych krajach na trzech kontynentach

July 20, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Pierwsi właściciele w Polsce, Turcji, Japonii, Hongkongu i Kanadzie odbierają
jedyne na świecie samochody sportowe z napędem elektrycznym.
PALO ALTO, Kalifornia–(Business Wire)–
Pierwsze samochody Tesla Roadster pojawiły się w ostatnich tygodniach w Polsce,
Turcji, Japonii, Hongkongu i Kanadzie, ponieważ wiodący na świecie producent
pojazdów z napędem elektrycznym błyskawicznie rozszerza zasięg handlu
detalicznego.

Firma Tesla Motors (TSLA) sprzedała ponad 1 200 roadsterów w co najmniej 28
krajach. Roadster przyspiesza szybciej niż markowe samochody sportowe, które
kosztują dwa razy tyle, ale nie powoduje emisji spalin z rury wydechowej i jest
dwa razy bardziej wydajny od wiodących pojazdów hybrydowych, jeśli chodzi o
oszczędność energii. Roadster nie zużywa paliwa i można go podłączyć do typowych
gniazdek w Ameryce Północnej, Europie i Azji.

Pierwszy samochód Tesla w Hongkongu trafił do Philipa Lianga, dyrektora
generalnego firmy produkującej sprzęt medyczny General Sensing. Pierwszy
samochód Tesla w Japonii trafił do doświadczonego przedsiębiorcy i założyciela
BizSeek, Takao Ozawy.

“Jako nowy zwolennik, chciałem pokazać reszcie społeczeństwa, na czym polega
doświadczenie posiadania samochodu elektrycznego – powiedział Ozawa, który
jeździ swoim czarnym Signature Roadster Sport po Tokio i okolicach. – Teraz,
kiedy mam teslę, przekonałem się, że jest ona nie tylko wydajna i piękna, ale
także naprawdę szybka!”.

Wśród kanadyjskich właścicieli są Vincent i Maggie Argiro, którzy jeżdżą swoim
wspaniałym żółtym roadsterem wśród cudownej scenerii górskiej Kolumbii
Brytyjskiej z widokiem na ocean.

“Roadster wydaje się solidny i dość wyrafinowany – napisali na blogu dla
entuzjastów tesli państwo Argiro. – Jazda była bardziej ekscytująca i
relaksująca niż w innych samochodach sportowych, jakie posiadaliśmy. Oddychanie
całkowicie czystym powietrzem dookoła nas było tak odświeżające, że tym większy
był nasz szok, gdy wjechaliśmy w strumień brudnych spalin samochodu na benzynę
znajdującego się przed nami!”.

Para sprzedaje swoje Ferrari 360 Modena, które teraz opisują jako “w doskonałym
stanie, ale nieco przestarzałe”.

Roadster kwalifikuje się do szeregu bonusów w wielu krajach, łącznie ze
zniesieniem podatku od sprzedaży, ulgami w podatku dochodowym oraz rabatami
gotówkowymi. Na przykład, mieszkańcy Hongkongu nie płacą podatku przy pierwszej
rejestracji roadstera – co stanowi oszczędność do 1 mln HKD (128 600 USD) na
samochodzie o cenie detalicznej 1,2 mln HKD (154 358 USD).

Oprócz tego, wiele spośród największych miast świata oferuje użytkownikom
roadstera darmowe parkowanie, zwolnienie od podatku drogowego oraz swobodne
korzystanie z pasów dla pojazdów przewożących większą liczbę osób oraz pasów dla
autobusów.

Tesla sprzedaje samochody bezpośrednio klientom, zarówno online, jak i za
pośrednictwem rosnącej sieci salonów regionalnych na całym świecie. Pojazdy
elektryczne nie potrzebują rutynowej wymiany oleju, napraw układu wydechowego
ani innych kosztownych usług serwisowych wymaganych przez konwencjonalne
samochody na benzynę. W większości krajów Tesla wysyła wyszkolonych techników do
domów lub biur klientów w celu przeprowadzenia zalecanej corocznej aktualizacji
oprogramowania.

Tesla posiada obecnie 13 salonów regionalnych i rozwija się w niezwykle szybkim
tempie. W ubiegłym tygodniu Tesla ogłosiła zatrudnienie poprzedniego dyrektora
wykonawczego Apple, George’a Blankenshipa na stanowisku wiceprezesa działu
projektów i rozwoju salonów sprzedaży. Blankenship stworzy długoterminowy plan
rozwoju sprzedaży detalicznej firmy Tesla, a do jego początkowych projektów
należy otwarcie salonów sprzedaży Tesla w Tokio (Japonia), Toronto (Kanada) oraz
w Waszyngtonie (Dystrykt Kolumbii).

Informacje o Tesla

Celem firmy Tesla jest produkcja samochodów elektrycznych w coraz bardziej
przystępnej cenie dla wszystkich kupujących oraz nieustanne obniżanie kosztów
pojazdów elektrycznych. Palo Alto, oddział Tesla w Kalifornii, dostarczył ponad
1 200 roadsterów klientom w Ameryce Północnej, Europie i Azji. Tesla projektuje
i wytwarza pojazdy elektryczne i części do układów przeniesienia napędu. Tesla
Roadster przyspiesza szybciej niż większość samochodów sportowych, ale nie
wytwarza żadnych spalin.

Oficjalną, obowiązującą wersję niniejszego zawiadomienia stanowi tekst
oryginalny sporządzony w języku źródłowym. Tekst tłumaczenia służy wyłącznie
celom orientacyjnym, został sporządzony wyłącznie dla celów ułatwienia
zrozumienia zawiadomienia i należy interpretować go w odniesieniu do tekstu
źródłowego, który jest jedyną wersją mającą skutki prawne.

Tesla
Rachel Konrad, +44 7872 543 250
rachel@teslamotors.com

Copyright Business Wire 2010

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Wildcats swoop on Tovey

May 6, 2010 By Leave a Comment

The Perth Wildcats have signed former Sydney and Townsville forward Cameron Tovey for the next two NBL seasons.

Tovey, who started his career at the Cats, joins Shawn Redhage, Kevin Lisch, Jesse Wagstaff, Brad Robbins, Damian Martin, Drew Williamson, Stephen Weigh and Matt Knight as players confirmed for next season.

Perth now needs only to sign an under-24 development player to complete its roster.

Tovey had reportedly quit the NBL earlier this month for a career in accounting but the talented forward said that was never the case.

He will work part-time while juggling his basketball duties.

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Johnson missing again for Dogs

May 6, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Skipper Brad Johnson will be sidelined by injury again this weekend as age finally threatens to catch up with the famously durable Western Bulldogs utility.

Having played 21 games or more in each of his previous 15 full seasons with the Bulldogs, Johnson has only managed three of the first seven in 2010, with groin soreness ruling him out of Friday night’s clash with Melbourne.

The Bulldogs have taken a cautious approach with the 33-year-old Johnson, who is becoming increasingly susceptible to injuries.

“He’s a little bit tight in the groin. He could have trained, may be have been able to play but we thought, no … that’s why he didn’t train today,” Dogs coach Rodney Eade said on Wednesday.

He admitted the club’s oldest player was likely to miss more games this year with small issues.

“He’s getting little niggles. Obviously one was the Achilles and then the cart incident (when Johnson was accidentally knocked by a golf cart during training,” he said.

“That put him back a little bit but his fitness is pretty good actually, so from that aspect it’s not too bad.

“We’ve just got to obviously monitor the game time but we would think at worst it would only be the one week and he would be right for the week after.

“Experience tells you that he’s had a bit of an interrupted program, that maybe it’s a little bit on and off at times and maybe we just err on the side of caution at various stages.

“How many games (for the rest of the year) that equates to I’m not sure but we’d be pretty positive he’d probably get at least 12 of the 15 left.”

Eade also described the form of another veteran, Jason Akermanis, who has not kicked a goal this year, as “steady”.

“His tackling’s been up, which is good,” said Eade.

“He’s got some good numbers in that area but when you’re a great player obviously expectations of you are high.

“Probably the X-factor stuff that he does is what has been down so people notice that, whether it’s a mercurial goal or it’s great agility or his speed at various stages and his good kicking.

“But certainly his work rate around the ball has been okay.”

The Dogs will this week regain midfielder Matthew Boyd who’s recovered from a hand injury, while a number of other players are under consideration.

They include ruckman Will Minson, who has been overlooked in recent weeks in favour of youngster Jordan Roughead.

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Waite might be over for Jarrad

May 6, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Carlton coach Brett Ratten has foreshadowed a recall for tall utility Jarrad Waite ahead of the Blues’ Monday night clash with St Kilda.

Waite, defender Bret Thornton and midfielder Mitch Robinson all starred in the Blues reserves last weekend.

Waite was dropped three weeks ago as he struggled for touch after missing much of last year with a serious knee injury.

But he gathered 22 possessions in little more than a half of football for Carlton’s VFL affiliate Northern Bullants last weekend.

Ratten admitted Waite, who can play as a key defender or forward, was on the verge of a return to senior football.

“We’ve seen the evidence in training drills he wasn’t quite getting his hands on the ball, running under it, just out of position a bit,” Ratten said of Waite.

“But we’ve seen that correct itself at training. He’s worked extremely hard the last couple of weeks.

“Waite would be really close, Thornton would be really close, and there’d be a couple of others around the edges.”

Carlton are considering personnel changes after a 53-point defeat by Collingwood in their last hit-out.

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Pampling checks out Woods’ problem swing

May 6, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Rod Pampling was in the TPC Sawgrass locker room when another player asked him if he wanted to play nine holes in preparation for this week’s Players Championship.

The amiable Queenslander readily accepted Monday’s offer. After all, you would be a fool to turn down any chance for a practice round with a bloke who has won 14 major championships.

“I was getting some medicine from the doctor and (Tiger Woods) just walked past and we traded some comments,” Pampling said ahead of Thursday’s first round.

“Then he (Woods) said are you going to play nine holes? I said yep and he said let’s go. It was not planned.”

Pampling used to play quite often with Woods, thanks to his friendship with caddie Steve Williams, who once worked briefly for the Queenslander, before picking up the slightly higher paying gig with Woods.

Even though Woods last week played perhaps the worst round of his life, a second round 79 to miss the cut by eight strokes in Charlotte, Pampling nonetheless was delighted at the chance to pick the world number one’s brain.

“I asked what he was working on. He’s still working on stuff, although I don’t think he’s hit as many balls as he normally would lately. Obviously he’s got a lot of stuff going on in his personal life,” Pampling said.

“Besides his driver, everything else is pretty solid. He stood up on the first hole and smashed it (down the middle).

“He only hit one bad drive (at the par-four fifth). That was the only one you’d say was the way right one.

“Other than that it was pretty solid. I liked his ball flight. It was a little lower ball flight than he used to hit.”

Cracks in the armour

Pampling expects Woods to bounce back with a much better performance this week, but others are not so sure.

Woods tied for fourth at last month’s Masters in his first event back after a nearly five-month break tending to his personal problems.

But some, including Geoff Ogilvy, thought Woods got the job done with smoke-and-mirrors at Augusta, and were not surprised he struggled in Charlotte.

Frank Nobilo, a former tour pro who is now an astute analyst with The Golf Channel, is not impressed with Woods’ swing.

“I think he got through Augusta on some great memories. It was not until really Saturday that you started see the pressure,” Nobilo said.

“Pressure causes cracks, I don’t care who you are.

“His whole career he’s feared the ball that goes left, not unlike Ben Hogan.

“I know there’s a truck-load going on off the course, so it’s hard for him to focus and I think he uses a lot more emotional energy getting around than he used to, because of the way he plays these days. He can’t just play by mechanics.

“When you feel everything is going to go right but you know you might hit it left, every swing you make, you feel like you’re trying to save it. As soon as you relax a bit that hook or pull comes back.”

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Aussie pair through in Portugal

May 6, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Adopted Aussies Jarmila Groth and Anastasia Rodionova have both won their first-round women’s matches at the Estoril Open in Portugal.

Groth upset sixth seed and former Slovakian compatriot Magdalena Rybarikova 6-4, 6-3, while Russian-born Rodionova defeated Austrian Yvonne Meusburger 4-6, 6-2, 6-1.

Groth takes on Kristina Barrois in the next round with Radionova to meet Stefanie Voegele.

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Duckworth hits back at T20 criticism

May 6, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Frank Duckworth, the co-creator of the Duckworth-Lewis (D/L) method for settling rain-affected matches, has leapt to its defence after it came under fire from England captain Paul Collingwood.

But he said the International Cricket Council (ICC) needs to look at the minimum length of an innings required to constitute a Twenty20 match.

Collingwood was left fuming after England suffered an eight-wicket loss to the West Indies in the visitors’ tournament opener, despite scoring 191 – a challenging Twenty20 total.

Rain, though, left the West Indies with a target of 60 from six overs.

England did secure a path through to the Super Eights after its match with Ireland this morning was declared a no-result due to rain, with Collingwood’s side progressing thanks to a superior run rate.

At present, five overs of the second innings of a Twenty20 international must be played in order for a winner to be declared.

Duckworth told The Wisden Cricketer five overs may not be enough for the method to be fair.

“The ICC ought to look into whether five overs for a valid match is appropriate because you can get this apparent distortion,” he said.

Collingwood was damning in his assessment of D/L as it applied to Twenty20, having seen his side bow out of last year’s World Twenty20 to the West Indies in similar circumstances at The Oval.

“I don’t know what equation you should have but you shouldn’t have that one,” Collingwood said.

“We’ve played a near perfect game but we’ve lost.

“There’s a major problem with this Duckworth-Lewis in this form of the game. It certainly has to be revised for this form of the game.”

But Duckworth, who devised the system with fellow statistician Tony Lewis, countered.

“While Paul Collingwood may have been angry at Messrs Duckworth and Lewis, he might have been angry at (England bowlers) Messrs (Tim) Bresnan, Graeme) Swann and co who added to the four wides that they bowled before the rain by adding four more wides.

“So, the West Indies target wasn’t just 60, it was effectively 52.

“Since Twenty20 came into the world in 2002, there have been about 70 cases of T20 with a D/L revised target or result.

“And there’s only been two moments of dissent, both by Paul Collingwood or ECB (England and Wales Cricket Board) people, both following England not doing very well against the West Indies. It’s the high-profile matches that attract attention.

“The other 68 matches – like the one that occurred earlier (on Monday, between Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe), nobody queried that and in fact the result went the other way. The side batting first (Sri Lanka) won.”

Duckworth and Lewis updated their system in October last year after examining data that Duckworth insisted proved the method did not require wholesale revision for Twenty20 matches.

“As a result of that analysis we did decide that a few changes were needed but these were only slight adjustments to the parameter of the formula,” he said.

“The important thing that we did discover was that the scoring patterns in Twenty20 fit in perfectly with our original formula derived largely from 50-over games.”

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Young Bulls keep Symonds on

May 6, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Former Australian all-rounder Andrew Symonds has been included in the Queensland Bulls’ list of contracted players for next season.

The 34-year-old, who has been playing with the Chargers in the IPL, will feature in the Bulls’ Twenty20 campaign only.

“We’ve got a pretty young squad and having players like Andrew along will certainly assist our T20 preparations,” said QC boss Graham Dixon.

“Andrew has been contracted as a T20 player only but no doubt he will provide some valuable advice across the season for the Bulls and QAS squad members.”

Batsmen Glen Batticciotto, Nick Kruger, Greg Moller and paceman Grant Sullivan were all delisted with Queensland Cricket looking further towards the next generation.

Leg-spinner Dan Doran has nominated for the national transfer pool after being overlooked.

Rising batsman Chris Lynn, all-rounder Jason Floros, leg-spinner Cameron Boyce and wicketkeeper Ben Dunk were all promoted from last season’s rookie list to gain full contracts for the first time.

Policeman Luke Feldman, a former Australian Country representative, was also added to the full squad after a superb debut season in which he took 33 first-class wickets at 27.

The Bulls’ 21-man group includes 12 players under 23 and the average age is 23.7, down from 24.6 last season when they lost to Victoria in Sheffield Shield final.

Former Australian coach John Buchanan’s son, Nicholas, a 19-year-old fast bowler, was one of the four new rookies the Bulls named.

Bulls squad: Ryan Harris, James Hopes, Cameron Boyce, Ryan Broad, Lee Carseldine, Ben Cutting, Ben Dunk, Luke Feldman, Jason Floros, Chris Hartley, Ben Laughlin, Chris Lynn, Alister McDermott, Craig Philipson, Nathan Reardon, Nathan Rimmington, Chris Simpson, Chris Swan, Wade Townsend, Scott Walter.

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Tahs ring backline changes

May 6, 2010 By Leave a Comment

New South Wales Waratahs coach Chris Hickey says strategy and injury are behind major backline changes to his team for Saturday’s key Super 14 match against the Chiefs in Hamilton.

Wallabies star Berrick Barnes takes over the playmaking role at five-eighth with Daniel Halangahu relegated to the bench, while youngster Rob Horne returns to play at outside centre alongside the robust Tom Carter.

Luke Burgess gets a recall to start at half-back ahead of Josh Holmes for the fifth-placed Waratahs in the penultimate round against the ninth-placed Chiefs.

Pat McCutcheon will make his starting debut at blindside flanker, replacing the benched Dave Dennis.

Horne returns from injury, as does Wallabies prop Benn Robinson, while the other changes appear tactical in the wake of the upset 26-10 loss to the lowly Highlanders last Friday which damaged the Tahs’ finals hopes.

“Bringing players back the quality of Benn Robinson and Rob Horne will be a real boost,” Hickey said.

“Pat McCutcheon provided a lot of energy when he came onto the park for his debut last week and his opportunity to earn a run-on cap at Super 14 level if probably overdue.

“Tommy Carter is also back to the position he has played most of his rep footy.

“It might seem like a big change to have different players in our 9, 10, 12 and 13 jerseys from what took the park last week, but in reality these guys have all played and trained a lot together.

“Tom has played outside Berrick for most of the season, and Rob played outside Tom as a 12-13 centre pairing for most of 2008 and 2009 so there will be no problem with those guys working together.”

Waratahs: Kurtley Beale, Lachie Turner, Rob Horne, Tom Carter, Drew Mitchell, Berrick Barnes, Luke Burgess, Ben Mowen, Phil Waugh (c), Patrick McCutcheon, Kane Douglas, Dean Mumm, Al Baxter, Tatafu Polota-Nau, Benn Robinson. Res: Damien Fitzpatrick, Dan Palmer/Jeremy Tilse, Chris Thomson, Dave Dennis, Josh Holmes, Daniel Halangahu, Sosene Anesi.

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Harry Potter’s Quidditch game’s real-life version sweeping US universities

May 3, 2010 By Leave a Comment

London, May 3 (ANI): Quidditch, a fictional sport developed by J.K. Rowling for the Harry Potter book series, has now been adapted from the book and is being played in reality, minus the flying.

The latest fascination is sweeping students of US universities, with more than 400 teams following the game and the rules as mentioned in the Harry Potter book series, reports The Sun.

Players have to keep to their sticks at all times and are penalised with yellow or red wands for foul play.

But there is no flying like there was in the book. The players remain on the ground.

Universities of UK are also gearing up for the latest fad.

“We”re bringing it home,” 18-year-old Jack Williams, of Cambridge”s fledgling team, said. (ANI)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Big blow for OneAsia as Korean golfers boycott events

April 30, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Singapore, April 28 (IANS) A decision by the South Korean golfers to stay away from the newly set up OneAsia has bolstered the position of the Asian Tour in the region.

The arrival of OneAsia had sent a lot of conflicting signals in golf circles over the control of the sport in Asia.

OneAsia Tour, which had announced a season with around 11 events in the region suffered a body blow with South Korean golfers this week voting to boycott all of its events.

The members of the Korea Professional Golfers’ Association (KPGA) had initially indicated they might boycott events in Korea because of a dispute over the number of spots for local golfers.

But when the meeting took place, the KPGA took a harsher stance and decided to stay away from all events run by OneAsia, some of which are to be held in China and Australia.

According to Korean media, the KPGA announced that the players will boycott every OneAsia event in the Asian region, not just in Korea.

The events in Korea include Maekyung Open and the SK Telecom Open, which were once part of Asian Tour and then seemed to have gone with OneAsia. But latest developments indicate that they will once again go back to being part of the Asian Tour.

Many players are also said to have expressed discontent over OneAsia not being able to creating new events and instead have merely brought in existing events from Asian Tour into their fold. The decision on Korean events’ joining Asian Tour will soon be taken.

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Reina commits long-term future to Liverpool

April 10, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina has signed a new six-year deal with the English Premier League club and hailed it as probably the best news of his life.

“To play for Liverpool is very special. I’ve been here for five years and now I will be here for six more and it’s very exciting,” Reina told the club’s website.

“I’m delighted to sign a new contract. It’s probably the best news of my life that I’ll be here for the next six years.”

The 27-year-old Spaniard, who joined the Merseyside club in July 2005 from Villarreal, has been one of manager Rafa Benitez’s best signings, notching up 177 league appearances.

Reina, who won the Super Cup in 2005 with Liverpool and the FA Cup a year later, said his family were big fans of the area and the native Scouse accent as well.

“My wife told me from the beginning she was more than happy here. My kids enjoy it and they have picked up the Scouse accent already. I am really proud of that,” said Reina, whose side is sixth in the league.

“In the years ahead they will speak much more Scouse too.”

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Hartley gloves Ian Healy Trophy

April 10, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Chris Hartley’s career-best season for Queensland has seen him become the first wicketkeeper to win the Ian Healy Trophy.

Hartley, who last month was named the Sheffield Shield player of the year, fittingly received Queensland’s best player trophy named after the state’s finest gloveman in Healy.

Hartley finished with 839 runs at 46.6 to top the batting standings, scoring two centuries and four 50s, while also claiming 49 catches and one stumping.

He became just the second wicketkeeper in Australian first-class history to score more than 800 runs in a Shield season, behind Brad Haddin.

Fast bowler Ben Cutting, the leading wicket-taker in the Shield this season with 46 victims at 23.91, was the players’ player of the year.

All-rounder James Hopes was named the Twenty20 player of the year, while last year’s Ian Healy Trophy winner, Lee Carseldine, won the domestic one-day player of the year award.

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Saints lose Riewoldt but still prevail

April 10, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Gritty St Kilda has overcome the loss of captain Nick Riewoldt to a torn hamstring to subdue Collingwood by 28 points in a feisty AFL clash-of-the-round at Docklands stadium.

With the two teams never separated by anything more than four points at any of the changes, the Saints beat the odds without their key forward target to break free in the last quarter and prevail 10.9 (69) to 4.17 (41) in a low-scoring affair.

Already without the suspended Justin Koschitzke, last year’s grand finalists suffered a shattering blow when Riewoldt injured his right hamstring late in the first half and immediately limped down the tunnel to sit out the rest of the match.

The problems continued to pile up for coach Ross Lyon when tenacious defender Sam Fisher was knocked out in a contest with Leon Davis in the third quarter, but the Saints somehow conspired to keep the Magpies goalless in the second half and retain their unbeaten start to the season.

“The way the boys fought it out there in the last quarter, we were down there to 20 men I think for the majority of the second half,” said Riewoldt, who had already injured his left ankle earlier in the second term but returned to the field after receiving treatment.

“[It was a] really gutsy win from the boys tonight.”

Riewoldt is set to have a scan on Saturday, with Lyon unsure on how serious the injury is.

“We’re going to investigate it,” Lyon said.

“Do you think if I thought it was off the bone I’d have half a smile on my face now? He’s a special player, all the St Kilda people don’t want to see him get hurt.”

St Kilda’s midfield took control in the final quarter when the match was there for the taking, denying Collingwood possession with Adam Schneider, Michael Gardiner, James Gwilt and Leigh Montagna all capitalising.

Sam Gilbert had a stunning 32 disposals and 20 marks, while a concussed Fisher remarkably returned to the field in the final term to finish with 28 touches and 10 marks.

Brendon Goddard and Montagna were the only multiple goalkickers for the Saints in what was quite simply a well-rounded team performance.

“It was a great effort for the boys, Rooey went down and we had a couple of injuries, but the way we fought it out was a testament to all the work we put in and it’s one of the best wins I’ve had,” said midfield general Lenny Hayes, who played out the encounter with a bandaged face after breaking his nose in a heavy clash with team-mate Steven King.

Lyon added: “I thought it was a magnificent effort. Everything was thrown at us and we responded in kind, like good teams do.”

Dayne Beams’ goal at the end of the second quarter to put Collingwood up 32-29 at half-time was unbelievably the Pies’ last major contribution to the scoreboard, as their evening unravelled in a glut of poor goalkicking and wasted opportunities.

“We were just not good enough,” Magpies coach Mick Malthouse said.

“It’s the old cliche, a lot of things might change in life but certainly one doesn’t – bad kicking is bad footy, if you don’t kick enough goals, you don’t win games of football.”

Collingwood had begun so impressively, showing marked aggression before the bounce and laying down a marker with three goals to two in a second quarter which saw the lead change on no less than five occasions.

Riewoldt’s injury and Beams’ goal straight after appeared to spell disaster for the Saints, but they showed they are no one-man band in kicking six more goals in his absence while holding the Pies to a disastrous nine behinds.

Jason Gram’s goal nine minutes into the third term was St Kilda’s second of the period and the ninth and final lead change of the encounter as Collingwood surrendered somewhat meekly thereafter in what was a disappointing first outing for Luke Ball against his former club.

Ball did finish as the Pies’ leading possession-getter with 28, while also racking up eight marks.

Saints: 10.9 (69) – B Goddard 2, L Montagna 2, A Schneider, J Gram, J Gwilt, M Gardiner, N Dal Santo, S Milne

Magpies: 4.17 (41) – A Didak, D Beams, S Sidebottom, T Cloke

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Titans shock Storm without Prince

April 10, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Gold Coast has defied its reputation as a one-man band with a shock 20-16 upset of NRL premier Melbourne at Robina’s Skilled Stadium.

The Titans, without injured skipper and go-to man Scott Prince, rallied back from 16-4 down to consign the Storm to their first loss of 2010.

A first-half hat-trick from Anthony Quinn and two goals from the boot of Cam Smith put Melbourne ahead by 12 points at the break.

But Gold Coast rallied in the second stanza, with Ashley Harrison and Greg Bird getting over for tries and Mat Rogers hitting two late penalty goals.

Harrison’s try was the perfect gift in his 200th NRL appearance, while former Storm winger Joseph Tomane had earlier scored in the first half for the Titans.

A rare time-wasting penalty helped the Titans stage their bizarre comeback.

Titans five-eighth Bird smashed his way over from the penalty for his first try for the club to lock the game up at 16-16 in the 65th minute before Rogers potted a penalty goal in front of the posts in the 72nd minute to snatch an unlikely victory.

Smith was left stunned when his team was penalised for time-wasting while taking a 64th-minute line drop-out.

Rogers landed another penalty goal after the siren to complete the upset.

It was the second time in two years the Titans have upset Melbourne without Prince, who sat among the 20,083 crowd that were kept on the edge of their seats during the tense final minutes.

Things seemed to be going as planned for the visitors when Quinn crossed for tries in the 14th, 23rd and 30th minutes as both he and Greg Inglis worked over the Titans right-side defence.

Quinn could have had four tries in the opening 40 minutes had video referee Steve Clark not ruled against him in the eighth minute.

Melbourne’s opening try came after Titans half-back Preston Campbell spilled the ball deep in Melbourne’s half only, to see the Storm counter-attack through Cooper Cronk before Quinn crossed for his first.

Tomane put the Titans on the scoreboard with a powerhouse try running through his former Storm team-mate Billy Slater to make it 6-4 soon after.

Quinn was then given the benefit of the doubt by Clark, who took about 10 looks at the replay of a ‘raffle’ involving several players scrambling for a bomb.

There was no doubt about Quinn’s third try down the short side in the 30th minute that gave Melbourne a 16-4 half-time lead, but those were the visitors’ final points.

With more possession in the second half the Titans were able to turn pressure into points as Harrison steamed onto a pass close to the line to cut the lead to 16-10.

Bird was heavily involved, fielding Campbell’s bomb on the last tackle before squeezing a pass to the ever-alert Nathan Friend who found Harrison at full pace.

Gold Coast: 20 (G Bird, A Harrison, J Tomane tries; M Rogers 2/3 conversions, 2 penalties)

Melbourne: 16 (A Quinn 3 tries; C Smith 2/3 conversions)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Dragons torment baby Broncos

April 10, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Wayne Bennett condemned former club Brisbane to its fourth consecutive loss as the Dragons recovered from round four’s stumble in Melbourne with a 34-16 victory at Wollongong.

Last week’s 17-4 loss to the Storm is the only blot on St George Illawarra’s copybook for 2010, with now four wins from the opening five rounds galvanising its early premiership claims.

An entirely different predicament though surrounds the Broncos, who remain bottom of the league with a 1-4 record and a long list of absentees that makes life extremely difficult for Ivan Henjak.

The Brisbane coach learned the ropes from Bennett, and the current Dragons mentor showed off his mastery at WIN Stadium as a tremendously disciplined outfit towelled up the visitors.

Clinical rugby league has become the hallmark of Bennett’s regime at St George Illawarra, having guided the club to a minor premiership in his first year and on the early evidence another could be in the offing.

The Dragons’ mobile yet physical forward pack laid the platform for Ben Hornby, Jamie Soward and Darius Boyd – the revelation of 2010 – to link up with livewire winger Brett Morris.

The Kangaroos flyer laid on two tries to take his season tally to seven with Hornby, Beau Scott, Jason Nightingale and Dean Young all grabbing four-pointers.

Few recognisable faces lined up for the severely under-strength Broncos with Darren Lockyer, Peter Wallace and Sam Thaiday leading a desperately inexperienced side.

Injury has robbed Henjak of so many options; marquee centres Justin Hodges and Israel Folau are both unavailable, as are Corey Parker, Nick Kenny, Jahral Yow Yeh, Alex Glenn and Steve Michaels.

Ben Teo and Antonio Winterstein were dropped for disciplinary reasons.

Despite the gulf in class, Thaiday spoke of the positives to be taken out of the contest.

“A lot of young boys really put in,” he told Grandstand.

“It’s been hard, we’ve worked hard at training. It seems we always get an injury out of every game.

“It’s something we have to deal with and I’d rather have that happen now than later in the season.”

Much was made during the week of the decision made by Lockyer, 33, to prolong his representative career while the Broncos are faring so poorly in the NRL.

But the Queensland and Australia skipper stood up in a losing performance and gave a glimmer of hope to the club’s suffering fans ahead of next week’s home match against Cronulla.

Michael Weyman paid credit to the character of the young Broncos, acknowledging the fight they put up against one of the competition heavyweights.

“They really put their hand up and had dig,” he said.

“It was one of those games we had to grind out.

“It was a pretty hard game tonight but a win’s a win.”

St George Illawarra: 34 (B Morris 2, B Hornby, J Nightingale, B Scott, D Young tries; J Soward 5/6 conversions)

Brisbane: 16 (D Copley, J Hoffman, A McCullough tries; P Wallace 2 goals)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Domestic issues won’t hurt Cup bid: FFA

April 10, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Football Federation Australia (FFA) chief executive Ben Buckley has denied the current turmoil surrounding the A-League will damage the country’s World Cup bid.

Gold Coast United joined fellow expansion club North Queensland Fury on the list of A-League franchises facing uncertain futures on Friday, the same day the competition’s chief executive Archie Fraser quit his post.

But Buckley says Australian football has a “positive story”, and he denies the issues surrounding the A-League would hurt the 2022 World Cup bid.

“If you look right across the world and football in many parts of the world suffer the same sort of issues that we do on a local and domestic basis,” he said.

“Whether that’s clubs who are in financial difficulty, finding ways to increase crowds, increase the marketing profile of competitions, we’re not unique to those challenges.

“Many, many countries, even some that are bidding, face those challenges.”

Australia and the United States are rated the front runners to host the 2022 World Cup.

Australia’s bid book – the blueprint for how the nation would host a World Cup – is due on May 14 and the final decision on which nations will host the 2018 and 2022 tournaments will be made in December.

Buckley says the contentious issues of stadium availability and obtaining the cooperation of Australia’s other football codes are being addressed.

“We’re inches away. We’re getting very close,” Buckley said.

“We’ve had a lot of very positive momentum in the last few weeks, assisted by the government task force.

“We’ve worked closely with the task force and the other codes to address some of the issues that we have had.

“But we’re getting very close to having a fantastic document to put forward to FIFA.”

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Du Preez instrumental in Bulls’ victory

April 10, 2010 By Leave a Comment

South African scrum half Fourie du Preez produced a superb all-round game, setting up the try that helped seal a 33-19 victory for the Bulls over the Waikato Chiefs in their Super 14 match in Hamilton.

Du Preez, who had darted 40 metres through a backpedalling defence to set up Gary Botha’s try to give the Bulls a 28-19 lead with 12 minutes remaining, had a try disallowed minutes later after he had scampered 70 metres following an intercept.

Referee Jonathan Kaplan instead returned to just outside the Bulls 22m area after advice from his assistant referee Kane McBride to issue a penalty against Deon Stegmann for a dangerous and late tackle.

Inside centre Stephen Donald, however, missed the easy penalty attempt and the fight went out of the home side, and a late Dewald Potgieter try gave the visitors a bonus point win and ensured they went to the top of the Super 14 table.

“It’s great to [finally] win here,” Bulls captain Victor Matfield said after his side won their first Super rugby game in Hamilton.

“It’s always good to win in New Zealand [because] it’s the toughest place in the world to tour.”

The South African side went into the break with a 15-13 lead courtesy of tries by winger Gerhard van den Heever and number eight Pierre Spies, while Morne Steyn added a conversion and penalty, though he surprisingly missed three other kicks at goal.

Chiefs scrum half Brendon Leonard also capitalised on sloppy handling by Steyn to pick up a loose ball five metres out and force his way over.

Donald added a conversion and two penalties to ensure the gap was two points at the break before he added two more early in the second half to give the Chiefs a 19-15 lead.

Steyn added two more penalties before du Preez, whose cover defence had been superb, took the game by the scruff of the neck and ensured his side did not suffer its second successive defeat after it went down 32-17 to the Auckland Blues last week.

Bulls: 33 (G Botha, D Potgieter, P Spies, G van den Heever tries; M Steyn 2 conversions, 3 penalties)

Chiefs: 19 (B Leonard try; S Donald conversion, 4 penalties)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Rooney out of Blackburn clash

April 10, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Wayne Rooney will miss Manchester United’s Premier League game away to Blackburn Rovers this weekend after re-injuring his ankle in the Champions League quarter-final exit against Bayern Munich.

The striker, whose 34 goals have underpinned United’s title challenge, lasted 55 minutes against Bayern after making a surprise return to action just a week after damaging ankle ligaments in the first leg.

“I don’t think it’s as serious as we said the first time, but I think he’ll be ready for the (Manchester) City game,” manager Alex Ferguson said.

“We’ve got more time to work on it, anyway. Other than that everyone else is fit.”

United, which went out of the Champions League on away goals after the tie ended 4-4, is two points behind Chelsea with five matches remaining.

Rooney was missing when United was beaten 2-1 at home by Chelsea last weekend.

Ferguson is sure his players will bounce back after their mid-week frustration.

“It’s not the first time we’ve had to face losing a big game and having to do something about it. We’ve got five games left and they’re five important games,” he said.

“Even if we win all of them it doesn’t mean we can win the league, with the position Chelsea are in, but they’ve got those games to play themselves and at this time of the season, things can happen.

“We’ve faced this situation many times over the years after the disappointment of Wednesday. It’s part of the history of the club and we’ve been good at that.”

Ferguson also revealed that his move for Mexico striker Javier Hernandez was inspired by a fear that the striker could drive his price tag through the roof with good performances at the World Cup.

United has completed a reported six-million-pound ($9.89 million) deal for the Chivas de Guaralajara forward.

“We like doing these kind of deals where we can identify young talent. We’ve been good at that over the years,” Ferguson said.

“We got some background knowledge of the boy in October. We got one of our people to go there and watch a couple of games and the reports were very good and that was by December.

“We wanted to just wait because he was young but then he got into the national team and that created a problem because if he got to the World Cup and did well, we were in danger of losing him.

“I sent my chief scout Jim Lawlor over there for three weeks to get some background on the boy and watch him play in Los Angeles against New Zealand.

“He played twice for the national team while he was there and playing for Chivas and he scored in every game.

“He filed a fantastic report and said that we needed to do something and we’re delighted to do the deal.”

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

More Aussies chase hoop dreams

April 10, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Australia continues to make a mark on the international basketball stage, with two players drafted into the WNBA and college stand-out AJ Ogilvy declaring his desire to experience the bright lights of the NBA.

Ogilvy, 21, has decided to forego his final year at Vanderbilt and declare for the June 24 NBA draft in New York.

The New South Wales native has enjoyed an outstanding college career, averaging 15.3 points and 6.7 rebounds per game in his three seasons with the Commodores.

A 211-centimetre centre, Ogilvy leaves Vanderbilt holding the school’s all-time records for average blocks per game (1.51) and successful free throws (471).

He is one of only two Commodores to tally 1000 points and 100 blocks in their career and has been projected as a late first-round pick, which would give him a guaranteed multi-million dollar contract.

“I talked with my family and coaches here and I think (turning professional) is what’s best for me,” Ogilvy said.

“I really enjoyed all my time at Vanderbilt. I really want to thank the coaches and fans for everything they’ve done for me. I’m just excited to try to get my game to the next level.”

Ogilvy is hopeful of joining compatriots Andrew Bogut, Patrick Mills, Nathan Jawai and David Andersen in the NBA.

He received some high praise from Vanderbilt coach Kevin Stallings.

“We certainly appreciate everything AJ has done, both on and off the floor at Vanderbilt,” he said.

“He has had a very accomplished career and will hopefully experience the same kind of success as a professional.

“Hopefully his agent’s projections of being a late first-round draft pick is accurate and he will have a long and prosperous NBA career.”

Meanwhile, two more Australians will join the WNBA following their draft.

Canberra’s Alison Lacey has followed Lauren Jackson by being selected by Seattle with the tenth overall pick.

Lacey, a 183cm guard, is Australia’s highest draft pick since number one selection Jackson back in 2001 and has spent the past four seasons with Iowa State College.

Brigitte Ardossi was also picked up in the draft with the 21st overall pick by Atlanta.

The Georgia Tech stand-out was named State of Georgia Women’s Basketball Player of the Year in 2010.

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
« Older Posts