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Sports Line Archive
July - Dezember 2005
US Airways name Phoenix Suns' arena
(November 17) The downtown Phoenix basketball/hockey/arena
football/concert venue known for 13 years as America West
Arena has a new name: US Airways Center.
The name change reflects the merger between America West Airlines
and US Airways that closed Sept. 27. The arena will continue
to operate as America West Arena as the naming conversion
takes place, with completion scheduled for shortly after the
first of the year.
The official announcement was made at a press conference attended
by US Airways Group Inc. Chairman, President and Chief Executive
Doug Parker; Phoenix Suns Chairman and CEO Jerry Colangelo;
and Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon.
This is a 10-year agreement, replacing the 30-year, $26 million
deal signed back in 1992 when the arena first opened. Financial
terms of the new arrangement were not released.
The new naming rights deal will integrate the US Airways
name throughout the building, including exterior signage,
concessions materials, tickets, brochures and other collateral
material. The deal includes the creation of a "Heritage
Wall" that will profile the history of America West Airlines
from its creation through the US Airways merger. The display
will be located just inside the arena's entrances from the
plaza and Jefferson Street.
The arena currently is home to the Phoenix Suns of the NBA,
the Phoenix Mercury of the WNBA, the Arizona Rattlers of the
Arena Football League, and the Phoenix RoadRunners of the
East Coast Hockey League.
Tempe-based US Airways, US Airways Shuttle and US Airways
Express operate approximately 4,000 flights per day and serve
more than 225 communities in the United States, Canada, Europe,
the Caribbean and Latin America.
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Anna Smashnova advances at US Open
(August 31) ITMS Sports client Anna Smashnova
(WTA 46) has advanced to the second round at the US Open in
Flushing Meadows. The 29-year old Israeli defeated Germany’s
Sandra Kloesel (WTA 109) in straight sets, 6-3 and 6-3.
Next up for Smashnova is a match-up with 23rd seed Tatiana
Golovin (FRA), who defeated Spaniard Virginia Ruano Pascual
in three sets. Smashnova and Golovin, who leads the head-to-head
series 2-0, should be scheduled to play their second round
match on Thursday.
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Mainz Mariners win 2005 Play Ball! World Series
(August 15) The Mainz Mariners are the big
winners of the 2005 Play Ball! World Series. Playing in front
of roughly 300 spectators, the Mariners crowned themselves
champions with a hard-fought 7-4 victory over runner-up Zülpich
Dodgers in the championship game.
When it rains, it pours – this old saying was perhaps
in the minds of many who attended the Play Ball! World Series
tournament in Cologne August 6th and 7th. Despite the bad
weather, however, the event turned into a smashing success,
as the 150 German All-Stars were not about to let the cold
and rain deter from their season-ending Play Ball! party.
Divided into two groups, the ten teams quickly went about
determining a new Play Ball! champion. Supported by large
groups of families and friends, the kids pursued their dream
of fame and glory with great enthusiasm and excitement, thereby
displaying surprising talent and skill in frequent spurts
and stretches.
In the end, however, only a few kids were able to go home
a winner, sporting a trophy in their hand or a medal around
their neck. Nonetheless, thanks to great prizes from MLB and
its program sponsors Yam!, Burger King and Jetix, no one was
left out as all kids left soggy Cardinal Stadium with a big
smile on their face and feeling like true Play Ball! champions.
Final Play Ball! World Series Standings:
1. Mainz Mariners
2. Zülpich Dodgers
3. Köln Marlins
4. Freising Cubs
5. Elmshorn/ Holm/Norderstedt Red Sox
6. Zülpich Angels
7. Dohren Yankees and Lüneburg/Berlin Mets
8. Hamburg/Braunschweig Giants
9. Solingen Pirates
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Smashnova collects 11th career title in Budapest
(July 31) In very dominant fashion, ITMS
Sports client Anna Smashnova remained perfect in WTA Tour
finals after capturing her 11th career title on Sunday at
the $140,000 Tippmix Budapest Grand Prix.
The-29-year-old improved to 11-0 in Tour finals with her
6-2, 6-2 victory against Colombia's Catalina Castano - recording
her second title in three weeks after winning the Modena crown
two weeks ago.
"It's always nice to win a tournament, so I'm very happy,"
Smashnova said. "Budapest is a beautiful city and I hope
to be back next year."
The tournament's No.1 seed capped off a flawless week of
play in Budapest at the Tier IV event with another stellar
performance in Sunday's final. In fact, the Israeli player
dropped just 12 games to win the tournament - equally Venus
Williams' efforts earlier this year at Istanbul as the fewest
games yielded to win a title.
Even more impressive, Venus dropped 12 games in four matches
after a first round bye. Smashnova played five matches - giving
up no more than four games in any match.
"I didn't know about the record of only losing 12 games
on the way to a title this year, and I certainly didn't count
the games during my matches, but it's nice to hear about it
now," Smashnova said.
Smashnova started her tournament campaign by dropping just
three games against qualifier Lourdes Dominguez Lino in the
first round, followed by a 6-0, 6-1 win against qualifier
Olga Savchuk, a 6-2, 6-0 victory versus wild card Aniko Kapros
and a 6-2, 6-0 victory against No.4 seed Jelena Kostanic to
reach the final.
Castano fell short in her bid to become the seventh first-time
winner this year on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour. The No.89-ranked
player in the world defeated No.3 seed Roberta Vinci, Rika
Fujiwara, No.7 seed Martina Sucha and Laura Pous Tio to reach
her first Tour final.
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Smashnova leads field in Budapest
(July 25) This week, the stars of the Sony
Ericsson WTA Tour will head to the Budapest Grand Prix, a
Tier IV event on the red clay of Budapest, Hungary.
Headlining the Budapest field as the top seed is 53rd-ranked
Anna Smashnova, who will be making her debut at the tournament
this year. The 29-year-old from Israel will bring a 17-13
season record into this week's event, her best results being
winning her 10th career Tour singles title just one week ago
at Modena, and finishing a semifinalist at Istanbul in May.
Smashnova is a perfect 10-0 in Tour finals, her nine titles
prior to Modena coming at Tashkent in 1999, Knokke-Heist in
2000, Auckland, Canberra, Vienna and Shanghai in 2002, Sopot
and Helsinki in 2003, and Vienna in 2004. She will open against
either a qualifier or a lucky loser.
Seeded No.2 this week is 57th-ranked Karatina Srebotnik,
who will be playing for the second time in Budapest. The 24-year-old
from Slovenia owns an 18-11 season record, highlighted by
her third career Tour singles title at Auckland, and quarterfinal
finishes at Antwerp and at Charleston, a Tier I event. In
her only prior appearance at Budapest, Srebotnik lost her
opening match in 2000 in three sets to Angeles Montolio. Srebotnik
will face either a qualifier or lucky loser in the first round.
Other seeded players in Budapest include recent Eastbourne
semifinalist and No.3 seed Roberta Vinci of Italy, No.4 seed
Jelena Kostanic of Croatia, No.5 seed Antonella Serra Zanetti
of Italy, No.6 seed Mariana Diaz-Oliva of Argentina, No.7
seed Martina Sucha of Slovakia and No.8 seed Zuzana Ondraskova
of the Czech Republic. Unseeded players to keep an eye on
include 16-year-old Hungarian sensation Agnes Szavay, who
reached her career-first Tour semifinal at Modena just over
a week ago, and Frenchwoman Emilie Loit, who won her Tour
singles titles at Estoril and Casablanca just last year.
Currently in its ninth year, the Budapest Grand Prix boasts
Amanda Coetzer, Tathiana Garbin, Magdalena Maleeva, Magui
Serna and Jelena Jankovic as some of its previous champions.
This year, the champion will take away $22,000 while the runner-up
will receive $12,000.
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Anna remains
a perfect ten in finals
(July 18) Israeli Anna Smashnova improved
her remarkable record in Sony Ericsson WTA Tour singles finals
to 10-0 with victory Sunday over Tathiana Garbin at the Internazionali
di Modena.
Garbin, aiming to win her first Tour title on home soil,
retired due to heat illness during the first-set tie-break.
The win gives ITMS Sports client Smashnova, who turned 29
on Saturday, her 10th career singles title and sixth on clay.
"I don't fear anybody, and I always try to do my best,"
said Smashnova, who won the title after Tathiana Garbin of
Italy retired due to heat illness down 3-0 in the first set
tie-break. "[The heat] caused problems for everyone,
but if I had lost the first set, I would have fought to win
the other two sets.
"Tathiana is a very strong player; I knew that the match
would have been hard."
Smashnova, ranked 61st in the world going into the WTA Tour
event, led Garbin 5-3 in the opening set before being broken
in the 10th game as the scores went level 5-5. As both players
held their serve to 6-6, Garbin netted three consecutive shots
in the tiebreaker to give the fifth seed from Israel a 3-0
lead in the tiebreaker. The unseeded Italian asked for a break
in play and collapsed on a bench. Grimacing from cramps and
nearly fainting, Garbin was treated by the tournament doctor
and then carried on a stretcher to the club’s infirmary.
The players, and a sold out crowd at Club La Meridiana, had
been daring scorching sun, with temperatures reaching as high
as 35 degrees Celsius.
Organisers later reported that Garbin, who lost her second
of three WTA finals, had recovered from sunstroke and was
out of danger.
"I felt sick at 2-0 and from that moment things started
to get worse," said Garbin, who was seeking her second
career title. "I was scared because I couldn't breathe
any longer. It was terrible. I believe I could have won because
I arrived at this tournament very fit.
"I regret that things have gone this way."
Smashnova now owns an immaculate 10-0 record in her 10 career
Tour finals. The Israeli's previous nine titles came at Tashkent
in 1999, Knokke-Heist in 2000, Auckland, Canberra, Vienna
and Shanghai in 2002, Sopot and Helsinki in 2003, and Vienna
last year. Her biggest titles were her wins at Vienna and
Sopot, both Tier III events. Her other strong career performances
came with semifinal finishes at Berlin in 2002 and at Moscow
in 2003, both Tier I events.
"It just happened," said Smashnova, who has been
ranked as high as No.15, on her perfect finals record. "I
prepare every match the best way possible. I haven't played
well for nine months and I'm now ready to move up in the rankings
again."
Smashnova had little trouble in reaching the final this week.
She dropped just 13 games in her first three rounds, defeating
213th-ranked Italian wild card Adriana Serra Zanetti 6-3,
6-1 in the first round, 94th-ranked Spaniard Arantxa Parra
Santonja 6-4, 6-0 in the second round, and 98th-ranked Frenchwoman
Emilie Loit 6-1, 6-4 in the quarterfinals. In Saturday's semifinals,
she defeated 28th-ranked Flavia Pennetta for the fourth time
in four career meetings against the Italian by a score of
7-5, 6-3. Pennetta was the No.2 seed at the event.
Smashnova moves on to play in Palermo this week and is scheduled
to play her first round match on Tuesday against Arantxa Parra
Santonja of Spain.
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German baseball reaches milestone
(July 17) The German baseball national team
reached a historic milestone at the European baseball championship
in Prag. With wins over host Czech Republic and France, Manager
Greg Frady’s squad qualified for the baseball world
cup tournament for the first time in the Deutscher Baseball-
und Softball Verband’s 25-year history.
The fourth place finish in Prag marks the latest highlight
in a series of events that have led to a rebirth of German
baseball on the international stage. Merely two years after
a disastrous campaign that culminated in the relegation to
the European B pool, a newly formed German team continued
its rapid rise to unprecedented success. Surprising many by
prematurely securing a spot among Europe’s elite, the
DBV’s selection capped an outstanding tournament with
two extraordinary performances in the championship round.
The resulting fourth place finish marks the best ever finish
by a German national team in international competition. As
a reward, Manager Greg Frady will get to lead his squad against
the world’s best during the world cup tournament 2007
at a site yet to be determined.
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Smashnova's birthday win into Modena final
(July 16) On Saturday, Israel's Anna Smashnova
celebrated her 29th birthday with a semifinal win over Flavia
Pennetta at the Internazionali di Modena in Italy, dashing
hopes for an all-Italian final.
The host nation still has a chance for a homegrown champion
in Tathiana Garbin, who ousted qualifier Agnes Szavay for
a spot in Sunday's final.
No.5 seed Smashnova ousted No.2 seed Flavia Pennetta, 7-5,
6-3, to reach her 10th career Sony Ericsson WTA Tour final.
The 61st-ranked Israeli has now never lost a set in four encounters
with the Italian, claiming straight-set victories in 2003
at Rome and in 2004 at Rome and Roland Garros. She has also
not dropped a set this week, losing just 21 games in victories
over 213th-ranked wild card Adriana Serra Zanetti, 94th-ranked
Arantxa Parra Santonja, 98th-ranked Emilie Loit and the 28th-ranked
Pennetta.
Next up for Smashnova will be another Italian favorite, unseeded
world No.97 Garbin. The 28-year-old from Mestre routed 16-year-old
Hungarian phenom Agnes Szavay 6-3, 6-0 in the day's second
semifinal to reach her third career final and first since
she won her lone career title over five years ago at Budapest
in 2000. Szavay, currently ranked No.301 in the world, qualified
for the main draw and caused a stir by ousting top seed Francesca
Schiavone in the quarterfinals. Prior to her win over Szavay,
Garbin enjoyed convincing straight-set wins over 96th-ranked
Stephanie Cohen-Aloro and No.6 seed Jelena Kostanic in the
first two rounds and won a thrilling 4-6, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (4)
battle with 89th-ranked Sanda Mamic in the quarterfinals,recovering
from a 4-1 third-set deficit and a left thigh strain to claim
victory in over three hours.
Smashnova has an immaculate 9-0 record in her nine prior
Sony Ericsson WTA Tour finals, winning titles at Tashkent
in 1999, Knokke-Heist in 2000, Auckland, Canberra, Vienna
and Shanghai in 2002, Sopot and Helsinki in 2003, and Vienna
last year. Her biggest titles were her wins at Vienna and
Sopot, all Tier III events.
The two players have played each other twice previously,
with Smashnova winning 7-5, 6-7(6), 6-2 as the top seed at
Tashkent in 1999, and Garbin upsetting a No.13-seeded Smashnova
6-2, 6-1 in the first round at the Athens Olympics last year.
Both meetings were on outdoor hardcourts, so Sunday's final
will be their first meeting on clay.
The doubles final will also be contested on Sunday, with
top seeds Gabriela Navratilova and Michaela Pastikova taking
on the unseeded team of Yulia Beygelzimer and Mervana Jugic-Salkic.
Navratilova and Pastikova ousted No.3 seeds Emmanualle Gagliardi
and Marta Marrero 67(5) 62 63 in Saturday's only doubles semifinal.
Beygelzimer and Jugic-Salkic won their semifinal on Friday
and were responsible earlier in the week for taking out No.2
seeds Loit and Yan Zi.
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Perebiynis’ Wimbledon run stopped in finals
(July 3) Playing their second match of the
day, the unseeded combination of Tatiana Perebiynis and Paul
Hanley lost in the Wimbledon Mixed Doubles finals to Mary
Pierce and Mahesh Bhupathi 6-4, 6-2.
With tournament referee Alan Mills sitting courtside for
the final Centre Court match of his 23-year stint in the job,
Bhupathi and Pierce got off to a formidable start by breaking
Ukrainian Perebiynis in the third game.
Strong service games by the Australian Hanley kept his team
in the first set, but ultimately they could not match the
power and precision of their bigger opponents. Pierce and
Bhupathi took the first set on the third opportunity, Bhupathi
drawing chalk with a powerful serve.
The second set followed a similar pattern but with Perebiynis
now tiring, Pierce and Bhupathi were able to break her serve
to go up 5-2. It was left to Pierce to serve for the match
and despite a spectacularly wild smash, she completed the
win with a forehand winner up the centre of the court.
The win caps a successful summer for Pierce. Her efforts
in the Mixed event this week have underlined the fact that
she is fit once again and in cracking good form. On many occasions
today she was able to outgun her male opponent.
For Bhupathi, the win will salve the disappointment of his
second round loss in the Men's Doubles with the retiring Todd
Woodbridge.
Despite today's loss, Hanley and Perebiynis had a great run
over the fortnight, in an event that has included many fine
matches. Along the way they beat three seeded teams, including
Kevin Ullyet and Liezel Huber (No.4) in the semi-finals on
Sunday morning.
The champions, too, disposed of several more fancied teams
on their way to the title, including defending champions and
No.2 seeds Wayne and Cara Black in the second round, and No.3
seeds Jonas Bjorkman and Lisa Raymond in the semis.
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Perebiynis reaches Wimbledon mixed semis
(July 1) Tatiana Perebiynis and Paul Hanley
are through to the semi-finals of the mixed doubles at Wimbledon
after defeating the Argentine pair of Mariano Hood and Gisela
Dulko in straight sets 6-3, 6-4.
After the first six games went with serve, the Ukranian and
Australian
combination gained control after breaking the weak Dulko serve.
The
combination of the powerful and accurate returns of 27-year-old
Hanley and the quick feet of baby-faced Perebiynis at the
net was running Dulko and Hood ragged all over the court.
Although they fought hard, the Argentines found themselves
continually under pressure, defending the quick instinctive
volleys of the lively Perebiynis and former semi-finalist
Hanley.
In the second set, Hanley and Perebiynis really started to
enjoy themselves, giving each other high-fives and hugs if
a point was won or lost. They achieved another crucial break
of the Dulko serve after a double fault and a blistering backhand
return in the tramlines by 22-year-old Perebiynis.
A superb angled return by Dulko, who famously knocked Martina
Navratilova out in the second round of the singles last year,
brought the Argentine pair their first break point of the
match at 3-2. However, some excellent defensive volleying
by Perebiynis in a 15-stroke point they never looked like
winning stifled the opportunity. It was then down to Hanley
to close out proceedings at 5-4.
Despite a slight wobble on Hanley's first match point with
a double fault, the pair finally went through after Dulko
drifted a forehand return long.
The pair will now play the winner of today's match between
Australian Open champions Kevin Ullyet and Liezel Huber and
Wimbledon legend Martina Navratilova and Mike Bryan.
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