I Dig Sports
Cubs' Bryant exits vs. Cards with ankle sprain
CHICAGO -- Chicago Cubs third baseman Kris Bryant left Sunday's game against the St. Louis Cardinals with a right ankle sprain after landing awkwardly at first base trying to beat out a double play.
Bryant, 27, hit a ground ball to third base in the bottom of the third inning as Cardinals third baseman Matt Carpenter began the double play opportunity. Bryant was hustling down the line and made a final stride toward the bag but rolled his ankle as he hit it. He left for X-rays, which revealed no fracture.
The Cubs veteran has already been dealing with a right knee issue that has plagued him throughout the second half. He was helped off the field by the Cubs' training staff, placing little weight on his right foot. Ian Happ took over at third base for him.
Bryant is the reigning player of the week in the National League but has slumped this week as the Cubs have fallen further out of the playoff race.
Minnesota Twins designated hitter Nelson Cruz hit the 400th home run of his career on Sunday.
The 412-foot shot to right-center in the fourth inning against the Kansas City Royals also was the 40th for Cruz this season, his first with the Twins.
Cruz becomes the 10th Dominican-born player to reach 400 home runs in his career.
He is also the fourth active player with 400 home runs, joining Albert Pujols, Miguel Cabrera and Edwin Encarnacion.
This is Cruz's fourth season with 40 or more home runs in his 15 major league seasons.
Aldershot’s men and Cambridge’s women take South Relays honours
Birchfield secure a senior double at the Midlands event
Southern 6/4/3-stage Road Relays, Crystal Palace, September 22
Aldershot’s men gained their seventh win in the last decade as they retained the men’s six-stage title in 1:41:11 by 40 seconds from Serpentine, whose second place equalled their best ever result, while Bedford took bronze a further 10 seconds back.
Cambridge and Coleridge’s women won an exciting senior women’s race by five seconds for their second ever victory in the event.
Reading, who led on to the finish on the famous Crystal Palace track, had the consolation of their first ever medals.
Aldershot, who had won the women’s race every year from 2006 to 2017, barring Cambridge’s 2015 win, took the bronze medals.
Their men were only sixth after two legs but Gus Cockle’s 16:47 took them ahead and then Ricky Harvie, Joe Morwood and Ellis Cross stretched the lead.
The 3:39 1500m man James McMurray of St Albans, who narrowly led the opening leg, was the unofficial fastest with 16:22.
Cambridge and Coleridge’s win had a lot to do with Holly Archer’s anchor leg. Setting off in third, she blasted a 15:08 final leg, the fastest of the day, to catch Reading’s Jess Gibbons just before the finish line.
Guildford’s Hannah Irwin was second fastest thanks to her opening leg ‘victory’ in 15:32.
The veteran women’s race was far more clearcut and Arena 80 won by two and half minutes with their opening leg runner Caroline Hoyte the fastest by a minute with a 16:25 leg. Kent AC were second and Winchester third.
In 2002, Hoyte only lost out on the fastest lap senior award because of world 5000m champion Sonia O’Sullivan.
The inaugural W50 race saw a predictable win for Dulwich Runners by a massive seven minutes from Woking and South London.
Clare Elms, fresh from her six gold medals at the previous week’s European Masters Championships, ran the fastest leg by two minutes with a 16:35 clocking and only Hoyte ran quicker than the W55 in the combined vets race.
Dulwich also picked up a medal in the M40s after their Buzz Shephard led the opening leg with a 18:17 but the clear winners in the end were Kent AC. They already led into the last leg and had Chris Greenwood on the final leg.
Greenwood had already run a 17:11 opening leg for Kent’s senior team and a hour later he produced a 18:04 to be the fastest master.
Herne Hill were third.
In the M50 race, Brighton’s Graham Godden finished strongly with a 18:46 final leg to overhaul Aldershot’s European Masters 1500m champion Mark Symes and win by 10 seconds. Colchester were third. The fastest leg was set by Thames Valley’s Andy Mitchell.
The M60 race was dominated by South London who won by seven minutes with David Ogden easily the fastest leg with a 20:59.
Barnet and Southampton took the other medals.
South London also won the under-13 boys’ race.
Chiltern won the under-13 girls’ race by an astonishing two minutes.
Bracknell won the under-15 boys’ race from South London while Windsor narrowly won the under-15 girls’ event.
Windsor won the under-17 race by an even smaller margin of just five seconds from Aldershot who did win a close finish in the under-17 women’s race by three seconds from Shaftesbury.
Fastest legs in the younger age groups went to U17s Will Barnicoat of Windsor (14:17) and Martha Collings of Woking (10:51), U15s Sam Nesbitt of Kingston (10:04) and Antonia Jubb of St Albans (11:09) and U13s Alden Collier of Chiltern (10:24) and Lily Slack of Tonbridge (11:14).
Overall, while the Crystal Palace track and stadium is a popular start and finish, many thought the route chosen was a disappointment with the same narrow and twisting loop around the car park used again, as it was last year, when the park and old motor racing circuit offers better alternatives.
Midland Area Combined Autumn Road Relays, Sutton Park, September 21
Despite its autumn date, it was more like a midsummer’s day that greeted the more than 400 teams gathering for the championships, Martin Duff reports.
Birchfield again came out on top in both of the senior races as Tipton retained their masters title.
Photo by David Griffiths
It was even-steven in the young athletes’ events as both Wreake & Soar Valley and Birchfield each took two golds and a silver.
The fastest laps in the senior events, both of which had more than 100 teams finishing, came in the final circuits. Hayley Carruthers blasted out the best women’s lap after taking over well in the lead.
She was more than 40 seconds clear of the next best, who was Gemma Steel bringing former winners Charnwood up to second after passing Taunton and Bristol on the final lap.
Omar Ahmed also front-ran the fastest lap for Birchfield, after Will Richardson, something of a course specialist, gave his club the lead by the end of the fourth stage, with the second-best time of the men’s race. This left second placed Bristol & West more than two minutes down in a distant second.
Earlier, Birchfield got their successful day under way with victory in the opening event, the under-13 boys’, where their fastest also came on the final stage, through Ash Burgess, before they added the under-17 men’s race to give them four team golds. They added a silver in the under-15 boys’ race behind Rushcliffe.
It was Wreake who dominated the girls’ races with firstly a win in the U13s as opening stage runner Shaikira King was fastest. Her sister Indienne then anchored Wreake to their second gold, in the U17 event, where Birchfield’s Ella Semple was quickest.
By that time, Wreake had added an U15 girls’ silver behind Saffron, whose Elsie Robinson was fastest.
A round-up of last weekend’s Northern Relays action can be found here.
More in-depth reports will feature in Thursday’s AW magazine.
Naomi Osaka wins Pan Pacific Open by beating Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova
Naomi Osaka said her first Pan Pacific Open title win in her hometown was "special" after she beat Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in straight sets.
Osaka, 21, who had twice finished runner-up at the tournament, beat the Russian 6-2 6-3.
The world number four said: "This is the city where I was born and that gave me a lot of power to play match after match.
"I love playing here and see you all next year."
It was Osaka's first title since lifting the Australian Open in Melbourne in January.
There was also tournament success on Sunday for Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic as she thrashed Poland's Magda Linette 6-1 6-1 to win the Korea Open in Seoul, her first WTA title.
On the ATP Tour, Daniil Medvedev was victorious on home soil, defeating Croatia's Borna Coric 6-3 6-1 to lift the St Petersburg Open in Russia. It was a third title of 2019 for the world number four and an impressive response in his first event since his epic five-set defeat by Rafael Nadal in the US Open final.
At the Moselle Open in Metz, home favourite Jo-Wilfried Tsonga won the title for a fourth time, coming out on top 6-7 7-6 6-3 over Aljaz Bedene of Slovenia. Of Tsonga's 18 tour titles, 10 have come in his native France.
Murray doubts he can return to 'very best' after hip surgery
Britain's Andy Murray said it would be "naive" and "silly" to think he will ever return to his "very best" following hip surgery.
Murray, 32, has mainly competed in doubles matches this year, and is now playing "pain-free" following career-saving treatment in January.
The three-time Grand Slam champion continues his singles comeback at the Zhuhai Championships in China.
"I'm not expecting to get back to my very best," he said.
"I think it would be probably a bit naive and silly to think that would be the case.
"I do feel like tennis-wise I can still compete at the highest level in terms of my skill, it's just whether physically I can get to a high enough level to be competitive right at the top."
The Scot faces world number 72 Tennys Sandgren in the first round in Guangdong on Tuesday - the first of three tournaments in China in as many weeks - as he steps up his bid to recapture his singles form.
The former world number one, now ranked 413th, admits he still has "quite a way to go" but is "enjoying" his comeback and if he "stops improving" he will make a call on his future.
Murray, who made the quarter-finals of the Cincinnati Masters doubles with partner Feliciano Lopez last month, added: "Tennis has always been a huge part of my life, but I realised that actually my health was the most important thing for a happy life and I had always been worried about what life might look like after tennis, but now I'm not worried.
"I had a glimpse these last few months and it was brilliant - hanging out with friends and family, and it was great. "
After Zhuhai, Murray is set to compete in the China Open in Beijing and the Shanghai Masters, before he returns to Europe to take part in the European Open in Antwerp, which begins on 13 October.
Murray Trophy: Jamie Murray & John-Patrick Smith lose in doubles final
Top seeds Jamie Murray and John-Patrick Smith lost in the doubles final of the inaugural Murray Trophy in Glasgow to Ruben Bemelmans and Daniel Masur.
The Belgian-German pair prevailed 4-6 6-3 10-8, sealing victory via a champions tie-break.
Murray, playing with Australian Smith, was the last Briton remaining in the seven-day ATP Challenger tournament he has worked with the LTA to curate.
"It's been an amazing week of tennis," the 33-year-old said.
"I wanted to give people the chance to come out and watch tennis in Scotland and get to experience a live professional tennis event.
"I'm disappointed to lose the final but the guys played well, came back strong in the second set and held their nerve well in the tie-break. It was a good level match."
Later on Sunday, Finland's Emil Ruusuvuori beat Frenchman Alexandre Muller 6-3 6-1 to win the singles title and claim his third ATP crown of the season.
More success, prominent names add team titles to medal haul
In the men’s team events, Fabien Lamirault partnered Stéphane Molliens to success in class 1-2; Thomas Schmidberger joined forces with Thomas Brüchle to secure gold in class 3; Abdullah Ozturk allied with Nesim Turan to emerge the class 4 champions.
Likewise, in class 8, it was success for Viktor Didukh in partnership with Ivan Mai; in class 9 for Patryk Chojnowski alongside Igor Misztal. Not to be left out in the women’s team events, in class 4-5, Borislava Peric-Rankovic paired with Nada Matic to claim the top prize.
Top seeds prevail
Success and success as predicted, all started proceedings in the top seeded position. Likewise, Great Britain’s Paul Karabardak and David Wetherill justified their top seeded position in class 6, as did Spain’s Alvaro Valera and Jordi Morales in class 7.
“I didn’t even have the energy to celebrate at the end; that is how tired I am. Sometimes my bones turn to concrete and it is hard to get the feel for the ball but I was just pleased to get the win to be honest. We were expected to win so there was a bit of pressure on us which is why it is nice to come through. It has been a good week and I would have taken it five days ago.” David Wetherill
“Our doubles massively improved today but it helped that the teams we were playing in the doubles today were not so awkward. They were more orthodox and easier to play even though they were better teams. I think that was important because when you win the doubles it puts you in the driving seat. It is fantastic to be the best team in Europe.” Paul Karabardak
Similarly, Poland’s Patryk Chojnowski and Igor Misztal justified their top billing in class 10, a situation that applied also in class 11 to the French combination of Lucas Creange, Antoine Zhao and Timothe Ivaldi. The top prize as status advised, in the women’s team events, it was the same in class 1-3 for Croatia’s Helena Dreter and Adela Muzinic, as it was in class 11 for Russia’s Anzhelika Kosacheva and Maria Galkina.
Surprise winners
Wins as anticipated but there were surprises. In the men’s team events, Turkey’s Hamza Caliskan and Ali Ozturk emerged the unexpected winners; they recorded a 2-0 win in the final against top seeded Frenchmen Alexandre Delarque and Nicolas Savant-Aira to arrest the title.
Impressive from Hamza Caliskan and Ali Ozturk, it was the same in class 9 from Ukraine’s Lev Kats and Maksym Nikolenko. After recording a 2-0 penultimate round success against the top seeds, the Belgian combination of Ben Despineux, Laurens Devos and Mark Ledoux; they emerged successful by the same margin against the no.2 seeds, Sweden’s Emil Andersson and Lev Daniel Gustafsson to arrest the title.
Mixed fortunes for Poland
Unexpected outcomes, it was the same in the women’s team competition with Poland experiencing both sides of the coin.
Contrary to expectations Dajana Jastrzebska and Katarzyna Marszal emerged victorious in class 6-8. They recorded a 2-1 semi-final success against the no.2 seeds, Russia’s Raisa Chebanika and Elena Litvinenko prior to securing victory in the same manner in the final in opposition to Germany’s Stephanie Grebe and Juliane Wolf. The previous day, the top seeds, the French pairing of Thu Kamkasomphu and Anne Barneoud had experienced a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Dajana Jastrzebska and Katarzyna Marszal, a result that meant third place in the group and elimination.
An unexpected success for Poland, in class 10, it was a somewhat unexpected defeat; at the final hurdle, the top seeded pairing of Natalia Partyka and Karoline Pek suffered a 2-0 reverse at the hands of Turkey’s Merve Demir and Umran Ertis.
Play concluded in Helsingborg, attention now turns to Lahti, the 2019 Finland Para Open commences on Friday 11th October.
China repeats earlier success, all four titles secured
Xiong Mengyang, Niu Guankai and Yang Qulong combined to win junior boys’ team gold; in the counterpart junior girls’ team competition it was the top prize for the combination of Yuan Yuan, Wu Yangchen and Zang Xiaotong.
Likewise, for the cadet boys, Chen Yuanyu, Lin Shidong and Zhang Minghao emerged successful; a feat that was emulated by the cadet girls trio of Chen Yi, Kuai Man and Leng Yutong.
Niu Guankai
Winner of the junior boys’ singles title, Niu Guankai proved the backbone of his team’s success; in the final facing colleagues Cao Yantao, Quan Kaiyuan and Liang Guodong, he remained unbeaten accounting for both Quan Kaiyuan (11-5, 12-10, 11-8) and Cao Yantao (11-8, 11-9, 7-11, 8-11, 11-6) in a full distance 3-2 success.
Likewise, prior to a 3-0 semi-final win in opposition to Chinese Taipei’s Tai Ming-Wei, Li Hsin-Yu and Peng Chih; Niu Guankai had emerged the backbone of the 3-2 win when facing the outfit formed by Japan’s Yuto Abe and Hiroto Sato who joined forces with Germany’s Dominik Jonack. Impressively, he beat both Hiroto Sato (11-7, 13-11, 11-5) and Yuto Abe (13-11, 6-11, 11-7, 5-11, 13-11).
Elena Zaharia asks questions
Full distance five match wins for the boys’ team champions; for Yuan Yuan, Wu Yangchen and Zang Xiaotong, a 3-1 margin of victory was the outcome in the junior girls’ team final in opposition to Romania’s Elena Zaharia, Tania Plaian and Denisa Uritu.
The player to cause China problems was Elena Zaharia, in the opening match of the fixture she overcame Yuan Yuan (4-11, 12-10, 11-9, 3-11, 11-7).
Earlier in the day en route to the final, the Chinese trio had recorded a 3-0 win in opposition to Italy’s Jamila Laurenti, Arianna Barani and Valentino Roncallo, prior to securing the same margin of success in the penultimate round when facing Chinese Taipei’s Cai Fong-En, Chen Ci-Xuan and Chu Yi-Ching.
Comprehensive wins
Meanwhile, in both the cadet boys’ team and cadet girls’ team events the titles were secured without an individual match being surrendered.
At the quarter-final stage of the cadet boys’ team event, Chen Yuanyu, Lin Shidong and Zhang Minghao secured a 3-0 win against Spain’s Daniel Berzosa and Marc Miro, before enjoying the same margin of success when confronting Chinese Taipei’s Chang Yu-An and Chen Yen-Ting. A place in the final booked, the outcome was no different, a comprehensive win was recorded in opposition to Hungary’s David Szantosi and Erik Huzsvar.
Likewise, in the cadet girls’ team event, Chen Yi, Kuai Man and Leng Yutong proved irrepressible; a direct entry to the semi-finals, they beat the Russian combination of Anasatasiia Beresnova, Anastasia Sizova and Vasilisa Danilova, prior to securing the title at the final expense of Brazil’s Guilia Takahashi and Laura Watanabe.
Play concludes on Sunday 22nd September, the day on which the winners of the cadet boys’ singles, cadet girls’ singles, cadet boys’ doubles and cadet girls’ doubles will be decided.
Xu Xin, Asian champion, wins in Yogyakarta
by Ian Marshall, Editor
In all Chinese affairs at the final hurdle Xu Xin beat Lin Gaoyuan, the no.3 seed (11-6, 6-11, 11-2, 11-8), a contest in which playing two steps back from the table his power overcame the fast attacking skills his adversary. Meanwhile, after trailing 6-8 in the opening game of the women’s doubles final against Chen Meng and Wang Manyu, the top seeds, it was the very same from Ding Ning and Zhu Yuling, a straight games verdict was the outcome (11-9, 11-4, 11-5).
“Ding Ning is a real great player. I only played in one event this time. W really overcome a lot difficulties. I had an injury before the tournament and even did not know if I could come and play here. Ding Ning encouraged me a lot. I think this is very important in playing doubles.” Zhu Yuling
A true audience
Earlier, in the penultimate round, Xu Xin had made sure that there would be a clean sweep of titles for China; he beat Japan’s Tomokazu Harimoto, the no.4 seed, a contest which thrilled those present in the Among Rogo Stadium.
Often we refer to those who sit in the tiered seating beholding the fare on offer as an audience. Strictly an audience is a gathering that listens to an event, a musical, a show or similar, not one that is there primarily to watch proceedings unfold as in a sporting contest. In Yogyakarta, it was an audience; first Tomokazu Harimoto gave it the vocals; then Xu Xin responded; Xu Xin won the engagement by about 140 to a 120 decibels, the match in three straight games (11-4, 11-9, 11-9).
“My mission was completed at semi-finals. Against Lin Gaoyuan I was more relaxed.” Xu Xin
Speed
Semi-final success for Xu Xin preceded the same for Lin Gaoyuan against colleague Fan Zhendong, a contest in which the skill of Lin Gaoyuan when playing over the table, especially from the backhand, was the key factor.
Fan Zhendong excels in the rallies, he was never able to exercise his trademark skills from mid-distance; he was never given time. Lin Gaoyuan prevailed in straight games (11-7, 11-6, 11-3).
Upper hand
Enthralling contests on a day which started with China having the upper hand against Japan in the women’s doubles semi-finals.
Chen Meng and Wang Manyu beat Miu Hirano and Kasumi Ishikawa, the no.3 seeds (6-11, 11-7, 11-7, 11-8); Ding Ning and Zhu Yuling accounted for Hitomi Sato and Saki Shibata, the no.5 seeds (11-6, 11-7, 11-2).
Sixth time
It is the sixth time when China has completed the clean sweep of all available titles but only the second time this century; the previous occasion being a decade ago in 1999 in Lucknow.
Furthermore, Indonesia is a happy hunting group for China; in 1982 when the tournament was held in Jakarta, they departed with a full house, almost four decades later it was no different.
French double as Alves and Dussourd win Nash Cup finals in Canada
Nash Cup winners Melissa Alves and Auguste Dussourd
Top seed Malhotra fades in the fifth
By CHRIS HANEBURY and MARK McLEAN – Squash Mad Correspondents
Melissa Alves and Auguste Dussourd made it a French double in the finals of the Nash Cup hosted by Jay Nash at the London Squash and Fitness Club in Ontario, Canada.
Women’s top seed Alves, ranked 45 in the world, ended the run of fine form shown by England’s No.2 seed Jasmine Hutton (world No.54) with a solid performance that delivered victory in straight games with a scoreline of 11-9, 11-2, 11-6 taking just 29 minutes to record.
The men’s final looked to be following the seeding as tournament favourite Vikram Malhotra of India took the opening game but No.2 seed Dussourd hit back to triumph 6-11, 11-5, 11-4, 5-11, 11-5 in 68 minutes.
Alves and Hutton shared an even start to the opening game and they traded points until it reached 9-9. Hutton then hit a backhand volley drop into the tin, and Alves won a long rally to take the game.
Alves quickly built a 4-1 lead in the second as Hutton’s length on the left wall became loose. Alves continued to dominate and powered through the game 11-2.
Hutton improved her control at the start of the third and won the first two points. But Alves regained her form to lead 5-2. Her combination of outstanding retrieval and stunning winners was a potent mix and although Hutton never gave up the battle, Alves dominated to close out the match and become the Nash Cup 2019 champion.
Malhotra and Dussourd, ranked 63 and 68 in the world, shared the opening exchanges in the men’s final but from 5-5 the Indian attacked with power and precision to win it 11-6.
Dussourd came out for the second with more purpose and slotted a superb nick early on to warn Malhotra of his attacking intentions. Malhotra was forced to undertake a huge workload chasing the ball around court as Dussourd levelled things up.
He maintained that form in the third to jump out to a 7-0 lead. After a few recovery points by Malhotra, Dussourd fell heavily but he regained cntrol to win 11-4 and move ahead by two games to one.
Dussourd tripped awkwardly again in the fourth game and was further frustrated by some refereeing calls that went against him as Malhotra regained the ascendancy to win 11-5 to level the match at 2-2.
Malhotra was unable to summon up much of a physical challenge in the fifth as Dussourd raced into a 6-2 lead. A few more tins by Malhotra stretched the Frenchman’s lead to 9-2. Malhotra was against the wall. He put together a few great rallies, managed some desperate retrieving and pulled the match to 10-5. In the end, after a spectacular rally, Dussourd took the winning point to claim the trophy.
Viva la France… that will be two French flags on the Nash Cup after tonight.
PSA Challenger Tour Nash Cup 2019, London Squash & Fitness, London, Ontario, Canada.
Women’s Final:
[1] Melissa Alves (FRA) bt [2] Jasmine Hutton (ENG) 11-9, 11-2, 11-6 (29m)
Men’s Final:
[2] Auguste Dussourd (FRA) bt [1] Vikram Malhotra (IND) 6-11, 11-5, 11-4, 5-11, 11-5 (68m)
Prize Money: Women $20k, Men $12k.
Pictures courtesy of Rael Wienburg (Nash Cup)
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