Sports News

In this week's sports news: young Czech skier Sarka Zahrobska has the best week of her career; a good weekend for Tomas Rosicky in England's FA Cup; Liberec march on in ice hockey's Extraliga; and Czech NHL star Jaromir Jagr is sidelined with a groin injury.

Skier Sarka Zahrobska gives best performace of career to date

Sarka Zahrobska, photo: CTK

Young Czech skier Sarka Zahrobska has just enjoyed the best week of her career. Last Thursday she finished third in the slalom in Zagreb and on Sunday she came second in a World Cup giant slalom race in the Slovenian resort of Kranjska Gora, which now puts her in the top ten overall for the World Championships. It's a result which has delighted her father and trainer Petr Zahrobsky:

"I consider this result to be a real breakthrough for Sarka, because it is very valuable in terms of points. It makes it a lot easier for us in the slalom, because we managed to score a big success in the giant slalom in the world cup. It's her best result ever. Now she's in tenth place in the overall standings for the world championship. This is all the more impressive because the competition was tougher here."

On current form, Zahrobska must now be considered a serious candidate for a medal at next month's World Cup meeting at Aare in Sweden.

Czech footballers among the goals in England's FA Cup

Tomas Rosicky

Moving on to football now and it was a good weekend for Czech international Tomas Rosicky in the third round of England's FA cup. The Czech captain scored two smartly taken goals for Arsenal in a 3-1 away win against Liverpool on Saturday to put his side through to the next stage of the world's oldest knock-out competition. The goals couldn't have come at a better time for the midfielder, who has only just got back into the side after struggling with injuries since moving to Arsenal at the start of the season.

Staying with the English FA cup, and Rosicky's international team-mate Milan Baros also scored for his club Aston Villa at the weekend. Unfortunately it wasn't enough to stop his team being eliminated from the competition 2-1 by Manchester United on Sunday.

Nevertheless, getting on the score sheet will have done Baros's confidence no harm, as he had previously scored only once in eighteen appearances for his club this season. The unsettled striker has been the subject of much transfer speculation of late, and there are rumours that he may even attract a bid from English champions Chelsea during the January transfer window.

Ajax Amsterdam's Czech defender Zdenek Grygera has also been attracting attention from other clubs. Juventus Turin have already made a firm offer for the player and now Inter Milan have also expressed an interest in him.

Liberec stay top of ice hockey Extraliga

Liberec - Pilsen, photo: CTK

Meanwhile in Czech ice hockey's Extraliga, Litvinov eased their relegation worries with a surprise 3-1 win over an in-form Pardubice side. The result will come as a relief to fans of the North Bohemian team, who have only won one of their last eight matches. Third-placed Sparta Prague also suffered a shock 3-2 defeat at the hands of Trinec and they are now six points behind the league leaders Liberec, who are on 73 points after recording an easy 6-2 win over Pilsen. Ceske Budejovice remain in second place on 71 points after brushing Kladno aside 4-2.

Groin injuries for NHL stars Jagr, Michalek, and Havlat

Finally, Czech New York Rangers star Jaromir Jagr had to come off early in Saturday's NHL match against Montreal with a groin strain. Jagr has so far refused to comment on how serious the injury is and whether he'll be sidelined for a long time. Two of the Czech Republic's other NHL stars - Milan Michalek from San Jose and Martin Havlat from Chicago - are also out injured with groin strains.