Sport | Topic Archive

The Czech Republic has won a bid with the International Basketball Federation to host the tournament of the 2010 World Championship in women’s basketball. The event will take place in September and October 2010 in Brno and Ostrava and as the host, the Czech national women’s basketball team will automatically qualify.

In Sports News this week: the Czech cross country skiing relay team make history with their first ever World Cup win; Slavia Prague go into the winter break as Czech football league leaders; Rosicky scores for Arsenal but ends up on the losing side, while Nedved secures three points for Juventus; Milan Hejduk notches up three goals and three assists for Colorado in an NHL game against St Louis; and the Czech Republic is chosen as the venue for the 2010 women’s basketball world championships.

In this week’s Sports News: the Czech Republic get a relatively favourable draw for football’s Euro 2008, though midfielder David Jarolim says they cannot underestimate their opponents in Group A; cross country skier Lukas Bauer is the overall World Cup leader for the first time following a fine win in Finland; speed skater Martina Sablikova is also out front in her sport’s World Cup; and Tomas Berdych is Czech tennis player of the year for the third time in a row.

Tuesday evening saw Champions League action in the Romanian capital, with football’s Steaua Bucharest hosting Czech club Slavia Prague. The Czech side needed to eke out a win or at least a tie in order to keep its hopes alive – if not for the knockout stages of the Champions League – than at least for the next best thing: a place in the UEFA CUP.

In Sports News: the Czech national football teams finished first in their qualifying group for Euro 2008 and learned their opponents in the World Cup 2010 qualification; Brno beat Sparta Prague in top football division; skiers Sarka Zahrobska and Lukas Bauer came in second in their World Cup events; as well as the latest in Czech ice-hockey.

According to one of the old Czech weather proverbs, November 11 is the first day on which we can expect snowfall, as Saint Martin arrives in the country on his white horse. This year, he came on time and made the hearts of all passionate skiers, including mine, jump for joy. Especially after last year’s miserable season...

The Czech Republic’s campaign to reach football’s Euro 2008 came to a successful end on Wednesday evening with a 2:0 away win over Cyprus. What’s more, the Czechs – at times somewhat at sea earlier in the year – finished first in their group, ahead of Germany.

On the anniversary of the Velvet Revolution, the Czech Republic’s national football team defeat Slovakia in Euro qualifying; in NHL ice hockey, the New York Rangers are on roll – Detroit’s Hasek suffers slump; boxer Konecny, injured in training, misses chance to fight for World Championship belt in November; speed skater Sablikova sets new Czech record for the 3,000 metres in Calgary.

In Sports News: world javelin champion Barbora Spotakova is named Czech Athlete of the Year for the first time; world speed skating champion Martina Sablikova wins her first World Cup race of the season; Czech footballer Radek Sirl scores the goal that seals the Russian league title for Zenit St Petersburg; and Czech league leaders Slavia Prague drop two points at Zizkov after conceding a goal in time added on.

Two weeks ago the Czech football club Slavia Prague suffered a humiliating 7:0 hammering at the hands of Arsenal, in one of the heaviest defeats in the history of the Champions League. On Wednesday night Slavia had the chance to make amends when they played host to the famous London club in Prague. And make amends they did, turning in a creditable performance, and winning a valuable point.