Sport | Topic Archive

Czech tennis player Tomáš Berdych, seeded 5th at the Australian Open, hit a wall on Tuesday in the form of world No. 1 Novak Djokovic. Although he showed moments of inspiration, he lost two sets very lopsidedly, twice giving Djokovic easy leads. Berdych hung on briefly in the fourth, trying to claw his way back into the match, but it wasn’t enough.

In Sports News this Monday: Ski jumper Matura tops the World Cup podium for the first time after nearly 170 attempts; Berdych reaches the quarter-finals in Melbourne; Jágr enjoys a dream start at new club Dallas; and striker Vydra now has 16 goals in 23 games for Watford.

In Sports News: Czech skier Lukáš Bauer comes in second in the Czech Republic’s biggest cross-country skiing event, the Jizerská padesátka; speed skater Sáblíková is closed out of the medals at the European Allround Speed Skating championships; Berdych, four other Czech tennis players advance, clinch opening round wins at Australian Open; legendary hockey forward Jaromír Jágr has trained for the first time with new club the Dallas Stars.

In Sports News this Monday: The end of the NHL lockout means an exodus of stars from the Czech Extraliga – Jaromír Jágr says “it’s been great”, while the Kladno coach says the players’ presence did a lot for the domestic game; Lukáš Bauer is weighing up participation in the Jizerská padesátka after a tough Tour de Ski; and Petra Kvitová’s season has got off to a poor start.

In Sports News this Monday: in football’s Europa League, Plzeň beat title holders Atletico to win their group; Czech FA boss approaches UEFA over corruption in domestic league; Czech men finish seventh at world floorball championships, and discus thrower Věra Cechlová is set to receive bronze from Athens Olympics after IOC disqualifies four medallists over doping.

The Czech football clubs Viktoria Plzeň and Sparta Prague are in the happy situation of going into their final group games in the Europa League on Thursday night having already qualified for the knock-out phase of Europe’s second-tier club competition. Their success means that it will be the first time in nine years that Czech teams are still performing on the international stage after Christmas. What is behind their success? That’s a question RP put to Karel Häring, from the Czech daily Sport.

In Sports News this Monday: Plzeň top ice hockey’s Extraliga going into the second half of the regular season; defender Marek Židlický waves goodbye after a successful return to his first club Kladno; the Czechs hammer Japan at the World Floorball Championships; and Viktoria Plzeň play Atletico Madrid to decide on top spot in their Europa League group.

Jan Kodeš recently lined up with the rest of the 1980 Davis Cup winning team alongside the Czech team that won this year’s trophy, amid joyous scenes at Prague’s O2 Arena. Kodeš, who is 66, was a member of the Czechoslovak Davis Cup side for 17 years, and later served as its non-playing captain. But his greatest successes came as a player at the French Open, which he won twice, and Wimbledon, where he lifted the trophy once.

In Sports News this Monday: Czech swimmers enjoy success at the European Short Course Swimming Championships, bringing home seven medals; the domestic soccer league goes into its winter break, with Jablonec’s David Lafata on 13 goals in 16 games; and guess which Czech athletics legend was among the first dozen inductees into the new IAAF Hall of Fame.

The International Festival of Outdoor Films has been bringing quality documentary, travel and extreme sport films to the Czech Republic and Slovakia over the last decade. In its 10th year, this year’s inception, which kicked off in Ostrava in October before travelling from town to town and city and city, is more than halfway through. In early December it is will wrap up in Prague with the winning films announced.