Extreme Sport Site

Goosen - out in 32 at Akron.
GOLDEN GOOSEN CLAIMS EARLY LEAD

Retief Goosen was the early front-runner at Firestone Country Club today as the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational got under way in Akron, Ohio.

The South African covered the front nine of the 7,400-yard, par-70 South Course in a three-under-par 32, and had carded the fourth and fifth birdies of his opening round at the 10th and 11th holes to lead the morning starters in the 81-man field by a stroke at five under, having played 13 holes on a warm and sunny morning.

Goosen’s compatriot Tim Clark was at four under, starting from the 10th tee, having made the turn with a three birdie, one bogey 33 and then birdying the first and second holes.

Last weekend’s Canadian Open winner Chez Reavie continued his fine form in a group of four players on two under that also included Chad Campbell, Rocco Mediate, Rory Sabbatini and Vijay Singh.

Open champion Padraig Harrington, however, was struggling on his return to action following his Royal Birkdale triumph.

The Irishman, who successfully defended his Open title with a four-shot victory ahead of Ian Poulter 11 days ago, had been hoping to shake off a little staleness after a week of celebrations at home in Ireland.

Instead, after a solid opening four holes from the 10th tee, he carded a double-bogey six at the 467-yard 14th hole to go two over par.

Harrington grabbed those shots back with successive birdies at the 16th and 17th holes only to bogey the 18th to turn for home in a one-over-par 36.

The rollercoaster continued with a bogey at the first and birdie at the second

Royal Birkdale runner-up Poulter also returned to action following the best major finish of his career to continue his bid for an automatic Ryder Cup place.

With five events to go, and lying just outside the qualifying places in both the world points list and the European points table, Poulter is hoping to secure his place within the next 14 days at the Bridgestone and next week’s final major of the year, the US PGA Championship at Oakland Hills, both of which are big points-scoring events.

The Englishman took a positive step towards his goal with a birdie at the par-three 15th, his sixth hole of the opening round.

A bogey five at the 400-yard 17th gave Poulter an outward even-par 35 before he got back on track with a birdie at the 526-yard, par-five second hole to leave him at one under after 14.

Had it not been for season-ending knee surgery last month, world number one Tiger Woods would have been bidding for a fourth Bridgestone title in a row and seventh overall.

Stewart Cink, one of the pre-tournament favourites and one of only four golfers to have broken Woods’ stranglehold on this event in its 10-year history, started brightly from the 10th tee with birdies at the 11th and 15th holes only to bogey 16 and the first to leave him even after 11 holes.

Another former Firestone champion, 2003 winner Darren Clarke, was one over playing with Harrington, while Colin Montgomerie was among those struggling to find form.

Starting at the 10th, the Scot recorded consecutive bogeys at 11, 12 and 13 to go out in a three-over-par 38 before a birdie at the 399-yard, par-four first clawed a shot back.

Bougherra - signs for Rangers.
GERS SIGN BOUGHERRA

Rangers have announced the 2.5million signing of Algeria defender Madjid Bougherra from Charlton.

The 25-year-old completed a medical at Murray Park before signing a four-year deal with the Ibrox side on Thursday night.

The French-born player can play in the middle of a back four or as a defensive midfielder.

He was signed by Charlton three days before the end of the January transfer window in 2007.

Bougherra moved to The Valley from Sheffield Wednesday in a 2.5million deal.

Wednesday had paid Crewe 300,000 for his services in 2006.

Hamilton and McLaren are a happy team now.
HAMILTON HAPPY WITH McLAREN FAMILY

Lewis Hamilton feels McLaren have shaken off the “excess baggage” that blighted his championship bid last season, ensuring he is in better shape to win this year’s title.

Exactly a year ago Hamilton headed into the Hungarian Grand Prix with an 18-point cushion to Kimi Raikkonen, a lead he stretched to 20 with a narrow victory at the Hungaroring.

But behind the scenes in Budapest, the wheels started to fall off McLaren’s dual title bid, ultimately resulting in Hamilton missing out on the crown by a point to Raikkonen.

The simmering feud with then team-mate Fernando Alonso developed into an all-out war during qualifying, which led to clear-the-air talks prior to the next race in Turkey.

But more pertinently, Alonso was embroiled in a bust-up with team boss Ron Dennis on the morning of the race as he demanded number one status, otherwise he would blow the lid on the spy scandal.

Dennis refused, so re-opening a can of worms as McLaren had been previously cleared of any wrongdoing by world governing body, the FIA.

It culminated in the team being fined a sporting record 50million and stripped of all constructors’ points for the season.

A year on, and with Alonso out of the picture as he and McLaren parted company at the end of last year and with the spy saga now consigned to the history books, McLaren are a far more harmonious team.

It is for that reason Hamilton, who again leads the way ahead of this weekend’s race in Hungary, is fully focused on the title.

“We’re having a much smoother year,” said Hamilton, who holds a four-point lead over Felipe Massa and seven to Raikkonen.

“It’s a lot more relaxed, there’s a nicer environment. Things are how they should be.

“We’re here to race, we’re focusing on that, and that’s the most important thing. There are no distractions.

“It’s a much better position to be in, and that’s where every team aims to be.

“Without those distractions, we all feel as a team it’s of benefit going forward if we are to go on and win the title.

“We don’t have any excess baggage on our shoulders, no stress like that.

“We just have the excitement of working hard to improve the car and of scoring points. That’s where everyone wants to be.

“I’ve also a solid relationship with my team-mate (Heikki Kovalainen), and that helps.”

After dominant back-to-back victories at Silverstone and Hockenheim in the British and German Grands Prix, Hamilton claims his McLaren is “the best it has been this season.”

In terms of confidence and his mental health, the 23-year-old could also not be in better shape.

“When you have a bad weekend - not coming second or third because that’s a good weekend - but I’m talking about a bad weekend, you go into the next race and you think ‘okay, let’s start again’,” added Hamilton.

“You try to do everything the same, but you make sure you don’t make a mistake or whatever was the problem in the previous race. You just hope the weekend goes well.

“But when you come off a win you don’t have any thoughts like ‘I hope nothing happens at this race’.

“You just plan to do exactly the same thing you did in the previous race, and you feel relaxed.

“You don’t have any confusion in the back of your mind, or any thoughts of what could go wrong, you are just thinking of the positives.”

That is the way Hamilton is currently thinking and feeling, however he knows he cannot take anything for granted, and that Ferrari are likely to hit back as they did last year.

“They’ve still a fantastic car and two very good drivers, and they’re a great team,” remarked Hamilton.

“I’ve no doubts they will be fighting very hard with us at the front this weekend.

“Every time you come to a race you are obviously looking out for them, as well as BMW, Red Bull and Renault of course.

“You just have to focus on your job, bearing in mind they will all be quick and hunting you down.”

Federer - set to lose top ranking now.
FEDERER BEATEN AGAIN

Roger Federer crashed out of the Western and Southern Financial Group Masters on Thursday at the hands of Ivo Karlovic.

The Swiss top seed found the big-serving Croatian too much to handle as he slumped to a 7-6 (8/6) 4-6 7-6 (7/5) in the third round.

Federer’s failure to reach the quarter-finals could prove even more costly as he will now lose his world number one ranking if Rafael Nadal wins the tournament.

The first set went with serve and the tie-break also proved a close affair, but the key moment came when 16th seed Karlovic stopped mid-point to challenge a line call, with Hawk-eye showing Federer had pushed his shot long.

That gave Karlovic set point on serve and the Croatian took full advantage to wrap up the opener.

Federer was determined to get back into the clash and earned two break points in game three of the second set, but Karlovic used his biggest weapon - his serve - to produce his 14th and 15th aces and save them both.

The Swiss then struggled through his next service game but held thanks to two angled forehands and an ace of his own.

But Federer finally secured the first break of the match in game five as Karlovic sent a forehand long, and it proved vital as the world number one went on to level the match.

Neither player could gain the upper hand in the third set and another tie-break was needed to settle the match.

Karlovic claimed the first two points - the second of which came on Federer’s serve - allowing him to carve out three match points.

And although the Croatian pushed the first two long, Federer then hit a long return of his own to hand the match to Karlovic.

Sergeant Cecil - retired after Goodwood run.
SERGEANT RETIRED BY PROUD MILLMAN

Rod Millman called time on his stable star and former Horse of the Year Sergeant Cecil after the veteran came home last of the eight runners in the Royal Bank of Scotland Goodwood Cup.

The immensely popular stayer has shown little in his four starts this season, prompting connections to make an on-the-spot decision about his future.

The nine-year-old captured the hearts of the racing public with his handicap wins of 2005 in the Northumberland Plate, Ebor and Cesarewitch, before successfully graduating to Group company the following year.

Millman said: “He has been wonderful and has taken us to places we never dreamed of going.

“Him winning the Cadran on Arc weekend was probably the most memorable day, along with his win in the Cesarewitch.

“We have had some great days with him and he helped to establish Alan Munro again in this country.

“He has been a credit to the girls who have looked after him but he is now nine, isn’t getting any quicker and is racing against the best group of stayers there has been.

“Coming here I was day dreaming in the car thinking that if Yeats wasn’t quite right we could stalk him and come through and beat him, but obviously he got tired.

“It has been a great ride and I want to thank all of the public for their interest in him.”

Munro added: “For me, that Cesarewitch is the race that stands out.

“I couldn’t believe he would win that but he was always a Group horse running in those handicaps.”

Munro, who partnered Generous to win the 1991 Derby, added: “He is my favourite out of all the horses I have ridden - to have been Horse of the Year as a handicapper says it all.”

Yelena Soboleva - could miss out.
DOPING CHARGES HIT RUSSIA HOPES

Russia look certain to be without Olympic 800metres gold medal hope Yelena Soboleva and several other stars in Beijing after seven of their athletes were provisionally suspended by the International Association of Athletics Federations for doping offences.

The IAAF announced on Thursday that Soboleva, the world indoor champion, and six other Russian athletes were being investigated for allegedly attempting to cheat testing procedures.

In a statement, the IAAF revealed the athletes have been charged due to “a fraudulent substitution of urine which is both a prohibited method and also a form of tampering with the doping control process”.

Middle-distance runners Tatyana Tomashova, Yulia Fomenko, Svetlana Cherkasova, and Olga Yegorova, plus throwers Daria Pishchalnikova and Gulfiya Khanafeyeva were the others named.

The statement added: “These rule violations were established following the deliberate storage of samples by the IAAF and re-analysis using comparative DNA techniques, and were the result of a specific investigation which was instigated and carried out by the IAAF for more than a year.”

Soboleva twice broke the world indoor 1,500m record this year, initially at the Russian indoor championships where she ran three minutes 58.05seconds on February 10, and then at the world indoor championships a month later where she clocked 3min 57.71sec.

Last summer’s world championships runner-up currently tops both the world 800m and 1,500m rankings with recent times of 1min 54.85sec and 3min 56.59sec.

Tomashova won the 2003 world 1,500m title in Paris before successfully defending it two years later in Helsinki.

Fomenko placed second behind Soboleva after winning the 800m title in Moscow in 2006, before going on to claim the silver medal at that year’s European Championships.

Cherkasova has this season clocked 1min 58.37sec and 4min 6.58sec while Yegorova won the 2001 world 5,000m title in controversial circumstances.

Cherkasova and Yegorova were not named in the Russian Olympic team and the suspensions leave the country without a female entrant in the 1,500m in Beijing.

Discus thrower Daria Pishchalnikova is the reigning European champion and heads this year’s rankings with a best of 67.28m.

Khanafeyeva was the European silver medallist two years ago and won this year’s Russian title with a 75.07m.

The athletes have up to 14 days to request a hearing with the Russian federation.

Ricco - suspended from competition.
RICCO BANNED AFTER DOPING ADMISSION

Tour de France cyclist Riccardo Ricco has been suspended from all competition with immediate effect by an Italian Olympic Committee anti-doping tribunal.

The 24-year-old tested positive for EPO during this month’s Tour, prompting the withdrawal of his Saunier Duval-Scott team.

A statement from CONI read: “The anti-doping tribunal has ordered the athlete Riccardo Ricco to be immediately suspended from all competition.”

The tribunal did not give any indication as to the length of Ricco’s ban.

Ricco admitted to the tribunal on Wednesday that he had taken EPO during the Tour, but maintained he had not used doping products during the Giro d’Italia in May, where he won two stages.

“After the Giro, I was mentally and physically tired,” Ricco told the tribunal.

“At the Giro I was clean, but then the Wednesday before the end of the race [I doped].

“It was an error of youth.”

Ricco faces a two-year suspension from racing and possible criminal prosecution in France for possession.

Ricco, from Emilio-Romagna, used a third-generation strain of EPO known as ‘CERA’, which was undetectable to testers until recently.

A climbing specialist, he won two mountain stages in the Tour de France, before Saunier Duval team-mate Leonardo Piepoli took victory in the summit finish at Hautacam.

Inkster - brilliant round of 65.
INKSTER ROLLS BACK THE YEARS

American Juli Inkster, at 48 the oldest player in the field, took a leaf out of Greg Norman’s book when the Ricoh Women’s British Open began at Sunningdale.

On a day when Annika Sorenstam kicked off her last major before retirement with only a level par 72, Inkster grabbed an eagle and five birdies for a seven under 65.

Victory on Sunday would make her the oldest winner of a women’s major in history - and that, of course, only two weeks after 53-year-old Norman led the Open at Birkdale with nine holes to play before slipping back to joint third.

Inkster played her first major 30 years ago and said: “I always thought I would play about five years, have a couple of kids and retire.

“I’m kind of unique. Golf is what I do. I have a family and I enjoy being home, but I also enjoy what I do.

“I don’t think Annika could come out here and finish 15th or 12th on the money list and live with herself. I’m OK with that. Golf’s not the end of the world for me.”

While Norman’s performance was a total surprise, Inkster’s was not. The mother-of-two, already with seven majors to her name, is still in the world’s top 20 and was unbeaten when America retained the Solheim Cup in Sweden last year.

Defending champion and world number one Lorena Ochoa had a chance to match the Californian’s score when she stood five under with four to go, but bogeys at the 16th and 17th meant she had to settle for a three under 69.

Sorenstam would happily have taken that, but it was never on from the moment she bogeyed three of the first six holes.

“I’ve never made as many bogeys as I have the last three months and it’s driving me crazy,” commented the 37-year-old Swede, who is calling time on her glittering career at the end of the season to pursue other interests and possibly start a family.

“I was looking forward to a wonderful day and get some momentum going. It’s so disappointing when I can’t post something low and I don’t really know what to do - I can’t seem to play 18 holes.”

England’s Johanna Head and Rebecca Hudson, one Orlando-based and the other perfectly happy staying in Europe despite all the riches on offer in the States, put themselves into contention with rounds of 66 and 67 respectively.

Head’s twin sister Sam is also playing in the event, while her husband Terry is in Ohio this week working as Ian Poulter’s caddie

at the Bridgestone world championship.

Even though she has yet to win in America, the 35-year-old said: “My game has improved so much there.”

Hudson, twice a winner this season, is not tempted by a switch across the Atlantic.

“The people I want to be with aren’t there. If you are not happy what’s the point?” she commented.

Out on the course Inkster’s Solheim Cup team-mate Stacy Prammanasudh was six under and joint second with seven to play, while England’s Karen Stupples, winner of the title on the course in 2004, had four successive birdies to reach five under before bogeying the long 14th.

Olympic hopes on APTN!

GATINEAU, July 29th 2008 – As the Beijing Summer Games are on the horizon and Olympic fever is about to consume the world, Nish Media proudly presents its television documentary series “The Journey”. The series, fully produced in HD, is set to air starting on August 4th on the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network(APTN). It follows the path of 4 aspiring Olympians and their quest to represent Canada at the summer Olympics.

“In many cases, Olympic athletes give their entire lives in hopes of one day achieving their dream. Obviously, the general public will only remember the athletes that won a medal at the games but no one really knows about the process and the sacrifices put into each athlete’s Journey to get there. That’s what we have tried to express in this series”, explains Jason Brennan, producer and director.

As the viewers watch true drama unfold, they will witness the triumphs and disappointments that elite athletes face throughout their careers. The featured athletes are Richard Peter, with the Men’s National Wheelchair Basketball Team, Monica Pinette, a modern pentathlete, David Gill, middle distance runner and Dallas Soonias, member of the Senior Men’s National Volleyball Team.

Each of these athletes have gone through a unique and memorable Journey.

Broadcast schedule:
August 4th 2008, 9:00 PM The Journey- Dallas Soonias
August 5th 2008, 9:00 PM The Journey- Richard Peter
August 6th 2008, 9:00 PM The Journey- Monica Pinette
August 7th 2008, 9:00 PM The Journey- David Gill
Established in the Outaouais area, Nish Media-Television Productions specialises in television programming for mass audiences and corporate video.

Let Nish tell your story…
For more information, contact Jason Brennan at 819-770-3281 ext. 203.

Tonight’s game is Rained Out & will go Thursday, July 31/08 @ 7:30

Hamilton Thunderbirds playoff game with the London Majors has been postponed because of rain and wet field conditions, and has been rescheduled for tomorrow night (Thursday, July 31) in Hamilton’s Bernie Arbour Memorial Stadium.

Game time is 7:30 p.m.

Hamilton leads the best-of-seven quarterfinal series 2-1 in games.

Bernie Arbour Memorial Stadium is situated at the corner of Mohawk Road East and Upper Kenilworth.