I Dig Sports
PORTLAND, Ore. -- The Portland Trail Blazers and Denver Nuggets are heading toward a Game 7 showdown after things got heated between the teams late in Thursday night's contest.
A scuffle broke out midway through the fourth quarter of Portland's 119-108 victory, during which Blazers guard Seth Curry and Denver forward Will Barton shoved each other. As the two were being separated, Barton appeared to poke Curry in the eye. Denver's Torrey Craig and Portland's Zach Collins also got into it as the skirmish escalated.
Officials handed out offsetting technical fouls for all four players.
Afterward, Curry took exception to the Nuggets' actions, Barton's in particular.
"He waited for a few people to get in between us, and when a few people were in between us, he put his finger in my eye," Curry said of Barton. "You know what I'm saying. I can't allow people to put their fingers in my eye.
"That's real sassy. They got a few sassy dudes over there. Front-runners. And we can't allow that."
The incident occurred after Nuggets center Nikola Jokic drove to the rim and was called for an offensive foul, causing Collins to fall backward toward Barton's legs. Curry came over to help Collins up and nudged Barton away. Barton pushed back, and the skirmish ensued.
Curry said he was surprised that Barton did not get ejected. Barton said he does not believe he will be suspended for Game 7 and explained that he was simply protecting himself from getting hurt after Collins fell toward him.
"It ain't no beef," Barton said. "I wasn't even looking for that. I was just trying to protect myself. I guess he thought I was trying to stand on top of him and be tough. I was just trying to get out of the way before I got injured. He pushed me. I'm not going to let nobody push me. But that's nothing."
Craig got in the middle of Barton and Curry, and Collins shoved Craig. Portland's Evan Turner then came over and held Craig at a distance. Officials took their time to examine the play before handing out the offsetting technicals with 6:16 remaining and Portland already up 104-90.
"I ain't worried about no fines," Barton said. "I ain't trippin off that. Hopefully, [there's] no suspension off that. I think if I [did something to get] suspended, I would probably have gotten ejected."
"It's competitive playoff basketball," Barton added. "Some things are going to happen. If we are all out there just being friendly, it ain't going to look like nobody trying to win."
It's been a roller coaster second-round series between two competitive teams, and it seems only natural that tensions finally flared.
Damian Lillard hit six 3-pointers and scored 32 points, and CJ McCollum added 30 points for the Trail Blazers. Rodney Hood provided a difference-making 25 points to keep Portland's season alive.
"We don't quit," Portland's Enes Kanter said. "I mean that's one thing, we don't quit. I mean we lost Game 5 by, what, [26] points? We know we are capable of winning there, we can beat that team."
The Blazers won Game 2 in Denver 97-90. But the Nuggets will be playing a second consecutive Game 7 in this postseason at home, where they were a league-best 34-7 in the regular season. The Nuggets, though, know they cannot rely simply on the fact that they won Game 7 against the San Antonio Spurs at home, 90-86.
"It's weird, everyone keeps talking about experience," Denver guard Jamal Murray said of many of the young Nuggets playing in their first postseason. "I just want to say that we've been here before. We'll go back home, regroup like we did for San Antonio, come back with energy and just be ready to play."
Denver coach Michael Malone said he is hoping both teams will be at full strength, with nothing further coming out of the Game 6 skirmish.
"I know for us -- I didn't see their bench -- but our bench never came close to coming on the floor," Malone said. "The referees and coaches from both teams did a great job of breaking it up.
"I didn't see anything that would warrant any further techs, suspensions, whatever. Hopefully, both teams are at full strength for Game 7, which is what the fans deserve."
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Thinking about world number one ranking affected me - beaten Osaka
Published in
Tennis
Thursday, 09 May 2019 13:40
Naomi Osaka says thinking about retaining her number one world ranking hindered her in her Madrid Open quarter-final loss to Belinda Bencic.
Osaka led by a break in the final set and served for the match, but Bencic fought back to win 3-6 6-2 7-5.
Romania's Simona Halep could replace Osaka at the top of the rankings if she wins the title in Madrid.
"People have been telling me if I get to the semis I can stay number one, so I wanted to do that," Osaka said.
"I wanted to do that and I was thinking about that while I was playing, which wasn't necessarily a good thing."
Osaka secured the number one ranking when she won her second Grand Slam title at the Australian Open in January.
"I play the best when I'm calm and today I wasn't calm, so that is the biggest thing I can learn," she said.
Bencic, who ended Osaka's Indian Wells title defence in March, produced some fine returns to come through a tight final set.
Top seed Osaka broke in the fifth game of the deciding set and held off two break points in her next service game to retain her advantage.
However, she faltered as she served for the match at 5-4 and Bencic broke to love to level the set at 5-5.
The Swiss, who won the Dubai Championships in February, then won the next two games to close out an impressive win.
The 21-year-old said she had "so much drama in my head" during the three-set defeat.
"I wanted to win this match more because she beat me already before and I just didn't want to lose twice in a row," Osaka added.
French Open champion Halep earlier beat Australian ninth seed Ashleigh Barty 7-5 7-5 to set up a meeting with Bencic.
America's Sloane Stephens, who lost to Halep at Roland Garros last year, overcame Croatia's Petra Martic 6-4 6-3.
Kiki Bertens of the Netherlands ended Petra Kvitova's title defence in a rematch of last year's final.
Bertens overpowered the Czech 6-2 6-3 and will play Stephens next.
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Federer 'relieved' after saving match points before beating Monfils in Madrid
Published in
Tennis
Thursday, 09 May 2019 13:22
Roger Federer saved two match points before claiming a hard-fought victory over Gael Monfils to reach the Madrid Open quarter-finals.
The Swiss fourth seed came from a break down in the deciding set to beat the Frenchman 6-0 4-6 7-6 (7-3).
Federer will face fifth seed Dominic Thiem - who he lost the Indian Wells final to in March - in the semi-finals.
"Instead of seeing a things bit more cloudy and rainy, you see it more on the sunny side," Federer said.
"You don't win matches every day saving match points and it makes you feel good, but it is more relief I feel right now."
The victory was Federer's 1,200th career win and secured his place in a first clay-court quarter-final since the French Open in 2015.
Earlier, world number one Novak Djokovic breezed past France's Jeremy Chardy 6-1 7-6 (7-2).
Rafael Nadal continued his pursuit of a sixth title by beating American Frances Tiafoe 6-3 6-4.
World number three Federer needed just 19 minutes to take the first set over Monfils, dropping just four points on his serve.
However, world number 18 Monfils rallied in the second set, taking advantage as Federer's first serve faded to force a decider.
Monfils raced to a 4-1 lead in the third set before Federer could force the match back on serve.
The Frenchman brought up two match points on Federer's serve but the 20-time Grand Slam champion saved them both with a serve and volley.
Federer was the stronger of the two in the tie-break, with Monfils saving two match points before a forehand error secured victory for the Swiss.
The Swiss said of his tactics on match point: "I felt not so confident to win the point from the baseline, so I said panic mode is switched on and we are coming in.
"You go to the net as quick as possible so you are as close as possible and I framed the first volley, which ended up being perfect."
He will play Barcelona Open champion Thiem on Friday after the Austrian's 6-4 7-5 win over Italy's Fabio Fognini.
Djokovic cruises into quarters
Despite being pushed as the match progressed, Djokovic has yet to drop a set against the world number 47 Chardy, having won all 13 of their meetings.
The 15-time Grand Slam champion moved a double break up in the first set when Chardy double-faulted for 4-0, then fought off a triple break point in the next game before going on to seal the opener in 31 minutes.
Chardy stretched Djokovic more in the second set, as neither player managed to muster a break point until the Frenchman - who had lost their previous 29 successive sets - claimed a set point at 5-4.
But he batted a backhand long as Djokovic, who shook his head after receiving whistles from the Caja Magica crowd as he prepared to serve, thumped down an ace to seal the hold.
That enabled Djokovic to take early control of the tie-break, clinching victory with a forehand winner on his first match point.
Cilic, Wawrinka, Tsitsipas and Zverev also advance
The top seed will face Marin Cilic next after the Croat reached his first quarter-final of the season.
Former US Open champion Cilic recovered to win 11 of the final 13 games to beat Serb Laslo Djere 4-6 6-3 6-2.
Switzerland's Stan Wawrinka also reached the quarter-finals, where he will meet Nadal, after beating Japan's Kei Nishikori 6-3 7-6 (7-3).
Germany's Alexander Zverev will face Stefanos Tsitsipas in the quarter-finals. Zverev beat Poland's Hubert Hurkacz while 3-6 6-4 6-4 while Tsitsipas beat Spain's Fernando Verdasco 6-3 6-4.
Tsitsipas was back on court a few hours later in the men's doubles, where he and partner Wesley Koolhof beat Britain's Jaime Murray and Brazil's Bruno Soares 6-2 7-6 (7-4) to reach the semi-finals.
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Liu Jing secures title, avenges earlier defeat
Published in
Table Tennis
Thursday, 09 May 2019 19:35
The no.3 seed, in the group phase of play, Liu Jing had experienced defeat at the hands of Brazil’s Catia da Silva Oliveira (11-4, 11-9, 8-11, 5-11, 11-2); on the second day of action, they met in the final, Liu Jing reversed the decision. She prevailed in three straight games (11-3, 11-7, 11-5).
Disappointment for Catia da Silva Oliveira but, not listed amongst the top three seeds, the silver medal excelled expectations; most notably in the penultimate round she had once again underlined her quality. She ended the progress of Italy’s Giada Rossi, the top seed, in straight games (11-8, 11-9, 11-9).
Success for Liu Jing contrary to seeding, it was the same in class 4 for Gu Xiaodan; the no.2 seed; in the final, she accounted for colleague Zhang Miao, the no.3 seed (10-12, 11-8, 11-8, 11-5) and very much a player in form. At the semi-final stage she had beaten Serbia’s Borislava Peric-Rankovic, the top seed, the reigning Paralympic Games and World Para champion (11-7, 5-11, 11-8, 14-12).
Titles somewhat contrary to predictions, in class 5 it was as anticipated, as it was in class 1 but most certainly not in class 3.
Zhang Bian, the top seed and gold medallist in Rio de Janeiro, emerged the class 5 winner, beating compatriot, Pan Jiamin, the no.3 seed in the final (11-2, 9-11, 11-8, 11-5); meanwhile in a group organized class 1 event, Poland’s Dorota Buclaw justified her exalted position by finishing ahead of Germany’s Chagit Yona Brill.
In class 3 it was very different, Croatia’s Andela Muzinic, the no.5 seed, struck gold. After accounting for China’s Xu Juan, the top seed, gold medallist in Rio de Janeiro and last year at the World Para Championships (10-12, 11-5, 11-9, 11-9), she overcame the Korea Republic’s Lee Migyu to seal the title (11-4, 11-6, 7-11, 11-9). Not listed amongst the top names, Lee Migyu had beaten Sweden’s Anna-Carin Ahlqhuist, the no.2 seed (10-12, 11-6, 11-9, 10-12, 11-7) and Turkey’s Negris Altintas (9-11, 14-12, 11-8, 11-5) to reach the final.
Play in Lasko concludes on Saturday 11th May.
Thermana Lasko Slovenia Para Open 2019: Latest results and main draws
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Success in Las Vegas, now in Lasko, Cha Sooyong holds the ace card
Published in
Table Tennis
Thursday, 09 May 2019 19:41
In an event dominated by the Korea Republic, after having overcome Frenchman, Fabien Lamirault, the top seed, the reigning World and Paralympic Games champion (11-6, 11-8, 12-10), Cha Sooyong accounted for Slovakia’s Martin Ludrovsky, the no.8 seed (11-6, 11-8, 11-8) and colleague Park Jincheol, the no.7 seed (11-7, 11-5, 11-8) to secure the title.
Success contrary to status, it was the same in class 3, class 4 and class 5 but to a much lesser extent; in each instance, the no.2 seed, emerged successful.
At the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games and at the 2018 World Para Championships, in class 3 it had been gold for China’s Feng Panfeng at the expense of Germany’s Thomas Schmidberger; at Para Thermana Lasko Slovenia Open 2019 it was no different. Feng Panfeng prevailed in five games (11-2, 12-10, 9-11, 10-12, 11-6) against the top seeded German.
Similarly, in class 4, Turkey Abdullah Ozturk, gold medallist in Rio de Janeiro once again secured the same colour medal. After overcoming Korea Republic’s Kim Younggun, the top seed, by the narrowest of margins (9-11, 11-1, 11-6, 7-11, 11-9), he accounted for Frenchman Maxime Thomas, the no.3 seed (12-10, 11-8, 11-13, 11-9) and Korea Republic’s Kim Junggil, the no.5 seed (11-6, 11-7, 11-5) to secure the top prize.
More gold, it was no different in class 5; the winner in 2012 in London, Norway’s Tommy Urhaug added to his list of titles. At the final hurdle, he beat Korea Republic’s Kim Kiyoung, the no.6 seed (11-5, 11-9, 11-4) and semi-final winner in opposition to China’s Cao Ningning, the top seed (12-10, 3-11, 11-5, 11-5).
Second seeds in the ascendancy, in class 1, the top seed prevailed. Korea Republic’s Joo Youndae secured the title overcoming Kim Hyeonuk in the final (11-9, 5-11, 11-7, 11-6), the reigning world champion.
Notably, at the semi-final stage, by the very narrowest of margins Kim Hyeonuk accounted for Great Britain’s Rob Davies (11-8, 10-12, 12-10, 8-11, 12-10), the player who had beaten Joo Youndae in the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games final.
“Like any sportsperson I’m never happy losing but I have lots to work on and I knew that before coming out here. I really enjoyed playing in the semi-final against the world champion; that’s why I’m still playing, those matches are the ones you want to be involved in. I will work hard to hopefully be on the other side of that result in Tokyo! There are a lot of positives to take from the event for me. I’ll get prepared for the team event now where I hope to get a chance to play some more of the top guys in my class.” Rob Davies
Play concludes in Lasko on Saturday 11th May.
Thermana Lasko Slovenia Para Open 2019: Latest results and main draws
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Mao Jingdian, who has won every major title the sport has to offer and was the top seed in Lasko, experienced a semi-final defeat at the hands of Norway’s Aida Dahlen, the no.3 seed (12-10, 3-11, 11-7, 11-9).
Success for Aida Dahlen, gold medallist at the two most recent European Para Championships, it was almost a second success; in the final she experienced defeat in the closest final of the day. Thu Kampkasomphu prevailed by the minimal two point margin in a dramatic decider (12-10, 11-9, 11-13, 4-11, 14-12).
Gold somewhat contrary to expectations for Thu Kampkasomphu, it was the same in class 9 but not in the remaining women’s singles standing categories.
Silver medallist at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games, Lei Li Na, who alongside Yang Qian and their male compatriot, Ma Lin, has been residing in Australia for the past year, emerged the class 9 winner. Not listed amongst the leading names, she accounted for Poland’s Karoline Pek, the top seed, in the penultimate round (11-8, 11-7, 11-8), prior to securing the title at the final expense of China’s Xiong Guiyan, the no.2 seed (12-10, 11-3, 11-8).
Otherwise, it was success for the top seeds; notably Yang Qian, the silver medallist in Rio de Janeiro adding to Australian success. She secured the class 10 title at the expense of China’s Zhao Xiaojing, emerging successful in four games (9-11, 11-7, 11-5, 11-6).
Meanwhile, in class 6, Ukraine’s Maryna Lytovchenko, the reigning world champion, claimed the top prize, accounting for Germany’s Stephanie Grebe (11-7, 11-7, 13-11), whilst in class 7, Turkey’s Kubra Korkut emulated Thu Kampkasomphu. Similarly the silver medallist at the 2018 World Para Championships and the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games, she accounted for China’s Wang Rui (11-5, 12-10, 4-11, 11-6) to secure gold.
Titles as anticipated, it was the same in class 11; in and all Russian final, Elena Prokofeeva, the reigning world champion, overcame Anzhelika Kosacheva (11-9, 11-7, 3-11, 11-8) to reserve the top step of the podium.
Attention now turns to two days of team competitions, in Lasko play concludes on Saturday 11th May.
Thermana Lasko Slovenia Para Open 2019: Latest results and main draws
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One step higher for Spaniard, Welshman paves way
Published in
Table Tennis
Thursday, 09 May 2019 19:58
The top seed, at the final hurdle he beat Great Britain’s Paul Karabardak, the no.6 seed (11-8, 10-12, 11-9, 11-7), the player who in the second round had caused a major upset. Most impressively, the Welshman had beaten Denmark’s Peter Rosenmeier, the no.2 seed (11-1, 11-4, 9-11, 11-7), the player against whom Alvaro Valera had experienced defeat in both the World and Paralympic Games finals.
“Losing the final was disappointing but I’m really pleased to have won silver.” Paul Karabardak.
Success for the top seed in class 6, it was the same in class 8 and class 9; Ukraine taking the honours. In class 8, after accounting for Great Britain’s Ross Wilson, the no.3 seed and reigning world champion (11-5, 13-11, 11-7), Viktor Didukh overcame China’s Zhao Shuai, the no.2 seed and Rio 2016 gold medallist (8-11, 11-4, 8-11, 17-15, 11-6) to seal the title.
“It’s nice to be back playing again but I was disappointed with my performance in the semi-final. The overall performance in the competition was fine and hopefully I can build it up for the rest of the season.” Ross Wilson
Hard earned success for Viktor Didukh, it was only slightly less exacting in class 9 for Iurii Nozdrunov. At the semi-final stage he beat Sweden’s Daniel Gustafsson, the no.4 seed, before overcoming Italy’s Mohamed Amine Kalem, the no.3 seed, to secure gold (11-7, 14-12, 11-7), the penultimate round winner in opposition to Great Britain’s Josh Stacey (11-13, 11-6, 13-11, 11-6).
“Taking bronze in such a strong event has given me a lot of confidence. Against Kalem I felt I was always in with a good chance but he covered the table really well with the anti-spin and I struggled to deal with it at times. Overall I could have received a bit more positively and looked to attack with my forehand which would have put him on the back foot. He was the better player and I’m sure I’ll get the chance to play him again throughout the year to put those things right.” Josh Stacey
Gold for the top seeds, in class 8 and class 10, it was the top step of the podium for the no.2 seeds, Great Britain’s Will Bayley and Bulgaria’s Denislav Kodjabashev being the respective winners.
At the final hurdle Will Bayley accounted for Brazil’s Israel Pereira Stroh, the no.6 seed (8-11, 11-6, 11-8, 11-8) the player against who the Englishman had lost in the group stage in the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games but had then beaten in the gold medal contest.
“It feels amazing to win the biggest tournament I have every played with so many amazing players. I’m overwhelmed with happiness. I’m training so hard and now I have won two big tournaments from two this season so I think the training is paying off. All my matches were so close and it took all my skill to win this tournament so I’m very proud. Now I’m looking forward to playing team event with one of the legends of the game Jochen Wollmert.” Will Bayley
Impressive from Will Bayley, it was the same from Denislav Kodjabashev; at the final hurdle he overcame Spain’s José Manuel Reyes (11-8, 11-13, 14-12, 11-7) to secure the top prize.
Wins for the first and second seeds, in class 11 it was success for the no.3 seed; somewhat of a surprise. Frenchman Lucas Creange beat Belgium’s Florian Van Acker, the top seed, the current World and Paralympic Games champion to secure the top step of the podium. He won in five games (3-11, 12-10, 5-11, 11-5, 11-8).
The team events now begin; play concludes in Lasko on Saturday 11th May.
Thermana Lasko Slovenia Para Open 2019: Latest results and main draws
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Day One: Seamaster 2019 ITTF Challenge Slovenia Open
Published in
Table Tennis
Thursday, 09 May 2019 23:55
Main draw commences
Day One of the Seamaster 2019 ITTF Challenge Slovenia Open has arrived – take a detailed look at the day’s schedule below:
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England’s Julianne Courtice leads home hopes in Manchester Open
Published in
Squash
Thursday, 09 May 2019 15:09
Julianne Courtice celebrates her victory on the opening day in Manchester
Day one drama at National Centre
By ELLIE MAWSON in Manchester
The opening day of action at the inaugural 2019 Manchester Open saw home hopes prevail as Manchester-based Julianne Courtice led the English charge at the National Squash Centre.
Courtice was one of three Englishwomen who all advanced to the last 16 of the PSA World Tour Silver tournament, after she produced a strong performance to take out Canada’s higher ranked Samantha Cornett in four-games.
The Manchester Open – a women’s only tournament – is supported by Manchester City Council and follows the successful staging of the award-winning AJ Bell PSA World Championships in the city in December 2017, where equal prize money was on offer across both the men’s and women’s events for the first time in the tournament’s history.
World No.36 Courtice started well to take the first two games before keeping her composure to survive a Cornett comeback and close out a 12-10, 11-8, 9-11, 11-9 victory. Courtice will now face USA No.1 Amanda Sobhy in the second-round tomorrow.
“It was a massive win,” said 27-year-old Courtice following her victory. “Sam earlier this year won 3-1, so I knew I was up against it and it’s always difficult with a late draw change.
“It’s so good to play in front of a home crowd, there are some people here to support me, so it’s great. It’s hard to keep the consistency and that’s why these top guys are so hard to beat and with Sam, you really have to push her to get that mistake from her.”
Emily Whitlock on the way to victory
She will be joined in round two by compatriots Emily Whitlock and Millie Tomlinson after they enjoyed respective wins over New Zealand’s Amanda Landers-Murphy and Canada’s Danielle Letourneau.
Whitlock will take on Egypt’s World No.7 Nouran Gohar in the last 16, while Tomlinson faces an all-English showdown with former World No.1 Laura Massaro for a place in the quarter finals.
“I think I was really pumped up for the first two games. I came out really fast,” said England’s Tomlinson after her five-game battle with Letourneau.
“I let her back in, but I’m glad that I managed to refocus for the last game. I have a huge advantage as this is my home court. I lived here for a couple of years, so I played on this court a lot and obviously, the home crowd help as well.”
Wildcard Rachael Chadwick was unable to complete a clean sweep for the English players in round one as she fell to Dutch No.1 Milou van der Heijden.
World No.32 van der Heijden put in a confident performance to ease past Chadwick and set up a round two clash with Wales’ World No.8 Tesni Evans.
Millie Tomlinson on the attack
“I’m very happy with how it worked out and how everything went to plan,” said van der Heijden afterwards. “I’ve only played here twice before, but never on the glass, so it was a good experience to get on the glass and this one is different to others that I have played on. It takes a bit of getting used to, but it is a nice court and I enjoyed it.”
Meanwhile eight-time World Champion Nicol David, who will be playing for the last time in Manchester following her decision to retire at the end of the season, booked her place in the second-round courtesy of a dominant win over United States’ Haley Mendez.
The Malaysian icon will now face England’s No.1 Sarah-Jane Perry for a place in the quarter finals tomorrow.
“It’s great to play Haley in Manchester on the glass court,” said 35-year-old David following her win. “We go way back, so coming here and playing her is a treat and I’m so pleased to see how she is playing.
“SJ is a really tough competitor, we have had so many good matches and just because of my ranking you do get those tough draws on the day you just want to play and give it your best.”
There was also joy for Egypt’s World No.14 Salma Hany after she survived a comeback from Canada’s Hollie Naughton to secure a second-round berth.
Naughton took the opening game, before Hany struck back to take the next two. However, Canadian Naughton refused to go away quietly though as she drew level to push the game to a deciding fifth, but it was the higher-ranked Hany who was eventually able to close out by an 9-11, 11-7, 11-9, 5-11, 11-4 scoreline in 48 minutes.
“Hollie has been playing really well and has been pushing all the top players,” said the 22-year-old Egyptian. “Today, she really made me work hard. It was a bit scrappy in the middle, after the fourth I just made sure I stuck to my plan and focused on every point. The good start in the fifth helped me a lot and I’m really glad I got the win.”
Belgium’s World No.24 Nele Gilis and France’s World No.35 Coline Aumard, meanwhile, set up second round fixtures against World No.5 Joelle King and Egypt’s World No.3 Nour El Tayeb, respectively.
Gilis overcame Scotland’s Lisa Aitken in straight-games, while France’s Aumard put in a dominant display to power past Egypt’s World No.31 Mayar Hany.
“I knew what to expect and I tried to take the pace off as much as I could because she likes to hit it hard,” said Belgium’s Gilis following her win over Aitken. “It’s hard to stay focused against such a good player like Lisa and I’m happy that I stuck to my game plan.”
The second round takes place on Friday May 10 at 12:00 local time (UTC+1) and the action will be broadcast live on SQUASHTV (rest of world), Eurosport Player (Europe only) and the official Facebook page of the PSA World Tour (excluding Europe and Japan).
PSA World Tour Silver $76,000 Women’s Manchester Open 2019, National Squash Centre, Manchester, England.
First Round:
Coline Aumard (FRA) bts Mayar Hany (EGY) 3-0: 11-6, 11-8, 11-7 (34m)
Millie Tomlinson (ENG) bt Danielle Letourneau (CAN) 3-2: 11-3, 11-8, 9-11, 6-11, 11-4 (51m)
Milou van der Heijden (NED) bt [WC] Rachael Chadwick (ENG) 3-0: 11-7, 11-5, 11-2 (27m)
Nicol David (MAS) bts Haley Mendez (USA) 3-0: 11-5, 11-6, 11-8 (23m)
Emily Whitlock (ENG) bts Amanda Landers-Murphy (NZL) 3-0: 11-7, 11-8, 11-4 (26m)
Julianne Courtice (ENG) bt Samantha Cornett (CAN) 3-1: 12-10, 11-8, 9-11, 11-9 (44m)
Salma Hany (EGY) bt Hollie Naughton (CAN) 3-2: 9-11, 11-7, 11-9, 5-11, 11-4 (48m)
Nele Gilis (BEL) bt Lisa Aitken (SCO) 3-0: 11-5, 11-8, 11-4 (38m)
Second Round:
[1] Nour El Tayeb (EGY) v Coline Aumard (FRA)
Millie Tomlinson (ENG) v [5] Laura Massaro (ENG)
[6] Tesni Evans (WAL) v Milou van der Heijden (NED)
Nicol David (MAS) v [3] Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG)
[4] Nouran Gohar (EGY) v Emily Whitlock (ENG)
Julianne Courtice (ENG) v [8] Amanda Sobhy (USA)
[7] Alison Waters (ENG) v Salma Hany (EGY)
Nele Gilis (BEL) v [2] Joelle King (NZL)
Pictures courtesy of PSA
Posted on May 9, 2019
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Matt Smith: Leicester Tigers centre retiring to take on academy head coach role
Published in
Rugby
Thursday, 09 May 2019 06:46
Leicester Tigers centre Matt Smith is retiring at the end of the season after a 14-year playing career to become the club's academy head coach.
The 33-year-old made his first-team debut in March 2006 and has played 227 times, scoring 30 tries.
Smith joined at the age of 14 and has helped the club win four Premiership titles and three Anglo-Welsh Cups.
"I've had my time and lived my dream, but it's time to take on my next challenge," he told the club website.
"I have thought about it throughout this season.
"I still love playing the game, but now I don't feel like I'm at the level I used to be and it's the time for someone else and someone younger to come in and do the job this club needs of them."
Smith's final game as a Tigers player will be on Saturday when Leicester host Bath at Welford Road.
Former team-mate and now head coach Geordan Murphy said: "Matt has been a fantastic servant of this club and represents everything we want a Tigers player to be."
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