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Nobody on duty in Budapest has tried more to win the men’s singles title at a World Championships than Vladimir Samsonov.
In the modern era when proceedings have been held on a biennial basis, China’s Ma Lin made the effort nine times between 1997 in Manchester and 2013 in Paris and never succeeded to secure the precious title. Likewise, Belgium’s Jean-Michel Saive couldn’t cross the finishing line. He made the attempt on no less than 17 occasions, starting in Gothenburg in 1983 and ending in Suzhou in 2015.
They are all members of the same club, all three reached the final and stumbled; Jean-Michel Saive in the year Vladimir Samsonov made his debut, Vladimir Samsonov himself in 1997 in Manchester, Ma Lin on three occasions in 1999 in Eindhoven followed by 2005 in Shanghai and 2007 in Zagreb.
Furthermore, there is one other factor that binds them together; all at some point in their illustrious career ascended to the top spot of the world rankings. In addition to Vladimir Samsonov; competing this year in Budapest, there are four further names on duty in the men’s singles event who have occupied the no.1 spot on the world rankings but have never been crowned world champion.
Germany’s Timo Boll and Dimitrij Ovtcharov have both ascended to the top spot on the world rankings, as have China’s Xu Xin and Fan Zhendong but none as yet has been crowned men’s singles world champion.
However, have they not proved they are the best in the world on at least one occasion?
They all have one further factor in common, one in which they also share with Ma Lin. All have won the Men’s World Cup. Vladimir Samsonov in 1999 in Xiaolan, in 2001 in Courmayeur and in 2009 in Moscow; likewise Timo Boll succeeded in 2002 in Jinan and 2005 in Liège, Fan Zhendong in 2016 in Saarbrücken and last year in Paris. Meanwhile, Xu Xin prevailed in Verviers in 2013, Dimitrij Ovtcharov in 2018 in Liège.
In many sports, win the World Cup and you are the World Champion; it is not the situation in table tennis but does it not mean on that day you were the best in the world?
World no.1 in terms of success and in terms of ranking but never world champion. Can that for one member of the club change in Budapest?
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Early in 1992, Steve Earwood went from promotional guru to track owner when the veteran NHRA pitchman utilized some creative financing to purchase North Carolina’s Rockingham Dragway.
“I had made an inquiry a few years before that about Rockingham Dragway because I had heard it could be bought. I was just a working stiff, I didn’t have any money, but just for fun I called to see if in fact the track was for sale, and it wasn’t at the time,” Earwood explained. “Then Mr. L.G. DeWitt, the owner of the drag strip and the speedway, passed away in 1991. The DeWitt family sent word to me – I was working at the Texas Motorplex at the time – that they wanted to talk to me about buying Rockingham Dragway.
“They didn’t want the drag strip. They were concentrating on the speedway because they had the two NASCAR Cup Series races and, at the time, those races were like winning the lottery,” Earwood continued. “They were offering a price for it that I thought was reasonable, but not for me. I was just a working stiff and I couldn’t raise that kind of money.”
But a friend and eventual partner convinced him otherwise.
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Earwood had enough business sense to inquire about a contract.
“I was assured in the Carolinas a man’s word is his bond, you don’t need a contract,” he explained. “So I kind of went along with that, quit my job and moved here. Friday before we were supposed to close on Monday morning, Cliff Stewart decided he didn’t want to do this and pulled out. That left us with no financing, so we contacted every bank in the state and everybody we knew, trying to raise the money.
“Finally, we met a banker is Sophia, N.C., and she could OK loans up to $10,000 and anything above that she had to get approval for, and she knew they wouldn’t approve financing a drag strip,” Earwood recalled. “But she told me ‘bring as many guys to me as you can and I’ll loan each one of them $10,000, and you’ll get your down payment.’ We drug every drag racer we knew in the state of North Carolina in there. I would fill out the paperwork in the lobby, they would go in and see her and she would cut them a check for 10 grand.
“We get the down payment and I walk into the track office 38 days before the Winston Invitational (a marquee NHRA special event), which was in April — no power, no equipment, no help, no secretary, no nothing, just me,” Earwood said. “I went to work, literally 20 hours a day, seven days a week. We had the Winston Invitational and we were blessed with three days of great weather. We had terrific crowds and ignorance really is bliss because I didn’t know what I was doing, but we were able to pay back those loans.”
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LINDENHURST, N.Y. – David Porcelli will return to Group-A Racing to contest the Formula 4 United States Championship powered by Honda season.
After being out of a race car for three years, Porcelli joined Group-A last September for a one-off drive at New Jersey Motorsports Park event. Despite being out of a car for so long, Porcelli showed progress each session during the event.
Constantly working with team lead engineer Alain Clarinval and driver coach Jonathan Scarallo, the New Jersey native soaked everything in to improve. When the checkered flag waved at the end of the weekend Porcelli earned an eighth-place result.
“Since my stellar rookie performance in 2018 at NJMP with Group-A-Racing I have been working nonstop to get back into the car for round one at Road Atlanta,” said Porcelli. “I have raced on Road Atlanta more than any other track and I have multiple podiums and wins under my belt. Now that I have had some experience in the F4 U.S. car powered by Honda and working with Group-A-Racing I am very excited to see what we can do when we join the pace race from the start of the season. We have placed ourselves in a position to contend for the Formula 4 United States championship. I truly believe that Group-A-Racing is the optimal fit for myself as a driver. All my hard work to get back on track over the past two years is finally paying off and I can’t wait to see what we can do together as a team.”
Porcelli continued to work hard with Group-A Racing team in the offseason, obtaining funding from new and returning sponsors to return to the team. Porcelli will drive the No. 93 Group-A Racing/Brain Forest Enhancement Training/New Life Independent Distributor/RaceCraft1/Turnkey/Stuffed Burger Ligier JS F4 car.
“Having David back with us puts a big smile on my face” said Group-A Racing manager Jonathan Scarallo. “Whenever a driver returns to your program it’s a big compliment to show the type of program we run. On top of that, I have known David and been working with him for years. It was already great to have a good result in a one-off last year, now to having him back for more events is incredibly rewarding. It’s come together a bit late with no pre-season testing for him, but we will all be working very hard together to catch up quickly.”
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NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. -- Former NHL star Ray Bourque has apologized for crossing a picket line to shop at a Massachusetts supermarket where workers are on strike.
Bourque, who played for the Boston Bruins and Colorado Avalanche, was caught on video exiting a North Andover Stop & Shop on Monday as a worker said "Shame on you."
Thousands of Stop & Shop workers at 240 stores in Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island went on strike last week over what they say is an unfair contract proposal.
Bourque, a 22-year member of the NHL players' union, apologized on Twitter.
I support the employees of Stop & Shop and once my medical condition is resolved I plan on returning to stand in solidarity and will walk the picket line alongside the members of the union.
— Ray Bourque (@RayBourque77) April 15, 2019
Bourque, 58, retired from professional hockey in 2001. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2004.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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LAS VEGAS -- The NHL will hold its annual awards ceremony June 19 at Mandalay Bay Events Center.
The league announced the date and venue Tuesday before Game 4 of the first-round playoff series between the San Jose Sharks and the Vegas Golden Knights.
It marks the 11th year of a partnership between the NHL and Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, which was extended for three years last April, and the 10th time the league will honor the best players and the top performances of the season in Las Vegas.
Last year, the event was held at The Joint, Hard Rock Hotel & Casino's 4,000-seat concert and entertainment venue. Mandalay Bay Events Center, a 12,000-seat arena at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, is the home arena for the WNBA's Las Vegas Aces.
"We're opening up the show to a bigger venue, more people, bigger set, bigger stage, and we're really looking forward to this year's show," NHL chief content officer Steve Mayer said. "The show has become, and grown over the years, more than just handing out awards. We're really interested in showing our fans how the NHL and our sport is so meaningful in all communities."
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Looking ahead for the Tampa Bay Lightning: Assess, but don't panic
Published in
Hockey
Tuesday, 16 April 2019 19:50
As each NHL team is eliminated from playoff contention -- either mathematically or by losing in the postseason -- we'll take a look at why its quest for the Stanley Cup fell short in 2018-19, along with three keys to its offseason, impact prospects for 2019-20 and a way-too-early prediction for what next season will hold.
What went wrong
The regular season ended, that's what went wrong. The Tampa Bay Lightning tied the 1995-96 Detroit Red Wings for the most regular-season wins in NHL history, with 62. They led the NHL in goals per game (3.89, the highest since 1996), in power-play proficiency (28.2 percent) and on the penalty kill (85.0, tied with two other teams). They were an absolute juggernaut, winning 30 of their games by three or more goals and losing two games in a row in regulation only once, in early November, when Andrei Vasilevskiy was injured.
Until they lost the first two games of their first-round playoff series to the Columbus Blue Jackets, of course.
How the Jackets eliminated the Lightning, the abridged version: with a neutral zone-clogging defensive system, with uncharacteristically effective playoff goaltending from Sergei Bobrovsky, with offensive contributions from their star players while the Lightning's were silent, and by winning the special-teams battle, mostly by staying out of the penalty box. They were not the extreme underdog they were portrayed to have been -- winning seven of eight games down the stretch, finishing with the 13th-best record in the NHL -- and simply outplayed the Presidents' Trophy winners.
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Wie inspired by Woods' win ahead of homecoming at Lotte Championship
Published in
Golf
Tuesday, 16 April 2019 12:57
Michelle Wie says she was inspired Sunday watching Tiger Woods win the Masters.
Wie, looking to show she can find her best form again after hand surgery last fall, gets a double dose of motivation with her return this week at the Lotte Championship in Hawaii, where she grew up. She makes her home now in Jupiter, Fla., but relishes her return to her roots.
She’s dealing with a lot of emotion, making just her fourth start after the surgery, feeling what she did watching Woods continue to complete his comeback.
“I felt so inspired, so motivated [Sunday], just knowing how much he went through, and is kind of going through what I'm going through,” Wie said. “It's very inspiring.
“A lot of times when you're going through injuries you just don't know if you'll ever hit a golf ball again and play without pain.”
Wie, 29, said she felt a connection watching Woods do what she wants to do in her comeback.
“I just felt the emotion,” Wie said. “After he had won, he lifted his hands up in the air, and I felt it.
“I just knew, from a very personal basis, based on everything I'm going through, and I just felt it. I felt everything that he ever overcame. Gave me hope and a lot of motivation and inspiration. It just shows what happens when you just never give up. He just never gave up, when people gave him doubt, and whatnot. It was amazing to see.”
Wie is still feeling her way back after undergoing surgery last October to repair an avulsion fracture, bone spurs and nerve entrapment in her right hand. She tied for 23rd in her return last month at the Honda Thailand, then experienced a setback a week later, in her title defense at the HSBC Women’s World Championship. She was 10 over after 14 holes in the first round when she withdrew in Singapore. She left saying nerve entrapment was still an issue. She missed the cut in the year’s first major at the ANA Inspiration two weeks ago but was encouraged by how well her hand felt.
This week offers another important gauge of where she’s at, with a strong field teeing it up. Rolex world No. 1 Jin Young Ko is making her first start since winning the ANA Inspiration. Eight of the top 10 in the world rankings are playing. Wie has slipped to No. 40 with her time away.
How’s the hand this week?
“I feel good,” Wie said. “I'm not going to say I'm healthy, because I don't want to jinx anything, but I feel good. Very fresh.”
Wie has been limited in how much she can play and practice, which frustrates her. There was a lot of rust to knock off at the ANA.
“It's hard to be patient,” Wie said. “I thought I would be 100 percent by now, like running in circles and being able to play 180 holes in one day, kind of thing . . . My mind is there. I feel antsy, like a horse ready to go, but you just got to be patient and listen to your body. Just take it slowly day by day.”
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Yu finds home with Western Intercollegiate leader San Jose State
Published in
Golf
Tuesday, 16 April 2019 15:04
SANTA CRUZ, Calif. – Sean Yu was leading the Western Intercollegiate by himself at 7 under when he hit his tee ball to about 25 feet away from a devilish back hole location on the par-3 18th hole Tuesday at Pasatiempo Golf Club. Four putts later, he was signing for a 1-over 71 and sitting in a logjam at 5 under.
“That’s Pasatiempo,” San Jose State head coach John Kennaday said of the famed and frustrating Alister Mackenzie layout. “It gives and it takes.”
The closing one-shooter took two shots from Yu on this occasion. But it also served as the junior’s proving ground.
Yu arrived at San Jose State two falls ago as a redshirt sophomore from Cal, where he planned to study business but quickly became homesick after his parents moved back to Taiwan following Yu’s graduation from Arrowhead Christian in Redlands, Calif.
Being away from his family, Yu said, was “horrifying.” But still wanting to play college golf, Yu opted for a fresh start at a smaller school.
“I worry about all of my players,” Kennaday said, “but Sean’s somebody that needed a little more of a helping hand and guidance.”
On the golf course, though, Yu made an immediate impact. At San Jose State, there is a tradition where newcomers have to earn their golf bag by shooting under par in qualifying. Most fail to do so on their first try. Even senior Kevin Velo, the team’s stroke-average leader the past three seasons, needed six rounds before he received his bag.
But Yu passed the test his first try, birdieing Pasatiempo’s 18th hole – the same hole and pin position as Tuesday – to shoot 1-under 69 in the team’s first qualifying round.
That season, Yu posted a respectable 72.69 scoring average and tied for third at the Mountain West Conference Championship. He started his junior campaign with three straight top-10 finishes.
Now, he’s in contention at one of the most prestigious tournaments in college golf.
Yu, who trails 36-hole leader Isaiah Salinda of Stanford by three shots, has made 12 birdies through two rounds at Pasatiempo. Just three of those came in windy, firm conditions on Tuesday, but Yu, a skilled ball-striker, has not missed many shots from tee to green.
“The kid is ridiculously good and he just hasn’t shown anybody yet,” Velo said. “He’s going to be really, really good, it’s just a matter of time. What we saw on the first day was just kind of flash of what he normally does. … If he gets the putter hot, he’s unbeatable.”
Yu said picking up his first college victory at Pasatiempo would mean a lot. It would mean just as much for the San Jose State program, which, at No. 53 in the Golfstat rankings, is the eighth-best-ranked team in the 13-team field.
Asked if he expected his team to be in this position – leading Stanford by a shot at 1 under – Yu said, matter-of-factly, “No.”
Added Velo, who birdied No. 18 on Tuesday to join Yu, Pepperdine’s Clay Feagler and USC’s Cameron Henry in a tie for second: “We try to keep expectations low.”
But that doesn’t mean that the Spartans don’t believe they can get the job done.
Yes, they’ll be going toe to toe with some of the best teams in the country. But they also know this course better than anybody. They’ve hit every shot imaginable out here. And they’re every bit capable of winning this thing.
Pasatiempo might have taken two shots from Yu on Tuesday at No. 18. But on Wednesday, it could give he and San Jose State a pair of trophies – and a blue letterman’s jacket.
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Ajax Amsterdam followed up their elimination of Real Madrid by producing a spell-binding display of inventive, passing football to win 2-1 away to Juventus on Tuesday and end the Serie A team's dreams of winning the Champions League.
Ajax's 19-year-old captain Matthijs de Ligt headed the winner from the corner in the 67th minute of the quarterfinal second leg as the Dutch side came from behind to clinch a 3-2 aggregate win and reach the last four for the first time since 1996-97.
Cristiano Ronaldo, aiming for a fourth successive Champions League title after winning the last three with Real Madrid, put Juventus ahead in the 28th minute with a typically emphatic header, his sixth goal of the competition.
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But Donny van de Beek levelled six minutes later before the visitors swept Juventus aside in the second half with wave after wave of attacks as they earned a semifinal against Manchester City or Tottenham Hotspur.
"Can we can go on to win the competition? Well, we are in the semifinals now. And we have eliminated two of the favourites in the last two rounds. The next games will be very difficult, but so were these ones. So who knows?," said De Ligt.
Frenkie de Jong added: "We dominated after the break and were well worth our victory. In fact, we probably should have won by more."
Ajax goalkeeper Andre Onana gave his team an early scare when his clearance was charged down by Emre Can but the rebound flew wide.
Ajax settled well after that but, despite not playing well, Juventus went ahead when Ronaldo got away from the defenders to score the 126th Champions League goal of his career.
There was a long delay for the VAR review, the referee eventually going to the pitchside monitor with the ball back on the centre circle ready for the re-start, before the goal was confirmed.
Ajax kept their cool and took six minutes to level, helped by a somewhat lucky break.
Hakim Ziyech's long-range shot hit a defender and fell perfectly for Van de Beek who, unmarked and onside, slotted the ball calmly past Wojciech Szczesny, and then had to wait for another long VAR check before the goal was confirmed.
Ajax took complete control in the second half and their geometric passing repeatedly opened up the Juventus defence, which sorely missed injured veteran Giorgio Chiellini.
Szczesny made one-handed save from Ziyech after Juventus were opened up again and then turned Van de Beek's curling shot over for a corner.
Juventus were rocking but, ironically, Ajax's winner came from an old-fashioned header as De Ligt out-jumped two defenders to score.
Ajax had chances for further goals and Ronaldo's frustration boiled over in stoppage time when he was booked for a lunging tackle from behind near the centre circle.
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BARCELONA, Spain -- Ernesto Valverde says Lionel Messi is unstoppable when he's at his best after the Argentine fired Barcelona into the semifinals of the Champions League for the first time in four years.
Messi scored twice in Barca's 3-0 win over Manchester United at Camp Nou on Wednesday to take his tally for the season to 45 in all competitions.
He almost completed a hat trick with an opportunistic bicycle kick in the second half and gave United's defenders a headache all night.
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"Leo always appears in the important games," Valverde said in his postgame news conference. "Not just to finish off the moves, but all over the pitch.
"He's involved in all our play. He gets the goals, but he also takes on responsibility in attack. When he's playing like that, he's unstoppable."
Messi, who hadn't scored in his last 12 European quarterfinal appearances, was proud of his team's performance but warned his teammates they will have to improve in the semifinal against either Liverpool or Porto.
United were the better side in the first 15 minutes and hit the crossbar through Marcus Rashford before Messi's 16th-minute opener.
"This is a spectacular win, this shows who we are," Messi told Movistar. "We were a bit cold and nervous in the first five minutes. We cannot come out like this in any Champions League game. We said that from the start.
"We have the experience from [losing to] Roma last season, you can't make life hard for yourself because one mistake and you're knocked out. We have to be aware of that.
"But after that, we managed to take control and played spectacular football."
Philippe Coutinho scored the third goal in the second half to keep Barca on track for an historic third Treble in the last 11 years.
The former Liverpool playmaker's celebration saw him cup his ear in front of the Barca supporters following criticism received for his performances this season.
"I honestly didn't see it," Valverde said when asked about Coutinho's celebration. "I don't know if it meant anything. He would have to explain it to me. What stays with me is the great goal he scored."
Asked if he feels the supporters and media have been unfair with the Brazil international, he added: "There are huge demands at this club. We always have to win and play well. There's a huge media focus and we're all subject to criticism.
"There's also an expectation that we always play brilliantly and Coutinho always scores and it cannot always be like that. We're all human and we have to deal with the world we're in."
Barca will face either Liverpool or Porto in the last four. The English side have a 2-0 lead going into the second leg in Portugal on Wednesday.
The Catalans also have a nine-point lead in La Liga and are in the final of the Copa del Rey as they pursue the Treble, which they previously won in 2009 and 2015.
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