Sorenstam ends in style

ANNIKA Sorenstam captured her 11th US LPGA title of the year, holding off Australia's Rachel Teske to win the $1m ADT Tour Championship for Golf in Florida last Sunday.

The Swede fired a final-round four-under par 68 to finish 72 holes at 13-under par 275, three strokes ahead of Teske, who led after three rounds. She was also six ahead of 2001 winner Karrie Webb of Australia at the showdown of the year's top 30 money winners.

Sorenstam's win total was the best LPGA title showing since Mickey Wright in 1964.

Counting victories in Europe and Australia, Sorenstam's 13 titles in 2002 matched Wright's all-time record 13-win season of 1963.

"I'm at a loss for words," Sorenstam said. "I fought so hard this week. I wanted this so badly. I gave it all and now it feels wonderful." Sorenstam finished the season with more than $2.8m in prize money to $1.7m from runner-up Pak Se Ri of South Korea. Six birdies on the final day set up Sorenstam's victory. Teske struggled at the last two holes to end her chances of catching up with Sorenstam.

Gatti's sweet revenge

ARTURO Gatti gained sweet revenge last Saturday for a previous loss to Micky Ward at Atlantic City. The 30-year-old American dictated a fiercely fought bout and won a unanimous decision after ten gruelling rounds. The two junior welterweights had staged one of the fights of 2001 last May, when Ward pulled off a points upset. And, although less spectacular, the rematch was still entertaining.

Gatti put Ward on the canvas in the third round with a thumping overhand right, but he could not apply the finish. And Ward's remarkable endurance saw him through to the end of a contest that was scored 98-91, 98-91 and 98-90 by the three judges. Earlier, Audley Harrison had made his US debut on the undercard, polishing off Shawn Robinson in impressive fashion.

Tim happy after op

TIM HENMAN is confident of returning to full fitness after undergoing surgery on his injured shoulder. The British number one faces a battle to be ready for the Australian Open that starts on 13 January in Melbourne.

Speaking on his Web site, he said: "I felt the time was right to try and make sure I did whatever was necessary to have the best possible chance of getting back to full fitness," he said. "I discussed the situation at length with the specialists and they felt the best course of action would be to have arthroscopic surgery. After the operation my shoulder was a little swollen for a day or so but after that it was soon back to normal. Since then my range of movement without discomfort has improved dramatically. So much so I started my rehab last Monday, so the initial thoughts are that it was a complete success."

It isn't quite over yet, however. Henman added: "The important thing now is to rehab thoroughly and correctly before I get back on court. I'm icing my shoulder four times a day and gradually increasing the amount of rehab I do so that when I do return I'll be ready."

Spanish triumph for Cherigat

KENYA's Timothy Cherigat set a new course record of 2hrs 9min 34sec to win the San Sebastian Marathon last Sunday. It was also the fastest-ever marathon performance on Spanish soil.

Cherigat broke away with two kilometres remaining in the 42km race to finish 24sec ahead of his compatriot David Busenei. Willy Cheruiyot, who completed a Kenyan clan sweep of the first three places, crossed the line third in 2:10:32.

Kenyans filled the first eight places and another Kenyan, Margaret Atudonyang, won the women's race. Cherigat, 26, broke a course record that has stood to Britain's Richard Nerurkar at 2:10:03 since 1993. Nerurkar won the World Cup when it was held in the Basque city nine years ago.

Cherigat, whose best previous result was finishing 10th in last year's Boston Marathon, took advantage of perfect conditions to smash his personal best by nearly five minutes.

British sport boosts Olympic bid

BRITISH sport has given the British Olympic Association (BOA) its full backing to try to win the Olympic Games for London in 2012. At a meeting in London last week the governing bodies of the 35 Olympic sports voted unanimously in favour of the BOA's campaign to get the government to back its proposed bid. BOA chairman Craig Reedie was "delighted" with the show of support.

"What was encouraging was that sport seems absolutely determined and united to meet the challenge, it was hugely encouraging that the leading sports were as supportive as they were," he said.

The BOA will now step up the campaign to persuade Prime Minister Tony Blair and Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown that hosting the Games would benefit London. David Davies, acting chief executive of the Football Association, pointed to the success of Euro 96 and the Commonwealth Games.

Olympic medallist Gallagher dies

AMERICAN middle-distance runner Kim Gallagher, who overcame illness to win medals at the 1984 and 1988 Olympic Games, has died at the age of 38.

Gallagher, a member of the Pennsylvania Track and Field Hall of Fame, died of a stroke last week at Roxborough Memorial Hospital. She was diagnosed with stomach cancer in 1995 and suffered the first of two strokes in August.

Gallagher had surgery on her ovaries six months before winning a silver medal in the 800m in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. She also was anemic and later had chronic fatigue syndrome and an infection of the fallopian tubes.

Yet she went on to win 800m bronze at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, after which she commented: "I felt like I was being stabbed in the stomach."

Gallagher's time that year was 1 minute 56.91 seconds, a personal best that still ranks third on the all-time US list behind Jearl Miles-Clark and Mary Decker Slaney. Gallagher holds national high-school records for the 800m and 1500m, set 20 years ago at Upper Dublin High School in suburban Philadelphia. She is survived by her mother Barbara, father John, husband John Corcoran, and 13-year-old daughter Jessica Smith.

Golden day for Brits

GRAEME Smith and Georgina Lee added two golds to Great Britain's tally at the Fina World Cup swimming event in New York last Sunday.

Graeme Smith dominated the 1,500m freestyle to win by almost a minute from his nearest rival, China's Cheng Yu. Georgina Lee was impressive as she took gold in the 200m butterfly, winning in two minutes 9.7 seconds from American Rachel Komisarz.

After the race, Scottish swimmer Smith said he was delighted by his victory. "I felt I held a good pace and swam a solid race, which was pleasing as I am in heavy training, unrested and unshaven."

James Hickman added a brace of silvers to his 200m butterfly gold. The City of Leeds swimmer finished behind world record holder Thomas Rupprath of Germany in the 100m butterfly. He was then beaten into second by Michael Phelps of the United States in the 200m individual medley.

Another British gold medallist, Alison Sheppard, followed up her win in the 50m freestyle with a silver in the 100m freestyle and bronze in the 100m individual medley. She said: "It has been a good start to the short course season. I was pleased that I managed to beat some top names."

Wemyss retains badminton crown

YUAN Wemyss retained her badminton women's doubles crown at the Bank of Scotland International Championships in Glasgow on Sunday. And in doing so she made up for losing out in the singles semi-finals.

But it was a hollow victory for the China-born Scot and new partner Kirsteen McEwan as German opponents Nicole Grether and Juliane Schenk pulled out of the final. Both women are serving in the German army and that exertion was blamed after Schenk pulled out with a shoulder injury.

"The effort of carrying her kit bag and shooting her rifle followed by playing singles and doubles here has caused the problem," Grether said.

Robert Blair, who quit Scotland for England last year, retained his mixed doubles title with Natalie Munt, beating Russian second seeds Nickolai Zuev and Marina Yakusheva 6-11, 13-12, 11-9.

Al-Ahram Weekly Online : 28 Nov. - 4 Dec. 2002 (Issue No. 614)
Located at: http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2002/614/sp3.htm