Translated material
Chronicle
Basketball. NBA. Playoffs. Second round. "Boston" - "Orlando" - 112:94. The series score is 1--1. “Lakers” – “Houston” – 111:98. The series score is 1--1.
Defending champion Boston drew the right conclusions from the previous defeat, and in the next meeting with Orlando, the hosts took control of the situation from the very first minutes of the game. At times their advantage reached 20 points, and only in the end did the Celts slightly reduce their activity.
Rajon Rondo scored for Boston, scoring his third triple-double in the playoffs. He had 15 points, 18 assists and 11 rebounds. Another hero of the meeting was Eddie House, who scored 31 points. “The guys got the victory they wanted. It was impossible to lose the second home game in a row,” Boston coach Doc Rivers noted after the game. “Now we have to catch one of the away matches.”
The Lakers basketball players also acted like Boston, beating Houston on their home court. “The first game was terrible,” Kobe Bryant said. “However, life does not end after one defeat; one must be able to draw conclusions from mistakes.” By the way, Bryant again scored an enviable performance in this game. He scored 40 points.
Howard named Best Defensive Player
The NBA continues to summarize the season. Orlando center Dwyatt Howard was named the best defensive player. In addition to Howard, the symbolic team of the best defenders included forwards LeBron James (Cleveland) and Kevin Garnett (Boston), New Orleans guards Chris Paul and Lakers Kobe Bryant. The second team includes center Tim Duncan (San Antonio), guards Dwyane Wade (Miami) and Rajon Rondo (Boston), forwards Shane Battier and Ron Artest (both Houston).
The Penguins blew the score
Hockey. NHL. Playoffs. Conference semi-finals. Eastern Conference. "Pittsburgh" -- "Washington" -- 3:2 OT -- Ovechkin "W" (1+1), Malkin "P" (1+0), Gonchar "P" (0+1), Semin "W" (0+1). The series score is 1--2. “Carolina” – “Boston” – 3:2 OT – Samsonov “K” (1+1). The series score is 2--1.
After two lost matches in Washington, the Penguins achieved victory on home ice. Despite the fact that the goalkeeper of the capital club Semyon Varlamov managed to fend off 39 shots on his own goal, for which he again received the epithet “magnificent,” and Alexander Ovechkin scored another goal, the team of Malkin and Gonchar outplayed their opponents in overtime. Washington's Sergei Fedorov was injured during the game and sat on the bench for most of the match. “We didn’t play our game,” Ovechkin said after the match. “I don’t want to say anything about Varlamov now, I don’t want to talk about the judge either. The opponent only had two deletions, and that’s funny.”
In another confrontation between Carolina and Boston, the hosts also managed to tip the scales in their favor in extra time. “When we managed to equalize the score, we tried to take advantage of it,” said Sergei Samsonov, who scored one of the goals in the match. - But for the most part the goals in the match were unattractive. Boston has one of the best defensive lines in the league. Since I stopped playing there, the team's play has changed significantly, and I haven't seen most of the familiar faces."
The European Union and WADA will discuss the anti-doping code
Representatives of the European Union and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) plan to hold negotiations in the coming days, during which they intend to discuss some articles of the new anti-doping code. The meeting will take place in Montreal. And the main reason for negotiations will be the clause of the anti-doping rules (remember that the new law came into force at the beginning of this year) on the whereabouts of athletes, which contradicts the law on private life. The European Union is concerned that the code diverges greatly from the general civil law adopted in some countries.
Ahead of the meeting, WADA Director General David Howman said there was “an excellent understanding between the parties about what we want from each other.” If any changes are made, the WADA executive director is expected to approve the move as early as this week. However, despite the existing problem, no major changes are expected in the WADA code, AP reports.
Petrova and Chakvetadze did not make it to the quarterfinals
A women's tennis tournament with a prize fund of $2 million is taking place on the clay courts of the Italian capital. Of the large group of Russian participants in the tournament in Rome, only two tennis players - world number one Dinara Safina and Svetlana Kuznetsova - were able to make it to the quarterfinals. Safina defeated the Chinese Jie Zheng not without problems - 5:7, 6:1, 7:6 (7:3). “I train and play well in sparring matches, but I go out on the court and everything turns 180 degrees. It’s as if another person is playing,” Safina commented on her game after the match, adding that she needs to improve her tennis. Svetlana Kuznetsova defeated the mistress of the court Flavia Pennetta - 6:3, 3:6, 6:0.
Unfortunately, our other two compatriots - Anna Chakvetadze and Nadezhda Petrova - were unable to advance beyond the third round. The first lost to the American Venus Williams - 0:6, 7:6 (10:8), 4:6, and the second lost to the Spanish Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez - 4:6, 7:6 (7:5), 4:6 .
Russian Nikolay Davydenko reached the quarterfinals of the tournament in Estoril, Portugal. “I’m glad I’ve already reached this stage, but I want to at least reach the finals. After the injury, success here will give me confidence. However, I don’t want to say that I am the favorite in Estoril. Still, I’m not Nadal, plus I haven’t won any tournaments this year yet,” Reuters quotes Davydenko.
Mikhail Youzhny also reached the quarterfinals of the tournament in Munich, beating Spaniard Nicolas Almagro - 7:6 (7:2), 6:4.
Unlike Davydenko and Yuzhny, Igor Andreev completed his performance at the tournament in Belgrade. In the second round match against Pole Lukasz Kubot, with the score 2:3, the Russian refused to continue the fight.