Translated material
Chronicle
33-year-old Nodar Akhalkatsi, the son of the legendary coach of Dynamo Tbilisi and the USSR national team, resigned early on Thursday, two years before the expiration of his 4-year term, from the post of president of the Georgian Football Federation.
As federation press secretary Alexander Tsnobiladze told Vremya Novostei, elections for the new head of the FFG will take place within 20 days. The reason for the resignation was the extremely unsuccessful performance of the national team. In the qualifying round of the 2010 World Cup, the Georgian wards of 53-year-old Argentine coach Hector Cooper drew three times in eight games and lost five times, scoring four goals and conceding 11. Georgia takes the last, 6th place in its subgroup. The contract signed with the venerable coach last year expires at the end of the year, and it is not yet clear whether it will be renewed. As a possible successor to the Argentinean, the Georgian media name a well-known former football player, 41-year-old Temuri Ketsbai, who recently resigned as coach of the Greek Olympiacos.
The US Open final broke all spectator records
Argentinean Juan Martin del Potro arrived in Buenos Aires after winning the US Open. He was greeted by thousands of fans and hundreds of journalists at the city airport. At a press conference, the tennis player said: “My dream is to become the first racket in the world. But at the moment there are players who are playing much better."
The US Open final between Roger Federer and Juan Martin del Potro topped the 2008 final on CBS. The game between the Swiss and Argentine scored a rating of 2.3 points with an audience share of 5. These figures are 35% higher than last year's final Federer - Andy Murray (1.7 and 4 respectively).
It is worth noting that the last Grand Slam tournament, held in New York in 2009, set its own record for the number of spectators visiting the stands. This season, 721 thousand spectators watched the competition, which is almost a thousand more than last year, reports AP. The first Friday of the competition was the most visited. On this day, more than 61 thousand people came to the stands.
Beijing bids for World Athletics Championships
Beijing authorities intend to put forward their candidacy for hosting the 2015 World Athletics Championships, the AP reports, citing Chinese media. Chinese competitors Tokyo and Rio de Janeiro have already submitted their applications. Let us remind you that the next world championship will be held in South Korea in 2011, and in 2013 the best athletes in the world will come to Moscow.
Our best walkers will miss the Grand Prix final
This coming Saturday, the capital of Mordovia will host the finals of the IAAF Race Walking Grand Prix, in which walkers from 11 countries will take part. On Tuesday, Mexican Jesus Sanchez arrived in Saransk and conducted his first training session at the Olympic Training Center. And behind him is the two-time Beijing Olympic medalist, Australian Jared Tallent.
The final program includes two 10 km runs for women and men. World champions in Berlin - Russians Valery Borchin, Olga Kaniskina and Sergey Kirdyapkin - will not take part in these competitions, as previously expected. Stas Emelyanov, Andrey Ruzavin, Alexey Bartsaykin, Sergey Sergachev, Tatyana Mineeva, Tatyana Shemyakina, Lyudmila Arkhipova and Vera Sokolova will defend the honor of Russia and Mordovia.
Nadezhda Petrova and Alla Kudryavtseva reached the quarterfinals
Russian tennis players Nadezhda Petrova and Alla Kudryavtseva reached the quarterfinals of the tournament in Quebec (prize fund $220,000). In the second round, Petrova defeated American Madison Brengle - 6:3, 6:2. She will play Hungarian Melinda Zink in the quarterfinals. And Kudryavtseva knocked Jill Craybas from the USA out of the fight - 7:5, 6:2. Kudryavtseva's next opponent will be the winner of the pair Alexandra Voznyak (Canada) - Regina Kulikova (Russia).
Anna Chakvetadze will not be able to take part in WTA tournaments for a long time due to a stress fracture of a bone in her right foot, Tennis.com reports. One of these days the athlete will return to Moscow to undergo a course of treatment and recovery.
At the recent Grand Slam tournament in New York, Chakvetadze lost in the second round of the US Open to compatriot Vera Zvonareva.