Translated material
Menshov won the prologue at the Vuelta
The prestigious multi-day race “Vuelta a España” began with the victory of the Russian cyclist of the Dutch team “Rabobank” Denis Menshov. Menshov covered seven kilometers along the streets of Granada in 9 minutes. 45 seconds, ahead of Belgian Rick Verbrugge, who showed the second time, by just a second.
At the award ceremony at the end of the stage, Menshov received the yellow jersey of the leader of the general classification. Last season, Denis was also able to distinguish himself at the Vuelta, winning the fifth stage. The athlete from Oryol became the first Russian in the 21st century to try on the leadership jersey at the Grand Tour race, which, in addition to the Vuelta, includes the May Giro D'Italia and the July Tour de France. Vladimir ILYIN
Davenport is world number one again
Maria Sharapova held the title of number one in the BTA individual rankings for just a week. Lindsay Davenport has risen to the top of the tennis hierarchy once again. The American performed well at the second category tournament with a prize fund of $600 thousand in New Haven. On the way to the final, Lynsey defeated Kveta Peschke (Czech Republic) - 6:3, 6:4, Daniela Hantuchova (Slovakia) - 6:2, 7:6 (7:5), Russian Anna Chakvetadze - 6: 3, 6:3, and in the decisive match she defeated the Frenchwoman Amelie Mauresmo - 6:4, 6:4. This is the 48th title of Davenport's career. In terms of the number of victories at WTA tournaments, she has no equal among active tennis players, unless, of course, you count Martina Navratilova, who has recently been playing only in doubles. Ilya TRISVIATSKY
Grudin named the team composition
The head coach of the Russian women's basketball team, Igor Grudin, named the final composition of the team for the European Championship starting on September 2 in Turkey. In the last days of the preparatory cycle, the mentor had to choose a battle dozen from 14 players. As a result, the winner of the “gold” of the championship, the 2003 European champion, two-time silver medalist of the 1998 and 2002 world championships, forward Yulia Tokareva (Skopa) from the capital’s Dynamo and the young center of Vologda-Chevakaty Olga Yakovleva were not included in the lineup.
In Turkey, our country will be represented by: point guards and attacking defenders - Olga Naimushina, Oksana Rakhmatulina, Ilona Korstin, Marina Karpunina, Svetlana Abrosimova; forwards - Elena Karpova, Tatyana Shchegoleva, Olga Arteshina, Irina Sokolovskaya; centers - Maria Stepanova, Elen Shakirova, Marina Kuzina. All these girls played for Russian clubs last season, and Stepanova and Abrosimova also played in the WNBA in the summer. Karpunina, Kuzina and Sokolovskaya will make their debut in the national team at an official tournament of this level. The chairman of the coaching council of the Russian Basketball Federation, Professor Valery Lunichkin, helps Grudin in working with the national team. “There is nothing unusual in the fact that I combine my main position at the RFB with the responsibilities of Grudin’s assistant. In basketball, this practice is accepted in many countries of the world,” Lunichkin explained in a conversation with a Vremya Novostei correspondent. Ilya TRISVIATSKY
Caprara's team lost to the Italians
The Russian women's team, in preparation for the September European Championship, which will be held in Croatia, played three matches as part of the international tournament "Citta de Livorno". On the Apennine Peninsula, the team of Italian head coach Giovanni Caprara beat Croatia (3:0) and Turkey (3:1), but failed to cope with the Italians (2:3). In the last match, the fate of the main prize of the tournament, which ultimately went to the 2002 world champions, was decided. In the game with Italy, the team's main scorer, Ekaterina Gamova, again became the most productive among the Russians. In addition to her, the starting six included finishers Elena Godina and Natalya Safronova, central blockers Maria Borodakova and Yulia Merkulova, and setter Marina Sheshenina. Olga Fadeeva played the position of libero, but Ekaterina Kabeshova, who usually plays the role of a pure defender, at this tournament entered the reception in the nominal role of a finisher. After healing her injury, Natalya Alimova returned to the national team; in Livorno, Caprara also used Olga Sazhina, Maria Zhadan and Natalya Kurnosova. If in the first two days of the Città de Livorno the stands were empty, the Italy-Russia match attracted three thousand fans. Ilya TRISVIATSKY
Chelsea and Bayern are on top
Football. English Championship. 4th round. “Aston Villa” – “Blackburn” – 1:0, “Fulham” – “Everton” – 1:0, “Manchester City” – “Portsmouth” – 2:1, “Tottenham” – “ Chelsea - 0:2, West Ham - Bolton - 1:2, Wigan - Sunderland - 1:0, West Bromwich - Birmingham - 2: 3.
English champion Chelsea continues its victorious march in the current Premier League tournament. Roman Abramovich's club showed a 100% result in four matches played, without losing a single point. Goals from Del Horno and Duff brought the “aristocrats” another three points in the away game against Tottenham. Czech ex-CSKA player Jiri Jarosik scored a goal for Birmingham.
German Championship. 3rd round. Eintracht - Nuremberg - 1:0, Bayern - Hertha - 3:0, Wolfsburg - Bayer - 2:1, Werder - Stuttgart -- 1:1, Schalke 04 -- Borussia M -- 1:1, Cologne -- Kaiserslautern -- 2:3, Hamburg -- Hannover -- 1:1 .
Bayern made a start in the Bundesliga championship no less quickly than Chelsea in Foggy Albion. Football players from Munich have won their third victory in a row, all with a big score. Bayern have already scored 11 goals against their opponents.
French Championship. 5th round. "Nancy" - "Rennes" - 6:0, "Nantes" - "Metz" - 0:0, "Le Mans" - "Troyes" - 1:0, "Saint-Etienne" - - Sochaux - 0:0, Strasbourg - Bordeaux - 0:0, Paris Saint-Germain - Nice - 1:2, Marseille - Ajaccio - - 1:1, "Lille" - "Toulouse" - 0:0.
After four defeats in a row, Nancy suddenly changed and won with a big score. However, the same championship outsider, Rennes, became the victim of Nancy. For the first time, Sergei Semak was included in the lineup for the match, coming on as a substitute for PSG in the 18th minute of the game. The former CSKA captain received a warning in the 55th minute and generally did not conduct this match in the best way. The Parisians quickly opened the scoring, doing so in the second minute, but conceded both goals in the presence of Semak. Vladimir ILYIN