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Rubin returned to the court
Chronicle of sporting events
At the second category BTA tennis tournament with a prize fund of 600 thousand dollars in Stanford (USA), American Chanda Rubin returned to the court, who had been absent for more than a year due to an ankle and knee injury. At one time, the dark-skinned Rubin was among the top ten in the world rankings, with seven tournament victories on her record. Chanda's return was not as strong as her compatriot Serena Williams' a week ago, winning three matches in a row. Rubin lost to another US representative, Jill Craybus, in the opening round - 2:6, 3:6.The Russians successfully started the men's tournament in Los Angeles, where the total bonus amount is $500 thousand. Dmitry Tursunov, seeded eighth, barely beat Danai Udomchok from Thailand - 7:6 (7:5), 7: 6 (7:4). Tursunov, who permanently resides in the United States, was able to convert only two break points out of 14, but he surpassed his opponent in the number of service hits - 16 aces against six. Igor Kunitsyn prevailed over Serbian Janko Tipsarevic in three sets - 4:6, 6:1, 6:2. Last year's Los Angeles winner Andre Agassi, who will retire after the US Open, sent Belgian Xavier Malisse to rest - 7:6 (12:10), 6:0. Moreover, in the first game, the most titled current tennis player won back three set points from his opponent. By the way, Agassi has been competing in these competitions since 1987.
If in California matches are played on hard courts, then in Croatian Umag they are played on clay. Our Evgeniy Korolev lost to the wild card holder, local player Marin Kilic, in the starting circle - 7:6 (7:5), 4:6, 3:6.
Arkady and Barsuk rose in the FIVB rankings
The International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) has announced a new ranking of the World Tour, which takes into account the results of the St. Petersburg stage that ended last week. Thanks to a relatively successful performance, the Russian pairs Roman Arkaev (Norilsk) - Dmitry Barsuk (Krasnodar) and Natalya Uryadova (Mytishchi) - Alexandra Shiryaeva (St. Petersburg) rose slightly in the annual classification. Arkaev and Barsuk moved from 20th position to 18th. The first three lines are occupied by the Brazilians Ricardo - Emanuel, Fabio - Marcio and Cunha - Franco. The best of the European pairs is located right behind them - these are the Germans Julius Brink and Christoph Diekmann.
Uryadova and Shiryaeva, who showed the best result of the season in St. Petersburg (9th place), are in 35th place. The women's rating is also headed by Brazilians - Larisa and Juliana. On the banks of the Neva they won for the second year in a row. Unfortunately, our best couple has already been eliminated from the qualifying stage of the new Grand Slam tournament that started in Paris. Natalya and Alexandra lost to Clara Lozano and Nadya Campisi, who played for Spain, with Italian surnames - 19:21, 21:13, 11:15. These girls are only 54th in the World Tour rankings, and in five previous competitions they have not earned a single dollar, as they have never made it into the main draw. Ilya TRISVIATSKY
The Northern Urals Chess Cup has started
Chinese woman Chen Zhu, after two days of play at the representative women's chess tournament Northern Urals Cup in Krasnoturinsk, leads the standings of the participants with a 100% result. She defeated Victoria Chmilite (Lithuania) and Lilit Mkrtchyan (Armenia). Chen Zhu became the world champion in 2001, and recently she agreed to play under the flag of the Arab state of Qatar for a decent fee. This is a common practice for rich oil-producing countries; similar precedents have been recorded in athletics and weightlifting, as well as martial arts.
Among the candidates for the main prize at the Northern Urals Cup are such famous chess players as world champions from Bulgaria Antoaneta Stefanova, Maya Chiburdanidze (Georgia), and winner of the 2005 European Championship from Ukraine Katya Lakhno. The honor of Russia is defended by sisters Nadezhda and Tatyana Kosintsev and Svetlana Matveeva. Vladimir ILYIN
Gusev won the Tour of Saxony
Vladimir Gusev from the American Discovery Channel won the first category race of the Eurotour, the Tour of Saxony. In the final general classification, he was 45 seconds ahead of Italian Lorenzo Bernucci from the German T-Mobile team.
The fact that the Tour of Saxony overlapped with the Tour de France is not surprising. Professional cycling groups have 25-28 riders under contract. Therefore, teams can compete at parallel competitions with two or three fairly strong squads. Let us recall that Gusev played for the Danish CSC last season, and this year he became a teammate of two-time Olympic champion Vyacheslav Ekimov. This is Vladimir’s first serious victory in his career.
The International Cycling Union (UCI) has announced a new Pro Tour ranking, taking into account the results of the Great Loop. The winner of the race on the roads of France, Spain, Luxembourg, Belgium, Holland and Germany, American Floyd Landis, rose from 26th place to second place - 175 points. Ahead is Spaniard Alejandro Valverde, who has retired from the Tour de France due to injury - 196. The best of the Russians, Denis Menshov, is in 18th position. Ilya TRISVIATSKY
The Russians performed successfully in Thessaloniki
The next stage of the World Athletics Tour took place in Thessaloniki, Greece. Russian athletes celebrated success in three disciplines. Igor Sukhomlinov sent the projectile to 80 m 20 cm in the javelin throw. Natalya Panteleeva was ahead of her compatriot Olga Komyagina in the 1500 meters with a result of 4 minutes. 04.86 sec. Olga Kaliturina was the best in the high jump sector - 1 m 98 cm.
The International Athletics Federation (IAAF) issued a decision to disqualify Athens Olympic champion in discus throw Natalia Sadova until July 2008. Her May doping test, taken in Hengelo (Holland), gave a positive result. In terms of the number of winners or prize-winners of major international competitions who were later caught for doping, Russia ranks firmly first in the whole world. Vladimir ILYIN