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Davydenko defeated the aging “musketeer”
Chronicle of sporting events
The first racket of Russia Nikolay Davydenko and the winner of the ATP tournament in Rotterdam (Holland) that ended last week, Mikhail Youzhny, with great difficulty overcame the barrier of the opening round at the competition in Dubai (UAE).Davydenko met with the half-forgotten Younes El-Ainaoui, who made his way into the main draw through qualification, and achieved success in three sets - 6:7 (2:7), 7:5, 7:5. Several years ago, El-Ainaoui was in the top 20 of the world rankings, and he, along with his compatriots Karim Alami and Hicham Arazi, who played at a fairly high level, were called the three Moroccan “musketeers” on the ATP tour. Due to a leg injury, El-Ainaoui's career went into decline, and now the 36-year-old veteran is frankly playing out the game, mainly taking part in insignificant “challengers”. But sometimes he has epiphanies, and this is how Davydenko found himself on such a rise of the Moroccan, who came out of a difficult situation with honor. Youzhny managed to turn the tide of the fight in a duel with Finn Jarko Nieminen, also playing his match in the maximum format - 3:6, 6:3, 6:3. The day before, the best tennis player in the world also gave a set to the Dane Christian Pless - 7:6 (7:2), 3:6, 6:3. Igor Andreev, in a fight no less stubborn than Davydenko, broke the resistance of the Frenchman Marc Giquet - 6:7 (4:7), 6:4, 7:5.
In the capital of Qatar, Doha, at the women's tournament of the second category of the WTA, but as an exception with a prize fund similar to that of competitions of a higher rank ($1.34 million), our Maria Kirilenko in the starting circle confidently dealt with the citizen of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, Anna Kremer - 6 :1, 6:2.
Zhitnik and Tkachuk made their debut in Atlanta
Hockey. NHL. Regular season. "Boston" - "Atlanta" - 2:3 - Vyach. Kozlov "A" (0+2) , "Calgary" - "Phoenix" - 5:2, "Montreal" - "Toronto" - 5:4 - A. Markov "M" (0+1) , Kovalev “M” (0+1) , “San Jose” – “Anaheim” – 2:3. Having made two assists, Vyacheslav Kozlov took first place among Atlanta's best assistants - 45 times he helped his partners when scoring an opponent's goal. Slovakian Marianne Hossa, who scored his 36th goal in the regular season, had 44 assists. The first match for the Thrashers was played by former St. Louis player, left wing Keith Tkachuk, and defenseman Alexey Zhitnik, received from Philadelphia. Atlanta has set a club record by winning 18 away games in the championship.
The course of the match between “San Jose” and “Anaheim” was interesting. The goals of both teams are defended by Russians - Evgeniy Nabokov and Ilya Bryzgalov, respectively. In the first period, Mighty Ducks forward Dustin Penner scored twice, and in the second 20 minutes, Sharks player Milan Michalek responded with a double strike. And the winning goal in the last third of the match was scored by the Finnish legionary of Anaheim Teemu Selanne. This is his 38th goal of the season, and in the list of the league’s top scorers, the Suomi representative now shares second place with Martin Saint-Louis from Tampa. After five defeats in a row in matches with his participation, Bryzgalov has not been on the ice since February 7, but he played the game with the “sharks” at the highest level, making 40 saves. Nabokov had a much lighter workload - the guests made only 19 shots on target, which did not prevent them from achieving victory. Vladimir ILYIN
Dallas breaks club and national records
Basketball. NBA. Regular season. Philadelphia - Sacramento - 89:82, Memphis - Denver - 107:111, Dallas - Atlanta - 110:87, Chicago - Orlando -- 87:94, "Seattle" -- "Portland" -- 97:73, "New York" -- "Miami" -- 99:93, "San Antonio" -- "Toronto" -- 107: 91, “Houston” – “Boston” – 72:77, “Utah” – “Lakers” – 94:102, “Clippers” – “Charlotte” – 100:93.
Dallas won its 12th victory in a row and has been unbeaten on its home court for 20 matches. The second figure is a new Mavericks club record. This team also became the first team in NBA history to achieve three streaks of a dozen or more wins in a row in one season. “Milwaukee” in the 1970/71 championship, “Philadelphia” in 1980/81 and “Los Angeles” seven years ago had three series of ten or more victories. The best player in a significant meeting for Dallas was German forward Dirk Nowitzki - 27 points and eight rebounds. A native of Tbilisi, Zaza Pachulia, who plays for Atlanta, set a personal season record for scoring - 24 points, adding nine collected rebounds of the ball from the backboard.
But the unconditional outsider of the Eastern Conference, Boston, was able to avoid another achievement, but with the prefix “anti”. The Celts ended a streak of a dozen away defeats. Boston's victory over Houston cannot be classified as a sensation, because the Rockets played without their two injured leaders - Chinese center Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady.
Russian national team forward Andrei Kirilenko played his most productive game for Utah in February - 12 points in 28 minutes on the court. The Jazzmen continue to confidently lead the North-West Division with 37 wins and 19 losses. All other teams in this quintet have a negative balance. Exactly the same situation has developed in two more divisions - Southeast and Atlantic. Ilya TRISVIATSKY