The NBA final series has begun

Chronicle of sporting events

Basketball. NBA. Final. “San Antonio” – “Cleveland” – 85:76 (series score 1:0).

By the end of the third quarter, the fate of the match was practically already decided - the hosts were in the lead by 15 points (64:49). The winners' highest scorers were black Frenchman Tony Parker (27 points) and Tim Duncan (24). Argentine Manu Zhinobili managed three accurate long-range shots. Cleveland leader LeBron James had an inexpressive performance in this match - only four hits out of 16 attempts to hit the target from the field. In addition, James committed six turnovers, more than any other participant in the first match of the final series. San Antonio power forward Robert Orry, who turns 37 this year, had six assists, second most in the game after Parker (7). Orry can win his seventh championship title. He earned his previous six with three different teams - Houston (1994, 1995), Los Angeles Lakers (2000, 2001, 2002) and San Antonio (2005).

47-year-old Stan Van Gundy has been appointed the new head coach of Orlando. In 2003-2005, he worked with Miami, which won the Southeast Division title and reached the conference finals. After Pat Riley returned to coach the Heat, Van Gundy served as his consultant. A week earlier, Orlando signed a 5-year contract worth $27.5 million with Billy Donovan, but the mentor changed his mind and returned to the University of Florida. With this team, he won the title of champion of the US Student League for two years in a row. Donovan signed a new 6+1 agreement with the university and will receive $3.5 million per season, a record amount for college basketball.

Caprara is in no hurry to win

The Russian women's volleyball team lost two matches at the traditional international tournament in the Swiss city of Montreux. In the first round of the preliminary stage, our girls, playing without a number of players who won the title of world champions last fall, lost to Serbia - 1:3 (25:22, 11:25, 18:25, 23:25). The next day, Italian specialist Giovanni Caprara's team failed to beat the Germans - 1:3 (30:28, 20:25, 18:25, 13:25).

Our team also started last season with an experimental squad and lost ten matches in a row. Therefore, now the results in Montreux should not be given much importance. Caprara is systematically screening candidates for the main team and must bring the team to peak form for the September European Championships in Belgium and Luxembourg. Ilya TRISVIATSKY

The tournament in Elista is nearing its conclusion

The qualifying tournament of candidates for participation in the World Chess Championship, which will take place in September, is taking place in Elista and has entered its decisive phase. The winners of the four pairs (the game is played in six games plus a tiebreak if necessary) will receive trips to Mexico. In the confrontations Levon Aronian (Armenia) - Alexey Shirov (Spain), Peter Leko (Hungary) - Evgeny Bareev and Alexander Grischuk - Sergey Rublevsky, events in the starting two games developed according to the same scenario. First, the chess players listed first won with white pieces; in the return matches, draws were recorded. Both times, Gata Kamsky (USA) and Boris Gelfand (Israel) separated peacefully. The matches will last until June 13, and if a tie-breaker is not needed if the score is equal, then all holders of tickets to Mexico will be known a day earlier. Vladimir ILYIN

Marcus Gorey signed a contract with CSKA

The capital's basketball club CSKA signed a three-year contract with American forward 29-year-old Marcus Gorey (203 cm). The basketball player spent the last three seasons in the Italian Benetton. However, his European career was not limited to this club. In the 2000/01 season, Gori played for the French Le Havre, in 2001/02 he played for the German Skyliners, in 2002/03 for the Israeli Maccabi, and in 2003/04 for the Spanish Gran Canaria. .

“We are glad that the start of the transfer campaign was so successful,” said Andrey Vatutin, first vice-president of PBC CSKA. -- This player with outstanding leadership qualities, who puts his soul into basketball, is always focused on the game. Not to mention the playing characteristics - the sense of passing, the successful choice of position and shot."

Marcus Gorey himself told the official website of PBC CSKA that he was glad to be in the army team, which is known in Europe for its good organization. He also added that he worked together with head coach Ettore Messina at Benetton and generally goes to Moscow with a light heart. Olga ERMOLINA

Tokyo bids for 2016 Summer Olympics

The Japanese city of Tokyo has officially announced its intention to host the 2016 Summer Olympics. Recently, the head of the Japanese Olympic Committee, Tsunekazu Takeda, and the governor of the capital, Shinitaro Ishihara, sent relevant documents to the President of the International Olympic Committee, Jacques Rogge.

In addition to Tokyo, Chicago and Madrid have now officially confirmed their desire to host the 2016 Summer Games. All candidates must submit their applications to the IOC by September 13. Let us remember that the Japanese capital already hosted the Olympics in 1964. Olesya KOMAROVA

The Danish football players received a technical defeat

The UEFA Disciplinary Committee decided to count the Danish national team as a technical defeat in the 2008 European Football Championship qualifying match against Sweden with a score of 0:3. This game was interrupted in the 89th minute, when the numbers on the scoreboard were 3:3. Danish defender Christian Poulsen hit visiting forward Markus Rosenberg in the stomach with his elbow, and match referee Herbert Fandel showed the offender a red card. A local fan immediately ran onto the field and attacked the referee. Fandel quickly led the teams off the field to avoid further unrest. In addition to the technical defeat, the Danish team was fined 100 thousand Swiss francs. Denmark must play its next four home matches at a distance of at least 250 km from Copenhagen, and the first of these games must take place without spectators. Vladimir ILYIN

Ilya TRISVIATSKY