Sports News

Sport now, and starting on a serious note, the trial began this week of the Banik Ostrava fans accused of seriously injuring a woman travelling on a local train carrying rival fans to a match with the North Moravian club. The woman was left in a coma after being struck by a rock allegedly thrown at the train by Banik fans. Banik has some of the worst football hooligans in the country, and the incident led to a debate on tougher penalties for hooliganism in the Czech Republic. And staying with Banik, ice-hockey coach Alois Hadamczik has been confirmed as the team's new majority owner. Hadamczik, who coaches Vitkovice, says, however, that he remains passionate about hockey.

Well, on to tennis, and Czech qualifier David Miketa nearly caused an upset in the German town of Stuttgart this week, when he came close to beating local favourite Tommy Haas at the Stuttgart Open. Haas, seeded sixth in the claycourt event, came dramatically close to his sixth first-round exit of the year, surviving six match points before overcoming Miketa 3-6 7-5 6-2 to reach the second round. The unseeded Miketa wasted his chances in the second set, and collapsed in the third.

And finally crossing the Atlantic, and Czech sports fans will now be able to buy tickets to matches in the NHL, NBA or NFL right here in Prague, following the opening of a new Keith Prowse ticket office in the Czech capital. NHL fans will be able to buy tickets to watch their favourite Czech ice-hockey stars battling it out on the rinks of North America - at a price of course. The cheapest ticket to an NHL match begins at around 1,500 crowns, which is about two days' wages for most people. And then of course, there's the small matter of the air fare...