Sports News

It was an exciting weekend for Czech hockey as the playoffs resumed, two matches ended in a shootout. In the NHL, Roman Cechmanek's win streak came to an end. In football, Sparta regained 1st place in the Gambrinus league. And tennis player Bohdan Ulihrach has been suspended for two years after tests confirmed the presence of a banned substance in his blood.

Hockey playoffs well underway

Slavia beat Vsetin 2:1, photo: CTK

It was an exciting weekend in hockey action as the third leg of the first round of the playoffs took place on Sunday. Marek Uram scored two goals for Znojmo as they defeated playoff favorites Pardubice 3:2. Sparta beat Ceske Budejovice 2:1, where veteran goalie Petr Briza had a solid match. The remaining two games had to be decided by shootout, where Slavia beat Vsetin 2:1 and Vitkovice won 1:0 against Trinec. So the standings are as follows: Parducbice are up 2 games to one against Znojmo; Slavia is up three nil against Vsetin; Sparta is also up three nil over Ceske Budejovice; and Vitkovice leads Trinec two games to one. Both Prague teams Slavia and Sparta need just one win to qualify for the next round of the playoffs.

Cechmanek faces the real world

Philadelphia goalie Roman Cechmanek's win streak came to an end on Friday, Bobby Holik added two goals as the New York Rangers crushed the Philadelphia Flyers 5:1, Cechmanek was pulled from the game after three goals were scored against him. Other Czechs to add their names to the score sheet included Petr Nedved, who scored his 23rd goal and Radek Dvorak, who had three assists. In other action, Jaromir Jagr broke his slump as he added two goals and an assist as the Washington Capitals tied the Atlanta Thrashers 4:4.

Sparta back on top of Czech football league

Sparta Prague have regained their place on top of the Gambrinus league as they ploughed through fourth place Liberec 5:0 on Saturday afternoon. In other action Bohemians Prague edged further away from relegation by winning their first game of the season at home 3:2 against fellow Prague team Vikoria Zizkov. And last place Hradec Kralolve were hammered by Pribram 5:nil.

Bohdan Ulihrach, photo: CTK

Tennis player Bohdan Ulihrach banned form competition for two years

The International Tennis Federation (ITF) has levelled a two-year ban on Czech tennis player Bohdan Ulihrach. The ITF stated that tests confirmed the presence of banned substances after a tournament in Moscow last year. Ulihrach, who reached 22nd in ATP rankings in 1997 is currently ranked 101. The tennis player plans to appeal the verdict, he stated that he does not know how the banned substances got into his blood.