Sports News

The Wimbledon tennis tournament in London has not been going at all well for the Czech Republic's tennis players: of the ten who entered, only two - Novak and Stepanek - are still there after just three days. The Czech national football team have risen to tenth in FIFA's rankings, while Ostrava wonderboy Michal Papadopulos, looks set to join giants Arsenal, if he can get a Greek passport.

Sports News

Wimbledon washout for Czech tennis players

Denisa Chladkova, photo: CTK

The Wimbledon tennis tournament in London has not been going at all well for the Czech Republic's tennis players. Of the ten Czechs who entered, only two are still there, just three days after the Grand Slam tournament began. Wednesday saw the last of the Czech women - Daniela Bedanova and Denisa Chladkova - knocked out. Bedanova, now trained by Martina Navratilova's former coach, Craig Kardon, was beaten in two sets by Nathalie Dechy of France. Chladkova, meanwhile, went out to Cara Black of Zimbabwe, also in two sets.

So it's left to the two Czech men remaining at Wimbledon, Jiri Novak and Radek Stepanek, to carry the Czech flag. Novak, who beat Luis Horna of Peru on Tuesday, faces David Ferrer of Spain in the second round, while Stepanek, who beat Slovakia's Michal Mertinak, meets Australia's Scott Draper.

Football news in brief

The Czech Republic have risen three places in the rankings of football's governing body, FIFA, and are now in tenth place.

After a drop last season in attendance levels that were already poor, the Czech FA has decided to hold most football games on Saturday evening at 6:30, a time believed more attractive to fans than the early afternoon. The FA has also ruled that clubs can field up to five foreigners at one time, though that rule will have to be brought into line with European Union regulations next year.

In transfer news, Sparta Prague full-back Zdenek Grygera has turned down an offer from CSKA Moscow, and is in talks with England's Aston Villa. And Banik Ostrava wonderkid Michal Papadopulos looks set to join Arsenal in the very near future. The 18-year-old striker has Greek grandparents and must obtain a Greek (ie EU) passport before the transfer can go ahead.

International Olympic Committee holding conference in Prague

From Saturday, members of the International Olympic Committee will begin arriving in Prague for a a week-long conference at which they will decide the venue of the 2010 Winter Olympics. Looking further to the future, the Czech capital itself has expressed an interest in hosting the 2020 summer games.

Czechs hammer Slovakia in baseball

And finally just a quick mention of a game which would have sounded completely impossible fifteen years ago: the Czech Republic versus Slovakia in baseball. Neither country existed then, and baseball was virtually non-existent in this part of the world. As for the score, the Czechs beat their old federal partners 10:1 in Tuesday's meeting in Prague.