Sports News

The Czech Davis Cup team have beaten Thailand to ensure their place amongst tennis's top 16 nations next season; Jiri Novak tells us he expected a tougher clash with Thai number one Paradorn Srishapan. In football, Sparta Prague have bounced back from their defeat to Chelsea, while Slavia have continued their slide. Czech stars Jan Koller and Tomas Rosicky and their Dortmund team-mates were confronted by angry fans after losing on Saturday. And in the ice hockey Extraliga Sparta are the only side with the maximum points after five rounds.

Sports News

Novak leads Czechs to Davis Cup play-offs win over Thailand in Bangkok

Jiri Novak, photo: CTK

The Czech Davis Cup team have beaten Thailand to ensure their place amongst tennis's top 16 nations in the competition's World Group next season. The hero of the Bangkok clash was Jiri Novak, who had a hand in three of the Czech Republic's points in their 4:1 win over Thailand. Novak's most valuable point came from his 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 win over the leading Thai player Paradorn Srishaphan, which gave the Czechs an unassailable lead on Sunday. The Czech number one said afterwards that he had expected Srishapan to give him more of a run for his money:

"I expected a really tough battle and I myself was surprised that it turned out to be such an easy game, from the point of view of the score. That said it wasn't so easy, as he is a world class player, he was playing in front of his home crowd and the arena was totally sold out. From both the physical and mental points of view it was a hard match, and I was glad to win it in the end."

Czech football league round-up

It was an interesting weekend in the Czech football league. Sparta Prague bounced back from a Champions League defeat against Chelsea to beat Synot 3:1; all four goals in that game coming in the last 15 minutes. Slavia Prague, meanwhile, continued their slide with a 1:0 defeat away to Pribram. Slavia - last season's runners-up - haven't won a game in their last five, and may now be regretting selling both Vachousek and Skacel to Marseilles. Pribram's victory, meanwhile, was good news for Jozef Chovanec: the former Czech international manager's job had been on the line, after Pribram picked up only three points in their first seven games. Elsewhere, Teplice put on a gutsy performance to beat Liberec 2:1 at home.

Rosicky and Koller unharmed in clash with Dortmund fans

Czech internationals Tomas Rosicky and Jan Koller found themselves in a potentially unpleasant situation on Saturday, when Dortmund fans - dissatisfied with the team's poor form - refused to let them or their teammates board their bus after a defeat at Stuttgart. Rosicky said he had looked for the gigantic Koller to hide behind, but in the end the confrontation passed without incident.

Sparta Prague only team on maximum points after five rounds of Extraliga

After five rounds of ice hockey's Extraliga Sparta Prague are the only team to have taken the maximum 15 points; Sparta's latest victory was a 5:3 win over Trinec at home on Sunday. At the other end of the table, Ceske Budejovice have yet to take any points at all; their 3:1 defeat to Karlovy Vary compounding a miserable start to the season.