Sports News

Satoranský makes history as first Czech to achieve triple-double in NBA; Kvitová wins 26th career title in Sydney and reaches round two at Australian Open; and Milan Engel achieves best stage result for Czech motorcyclist in 2019 Dakar Rally.

Satoranský enters Czech basketball history books with NBA triple-double

Tomáš Satoranský, photo: ČTK/AP/Nick Wass

Czech basketball player Tomáš Satoranský produced the greatest performance of his career so far for the Washington Wizards on Friday. The 27-year-old earned 18 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists and became the first Czech in NBA history to record a triple-double in Washington’s 113:106 victory over Milwaukee. A triple-double is when a player reaches double points in three of five categories in a game and could be compared to a hat-trick in soccer. Satoranský wrapped up the triple-double with just a minute and 43 seconds of the game remaining, after setting up a smash for his Wizards teammate Bradley Beal.

Kvitová lifts 26th title in Sydney and reaches round two in Melbourne

Petra Kvitová won tennis’s Sydney International on Saturday for the 26th title of her career. The Czech overcame a poor first set to beat Australia’s Ash Barty 1-6 7-5 7-6 and triumph in Sydney for the second time. It was the perfect warm-up for the Australian Open for Kvitová, who is now Czech number one again after climbing to sixth in the world rankings. Karolína Plíšková is now eighth. And Kvitová got off to a good start at the first Grand Slam of the year, overcoming Magdalena Rybáriková of Slovakia 6-3 6-2.

Berdych and Vondroušová progress at Australian Open

Tomáš Berdych, photo: ČTK/AP/Andy Brownbill

Also in action at the Australian Open on Monday was Tomáš Berdych. Berdych, who has just come back after a long injury lay-off, is safely into the second round after beating Kyle Edmund, a semi-finalist in Melbourne last year, 6-3 6-0 7-5. Also through is Markéta Vondroušová, who overcame Evgeniya Rodina in the Czech’s first match of 2019. Less successful was Barbora Strýcová. The 32-year-old lost 4-6 6-7 to Yulie Putintseva of Kazakhstan.

Engel achieves best stage result for Czech rider in Dakar Rally

In the Dakar Rally, Milan Engel has just achieved the best result for a Czech motorcyclist with a 16th place finish in Sunday’s sixth stage. Jan Brabec also did well, climbing to 18th overall in the motorcycle category. Meanwhile, the end of day six saw Aleš Loprais fall to sixth overall in the truck category of the famous race, which this year is taking place entirely in Peru.

Czech women reach podium in Biathlon World Cup relay

The Czech women’s biathlon relay team came third in the 4x6 km relay race at a World Cup event in Germany’s Oberhof on Sunday. Veronika Vítková, Eva Puskarčíková, Lucie Charvátová and Markéta Davidová finished behind Russia and Germany to reach the podium for the first time since March 2017.