Sports News

Pressure builds on Sparta Prague trainer after draw; Pavel Maslák takes third indoor gold in a row; Davidová becomes 10 km junior biathlon champ; and Ledecká lands small Crystal Globe.

Sparta Prague manager seen on way out after draw

Andrea Stramaccioni, photo: Sparta Prague

In football, Sparta Prague’s poor form continued with a 1-1 home draw against Brno. The result leaves Sparta in fifth place with a 14 point gap between them and leader Viktoria Plzeň. Plzeň, who play in the Europa Cup this week, have a game in hand.

The draw, in which Sparta had to come back from behind, increases the pressure on Sparta’s Italian manager Andrea Stramaccioni. Italian papers have already been reported that he will be sacked on March 5. Second place Slavia closed the gap with the leaders to nine points aftrer a 3:0 win against Mladá Boleslav.

Pavel Maslák takes third gold in bizarre circumstances

Pavel Maslák, photo: CTK

The Czech Republic’s Pavel Maslák has won the 400 metres at the World Indoor Athletics Championships for the third time in succession. The 27-year-old had come third in Saturday’s final in the UK’s Birmingham but was awarded gold when the first and second placed finishers were disqualified for running out of their lanes. Maslák pulled off his best time of the season, 45.47 seconds to win the medal.

Maslák’s compatriot Tomáš Staněk took bronze in the shot put in Birmingham.

Markéta Davidová wins 10 km junior biathlon pursuit

The Czech Republic’s Markéta Davidová has become the junior world champion in biathlon 10 kilometre pursuit. In Sunday’s final she finished just ahead of Poland’s Kamila Zukova, who had beaten her to the gold in the biathlon sprint at the competition in Estonia on Saturday. It was the last time that Davidová, who is 21, was competing in the Junior World Championships.

Ledecká lands small Crystal Globe at Kayseri

Ester Ledecká, photo: Luboš Vedral

Ester Ledecká has won a small Crystal Globe for best competitor of the season in the snowboard parallel giant slalom after coming second in a World Cup event in Turkey’s Kayseri on Saturday. The Czech recently won Olympic gold in the event, as well as picking up a shock gold in the super-G in alpine skiing.

In La Molina, Spain, Ledecká’s compatriot Eva Samková, who took bronze in snowboard cross in Pyeongchang, won her first World Cup event since the Winter Olympics for her second victory in the series this year.