Sports News

Turning to sport now and the Czech hockey player Jaromir Jagr made history at the weekend by reaching the 1000 points total in the NHL. The Pittsburgh Penguins winger finally the passed the landmark by setting up his team's second goal in their 5-3 victory over Ottawa. Jagr is now officially the most successful Czech player in NHL history, although he still has a way to go to catch-up with the scorer of the goal, teammate Mario Lemieux - on the same evening, Lemieux broke the 1,500 point barrier. So there!

Well, there are many Czech youngsters wishing to emulate the achievements of Jagr and the cream of them have been turning in some fantastic performances at the World Junior Championships in Moscow. The Czechs 5-0 win over Slovakia at the weekend gave them a 100 percent record from their 4 matches in Group A and sets up a quarter-final against Switzerland on Monday afternoon.

Jan Zelezny - the three-time Olympic javelin gold-medallist and world record holder - has been named as runner-up in the 2000 European Sportsman of the Year Award. The top award - voted for by the European Sports Writers Union - went surprisingly to the Dutch Olympic swimming champion Pieter van den Hoogenband, with the British rowing legend Steve Redgrave third.

Turning to tennis and 8th seed Jiri Vanek suffered a disastrous defeat in the first round of the Indian Open in Madras on Monday. Vanek went down 7-6 4-6 6-3 to the unknown Dutchman Edwin Kempes, who finished last year's tour ranked 171st in the world.

Happier news though for Michal Tabara - the Czech easily overcame the challenge of Chile's Fernando Gonzalez 6-3 6-3.

Finally - no winter sports report would be complete without a visit to Lillehammer, Norway and the combined World Cup of Nordic Skiing. The Czechs brightest hope, Ladislav Rygl, finished third in the race, half a minute behind the home favorite Bjarte Engen Vik - a result that leaves Rygl 6th in the overall standings.