Sports News

Things have been getting dramatic in the semi-finals of the Extraliga play-offs with Slavia going ahead of Sparta after a thrilling shootout and Pardubice getting hot under the collar as Trinec make it two games each. Superstar Jaromir Jagr has returned from injury in style - after six games out with a hand injury he scored on his comeback for Washington. Football dominates the sports pages as the Euro 2004 qualifiers against the Netherlands and Austria draw near and a star of the Czech side which won the Under 21 European Championships last year has turned down a lucrative bid from a club in Ukraine.

Sports News

Tension mounts in semi-finals of Extraliga play-offs

Sparta - Slavia, photo: CTK

There was high drama in the semi-finals of the Extraliga play-offs on Wednesday evening in the third game between traditional Prague rivals Slavia and Sparta. With the series tied at 1:1 beforehand, Wednesday's game was drawn at 2:2 after normal time, leading to a dramatic shootout which had over 11,000 fans at the packed Sparta arena on the edges of their seats. In the end Slavia goaltender Roman Malek outdid his Sparta counterpart Petr Briza, and the game ended with Malek throwing his stick high in the air after his final save ensured Slavia of a win, and a 2:1 lead in the best of seven series.

Trinec - Pardubice, photo: CTK

In the other semi-final series, tension has reached fever pitch between Pardubice and Trinec. Trinec won the latest game 4:2 at home on Tuesday to make it 2:2 on games but Pardubice were indignant about some of the refereeing decisions, and their coach Milos Riha let fly a stream of invective about his opposite number after the game. Very unsporting behaviour indeed, but it does make the rest of the series that bit more interesting!

Jagr marks return from injury with goal

The biggest Czech hockey star Jaromir Jagr returned to the ice in style on Wednesday, getting one of the Washington Capitals' goals in their 4:3 NHL win over Montreal. Jagr had been out for six games with a hand injury and made his comeback despite the fact it hadn't fully healed.

Nedved and Koller on top form ahead of Euro 2004 qualifiers

The Czech sports pages have been absolutely jammed with football stories this week ahead of the upcoming Euro 2004 qualifiers against the Netherlands on Saturday and Austria at home next Wednesday. A lot has been made of the form of two players in particular, captain Pavel Nedved and giant striker Jan Koller. Nedved is, at 30, playing the best football of his career at Juventus, and the Italian daily Gazzetta dello Sport currently has him ranked as the best player in Serie A. There is only one question mark over Nedved on the international team - how well he can share midfield with boy wonder Tomas Rosicky. Rosicky's Borussia Dortmund team-mate Jan Koller has been scoring freely in his second season at the club and Dutch coach Dick Advocaat has admitted his defenders will have a lot of trouble containing one of the biggest strikers in the game.

Vorisek turns down lucrative bid from club in Ukraine

Teplice's Petr Vorisek, who scored with a screaming shot from twenty-five metres against Liberec on Monday, has turned down a transfer request from Ukraine's Shakhtar Donetsk. Vorisek, one of the stars of the Czech Under 21 team which won the European Championships last May, would have been on eight million crowns a year and the first ever Czech to play in the Ukrainian league.