Sports News

The race for the Czech football championship is hotting up, with Slavia closing the gap on leaders Ostrava by beating them 2:0 away. Sparta Prague manager Jiri Kotrba has been fined for swearing - his bad language was clearly audible on television. Both ice hockey Extraliga playoffs are 2:1 on games. In skiing slalom ace Sarka Zahrobska has won two medals at the national championships, while cross country star Martin Koukal has won a Czech Olympic Committee award for the best sporting achievement of 2003.

Gap narrows at top of football league as Slavia beat Ostrava

Slavia - Banik, photo: CTK

The race for the Czech football championship took an interesting turn on Saturday, with league leaders Banik Ostrava suffering their first home defeat in 11 months at the hands of Slavia. The Prague side opened the scoring after 17 minutes when an uncharacteristic mistake by defender Rene Bolf allowed Gyorgy Jozsi to set up an unmarked Karel Pitak. Another goal from Slavia substitute Tomas Hasler on 90 minutes made it 2:0. The result leaves Ostrava on 46 points, followed by Slavia with 40. If Sparta Prague can beat Liberec on Monday evening, they'll go second on 41 points.

Pacanda scores hattrick for Brno in 4:0 win over hapless Pilsen

Elsewhere, a day after his wedding Milan Pacanda scored a hat-trick for Brno in their 4:0 defeat of bottom-of-the-table Pilsen. Meanwhile, second-from-bottom Blsany fought hard for a valuable point away to Teplice, coming back from 2:0 down to earn a draw.

Pribram player fails in attempt to imitate famous Panenka penalty

Pribram's Rudolf Otepka was left red-faced on Sunday when his attempt to "do a Panenka" and strike a penalty right into the middle of the net failed miserably. Unusually, the keeper didn't dive to either side of the goal and caught the ball with ease. Antonin Panenka entered football legend in the final of the 1976 European Championships when he scored a penalty with a cheeky chip into the middle of the goal.

Sparta manager fined for swearing

Off the field, meanwhile, Sparta manager Jiri Kotrba has been fined 35,000 crowns by the Czech football association for using bad language during a game against Ceske Budejovice; his swearing was clearly audible on television. Ostrava striker Marek Heinz was not punished by the FA, after appearing to stamp on an opponent during a game against Pilsen.

Pilsen win first game as ice hockey playoffs continue

The ice hockey Extraliga playoffs semi-finals continued on Sunday: Pilsen beat Zlin 3:2 to reduce Zlin's lead to 2:1 on games, while reigning champions Slavia were beaten 2:1 on penalties by Sparta, who lead that tie 2:1 on games.

Slalom star Zahrobska wins two golds at Czech championships

Czech skier Sarka Zahrobska has ended her season with wins in the slalom and the giant slalom at the Czech championships in Spindleruv Mlin. Zahrobska, ranked 10th in the world, said conditions were not ideal at the Czech resort: with the temperature at 7 degrees Celsius and the snow starting to melt, she said it was like a swimmer being made to race in warm water.

Olympic Committee prize motivation for Koukal after poor season

Martin Koukal, photo: CTK

Cross country skier Martin Koukal has received the Jiri Gut-Jarkovsky award for the sporting achievement of 2003 from the Czech Olympic Committee. In February last year Koukal shot to fame with gold in the marathon at the World Championships. Since then things have not gone so well for Koukal, who said the award would motivate him to do better next season.

Neummanova receives cheque, still waiting for upgraded medal

Katerina Neummanova, meanwhile, has been presented with a cheque for 200,000 crowns by the Olympic Committee. That sum is the difference between the reward for bronze and silver Olympic medals - the cross country skier had a bronze from the last Winter games upgraded to silver after a Russian skier who beat her was disqualified for drug-taking. Neumannova is still waiting for the medal itself, but 200,000 crowns should make the wait a little easier to bear.