Sports News

The Czech ice hockey team have gotten off to a winning start at the World Championships, with a 3:1 win over Latvia in Prague. In football, Banik Ostrava are just two points away from winning the league, but the battle for second place couldn't be more open. And the Czech women's tennis team have been knocked out of the Fed Cup by Italy.

Sports News

Winning start for hosts Czech Republic at World Ice Hockey Championships

Czech Republic - Latvia, the first goal of Martin Straka, photo: CTK

The president of International Ice Hockey Federation, Rene Fasel, opened the World Championships at a glitzy ceremony at Prague's Sazka Arena on Saturday afternoon.

The Czech Republic's opening game was against Latvia, and a star-studded Czech team didn't disappoint the thousands of home fans lucky enough to get tickets for the game.

Captain Martin Straka scored the first Czech goal after just three minutes. With two more strikes from Jaroslav Spacek and Straka again, the Czechs were 3:0 up within 16 minutes and the game was effectively over, although the Latvians did manage to pull one back in the dying minutes to make it 3:1.

Among the stars of the Czech team was Martin Rucinsky. Incredibly, Rucinsky played despite having only arrived in Prague from the US at 8 on Saturday morning.

"The game is behind me and I have to say I'm glad it's over. I'm a bit tired but I'm still glad I played. We had the chances and that's the most important thing at the moment - I think if we get the chances the goals will come."

The Czech Republic's next game is against Kazakhstan on Monday night.

Ostrava just two points away from historic league title

With only three rounds of the Czech football league left, Banik Ostrava need just two more points to secure an historic league title. Ostrava are a full eight points clear of the pack, after a 1:0 win over Teplice on Friday; the only goal of the game came from a controversial penalty which was converted by Miroslav Matusovic five minutes from full time.

Battle for second place hots up with Slavia, Olomouc, Sparta all on 49 points

Brno - Sparta Prague, photo: CTK

Elsewhere Slavia leapfrogged Olomouc to go second in the table by beating the Moravian club 3:1. Both teams are now on 49 points, as are fourth-placed Sparta Prague, after their 0:0 draw at Brno. So while it seems Ostrava are almost certain to be crowned champions, the real battle now will be for second place, and a place in the qualifying rounds for the lucrative Champions League.

Czech women's team out of Fed Cup after defeat in Italy

The Czech women's tennis team have been beaten in the Fed Cup World Group First Round against Italy. After going 2:0 down on matches, Barbora Strycova brought the Czechs back into it with a 7-5 3-6 7-5 win over Maria Elena Camerin on Sunday. Heavy rain meant that the Fed Cup tie had to continue on Monday morning, though Czech hopes were also washed out when Klara Koukalova lost 6-1 2-6 2-6 to Francesca Schiavone.