In sports news this Monday: Czech tennis player Marie Bouzková secures the first ever US Open junior title for the Czech Republic; Javelin thrower Barbora Špotáková wins her third Diamond League title; Czech athlete Jan Kuf wins bronze medal in modern pentathlon World Championship; and the Czech national football team gets ready for the opening game of Euro 2016 qualifiers against the Netherlands:
Bouzková wins junior match title at US Open
Marie Bouzková, photo: Jaroslav Plašil
Tennis player Marie Bouzková has become the first ever Czech to win the US Open junior title. The 16-year old unseeded player secured the title on Sunday after defeating Russia’s No 9 seed Anhilina Kalinina 6-4, 7-6 in what was her first appearance in a junior Grand Slam final. The 32nd ranked junior went through the game without losing a single set, defeating four seeded players, including second-seeded Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia. This is what Marie Bouzková had to say after the match:
“Well, this week was incredible for me. I mean, just every day, you know, be out there and play my game to win, and to be here on a Grand Slam until Sunday, it's incredible... My beginning was a bit slower than I wanted, but I think I caught up during the whole match. I think in the crucial moments I was stable and I kept my game and my mind straight what to do.”
Kvitová, Strýcová and Plíšková move up in WTA ranking
Petra Kvitová, photo: David Kubíček
In related news, Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová, the last Czech to reach the US open junior finals in 2002, has reached a career high singles ranking of No. 29 after advancing to Wimbledon’s quarterfinal round and reaching the US Open doubles semi-final alongside Japanese Kimiko Date-Krumm. Number one Czech player Petra Kvitová has also moved up to third place in WTA rankings, despite being knocked out of US Open in the third round. The number one Czech tennis player reached a career-high world No. 2 ranking in October 2011, when she won her first Wimbledon title. The youngest of the Czech women’s team, 22-year-old Karolína Plíšková, has also reached a career high singles ranking, moving up six places to the current 36th place.
Špotáková wins her third Diamond League Title
Barbora Špotáková, photo: CTK
Czech javelin thrower Barbora Špotáková has won her third Diamond League title at the Van Damme Memorial event in Brussels. The 33- year-old two-time Olympic champion secured her prize on Friday night with a world-leading throw of 66.99 metres, breaking the meetings’ record. In her comeback year after the birth of her first child, Špotáková also won the javelin competition at the European Athletics Championship in Zurich last month for the first time in her career, with a throw of 64.41 metres.
Jan Kuf comes third in modern pentathlon
Jan Kuf, photo: CTK
Czech athlete Jan Kuf has won the bronze medal in men’s modern pentathlon at the World Championship in Warsaw. The gold was secured by Russia’s Alexander Lesun, who claimed the second individual title in his career and silver was taken by Egyptian Amre El Gezree, who came seven seconds ahead of the Czech athlete. The 22-year old Kuf came third in fencing, 19th in swimming and 9th in riding. He managed to keep up the overall third position in the last two disciplines, a cross-country run combined with shooting.
Czech football squad gets ready for European Championship qualifier against Netherlands
Photo: CTK
The Czech national football team continues with preparations ahead of the opening game of European Championship qualifier against the Netherlands on Tuesday. The Czechs hope they will perform better than in a match last Wednesday, when they lost 1:0 to USA in a friendly. The Czech teams’ record under manager Pavel Vrba includes two draws and two home losses – to Austria in June and to the United States last week. The Czech squad on Saturday trained under the supervision of their former coach Karel Bruckner, who led them to a spectacular victory over the Netherlands at Euro 2004. That team made it all the way to the competition’s semifinal.
