Decathlete Roman Šebrle finishes in disappointing 13th place in the World Athletics Championships; pole-vaulters Jiřina Ptáčníková and Jan Kudlička advance to finals; Judo wrestler Lukáš Krpálek wins the bronze medal at the world championships in Paris; in football Lafata earns second-straight hat-trick; Man U destroy Arsenal.
World Championships in Athletics: Šebrle 13th, Ptáčníková, Kudlička in the finals
Roman Šebrle, photo: CTK
Roman Šebrle finished thirteenth in the decathlon at the World Championships in Athletics in Daegu, South Korea, with 8,069 points; American Trey Hardee retained the title with 8,607 points. The finish was the second-worst of Šebrle’s career, after Seville in 1999, where he failed to finish. The 36-year-old Olympic gold medal holder had been hoping for at least 8,200 points in order to participate in the 2012 London games. Šebrle may still have an opportunity to qualify next year, Lidové noviny reported, saying the Czech Athletics Association could lower the cut-off mark to 8,000 points.
Elsewhere in the competition, pole-vaulter Jiřina Ptáčníková advanced to the final round with a successful 455 cm jump on the first attempt. Here’s what she had to say:
“For me it’s a reward to an otherwise pretty difficult season and it is more than I expected. I think my coaches will be very relieved. I am completely satisfied with the result. ”
Jan Kudlička also advanced from the final qualification spot and competes on Monday.
Krpálek wins bronze at World Judo Championships
Lukáš Krpálek, photo: CTK
Judo wrestler Lukáš Krpálek has won the bronze medal at the world championships in Paris. Krpálek defeated Belgian Elco van der Geest in the men's 100 kg, thereby winning a place on the world top 10 list. The medal marks the biggest success for a Czech judoka since 1999, when Michaela Vernerová also took third place in the women’s competition. The last victory for a Czech in the men’s competition was exactly 20 years ago when Jiří Sosna won the bronze for Czechoslovakia.
Lafata gets second hat-trick to lead league on goals
David Lafata, photo: CTK
In football, Jablonec downed České Budějovice by a score of 5:1 at the weekend; it was the second game in a row that the South Bohemian team failed to earn a single point. Key in the Jablonec victory was a hat-trick by David Lafata who has now scored eight goals in five matches this season. The hat-trick was his second in a row.
In other action, Viktoria Žižkov tied 2:2 with Olomouc, Přibrám edged Hradec Králové 1:0, and Teplice beat Liberec 2:0. Bohemians 1905 beat Ostrava 1:0 and are currently 2nd in the standings behind league leaders Sparta Prague. Later on Monday Sparta will play defending champions Plzeň.
Arsenal – with Czech midfielder Rosický – crushed by Manchester United
Photo: CTK
Further abroad, in the English Premier league, Arsenal – home to Czech striker and national squad captain Tomáš Rosický – were destroyed 8:2 by Manchester United at the weekend. Rosický set up the ball for Walcott to score in the first half and make the score 3:1 but otherwise there’s no question this is a match that he and fellow teammates will want to forget, a sentiment echoed by coach Arsene Wenger who made clear the team played terribly but on offence and defence, saying there was no point in making excuses.
