In Sports News: Czech women's basketball team finishes fifth at European Championship; two first division football clubs dismiss coaches; in ice-hockey, Ceske Budejovice beat Sparta Prague; and in motorcycling, the Golden Helmet speedway trophy goes to Sweden.
Czech women's basketball team finished 5th at the European Championships in Italy
The Czech national women's basketball team finished fifth at the European Championship in Italy. After winning the base-group and reaching the last eight, the Czechs lost on Thursday the key match 46:52 to Belarus. This left the Czech team out of the final four and without a chance to defend the European title from the previous championship. In the last two matches in Italy the Czechs beat Lithuania as well as Belgium and finished fifth, securing a berth in Olympic Games qualification next year. Michaela Uhrova is one of the team's point guards. "It's just sport, one day's great, and another day's bad. Unfortunately, we did not even get to shoot that much in the match against Belarus. But yesterday we showed a whole different approach and played much more fearlessly. There was still much at stake, we still want to play at the Olympic Games and take part in the Olympic qualification next year; that was great motivation. The Belgian team made it a lot easier for us: their players were not in good shape and we took good advantage of it."
In football, two coaches dismissed in Gambrinus Liga
Liberec - Kladno, photo: CTK
In the first football division, the North Bohemian clubs of Liberec and Jablonec, neighbouring both geographically as well as in terms of the league table - where they are currently occupying joint 14th place - dismissed their coaches due to poor results. Michal Zach of Liberec was fired on Saturday following a 1-1 home draw with Kladno, while Lubos Kozel, the coach of Jablonec, was dismissed on Monday after his team lost the game against Most 2:1. For both Michal Zach and Lubos Kozel, this is an unhappy ending of their first top-flight coaching missions.
...while in ice hockey, Ceske Budejovice beat Sparta Prague and take the lead
Ceske Budejovice - Sparta Prague, photo: CTK
It took Mountfield Ceske Budejovice eight years to beat Sparta on their home turf in Prague. On Sunday, the South Bohemian club of Ceske Budejovice won 4:1 and is currently leading the O2 Extraliga. Sparta Prague was leading 1:0 in the game, but with two minutes before the first break, the puck bounced unexpectedly off the board behind Sparta's goal which made it easy for Budejovice's Stepan Hrebejk to score the equalizer. In another game of the 9th round, Pardubice lost yet another match, 2:0 to Pilsen, and remain last with no victory in this year's Czech Extraliga.
In NHL, Milan Hejduk and Petr Sykora score two goals each
Photo: CTK
Czech forward Milan Hejduk of the Colorado Avalanche scored two goals against the San Jose Sharks in the NHL on Sunday, contributing to his team's victory of 6:2. The Pittsburgh Penguins' Petr Sykora earned three points for two goals and an assist in a victorious match against Anaheim. In another match of the NHL's Western Conference, Robert Lang of the Chicago Blackhawks, scored a goal against Detroit's veteran goaltender Dominik Hasek and brought the game to overtime followed by a shootout in which Hasek was unable to stop the inning goal, seeing Detroit lose 4:3.
The speedway Golden Helmet of Pardubice goes to Sweden
Andreas Jonsson, photo: CTK
The Golden Helmet trophy, awarded to the winner of the Pardubice-based motorcycle speedway event first held in 1929, goes to Sweden's Andreas Jonsson. Czech riders Lubos Tomicek and Lukas Dryml did not make it to the finals and finished 10th and 12th, respectively. In the final ride, Andreas Jonsson gained an initial advantage over the other riders and finished first to win the Golden Helmet.
