| Westwood's recovery 'ahead of schedule' • Calf injury made world No3 a doubt for Celtic Manor• 'Lee started chipping and putting last week,' says spokemanLee Westwood is "ahead of schedule" in his recovery from injury ahead of next month's Ryder Cup. The world No3 has been struggling with a calf injury and has not played since early last month, leading to fears he may not be ready in time for the tournament at Celtic Manor.But a spokesman for International Sports Management (ISM), which represents Westwood, told BBC Sport today: "Lee will be at the Ryder Cup. He is a few days ahead of schedule and everything is progressing very well."Westwood, who has been a key member of the European team for six Ryder Cup campaigns, pulled out of the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational in Ohio in August after two rounds because he was finding it hard to put weight on his right leg. But he is due to play at a charity event hosted by the Ryder Cup vice-captain Darren Clarke and Sir Ian Botham at Archerfield Golf Club in Scotland early next week."Lee started chipping and putting last week and is hitting up to five irons," added the ISM spokesman. "There have been no setbacks. He is expecting to be through the bag at the weekend and on Friday week he will be playing 36 holes just to make sure he is capable of playing two rounds in one day if he is called on to do so in the Ryder Cup."Everything is going according to plan. He is in the gym every day. He's confident he will be ready – he was confident when he stopped playing last month that he would be."Lee WestwoodRyder CupGolfguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Gloucester 22-20 Wasps | Premiership match report Gloucester 22-20 WaspsGloucester's decision to drop Mike Tindall and Nicky Robinson to the bench after a disjointed and directionless start to the season was eventually vindicated, if not quite in the manner intended.The home side's play was typically hit-and-miss while the pair were sitting on the sidelines, a mixture of the sublime and the absurd. They have a tendency to make the difficult look elementary and the simple seem impossible. Progress was too often halted by unforced errors, but the introduction of Tindall and Robinson in the second-half brought some control to the chaos.Robinson came on at the start of the second half after Tim Taylor, who kicked 11 points in the opening period, suffered a knee injury, while Tindall's was also a forced substitution because Eliota Fuimaono-Sapolu had been sick during the interval.Tindall acted as a steadying influence when he came on. Gloucester had been unable to hold on to the lead, but the England centre, who is not renowned for his kicking, pinned back Wasps with accurate touch-finders and kept his forwards in the right position.Robinson, who could not kick anything except himself during the opening day defeat to Exeter, landed two penalties from five metres inside his own half, the second with six minutes to go when the lead changed hands for the seventh, and final, time. Wasps had a final chance of redemption but Dave Walder, who had kicked eight out of eight the previous week, was fractionally short with a penalty from 45 metres with 70 seconds remaining.It was a match neither side deserved to win because so much of the play was sloppy. Wasps have never been more vulnerable this season than when they have just scored and soon after they had taken the lead with a Walder penalty five minutes in Gloucester were level.Wasps last week conceded three tries to Leicester last week after restarts were kicked to them and they stood and watched today while Charlie Sharples helped himself to Taylor's kick. Gloucester coughed up the ball, but not before Tim Payne had been spotted loitering offside and Taylor levelled the scores.Taylor's second penalty on 32 minutes gave Gloucester the lead. Little in the way of excitement had occurred other than Payne and Brett Deacon exchanging punches on the touchline and earning themselves a visit to the sin-bin. The Cherry and Whites had indulged in fighting talk all week and slowly they started to assert themselves.It was Wasps, though, who scored next, Dan Ward-Smith breaking through Andy Hazell and Tim Molenaar's challenges with ludicrous ease and running 35 metres to the posts. It was the first time the visitors had come anywhere near the home line and the test for Gloucester was how they would respond.Taylor pulled them back to within a point after Joe Simpson was penalised at a ruck and they went into the interval ahead when, after Dave Attwood had stolen a Wasps throw on half-way, Fuimaono-Sapolu flattened Dominic Waldouck with a hand-off and beat the cover to the line.The first score in the second half came in the final quarter. Richard Haughton, a replacement for the defensively suspect Tom Varndell, caught a kick ahead, broke three tackles and Joe Simpson had the pace to outstrip the defence for Walder to convert and put Wasps back in front.Walder was then held back by Rory Lawson off the ball as he chased his kick to the line but the referee Andrew Small, who otherwise struggled not to award penalties, waved play on. Tindall cleared and Robinson then put Gloucester back in front. Walder replied only for Robinson to restore his side's advantage after Richard Birkett had taken out Attwood in a line-out.It may not have been a full house at Kingsholm, but the faithful were full of it at the final whistle, anticipating Friday's trip to Bath.PremiershipGloucesterWaspsRugby unionPaul Reesguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
US cruises into worlds semis with rout of SKorea By DOUG FEINBERG 2010-10-01T16:39:51ZKARLOVY VARY, Czech Republic (AP) -- Angel McCoughtry and Maya Moore sat in the stands watching Russia lose in an upset. The two young stars wanted to make sure that wouldn't happen to the U.S.... hosted.ap.org |
Murray beats Chardy to reach last eight • British No1 defeats Jérémy Chardy at Shanghai Masters• Scot secures place at World Tour Finals in London The phrase "joy unconfined" might never be automatically associated with Andy Murray but on the day Rafael Nadal fell to earth, the Scot's spirits clearly soared as he made safe his place at the World Tour Finals in London next month.When Murray beat Jérémy Chardy 6-3, 6-4 in the third round of the Shanghai Masters today, he confirmed his right to be among the elite eight at the O2 Arena again, alongside Nadal, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic, who have already qualified."It's a great achievement," Murray said. "I'm very happy to have done it with a few tournaments left. I was happy with the way I played today, too."While a smiling Murray, Federer and Djokovic made it through to tomorrow's quarter-finals with plenty to spare, Nadal looked mentally and physically drained losing to Jürgen Melzer, who stretched him in the semi-finals of the French Open and did so again in front of a stunned audience here, winning 6-1, 3-6, 6-3.The world No1 last lost a set 6-1 a year ago at the O2, to Nikolay Davydenko. That was a humiliation; this was a minor shock, not totally unexpected, given that the Spaniard hinted earlier in the week he was struggling at the end of what has been another demanding if trophy-laden season. "Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, and today wasn't my day," Nadal conceded. "I didn't play well. I arrived to this part of the season playing well, but probably a little bit more tired than usual."Melzer said: "I felt he was uncomfortable after a few games. His backhand was sometimes just dying in the net. The key was to put a lot of pressure on him. You cannot let him play his game. He's just too good."Murray, meanwhile, plays another Frenchman, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, tomorrow and said: "I feel way better than I did 10 days ago."Ten days ago he was as low as he has been all season, struck down by illness that left his head throbbing and robbed his limbs of energy as he staggered away from the China Open in Beijing. But Murray has learned how to come back from adversity. Today his tennis was full of punchy forehands, more drop shots – a few of them excellent, a couple not so good – and a nerveless service game that kept Chardy deep behind the baseline.Talented and dangerous, Chardy rarely stretched the relaxed Scot in the 81 minutes their match lasted in front of a small crowd at the 15,000-seat main stadium court at this well-appointed complex on the outskirts of Shanghai."The two weeks between now and Valencia [where he won last year] will be important for me so that I train properly and get myself in good match shape again," Murray said."There's not much point in trying to get stronger or faster because there's not really enough time. But I'll try to improve that little bit by spending more time on the court and then December is when I'll work really, really hard again."I know exactly where I'm going to be and what I'm going to do in terms of the Hopman Cup and preparations for the Australian Open. But I'll sit down after here and talk about what the goals are physically in that period and to make sure I spend enough time on the court, enough time in the gym."While Nadal chose to play on after the US Open, reaching the semi-finals in Bangkok and winning in Tokyo last week, Federer rested – and he looks ominously fresh and strong, beating the Italian Andreas Seppi 6-3, 6-4 tonight.Andy MurrayTennisRafael NadalFrench OpenKevin Mitchellguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
RCR shuffles pit crews to help Kevin Harvick at Martinsville With its Chase for the Sprint Cup contenders whittled from three cars to one, Richard Childress Racing has reshuffled personnel to shore up the ... rssfeeds.usatoday.com |