Russia lose yet another leader ahead of Fed Cup final

One of team Russia leaders Vera Zvonareva has been forced to skip the Fed Cup final against the Czech Republic due to a shoulder injury.

The 27-year-old Zvonareva first felt pain on the native courts of Kremlin Cup two weeks ago. The injury, as she later admitted, restrained her serve during the final WTA tournament in Istanbul.

The Muscovite, though, spent the last week with the national team, but trainings showed her inability to help her country in the final.

Yet another Russian star Maria Sharapova is out due to ligament tear injury.

Consequently, the result is now in hands of Svetlana Kuznetsova, Maria Kirilenko, Elena Vesnina, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Ekaterina Makarova, who will represent Russia in the crucial matches.

Maria Kirilenko and world No. 2 Petra Kvitova are set to kick off the final on Saturday.

Key Anzhi staff suspended for aggression

Three FC Anzhi officials have been given punitive suspensions after trying to exert pressure on a referee and instigating a major brawl during the team’s encounter with Dynamo Moscow.

Anzhi head coach Gadzhi Gadzhiev was banned for four games, his assistant Arsen Akaev got a six-month suspension, while the club’s doctor, Magomed Magomaev will be out of football for six months. Dynamo Moscow manager Aleksandr Kiselev was also banned for four months.

On August 21, Anzhi beat the Muscovites 2-1, but the game will be remembered for the developments off the pitch.

Gadzhiev was filmed knocking out a referee locker room door during the interval, while Akaev and Magomedov attacked the Dynamo bench during the heated second half.

As for Akaev, his previous suspension for a similar incident, though conditional, ended a few days ago.

“Evidently a man having a conditional suspension must behave otherwise. It’s very sad he got involved in a similar incident,” said head of the Russian Football Union’s Disciplinary Committee Vladimir Katkov, adding that the current sanctions seem “adequate” to him.

London Olympics to be available in 3D

Olympic organizers and the electronics giant Panasonic plan to offer live 3D television broadcasts, for the first time in history, from next year’s London Games.

On Wednesday, the managing director of Olympic Broadcasting Services, Manolo Romero, said that a pool of broadcasters is being put together to provide the 3D coverage.

Romero pledged that the coverage will be available from at least 14 Olympic venues.

Events that will be broadcast include the opening and closing ceremonies, as well as competitions in a dozen different sports. Romero did not identify which sports would be broadcast.

According to Romero, the organizers plan to distribute more than 10 hours of 3D transmission each day globally by satellite.

Russian women’s basketball team have returned home after being crowned European champions.

­They touched down in Moscow bearing flowers and the trophy after beating Turkey in the final in Poland.

Boris Sokolovsky’s charges put their success down to simple hard work.

“We are very glad and happy that we’ve won. Our aim was gold. We prepared and trained a lot. It was tough in the beginning, but thanks to our solid work we succeeded in our task. And thanks to everyone who supported us,” Ilona Korstin, Russia’s shooting guard, explained.

It was the third win for Russia’s women in the EuroBasket, ensuring they qualify for next summer’s Olympics in London.

The Men’s European Basketball Championships gets going next month with Team Russia in the hunt for a second crown in four years. The squad is now all together in Moscow to begin a training camp.

Russia’s most recent Eurobasket triumph was in 2007, right before the Beijing Olympics. And that victory was the last taste of success for the team led by American David Blatt, who has been building this squad for over five years.

“We had a need and a chance to play a lot of new young players, because we were missing so many of our stars in the last three years. And now those players have the kind of experience and maturity, which is necessary to play at the highest level. And we’ll get back Andrey Kirilenko and hopefully Victor Khryapa, and we should have a good strong team,” says Blatt.

The European Championship starts on August 31 in Lithuania and will last through to September 18. Russia is in group D with Slovenia, Georgia, Ukraine, Belgium and Bulgaria. Not the toughest draw, however, every prep day is important, if the teams to go all the way in Kaunas.

“The preparation schedule has been set and it starts with this first session today. However, we’re still waiting for our main players to join the squad – that’s Andrey Kirilenko, Aleksandr Kaun and Viktor Khryapa,” explains one of the team’s coaches Aleksandr Krasnenkov.

Some players already have international experience for Russia, but David Blatt has introduced fresh talent to the team for this Olympic cycle. The rookies will enjoy full support from seasoned athletes like NBA stars Andrey Kirilenko and Timofey Mozgov.

“Yes, our team is very young and some players haven’t spent even a minute on the court for Russia. But our coach has been building this team for years and I’m sure that if there are any nerves, they’ll disappear after the first game,” believes Timofey Mozgov.

Both Eurobasket finalists will claim a spot at the Summer Olympics in 2012. That is the key task right now mindful that Russia’s men’s basketball is not as strong as it used to be. However, this team has all the prerequisites of returning to the European summit.

“Our main goal is of course to make it to the Olympics and do it with confidence. If it wasn’t for the Games then I would point out another task that we need to tackle immediately – and that’s to assume the leading role in basketball once again – something that Russia’s always had in the past,” says Russia’s Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko.

The men should draw inspiration from their female counterparts as Russia’s women’s team has already qualified for the London Olympics after an earlier triumphant performance at the Eurobasket in Poland.

Back in 2007 both men and women claimed European gold for Russia. And David Blatt, his team and the rest of Russia will be hoping for a repeat this time around.

Fans vote for Russias hockey uniform design

Russian hockey fans have chosen a new outfit for the country’s national hockey team.

­The vote on the uniform took place over the last week on the official website of the Russian Hockey Federation.

The winning design beat its closest rival by a margin of more than 80 votes.

Russia’s new uniform is represented by two sets of colors, one red and one white.

The new outfit will be worn not only by the national team, but also by the second squad and Russia’s youth teams.

Salavat Yulaev have beaten Atlant, 3-2, at home to win the Gagarin Cup for the first time.

The regular season runners-up were the favorites to win the trophy. They came into this match as hosts and needing just one more victory, holding a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series.

Andrey Taratukhin duly opened for them after eight minutes and the score remained the same, until four minutes into the third period, when the underdogs leveled through Jan Marek.

This set up a frantic final five minutes. Andrey Kuteykin put Salavat back in front, and a minute later Aleksandr Svitov made it 3-1.

But the game wasn’t over. Within 26 seconds, Aleksey Glukhov had made it 3-2 to make sure there would be a nailbiting last three minutes.

But Salavat hung on and lifted their maiden KHL championship trophy.

Barcelona best in Europe

Barcelona grabbed the well-deserved UEFA Champions League title, outplaying Manchester United 3-1 in the final at Wembley Stadium in London.

­United had a quite a strong start in the decider, with Sir Alex Ferguson’s men keeping favorites Barcelona on their half.

The Catalans needed over 10 minutes to adjust to the game, but when they did, they started creating chances and eventually took the lead.

Pedro Rodríguez beat keeper Edwin van der Sar in the near corner after Xavi Hernández cut Man U’s defense in half with one of his famous passes in the 27th minute, 1-0.

It all looked like it was going according to Barca’s plan when the Red Devils, who were playing in white on the night, equalized like a bolt from the blue.

Josep Guardiola’s charges lost the ball after a throw in in the 34th minute and Wayne Rooney blasted past netminder Viktor Valdes after a great layoff from Ryan Giggs, 1-1.  

Barcelona regained the lead soon after the restart, in the 54th minute. United’s players gave space to world’s best footballer, Lionel Messi, on the edge of the box, and the Argentine fired immediately, with van der Sar unable to see the kick as two defenders covered the ball, 2-1.

And it was David Villa who completely killed of the intrigue, scoring a beautiful curved ball in the 69th minute, 3-1.

Barcelona fully deserved their triumph as they controlled the ball 63 percent of the time, and didn’t allow their rivals to win a single corner.

It’s the fourth time the Catalans have lifted the UEFA Champions League title since the tournament was established in 1992.

Their previous success also came against Manchester United. They beat the Englishman 2-0 in Rome in the 2009 final.

The president of the Russian Football Union, Sergey Fursenko, has announced the release of a document meant to ease tension between football fans and the police, and also to get rid of football hooligans.

Russia is preparing to host football’s biggest spectacle, the FIFA World Cup, in 2018. Plenty remains to be done including the construction of several stadiums across the country.

The Russian police, the Football Union and organized fan groups are now attempting something equally important – making the relationship between spectators and the authorities more, in a word, civilized.

The current season, however, the first since Russia was given the right to host the World Cup, has shown that much, if not everything, needs to be changed.

The trouble began in May during a match between Krylya Sovetov and Spartak Moscow, and several other major clashes followed involving Moscow and St Petersburg fans during their teams’ away games.

After the game in Samara, the problem that’s obvious to any regular matchgoer, took centre stage with Russian lawmakers. But it took a few more months and several other incidents for football bosses, the Sports Ministry and other authorities to begin attempts at tackling the issue.

Vandalism and barbaric behavior have become expected at matches featuring Russia’s top football teams.

Now there is seldom a matchday in the Russian Premier League that goes without a team being fined for its fans’ thuggish actions.

“This year the number of law infringements and incidents of improper behavior has grown by almost 50%. The use of pyrotechnics at stadiums hasn’t decreased even though it’s prohibited by law. Vandalism is another serious problem, causing real expense to owners. We have to stop this situation from escalating. Mutual efforts by police and club workers are required, including preparation before matches, volunteer work, and the presence of special police members ensuring safety,” says Chief of Public Security Yury Demidov.

The Russian Football Union, the police, fan groups and the Ministry of Sport say they are seeking a solution to this problem. Separating the fans from hooligans and limiting the presence of special police forces at stadiums are the prime focus of the newly-created forum.

“We want to have a document that clearly defines the role of each of the participants, their rights and obligations at the stadium. The document will clearly state what fans can bring to each particular sector and what is forbidden under all circumstances. The number of offences decreases if rules are strictly observed. I think that all parties are going to sign this document soon,” Fursenko explains.

So with seven years remaining until Russia’s international invitation to share the World Cup, the fight to give hooligans the red card has at last kicked off.

Zueva earns first Russian gold at swimming worlds

Fastest qualifier Anastasia Zueva of Russia has carried through that form as she rushed to victory at the women’s 50-meter backstroke at the World Swimming Championships in Shanghai.

The European champion at 50 and 100 meters finished the race in 27.79 seconds, leaving behind Aya Terakawa of Japan with 27.93 and American Missy Franklin with 28.01.

“I didn’t concentrate much on winning this very race, as it’s a non-Olympic discipline. But my coach was sure I would win,” said the Russian, who earlier came second in the 100 backstroke, just one hundredth of a second behind the winner.

This is Russia’s first win in the Shanghai pool and only second woman’s gold at the World Championships in the country’s modern history.

Also on Thursday, Ryan Lochte set the first world record since high-tech body suits were banned in swimming, breaking his own mark in winning the 200-meter individual medley at the world championships.

The American finished in 1 minute 54.00 seconds ahead of decorated compatriot Michael Phelps and Laszlo Cseh of Hungary.

Meanwhile, James Magnussen won the Men’s 100 meters freestyle in a time of 47.63 seconds, becoming the first Australian to do so at a World Championship, and the first at a major international meet since Michael Wenden at the 1968 Olympics. Canadian Brent Hayden took silver in 47.95, and William Meynard of France earned the bronze in 48.00. World Record holder Cesar Cielo of Brazil finished fourth.