Australian swimmer Nick D’Arcy charged with assault
March 31, 2008
A media release on the NSW Police website has announced that a man has been arrested and charged following allegations of a serious assault in the King Street Wharf area about 2.30am on Sunday.
The man charged with the assault is believed to be Australian Swim Team member Nick D’Arcy. The media release goes onto say that as a result of the incident a 27-year old man from Sylvania suffered injuries including a number of facial fractures.
It has been widely reported today that the victim of the assault is former Commonwealth Games gold medalist Simon Cowley.
D’Arcy was arrested today at 11am at City Central Police Station. Following an interview he was charged with assault occasioning grievous bodily harm and assault.
Having been granted conditional bail D’Arcy is due to appear at Downing Centre Local Court on April 21.
Also today the President of the AOC, John Coates released a statement which announced that there would be a joint investigation by the Australian Olympic Committee and Swimming Australia into the night club incident.
Has drinking ended Olympic dream for swimmer?
March 31, 2008
Just last week Nick D’Arcy was on top of the world having achieved his dream of being selected in the Australian Olympic swimming team for Beijing. Now in news that has come out today this dream could turn into a nightmare.
This comes as stories of an alleged bar brawl between Nick D’Arcy and another swimmer are making news.
In a statement on the Swimming Australia website they say they are aware of an incident involving Queensland swimmer Nick D’Arcy early on Sunday morning and the matter is now subject of a NSW Police investigation.
The statement says that no other member of the Australian swim team was involved. A report on the ABC website says it is alleged that Commonwealth Games medallist Simon Cowley was hit by D’Arcy. The report mentions that Cowley is suffering a suspected broken nose.
I don’t know if excessive alcohol is to blame for this incident, but if it is it will be a lesson to other athletes and the general population. It is good to enjoy a drink or two to celebrate but you need to know when to stop.
D’Arcy’s future is now uncertain. After the Police complete their investigation the picture should be clearer.
There is the possibility that D’Arcy could be dropped from the Australian swim team. This will be up to the Australian Olympic Committee who has the power to drop the 20 year old if they find the swimmer has brought the team into disrepute.
I must point out that I am assuming alcohol was involved, however that has not been confirmed.
Spurs blast past Rockets
March 31, 2008
It was not long ago that the Houston Rockets were setting records for consecutive games won. Their amazing win streak ended at 22. On the back of that the Rockets were sitting near the top of the Western Conference.
At the time the Rockets were putting the winning streak together San Antonio Spurs were going through a rough period losing 6 out of 7 games. When Boston ended the Rockets winning streak the karma switched to the Spurs as they have now gone on their own 7 game winning streak.
The Spurs winning run continued today as they took an early lead against the Rockets and never let them back in the game. At the first break the defending NBA champions had established an 11 point lead. By halftime that extended to 18.
The next two quarters were close affairs however by then the damage had been done. The Spurs ran out winners 109-88. A handy 21 point winning margin.
The difference today was perhaps Michael Finley. After not hitting a field goal last week against Dallas, Finley changed his pre-match routine and this paid dividends as he hit 9-13 shots from the field.
Overall the Spurs just shot better. They had a field goal percentage of 52 per cent compared to the Rockets shooting 40.2 per cent.
The Spurs now find themselves second in Western Conference with 51 wins. The Rockets are in sixth with 49 wins, five wins ahead of ninth placed Golden State Warriors. A sign of how tight things are in the West is that if the Rockets won today they would have been level with the Spurs in second spot.
Olympic torch due to arrive in Beijing today
March 31, 2008
Yesterday in Greece at the Panathenan Stadium the president of the Hellenic Olympic Committee, Minos Kyriakou, handed the Olympic flame to the president of BOCOG, Liu Qi. This signalled an end to the six day torch relay in Greece.
The Olympic flame has already seen its share of trouble following the Tibet protests last week during the original lighting of the flame and it will be subject to tight security in China. The Chinese are keen to avoid any further incidents involving Tibetan protesters.
The Olympic flame arrives in Beijing touching down at Capital Airport this morning. At 9.00am Beijing time there will be a ceremony at Tian’anmen Square to welcome the Olympic flame to China.
If you are keen to watch the torch ceremony it will be shown live on the official 2008 Beijing Olympics website.
Tomorrow (April 1) the Olympic torch relay is heading to Almaty, followed by Instanbul, St. Petersburg, London and Paris. This is part of a one month world tour.
The Olympic flame will return to China via Hong Kong on May 2. From that date until the opening ceremony on August 8 the torch will criss cross China spreading the Olympic spirit.
Torres once again delivers for Liverpool
March 31, 2008
At Anfield Fernando Torres scored in the seventh minute of the 207th Merseyside derby. That goal was the 21st league goal he has put in the back of the net for Liverpool this season.
A single goal was enough to take Liverpool five points clear of their cross town rivals Everton in the race for fourth position in the Premier League. Six matches remain in the season.
Liverpool could have had a two goal lead if Steven Gerrard had a bit more luck on his side. He hit a fierce, dipping shot from 25 metres that rattled the post.
Liverpool had plenty of chances to increase their lead in the first half however they did not convert any of them into goals. As it was Everton could have easily got back into the match as Liverpool defended the 1-0 lead.
This made for tense times for the Liverpool faithful. With much relief the final whistle blew and the 3 Premier League points were gratefully accepted by Liverpool.
In other matches played on Sunday, Chelsea moved into second spot on the Premier League table with a 1-0 win over Middlesbrough. Portuguese defender Ricardo Carvalho scored for Chelsea in the sixth minute.
Newcastle made it back to back wins with a thumping 4-1 win over Tottenham Hotspur. After falling behind 1-0 Newcastle stormed back with the four goals. Michael Owen was on the scoresheet again, that makes it three goals in as many matches.
Penrith and Canterbury claim NRL points
March 30, 2008
There were two matches played in the NRL today. Two teams that have not registered a win in the opening two rounds faced off at Penrith. In this match someone was most likely to claim there first win, there was of course the chance of a draw. Today it was Penrith who overcame Souths in a tight match. The final score was 26-22.
In the first half it was mostly Penrith as they went in to the break with a commanding 22-6 lead. To the credit of Souths they fought back in the second half to give themselves a chance. The gap had closed to 26-22 in the 72 minute when Dean Widders of Souths scored a converted try. In the end Penrith fell over the line to claim their first win of the 2008 NRL season.
In the other match Canterbury were too strong for the West Tigers. At halftime you would have said it is anyones match. The Bulldogs had other ideas. They dominated the second half to run in four unanswered tries to take the match 32-12.
The win by Canterbury moves them into second place on the NRL ladder. The Tigers on the other hand experienced their fist loss for the season.
Kewell admits he has tough fight on his hands
March 30, 2008
In an interview that aired today on the Australian nine network show The Wide World of Sports, Harry Kewell spoke about his future in the game. The Liverpool premier league star has been frustrated over recent seasons by injury.
He was in Australia as a result of a minor injury he picked up while playing in Australia’s football friendly against Singapore in Singapore last weekend. The Australian Football Federation ordered him back to Australia for some medical checks rather than risking him in the recent World Cup qualifier against China.
In the interview today Kewell said he expects to be fit in 2-3 weeks. He also mentioned that this was a new injury and that he was over his past injuries. Kewell went on to talk about how will be fighting for a new contract with the Liverpool club.
“I am Australian and will fight for my position.” said Kewell. He also said that he would love to stay at Liverpool as it was always his dream to play for that club but if he has to leave then so be it.
Kewell spoke about the current Australian coach and how he admires Pim Verbeek’s honesty. Kewell said he spent a fair bit of time recently talking with the Socceroos coach and enjoys spending time with him.
Harry Kewell was asked about playing in the Australian A-League at the end of his career. He answered by saying he would not want to play in the league as an aged player past his prime. If he did play he still needs to be able to contribute to the team.
Later in the interview Kewell said the A-League could be just around the corner. “It interests me, it interests my family, you just never know”. How great would it be to see Harry Kewell running around in the A-League?
Kewell obviously has tough times ahead. He has to get over his injury and then be given some first team action with Liverpool in order to show he is worthy of a new contract.
What is your opinion?
Jankovic shows fighting qualities
March 30, 2008
Jelena Jankovic showed at the Australian Open that she does not give in easily. Today at the Sony Ericcson Open in Miami she had to call upon her fighting spirit to get past Sweden’s Sofia Arvidsson.
After losing the first set in a close tie break Jankovic who is the number 4 seed came storming back to win the second set 6-2. You would have expected to to easily take the third set as momentum was on her side. Her Swedish opponent was not going to let this happen and she pushed Jankovic to another tie break.
The match could have easily gone to the Swede and Jankovic would have been bundled out in the second round as was her countryman, Novak Djokovic, but she did not allow this to happen. Finally at 10-9 in the tie break Jankovic closed out the match, much to her relief.
The popular Serbian player will now face Lucie Safarova in the third round.
Hewitt out at Miami, Tsonga and Roddick advance
March 30, 2008
Australia’s Lleyton Hewitt has been knocked out of the Miami Masters by unseeded Argentinian Jose Acasuso 6-3, 7-6(4). It continues a poor opening to the 2008 tennis season for the former world number 1 player. Hewitt was seeded 21 at the tournament. Hewitt went out at the same stage last year following a loss to Tim Henman.
In other matches the Australian Open runnerup Jo-Wilfried Tsonga opened his tournament with a 6-7(4), 7-5, 6-1 win over Jurgen Melzer from Austria. Andy Roddick defeated Serbian qualifier Viktor Troicki 7-5, 6-2, 6-4. As Novak Djokovic found out the other day a match against a qualifier can be tough.
Yesterday Richard Gasquet the no. 5 seed was defeated by Russia’s Dmitry Tursunov 6-3, 6-7(2), 7-6(5). I would not really call that an upset as Tursunov is a solid player and had earlier this year won the Sydney tournament. The number 7 seed, David Nalbandian also lost. He went down to Xavier Malisse 6-1, 6-4. Rafael Nadal won in straight sets over Benjamin Becker 7-5, 6-2.
Manchester United maintain lead
March 30, 2008
In the English Premier league Manchester United have maintained their lead over Arsenal in the title race.
A convincing 4-0 win over Aston Villa keeps the gap at six points over closest rivals Arsenal. Goals were scored by Cristiano Ronaldo, Carlos Tevez and two to Wayne Rooney.
In other matches Arsenal defeated Bolton Wanderers 3-2, Sunderland 2-1 over West Ham United, Birmingham City 3-1 over Manchester City, Portsmouth 2-0 over Wigan Athletic. Derby County and Fulham drew 2-2 and Reading play out a scoreless draw with Blackburn Rovers.
Chelsea can move into second place if they defeat Middlesbrough at home. In another crucial match to determine the top four Liverpool hosts cross town rivals Everton at Anfield.
