Push Admin

WORLD SPORTS: Serena, Kerber qualify for Tour finals, Lakers sign Yi

Article (news)

ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2016/sports2/08/23/kerber.jpg"/><figcaption><div class="embed-desc">Angelique Kerber (GER) returns a shot against Karolina Pliskova (CZE) in the finals during the Western and Southern tennis tournament at Linder Family Tennis Center. <em>Photo by Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports/Reuters</em></div></figcaption></figure></div><div><strong>Serena Williams and Kerber qualify for Tour finals</strong></div><div><strong>Reuters</strong></div><p>Serena Williams and Angelique Kerber, battling it out for the world number one ranking, are the first two women to qualify for the season-ending WTA Tour Finals in Singapore, the WTA said on Monday.</p><p>World number one Williams, who leads Kerber by 190 ranking points, has won the title five times but missed last year&#x27;s event through injury.</p><p>Kerber, who won her first grand slam title at the Australian Open in January and who reached the final at Wimbledon, will be making her fourth appearance in the Oct. 23-30 event, reserved for the top eight-ranked players of the year.</p><p>-----------------------------------------</p><div><strong>Battle on for last automatic spots on U.S. Ryder Cup team</strong></div><div><strong>Reuters</strong></div><p>With the Ryder Cup just over a month away, the teams are shaping up, with this week&#x27;s Barclays tournament at Bethpage determining the last three automatic spots on a United States team desperate to end Europe&#x27;s recent domination.</p><p>U.S. Open champion Dustin Johnson, Jordan Spieth, Phil Mickelson, PGA Championship winner Jimmy Walker and Ryder rookie Brooks Koepka are set for the trip to Hazeltine outside Minneapolis for the biennial matches starting on Sept. 30.</p><p>Eight players automatically qualify from the U.S. points list, creating a scramble for the last three on offer from candidates such as (number six) Brandt Snedeker, Zach Johnson, Patrick Reed, Bubba Watson, Olympic bronze medallist Matt Kuchar and Rickie Fowler.</p><p>U.S. captain Davis Love III will add four other players as captain&#x27;s picks to a team who have lost the last three match play competitions to Europe.</p><p>READ: <a href="http://sports.abs-cbn.com/sportslifestyle/news/2016/08/22/enchong-dee-letting-go-olympics-dreams-14750"><strong>Enchong Dee on letting go of his Olympics dreams</strong></a></p><p>-----------------------------------------</p><div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2016/sports2/08/23/yi.jpg"/><figcaption><div class="embed-desc">Yi Jianlian (CHN) of China (PRC) reacts. <em>Photo by Lucy Nicholson, Reuters</em></div></figcaption></figure></div><div><strong>Lakers sign Chinese Olympian Yi</strong></div><div><strong>Agence France-Presse</strong></div><p>Yi Jianlian, who is fresh off an appearance with the Chinese national team at the Rio Olympics, has signed a contract with the Los Angeles Lakers, the NBA team announced on Monday.</p><p>Yi, of Guangdong Province, averaged 20.4 points and 6.6 rebounds in five games at the Summer Olympics, which wrapped up on Sunday.</p><p>&quot;We&#x27;re excited to have a player of his worldwide accomplishments,&quot; said general manager Mitch Kupchak. &quot;We look forward to bringing him to training camp and hopefully having him make an impact on our team.&quot;</p><p>Yi, 28, joins a team that has been at or near the bottom of the NBA the past several seasons. To compound their woes, the Lakers lost their top player when future Hall of Famer Kobe Bryant retired at the end of this past season.</p><p>-----------------------------------------</p><div><strong>NFL tightens clarification on injury reports</strong></div><div><strong>Reuters</strong></div><p>The NFL has opted to drop the &quot;probable&quot; designation in injury reports ahead of games, bringing more clarity to the availability of players and their chances of taking the field, the league announced on Sunday.</p><p>Under the new guidelines, three classifications will be used prior to games: &quot;questionable&quot; for those whose availability is uncertain, &quot;doubtful&quot; for those unlikely to play and &quot;out&quot; for those who will definitely not play.</p><p>The NFL had previously utilised the &quot;probable&quot; category for those that had a 75 percent chance of taking part, though the tag was used loosely as gamesmanship by teams in instances where players were certain to take the field.</p><p>-----------------------------------------</p><div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2016/sports2/08/23/serena.jpg"/><figcaption><div class="embed-desc">Serena Williams (USA) of USA in action against Elina Svitolina (UKR) of Ukraine. Photo by Toby Melville, Reuters</div></figcaption></figure></div><div><strong>Williams still reigns as number one</strong></div><div><strong>Agence France-Presse</strong></div><p>Serena Williams held onto the number one spot in the WTA world rankings on Monday, after Angelique Kerber slipped to defeat against Karolina Pliskova in the final of the Cincinnati hardcourt tournament.</p><p>Germany&#x27;s Kerber would have ended 22-time major champion Williams&#x27; run of 184 consecutive weeks as world number one if she had claimed the title.</p><p>But the reigning Australian Open champion was beaten 6-3, 6-1 by Czech Pliskova, who moves up from 17th to 11th.</p><p>American Williams, who withdrew from her Cincinnati title defence with an injury, is now just three weeks away from breaking Steffi Graf&#x27;s record for the longest stint at the top of the rankings.</p><p>The only change in the top 10 sees Agnieszka Radwanska retake fourth spot from Simona Halep, who was beaten by Kerber in the semi-finals.</p><p>-----------------------------------------</p><div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2016/sports2/08/23/cilic.jpg"/><figcaption><div class="embed-desc">Marin Cilic (CRO) reacts against Andy Murray (GBR) in the finals during the Western and Southern tennis tournament at Linder Family Tennis Center. <em>Photo by Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports/Reuters</em></div></figcaption></figure></div><div><strong>Cilic returns to top 10 after Cincinnati</strong></div><div><strong>Agence France-Presse</strong></div><p>Croatia&#x27;s Marin Cilic moved back into the top 10 of the ATP world rankings on Monday, thanks to his victory over Andy Murray in the Cincinnati Masters final.</p><p>Former US Open winner Cilic ended Briton Murray&#x27;s 22-match winning streak with a straight-sets win on Sunday and jumped up five places in the rankings to ninth.</p><p>Two-time major champion Stan Wawrinka moved above his injured fellow Swiss Roger Federer to become the new world number three.</p><p>Serbian Novak Djokovic still holds a massive lead at the top of the rankings, despite not playing in the US last week.</p><p>-----------------------------------------</p><div><strong>Long jump star Rutherford swaps spikes for dancing shoes</strong></div><div><strong>Agence France-Presse</strong></div><p>Britain&#x27;s long jump world champion Greg Rutherford is to take a break from his day job to appear on the BBC&#x27;s popular programme &#x27;Strictly Come Dancing&#x27;, he revealed on Monday.</p><p>The 29-year-old 2012 Olympic champion, who had to settle for bronze at the Rio Olympics, said he was facing a vastly different challenge from trying to jump the furthest into a sandpit.</p><p>&quot;I love being challenged and taking to the Strictly ballroom is like nothing I have ever done before,&quot; said Rutherford, who won the world title in 2015 and is also a two-time European champion.</p><p>&quot;Doing this is definitely a long jump from my day job for sure!&quot; he joked.</p><p>Rutherford, who has been honoured with a statue of himself erected in his home town of Milton Keynes in 2014, is no stranger to TV shows having appeared in five since he won the long jump at the London Olympic Games.</p><p>-----------------------------------------</p><div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2016/sports2/08/23/lilesa.jpg"/><figcaption><div class="embed-desc">Feyisa Lilesa (ETH) of Ethiopia celebrates. <em>Photo by Athit Perawongmetha, Reuters</em></div></figcaption></figure></div><div><strong>Ethiopia pledges safe return for protest runner</strong></div><div><strong>Agence France-Presse</strong></div><p>Ethiopia&#x27;s government vowed that Olympic marathon silver medallist Feyisa Lilesa had nothing to fear upon returning home after staging a dramatic protest against the country&#x27;s politics, state-controlled Fana radio reported on Monday.</p><p>On Sunday, Lilesa, who came second to Kenyan favourite Eliud Kipchoge in Rio, crossed his arms as he finished the marathon in protest against the Ethiopian government&#x27;s crackdown on political dissent.</p><p>He repeated the gesture during the race&#x27;s medal ceremony, saying he was afraid to go back to his homeland following his protest &quot;against the government&#x27;s attitude regarding Oromo people&quot;, one of two main ethnic groups in Ethiopia.</p><p>&quot;Lelisa won’t face any problem due to his political stance,&quot; government spokesman Getachew Reda told Fana.</p><p>&quot;Though it is impossible to express a political stance at Olympic Games, the athlete will be welcomed while returning home along with other members of the Ethiopian Olympic squad,&quot; he added.</p><p>For more sports coverage, visit the <a href="http://sports.abs-cbn.com/"><em><strong>ABS-CBN Sports website</strong></em></a>.</p>

<p>Serena Williams and Angelique Kerber, battling it out for the world number one ranking, are the first two women to qualify for the season-ending WTA Tour Finals in Singapore, the WTA said on Monday.</p>

Serena Williams and Angelique Kerber, battling it out for the world number one ranking, are the first two women to qualify for the season-ending WTA Tour Finals in Singapore, the WTA said on Monday.