Observer 25 Apr 2012 - Oman Daily Observer

19 SPORT
OMAN DAILY Observer
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 25, 2012
Murray progresses in Barcelona
BARCELONA — Andy Murray
continued to apply polish
to his clay-court tennis as the
second seed reached the third
round of the Barcelona Open
with a comfortable defeat of
Sergiy Stakhovsky 6-3, 6-2
yesterday.
Murray, playing the tournament
for only the third time,
secured his second career win
at the Real Club de Tenis in 78
minutes.
The world No 4 now stands
4-0 over Stakhovsky, a Ukrainian
journeyman ranked 68th.
Murray next plays either
Santiago Giraldo of Colombia
of Dutchman Robin Haase, a
Monte Carlo quarterfinalist.
The 2010 champion Fernando
Verdasco also won a
second-round encounter after
a bye, with the Spanish ninth
seed defeating Belgian Steve
Darcis 6-3, 6-1.
Verdasco didn't bother to
defend his title in 2011 after
a dispute with the organiser
but is now back in the Spanish
fold.
In the first round, Portugal's
Frederico Gil scored an
upset as he took out 12th seed
Marcel Granollers of Spain
6-2, 6-2 while No 13 South
African Kevin Anderson was
untroubled by Malek Jaziri of
Tunisia 6-2, 6-3.
Australian Bernard Tomic,
seeded 15th, dominated fading
Latvian Ernests Gulbis 6-3,
6-4 on to make a winning debut
at the event.
Tomic, at 19 the youngest
man in the field in the Cata-
lan capital, spent 67 minutes
in handing one-time prodigy
Gulbis another ATP disappointment.
Six-time champion Rafael
Nadal will attempt to
pick up where he left off at
the weekend after winning an
eighth straight Monte Carlo
title when he opens after a bye
against compatriot Guillermo
Garcia-Lopez, a winner over
Olivier Rochus of Belgium
6-3, 6-3.
Results: 1st round: Andy
Murray (GBR x2) bt Sergiy Stakhovsky
(UKR) 6-3, 6-2; Mikhail
Kukushkin (KAZ) bt Daniel Gimeno
(ESP) 6-2, 6-3; Bernard
Tomic (AUS x15) bt Ernests Gulbis
(LAT) 6-3, 6-4; Kevin Anderson
(RSA x13) bt Malek Jaziri (TUN)
6-2, 6-3; Frederico Gil (POR) bt
Marcel Granollers (ESP x12) 6-2,
6-2; Igor Andreev (RUS) bt Diego
Junqueira (ARG) 6-2, 6-3; Guillermo
Garcia-Lopez (ESP) bt Olivier
Rochus (BEL) 6-3, 6-3; Victor
Hanescu (ROM) bt Rui Machado
(POR) 6-3, 7-6 (7/5); Albert Ramos
(ESP) bt Andreas Beck (GER)
4-1, retired. — AFP
Le Guen proud of Oman’s performance
From A Seshagiri Rao
in Coventry
THE Omanis should not
be ashamed of their defeat
to Senegal in the
final play-off for the London
Olympics. Instead they should
be proud of their achievement,
said coach Paul le Guen.
Speaking to the media after
Oman’s Olympic qualification
dream was ended in a 2-0
loss to the African side at the
City of Coventry Stadium on
Monday night, the Frenchman
said: “There is nothing to be
ashamed of the loss to Senegal.
Of course we are disappointed
with the result. But I
am proud of the way the boys
performed.”
“What made it difficult for
us was the early goal,” he said
referring to Ibrahima Balde’s
second minute header which
put the Senegalese ahead before
Abdoulaye Sane sealed
the victory in the 88th minute.
“We created many chances
but failed to utilise them as
we lacked efficiency in front
of the goal. At the same time
I should say we were unlucky
not to score against Senegal,”
he added.
Asked whether star striker
Abdulaziz al Maqbali was not
fully fit to play against Senegal,
he said: “He was not fit
for the Uzbekistan match (final
Asian play-off played in
Vietnam). But he was ready
for today’s match.”
Le Guen had to replace the
off-colour Sohar striker with
Hamood al Saadi in the 61st
minute.
He also said it was difficult
for his boys to defend against
a tall and strong Senegal forwards.
The Frenchman, who will
now shift his attention to the
senior national team who will
participate in the final Asian
qualifications for the 2014
World Cup, said: “Oman need
to be more professional. They
have to train, play and live
like professionals. We have
improved but we have to carry
on with the good work.”
Meanwhile, Senegal’s assistant
coach Alou Cisse said:
“This is the first time we have
made it to the Olympics. And
it's a great honour to be representing
the African continent
at the Olympics.
Speaking about Oman, he
said: “They are a very good
side. We have taken them very
seriously after studying their
game in the past matches.
We know they had excellent
strikers but there were certain
weaknesses in the defence
which we wanted to exploit.
“Today we had the advantage
in the counterattack.”
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