Lillehammer, Norway (GenevaLunch) - Switzerland’s Simon Ammann sailed his way to his first World Cup Crystal Globe, awarded for the highest overall points during a season, winning in the second-to-last jump of 2009-2010 in Lillehammer Friday 12 March. The final jump comes in Oslo Saturday. Ammann has won six of his last six competitions, to complete a year in which he took two Olympic gold medals.
Links to other sites: More than the Games, Swissinfo
Garmisch, Germany (GenevaLunch) - Carlo Janka has become the first Swiss in 18 year to win the overall World Cup ski award for the most points in a season, the coveted Crystal Globe. Friday he won the giant slalom in Garmisch, and with only one race (worth 100 points) left, he has a 106-point lead over Austrian Benjamin Raich. The 23-year-old from Graubuenden will duplicate the feat of Swiss skier Paul Accola in 1992.
Carlo Janka (photo: Swiss Ski)
Garmisch, Germany (GenevaLunch) - Carlo Janka has taken the lead in World Cup ski standings, with a total of 1,073 points after he won the downhill in Garmisch 10 March, by a hair. He came in at 1:58:45 but second place Mario Scheiber of Austria clocked 1:58:47 and Canada’s Eric Guay and Switzerland’s Patrick Kueng shared third at 1:58:52 in a remarkably close race.
Crans-Montana, Valais, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Lindsey Vonn, fresh from winning the Olympic downhill gold medal at Whistler, notched up her sixth downhill victory out of seven starts, Saturday 6 March. This assured her the crystal globe for the season’s champion in the specialty. She is almost certain to also take the overall title. The National course at Crans-Montana, scene of Swiss skiing’s finest hour at the 1987 World Championships, was difficult because of restricted visibility and strong winds at the top.
Zurich, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The world football federation’s (Fifa) disciplinary committee is holding a hearing Monday 18 January to consider Thierry Henry ‘s famous handball that gave France rather than Ireland a place in the World Cup. The executive committee of Fifa in December asked the disciplinary body to review the incident that caused an uproar and prompted the Football Association of Ireland to demand a replay or even to consider adding Ireland as a 33rd team.
BMW Oracle left California 15 December for Valencia, Spain
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - The Alinghi sailing team is preparing to defend its World Cup title in the chilly winter waters of Valencia, Spain in 2010, following a decision Tuesday 15 December by a panel of New York Supreme Court judges to uphold an earlier decision. A judge ruled 30 October against the choice by Société Nautique de Genève’s of Ras Al Khaimah in the United Arab Emirates for the next America’s Cup. The four-judge panel also upheld an earlier decision to exclude rudders from the measurement of the load waterline length of the race yacht.
Alinghi will face BMW Oracle in February 2010 in Valencia. The BMW team, based in San Francisco, left California Tuesday for Valencia, to start preparing for the race.
Background, GenevaLunch
Links to other sites: Alinghi, BMW Oracle
Val-d’Isere, France (GenevaLunch) - It was back to Earth with a bump for the Swiss skiers as Austria dominated the World Cup events 12-13 December. Carlo Janka won three races the previous weekend at Beaver Creek in Colorado, USA, but he was eliminated in France, while Didier Cuche could only manage ninth place. Cuche became the oldest skier to win a World Cup downhill during his Canadian trip and was rewarded for his contribution to Swiss skiing by being voted the Swiss sporting personality of the year, edging out tennis star Roger Federer.
Beaver Creek, Colorado, USA (GenevaLunch) - Swiss Graubuenden skier Carl Janka pulled off the unusual feat of winning three events in one weekend at Beaver Creek, adding the giant slalom event Sunday to his Friday and Saturday downhill and super combined wins. The 23-year-old was bowed to by the last man to take three World Cup races in a row, Aksel Lund Svindal, who did it 2.5 years ago.
Capetown, South Africa (GenevaLunch) - Switzerland was the last ball taken out at the draw for the finals of the World Cup to be held in South Africa in 2010. They will meet Spain, Honduras and Chile in the first stage, with two teams going through to the next round. France are in the group headed by South Africa, along with Mexico and Uruguay. The host nation will be hard-pressed to make it to the second round. England will meet the USA, Algeria and Slovenia. The toughest group is G, which has Brazil, Portugal, Côte d’Ivoire and North Korea.
In the Premier League Manchester United powered their way past West Ham, winning 0-4.
Update 21:15 Zurich, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - The world football federation Wednesday 2 December approved the Final Draw procedure, publishing the “pots” of teams. The draw takes place in South Africa Friday 4 and will determine who plays whom, when.
The Irish will not play in South Africa in the 2010 World Cup: that is the final answer to their request to Fifa, the world football federation, to reconsider. Ireland lost to France in a headline-making qualifying game after French player Thierry Henry’s illegal handball move that was not spotted by game officials. The Irish had asked to be an extra team for the World Cup but Monday Fifa said no.
CNN points out that France, unseeded, would have been seeded had November rankings been used instead of October’s.
The pots for Friday’s draw:
Update 05:20 Abuja, Nigeria (GenevaLunch) - Switzerland won the World Cup for under-17-year-olds with a disciplined performance that managed to subdue the physically stronger Nigerian team. The home team, cheered on by 64,000 fans, started strongly and could have scored in the early minutes but the Swiss gradually settled down, helped by their goalkeeper Benjamin Siegrist who won the Gold Gloves award for the best keeper in the tournament. The only goal of the match came in the 63rd minute when Haris Seferovic headed in from a corner. The Swiss were fortunate to survive a goalmouth scramble but then played with considerable composure to keep out the increasingly desperate Nigerian attacks. This is the first major football tournament for a Swiss team but it was thoroughly deserved as the team had already beaten Brazil, Germany, Italy, Mexico and Colombia on the way to the final.
Links to other sites: Swissinfo, Fifa, ModernGhana
Lagos, Nigeria (GenevaLunch) - The Swiss under 17 team reached the final of the World Cup in Nigeria, and will play the hosts on Sunday afternoon 15 November in front of 60,000 supporters in Lagos. The young Swiss stars beat Colombia 4-0 in the semi-finals after beating Brazil, Germany and Italy in earlier rounds. A controversy has been developing in Nigeria over the age of some of their players, with rumours the captain is about 25 years old.
Basel, Switzerland(GenevaLunch) – Switzerland qualified for the finals of the 2010 World Cup by finishing top of their group after achieving a 0-0 draw against Israel. Their task was made easier when Yadin was sent off for two yellow cards, leaving the Swiss with an extra man for the final half hour. Overall the game was mediocre but the result was sufficient for automatic qualification. The other European teams to qualify are Denmark, Slovakia, Germany, Spain, England, Serbia, Italy and the Netherlands. And Turkey beat Armenia 2-0 in a match that followed the signing of agreements designed to normalize diplomatic and business relations between the two countries.
Zurich, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Nineteen countries have now secured their places in the Fifa World Cup finals to be held in South Africa in 2010 after the penultimate games in the qualification series. In the African group Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire are through and six places are up for grabs. Australia, Japan and the two Koreas take the Asian places with one more team entering a playoff with New Zealand. Seven of the 13 European places are decided:
Basel, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Switzerland played a solid defensive game to hold World Cup winners Italy to a goal-less draw. Goalkeeper Diego Benaglio was impressive as he pulled off a series of saves. Switzerland is second, behind Greece, in its group for the World Cup finals in South Africa in 2010. Only the top team is guaranteed a place in the finals so the next match, against Greece at Basel on September 5th, is vital.
Details: swissinfo
Zurich, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Fifa, the Swiss-based international football federation, is fining Côte d’Ivoire CHF50,000 and enforcing several preventive measures before the next home match, at the end of a disciplinary investigation into a March 2009 accident that killed 22 people. Fifa has also donated CHF100,000 to the families of those who died.
The deaths occurred during a stampede outside the Félix Houphouët-Boigny Stadium in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire before the Fifa World Cup/CAF Africa Cup of Nations qualifier between Côte d’Ivoire and Malawi 29 March 2009. The game went ahead, with the home team beating Malawi 5-0.
Are, Sweden (Geneva Lunch)- American skier Lindsey Vonn locked down her second consecutive World Cup overall title Wednesday 10 March by winning the last downhill of the season. She skied her way to victory with a time of 1 minute 42.49 seconds. Vonn is the first American woman to win two overall titles.
Sestrières, Italy (GenevaLunch) - Didier Cuche struck another blow for the veterans by winning the Giant Slalom at Sestrières. At the age of 34 years and six months he is the oldest skier to win a World Cup giant. He also won the Super-G at the recent World Championships and took silver in the downhill. Austrians took the next three places.
Lara Gut put in the best Swiss performance, Super-G (photo: Swiss-ski)
Val d’Isere, France (GenevaLunch) – US skier Lindsey Vonn won her first World Cup super-G title at Val d’Isere in France but Swiss women failed to take a place on the podium, with the best race from 17-year-old Lara Gut, who came in 7th in the first World Cup race of the season.
Kitzbuehl, Austria (GenevaLunch) – Swiss skier Didier Defago at age 31 completed his transformation from zero to hero by winning his second classic race of the season, just a week after his first World Cup victory at Wengen, Switzerland. He is the 12th skier to complete the double of winning the two classics in the same season.
Wengen, Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Didier Défago became the first Swiss skier to win the classic Lauberhorn Descent since 2003.
Title: World Cup snowboard finals, women
Location: Saas Fee
Link out: Click here
Description: Half-pipe specialists on display in competition that is part of the international circuit
Date: 31 Oct 2008
Athens, Greece (GenevaLunch) – Switzerland’s chances of making it to the 2010 World Cup football championship in South Africa were improved Wednesday night by a 2-1 win over Greece.
(GenevaLunch) – Switzerland made a small step to making up for its humiliating loss to Luxemburg when it beat Lithuania 2-1. The team is now in third place after Greece and Israel in Group Two.
