Lauren Jackson set for surgery

 

Seattle Storm centre Lauren Jackson will undergo left hip surgery on Thursday and miss two to three months, but the Australian star hopes to return in time for the Women's NBA playoffs.

Doctor Marc J. Philippon will perform the operation to repair the labrum in Jackson's left hip at Vail, Colorado on Thursday morning. The three-time WNBA Most Valuable Player was injured last week in a victory over the Tulsa Shock.

"This is a really, really tough decision, but after talking with my doctors and my family, we felt that immediate surgery is the best course of action," Jackson said.

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"With something painful like this hip injury, I want to be especially proactive. I plan to stay in Seattle to be here with my team and try my best to be back on the court as soon as possible.

"My goal is to be at full strength by the end of the season."

The Storm end their regular season with a September 11 home game against the Chicago Sky, some 10 and a half weeks after Jackson's surgery.

"Lauren informed me of her decision to have surgery yesterday and I offered her our full support," Storm coach Brian Agler said.

"We will miss her a great deal but I have a lot of confidence in our team and know they will rise to the challenge."

To help with the challenge, the Storm will add Poland's Ewwlina Kobryn, who was cut by New York last month. She played for her homeland in the EuroBasket event this month in Poland.

Kobryn's stay with the Storm might be long term. Jackson has already said she plans to skip the start of next season for the Storm to train with the Opals, Australia's women's national team, ahead of the 2012 London Olympics.

The Australians have lost each of the past three Olympic finals to the United States.

The Storm visited the White House on Wednesday where they met with US President Barack Obama and were honoured for last year's WNBA championship.

Lauren Jackson set for surgery

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Only the best will do: Scott

ADAM Scott has revealed for the first time the depth of his ambition in golf.

In an interview with Golf magazine published in the United States, the 30-year-old says he wants to become Australia's best ever player. He also dismisses the widely held notion he is passive.

''A lot of people questioned my heart and fire over the years, but I could have easily thrown in the towel,'' says Scott, runner-up in this year's US Masters. ''I fought hard and worked hard to get back. I'm on my way to being a better player than I've ever been. I want to be the best Australian player ever, so I've got a lot of work to do.''
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Greg Norman and Peter Thomson, both golf hall of famers, are regarded as Australia's best two male players. In some people's eyes, seven-time major winner Karrie Webb surpasses them with her feats on the women's tour.

Scott has been ranked as high as No. 3 in the world but has never won a major, although he has won 20 tournaments worldwide. ''When anything's going good, it's good,'' he said. ''But when you're not playing well over a stretch of time, it's tough. You find everything a little more difficult. Golf gets more difficult. Life gets more difficult.

''The road can get lonely at times, and you have to have a good crew of people around you to keep your mind in good shape. At the end of the day, golf's a pretty mental game at this level.''

Scott is playing in a US tour event in Philadelphia this weekend, employing the long putter he adopted earlier this year. He told Golf he had no compunction about using the implement.

''The stigma is a bit unfair, because some of the best putters on tour do use long putters … I got over [the stigma] pretty quick once I saw putts going in,'' he said.

Only the best will do: Scott
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Gallant Matildas go down fighting

PROUD Matildas coach Tom Sermanni was lamenting a little lack of polish and a costly defensive lapse as a gallant Australia was beaten 1-0 by Brazil in its first women's World Cup group match in Moenchengladbach, Germany.

Ranked 11th in the world - eight places below the powerful Brazilians - a young Australian side that included right-back 16-year-old Caitlin Foord and midfielder Emily Van Egmond, 17, competed well in the game, played early yesterday.
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Australia had more possession in the first half and Brazil imposed more pressure after the break.

Rosana lashed the ball home with her left foot in the 54th minute after the Matildas failed to clear on the edge of their area.

"I think we had three chances to clear it," Sermanni said. "If you look overall at the 90minutes, I thought we defended exceptionally well and we were punished for a bit of sloppiness. I was really pleased with the way we played and the opportunities that we created and the fact that they more than held their own against Brazil. It was a little bit disappointing with the result but ... I'm really proud of the performance."

The Matildas had a few late chances, the best of which striker Lisa De Vanna hoisted over the bar after she was put clear in the 87th minute, while Heather Garriock and Tameka Butt each had a shot saved.

De Vanna squandered Australia's best first-half opportunity. She miscued a shot wide after Brazil captain and defender Aline lost control of the ball on the edge of her penalty area.

"I think that was the story of our game. We probably just lacked a little bit of composure," Sermanni said.

Early on, midfielder Collette McCallum curled a free kick over the bar and Kyah Simon had a chip acrobatically saved at the near post, as Australia started well.

For the most part, the Australian defence contained Brazil's celebrated striking duo of Marta and Cristiane, although each had a chance late in the first half and Rosana also went close twice before the break.

"It was a tough, really difficult match," said Brazilian coach Kleiton Lima.

Brazil's midfield took control after the goal. "When Brazil scored, it knocked the wind out of our sails for that 15 or 20 minutes, but the important thing then is we still held on," Sermanni said. "I thought we finished the game really strongly."

Sermanni reported no major injury problems and said Australia will look for a win in its second game on Sunday against Equatorial Guinea, which lost 1-0 to Norway in the other group D fixture.

Australia was reduced to nine men by red cards as it crashed out of the FIFA under-17 World Cup with a 4-0 loss to Uzbekistan in the round of 16 in Mexico yesterday. Goals in the 11th, 40th, 66th and 89th minutes put an emphatic end to the Joeys' campaign after they progressed to the knockout clash by finishing third in group F.

Australia was unable to create any scoring chances, with Uzbekistan the first to capitalise through captain Abbosbek Makhstaliev.

The chances of an Australian comeback took a hit early in the second half when star striker Dylan Tombides was shown a red card for a reckless tackle. In the 66th minute, any chance was snuffed out when captain Connor Chapman deflected an Uzbek cross past Australia goalkeeper Paul Izzo for an own goal. Rubbing salt in Australia's disappointment, Teeboy Kamara was sent off for a second yellow card in the 91stminute.

Gallant Matildas go down fighting

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Sharapova closes in on second Wimbledon crown

 

Seven years after winning Wimbledon as a 17 year-old, Maria Sharapova has the opportunity to lay claim on the Venus Rosewater Disk after dispatching wildcard Sabine Lisicki 6-4, 6-3 in their semifinal overnight.

In cool conditions on Centre Court, the 5th seed fell to a 0-3 deficit but was able to break back twice, preserving her record of not having dropped a set this fortnight.

Not deterred by light rain, which didn't halt play, the Russian broke twice for a 3-0 lead, but her German opponent was unable to generate the same turnaround result even though two of Sharapova's 13 double faults handed back two breaks, giving away the match with a long forehand.

"When you find yourself in a position where you're not playing your best [and] you're playing against an opponent that has probably one of the best serves on the tour and one of the fastest, to get [breaks] back certainly gave me confidence, considering I wasn't serving my best today," said the former world number one.

Sharapova, who had not been past the fourth round of the grass major since 2007 and had not won a Grand Slam since the 2008 Australian Open after shoulder surgery left her sidelined for almost a year, said she was happy to be in the hunt for silverware, having fallen short of all her comeback goals.

"I'm thrilled to be in the final, I'm just thrilled to have the opportunity to go for it," she said, adding that she was at a different stage of her career, with more experience.

"Experience is an incredible asset because you feel like you've been through many different situations, whether it's a smaller tournament or a semifinal of a Grand Slam...at the end of the day you really have to deliver, even if you have the experience or not," Sharapova added.

The Russian revealed that she never considered quitting the sport even though rehabilitating her shoulder was tedious and frustrating.  "I think when you know how good it feels to lift the big trophies, the ones you really want in your career, and when you know how good you can play, I always felt like I could be better, and that's why I never had the interest of stopping...I always felt like I had a lot better things in me."

Left-handed Czech Petra Kvitova bettered her 2010 semifinalist appearance, winning a rollercoaster match against 4th seed Victoria Azarenka 6-1, 3-6, 6-2.

Watched by childhood idol and fellow lefty Martina Navratilova, Kvitova blasted through the first set 6-1 in just 27 minutes.

The 8th seed saved two set points in an error-strewn second set, before a long forehand gave the Belarusian a chance to level the match.

In the decider, the 21-year old broke for a 3-0 lead which she held onto until Azarenka double faulted on match point number two.

Kvitova landed a total of 40 winners to her opponent's nine, playing the aggressive tennis that has ensured her progression to Saturday's final.

The Czech said she was happy with her resilient mental performance, admitting she was surprised but delighted to be in the Wimbledon final. Kvitova has also made history as the first lefty to contest a major final since Monica Seles at the 1998 French Open.

"I'm so happy and I don't really believe that I'm in the final," said Kvitova who added that grass is now favourite surface.

Azarenka credited her opponent's display of her best tennis, acknowledging that Kvitova was going for very shot.  "I think she can beat anybody any day, because right now she has really good game, she's really going for it.[if] she's going to play like she played today, I'm sure she has all the chances to win the next match."

Sharapova closes in on second Wimbledon crown
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Problem gamblers lose enjoyment of sport

Problem gamblers don't enjoy watching or reading about sports because they are too focused on the outcome of their bet, a parliamentary committee has been told.

As well, the promotion of gambling on sport has contributed to their addiction.

The University of Sydney's gambling treatment clinic said many of its clients had observed advertisements encouraging them to bet and portraying winners as having a better time with friends.

"That promoted the idea that they may actually become a deeper supporter of the sport through wagering," the clinic said in a submission to a joint houses inquiry into online gambling.

That led many of them to believe that they could turn their knowledge and interest in their favourite sports into a supplementary income source.

The clinic's submission noted access to online betting allowed problem gamblers to still attend work, but distract their attention from productivity and quality of life.

Access to online betting for fans also reduced their pleasure in watching sport, it said.

"Over time, sports gamblers report that they no longer enjoy watching or reading about sports, because the focus of their attention is no longer about the different aspects of the sport, but rather almost exclusively on the outcome of their bet," the report said.

Cyber crime was an expanding problem due to the growth in the global digital economy, the Australian Crime Commission (ACC) said in its submission to the joint parliamentary committee.

"The use of online gambling to facilitate criminal activity, predominantly money laundering, is a key vulnerability and the ACC supports any mechanisms that will harden the Australian sectors to serious and organised criminal exploitation," the ACC said.

The ACC estimated organised crime costs Australia up to $15 billion a year with the criminal organisations looking to exploit any opportunity to make money.

"This makes professional sport an attractive target," the ACC said.

Australian sports ministers agreed on June 19 to endorse a national policy on match fixing in sport to protect the integrity of Australian sport.

This policy would give all Australian governments to work with sports and betting companies to deter and deal with corruption in sport.