Sports Round-Up: Wozniacki opens final campaign in style
Playing in her final tournament before retiring, Caroline Wozniacki opened her Australia Open campaign in style by beating Kristie Ahn (US) in straight sets 6-1, 6-3.
The win sets up a much tougher match-up with Ukrainian talent Dayana Yastremska, ranked 21 in the world, in round two.
Nice to shake off the nerves
“It was nice to get rid of the nerves – particularly because it is special that this is my final tournament,” Wozniacki told TV2 Sport.
“You never know how you are going to handle things when you are in a situation. And I’ve never been in this one before, so it’s nice to progress.”
READ ALSO: Mads Pedersen wins sports person of the year
Oz loves Woz
Wozniacki said she was happy she could feel the additional support she received from the fans in Melbourne.
She has good memories of the Australian Open, which became her only grand slam win back in 2018.
But to repeat that performance, she’ll need a minor miracle, given that Serena Williams and Naomi Osaka are potential opponents in the fourth round and quarter-finals.
Inter step up for Eriksen
Denmark and Tottenham midfielder Christian Eriksen seemed to take another step towards Milan last night following news that Inter had made an official bid. Inter sporting director Piero Ausilio confirmed that a bid was made for the Dane, and Sky Sports mentioned a fee of about 96 million kroner, plus bonuses. However, the Serie A side may need to increase that amount as it is reported that Spurs are looking for at least 150 million kroner. Eriksen’s agent Martin Schoots is reportedly going to meet today with Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy to discuss the situation.
Toft top of the lot
Denmark’s Sandra Toft has been voted the best female handball keeper in the world for 2019 by Handball Planet. Her selection is chosen both by fans and handball journalists from across the globe. Toft won the World Female Goalkeeper title ahead of Tess Wester (the Netherlands), Amandine Leynaud (France) and Anna Sedoykina (Russia). Toft ended up getting 43 percent of the 18,548 votes.
Iron will for the gridiron
Following a three-month pre-season stint with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last year, Phillip Andersen is determined to once again try and make an NFL team. The Danish kicker hopes to land another contract by participating in Husted Kicking’, a one-day training camp for kickers being held in Mobile, Alabama this week. It was at the same camp that Andersen was spotted by the Bucs last year. However, he didn’t make their final season roster, being cut in April.
Ebbe Sand in as new assistant
Former national striker Ebbe Sand has been unveiled as Denmark’s new assistant coach ahead of Euro 2020 this summer. The former Brøndby and Schalke 04 legend will help Åge Hareide guide the national team through to the end of the tournament. Sand scored 22 goals in 66 games for Denmark, including his famous one against Nigeria at the 1998 World Cup, when he came on as a sub to score seconds later following a superb Michael Laudrup assist.
More badminton final woe
Anders Antonsen was unable to defend his Indonesia Masters title, even though he again made the final, losing in three sets to local favourite Anthony Ginting. Despite winning the first set, Antonsen couldn’t hold on in Jakarta, eventually going down 17-21 21-15, 21-9. Ginting had beaten another Dane, the former world number one Viktor Axelsen, in the semis. Meanwhile, Maiken Fruergaard and Sara Thygesen lost the final in the women’s doubles 18-21, 21-11, 23-21 despite having two match points.
Danes performing at the Super Bowl
When the Super Bowl kicks off in Miami on February 2 there will be three Danes out there running about on the pitch. They won’t be playing for the Chiefs or 49ers though. Instead, Nellie Bethel, Nicky Andersen and Michel Patric Sian will be suiting up to perform with Jennifer Lopez during the halftime show as dancers. Sian, for one, has experience performing alongside stars like Cardi B and Justin Bieber. You can follow the three dancers in the TV2 program ‘Dans i blodet’.
Plenty of action at Brøndby
It’s been a busy winter break for Brøndby. German midfielder Dominik Kaiser has departed to Hannover 96, while top-scorer Kamil Wilczek is on the verge of a move to Turkish side Göztepe. The Polish striker, who scored an impressive 93 goals in 163 career games, is the Superliga’s top-scorer with 17 this season. Meanwhile, the club has been linked to investors from Russia and the likes of Red Bull this week.
Meanwhile, across town
FC Copenhagen has beefed up its defence ahead of its key Europa League clash with Celtic by bringing back Ragnar Sigurdsson on a free transfer. The Icelandic centre back, now 33, played over a century of games for the Lions before leaving for Krasnodar in 2014. He has 94 caps for Iceland. FCK can also rejoice in the news that young talent Mohamed Daramy became a Danish citizen a day before his 18th birthday earlier this month. Born in Denmark to parents from Sierra Leone, Daramy is also now eligible to turn out for Denmark’s youth teams.
Rowers complete Atlantic challenge
Four Danish men took just over a month to row 4,800 km across the Atlantic as part of the Atlantic Challenge. The team, ‘Row for Veterans’, was made up of Michael Lyng, Lasse Wulff Hansen, Anders Nørregaard and Mikkel Schmidt. Spending 37 days on the high seas, the four men became the fastest Danish team to ever made the journey from the Canary island La Gomera to the Caribeean island of Antigua. As their name suggests, all profits generated from the trip go to Danish veterans.
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