Sport Shorts: Rising Tennis Star
Future Tennis Star?: Vancouver’s Rebecca Marino won her third straight title on the ITF Pro Circuit on Sunday, winning the USTA Tennis Classic of Troy in Alabama. Marino has now won 15 straight matches in the ITF Circuit, which is a stepping stone to becoming a regular on the main WTA Tour. The 19-year-old is likely to improve on her WTA ranking of 117 and is helping her cause toward a direct entry into the main 2011 Australian Open’s main draw.
It is a breakthrough season for the rising tennis star, who had her first Grand Slam main draw appearance at this year’s U.S. Open. Marino reached the second round and battled Venus Williams with confidence and poise at the venerable Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Pessoa Tops in Judo: On Friday, Sergio Pessoa captured Canada’s sole medal at a Grand Prix event in Rotterdam. The 60 kg judoka finished with two wins and one loss. Pessoa (Montreal) is ranked second in Canada in the 60 kg category after Frazer Will. Find more about him on his website: www.pessoajudo.com/.
Johns Nabs Four Medals: At a swimming World Cup in Singapore, veteran Brian Johns captured four medals to lead Canada. The Richmond, B.C. native won silver in the 200-metre freestyle and 400-metre individual medley, and bronze in the 200-metre individual medley and 200-metre butterfly.
Olympic Future on the Table: Starting Wednesday, the Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC) meets in Acapulco to discuss the future of the Olympic Games. ANOC comprises 205 members, and more than 1,000 people will take part in these important meetings. On the slate will be the Youth Olympic Games from the summer as well as a look ahead to the 2012 Youth Olympic Winter Games in Innsbruck and the 2014 Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing, China. As well, Olympic organizers of London 2012, Sochi 2014 and Rio 2016 will report on their respective progress. And in the race to host the 2018 Olympic Winter Games, bid teams from Annecy, France, Munich and PyeongChang will have 20 minutes each to pitch their plans to ANOC.
Winter Sports on Their Way: Sport Shorts is about to get a whole lot busier as the winter sport season gets underway. Next weekend there are figure skating, alpine skiing and short track speed skating events. Stay tuned here to get caught up on the action!
