Betting Blog » Sports Betting Blog

Back injury ends Li Na’s tournament

Andy Charles — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 11:26:02 +0000

French Open champion Li Na is one of four women to either retire or miss this week’s Open GDF Suez tournament completely.

The third seed was losing 7-6 3-2 to Tsvetana Pironkova in her opening match in Paris when she had to have treatment for a sore back. Despite taking a medical timeout to have her lower back massaged, Li Na was unable to complete the match and had to retire. Those looking for tennis betting tips will have been disappointed.

Fourth-seeded Jelena Jankovic had to withdraw because of a left thigh strain while Germany’s Sabine Lisicki and Kaia Kanepi of Estonia have also had to pull out.
The fifth-seeded Lisicki has a viral illness while Kanepi is recovering from a right shoulder injury.

Kanepi won the Brisbane International last month before losing in the second round of the Australian Open, while Lisicki lost her singles matches in Germany’s 4-1 defeat to the Czech Republic in the Fed Cup.Meanwhile, German qualifier Mona Barthel and the Czech player Petra Cetkovska have won through to the second round of the tournament.

Barthel easily beat Barbora Zahlavova Strycova of the Czech Republic 6-3 6-2 and Cetkovska saw off the Italian Alberta Brianti 6-3 6-3.
Last year Petra Kvitova, who went on to win Wimbledon, was crowned champion when she beat Kim Clijsters 6-4 6-3 in the final. People making a Betfair bet online will know she looks to be one to watch.

Other notable winners of the tournament, which was first played in 1993, have been Martina Navratilova, Steffi Graf, Serena Williams and Venus Williams.
Amelie Mauresmo holds the record for the most singles titles, having won the tournament three times in 2001, 2006 and 2009.

Leader hoping to show the way home in Kim Muir

Andy Charles — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 16:45:05 +0000

Emma Lavelle reports her progressive staying handicapper Qianshan Leader to be in great heart and working nicely ahead of a bid for the Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Handicap Chase at the Cheltenham Festival next month, writes Elliot Slater.

The eight-year-old has enjoyed a productive time of things so far this season and ran well on his most recent outing when finishing a highly respectable fifth to Calgary Bay in the Grade 3 Sky Bet Chase at Doncaster in January, keeping on in the closing stages having failed to pick up with the leaders on the turn for home. Lavelle feels that the testing ground at Tow Moor may well have proved a little too much for the gelded son of Anshan but was still very pleased with his effort.

Last term Qianshan Leader won a couple of races over shorter distances but seems to have come into his own this season over three miles, scoring at Kempton in November off a mark of 122 then following up at Doncaster the following month ff a 4lb higher mark, beating the decent Benny be Good by a neck in a driving finish. The Hampshire-based trainer has now nominated the ‘Kim Muir’ as the ideal race for her horse at Cheltenham Festival where she hopes that the combination of a good gallop and decent ground could well see the eight-year-old get very much into the thick of the action. Horse racing tips are already tipping her for glory.

Bookmakers have priced up the horse owned by the Pick ‘N Mix Partnership at around 14/1 for the three-mile affair in a market currently headed by Galaxy Rock at 10/1, whilst punters who bet on racing may want to back last year’s runaway winner and leading John Smith’s Grand National fancy Junior, who is generally a 12/1 chance.

Berdych seals Montpellier success

Andy Charles — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 13:20:31 +0000

Tomas Berdych showed why he had been the top seed for the Open Sud de France tournament by beating the home favourite Gael Monfils in the final in Montpellier.
The Czech player needed two hours and five minutes to seal the 6-2 4-6 6-3 success but it had looked set to be a more straightforward encounter when he won the first set in just 37 minutes.

However, the third-seeded Monfils converted the only break of serve in the fifth game of the second set to bring the clash level and each player held their nerve until the eighth game of the final set, when Monfils lost his serve to give Berdych a crucial 5-3 advantage. Fans of Betfair will have been impressed.

After serving out the match, Berdych said: “I expected a tough final. I felt he was the best player on the other side of the draw. “It was a close match, decided by one or two points. I’m happy that I was the one to become the champion and get the last break and finish it with my serve.”

It was Berdych’s first indoor title since he won the BNP Paribas Masters in 2005, but for Monfils it was his second defeat in a final already in 2012. The 2010 Open Sud de France champion was also beaten by Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the final of last month’s Qatar ExxonMobil Open.

Berdych has now won seven ATP Tour titles, although he is probably best remembered for winning through to the Wimbledon final in 2010. Those looking at betting sites will be wondering if he can push on for more Grand Slam success.

Meanwhile, Great Britain’s Jamie Murray and his Australian partner Paul Hanley were beaten in the doubles final by French pair Nicolas Mahut and Edouard Roger-Vasselin 6-4 7-6.

Class act Neptune on target for Grand National

Andy Charles — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 10:30:59 +0000

Although the weights for this season’s John Smith’s Grand National won’t be made public until February 14, one horse who is likely to be well handicapped on the best of his old form is the popular grey Neptune Collonges, winner of last season’s Grade 2 Argento Chase and still a force to be reckoned with when conditions fall right for him, writes Elliot Slater.

John Hales’ 15-time winner will be close to the top of the weights but is now 9lbs lower than his peak mark last term, suggesting that if he runs to his very best form and takes to the massive fences of the Liverpool marathon, he could give many younger horses a serious run for their money. One of only two entries at the initial stage of the contest for champion trainer Paul Nicholls, (the other is Becher Chase runner-up Niche Market, fifth in last season’s Grand National), Neptune Collonges showed that he still retains most of his ability when running a cracker to finished second to the surely well handicapped Hold On Julio in a hot staying handicap chase at Sandown in January, giving the very progressive winner no less than 24lbs in weight. Those looking at the best online Grand National odds will have been impressed.

The 11-year-old has been close to the very top of the tree over the years, landing the Grade 1 Punchestown Guinness Gold Cup in 2007 before running a brave third to Denman in the 2008 Cheltenham Gold Cup. He went on win the Punchestown race for a second time a month later then won the 2009 Hennessey Gold Cup at Leopardstown before finishing fourth to Kauto Star in the Cheltenham Gold Cup on his next start, which proved to be his last for 18 months when he was sidelined through injury.

A 50/1 shot in the ante-post list for the John Smith’s Grand National, Neptune Collonges could well represent some of the best each-way value in the contest.

Moonshine camp hoping for sunshine around the corner

Andy Charles — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 11:47:44 +0000

The recent bout of cold weather has dealt something of a blow to the hopes of West Yorkshire-based jumps trainer Sue Smith who is very keen to get another run into her talented novice chaser Mr Moonshine ahead of a possible crack at the big guns in the Grade 1 RSA Chase at the Cheltenham Festival on March 14, writes Elliot Slater.

Smith, wife of show jumping legend Harvey, trains at Bingley way up on the hills not very far from‘Wuthering Heights’ country at Haworth, and there has been plenty of snow there over the last few days to make keeping her horses at peak fitness something of a difficult task. Mr Moonshine had shown progressive form this term before taking on the red-hot Grand Crus at Kempton Park on Boxing Day in the Grade 1 Feltham Novices Chase, where he raced prominently for much of the trip before fading approaching the home turn, eventually coming home in fifth place on ground that was quicker than ideal for him. Anyone following the Betfair Cheltenham Betting needs to bear that in mind.

Prior to Kempton the gelded son of Double Eclipse had been very much on an upward curve with wins in decent novice company at Carlisle and Haydock having been followed by a fine effort when third to the smart Gauvain in the Grade 2 Peterborough Chase at Huntingdon in December, still being in touch with the winner going to the final fence, only to weaken on the run-in, eventually coming home 15-lengths behind the winner. Anyone looking at Betfair online will be wondering if he can push on.

Smith is keen to let the eight-year-old, (whose ante-post odds for the staying novice championship event range from 25/1 to 50/1), take his chance at Cheltenham, but would be forced to look elsewhere if the ground is good or faster on the big day.