WORLD SPORTS STARS: 2010

Friday, December 17, 2010

Gokhan Inler club career

Gökhan Inler : Gökhan İnler, born 27 June 1984 in Olten is a Swiss footballer midfielder who plays as central midfielder for Udinese.
Contents
1 Club career
2 International career
3 Club statistics
4 References
5 External links
6 International goals
Club caree
Inler started his career at FC Basel, but was later loaned out to FC Schaffhausen. In the beginning of the 2004–05 season, Turkish champion Fenerbahçe tried Inler and Önder Cengel in the pre-season training camp program in Germany and signed a four-year contract with both of them. However, then coach Christoph Daum declared that both players were not good enough to play for Fenerbahçe. Inler returned to Switzerland and played for FC Aarau. On 20 March 2005, Inler made his Swiss Super League debut in the FC Aarau 2–3 home defeat against Grasshoppers. In January 2006, he was signed by FC Zürich and was part of the 2005–06 and 2006–07 Swiss Championship winning team. At the end of the 2006–07 season, the hardman midfielder agreed to a transfer to Serie A side Udinese despite newly instated Hertha Berlin coach Lucien Favre's interest in the player. Inler has, in the absence of players like Christian Obodo and Giampiero Pinzi, established himself in Udinese's first team.
International career
Inler is a member of the Swiss national team. On 2 September 2006, he made his international debut in a friendly against Venezuela in Basel. On 16 June 2010 he captained Switzerland against Spain in the 2010 World Cup, a match which Switzerland won 1:0.
Club statistics
Club Season League Cup Europe Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Udinese
2007–08 37 2 0 0 - - 37 2
2008–09 36 1 1 0 12 2 49 3
2009–10 29 0 3 1 - - 32 1
Total 102 3 4 1 12 2 118 6

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Gokhan Inler

robinson cano Playing career

Robinson José Canó Mercedes Spanish pronunciation; born October 22, 1982, in San Pedro de Macorís, Dominican Republic is a Dominican baseball player who currently plays as second baseman for the New York Yankees.
Contents
1 Family & early life
2 Playing career
2.1 2005
2.2 2006
2.3 2007
2.4 2008
2.5 2009
2.6 2010
3 Awards
4 See also
5 References
6 External links
[edit]Family & early life

His father, José Canó, signed with the Houston Astros in 1980, and pitched in 6 games for the Astros in 1989. Robinson was named after baseball legend Jackie Robinson.
Canó grew up in the Dominican ashland though he lived in New Jersey for three years. He spent seventh, eighth and ninth grades in the Newark school system, attending Barringer High School for one year. When his family moved back to the Dominican Republic, Canó attended San Pedro Apostol High School in San Pedro de Macoris, where he played for the school's baseball and basketball teams.[3] In the Dominican Winter Baseball League he plays for his hometown team Estrellas Orientales.
Playing career
After graduating high school, Canó was signed by the Yankees in 2001 as an amateur free agent and began playing in their minor league system. He was viewed as a top prospect during his time in the minor leagues. He was one of five prospects offered to the Texas Rangers to complete the Yankees' acquisition of Alex Rodriguez in 2004.[6] The Rangers selected Joaquín Árias instead. Canó was nearly traded two other times by the Yankees in its attempts to obtain Carlos Beltrán from the Kansas City Royals, which was never realized, and Randy Johnson from the Arizona Diamondbacks. Even though the latter deal was made, Canó was not part of it because he was rejected by the Diamondbacks.
2005
Canó was called up to the Major Leagues on May 3, 2005, while hitting .333 in 108 at bats in AAA, and took over second base from Tony Womack. Canó belted his first career grand slam this season as well. He finished second in American League Rookie of the Year balloting to Huston Street of the Oakland Athletics. Canó finished the year, however, with the third-worst walk percentage in the league, 3.0%.
During 2005, manager Joe Torre took some heat for comparing Canó to Hall of Famer Rod Carew. When pressed, Torre clarified that he only meant that Canó "reminded" him of Carew, in terms of his build, presence at the plate, and smoothness in his swing. Torre assured the media that he did not necessarily expect Canó to become as great a player as Carew.
2006
In 2006, Canó led the AL All-Star balloting at second base, but could not play after being placed on the disabled list for a strained hamstring. After his return from injury, however, on August 8, 2006, Canó led the league in batting average, doubles, and runs batted in.[citation needed] During late September 2006 Canó accumulated enough at-bats to once again qualify for the AL batting race. Canó was rewarded the AL Player of the Month award for September.
Canó finished 2006 with the third best batting average in the AL (.342, just 2 points behind teammate shortstop Derek Jeter and five points behind Minnesota Twins catcher Joe Mauer), and 9th in the league in doubles . He also led the AL in batting average on the road (.364; 96/264) and after the 6th inning (.353; 55/156). He had the third-worst walk percentage in the league at 3.6%.
Canó finished 22nd in American League MVP voting with 3 votes. Derek Jeter finished second.

robinson cano

robinson cano

Friday, December 10, 2010

mariya sharapova tennis career

Maria Yuryevna Sharapova Russian: Мари́я Ю́рьевна Шара́пова, IPA: mɐˈrʲijə ʂɐˈrapəvəlisten; born April 19, 1987) is a former World No. 1 Russian professional tennis player. Sharapova has won 22 WTA singles titles, 3 WTA doubles titles and 3 Grand Slam singles titles, including 2004 Wimbledon, 2006 US Open and 2008 Australian Open. She was also runner-up at the 2007 Australian Open. She has also won the year-ending Sony Ericsson Championships in 2004. The Women's Tennis Association has ranked her World No. 1 in singles on 4 separate occasions. She regained this ranking for the fourth time on May 19, 2008. She became the World No. 1 for the first time on Aug 22, 2005. She is currently ranked World No. 14.
Sharapova made her professional breakthrough in 2004 when, at age 17, she upset two-time defending champion and top seed Serena Williams in the 2004 Wimbledon final for her first Grand Slam singles title. She entered the top ten of the WTA Rankings with this win. Despite not winning a major in 2005, Sharapova briefly held the number one ranking, and reached three Grand Slam semifinals, losing to the eventual champion each time. She ultimately won her second major at the 2006 US Open defeating then-World No. 1 Amélie Mauresmo in the semifinals and World No. 2 Justine Henin in the final. Sharapova's 2007 season was plagued with a chronic shoulder injury, and saw her ranking fall out of the top 5 for the first time in two years. She ultimately won her third Grand Slam at the 2008 Australian Open, defeating Henin in the quarterfinals and Ana Ivanović in the final. After reclaiming the number one ranking in May 2008, Sharapova's shoulder problems re-surfaced, ultimately requiring surgery in October and forcing her out of the game for nearly ten months. Sharapova returned in May 2009 and was ranked No. 126 in the world due to her extensive lay-off. Since her comeback, Sharapova has won 3 singles titles (bringing her career total to 22) and recovered her ranking to World No. 12.

Sharapova's public profile extends beyond tennis, as she has been featured in a number of modeling assignments, including a feature in Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. Also she has been featured in many advertisements including Nike, Prince, Canon and many more, also being the face of many fashion houses, primarily Cole Haan. Sharapova was the most searched-for athlete on Yahoo! in both 2005 and 2008. Since February 2007, she has been a United Nations Development Project Goodwill Ambassador, concerned specifically with the Chernobyl Recovery and Development Programme.
Sharapova got engaged to her boyfriend, Los Angeles Lakers guard Sasha Vujačić, after they had been dating for nearly a year.
Contents
* 1 Early life
* 2 Tennis career
o 2.1 2001–03: Professional debut
o 2.2 2004: Breakthrough Season
o 2.3 2005–2006: Consistent results
o 2.4 2007–2008: Injuries and erratic form
o 2.5 2009: Comeback from shoulder injury
o 2.6 2010
o 2.7 2011
* 3 Fed Cup participation
* 4 Playing style
o 4.1 Serve
o 4.2 Surfaces
o 4.3 Ground strokes and Net-Play
* 5 Outside tennis
* 6 Endorsements
* 7 Wealth
* 8 Career statistics and awards
* 9 References
* 10 External links
Early life
Sharapova was born in 1987 to Yuri and Yelena, ethnic Belarusians, in the town of Nyagan' in Siberia, Russia. Her parents moved from Gomel, Belarus after the Chernobyl nuclear accident in 1986 affected the region.[6] When Sharapova was two, the family moved to Sochi where her father befriended Aleksandr Kafelnikov, whose son Yevgeny would go on to win two Grand Slam singles titles and became Russia's first ever World No. 1 tennis player. Aleksandr gave Sharapova her first tennis racket at the age of four, whereupon she began practicing regularly with her father in a local park. took her first tennis lessons with veteran Russian coach Yuri Yutkin, who was instantly impressed when he first saw her, noting her "exceptional hand-eye co-ordination.
At the age of seven, Sharapova attended a tennis clinic in Moscow run by Martina Navrátilová, who recommended professional training at the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy in Florida, which had previously trained players such as Andre Agassi, Monica Seles and Anna Kournikova.With money tight, Yuri was forced to borrow the sum that would allow him and his daughter, neither of whom could speak English, to travel to America, which they finally did in 1994. Visa restrictions prevented Sharapova's mother from joining them for two years.[6] Arriving in Florida with just $700 to his name, Sharapova's father took various low-paying jobs, including dish-washing, to fund her lessons until she was old enough to be admitted to the academy. In 1995, she was signed by IMG, who agreed to pay the annual tuition fee of $35,000 for Sharapova to stay at the academy, allowing her to finally enroll at the age of 9.
Tennis career
2001–03: Professional debut
Sharapova first gained attention on the tennis scene in November 2000 when she won the Eddie Herr International Junior Tennis Championships in the girls' 16 division at the age of just 13.She was then given a special award, the Rising Star Award, which is awarded only to players of exceptional promise. She made her professional debut in 2001, and played her first WTA tournament at the Pacific Life Open in 2002, winning a match before losing to Monica Seles. Due to restrictions on how many professional events she could play, Sharapova went to hone her game in junior tournaments, where she reached the finals of the Australian Open and Wimbledon in 2002. She was the youngest girl ever to reach the final of the Australian Open junior championship at 14 years and 9 months
From 2003, Sharapova played a full season, and made a rapid climb into the top 50 by the end of the year.[12] She made her debuts at both the Australian Open and the French Open, but failed to win a match in either.[13] It wasn't until the grass season that she began to fulfill her promise, beating a top 20 player for the first time and reaching her first ever semifinal at the WTA level. Then, as a wildcard at Wimbledon, she defeated 11th seed Jelena Dokić to reach the fourth round, where she lost in three sets to Svetlana Kuznetsova.
By the end of September, Sharapova had already captured her first WTA title, at a smaller event, the Japan Open Tennis Championships, before winning her second in her final tournament of the season, the Bell Challenge. To cap off her first full season as a professional, she was awarded the WTA Newcomer of the Year honor.
2004: Breakthrough Season
Sharapova was defeated in the third round of the Australian Open by seventh seed Anastasia Myskina.[14] The highlight of the remainder of her spring hardcourt season was a run to the semifinals at the Regions Morgan Keegan Championships and the Cellular South Cup, where she ultimately lost to Vera Zvonareva.
During the spring clay court season, Sharapova entered the top 20 on the WTA world rankings as a result of reaching the third round of the Qatar Telecom German Open and the Internazionali BNL d'Italia, both of which were Tier I events. At the latter event, she defeated a player ranked inside the top 10 for the first time with a straight-sets win over World No. 10 Elena Dementieva. Later that clay court season, she went on to make the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam for the first time at the French Open, losing there to Paola Suárez.
Sharapova won the third title of her career at the Wimbledon warm-up DFS Classic, defeating Tatiana Golovin in the final. Seeded 13th and aged 17 at Wimbledon, she reached her first Grand Slam semifinal by defeating Ai Sugiyama. There, she came back from a 6–2, 3–1 deficit to defeat fifth seed and former champion Lindsay Davenport. In the final, Sharapova upset top seed and defending champion Serena Williams to win her first Grand Slam singles title, and become the third youngest woman to win the Wimbledon title, behind only Lottie Dod and Martina Hingis. The victory was hailed as "the most stunning upset in memory",[15] with other writers commenting on her arrival as a serious challenger to the Williams' dominance at Wimbledon. She entered the top ten in the rankings for the first time as a result of the win.

Following her Wimbledon win, attention and interest in Sharapova in the media greatly increased, a rise in popularity dubbed as "Maria Mania."[17] However, on court, she was struggling to achieve results, winning just three of six matches in her preparations for the US Open. At the US Open itself, she reached the third round before being eliminated by Mary Pierce. In order to regain confidence, Sharapova played and won consecutive titles in Asia in the fall, the Hansol Korea Open Tennis Championships and the Japan Open Tennis Championships.

In October, Sharapova defeated Venus Williams en route to making the final of a Tier I event for the first time at the Zurich Open, losing in the final to Alicia Molik. She then made her debut at the year-ending WTA Tour Championships. There, she won two of her three round-robin matches (including a win over US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova) in order to advance to the semifinals, where she defeated Myskina. In the final, she defeated Serena Williams 4–6, 6–2, 6–4, after trailing 4–0 in the final set.[14]

mariya sharapova

mariya sharapova
mariya sharapova

mariya sharapova

mathieu garon career statistics

Mathieu Garonborn January 9, 1978 in Chandler, Quebec is a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender currently playing for the Columbus Blue Jackets of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was drafted 44th overall by the Montreal Canadiens in the 1996 NHL Entry Draft. Garon has also played for the Los Angeles Kings, the Edmonton Oilers, and the Pittsburgh Penguins, with whom he won the Stanley Cup in 2009.
Contents
* 1 Playing career
* 2 Career statistics
o 2.1 Regular season
o 2.2 Playoffs
* 3 References
* 4 External links
Playing career
Garon spent his junior career with the Victoriaville Tigres of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL). In three seasons with the Tigres, Garon posted a 74-63 record. At the conclusion of the 1997-98 season, the last of his junior career, he won the Jacques Plante Memorial Trophy as the best goaltender in the QMJHL and was named to the QMJHL First All-Star Team. He was also named CHL Goaltender of the Year as the top goalie in Canadian major-junior hockey and to the CHL First All-Star team. Garon also played for Team Canada at the 1998 World Junior Championships in Finland.
After being drafted by the Canadiens in the second round in 1996, Garon spent the next five seasons playing primarily with the Canadiens' American Hockey League (AHL) affiliates, which included the Fredericton Canadiens, the Quebec Citadelles, and the Hamilton Bulldogs. He was called-up for brief stints with the Canadiens before he won the full-time back-up job with the team for the 2003-04 season. He played 19 games behind José Théodore that season, posting an 8-6 record, a 2.27 goals against average (GAA) and .921 save percentage.
In the summer of 2004 Garon was traded with a 3rd round draft pick to the Los Angeles Kings for Radek Bonk and Cristobal Huet. During the 2004–05 NHL lockout he played with the Kings' AHL affiliate, the Manchester Monarchs, posting an impressive 32-14 record, 2.12 GAA, .927 save percentage and 8 shutouts. This helped earn him the starting job with the Kings when NHL play resumed for the 2005-06 season. However, Garon struggled in the number one role and was relegated to the back-up position for the 2006-07 season.
Following the 2006-07 season, Garon became an unrestricted free agent and on July 3, 2007, signed a two-year, $2.2 million contract with the Edmonton Oilers.[1] He split time with incumbent starter Dwayne Roloson and Garon's strong play earned him 47 starts through which he posted 2.66 GAA, .913 save percentage, and 4 shutouts. Despite his efforts, the Oilers failed to qualify for the playoffs. However, Garon earned praise for going a perfect 10-0 in shootouts that season, stopping a remarkable 30 of 32 shot attempts in the process.[2]
Roloson re-emerged as Edmonton's undisputed starter in 2008-09 and on January 17, 2009 Garon was traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for Ryan Stone, Dany Sabourin, and the Penguins' 4th round pick in the 2011 NHL draft.[3] Garon saw limited action behind starter Marc-André Fleury, who backstopped the Penguins to their third Stanley Cup championship, defeating the Detroit Red Wings in a 7-game rematch of the previous year's final. Garon's only appearance in the playoffs came in Game 5 of the finals in relief of Fleury.
On July 1, 2009, Garon again became an unrestricted free agent and signed a two-year deal with the Columbus Blue Jackets, worth $1.2 million per season.
Career statistics
Regular season
Season Team League GP W L OT MIN GA SO GAA SV%
1995-96 Victoriaville Tigres QMJHL 51 18 27 — 2709 189 1 4.19 —
1996-97 Victoriaville Tigres QMJHL 53 29 18 — 3032 150 6 2.97 .909
1997–98 Victoriaville Tigres QMJHL 47 27 18 — 2802 125 5 2.68 .909
1998-99 Fredericton Canadiens AHL 40 14 22 — 2222 114 3 3.08 .904
1999-00 Quebec Citadelles AHL 53 17 28 — 2884 149 2 3.10 .898
2000–01 Quebec Citadelles AHL 31 16 13 — 1768 86 1 2.92 .920
2000–01 Montreal Canadiens NHL 11 4 5 — 589 24 2 2.44 .897
2001–02 Quebec Citadelles AHL 50 21 15 — 2988 136 2 2.73 .918
2001–02 Montreal Canadiens NHL 5 1 4 — 261 19 0 4.37 .871
2002–03 Hamilton Bulldogs AHL 20 15 2 — 1150 34 4 1.77 .937
2002–03 Montreal Canadiens NHL 8 3 5 — 482 16 2 1.99 .940
2003–04 Montreal Canadiens NHL 19 8 6 — 1003 38 0 2.27 .921
2004–05 Manchester Monarchs AHL 52 32 14 — 2969 105 8 2.12 .927
2005–06 Los Angeles Kings NHL 63 31 26 3 3446 185 4 3.22 .894
2006–07 Los Angeles Kings NHL 32 13 10 6 1779 79 2 2.66 .907
2007–08 Edmonton Oilers NHL 47 26 18 1 2658 118 4 2.66 .913
2008–09 Edmonton Oilers NHL 15 6 8 0 815 43 0 3.17 .895
2008–09 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 4 2 1 0 206 10 0 2.91 .894
2009–10 Columbus Blue Jackets NHL 35 12 9 6 1771 83 2 2.81 .903
NHL totals 239 106 92 16 13010 615 16 2.84 .904

mathieu garon

mathieu valbuena International career

Mathieu Valbuena French pronunciation: valbwena]; born 28 September 1984 is a French football player who currently plays for Marseille in Ligue 1. He plays as an attacking midfielder. Due to his small stature, Valbuena was given the nickname Le Petit vélo, which translates to "the small bike".This is a play on Valbuena's size and the fact that Marseille's home ground is called the Stade Vélodrome. He is also a French international making his debut on 26 May 2010 in a friendly match against Costa Rica.
Contents
* 1 Early and personal life
* 2 Career
o 2.1 Early career
o 2.2 Marseille
o 2.3 International career
* 3 Career statistics
o 3.1 Club
o 3.2 International
o 3.3 International goals
* 4 Honours
o 4.1 Club
* 5 Notes
* 6 References
* 7 External links
Early and personal life
Valbuena was born in the southwestern commune of Bruges in the Gironde department. He is of Spanish origin through his father who is originally from the Spanish city Valladolid. Valbuena's father currently works for the city council of Bordeaux. working towards becoming a football player and during his studies, Valbuena worked as a sports shop salesman.
Career
Early career
Valbuena began his career playing for the biggest club in the department, FC Girondins de Bordeaux. After spending a year there, he was dropped by the club due to his small stature.[3] Valbuena then moved to a local club, Langon-Castets, who were playing in the Championnat de France amateur 2, the fifth division of French football, where he impressed scouts. After spending two years with the club, he moved to Championnat National side Libourne Saint-Seurin. In his two seasons with the club, Valbuena's play went through a major upgrade. He played in 53 matches and scored 10 goals. His performance during the 2005–06 season was beneficial to the club playing in 29 matches and scoring 9 goals helping the club achieve promotion to Ligue 2, though they would get relegated back to National the following season. For his efforts that season, he was named the league's Player of the Year.
Marseille
Due to his success with Libourne Saint-Seurin, Valbuena services were in high demand. On 9 June 2006, his dream move to Ligue 1 was complete securing a move to French club Olympique de Marseille agreeing to a three-year deal.
Mathieu's career with Marseille initially got off to a bad start picking up an ankle injury while training that same summer. Due to the injury, he made his debut late in the season against Valenciennes coming on as a substitute in Marseille's 1–0 victory. He made 14 more appearances that season, mainly as a substitute, including a match where he scored his first goal for the club, a game-winner in the 86th minute against Saint-Étienne.
The following season saw a drastic improvement from Valbuena, primarily due to the player staying healthy and the departure of Franck Ribéry. New manager Eric Gerets increased Valbuena's playing time and the player displayed amazing form. One memorable moment during the season came when Valbuena scored a goal in a UEFA Champions League group stage match against English club Liverpool at Anfield.[4] The goal turned out to be the game-winner with Marseille upsetting Liverpool 1–0. Due to his promising performances, Marseille awarded him a contract extension, which initially kept him with the side until 2010. Valbuena later signed a new extension in April 2008, which now ties him to the club until 2013.
International career
clubs of small stature early in his career, Valbuena did not receive any call-ups to any of the France national youth football team squads. Due to his impressive performances with Marseille, he was awarded a call up to the senior side by coach Raymond Domenech for their matches against England and Mali. However, he picked up an injury and was forced to miss out.
On 11 May 2010, Valbuena was named to the 30-man preliminary list by Domenech to play in the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Valbuena's call up was considered surprising despite the player playing well with his parent club who won the league and league cup double. Many journalists in the French media associated Valbuena's call-up to the team to Franck Ribéry's call-up four years ago ahead of the 2006 FIFA World Cup. Valbuena was later named to the 23-man team to compete in the competition. made his national team debut on 26 May 2010 in a friendly match against Costa Rica appearing as a substitute in the second half. After 16 minutes on the field, Valbuena scored the game-winning goal in the team's 2–1 victory. Valbuena then followed this up by scoring against England in a friendly at Wembley on 17 November 2010.