Tolkiens Welt » ight of his playing career, Htay wants to win the Asi

VAL DISERE, France -- Bidding to win the downhill at Val dIsere for the third time in her career, defending World Cup champion Lara Gut looked in dominant form as she posted the fastest time in a training run on Wednesday.The Swiss skier powered down the 2.9-kilometer Oreiller Killy course in French Alpine resort in 1 minute, 46.90 seconds -- finishing more than 1 second quicker than Slovenian rival Ilka Stuhec and Austrian Ramona Siebenhofer.Italian Sofia Goggia was fourth quickest, 1.27 seconds behind Gut -- who won the downhill here last year and also in 2012 at the French Alpine resort.Gut is second in the overall standings heading into this weekends races, 105 points behind American Mikaela Shiffrin.But considering that Shiffrin is not competing in downhill, Gut has a good chance to reclaim first place.After another training run on Thursday, there is an Alpine combined race on Friday, a downhill on Saturday and a super-G on Sunday.The 25-year-old Gut clinched a downhill and Alpine Combined double at Val dIsere last year.So far this season, she has won a GS and a super-G race, taking her career tally of wins to 20 from a total 37 podium finishes. She has 11 podiums in downhill.In the absence of American downhill star Lindsey Vonn -- who broke an arm in training last month -- Gut stands a good chance of winning her first downhill of the season this season, having finished fourth and second at Lake Louise, Canada earlier this month. But she faces stiff competition from the rapidly improving Stuhec, who won both of those races for her breakthrough wins on the World Cup circuit.Gut, who has also twice won the overall super-G World Cup title, has a good record at Val dIsere with five podium finishes.Back in December, 2010, she placed third in downhill and then finished second in GS three years ago.American Laurenne Ross was eighth fastest on Wednesday, nearly two seconds behind Gut. Mets Jerseys China . Barcelonas entertaining victory ensured the defending Spanish champions retained their share of the league lead with Atletico Madrid two rounds ahead of their meeting in the capital. Real Madrid needed a late goal by substitute Jese Rodriguez to earn a 3-2 victory at Valencia to stay in third place and three points behind its title rivals. Mets Jerseys 2020 . - NASCAR announced a 33-race schedule for the 2014 Nationwide Series with virtually no changes from this years slate. https://www.cheapmetsjerseys.us/ . The native of Mont-Tremblant, Que., captured a World Cup downhill event Saturday, his second this year and fifth career victory on the circuit. Fake Mets Jerseys . "Theyve both been real good," said Babcock. "Havent changed our minds." A decision has seemingly been made - Sundays Group B-deciding tilt against Finland ahead - but it could not have been an easy one. Price opened the tournament with a sturdy 19-save performance against the Norwegians, yielding just one goal. Wholesale Mets Jerseys . It was the second consecutive win for the Pacers (2-5), who lost their first five preseason games. Jeff Teague led the Hawks (1-5) with 17 points and eight assists and Al Horford had 12 points and seven rebounds. Mike Scott scored 15 of his 17 points in the second half. They havent heard of Sachin Tendulkar or Virat Kohli. But the mention of Indian movies elicits more than just broad smiles and approving nods: PK, PK! exclaims Chit Ko Ko.The 32 year-old from Myanmar, along with his senior compatriot Aung Htay, 50, is participating in the World Billiards Championship, currently underway in Bengaluru, for the first time. English isnt one of the languages either players speak and travelling coach-cum-manager Zerne Aung Than doubles up as interpreter on most occasions.Lorded over by the oppressive military junta for close to five decades, the struggle for freedom, human rights and peace took centrestage in Myanmar. Sport, has at best, been a diversion in the strife-torn nation.Ranked No 1 and 2 respectively in the country, Htay and Ko Ko, who hail from Yangoon, admit that billiards is far from a popular sport in Myanmar and certainly not enough to sustain their families. While Htay, who lost to Pankaj Advani in the semifinals on Monday to finish with a bronze (points format), is an engineer by profession and holds a government job, Ko Ko, runs the family hardware store when he finds time off from the sport.Leaning forward, hands resting on the table, they listen intently at the questions asked, nodding at occasional familiar-sounding English words before Than takes over. Football and Manchester United are near-synonymous in the country, says Than, conveying the more passionate fan of the three, Ko Kos enthusiasm. Leithwei, a form of unarmed martial art, similar to kickboxing, is another favourite with the locals, he adds.Myanmar has little over 40 billiards players today with close to five of them in the top 100. The pacier format of snooker as opposed to billiards has found far more takers, particularly among youngsters in the country. The interest, however, is largely limited to being a recreational one.Pursuing a cue sport isnt seen as a serious career option. Snooker players number no more than 30 in the country. Over the past decade, Than says, there has been a spurt in interest for snooker, largely due to the mushrooming of pool parlours. Youngsters love snooker, he says, Its fast.Sponsors are hard to come by and players depend largely on the national federation for funding their playing expenses, which includes footing the travel cost for tournaments. Sponsors are reluctant to invest in a sport thats not popular enough, says Than, So thhe federation is the sole source of funds for players.dddddddddddd Its tough.The non-physical nature of billiards was what appealed to Ko Ko as a teen. It helped that he had a pool parlour in the neighbourhood, whetting his interest for the sport. Its not too exacting physically, he says, Concentration and composure are the foremost traits needed for the sport. I think Ive both. For Htay, whos spent over the three decades playing billiards now, it began with his father, who had some knowledge of the sport, handing him a cue.Having known each other for close to seven years now, Htay and Ko Ko are more than familiar with each others playing styles and occasionally find themselves pitted against each other at tournaments. Like this time. Htay beat Ko Ko in the pre-quarterfinals (long up format) of the tournament last week.?There are no hard feelings, says Ko Ko, We knew only one of us can make the quarterfinals. Htays run ended in the quarterfinals after a loss to Dhvaj Haria. Admittedly in the twilight of his playing career, Htay wants to win the Asian championship title before he retires. Ko Ko, whos yet to have a major international win to his name, nods to convey a similar dream.In September this year, Htay, the most accomplished billiards player from his country among the current crop, finished with silver in his seventh appearance at the Asian billiards championship. He also has two gold and five silver medals to his credit so far from the South East Asian Games.As the conversation meanders to the next rung of billiards players in the country and chances of a possible spike in interest, Htay shakes his head disapprovingly before putting forth a brutally honest observation. Its not a sport I would encourage youth of our country to take up. You cannot feed your family with its earnings. Theres no money in it, he says.The silence that followed the loaded statement is broken by an animated Ko Ko, punching his fist into the air. Having heard him out, a clueless Than turns to me and asks, Hes talking of an Indian movie he loved. Its about a female boxer. Any idea? The answer wasnt obviously tough. Mary Kom?, I suggest, as Ko Ko jumps up from his chair excitedly to affirm, unmindful of the five-time world champions existence beyond the movie realm. ' ' '