Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/416739
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 16 NOVEMBER 2014 Sport 57 FORMULA 1 RUGBY TENNIS BOXING Caterham confirms it will race in Abu Dhabi CATERHAM has announced that it will return to the Formula 1 grid at next weekend's season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, after rais- ing enough money via the crowd- funding scheme it launched last Friday. Caterham was handed over to administrator Smith & William- son last month and missed the last two races in the United States and Brazil. The outfit last week launched a crowdfunding scheme with the target of raising £2.35 million, and £1.8 million has so far been donated. "We set ourselves a major chal- lenge, but it's definitely been worth it!" said Finbarr O'Connell of Smith & Williamson. "In only a week the fans have made the im- possible, possible. "We knew that the best way to keep this team alive and attract possible buyers was to show that it's still a racing team and be in Abu Dhabi for the finale, and there aren't enough words to say how grateful we are to all the fans that have made this possible. "We now head to Abu Dhabi ready to show what a hard-work- ing and positive group of people this is and to hopefully secure a future for the team. "During the past few days the interest of many potential buyers has increased massively and by racing in Abu Dhabi the team will be showcasing itself as a live and functioning team that deserves to continue into 2015 and beyond. "It has hard-working people, team spirit and experience and now it only needs a secure finan- cial future which I'm very hopeful we can achieve. "Once again, I'd like to reiterate that we are racing in Abu Dhabi thanks to all the fans out there – an achievement that will go down in F1 history and one that we can all be very proud of. "We still need to raise a bit more cash so please do keep an eye on the Crowdcube website. Let's go racing!" Caterham is yet to confirm who will drive its cars in Abu Dhabi, al- though Marcus Ericsson has ruled himself out by cutting his ties with the team earlier this week. THE next edition of Gladiators Night will take place on the 29th November at the Dolmen Hotel. This competition will be sanc- tioned by the World Kickboxing Network (WKN) while the Boxing will be sanctioned by the Malta Boxing Association (MBA-Box- ing). A group of Maltese athletes will face a group from Italy in the dis- ciplines of Kickboxing, Boxing and K1. The spectators will see a Fight Card of 16 matches on professional and semi-professional level. Team Malta will be composed by ath- letes from the clubs of Ying Yang Team Noel Kickboxing, Art of Fighting, Kickboxing Basement, Wu Shu Ky, Brown Boxing and Fight Factory. The athletes that will compete in K1 matches are Daniel Zahra, Reuben Azzopardi, Brandon Spi- teri, Courtney Vella, Brandon Borg, Keith Micallef and Chris- tian Schembri, for Kickboxing is Keith Azzopardi, for Boxing are Tyrone Borg, Richard Vella, Malek Alzanat and Garth Galea. The main matches will be those of Daniel "the Jet" Zahra and Ty- ron "el Terribile" Borg on pro- fessional level. Zahra will face Samuel Hadzima form Slovakia in a 3x3 K1 match. Borg will face Nardo Calzetti from Italy in a 6x3 Boxing match. There will be three local matches with Kickboxing rules. Amongst them National Gladi- ators Title for the 68kg category. It will be a "rematch" between Melvin Fenech from Team Noel and Darren Scerri from Base- ment Kickboxing. The press conference will be held on Friday 28th at Noon. For more information please visit the Gladi- ators Promotion's Facebook page or contacted Master Noel Mercie- ca on 79208283 and Isaac Chetcuti on 79098181. Malta vs Italy Gladiators Night 9 YOUR FIRST CLICK OF THE DAY www.maltatoday.com.mt RAY ELLIOTT CUP Strong defence ensures Swieqi victory over Sliema Novak Djokovic sees off Nishikori to reach O2 final Swieqi Overseas .......... 28 Sliema Stompers ......... 17 MIKE TURNER OVERSEAS won their first chal- lenge of the season because of their superior ball handling skills and because Stompers, although they worked hard, were unable to con- vert their efforts into scoring. An- other telling aspect was that when the game was at crucial moments, the Overseas defence was so solid. Overseas started on a high, win- ning ball after ball and launching attacks with fine handling. They took an early lead passing along the line to give Brown a score in the corner, converted by the steady Briffa. Stompers ground their way back upfield but Overseas kicked clear, won ball and passed along the line again to release the deadly Sti- vala to score. Then after a period of territorial pressure Briffa scored a penalty and Overseas stretched the lead to 15 points. This seemed to inspire Stompers and the forwards and hard rubbibg backs spent long periods in Overseas territory. Hooker Spiteri won three heels against the head although thry were giving away too many sloppy penal- ties. The pressure paid off with two tries, the second of which was the best of the match, a sweet combina- tion of directional switches which ripped open the defence. Sadly At- tard missed both conversions, so the half finished at 15 – 10. The second half opened with brilliant kicks by Briffa which put Overseas straight into the attack. Stompers were able to hold them out and then launched a series of attacks and territorial superiority. Overseas pack seemed to be tiring but Stompers handling and poor passing wasted so many opportuni- ties. Overseas tackling was epic and this became a major factor in the fi- nal result. Finally Stompers scored and converted to take a well de- served lead 17-10. Nevertheless the Overseas speedsters always looked as they could snatch a result, as captain Cassar came on to tighten up his side. Galea was yellow carded for Overseas and the game should have gone to Stompers, however the match finally swung on a dread- ful mistake by Stompers captain, Camillieri, who unbelievably tried to f ly kick a ball instead of catch- ing it. It went straight to Stivala the fastest man on the field who ran in an easy try. There was an element of sheer luck because Stivala was in front of the kicker and so was off- side, but as he came from deep the referee and officials missed it. This gave Overseas strength and they held off repeated attacks. Against the stretched lead Stompers be- came a little too desperate in their play and after a brilliant kick into the corner by Briffa, they gave away another penalty for Briffa to clinch the result. There was evidence of lack of practice in this match but it was an entertaining outing which attract- ed a crowd of some 400 spectators to Marsa. Overseas have set their challenge to the other teams for the coming season, and with their inci- sive finishing will be tough to beat. Stompers owe it to themselves to play to their best. NOVAK Djokovic survived his first test of the ATP World Tour Finals from Kei Nishikori to move to within one victory of a third straight ti- tle. No one has achieved the feat since Ivan Lendl between 1985 and 1987, and Djoko- vic has not lost a match at the O2 Arena since 2011. The world number one had dropped just nine games on his way to the last four, fewer than any other player in the tourna- ment's history. It looked like he would continue that dominance when he breezed through the first set but he lost his way in the second after getting annoyed with the crowd. Nishikori had his chance to stamp his authority on the match at the start of the third but could not take it and Djokovic recovered impressively to win 6-1 3-6 6-0 and set up a final against either Roger Federer or Stan Wawrinka. World number five Nishikori has been by far the most impressive of the debutants and he had a stun- ning win over Djokovic in the US Open semi-finals to look back on. But Djokovic won easily at the Paris Masters two weeks ago and was imperious in a first set that lasted just 23 minutes. It was so comfortable he could even afford to miss one of the simplest volleys imaginable on his first set point. When Djokovic, who ensured he will finish the season ranked number one with victory over To- mas Berdych on Friday, made it six games in a row with a break at the start of the second set, the match looked all but over. Novak Djokovic