Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/920426
maltatoday SUNDAY 31 DECEMBER 2017 Sports 48 ATHLETICS TENNIS Ocean Lava Malta Triathlon to partner with Birkirkara St. Joseph Sports Club THE organisers of Malta's on- ly middle distance Triathlon, Ocean Lava Malta have part- nered up with Birkirkara St. Jo- seph Sports Club. Ocean Lava Malta Triathlon hosts the 113 kilometre triath- lon (1.9km swim, 90km bike and 21km run) every third Sunday in May, and has been doing so for the past eleven years. The joining of forces between these two well established entities will bring decades of experience in sports management and organisa- tion. "As this race grows, it becomes imperative that the race experi- ence keeps improving as the num- bers grow and it becomes more popular with international ath- letes. This is why we felt that part- nering with Birkirkara St. Joseph Sports Club was a natural pro- gression" – Charlie Demanuele, Race Founder and Director. "Birkirkara St. Joseph Sports Club has over two decades of ex- perience in Race Management. The Club has been on the fore- front on the sporting scene, being instrumental in the organisation of various triathlon races in Mal- ta" – Euchar Camilleri, Secretary General, Birkirkara St. Joseph Sports Club. This year's Ocean Lava Malta 113km Triathlon is scheduled to take place on Sunday 20th May and will take place on the Salina Coast Road. The location, apart from being one of Malta's most scenic spots enables better race management as well as offering good locations for spectators to watch the race. The Race is once again desig- nated as the National Middle Distance Triathlon Champi- onships and sanctioned by the Malta Triathlon Federation. Registrations are open and more information can be found on www.oceanlavamalta.com. Sharp Federer gives Switzerland winning start at Hopman Cup Injured Djokovic pulls out of Qatar Open ROGER Federer dismissed Ja- pan's Yuichi Sugita 6-4 6-3 in just over an hour on Saturday to give Switzerland a winning start at the Hopman Cup and send out a signal to his opponents ahead of next month's Austral- ian Open. Coming off a fruitful year which yielded two grand slam ti- tles, world number two Federer looked fit and sharp while other members of tennis's 'Big Four' are grappling with injury issues. Federer hurried to save a break point in his first game but oth- erwise did not have any trou- ble against the 29-year-old Su- gita, whom he broke in the fifth game, and there was no looking back from there. "It's been an absolute dream run," the Swiss said, looking back at the year. "It's gone by too fast to be hon- est, you know. When you're hav- ing fun things go too fast but what a year it has been, (I) could not be happier. "Such a huge surprise. I'm healthy, had a great off-season, so pleased to have the year that I had." The 19-times grand slam win- ner, who will be defending his title at Melbourne Park next month, was happy with the way he coped with the demands of the game. "I feel the game has evolved again in the last 10 years or so. I have made some adjustments to my game, I'm trying to hit through the backhand a bit more, maybe I have a bit more pop on the serve and naturally the whole rally has changed because you have different op- tions. "I think I'm playing very well, otherwise I wouldn't be having the results that I'm having. I'm happy I'm still playing at this level. I was always hoping to play for a long time and I'm do- ing that." Belinda Bendic beat Naomi Osaka 7-5 6-3 in the women's contest to clinch Switzerland's victory in the round-robin stage of the mixed team event. Earlier, CoCo Vandeweghe beat Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Jack Sock downed Karen Khachanov to help United States beat Russia at the Perth Arena. Roger Federer FORMER world number one Novak Djokovic withdrew from next week's Qatar Open on Sat- urday and faces a race to be fit for the first grand slam of the year. The 30-year-old Serb had been scheduled to start the new sea- son at an exhibition match in Abu Dhabi on Friday when an elbow injury flared up. "Unfortunately, the situation with the elbow has not changed for better since yesterday," Djoko- vic said in a statement. "I still feel the pain. Therefore, I will have to withdraw from ATP tournament in Doha. "Only when I'm 100 percent ready to play, will I be able to come back. I hope it will be soon. I want to thank everyone for patience and understanding." The 12-time grand slam winner has not played since he was forced to retire against Tomas Berdych in the quarter-finals of Wimbledon in July due to an elbow injury. Meanwhile Japan's Kei Nishikori has pulled out of next month's Sydney International, putting his comeback on hold from a wrist injury that has kept him out of ac- tion for more than four months. "Unfortunately Kei Nishikori has withdrawn from #SydneyTen- nis. We wish him well and hope to see him in Sydney in 2019," the tournament organisers posted on Twitter on Saturday. The withdrawals of Djokovic and Nishikori raise further doubts about their participation in the Australian Open, which begins on Jan. 15. Novak Djokovic