Serena Williams Named WTA Player of the Year

One half or the much vaunted Williams Sisters,  Serena Williams, was named the 2009 WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) Player of the Year and even make it a double celebration of sorts because she shared the Doubles Team of the Year with the other half of the Williams Sisters, that is, her older sister, Venus Williams.

Serena Williams capped her 2009 campaign by winning two Grand Slam events – the Australian Open and Wimbledon singles title. Serena  also a semi-finalist in the US Open and made it through the quarterfinals of the French Open.

Serena’s achievement in the women’s professional tour is indeed astonishing and continues to grow even further. Her partnership with Venus succeeded in cornering the doubles title in the US Open, Australian Open and the Wimbledon in 2009 .

Belgian Kim Clijsters netted the Comeback Player of the Year plum after clinching the 2009 US Open title and also bagged her seventh Sportsmanship award given by the WTA.

Teenager Melanie Oudin of the United States, made her presence felt as she captured the Newcomer of the Year honors. Oudin made an awesome and surprising performance in last year’s US Open as she made it to the quarterfinal round of the 2009 US Open.

Rounding out the remaining awardees are Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium who bagged the Most Improved Player honors and Liezel Huber of the United States who brought home her fourth Player Service Award.

Canada Cops Women’s Ice Hockey Gold in Vancouver Olympics

Vancouver, British Columbia – Canada leaned on its offensive and defensive game as well as a lift from a boisterous and raucous fans in upending the United States 2-0 to weave their continuous dominance of the sport. The crowd was in pandemonium as the home fans wave their flags, ring their cowbells and cheered loudly for the Canadian team. The one-two punch of Marie-Philip Poulin provided another gritty display of offensive skills as she come up with another sterling performance, while  Shannon Szabados foiled enemy field goal at will. Providing the scoring threats in the game, the fiery Poulin scored the only two goals of the game, and teamed up with her defensive sentinel teammate Shannon Szabados who intercepted 28 United States field goal attempts. The Canadians were seen upbeat and fired up for the game thanks to their ever-supportive fans that gave them the boost and wild cheers they need.

Szbados said, “I looked in the stands and saw a sign that said, ‘Proud to be a Canadian,’ and that’s what I am today.”

The Canadian team was unbeaten in women’s ice hockey since 1998, a streak that stretches to 15 wins, including an 18-0 drubbing of Slovakia in the  opener of the Winter Olympics.

In earlier battle for the bronze medal, Finland pulled out a tough 3-2 win over Nordic neighbor Sweden in overtime. The triumph posted by the Finnish team is their first medal in ice hockey since winning the last medal at the 1998 Nagano Women’s Olympic.