Wednesday, July 15, 2009 SYDNEY: The Netherlands leads the women's field hockey Champions Trophy after beating Germany 1-0. Australia drew 2-2 with China and now must win its two remaining games against England and Olympic and World Cup gold medallists the Netherlands to have any chance of being in the final on Sunday. The Netherlands captain Janneke Schopman scored the only goal of the match, deflecting in Maatje Paumen's fourth penalty corner chance at the left post to beat Yvonne Franks in Germany's goal. The Netherlands always looked in control, dominating possession with 11 shots on goal to Germany's one, and six penalty corners to Germany's nil. The Dutch captain Janneke Schopman liked the Netherlands level of control but not the lack of goals. "We have not made the most of the opportunities we have had to score," Schopman said. Maatje Paumen continued her poor form, converting only one of six penalty corner chances for the Netherlands, giving her a conversion rate of three from 19 in this tournament. Germany captain Fanny Rinne said their defence was not strong enough. "We concede six penalty corners and that is too many against Netherlands," Rinne said. Meanwhile, China's Jiahui Liao crushed Australia's vocal local supporters, scoring the equaliser five minutes from time to give China its first tournament points. The four second half goals had China playing catch-up. Ashleigh Nelson's deflected in Casey Eastham's cross from the left followed by Quingling Song's equaliser for China. Eastham converted Australia's sixth penalty corner to put Australia ahead 2-1 only to have Liao scamble the ball into the net in the dying minutes of play. The split round in which each team plays two matches over three days continues Wednesday with China against Germany and Argentina against England.
Sunday, February 28, 2010 HAVANA: Hundreds of wealthy merchants and cigar aficionados from all parts of the world gathered in Havana this week to bid high stakes for humidors full of premium cigars. Cuba's annual Habanos festival ended on Friday night with an auction of ornate humidors of cedar and mahogany stacked with hand-rolled stogies that raised 800,000 euros ($1.09 million dollars). Habanos S.A. executives this month said cigar sales fell 8 percent to $360 million in 2009, so they have created the Julieta, a smaller, milder version of the Romeo y Julieta cigar, aimed specifically at female smokers. Women now make up only 5 to 10 percent of customers for Habanos. But even with the creation of the Julieta, Garcia said Habanos has only modest hopes for 2010 sales, due largely to a weak economy in Spain, the biggest market for Cuban cigars. The flavor of premium tobacco relies on the soil and climate in which it is grown. The western province of Pinar Del Rio, famous fo...
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