Page 23 - ARUBA TODAY

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SPORTS Tuesday 24 OcTOber 2017

Ronaldo joins Messi as five-time winner of FIFA player award

LONDON (AP) — Cristiano trophy stakes.
Ronaldo has caught up As well as Spanish league
with Lionel Messi to be- and Spanish Super Cup
come a five-time winner of success, Ronaldo scored
FIFA’s best player award. twice in the Champions
The Real Madrid forward League final against Ju-
was crowned player of the ventus to win European
year on Monday at the FIFA soccer’s elite competition
Best ceremony at the Lon- for the third time in four
don Palladium theater at- seasons.
tended by runner-up Messi Ronaldo’s coach at Ma-
and third-placed Neymar. drid, Zinedine Zidane, was
A second successive honor crowned coach of the
for Ronaldo was expected year.FIFA has shifted its
after a season in which the award ceremony from its
Portuguese eclipsed his usual January slot to Octo-
award counterparts in the ber so players are judged

Portuguese soccer player Christiano Ronaldo, second from right, and son Cristiano Ronaldo Jr.,
right, sit beside Argentinian soccer player Lionel Messi, left, and wife Antonella during the The Best
FIFA 2017 Awards at the Palladium Theatre in London, Monday, Oct. 23, 2017.
Associated Press
across a season — based Lieke Martens, who scored Olivier Giroud for a scorpi-
on the typical European in the final win over Den- on-style kick. The Puskas
schedule — rather than the mark, won the player’s Award-winning goal from
calendar year. award and Sarina Wieg- an overhead back-heeled
The women’s award hon- man collected the coach- strike came on New Year’s
ored the Netherlands’ ing accolade. Day in Arsenal’s 2-0 victory
success at the European The Puskas Award for best over Crystal Palace in the
This Jan. 14, 2015 file photo shows El Capitan in Yosemite Na- Championship in August. goal went to Arsenal striker English Premier Leagueq
tional Park, Calif.
Associated Press Top-ranked Simona Halep beats
Climbers set speed Caroline Garcia at WTA Finals

record on Yosemite’s By SANDRA HARWITT down a little bit,” Wozni- in the WTA Finals, was a fi-

Nose of El Capitan Associated Press acki said. “Then she lost the nalist here in 2014. She lost
SINGAPORE (AP) — Playing belief or she tried to go a to No. 1 Serena Williams,
her first match as the top- little bit more for it. She just which marked the last time
ranked player, Simona Ha- couldn’t find a break or the top-ranked player won
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — previous record set in 2012 lep beat Caroline Garcia find a way to break me.” the season-ending event.
Two climbers have set a by four minutes. 6-4, 6-2 at the WTA Finals on All three players making Svitolina, the first Ukrainian
new speed record for as- The previous record was set Monday. their WTA Finals debut - woman to play at the WTA
cending the Nose route by Hans Florine and Alex “I am really happy I can Garcia, Svitolina, Jelena Finals, arrived in Singapore
of El Capitan in Yosemite Honnold in 2 hours and 23 win the first match (as No. Ostapenko - lost their first having won a tour-leading
National Park, one of the minutes in June 2012. 1),” said Halep, the first Ro- round-robin matches in five titles this season.
world’s most technical and Yosemite Climbing Associ- manian woman to be top- straight sets.Halep faced six “Today was a terrible day
dangerous verticals. ation president Ken Yager ranked. “It takes the pres- break points and lost only for me,” Svitolina said. “Car-
The San Francisco Chron- says climbing the Nose is sure off.” one when she conceded oline played really, really
icle reports that Brad Go- a “very dangerous pursuit” Also, Caroline Wozniacki of her serve with a double good. It was probably my
bright, 29, and climbing and that he worries about Denmark, the 2010 runner- fault in the sixth game. worse match I’ve played in
partner Jim Reynolds raced climbers, especially when up, never surrendered in Garcia, making her WTA a couple of years.”
up the nearly 90-degree, going fast. beating Elina Svitolina of Finals debut, was broken Halep and Wozniacki stand
2,900-foot (884-meter) More than two dozen peo- Ukraine 6-2, 6-0 for the first twice in each set. at 1-0, while Garcia and
precipice in 2 hours and 19 ple have been killed on El time in four matchups. Halep, making her fourth Svitolina are 0-1 in Red
minutes.The pair broke the Capitan since 1905.q “I just kind of broke her consecutive appearance Group action.q