OMONIA went to the top of the Cyprus League over the weekend with a 2-1 win over Aris Limassol at the GSP Stadium in Nicosia, after nearest rivals Anorthosis and APOEL played out a goalless draw in Larnaca earlier on Sunday.
“We won and took advantage of our opportunity to go top of the league as well as we possibly could after the result in Larnaca,” said Omonia coach Takis Lemonis after the game.
“Now we must stay focused and try to win the championship.
“We had several opportunities in the first half and managed to convert two of them, which was enough to claim the three points.
“However, we need to concentrate a lot more towards the ends of our matches and not concede goals in the dying minutes,” he added... 1 comment

APPROXIMATELY 150 individuals caused extensive damages to the Eleftheria ‘Tassos Papadopoulos’ Stadium in Nicosia on Friday night following the volleyball match between Omonia and Anorthosis.
Extensive damage was caused to all the windows and glass surfaces near the entrance to the stadium, to the furnishing and fixtures of a number of the offices, and to electrical fittings and appliances.
The match itself started 50 minutes late, due to episodes involving around 20 fans, which caused a delay to the arrival of the Anorthosis volleyball team.  When the bus carrying the players was seen to be approaching the stadium, the group of around 20 youths, who had their faces covered, approached it and started throwing stones... 2 comments

THIS week Cyprus has been hosting its third international Women's Cup, in which eight teams from around the globe will battle it out ahead of Wednesday's final. One team that is conspicuously absent from the line up, however, is the host nation.
This is not for want of a team: a Cyprus women's team has been around for years. The reason for its absence was put simply enough by the tour operator for the tournament, Urban Norstum – the team is just not yet ready to play the world's elite. "It would not be fair," he says.
But it raises the question of why in a country with such an enthusiastic football culture, where the Apoel/Omonia allegiance is fanatical, its women’s team is ranked 42nd in the continent and below Gabon globally... Read on

By Nemanja Bjedov
MARCOS Baghdatis beat Michael Berrer of Germany 7-6, 6-1 in the quarter-finals of the Barclays Tennis Championships in Dubai last night.
The Cypriot number one fired down eight aces in a tight opening set which he won after a tie-break.
The confidence then started to flow through Baghdatis as he twice broke Berrer’s serve to take a 5-0 lead, serving the match out after one hour and 38 minutes.
In the semi-finals, Baghdatis will take on Novak Djokovic after the second seed survived a barrage of 14 aces from Ivan Ljubicic, making a second set stand on the way to a 2-6, 6-4, 6-0 turnaround victory.
The Serb is now two victories away from finally defending a title in his career after winning in Dubai last year... Read on

Cypriot tennis star Marcos Baghdatis defeated India's Somdev Devvarman (6-3, 3-6, 6-1) on Wednesday (February 24th) and will head to the next round of the Dubai Tennis Championships. Croatia's Marin Cilic beat Austria's Stefan Koubek (6-2, 7-6), and also advances. The tournament runs through Saturday. Also Wednesday, Serbia's Novak Djokovic beat fellow Serb Viktor Troicki 3-6 6-4 6-2... Read on

England began their defence of the Cyprus Cup with a narrow 1-0 victory over South Africa in Larnaca.
The goal came in just the fifth minute as Jill Scott nudged home from close range after South Africa failed to deal with a Jody Handley cross.
Hope Powell’s side lifted the Cyprus Cup last year and that success inspired them to reach the Final of the European Championship in Finland. This time around, Powell will be hoping this competition has a similar effect ahead of a crucial World Cup qualifying double-header against Austria and Spain.
Going behind appeared to galvanise the South Africans and they took the game to England, forcing a number of ultimately harmless corners... Read on

JASON Boone had a double-double with 20 points and 11 rebounds to lead BG Göttingen of Germany over Proteas EKA AEL 97-90 in the fourth round of the FIBA EuroChallenge Last 16 on Tuesday night at the Melford Arena in Limassol.
“We controlled the pace and made some good shots as they forced us to play at our best. It is a tough place to play here in Limassol, but we kept our concentration high until the very end,” commented Boone after the game.
The visitors took control of the Group I clash straight from the tip-off allowing the Cypriot cup holders to take the lead only twice, in the opening period, for the entire game... Read on

FOOD poisoning could not stop Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis from defeating eighth seed Gilles Simon 7-6 6-4 in the first round of the Dubai tennis championships.
"I was concentrating on not throwing up on court," the 24-year-old said. "I was suffering from food poisoning and had cramps in my stomach."
After the first nine games went with serve, the stricken former Australian Open runner-up left the court at 4-5 down, with the score at 40-15, before returning to serve out the game and then immediately break the Frenchman, who was struggling with a chest injury.
Simon responded, breaking back to force a tie-break, but the world number 18 hit a series of unforced errors and allowed Baghdatis to take it 7-3... Read on

ANORTHOSIS last night went to the top of the Cyprus championship, a 3-0 win against APEP Pitsilia at the Antonis Papadopoulos Stadium in Larnaca taking them above APOEL and Omonia.
Over the weekend, Polish international Maciej Zurawski scored the winner six minutes into stoppage time as Omonia beat Ermis Aradippou 2-1 at the Dasaki Stadium in Achna to pull level with arch-rivals APOEL.
Ermis took the lead after only five minutes after Wender found the net, with the visitors unsuccessfully spending the rest of the half trying to get back onto level terms.
The Nicosia giants continued in the same attacking fashion after the interval but almost fell two behind after Moroccan midfielder Abdelkarim Kissi wasted a great chance on the hour mark... 1 comment

CYPRUS' third international women's football tournament will kick off tomorrow.
Eight teams, including England, Netherlands, New Zealand, Scotland, South Africa, Canada, Switzerland and Italy will compete in the tournament, which is being hosted by the English, Scottish and Dutch football associations.
Cyprus' Women’s football team, which is still in an early stage of development, will not compete this year.
Urban Norstrum, Director of tournament organiser Erinor tours, said yesterday "The standard among the players is very high, especially in Canada, the UK and Holland. For example, one of the Canadian players, Christina Sinclair, has scored 100 goals for Canada... Read on