Sports notes | Woz: not the ideal start

Caroline Wozniacki’s poor season continued at the first of  her three hard court warm-up tournaments ahead of the US Open, which starts on August 26. She was beaten in three sets at the Rogers Cup in Toronto by Romania’s Sorana Cirstea, the world number 21, who went on to reach the final. Woz is hoping for better luck in Cincinnati at the Western and Southern Open, which started on Tuesday.  

Fore! Too many fours!
As expected, the Oak Hill East course, the venue of the US PGA Championships last weekend, did not suit the big-hitting style of Thorbjørn Olesen, who finished on four over in 40th place, 14 shots behind winner Jason Dufner. All 17 of his dropped shots came at par fours and he double bogeyed the first on both of his first two rounds. Thomas Bjørn, meanwhile, missed the cut.

World chumps
Neither 400 metre runner Nick Ekelund-Arenander nor pole vaulter Rasmus Wejnold-Jørgensen – Denmark’s sole entries at the ongoing World Athletics Championships in Moscow – made their finals. Ekelund-Arenander bowed out in the semis, finishing sixth in his heat in a time of 45.89, while Wejnold-Jørgensen could only clear 5.25 metres, well short of his personal best. 

Stalemate at the bottom
With just ten minutes remaining in the match, it looked as if FC Copenhagen would find its first win of the season over the weekend. But FC Nordsjælland striker Morten Nordstrand equalised with a perfectly placed bicycle kick that is already being called a shoe-in for goal of the season. FCK sit last in the league with just one point from four games, one place behind FCN, which has two points. 

Cocks of the court, almost
Denmark finished a creditable fifth in the final medal table at badminton’s BWF World Championships in Guangzhou, China, which concluded on Sunday. Men’s pair Mathias Boe and Carsten Mogensen were beaten by their Indonesian opponents in the gold-medal match in straight sets, while Christinna Pedersen and Kamilla Rytter-Juhl won the bronze in the women’s doubles.

A tidy pile at the Arse
Nicklas Bendtner remains an Arsenal player with barely two weeks left until the international transfer window shuts on August 31. Manager Arsene Wenger told Sky Sports that the striker, who has one year left on his €4 million a year contract, was “completely here”. A proposed move to Bundesliga club Eintracht Frankfurt fell through in July due to the Dane’s high wage demands.