SPORT

DECEMBER2011 23

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up Speed ~ Chelyabinsk, ~ a total of ~ medals. Notably, Stefan ~roothuis won the 1,000 metre~well~the 1,500 metres. Following ~victory was Jorrit Bergsma,whotok~~1~the 5,000 metres, pushing Sven Kramer into second place. Ireen Wusttook gold in the.womens 1,500 metres, in addition to a silver win in the 3,000 metres. Six total events cornprise the IM~~ with the winner ehosen after a tally of ~ vidual points. The finale is.scheduled for March in Berlin.

Holland to Netherlands host Euro 2016 HELSINKI 1 The will

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welcome Europes top athletes in Am sterdam for the 2016 European outdoor athietic championships. The European athletics federation announced on 4 November the Dutch capital had beat out Istanbul and Split~fo~ hosting privileges. The games will be held at the Amsterdam Olympisch Stadium, home of the 1928 lympic G~ames. This is the first time Amsterdam has hosted the outdoor championships. ity officials say the event may boost the citys chances to wih a 2028 Glympic bid.
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1 Ajax honorary board member Johan ~ruijff announced on 20 Noverriber a rift with the football clubs boardafter the appointment of Louis van unacceptable @aal asgeneral.director. the move wasCruijifsaid made behind his back. Ajax chair Un Coronel, however; said there is abreach of trust between Johan Cruijif and the other members. a result, resigned he and two other boardAs members 0fl 2.1
AMSTERDAM
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Troubles resumei~iyAjax

After a histoiic Baseball World Cupvicto~y, the Dutch flational basbaN squad. has proved itselfa fore to be reckoned with. But TIFFANY JANSEN -reveals Hollfld actually has an impressive honkbal history.
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November, Adding fuel to the feud, two otherboard members publicly claimed Cru ijff made racist and sexist cumments at meetings. An interim board will step in in December. TiI~e Netherlands won their secohd ever world title in bridge on 29 ctober. During the 4Oth Championships, theDutch b-. US 300-255. During the three play, theDutch held a stfong lead and easily clinched the so-called Bermda Bowi. Unbelievable, Bauke MuIH reporters after the tournament. Muller Was the only member on the team who also played with the prviou victors in 1993. Being crowned world champions in your own country fter such~a long time, it was a bigjsurpri~e.
VELDHOVEN
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DutEh bridge champions

ihough the ~,vorld ~as only just officially origin~ Just-this year, Dutch-horn ~itcher made aware of Hollands honkbal prow- Bert Blyleven was inducted into the Baseess wlien they took home the Baseball ball Hall of Fame. He even wore a pair of World Cup on 15 Octgber, this tiny little. dogs to the initiation ceremony. country hasbeenhard at~wrk on this evFollwing inhi~footsteps is Rick va er-popularAffiericanpastime for almost den Hurk, a pitcher for ffieBaltimore Ori100 years. oles. Van ,denllurks affair with ba~seball The sportof the~so~a1led ~o~sof~sum- -began at the ageof four. mer ~ws1rou~hLfo the Netherlands in My dad was the baseball coach for 1912 by A1ji~rilammer J~C.G. Gras,who. PSV Eindhoven and 1 wnt with hin~ to caght-se~e~l~games of the-sport while alot bf the.pra~tiZ~s~iid games, Van den vaat~ohin~in the US: Hurk remembersfor~dly.. ~n 1971, Grass Dutch basebail Iague .Assoon as he ~wa~6ld enough, he befused .wiih the Dutch Amateur~ S~ftball gaii playing the grnthat had stolen his rganizatio~i to.form the Royal Dutch heart, ending up on .fhe nationa~ ,team. It Basebail andSoftball Association (Konin- _,was there that he was scouted by Chicho klijk Nederlandie Baseball en ..Softball lesurun and ventu~Ily~o~fered a contract Bond, KNBSB) Th organisation supports wth the Florida Marlins: a Little League team nd providesjroutli That-was -10 years ago aiid Van den -basebalk and softball clinics ifiTadliitioli to Hurk ~dmits~that- he has noticed a surge overseeing the Dutch ~ in Dutch:plyers-hittihg the major leagtes Td~y, Holland bosts ~ar?~ind~1805siitce theh:, ~baseball. clubs spread Tliere dn ~ereHurk onlysays. four But Dutch guys at country ~4mong these is th~du~li~it~the the Krn~terdam ~rs~,,V&n now there
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in celebration of basebails 100 year anniv&rsary in Holland, but the Park2l ~tadium ~as not,yet ready to accommodate such a large undertaking. Unfortunately for Holland, they have one less outlet in whih to stretch iheir h6nkbal muscles. In 2005, it was announced that by 2012 the Olympic Games would no longer include basebail or softball. 1 think the~jve made a big, big mistake, Tommy Lasofda~told USA today in Ju1~i of 2005. Bseball is played by all countties. now and softball, too. 1 think thats really going to htirtthe 0lympics~ La~orda,a former Dodgers manager, managed the Am&rian baseball team during the, 2000 Sydney Grnes, winning the country its oiilygold medal. Van den Hurk remains hopeful that
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thq popularity of basebali willcontinueto grow ih~ Hollanil. He has even startedan initiative called the-European Big League tur to help make that happen. The tour had its inaugural year in 2010 with the -goals of bringing more attention to baseball in Eu~op, returning basebail to the Olympics supporting baseball acadernies in Europe and h~fp ing young-players realise their dreanis f makiiig thebig leagues.: Over the past two years, Van den Hurk, along with other MLB players, has toured countties suchas Belgium;Prague, Germany, Holland and Italy. ~Hollands number one sport .will alwa~/s be-footbal, Van den -Iurk con cedes, but the Dutch are go~d at many sports and baseball is definitely growing in Hlland
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Dutch MLB playr murdered in Rotterdam

Professional baseballer Gregory Halman was found to death on 21 November in stabbed Rotterdam. In the early hours of the morning, police arrived at an apartment registered to his brother Jason, to find the 24-yearold outflelder bleeding from a stab wound. Attempts to resuscitate lijm were unsuccessful and he died at the scene. We have arrested the 22-yearold brother of Patticia the victim, police spokesperson Wessels told reporters. From what we have learned, there was an argument between the two brothers over loud music being played. An investigation is underway to detennine exactly what happened: Hahna~n was ain star withgthe Se~af~leMaHners theplayer US. PIa over 40 games with th major ~gue team, he earned both the title best power bitter and best athiete in 2009. Although he lived in the US, he often travelled home to coach Euro pean youth players. Greg was passionate about the game of~basebal1 generously gave of~hiinself toand share his passion with others in an attempt to grow the sport~s popularity across Europe, MLB executive director Michael Weiner said in a st~tment He will be.sorely missed~
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Pirats, one of the largestclubs iii~Hlland ar~ more Dutch players than ever. Its and home of fam~d Dutch pitcher Rob ~givenhopeto others and mor liutch kids ordemans. are signing pro-ball~ Thou~h th~ world at large was surdther current Dutch players in the j)rised by Hollands Baseball World (~up MEB are Washington Nationls ouffieldr win, the Dut~h National Team hasafairly Roger BeFn~dina from Curacao-.and Seimpres~ive track record. The team rankd attle Mariners outfieldr Gregory Halmn fifth-at bth- the, 1996 and 2000 Summer from Haarlem. lympics. With allthese~ba~eball-hwin~ Duthies At the moment, they have the distinc- heading State-side to play baIl, the. next: tion of being the top baseball team in Eu logical step is to bring the MLB. to 1161rope andthe International Baseball Feder- land. Aiid thats exactly. the route Dutch ation currently has them ranked sixth for baseball officials are looking to take. mens baseball in their World Rankings. The KNBSB has alre~dy put-in a bid to The-Dutch also seem to be hitting em, host MLBgames in Hoofddoorp in 2014. out of the park in the sports country of The original plan was to hold the games
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Dutch baseball player Rob Cordemans has been nominated for the title of best sportsman of 2011. The 37~year-old pitcher is considered a pivotal part of the game internation ally and has played in four consecutive Olympic Games for the Netherlands. Hisnomination wasannounced on 1 November alongside tennis star Thomas Schoorel and beach volleyball master Richard Schuil. Female cyclist Ellen van Dijk and bobsledding legend Esme Kamphuis are in the running for the women~saward.
AMSTERDAM

Rob Cordemans votedbest