STUTTGART, Germany -- Second-seeded Philipp Kohlschreiber and fifth-seeded Fabio Fognini will contest the final of the ATP Mercedes Cup. Kohlschreiber defeated Victor Hanescu of Romania 6-3, 6-3 in Saturdays semifinals to become the first German in the Stuttgart final since Tommy Haas in 1999. Kohlschreiber has lost the other two finals he has played on the tour this year. Fognini, who beat Haas in the quarterfinals, eased past Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain 6-1, 6-3 to become the second Italian to reach the final of the clay-court tournament. Andrea Gaudenzi did it in 1994 and lost. Fognini is one win away from the first title of his career. He advanced to the third final of his career and the first this season. Kohlschreiber cruised in the first set and went up 3-0 with a break of serve in the second. But Hanescu won the next three games and Kohlschreiber had to save two break points to hold for 4-3. He then regained his momentum and won the last two games. "I played exceptionally until losing those three games in a row," Kohlschreiber said. "He played the big points incredibly well but I was able to close it out." Swell Flaske Blå Marmor . After Mondays hard-fought loss, the wait seemed longer than usual. Getting set to go their separate ways for a short Christmas break, the Raptors coach credited his team for their effort on a seemingly impossible three-game road trip, urging them to build on that success when they get back to work at the end of the week. Swell Flaske Liberty .B. - Sebastien Auger made 44 saves as the Saint John Sea Dogs edged the visiting Acadie-Bathurst Titan 2-1 on Saturday in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action. http://www.swellflaskenorge.com/swell-traveler-norge.html .C. at the helm of the top team in the Eastern Conference. His tenure as the GM in Vancouver was all too brief. Though he led the Canucks to what was then a franchise record-shattering campaign in just his second season, Nonis was gone and replaced one year later. Swell Flaske Blomster . -- Ohio States Urban Meyer has never had any issue acclimating to the biggest stages in college football. Swell Flaske Salg . Nathan MacKinnon, Jamie McGinn and Jan Hejda also scored for the Avalanche, who won despite being outshot 38-23. MacKinnons goal, also on the power play, came with just over a minute remaining. Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting believes the size and weight of bats used in Test cricket should be regulated to ensure a greater balance between bat and ball.At present, crickets laws only limit the length and width of bats, not the depth or weight. That has led to the development of bats made from lighter material but with extremely thick edges, such as the Gray-Nicolls Kaboom bats used by David Warner.Speaking at a recent Australian Cricket Society function, Ponting said he had no problem with such bats being used in the shorter forms of the game but believed they should be banned from Test cricket. The main issue, Ponting argued, was the lightweight materials used, and he said that players should not be prevented from using big bats as long as they were also heavy.I dont know how they are doing it to make the size of bats they are making now, Ponting said. The modern day bats and weight in particular -- its just a completely different game. Full credit to them. If they are there use them, if theres a better golf club or tennis racquet everyone will use it. Its nothing against the players.If you are strong enough to use them thats fine, but you should not get a bat thats bigger in size than [MS] Dhonis but a whole lot lighter.dddddddddddd Chris Gayles the same. Everyone talks about Chris Gayles bat size, but its 3? lbs. Hes big enough and strong enough to use it. I only get worried when they are really big and really light.Ponting will be at the next meeting of the MCCs World Cricket Committee at Lords early next week, and he said bat size and weight would be one of the topics discussed.I think it will happen, he said. I am going in a couple of weeks for a World Cricket Committee meeting and that will be one of the topics talked about. I dont mind it for the shorter versions of the game.I would actually say youve got a bat you can use in Test cricket and a certain type of bat you can use in one-day cricket and T20 cricket. The short forms of the game survive on boundaries - fours and sixes - whereas the Test game is being dominated too much now by batters because the game is a bit easier for them than it was. ' ' '
