Washington Kastles acquire 2008 World TeamTennis MVP Rennae Stubbs
Team Trades Angela Haynes and CoCo Vandeweghe to Sacramento for Stubbs and Olga Puchkova
The Washington Kastles have completed a blockbuster trade sending their second and third round picks, Angela Haynes and CoCo Vandeweghe, to the Sacramento Capitals for Rennae Stubbs, the reigning 2008 World TeamTennis Female MVP and 2008 Championship Finals MVP, and Olga Puchkova. With Stubbs’ six Grand Slam championships, the team now boasts 36 total Grand Slam titles among their five players and head coach.
Stubbs, ranked in the top ten in the world in doubles, is a former #1 ranked doubles player and has won 59 career Sony Ericsson WTA titles. She has also represented Australia four times in Olympic and Federation Cup competition. She won last year’s WTT and Championship Finals MVP titles as a member of the Kansas City Explorers and helped lead the Philadelphia Freedoms to WTT championships in 2001 and 2006, and the St. Louis Aces to a title in 1996.
“Our goal this year is to win the Championship when it is played in Washington on July 26th and this trade makes us a clear favorite to accomplish that. Rennae is one of the top doubles players in the world and is a fierce and experienced competitor,” said owner Mark Ein, who brokered the deal. “With this trade, we will be tough to beat in any set, much less a complete match.”
The Kastles also acquired Puchkova, who ranked #32 in the world in singles in 2007. Puchkova played three matches for the Capitals in 2008, compiling a 10-5 game record. She has local ties, having trained at the Junior Tennis Champions Center in College Park, Maryland, where she has recently begun working again. She is also a professional model represented by Elite Management.
“Olga has the ability to be one of the best women in the league and, with her recent work at the JTCC, we know she is ready to play,” continued Ein. “Both Olga and Rennae bring a lot of personality to our squad on and off the court. Our fans will love this team.”
The two newest Kastles will join their teammates on Thursday, July 2 to kick off the 2009 season on the west coast against the Newport Beach Breakers. The Kastles open the home schedule in DC on July 7 against two-time defending Wimbledon Champion Venus Williams and the Philadelphia Freedoms.
Source: Washington Kastles
iStreamPlanet selected to create and manage live webcast experience of The Championships 2009 at Wimbledon
iStreamPlanet chosen by Microsoft to spearhead content acquisition, encoding, origination point of distribution, file-based transcoding, content management and developing the media player experience.
iStreamPlanet, a provider of digital media strategy, services and software applications, announced today that it has been selected by Microsoft Corp. to help deliver Wimbledon Live, providing live streaming and on-demand access to The Championships. iStreamPlanet will manage the encoding of the live content as well as design and deploy a custom Microsoft Silverlight-based media experience, which will leverage the latest Microsoft Internet Information Services 7.0 (IIS) Smooth Streaming technology. Additionally, iStream’s digital asset management product, iStream Director (http://www.istreamplanet.com/Director.aspx) will manage all the file-based transcoding for match replays and highlights. iStream will combine efforts with content delivery network (CDN) partner Akamai to provide the media delivery, and encoding partner Inlet Technologies to provide the encoding technology for this historic annual event. This will be the first time a US audience will have the opportunity to view a live event in high-definition (HD) quality video with IIS Smooth Streaming.
“Microsoft looks forward to working with iStreamPlanet to bring tennis fans a high-quality viewing experience with Wimbledon Live,” said Scott Guthrie, corporate vice president of the Developer Division at Microsoft. “IIS Smooth Streaming provides end users an uninterrupted HD-quality viewing experience, allowing tennis fans to view and engage in Wimbledon Live online in a way they’ve never been able to before.”
Building upon their existing iStream Managed Webcasting service, iStream will manage the content acquisition, encoding, and delivery, from their Webcast Operation Center in Las Vegas. Once iStreamPlanet acquires the audio and video content from the satellite, it will use its fully customized, end-to-end workflow which utilizes iStream Director and Inlet’s encoding technology, to encode the live-event footage into the IIS Smooth Streaming format. iStream Director, iStreamPlanet’s award-winning digital asset management product (http://www.istreamplanet.com/DRM.aspx), will also be used to manage all the file-based transcoding for match replays and highlights. Additionally, viewers will experience the latest Silverlight solution in the iStream Player(R) (http://www.istreamplanet.com/Player.aspx) which features IIS Smooth Streaming DVR capability for pausing and rewinding the live HD-quality video, including instant replays. It also includes integrated video and companion ads, and on-demand video highlights and match replays.
“The most exciting part of this project is to have iStreamPlanet be one of the first to show off this game-changing technology, as well as having the opportunity to continue innovating around Microsoft’s IIS Smooth Streaming Platform for future globally viewed events,” said Mio Babic, founder and CEO of iStreamPlanet.
Source: iStreamPlanet
World’s Largest Multi-Sporting Event Set for Sydney, Australia in October 2009
Competitors Encouraged to Join Ranks of More Than 25,000 Set to Participate in Seventh World Masters Games
Sydney will be the home of the seventh edition of the World Masters Games, an international sporting event boasting more competitors than the Summer Olympic Games. Held in an international city every four years and sanctioned by the International Masters Games Association (IMGA), the games are set to take place in Sydney from October 10 – 18, 2009.
Thousands of participants from more than 100 countries will travel to Sydney to compete in the most accessible and populous international sporting event. Medals will be awarded in age categories in 28 official sports ranging from archery, basketball and cycling to tennis, volleyball and weightlifting.
Following a motto of “fit, fun and forever young,” the Games is actively searching for sport enthusiasts and competitors to make Sydney the most distinct and successful games yet. Unlike in the Olympic Games, competitors represent themselves or teams from a variety of countries.
“Sydney is thrilled to host the 2009 Sydney World Masters Games, a spectacular and inclusive event that has built a true world community over the years,” said Margy Osmond, Chair of the Sydney 2009 World Masters Organising Committee (SWMGOC). “The Games participants’ passion, unique backgrounds, ages and stories are what make this international event so special. Sydney is committed to increasing the diversity of the competitors attending in 2009.”
The Games are open to “everyday athletes” and only requires registrants to meet a minimum age requirement for the particular sport (between 25 and 35 years of age, depending on the sport) and register online at 2009worldmasters.com for a $220 fee.
The 28 sports at the 2009 Sydney World Masters Games are archery, athletics, badminton, baseball, basketball, canoe/kayak, cycling, diving, football, golf, hockey, lawn bowls, netball, orienteering, rowing, rugby union, sailing, shooting, softball, squash, surf life saving, swimming, table tennis, tennis, touch football, volleyball, water polo and weightlifting.
In preparation for the Games – Sydney, no stranger to high-profile international sporting events, is set to showcase over 70 venues, including Sydney Olympic Park and well-known Olympic sites in Bankstown, Blacktown, Liverpool and Penrith. The Opening and Closing Ceremonies, as well as a multitude of festivities and social centres will welcome competitors and friends, families and spectators.
***U.S. and Canadian athletes and everyday sports enthusiasts are encouraged to register for the 2009 Sydney World Masters Games at www.2009worldmasters.com.
Source: World Masters Games