Petra Kvitova Stabbed in Attempted Burglary !!

The first living golden jackal in the Czech Republic was reported by researchers from Charles University, Prague. The scientists captured the canid on camera multiple times over the span of a year and a half some 40 km away from the capital. Once considered native to northern Africa and southern Eurasia, the species seems to be quite rapidly extending its range towards the north of Europe ~ and that is no reason for this post on Chech Republic !! The Czech Republic  is  in Central Europe bordered by Germany, Austria and Poland.   The Czech Republic includes its historical territories of Bohemia, Moravia, and Czech Silesia. The Czech state was formed in the late 9^th  century as the Duchy of Bohemia under the Great Moravian Empire.  It reached its  greatest territorial extent in the 14th century.  Following the Battle of Mohács in 1526, the whole Crown of Bohemia was gradually integrated into the Habsburg Monarchy.   In the 19^th  century, the Czech lands became the industrial powerhouse of the monarchy and were subsequently the core of the Republic of Czechoslovakia, which was formed in 1918 following the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire after World War I. The Czech part of Czechoslovakia was occupied by Germany in World War II, and was liberated in 1945 by the armies of the Soviet Union and the United States.   On 1 January 1993, Czechoslovakia peacefully dissolved, with its constituent states becoming the independent states of the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Prostějov  is a city in the Olomouc Region of the Czech Republic, in the historical region of Moravia,  known for its fashion industry and AČR special forces unit 601. Two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova  lives here.  My favorite tennis ace - Lendl was born in Ostrava, Moravian-Silesian Region, Czechoslovakia (now the Czech Republic). Kvitova first won Wimbledon in 2011, beating Maria Sharapova in the final. Three years later she won the tournament again, thrashing France's Eugenie Bouchard. The news is Kvitova, 26, was stabbed in the left hand when she tried to defend herself but her injuries are not life-threatening. She tweeted: 'In my attempt to defend myself, I was badly injured on my left hand. I am shaken, but fortunate to be alive.'  Kvitova was attacked this morning in the town of Prostejov in the east of the country, which is home to a national tennis academy. Prostejov police spokesman Frantisek Korinek said the attacker, who was aged about 35, escaped from the house and a manhunt is under way. The Czech player, one of the most popular on the circuit, was quick to thank all those who had sent her messages of support on social media.  She said she trusted the doctors who were examining her arm and hand.  Earlier in the day she withdrew from the Czech Republic team at next month's Hopman Cup mixed-team tennis tournament in Australia because of a foot injury. The attack took place in Prostejov, a small but picturesque town in Moravia.  Kvitova lives in Monte Carlo, for tax purposes, but she has a home in Prostejov, where she trains at the town's famous academy, which has turned out a constant flow of high quality Czech tennis players over the years. The stabbing of Monica Seles is not comparable as the attack on Kvitova appears to be that of a burglar ~ while in Apr  1993 Monica Seles was stabbed in the back during a tournament in Hamburg by Gunter Parche, an obsessive fan of her rival Steffi Graf. That gruesome incident that occurred in Hamburg, not only dictated security at sports events over the past two decades, but changed the victim's life forever. Monica Seles was the top women's player heading into 1993, having won the French Open three consecutive years and both the US Open and Australian Open in consecutive years. In January 1993, Seles defeated Graf in the final of the Australian Open, which to date was her third win in four Grand Slam finals against Graf. With eight Grand Slam singles titles before her 20^th  birthday, Seles holds  the record for most Grand Slam singles titles won as a teenager in the Open Era.   On that fateful day on April 30 during a quarterfinal match with Magdalena Maleeva in Hamburg in which Seles was leading 6–4, 4–3, Günter Parche, an obsessed fan of Steffi Graf, ran from the middle of the crowd to the edge of the court during a break between games and stabbed Seles with a boning knife between her shoulder blades. Although her physical injuries took only a few weeks to heal, she did not return to competitive tennis for more than two years.  The attacker Parche was charged following the incident, but was not jailed because he was found to be psychologically abnormal, and was instead sentenced to two years' probation and psychological treatment. Seles returned to the tour in August 1995. Seles won her first comeback tournament, the Canadian Open, beating Amanda Coetzer in the final, 6–0, 6–1 and setting a tournament record for least number of games dropped by the champion throughout the tournament – yet life was not as normal as it was before ! With regards – S. Sampathkumar
20^th Dec 2016.