Showing posts with label sports. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sports. Show all posts
Friday, 4 July 2014
Saina Nehwal moves up to 7th rank after Australian Open victory
New Delhi: Following her Australian Open Super Series triumph, ace India shuttler Saina Nehwal on Thursday moved up a place to be in seventh position in the latest world rankings while P V Sindhu dropped out of the top 10 after a none-too-impressive outing in the same tournament.
Saturday, 28 June 2014
Saina Nehwal wins Australia Open super series title, defeating Carolina Marin
Sydney: Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal produced a dominating performance to lift her second title of the season, winning the USD 750,000 Star Australian Super Series after beating Spain's Carolina Marin in the summit clash here on Sunday.
The sixth seeded Indian, who had won the India Open Super Series earlier this year, prevailed 21-18 21-11 in a 43-minute contest which left her richer by USD 56,000.
The 24-year-old Saina, who enjoyed a 1-0 head-to-head record against Marin going into today's match, logged the first point and displayed some deft net play against her rival, stroking in some delectably timed volleys to take a 5-2 lead in the opening game.
But the 21-year-old Marin was not the one to give up easily and showed just why she is considered one of the most feisty players on the circuit. She narrowed the gap to 6-8 but seemed distinctly out of her comfort zone every time Saina dragged her towards the net.
Also, Marin didn't help her cause by committing a service error to gift an easy point to Saina, who went into the interval leading 11-7 after an intriguing rally, which ended with the Spaniard smashing the shuttle wide.
Marin raised her game and the decibel levels after the break but Saina was quick to counter-attack and returned her rival's attempted smashes with quiet intensity.
In between, Marin played some fine strokes but they never came consistently enough as Saina made it 17-12. Marin's dogged determination was there to be seen in every point she played for but that alone was never going to be enough to upstage a composed Saina.
The Indian, who didn't seem affected at all by Marin's aggressive outpouring of emotions after every claimed point, sealed the opening game 21-18 after her world number 11 rival smashed one into the net 23 minutes into the match.
Friday, 27 June 2014
Pregnant runner debate on
Olympian Alysia Montano, a five-time US national champion, has triggered an online debate on baby care after she finished an 800m race, in under two minutes.
Montano is 34 weeks pregnant. The 28-year-old runner, also received a standing ovation after finishing the race. “I’ve been running throughout my pregnancy and I felt really, really good during the whole process,” said Montano.
Experts, despite comments by shocked readers online, have backed Montano’s decision to run.
Wednesday, 25 June 2014
The matches of the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil
Today, on Sony SIX • Group F
Estádio Beira-Rio, Porto Alegre
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| Nigeria |
2nd in Group
vs
vs
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Argentina
1st in Group F
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Today, on Sony SIX • Group F
Arena Fonte Nova, Salvador
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Iran
3rd in Group F
vs
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Bosnia and Herzegovina
4th in Group F
Tomorrow, on Sony SIX • Group E
Arena Amazônia, Manaus
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Honduras
4th in Group E
vs
Switzerland
3rd in Group E
Tomorrow, • Group E
Estádio Maracanã, Rio de Janeiro
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Ecuador
2nd in Group E
vs
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France
1st in Group E
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Tuesday, 24 June 2014
England v Sri Lanka, 2nd Investec Test, Headingley, 5th day Moeen battles as SL close in
Eng v SL, 2nd Investec Test, Headingley, 5th day
Moen Ali, a free spirit playing with such impressive self-denial that it must have surprised even him, secured a maiden Test fifty as he led a valiant effort by England to put the embarrassment of the previous day behind them and save the Headingley Test against all expectations.
When tea arrived on the final day, Sri Lanka were still three wickets away from their first series win in England but by chipping out Joe Root and Matt Prior, the latter by the narrowest margin, ensured that the outcome of the Test remained heavily tipped in their favour. The new ball was three overs away, and there was another 80 minutes after tea to the start of the final hour, although with a light blanket of cloud over Leeds, Sri Lanka's nerves would be taut.
Moeen's nerviest moment came before tea when Sri Lanka hollered in triumph as a delivery from Rangana Herath found its way to leg slip. The umpire, Steve Davis, refused the appeal and Sri Lanka's review - understandable in the circumstances - failed on the grounds both of caught and lbw.
On another occasion, he had an inadvisable flirt when Herath slanted a low-arm delivery across him, but generally he curbed his attacking instincts with great resolve, only occasionally allowing himself to sweep or come down the pitch to Herath, choices he made with impeccable judgement.
There are times when the wider social impact of a performance in sport is so apparent that it must also be recognised even in a match report - and this was one of them. A sole spectator earlier in the Test who observed, however unthinkingly, that Moeen's beard suggested he should be blowing up buildings was rightly reported to stewards and warned. With every stout-hearted block, Moeen made such comments appear ever more ridiculous and, for those who doubted as much, integrated himself, and more pertinently his beard, ever deeper into the fabric of the England side.
The Headingley spectators who shouted their approval at tea would only be disappointed that Root was not walking off alongside him. Root clearly relished the chance to produce an innings of Boycottian bloody-mindedness in front of a Yorkshire crowd (not a very big one if truth were told); strokelessness is no hardship for him when the match dictates it.
Not shy of a word or two himself - the innocent countenance is misleading - he became the victim of prolonged sledging from the Sri Lanka captain, Angelo Mathews, who was instructed to curb his behaviour more than once by both umpires, and whose victory celebrations - if victory celebrations they turn out to be - look bound to be interrupted by an audience with the match referee.
If Mathews was in danger of getting sidetracked, it did not show in his captaincy, which remained well judged. Sri Lanka's bowlers, by and large, remained disciplined. Shaminda Eranga adopted a short-ball policy in mid-afternoon, but it seemed a legitimate tactic at the time and unsettled Root on several occasions. Herath found reluctant turn as he wheeled away with his usual accuracy, his pace falling to 45mph on occasions, remarkably slow for a professional spin bowler in the modern game.
Prior became a fifth victim for Sri Lanka's fourth-day hero, Dhammika Prasad, a well-directed ball into his body and a deflection which was expertly snapped up by Kaushal Silva low down at short leg - not the first time he has fallen in such a fashion.
It was Prasad's effort ball and it almost resulted in his first no-ball of the match - the TV umpire requiring innumerable replays before concluding that he got a sliver of boot behind a wonky front line. The match referee, Andy Pycroft, was quick to advise that if there was any uncertainty - and there was huge uncertainty - that ICC advisories stated that the decision should rest with the bowler as there was not definite proof he had overstepped.
Sri Lanka endured a morning of frustration as determined resistance by England's sixth-wicket pair, Root and Moeen, was followed by drizzle and an early lunch. A night's sleep seemed to have cleared England heads after their atrocious fourth-day display had left them 57 for 5, well adrift of a target of 350.
England made only 26 in nearly 18 overs in front of a smattering of spectators as Root contentedly committed himself to a morning's deadbatting and Moeen sought to steel himself to a defensive game that is more alien to him. Root's brief enthusiasm for an impossible single, refused by Moeen and causing him to dive back into his ground, was not a promising sight for England, nor particularly were Moeen's first two boundaries off Prasad, which whistled through point and gully off an open face, but soon both settled.
Sri Lanka's recovery had been admirable - England had been 311 for 3 in their first innings at one stage, ahead by 54 - but they must have feared a final, cruel twist as the Headingley pitch played relatively calmly and rain began to rob time from the game. The rain stayed away throughout the afternoon but nobody could be certain whether it would stay away forever.
Andhra court issues arrest warrant against Dhoni
A court in Andhra Pradesh issued an arrest warrant against Indian cricket team captain M.S. Dhoni for allegedly hurting the religious sentiments of Hindus.
A local court in Anantapur issued the arrest warrant as Dhoni did not appear in the court despite three summons served in the past. It directed police to present Dhoni in the court July 16.
Business Today in its April 2013 edition had carried the picture. Dhoni was portrayed as Hindu god Vishnu with a sub title “God of Big Deals” and holding products of several companies including a shoe in his hand.
Y. Shyam Sunder, a local Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader, had filed a petition in the court in February this year alleging that the cricketer had hurt the sentiments of Hindus by denigrating the Hindu god.
The summons issued by the court to Dhoni on three occasions was returned. The court, which took up the hearing on Tuesday, issued the arrest warrant.
Keywords: Dhoni, arrest warrant, Vishwa Hindu Parishad
Monday, 25 November 2013
"MS Dhoni has led Team India in 150 ODI matches with 87 wins and 51 losses."
While Team India's defeat against West Indies in the second One-Day International on Sunday broke many hearts, skipper MS Dhoni notched up a personal achievement that could surely liven up the cricket fanatics across the nation.
As India geared up to lock horns with their rivals at Andhra Cricket Association stadium in Vizag, Dhoni became the first wicketkeeper-batsman in the ODI history to lead a team in 150 matches.
Dhoni is the second skipper after Mohammad Azharuddin to lead India in 150 ODIs. Azharuddin holds the record of leading India in 174 matches.
Dhoni, who took the command of the Indian team in 2007, is also the first captain in the history to win all three ICC global events - T20 World Cup(2007), ODI World Cup(2011) and Champions Trophy(2013).
Former Australian skipper Ricky Ponting holds the record of leading his country in most matches - 230 ODIs.
During his tenure in 150 ODIs, Dhoni has led India to 87 wins and 51 losses. But, Azharuddin is still India's most successful skipper with 90 wins followed by Dhoni and Ganguly's 66 wins in 147 ODI games.
As India geared up to lock horns with their rivals at Andhra Cricket Association stadium in Vizag, Dhoni became the first wicketkeeper-batsman in the ODI history to lead a team in 150 matches.
Dhoni is the second skipper after Mohammad Azharuddin to lead India in 150 ODIs. Azharuddin holds the record of leading India in 174 matches.
Dhoni, who took the command of the Indian team in 2007, is also the first captain in the history to win all three ICC global events - T20 World Cup(2007), ODI World Cup(2011) and Champions Trophy(2013).
Former Australian skipper Ricky Ponting holds the record of leading his country in most matches - 230 ODIs.
During his tenure in 150 ODIs, Dhoni has led India to 87 wins and 51 losses. But, Azharuddin is still India's most successful skipper with 90 wins followed by Dhoni and Ganguly's 66 wins in 147 ODI games.
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