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Tiger Woods
Man of the Match
Sania makes cyber waves
IN THE NEWS
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Tiger below par, yet on top
Unlucky loser
After two back-to-back heartbreaking losses at the US Masters, Chris DiMarco could go down in history as the unluckiest player to have competed at Augusta National. If there was any doubt about the 36-year-old American being golf’s reigning hard-luck guy, a playoff loss to Vijay Singh at last year’s PGA championship confirmed it. For a second consecutive year, DiMarco played in the final group at the Masters and yet again he had a ringside seat for two of the greatest clutch putts in Masters history — neither of them his. After waging a gripping duel with Tiger Woods over the final nine holes on Sunday, DiMarco stared blankly as he watched his rival roll in an 18-foot putt on the first extra hole to secure his fourth green jacket. A year earlier, DiMarco had stood on the same 18th green in the same Georgia twilight and watched Phil Mickelson make the same putt to lift his first Masters title and shed the label of best player never to have won a major. “It would hurt if I gave it away but I didn’t. I really didn’t,” said
DiMarco, the first player to lose a playoff in back-to-back majors since Tom Watson at the 1978 PGA and 1979 Masters.
Tiger Woods is back. Or is he? The 29-year-old American is back at the top of the official world rankings and has returned to the major winner’s circle, but he is certainly not the dominant figure of five years ago.
Although he clinched the ninth major victory of his career in a playoff for the US Masters on Sunday, he did so in spite of a decidedly scrappy finish. Two strokes clear with two holes to play after producing a miracle birdie at the par-three 16th, the Woods of 1999 and 2000 would have closed the deal with minimal fuss and clinical precision. However, he found pine trees off the tee on 17 and a bunker with his approach at the last, running up bogeys on both holes to let his playing partner and compatriot Chris DiMarco back into the tournament. The gutsy DiMarco, for his part, refused to buckle in bright spring sunshine at Augusta National. He safely parred the final two holes of regulation play — and very nearly snatched the green jacket from Woods when he struck the flag on 18 with a chip from in front of the green for a birdie-three. The Woods of 2000, who won the last three majors of that
year in record-breaking style, would never have opened the door to a chasing opponent when in control of a major down the stretch on the final day. Some leeway needs to be given, though, to the best player the game has known since Jack Nicklaus. Woods, who drew level with fellow American Ben Hogan and South Africa's Gary Player on nine career grand slams with his fourth Masters triumph, has recently completed the second revamp of his swing since he turned professional in 1996. Britain's six-times major winner Nick Faldo famously reconstructed his swing with coach David Leadbetter before making his impact at the highest level but it is unprecedented for a player to do so twice. Woods still needs time for his new swing to bed down in the heat of battle at the majors, even if it is unlikely he will ever regain the aura of dominance he enjoyed when winning seven majors out of 11 between August, 1999, and June, 2002. “I’ve won seven majors with the other swing, or six majors and one previous with a different swing here the first time around," Woods, said referring to his maiden Masters victory in 1997 when aged 21 before he began his first swing change the following year. “So it did all right.” Woods has made no secret of his burning desire to chase down the record major tally of 18 owned by Nicklaus, but he believes he needs to become a better player with a better swing if he is to succeed. “I’ve kind of battled the last couple of years to work hard on my game and make some changes,” said the American, who ended a run of 10 majors without success on Sunday. “I wasn’t winning major championships. I contended a couple times and didn’t win but, for the most part, I wasn’t in contention on the back nine on every major like I like to be. “That’s where you want to be. It was nice to get back there again and be in contention with a chance to win coming up the back nine on Sunday. It’s a thrill.” The signs are certainly there that Woods is a better player today than he has been over the past two years. Despite opening with a two-over-par 74 at Augusta which featured a putt off the green and into the water of Rae’s Creek at the 13th, he charged into contention with middle scores of 66 and 65 and a Masters record of seven consecutive birdies. Although he wobbled over the two closing holes on Sunday, his miracle chip-in from back down the slope on the 16th hole was the shot of the tournament — and probably also of the year. Tiger is very nearly back, and has not finished yet. —
Reuters
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Man of the Match
During the India-Pakistan Test series, Pakistan allrounder Shoaib Malik made news even though he did not play in any of the three matches. The reason — his secret marriage to Ayesha, the Jeddah-based daughter of Hyderabadi parents. Now he is making news for what he is well known for — attacking batting and crafty bowling.
Malik had a big role to play in Pakistan’s victories in the third and fourth one-dayers. He scored 75 off 79 balls, including seven fours and two sixes, in the Jamshedpur match. Playing at one-down, he was involved in a 145-run partnership with centurion Salman Butt which laid the foundation of a 300-plus total. Bowling his off-spinners for the first time after the Pakistan Cricket Board allowed him to do so, he dismissed Harbhajan Singh to finish with figures of 1-42 off seven overs. In the Ahmedabad encounter, Malik dismissed M.S. Dhoni, Rahul Dravid and century-maker Sachin Tendulkar to prevent India from posting a 350-plus total. Playing at two-down, he hit a run-a-ball 65 and figured in two solid partnerships, first with Abdul Razzaq and then with captain Inzamam-ul-Haq, which helped Pakistan achieve a huge run chase. It seems that Malik has come out unscathed from the controversy over his bowling action. His action was cleared by the International Cricket Council before the current series began, but for some reason the Pakistan authorities were reluctant to let him bowl. He did not bowl in the first two one-dayers, both of which Pakistan lost. However, more than his on-field performances, it is his marriage which has attracted the Indian media. Malik and Ayesha fell in love in 2000 when they first met at a hotel in Sharjah. The all-rounder made two secret trips to Hyderabad to meet her. In May, 2003, Malik called her from his hometown Sialkot and the nikah took place on the phone! It was only recently that Malik, nicknamed Moon by his team-mates for his good looks, made his marriage public. Late last month, when the Pakistan team went to Hyderabad to play against India A, Malik and the others visited his in-laws. Pakistan team manager Salim Altaf even called Malik “Hyderabad’s son-in-law”. Ayesha, who was suffering from mumps, didn’t meet her husband as she feared it would jeopardise his chances of playing in the one-day series. Her discretion has benefited Pakistan in a big way, and it goes without saying that Malik’s form would be crucial to the outcome of the series. |
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All this and more is offered on www.wahsania.com, created by an anonymous fan in this Madhya Pradesh capital and which claims to be the first in the world on the tennis star. “This is a first ever site on Sania Mirza in the world, built by a Sania fan in Bhopal who prefers anonymity. It is an unofficial site,” says a notice posted on the website. The site is divided into sections like journey to the top, childhood and family, profile and sporting feats. It also keeps track of Sania’s current ranking and features a number of photographs. As to be expected, the website details Sania’s personal and professional, as also her likes, dislikes and hobbies. According to the website, swimming is Sania’s favourite pastime and she is passionate about biryani, despite her coach advising her to keep away from it. When contacted on email, the site-owner said that he did not wish to reveal his identity but preferred to remain just a Sania fan. Apart from Sania, the site has sections devoted to prominent Indian sportspersons like P.T. Usha, Wilson Jones, Prakash Padukone, Geet Sethi, Dhyan Chand, Vijay Amritraj, Vishwanathan Anand and Leander Paes. —
IANS |
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IN THE NEWS
Wielding his golf clubs like a magic wand, Mukesh Kumar is winning everything in sight and making a lot of money. Last week, he fired seven-under in the last round for a tournament aggregate of 30-under 250 to notch up his sixth Amby Valley PGAI Tour title win at the DDA Open Golf Championship. The Mhow-based Mukesh’s effort, which included a record-breaking round of 59 on the penultimate day and culminated in a 63 in the fourth round, saw him better the best-ever tournament aggregate by an Indian, the 26-under mark set by Jeev Milkha Singh at the Phillip Morris Championship in 1996 (on the Asian PGA Tour). Mukesh missed by a single stroke the record tournament aggregate on the US PGA Tour set by Ernie Els at the Mercedes Championship. With this win and the winner’s cheque of Rs 1,62,000. Mukesh took his season’s earnings tally, to a staggering Rs 24,00,100. Mukesh made birdies on the third, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, 11th, 13th, 14th and the 15th holes including two bogeys on the 12th and the 16th holes. Earlier last week, Mukesh’s third straight error-free round, a two-under 70, enabled him to a win the title and a cheque for Rs 8.1 lakh — the highest ever in the history of domestic golf — in the Rs 50-lakh PSPB Open Petroleum Championship. It turned out to be ‘lucky 15’ for Mukesh Kumar as the pro, aided by a tournament tally of 15-under 273, posted his first win in 15 years at the Delhi Golf Club. Mukesh was a model of consistency in the tournament which saw favourites like Jeev Milkha Singh and Shiv Kapoor finish 24th and 14th, respectively. — Agencies
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Pakistan bowlers did not know what hit them when Virender Sehwag and Mahendra Singh Dhoni launched an attack against them in the second one-dayer at Visakhapatnam. After the departure of Sachin Tendulkar, the new hero on the cricket horizon, Dhoni, not only maintained the run rate, but kept up the tempo. Along with Sehwag, he tore the Pakistani bowling to shreds.
By his brilliant performance, he has provided the hope that the long-standing demand of the Indian team for a good wicketkeeper-batsman would now be fulfilled. It was team spirit that led Indian to victory. Anjiv S. Jaswal,
Chandigarh II M.S. Dhoni’s tremendous performance with the bat helped India pile up a huge total on the board. Dhoni’s 148 was the highest score by a specialist Indian wicketkeeper in an ODI. He came out with flying colours and fulfilled the expectations of his captain who experimented by sending him at the number three sport. Navdeep Singh Bhatia,
Khanna Facile win India commenced their ODI campaign against arch-rivals Pakistan with a bang. They drubbed their opponents by 87 runs in the first ODI to go one-up in the six-match series. The architects of India’s convincing victory were Virender Sehwag and Rahul Dravid who made mincemeat of the Pakistan bowling by hitting centuries in contrasting styles. But for the duo’s commanding batting, India would not have put up a challenging 281 on the board. Sehwag made the most of the two lives he got, the first when he was yet to open his account and the second when he was on eight. All other batsmen failed disastrously to build on the platform provided by Sehwag and Dravid. However, Tendulkar, who could score only four runs, hit back strongly while bowling. He scalped five Pakistan batsmen with his vicious leg breaks to achieve his second five-wicket haul in ODIs. It was here in Kochi that he had captured five wickets on an earlier occasion. Hence the venue has proved to be a happy hunting ground for him in bowling. The trio of Sehwag, Dravid and Tendulkar deserves accolades for scripting India’s victory. Pakistan could not recover from their disastrous start. The wrecker-in-chief, Tendulkar, halted them in their tracks. Tarsem S. Bumrah,
Batala Remove Sourav Sourav Ganguly should be removed from captaincy in view of his own bad form and India’s defeat at the hands of Pakistan in the Bangalore Test. The captain’s performance in the three-Test series let the team down. Rajan Malhotra,
Palampur Dubious decisions Apropos the write-up ‘Test for umpires’ in Saturday Extra dated March 26, there is no doubt that umpire Steve Bucknor made a mistake in giving Sachin Tendulkar out in the Kolkata Test. The decision of the umpires and match referee Chris Broad in declaring Harbhajan Singh’s bowling action suspect was equally appalling. Several lbw decisions were also questionable. It is high time the umpires underwent medical tests, especially to check their eyesight, to avoid such glaring mistakes. If run-outs can be referred to the third umpire, who not lbw and caught-behind decisions? Also, the umpires must be held accountable for dubious verdicts. H.S. Sandhur,
Panchkula |
Tennis sensation Sania Mirza’s career record is 106 victories to 24 losses, her total earnings are $129,000, she’s a Brad Pitt fan, her favourite movie is Ocean’s Eleven and her favourite colours are red 