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Saina scales new peaks Saina expects to break into the top 10 with her consistent performances Photo: AFP Baby Schumi
MEASURE OF A MAN: Francis Kompaon (L) of Papua New Guinea and Zimbabwe’s Elliot Mujaji compete in the men’s 100m T46 heats at the Bird’s Nest during the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games. Photo: Reuters Lamps lights up the Bridge Bumpy ride for Anand, Humpy
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Ace badminton player Saina Nehwal created history when she won the Chinese Taipei Grand Prix in Taiwan and became the only Indian woman to win two GP events. Avishek Roy spoke to her before she left for the Japanese Super Series Saina Nehwal’s rampaging form saw her clinch the Chinese Taipei Grand Prix Gold badminton title in Taiwan. The 18-year-old described it as her biggest victory and is now aiming to crack top-10 by the end of the year. World No. 14 Saina defeated unseeded Malaysian Li Ya Lydia Cheah 21-8, 21-19 to win her career's second Grand Prix tournament. The first was her breakthrough win at the Philippines Open in 2006. But the fact that it took her two years to win another major international title after the Philippines Open, makes it more important for her. The win was just round the corner as she had been riding on a form high this season. She made the semifinal of Singapore Open Super Series and then Thailand Open quarterfinal that saw her crack the top-20 in singles ranking. But it was her performance in Beijing Olympics, where she lost in the quarterfinal, that made the whole nation watch in awe. Saina said her title win will not erase her pain of missing an Olympic medal. But it will make her tougher and prepare for bigger battles with Japan and China Super series events this month. “This is the biggest win in my career. I will rate it very high because I wanted to win here very badly. I was reaching quarterfinals and semi-finals consistently but was not able to win the title. Wining the championship is an altogether different experience. It gives you that much more confidence. I had a good season and just wanted to win one title. I am happy that it came here,” Saina said. “I will now aim to crack the top-10 by the end of the year. I will be playing in Japan and China next and these are major tournaments. The win here has given me the confidence that I can perform well in front of top players there,” she added. Asked whether it will lessen her grief of missing out an Olympic medal on her maiden outing, Saina said: “Nothing can be compared to an Olympic medal. That has been my dream and I will continue to chase it.” Saina, seeded second, was favourite to win the tournament after top seed Xu Huaiwen of Germany, whom the Indian had shocked en route her Philippines Open triumph, pulled out of the event. The Hyderabadi's road to title was also cleared by her unseeded opponents who ran amok and knocked off the top seven seeds. Saina was looking to avenge her Olympic defeat against Maria Kritin Yulianti, who was seeded third here. But before the Indian could meet her, the Indonesian lost to her compatriot Pia Zebadian Bernadet. Saina defeated Bernadet in the semifinal before getting past Cheah for the title. “I did not have to stretch myself too much. She (Cheah) had good half smashes and pushes. I played to my strength and did not allow her to have an upper hand. In fact, the semifinal was also easy for me. The quarterfinal against Porntip Buranaprasertsuk was the toughest match,” she said. Saina had to battle past Thailand's Buranaprasertsuk 20-22, 21-12, 23-21. “Once I won that match, I knew I could win the tournament.” After the Philippines Open win, Saina had a lacklustre 2007 and her ranking was not stable. She thought that she had been sorted out. But then Saina and her coach Pullela Gopichand sat down to iron out the creases. “Once you play the top players in every tournament, they know your game very well and then it becomes difficult to adapt. Going up in the ranking is easy but maintaining the position at the top level is tough. I went through that phase in 2007," Saina said. “It was a very difficult period for me. I worked very hard on my game, physical fitness for the entire year. I knew that I have to be in top form to beat players above me. I cannot relax a bit. That was a big learning experience for me."
— IANS
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Baby Schumi After he had taken a surprise pole position for the Italian Grand Prix, Sebastian Vettel said there had been no secret about Toro Rosso’s setting fast lap times. After he replaced Fernando Alonso as the youngest man ever to win a Grand Prix, similar observations applied. The team opted for minimal downforce to maximise speed down Monza’s long straights, ran a perfect strategic plan around two pit stops, and executed them cleanly. And the way Vettel drove made you forget that he was only 21 years and 73 days old. You could have been watching a young Michael Schumacher. It was ironic for team co-owner Dietrich Mateschitz that his first Grand Prix triumph should come courtesy of his junior team which he put up for sale earlier this season, rather than his main Red Bull outfit. But his success was a deserved payback for the significant investment he has made in the sport. It helped Vettel that the race was started behind the safety car, such were the conditions, but once that went away after two laps he ran like a bandit and McLaren’s Heikki Kovalainen never saw which way he went. While Vettel commenced his demonstration run, Lewis Hamilton was the race’s early star. Doubtless kicking himself every lap for the unfathomable decision to try intermediate tyres in the second qualifying session, which left him only 15th on the grid, he clawed up to second place behind Vettel prior to what was intended to be his sole refuelling stop on the 27th lap. Vettel said: “Before the race all the guys were saying, ‘OK, go out and destroy them!’ You can say we had the balls today to go and do just that. It’s difficult to take it all in. I had a good lead and controlled it over the last laps, but I forgot all about that the moment I crossed the finish line. To see the shape of the podium and the people down below you: I will never forget this picture all my life. And to listen to the German national anthem was fantastic and I nearly stared to cry. We can all sleep tonight with the feeling that we are winners.” — By arrangement with The Independent |
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No handicap this Cliff Meidl, a plumber, hit a power cable with his jackhammer, got a 30,000 volt shock that cracked his skull, burnt his toes, resulted in three cardiac arrests and 13 surgeries on his legs that were almost amputated. Ten years later, he competed at the Atlanta 1996 Olympics as a kayaker. And have a look at young Natalie du Toit. She was just 24 years old when she lined up for the 10km open water swim at the Beijing Olympics. What Natalie du Toit told us is, please, look at my ability, not my disability. Natalie did not make the Olympics because a car ran into her in 2001, which led to a through-knee amputation. She made it because it was a dream she would not let go off, a dream held on to so ferociously that even a car could not run over it. There is also Theresa Goh, born with spina bifida, yet started swimming at the age of five. She is Singapore’s top athlete and was awarded the Sportsgirl of the Year award for 2002 and 2003. At Beijing, Theresa swam her pet event, the 100m breaststroke and made everyone rivet in their seats by her sheer ability to compete. And then there was athlete Ludmila Engquist. The 100-metre hurdles beckons the brave. Engquist, who, in the midst of debilitation chemotherapy sessions , trained through sunshine and sleet to capture the title at the 1991 World Athletic Championship. Still in the middle of being treated for brain cancer, Engquist found self belief and qualified for the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. She showed the world that she was an athlete with an inner turmoil that had inhibited the expression of an exceptional gift. Almost all sportspersons who take part in the Paralympics fall under this category. They do not want to be known for the disability. Rather they want the world to know them for their mental strength, which helps them overcome any physical disability. Sport is not sustained by a single moment of winning or losing. It is all about the personal battles disabled sportspersons undertake. Sport is also about the ability to sustain such a drive not only amidst hardship but also amidst the grim reality that you will not always win. Wrote celebrated sports writer, Marcel Proust- You cannot possess if you do not desire. This is in fact a sporting essential. And it is in this non-celebrity tribe of sportsmen that we find a real desire to excel, to conquer amidst the harsh realities of life. They truly symbolise the true essence, the real beauty of sport. |
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European heavyweights Liverpool, FC Barcelona, Chelsea and Inter Milan opened their Champions League campaigns with victories. The most striking results on the first night came from newcomers CFR Cluj upsetting AS Roma 2-1 and Anorthosis Famagusta holding Werder Bremen 0-0. Chelsea crushed Bordeaux 4-0; five-time champion Liverpool rallied to win 2-1 at Marseille; 2006 winner Barcelona overcame Sporting Lisbon 3-1 and Jose Mourinho’s Inter Milan beat Panathinaikos 2-0. Atletico Madrid ended its 11-year absence with a 3-0 win at 1988 champion PSV Einhoven, while Shakhtar Donetsk won 2-1 despite FC Basel scoring a late goal. — AP
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Elsewhere, top seed, India’s Koneru Humpy, crashed out of the World Women Chess Championship after being upstaged by Chinese prodigy Hao Yifan in the blitz tiebreak games. Humpy managed to stage comebacks twice and level the scores but she was unable to overcome the 14-year-old Yifan.
— Agencies |
Saina Nehwal’s rampaging form saw her clinch the Chinese Taipei Grand Prix Gold badminton title in Taiwan. The 18-year-old described it as her biggest victory and is now aiming to crack top-10 by the end of the year. World No. 14 Saina defeated unseeded Malaysian Li Ya Lydia Cheah 21-8, 21-19 to win her career's second Grand Prix tournament. The first was her breakthrough win at the Philippines Open in 2006.
David Tremayneat
World Champion Viswanathan Anand’s mundane draw against Magnus Carlsen of Norway ensured that the Indian GM and the reigning world champion finished last in the Bilbao Grand Slam Final. The outcome might cost the Indian his numero uno status in FIDE rankings. Anand is also set to play in the world championship against Vladmir Kramnik in October-November.
Anand is likely to lose close to 15 rating points from his outing here and for the first time in recent years the Indian finished last in a high-category tournament.