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Knight Riders look to extend winning streak
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Balbir Singh Senior stakes claim for Bharat Ratna
AFC
Cup
Junior Asia Cup
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Knight Riders look to extend winning streak
On paper, the Knight Riders might have won four out of their last five matches to suggest that they have become a force to reckon with. But a closer look would reveal that they are still a struggling a bit as far as their star-studded batting line-up is concerned. Former IPL champions Deccan Chargers are yet to click as a team with their butter-fingered fielders being the reason of their last few losses. Having lost all their five matches, Deccan Chargers will now have a tough task in the remaining 11 to go beyond the league stage. Defending a paltry 127, the Chargers had the match against KKR in their hands till the penultimate over when Anand Rajan dropped Debabrata Das, something that enabled the Knight Riders stutter to a last over victory after yet another top-order collapse. As the Knight Riders huffed and puffed chasing the small total, it once again brought back the memories of their two-run loss to Kings XI Punjab in another low-scoring chase of 135. This time, they crossed the line aided by some inexperienced fielding but Gautam Gambhir would surely want their batting to come to terms before the contest intensifies for the final leg before the last four stage. Yusuf Pathan is yet to justify his $2.1 million price tag as he aggregates 29 runs from seven matches this season, averaging a pathetic 5.80. The Baroda all-rounder, who was instrumental in Rajasthan Royals triumph in the inaugural edition, is yet to score a half-century for the Knight Riders. In a small chase with low-asking rate, the Knight Riders think tank did their bit by promoting Yusuf to No 5 yesterday but he failed to shake off his poor form. Out-witted by opposition bowlers on several occasions, Yusuf seemed to be totally out of touch in his six outings so far. As the Knight Riders approach the crucial home stretch of two matches (Deccan Chargers and Royal Challengers Bangalore), the team might promote a youngster in place of Pathan. "He needs to deliver to be very honest. He just can't keep playing these kind of shots. He is an important player for us. Hope he can get back to runs as soon as possible," a livid Gambhir had said after their two-run loss to Kings XI earlier. As the batting constantly flounders, it's high time that their English recruit Eoin Morgan gets a chance this edition. Known to be a finisher, Morgan might come in handy for the topsy-turvy Knight Riders batting. But with the four-foreigner rule, it would be a headache for the Knight Riders to achieve the perfect blend. From the five Man-of-the-Match awards the Knight Riders have won, four - Laxmipathy Balaji, Shakib Al Hasan, Sunil Narine and Brett Lee-have been bowlers. At the Barabati, it was Lee's last two overs in which he conceded just four runs-in the 15th and 17th overs of the Chargers innings-that proved to be decisive in the Knight Riders winning context. At the Eden, known for its slow and difficult track, top ICC all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan is expected to be back as the Bangladeshi left-arm spinner would look to guile the Chargers batters along with Windies trickery offie Sunil Narine. Having lost five on the trot, it will be a tough ask for the Chargers to make a turnaround from here on and skipper Kumar Sangakkara would be under huge pressure. Four times our of five, they have let it off from a winning position, something that has hurt the team's cause badly. If in the last match, Das was dropped at a crucial stage of the match, Kevin Pietersen of Delhi Daredevils was dropped thrice by their butter-fingered fielders. Their coach Darren Lehmann described their groundwork like that of an Under-14 side. "We got a great start, was a great platform. We should have got 150, but KKR fielded brilliantly. We can talk about another missed catch probably, but we bowled well, and made it difficult for KKR," Sangakkara said.
— PTI |
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Table-toppers Daredevils eye revenge from upbeat Warriors
The Daredevils have been a dominating team in the league till the defeat against Pune in their last match. They have won four of the six matches so far on the back of a solid all-round performance. While Delhi have been a force right from the start, Pune have gradually shifted the gears. They have worked hard as a unit and have a good skipper in Sourav Ganguly, who knows the art of getting the best out of his players. Still, it will be challenge for him to continue with the good work as they have a very strong batting, the top-order of which is packed with at least four big-hitting batsmen, to contend with. All top Daredevils batsmen-skipper Virender Sehwag, Kevin Pietersen, Mahela Jayawardene and Ross Taylor-are in good nick. However, their bowlers hold the key in tomorrow's clash as the race to be in top-four is gradually hotting up. They can chase a big total with these batsmen in the line-up but Twenty20 is a format where two-three overs can change the complexion of a game. So, the key is to not let Pune score much runs on the board, like they did in the last match by rattling up 192. Although the track at the Subrata Roy Sahara stadium promises loads of runs, if Delhi bowlers can make early in-roads into Pune line up, it would serve them well. South African paceman Morne Morkel has been their main bowler so far with 15 scalps and how he fares along with Irfan Pathan would actually shape up the match for them. Similarly how Pune batsmen handle these two bowlers would have a bearing on the result of this match. Morkel was taken to cleaners by Pune in the last outing and if the host batsmen could maintain their dominance over the Protea, their job would become easy. A win would perch Pune on the top of the table at least till the result of the other match of the day between Kolkata Knight Riders and Deccan Chargers. The host would look to openers Jesse Ryder and Robin Uthappa for a good start, which could be capitalised later on by the likes of Ganguly, Steven Smith and Angelo
Mathhews. — PTI |
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Dilshan, de Villiers help RCB win the battle of Royals
Jaipur, April 23 After the undefeated 122-run fourth-wicket stand between de Villiers (59 off 23) and Tillakaratne Dilshan (76 off 58) propelled Bangalore to 189 for three, Appanna bemused the Rajasthan batsman with his slow left-arm bowling, which saw him return figures of 4/19, at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium. Appanna weaved his magic after de Villiers consumed just 21 balls to get to his fifty. While Dilshan hit 10 fours and a six, de Villiers smashed three fours and five sixes during their partnership, which came off just 50 balls. Chasing a stiff target, Rajasthan were off to a flying start, with skipper Rahul Dravid (58 off 42) leading the way by racing to his fifty in just 34 balls. Rajasthan crossed the 50-run mark in good time but the in-form Ajinkya Rahane's dismissal to Appanna came as a setback. Dravid, during his stay at the crease, played some innovative shots all round the wicket but, faced with the daunting task of keeping pace with the ever-increasing required rate, the senior pro needed more from his team-mates. Even as Dravid reached his half-century with a four through cover, Appanna defeated Owais Shah in flight after the batsman came down the wicket only to be stumped by de Villiers for 10. — PTI SCOREBOARD Royal Challengers Bangalore Kohli c Hodge B Pankaj 16 Dilshan not out 76 Agrawal c Hogg b Hogg 15 Gayle lbw Hogg 4 de Villiers not out 59 Extras (lb-10, w-7, nb-2) 19 Total (3 wkts, 20 overs) 189 Fall of wickets: 1-23, 2-60, 3-67 Bowling: Chandila 4-0-29-0, Pankaj 4-0-32-1, Cooper 4-1-35-0, Trivedi 4-0-44-0, Hogg 4-0-39-2. Rajasthan Royals Dravid c Dilshan b Appanna 58 Rahane c sub
(Pomersbach) b Appanna 13 Shah st de Villiers b Appanna 10 Goswami c Agarwal b Appanna 1 Hodge c Agarwal b Patel 10 Binny not out 20 Cooper c Vettori b Zaheer 8 Hogg c Vinay b Patel 13 Extras (lb-5, w-5) 10 Total (7 wkts; 20 overs) 143 Fall of wickets: 1-56, 2-80, 3-87, 4-91, 5-101, 6-119, 7-143. Bowling: Zaheer 4-0-30-1, Vinay 4-0-37-0, Vettori 4-0-20-0, Appanna 4-0-19-4, Patel 4-0-32-2.
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India Open Super Series New Delhi, April 23 Already assured of a berth, Saina will be desperate to win the India Open, starting tomorrow, but for Jwala Gutta, it will be her last chance to become the first Indian shuttler to qualify for two events, women's and mixed doubles events. Already ahead in the run for qualification, it will also be the last chance for Ajay Jayaram to cement his place for the Olympics in men's singles. Besides the Olympic qualification, the India Open also assumes significance for the young generation of Indian shuttlers who would hope to make an impression at the Siri Fort Sport Complex here. World number five Saina will start her campaign against Pui Yin Yip of Hong Kong and is expected to reach the quarterfinals, where she is likely to meet two-time All England champion Tine Baun of Denmark. "It is a good draw, Tine Baun is there in the quarters. Even the Chinese I had lost against in ABC will also play in the qualifiers here but I am confident. I am desperate to win the India Open," Saina said. Jayaram, who lost in the second round in Asia Badminton Championship, will be up against compatriot Sourabh Verma in his tournament opener after world number 20 Rajiv Ouseph pulled out of the main draw. Sourabh was promoted from the qualifiers to the main draw yesterday. The winner is likely to meet world number one Lee Chong Wei in the second round. Jayaram's competitor for the Olympic berth, P Kashyap will take on Belgium's Yuhan Tan in his first match and is likely to meet fifth seed Korean Hyun Il Lee if he advances. It is also an important tournament for Jwala, in the running for qualifying in two events in the Olympics, partnering Ashwini Ponnappa and V Diju. Jwala and Diju, ranked 16th in the world, will be up against Chinese pair of Tao Jiaming and Xia Huan in their campaign opener, while Jwala and Ashwini will meet seventh seed Hong Kong pair of Lok Yan Poon and Ying Suet Tse. Top Indian men's doubles pair of Rupesh Kumar and Sanave Thomas has fierce competition in top seed Korean combo of Jae Sung Jung and Yong Dae Lee in their opener. Among others, rising shuttler P V Sindhu will lock horns with Tzu Ying Tai of Chinese Taipei in the women's singles, while RMV Gurusaidutt, who was promoted to the main draw yesterday, will take on a qualifier on Wednesday. Pranav Chopra and Prajakta Sawant will face Japan's Noriyasu Hirata and Miyuki Maeda, while Arun Vishnu and Aparna Balan will take on seventh seed Japanese Shintaro Ikeda and Reiko Shiota in the mixed doubles. In another mixed doubles match, Akshay Dewalkar and Pradnya Gadre will fight it out with third seeded Korean pair of Yong Dae Lee and Jung Eun Ha. In women's doubles, Aparna and Siki Reddy will face off Yixin Bao and Qianxin Zhong of China in the first round, while Pradnya Gadre and Prajakta Sawant will meet Thai pair of Duanganong Aroonkesorn and Kunchala Voravichitchaikul. Also in the fray, P Jyotshna and PC Thulasi will take on Korean combo of Hye Won Eom and Ye Na Jang in women's doubles.
— PTI |
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Balbir Singh Senior stakes claim for Bharat Ratna
"Besides clinching a hat-trick of gold medals for the country in the Olympics, I also hold two Olympic records - most goals in any Olympic semifinal and final and also most goals in any Olympic final," says Balbir Singh, now nearing 90 years of age, maintaining that most of his achievements in international sports are for independent India. "Hockey wizard Dhyan Chand had been my idol. So is Sachin Tendulkar, a cricket icon and undisputed hero of new young India. Besides a triple Olympic gold medallist, I dedicated my life to promotion of sports. I also had the distinction of being either the coach or manager of the medal winning Indian hockey team on seven different occasions, including the only World Cup triumph in 1975," claims Balbir Singh Senior hoping that the Punjab Government would support and back his case. "I have no clash of interest with either Major Dhyan Chand, one of greatest sports star of pre-independent India, or with Sachin Tendulkar, hero of emergent India. I only wish that my contribution to Indian sports should not be overlooked for all I got for my achievements had been a Padma Shri in 1957. Balbir Singh Senior, who retired as Director of Sports, says that his first Olympics was in London in 1948, where he played two matches and scored eight of 13 goals by India These goals included the first two goals against Great Britain in the final. And now Olympic Games are returning to London after 64 years. It was the first time that India defeated Great Britain in the history of Olympic hockey competition. In the subsequent 1952 Olympics, Balbir Singh Senior featured in three games and scored nine of 13 goals by India, including all three against Great Britain in the semifinal and five of six goals in the final against Holland. In 1956 in Melbourne, he became the first sportsperson from independent India to complete a hat-trick of gold medals Based on his achievements in sports, Balbir Singh Senior, who was then a Deputy Superintendent of Police, got elevated as the Director of Sports, where after serving for more than a decade, he retired at the same position. It was Balbir Singh Senior and Gurcharan Singh Bodhi that trained the 1975 World Cup team. Led by Ajit Pal Singh, chosen chef de mission for the 2012 London Olympic games, India won its only gold in the World Cup. Balbir Singh Senior also trained the 1982 Asian Games team that finished runner-up to Pakistan in New Delhi and later went on to beat Pakistan in the Esanda Cup Hockey Tournament in Melbourne. He has also written two books - the Golden Hat Trick (autobiography) and the Golden Yardstick (a training manual) and was also Indian flag-bearer at the 1952 and 1956 Olympic games. Even at this age, Balbir Singh Senior, an ardent yoga follower, makes it a point to watch every major hockey event in Chandigarh or Delhi and guide young players. The hat-trick man
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Olympic Qualifiers
Patiala, April 23 WFI secretary-general Raj Singh said neither Geetika nor Alka, whom the former defeated in the selection trials, have been handpicked for the qualifiers, and instead Anita would represent India in the 63kg category in the Helsinki event from May 4-6. Notably, Geetika had represented to the Sports Ministry that despite the fact that she was declared winner in the wrestling trials, the federation had declared retrials in her weight category to facilitate other player and the Sports Ministry then directed the WFI to give a written explanation in this regard. Talking to The Tribune, Raj Singh said they had scheduled the trials for today morning but Geetika Jakhar did not reach the spot and thus Alka Tomor was declared winner. "Still, we decided to repeat Anita's name only as the chief coach and the screening committee recommended Anita's name stating that she is a better player than both the girls and should be repeated for this tournament. We decided that rather than giving different players the opportunity to make it to the Olympics, we should choose the best one and give her multiple chances. Her performance in the past two years has been spectacular and she recently missed the chance to qualify for the mega event during the Asian Olympic Qualifying Tournament just by a whisker," added Raj Singh. Meanwhile, Geetika had alleged that she did not get a proper communication from WFI regarding the retrial and added that the federation did not make any arrangements for her visit to Delhi Appreciating the decision of the WFI, joint secretary of the Sports Ministry Rahul Bhatnagar said: "We are glad that the federation has given a chance to a deserving player rather than getting involved in a controversy. |
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Sushil looking to secure Olympic berth in China
New Delhi, April 23 Sushil, who failed to secure an Olympic berth during the Asian qualifiers in Kazakhstan last month, is all set to achieve his goal this time around when he leads a 15-member contingent to China, said his coach Yashvir Singh. "Sushil has got more chances of qualifying in China. He had some injury concerns in Kazakhstan but now he is totally fit and determined to seal his place in the London Olympics," Yashvir told PTI. Although there is another qualifying event scheduled in Finland from May 4-6 but Sushil would look to wrap it up in China itself. Yashvir said Sushil has realised his folly in the earlier qualifiers and has worked on the lacunae to come out as a better equipped player. "Sushil has realised the mistakes he committed in Kazakhstan and has worked hard on the grey areas, besides the pressure of not having qualified for the Olympics so far has also inspired him to do well in China," he insisted. Yashvir, who shares a long association with the former world champion, also said the grappler has adapted well to the changes in his game. The training in USA has particularly helped a lot. "Sushil is a well recognised wrestler and like we watch the footage of the other grapplers, they too keep a tab on our athletes. So it becomes important to bring in some novelty to your game so that you don't become too predictable," he said. — PTI |
AFC
Cup
Margao, April 23 Salgaocar, who have one point from four outings and struggling to assemble 18 fit players for tomorrow's match, are without their foreign strikers Edeh Chidi, Ryuji Sueoka, both not yet recovered from their injuries while French midfielder Maxime Belouet is not fully fit. Besides, defender Khelomba Meetei and Rocus Lamare are out due to suspension while Balwant Singh, Biswajit Saha and Rahul Kumar are fighting fitness battle. Salgaocar coach Karim Bencherifa expressed mix feeling as his team is playing for the first time in the AFC Cup. "The boys have done well in the three out of the four matches we have played. In the opening match against Al Arouba, we were close, we got a good result against Neftchi at home which was our best match as we came from behind to hold them to a 2-2 draw and collect the only point, and against Al Wehdat we had a great second half despite having a player sent off," stated Bencherifa. "Tomorrow is a challenge against Al Arouba without our key players. But going by the team performance I am confident that his team will deliver the good to script their first win," he said. Al Arouba are placed third with four points from four matches, four points adrift from table topper Al Wehdat. They have an outside chance to make it to the quarter-finals stage if they win both their remaining matches.
— PTI |
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Junior Asia Cup
New Delhi, April 23 India have been placed in Group B along with arch-rivals Pakistan, Sri Lanka and China, while Group A consists of Korea, Malaysia, Japan and Iran. India will play the Lankans on the second day of the competition on May 4, followed by games against Pakistan on May 6 and China on May 7.
— PTI |
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