New Delhi, April 25
Saina Nehwal’s jinx with the Indian Open Badminton Super Series continued as for the third consecutive year, she crashed out early, this time to Japan’s Yui Hashimoto at 21-13,12-21, 20-22 in a little over an hour at the Siri Fort Stadium here tonight.

After winning the first game rather comfortably, though she allowed her nippy opponent to pull back after leading 10-3 to narrow the lead to 16-12, she raced ahead to win the game. But in the second game, Saina became error prone and her game went to pieces when the nippy Hashimoto started tossing the bird up, and covered the court like an antelope, to place the shuttle beyond the reach of the No 1 seed, whose fight ended after tying the score at 5-5. Thereafter, the Japanese lass pulled ahead with a series of smashes and drops while nothing seemed to go right for Saina, not even the tutoring of her coach P Gopichand.

In the third game, Saina started promisingly, taking a 2-0 lead, but her rival quickly caught up to even the score at 4-4, and thereafter, it was a close fight till Saina took the lead at 17-16 when Hashimoto slammed into the net, and then hit out to give Saina an 18-16 lead. Though Saina herself committed such an error by flicking into the net, she executed the best mid court smash of the match to lead 19-17, and a brilliant net drop put her on match point. And when Hashimto’s smash landed at the back court of Saina, she though it was out and she began exulting, but the umpired called it correct, though there were loud protests from the stands, to give a lifeline to the Japanese girl, who did not let go the chance to wrap the game and the match to cause the biggest upset of the tournament. Saina herself struk the last nail, by hitting out after the Japanese girl had smashed a brilliant point to be on match point.

Though Saina’s exit had come as a great shock to the packed stands, the homes fans had much to shout about as many Indians made it into the quarter finals, notably P.V.Sindhu in the women’s singles, and H.S.Prannoy in the men’s singles. Sindhu scalped a second Chinese head when she defeated Yu Sun 19-21,21-19.21-15 after a 68-minute battle to set up a quarter-final meeting with Yui Hashimoto, though had Saina won, it would have been an all-India clash.

Prannoy scored a dream victory against former World No 1 Taufik Hidayat 26-24, 21-19 to fulfill a dream as never before, the Indian boy had clashed against the Indonesian great, despite being in the same half of the draw a few times. Prannoy’s strategy was to win the first game by any means, and then do his best in the second to hand on as the temperamental former World and Olympic champion gave up the fight after he started trailing in the second game.

There were other pleasing wins for the hosts as Grusaidutt maintained his fine form to take the measure of giant-killer K Srikanth 21-12, 21-16 in 34 minutes while Anand Pawar stunned third seed Hu Yun 21-15,15-21,21-10. Ajay Jayaram rushed past DH Rumbaka of Indonesia 21-15, 21-12, never letting go of his lead even once, while Sai Praneeth made short work of I.S.Zainuddin of Malaysia 16-21, 29-27,21-16 in 69 minutes. It was one of the toughest matches, but the Indian boy withstood the pressure admirably to have the last laugh.

New Delhi, April 25
Sachin Tendulkar’s prolonged form slump may have raised questions on his retirement but West Indies legend Sir Vivian Richards reckons the veteran batsman is still a “class act” and should not be pressured into calling time on his career.

“When Sachin wants to retire is his call. It’s completely an individual call. He alone should decide. I would never dare to walk up to Sachin and tell him that ‘You go tomorow’,” Richards said.

“Everyone knows that I am a fan of Sachin. He is still a class-act and doesn’t look out of place even in T20’s which is a modern day game. Let him go to 50 and I will still like to watch him,” Richards, who is in an advisory role with Delhi Daredevils team, said today.

Richards felt that the meticulous approach with which Tendulkar prepares for a match is an indicator about his passion for the game and something that youngsters can learn from. “Having Sachin is an wonderful indicator about how one prepares for a match,” he said. The veteran of 121 Tests said that Virender Sehwag still has a lot to offer to Indian cricket and should take a cue from Chris Gayle’s batting approach.

“We all know that Sehwag is a magnificent player. What has happened to him can happen to the best players but I will always have him in my team,” he pointed out.

“Viru can take a cue from Gayle’s approach. When I mean you bluff the opposition, it’s about changing your approach a little bit. Gayle loves to hit sixes from the first ball but there are times when he waits for a certain period of time before attacking.

“I want Viru to do that. Take a few singles and stay there. Because when players like Gayle and Sehwag stay for a longer period of time, the bowling side starts sweating a little. They start apprehending as to when these guys will have a go,” he explained.

“It’s like driving. When you see the red light, you have got to stop and wait. Again when you see the green light, you set your foot on the pedal and accelerate,” he pointed out.

The Delhi Daredevils’ IPL has been disastrous but Richards said that he has come to “keep the hopes alive.”

“They (Daredevils) did very well last year and just because they have lost doesn’t make them a bad team overnight. If they work collectively, better days are sure to come,” he said.

The 61-year-old Antiguan believes that one needs to look at the bigger picture about how results can change in sports over a period of time. “Look at Barcelona and Real Madrid. Such great teams taking a hiding in the Champions League semi-finals regardless of the quality of players they have. But they need to continue to keep up the faith and show the ‘never-say-die’ attitude.” When questioned whether Gayle’s technique of “stand and hit” will mark an end to all the coaching manuals which talk about footwork and shoulder position etc, he said “I doubt Chris plays like this in Tests”.

“You have to realise that each format now has a different requirement. I am very happy to see the way modern day cricket has evolved in the era of T20. I wouldn’t like to get into comparisons as to how I would have fared. I guess, everyone nowadays fancies their chances when you have 65-yard boundaries.” Richards gave a simple about batsmanship. “Batsmanship is all about hitting the gaps. If you can’t find the gaps, you have to clear the boundary.” Asked what would have been his batting position in T20 cricket, opening or No 4, he replied, “I guess when you play a fast and furious game like T20, you expect to face as many deliveries as possible. You need enough time to compete. I guess the best should play most of the bowling.” Richards believed that a stare at the fast bowler was good enough rather than indulging into mindless sledging. — PTI

Chennai, April 25
Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni struck 67 from 37 balls (7 fours, four sixers) to salvage a win for Chennai Super Kings from a seemingly losing position against Sunrisers Hyderabad here tonight.

Set 160 to win, CSK won the match on the fourth ball of the final over. Michael Hussey had provided the initial fillip to the CSK innings with 45 off 26 balls (5x4, 2x6). But once he fell, the Chennai outfit began to lag behind as Murali Vijay (18 off 22 balls), Suresh Raina (16 off 13), Dwayne Bravo (7 off 16) and Ravindra Jadeja (1 off 4) all failed. But Dhoni was around, beginning slowly, getting just four runs off the first 13 balls he faced. Then he suddenly caught fire.

CSK required 46 from 24 balls. In the 18th over, Bravo, who had struggled seven off 16 balls, tried to pull Ishant for six but only managed to hit it to Ashish Reddy at deep square-leg. Only four runs came off Ishant’s over, and CSK now needed 28 off 12 balls.

Dhoni then changed gears quite suddenly and tellingly. Next over was bowled by Steyn, and Dhoni took him to the cleaners yet again, getting 12 off the first three balls, including a six over the mid-wicket fielder off a slower ball. That stroke took Dhoni to 52 off 32 balls. But off the fifth ball of the over, Steyn got Jadeja, caught at point, and CSK needed 15 off the last over. Ashish Reddy was given his first over at this stage by Cameron White, the Hyderabad captain.

Big mistake. Reddy began with a wide, then foxed Dhoni with a slower one. The next slower one was hit for six by Dhoni. Now Reddy bowled another wide, and it beat the wicketkeeper too – five wides. CSK now needed three off three balls. Dhoni hit the next ball for four down the ground to finish the match in style.

Earlier, Shikhar Dhawan scored 63 off 45 balls and A Ashish Reddy36 off 16 balls to set up the challenging Hyderabad total of 159.

Brief scores
Sunrisers Hyderabad 159/6 in 20 overs (Dhawan 63, Ashish Reddy 36; Mohit Sharma 2/33, Bravo 2/37)

Chennai Super Kings 160/5 in 19.4 overs (Dhoni 67, Hussey 45; Mishra 3/26)

Chandigarh, April 25
Even as Viv Richrds, no doubt making a fairly big pay cheque for his association with an IPL team this year, spoke words that would have sounded like music to Indian ears, praising Virat Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar to the sky, a former Australian captain has spoken about the bad effects excessive “easy money” from T20 can have on players.

Former Australian captain Mark Taylor has said that the millions being offered by Twenty20 cricket — terming it “easy money” — have reduced Australian batsmen’s hunger to succeed in Test cricket.

“If you look at the IPL and the money that’s going around there, that’s got to be a big influence I think. As much as they all say ‘Test cricket’s the No. 1’, a million dollars is very distracting,” Taylor told the cricket website espncricinfo. “You look at Glenn Maxwell getting US$1 million to go play in the IPL and he’s not even playing. How do you compete with that?”

“How do you tell a young player making the next Australian Test team is more important? Knock back an IPL contract and spend two years working on your batting technique to get in for a Test match, and throw away $2 million? It’s easier said than done.”

“The idea of the contracts system going back to my time was to give players security, and they’ve now got that,” he said. “I think the CA contracts and even the state contracts give players good security, much more than there was back in the 1990s, and that’s what should happen.”

“But I’m not sure any of these contracts can ever make up for an IPL contract. There’s probably no security in the IPL, but if you get a $2 million contract you don’t need a lot of security. And that’s impossible to compete with.” — TNS

Chennai, April 25
Former Pakistan skipper Waqar Younis says Dale Steyn is among the top three fast bowlers of all time and reckons the South African has it in him to “hit the top” if he keeps going for a another 2-3 seasons.

“Dale Steyn is definitely in the top three for me. And if he keeps going like this for the next two-three seasons, he’ll hit the top. Not many bowlers have swung the ball at his pace and have had his fitness,” Waqar said.

The 41-year fast bowling great is working as a mentor with Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL.

“I don’t want to offend anyone because there have been some seriously great bowlers in the last four-five decades that I can remember. We’ve had Imran Khan, Kapil Dev, Dennis Lillee, Glenn McGrath, Wasim Akram, Michael Holding and so many big names,” he was quoted as saying by the IPL website.

Waqar was candid in his admission that he was a “big fan” of Steyn who has played a key role in getting his team to a good position in the tournament with eight wickets at 19.00 and an economy rate of 5.46.

Waqar hope Ishant Sharma would live up to his potential in the future.

“He is a very, very hard-working kid. He really wants to learn. Fair enough, he hasn’t lived up to his potential up until now but he is on his way. I believe he will do well in the future.” The Pakistani great said unhelpful conditions in the Indian sub-continent was Ishant’s bane.

“The first and the biggest reason are the slow pitches in India. They don’t suit his bowling style. He has played most of his 50 Test matches in India.

“I think it has a lot to do with his action as well. He’s got a hard action and his height makes it even tougher for him,” he said. — PTI

Patiala, April 25
Having made a mark in the London Olympics with four players making an Olympic cut for the first time ever in the history of Indian walking, walkers are the next in thing when it comes to Indian athletics. One man who deserves credit for this remarkable achievement is Gurdev Singh.

Born in Kedva Khurd village in Ambala District, Gurdev has been a ten-time national champion in walking and has held the national record in 20 km and 50 km. After serving in Indian Army for about 15 years, he did his NIS diploma from Patiala with a view to preparing international level walkers. Soon after he finished his diploma, he was attached with the Indian squad and within five years, he had much to be happy about. Yet, he doesn’t seem to be overjoyed with the success as he is not just eyeing Olympic participation but ending the medal drought at the mega event when it comes to his sport.

The 17th National Federation Cup Senior Athletics Championship was a testing time for him and his wards. Making Gurdev proud, his trainees have bagged top three places in the men’s section — Babu Bhai Panucha, Kuldeep and Sandeep Kumar. Among the women too, his trainees Kushbir Kaur won gold and Rani Yadav won silver.

Enthralled, Gurdev said his dream is to win an Olympic medal. “Of the four walkers that completed at London, three were from my centre and the icing on the cake was KT Irfan’s performance,” the coach said. “This has certainly boosted mine and players’ confidence but we certainly are not over-excited about it because we know we have a long way to go. Three of our players have already qualified for World Championship that will be held in August but we are still eyeing some more slabs.”

Speaking to The Tribune about the changes he had introduced in the training methods in the past five years, Gurdev said: “We have started laying much more focus on technique now. At first, walking seems quite simple but a lot of technicalities are involved in it. Therefore we are working on skill development which varies from player to player. Moreover, earlier we hardly had four players training alongside each other and thus there was limited scope of improvement but now when almost 20 Indian campers, almost of the same level, train simultaneously, the competition becomes more intense and the chances of improvement are much higher.”

Sudha improves mark

Meanwhile, Sudha Singh improved her three-year old meet mark in women's 3000m steeplechase en route to winning a gold on the third day of the Federation Cup.

London Olympian Sudha clocked 10 min 13.83 secs while Wahida Rehman (CRPF) was a distant second in 10:52.43. Haryana's Jaiveer retained the men's 3000m steeplechase title with a time of 8:57.86 after he logged in a battle with Rajasthan's Naveen Kumar (8:58.38) in most part of the race. Chandrodaya Narayan Singh also successfully defended his title in hammer throw. (With PTI inputs)

Patiala, April 25
“Vijender has been given clean chit by National Anti Doping Agency (NADA) and therefore we absolutely have no issues with him,” Sports Authority of India director general Jiji Thomson said during his maiden visit at the National Institute of Sport here today. “He is currently on leave but can join the camp any day he wants.”

Thomson said since Vijender Singh has tested negative for all prohibited substances, including heroin, there was no question of suspecting him as far as consuming heroin was concerned. But, he added, SAI has decided to begin the scientific monitoring of players and coaches so as to avoid any such controversy in future.

Talking about his visit, he said NIS Patiala was a premier sports institute of the country and he would ensure that that it touches new heights as far as facilities are concerned.

“We have top class players who have delivered good results in past many years and I am happy with the functioning of the camps here. The infrastructure is world-class. However, we are open to suggestions from players and their coaches on any front so that we would further excel,” added the DG.

He took a round of all camps in the institute and interacted with the players and coaches to inquire about the functioning. He even held a meeting of the NIS administrative staff and sought their cooperation in running the institute smoothly. 

Dortmund, April 25
Robert Lewandowski scored four goals to inspire Borussia Dortmund to a stunning 4-1 demolition of Real Madrid in their Champions League semi-final first leg on Wednesday.

Poland striker Lewandowski became the first player to score four goals in a Champions League semi-final and opened his account after eight minutes.

The 24-year-old added three more in the second half, including an emphatic penalty to leave the nine-times European champions badly wounded. Cristiano Ronaldo equalised just before the break for the Spaniards, who face a monumental task against Dortmund, still undefeated in the competition, in Tuesday's home leg.

Dortmund, who beat Real at home in the group stage, had hoped the surprise transfer of Mario Goetze to Bayern Munich announced on Tuesday would not distract them.

Goetze soon paid them back, curling a superb cross into the box for Lewandowski to tap in after holding off Real's Pepe for his seventh goal of the Champions League campaign.

It took Real more than 20 minutes to curb their opponents' attacking game and Ronaldo tested goalkeeper Roman Weidenfeller with a stinging long-range free kick. But they needed a Dortmund mistake to level in the 43rd, seconds after the Germans had demanded a penalty for a challenge on Marco Reus. Central defender Mats Hummels miscued a back pass and Gonzalo Higuain intercepted before feeding the unmarked Ronaldo who levelled with his 12th goal of the competition.

Ronaldo's goal equalled a record of scoring in six successive Champions League games and left him level with Thierry Henry in fourth place on the Champions League all-time scorers' list with his 50th goal. But Real's joy was short lived when Lewandowski struck twice in five minutes after the break as Dortmund resumed their domination.

The Pole was picked out by Reus in the 50th minute to score from close range after evading the offside trap and he controlled a Marcel Schmelzer cross to drill in from 10 metres after a superb piece of skill. He completed a brilliant individual and team performance when he converted a 66th-minute spot-kick with Real looking wildly out of sorts, much like their arch-rivals Barcelona in Munich. — Reuters

Dortmund, April 25
When Germany advanced to the 2010 World Cup semi-finals with four-goal wins over England and Argentina it became clear something special was brewing in German football.

Fast forward three years and two more four-goal thrashings for German sides this week showed the nation's international comeback looks to have jumped on another stage.

Borussia Dortmund gave Real Madrid a lesson in attacking football on Wednesday, crushing the nine-times European champions 4-1 in their Champions League semi-final first leg 24 hours after Bayern Munich's 4-0 demolition of Barcelona.

The duo are heavy favourites to make it a first all-German Champions League final, which would guarantee an end to the country's 12-year wait to lift the famous trophy.

Much of the success can be credited to a move which came a year after Bayern defeated Valencia on penalties in 2001 to win a fourth title.

Fed up with a lack of international success, youth academies became a prerequisite in 2002 for all first and second division German clubs.

More than 700 million euros (594.79 million pounds) has been pumped in to youth work nationwide since with Dortmund's fledgling side showing the investment has clearly paid off.

Germany internationals Mats Hummels, Marco Reus, Mario Goetze, Marcel Schmelzer, Ilkay Guendogan and Sven Bender all mesmerised with their attacking game on Wednesday as the expensively assembled Real side had no answer.

None of the six took part in the last World Cup as they were too young, but their emergence bodes well for the national team and perhaps justifies why the German Football Association (DFB) picked Dortmund as the venue for their national football museum which will open in 2014.

All the talk before Wednesday's clash had been on another Dortmund youth academy product, though, after the club agreed to sell Mario Goetze to Bayern the day before for a reported 37 million euros.

Dortmund, however, were unfazed as striker Robert Lewandowski fired four goals to leave them dreaming of a second Champions League title and Real stunned as their hopes of a 10th look to have been postponed for another year. — Reuters

Barcelona, April 25
Spanish tennis player Rafael Nadal beat Argentina`s Carlos Berlocq 6-4, 6-2 in the second round of Conde de Godo here.

The 26-year-old Nadal had no trouble at the beginning of the match and quickly broke serve before racing to a 5-3 lead in the first set Wednesday.

Berlocq, who is ranked 63rd in the world, showed spirit, breaking Nadal`s serve and looking to attack the Spaniard at the net, but Nadal kept cool and took the next game to claim the opening set.

The wind whipping around the court complicated matters for both players, but Nadal made his class count, although he needed six match points to finally seal his win.

The pair had met earlier this season in Sao Paulo, where Berlocq had taken a set off Nadal, as Nadal made his way to a tournament victory on his way back to full fitness after being out action since last June with a knee injury.

It was Nadal`s first match in what is a special tournament for him and the Conde de Godo comes on the back of his defeat to Novak Djokovic in Monte Carlo last week.

David Ferrer, who is currently world number four, was defeated by Russia`s Dmitry Tursunov 5-7, 6-3, 1-6 in one hour and 56 minutes.

Ferrer said afterwards that he had not been physically and mentally at his best, admitting that the Russian had been more aggressive on court.

The defeat leaves Nadal as favourite for the tournament he has already won seven times, with four of his final victories coming against Ferrer. Nadal`s next rival will be the winner of the match between fellow Spaniard, Pablo Andujar or Frenchman Benoit Paire. — IANS

BRIEFLY

Oosthuizen bettered by 5, India stars far behind
Seoul: World No. 7 Louis Oosthuizen was tucked in one stroke behind the leaders with two holes to go when bad light ended play prematurely in the Ballantine's Championship first round. The South African trailed clubhouse leaders Jean-Baptiste Gonnet of France, Australian Kieran Pratt, Swede Johan Edfors, Briton Matthew Baldwin and South Korean Kim Gi-whan who all shot 67s. It was a slow day for the Indians as SSP Chowrasia and Shiv Kapur were tied 34th at one-under and Gaganjeet Bhullar and Jyoti Randhawa tied 54th at par with Jeev Milkha Singh one stroke behind, tied 76th.

Bangla 300/6 on Day 1
Harare: Bangladesh ended the first day of the second test against Zimbabwe at 300 for six after the hosts elected to field. Shakib Al Hasan, who scored 81, was supported by Mushfiqur Rahim who scored 60.
Scores: Bangladesh
300/6 (Tamim Iqbal 49, Shakib Al Hasan 81, Mushfiqur Rahim 60; Chigumbura 2/59)

Rajasthan post win
New Delhi: Five goals from Sonu helped Rajasthan thrash Bengal 9-2 in a Pool B league match of the Hockey India Senior Women National Championships. The goalscorers for Rajasthan were Sonu (17th, 21st, 50th, 58th, 64th minutes), Jaya Chouhan (19th, 52nd) and Prabhjot Kaur (61st, 69th).