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Looking back
Rajeev Nayyar quits first class cricket
South Africa seal series, make history
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Sania defaults on payment to AP police
Aussie team spirit in for a test: Warne
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Looking back
They were the Olympic Games that turned back the hands of time. In the Beijing Water Cube, Michael Phelps set the clock back to the Munich Games proceeded to push into a timeless dimension, finishing with an unprecedented booty of eight Olympic
golds. Michael Phelps represented the United States at the 2008 Summer Olympics. He qualified to compete in three team and five individual events, swimming 17 races in nine days and winning the gold medal in all eight events. Phelps set an Olympic record in the preliminary heats of the men's 400-meter individual medley.[60] He followed that up in the final by winning the gold medal, as well as breaking his previous world record by nearly two seconds. Phelps swam the first leg of the men's 4x100 m freestyle relay in a time of 47.51 seconds, and won his second gold medal, as well as setting his second world record of the Olympics (3:08.24). For his third race, Phelps broke his previous World Record in the 200-meter freestyle by nearly a second and won his third gold medal. He also set his third world record at the Olympics, 1:42.96, winning by nearly two seconds over silver medalist Park Tae-hwan. In this race, Phelps became only the fifth Olympic athlete in modern history to win nine career gold medals, along with Mark Spitz, Larissa Latynina, Paavo Nurmi, and Carl Lewis. The next day, Phelps participated in two finals. In his first event, the 200-meter butterfly, Phelps made it four gold medals and world records in four events by swimming the final in 1:52.03. This fourth gold medal was his tenth, and made him the all-time leader for most Olympic gold medals won by an individual in the modern Olympic era. Less than one hour after his gold medal victory in the 200-meter butterfly, Phelps swam the lead-off leg of the 4 x 200-meter freestyle relay. He won his fifth gold and set his fifth world record as the American team finished first with a time of 6:58.56. Phelps won his sixth gold of the Beijing Games on August 15 by winning the 200-meter individual medley with a World Record time of 1:54.23. On August 16, Phelps won his seventh gold in the men’s 100-meter butterfly, setting an Olympic record for the event with a time of 50.58 seconds and edging out Serbian-American swimmer Milorad Cavic, by 1/100 of a second. Unlike all six of his previous events in the 2008 Games, Phelps did not set a new world record, leaving Ian Crocker’s world record time of 50.40 seconds, set in 2005, intact. Phelps’ seventh gold medal of the Games tied Mark Spitz’s record for gold medals won in a single Olympic Games, set in the 1972 Olympics. On August 17, Phelps won his eighth gold medal in the men’s 4 × 100-meter medley relay, breaking Mark Spitz’s record of seven gold medals won in a single Olympic Games, which had stood since 1972. Ultimately, though, when the Games of the XXIX Olympiad are consigned to posterity, they will be remembered above all else for the human phenomenon known as the Lightning Bolt. He struck three times in the Bird's Nest, and on each occasion he splintered the bull's-eye. The abiding image of the Beijing Olympics will be that of Usain Bolt pushing back time in the men's 100m final. Well, not so much pushing. That infers a marked degree of stress and strain. Easing back time would be a more accurate description. In tennis, Rafael Nadal began the year in India, where he was the runner-up to Mikhail Youzhny at the Chennai Open. Nadal then reached the semifinals of the Australian Open for the first time. He won the French Open, becoming only the fifth man in the open era to win a Grand Slam singles title without losing a set. Nadal then played Federer in the final of Wimbledon for the third consecutive year, in the most anticipated match of their rivalry. They played the longest final in Wimbledon history, and because of rain delays, Nadal won the fifth set 9-7 in near-darkness. The match was widely lauded as the greatest Wimbledon final ever, with some long-time tennis critics even calling it the greatest match in tennis history. Finally Nadal earned the World No. 1 ranking on August 18, officially ending Federer's record four-and-a-half year reign at the top. At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Nadal defeated Fernando González of Chile in the final to win his first Olympic gold medal. On 10 November Nadal withdrew from his Davis Cup tie final against Argentina as his injury to his knee had not healed well enough. In football, the major tournament of the year was indeed the UEFA Euro 08 championship. The Euro 2008, jointly hosted by Austria and Switzerland was a grand success for the footballing world. The tournament had everything, from goals to controversies, to underdog tales. Spectators turned up, stars shone bright and Spain were the champions as they defeated Germany in the final 1-0. — Agencies |
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Rajeev Nayyar quits first class cricket
Chandigarh, December 30 He made his debut in first class cricket at the age of 17 years in 1986, becoming perhaps the youngest player to play in Ranji Trophy. He was also the first Himachal player to score a century in Ranji Trophy, against Haryana in 1988. He also is the first Himachal player to score centuries against Delhi, Punjab, Services, J&K and Haryana. He represented the Himachal Ranji Trophy team for a record time of 18 years. He has also captained the Himachal Ranji Team on eight occasions. In 1990 under his captainship Himachal won the first Ranji Trophy match against Services. In this match Rajeev scored 92 not out in the first innings and 82 in the second. In 2001 he scored 99 not out in first innings and 104 not out in second against Haryana in a Ranji tie, and due to his performance Himachal reached the knock-out stage in Ranji for the first time. He also holds the distinction of being the first Himachali to score more than 7,000 runs with 20 centuries and 32 fifties at an average of 44.97 in 96 first class matches. He also has 32 wickets in Ranji Trophy. Rajeev’s crowning glory came when in 1999 he broke the record of Hanif Mohammad for the longest stay at the wicket. Rajeev batted for 1,015 minutes and scored 271 against J&K. His name was entered in the Guinness Book of World Records. Due to his outstanding in Ranji he was selected to represent North Zone in Duleep Trophy for number of times. In the year 1999 North Zone won the Duleep Trophy Championship. Rajeev played a major role scoring 102 against South Zone, 92 against Central Zone and 120 against West Zone in the final game of Duleep Trophy at Eden Garden. Rajeev has played eight Duleep Trophy matches so far. In these matches he has scored 4 centuries and 4 fifties with the average of 80.40. In his last Ranji Trophy match in 2005 he scored 101 not out against Goa at Goa and won the match. Rajeev is the first Himachali to play minor county cricket in U.K. for a record time of 10 years and made a lot of records there. Rajeev has the record of playing 97 Ranji Trophy matches. Rajiv has done level-II cricket course at Bangalore in 2006. He has taken the guidance under his father Major S.C. Nayyar who played Ranji Trophy, and former Test player Yograj Singh and Harish Sharma. The HPCA got affiliation in 1985 when Major SC Nayyar was the secretary. Only later under the guidance of Anurag Thakur the state’s cricket has achieved new heights. Although Rajeev regrets not playing for India he plans to coach kids in either Himachal or Chandigarh. And hopes, that one day, one of his students will wear that coveted blue jersey, that he always yearned for. |
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South Africa seal series, make history
Melbourne, December 30 Since touring Australia for the first time in 1910-11, this was the Proteas' maiden series win Down Under -- their previous best performance being a 1-1 draw back in 1963-64. Having taken an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series, South Africa will topple Australia from their top ranking if Graeme Smith's men can win the third and final Test in Sydney. Resuming on 30 for no loss, South Africa needed 42 overs to score the remaining 153 runs losing just one wicket for a memorable win and the moment came soon after lunch when Hashim Amla flicked Michael Clarke behind square leg for two runs. In a match where Smith struck two fifties, JP Duminy scored his maiden hundred and Ponting scored 101 and 99, fats bowler Dale Steyn was adjudged Man of the Match for his match haul of 10 for 154 besides the crucial 76 he scored in the first innings. Smith was the lone South African wicket to fall in the second innings. The South African captain was trapped leg before by Nathan Hauritz after making a 94-ball 75 with 10 boundaries in it. Neil McKenzie (59) and Amla (30) remained not out after guiding the team to a historic win. Ponting, meanwhile, became the first Australian captain in 16 years to suffer a series defeat on home soil. Last time Australia lost a series at home was against the West Indies in 1992-93. More than their bowling attack, Australia's slim chance of saving the match depended on rain. Though there was slight drizzle in the morning, play started on schedule and South Africa could not be denied the win they so thoroughly deserved. Ponting once again ignored Mitchell Johnson despite the left-arm seamer being Australia's best bowler of the season so far. Instead, the Australia skipper relied more on Brett Lee and Peter Siddle. Lee, who is set to undergo a foot surgery, looked in pain and hobbled. Matthew Hayden's nightmare also continued and the Australian opener today dropped McKenzie in the first slip when the batsman was on 49. Having made history, Graeme Smith, meanwhile, was all smiles. “I have been smiling since the winning runs. It's incredible. It has been a team effort and when it's come to key moment in this Test we've stepped up," a beaming Smith later said. “JP (Duminy) was incredible and the self belief in the team is flowing. It's an honour to come here and beat a quality unit. We're going to celebrate and enjoy our New Year and not many of us are thinking about Sydney," Smith said. His opposite number Ponting was graceful in defeat and he hinted there might be a few changes in the side for the Sydney Test. “We deserved to be in this position and full marks to South Africa . They won very comfortably, a well deserved series win. Things were looking good for us at one stage, but their tail played exceptionally well and Lee went down through injury. “We weren't able to convert our opportunities. Let’s see what the selectors come up with for next week,” Ponting said. — PTI Scoreboard Australia (2nd innings): 247 South Africa (1st innings): 459 South Africa (2nd innings): (overnight 30/0) Smith lbw b Hauritz 75 McKenzie not out 59 Amla not out 30 Extras (lb-9, w-2, nb-8) 19 Total (one wicket, 48 overs) 183 Fall of
wicket: 1-121. Bowling: B Lee 10-0-49-0, P Siddle 14-5-34-0, M Johnson 11-1-36-0, N Hauritz 10-0-41-1, M Clarke 3-0-14-0. |
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Sania defaults on payment to AP police
Hyderabad, December 30 Despite repeated reminders to clear the arrears of user fee, the tennis star failed to respond. “We have issued a notice to her asking her to make the payment for the security obtained from City Security Wing (CSW). We have a well laid-down procedures for recovery of such amounts and we will follow those procedures,” the City Police Commissioner B Prasada Rao told reporters here today. According to police sources, Sania had neither replied to the four reminders sent by the police authorities so far nor did she come forward to make the payment. Sania was given a gunman each in two shifts for more than nine months; she is required to pay Rs 25,000 per month for the security. In May last, the police withdrew security to her as she failed to pay user fee for her bodyguards. Since then, reminders were sent to her periodically to which she did not respond. “Along with Sania Mirza, there are other VIPs who have defaulted on payment and we are proceeding as per rules,” the Commissioner said. “Those who are being provided police security as per the threat perception or their personal request should either get a waiver from the government or bear the expenses,” a senior police official said. Sania, a Padmasri awardee, does not face any threat to her life from any quarters, as per the assessment made by a high-level security review committee. "They are supposed to make advance payments. If anybody fails to make payment for the service, we issue notices to them", the Police Commissioner said. At present, the CSW is providing security to around 150 persons based on their threat perception. |
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Aussie team spirit in for a test: Warne
Melbourne, December 30 With individual careers of players like Matthew Hayden and Brett Lee at the crossroad after Australia lost the second Test here to be 0-2 down in the three-match series, Warne feels it would be a challenge for the team to think as a unit. "The real team spirit will be tested," Warne said on Channel 9 commentary. "You've got to not get insular and not just worry about your own game. The series is gone and they are going to be under pressure," he added. The legendary leg-spinner took the occasion to lavish praise on the South Africans for humbling the Aussie in their own backyard. "South Africa have copped some beatings here before, but they have really deserved to win. They have been the best side. South Africa have won the big moments and that has been the major difference in this series compared to others," he pointed out. Meanwhile, some former players questioned the logic behind Ricky Ponting's decision not to open with his in-form bowler Mitchell Johnson on the fifth day. "This is an amazing move by Ponting. His wicket-taker, without any shadow of a doubt, is Mitchell Johnson. You have surely got to have your strike bowler in the attack," former England captain Tony Greig said. Former Australian captain Bill Lawry echoed the view and said, "Nothing against Peter Siddle, but I would have thought Mitchell Johnson would have taken the new ball," he said. — PTI
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Chandigarh, December 30
