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Run riot in Chennai, Super Kings survive
Mumbai close in on semifinal spot
Delhi look to keep up wins
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Kabaddi World Cup
Kabaddi catches common man’s fancy
This would make Indo-Pak relations better: Pak team
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Run riot in Chennai, Super Kings survive
Chennai, April 3 Opting to bat, Chennai rode on Vijay's stunning knock of 127 to post a highly challenging 246 on the board, which is the highest score in the cash-awash tournament. Vijay lit up the M Chidambaram Stadium with the stunning innings, which he adorned with 11 sixes and eight fours, while Albie Morkel also made a breezy 34-ball 62. The hosts then restricted Rajasthan to 223 for five, as opener Naman Ojha’s unbeaten 55-ball 94 and Shane Watson’s 60 off 25 balls went in vain. Chasing the stiff 247-run target, Rajasthan were off to a flying start with Michael Lumb (37 off 26) and Naman Ojha producing a 69-run opening partnership, before the Englishman was removed by Morkel in the eighth over. Lumb struck four six fours and a six during his innings. Hard-hitting batsman Yusuf Pathan (4), however, failed to show his pyrotechnics and returned cheaply when Morkel struck for his second wicket in the last ball of the same over. Watson, who hit five fours and as many sixes, then paired up with Ojha in the middle and the duo added 97 runs for third wicket partnership. But the partnership came to an end just when their team was cruising to the target, thanks to Doug Bollinger who bowled out Watson in the 16th over. From thereon, Rajasthan's runrate continued to dip and they kept losing wickets at regular intervals. Faiz Fazal (4) and Abhishek Jhunjhunwala (7) failed to deliver in the middle as despite a classy knock by Ojha, Rajasthan failed to achieve the target. For the hosts, Bollinger and Morkel took two wickets apiece, giving away 15 and 56 runs respectively. Earlier, Rajasthan's bowlers literally scurried for cover as Vijay came out with the stunning knock and Chennai bettered their own record of 240 runs against Punjab in an earlier match this season. It was a scintillating batting display by Vijay, who came out to open the innings with Australian power-hitter Matthew Hayden. Although Hayden also looked dangerous but yet again he failed to convert the good start and fell for a 21-ball 34 that included five fours and one massive six. Hayden was dismissed by Shrikant Wagh when he hit a half volley to extra cover, giving a simple catch to Watson, playing his first match for Chennai this season after being kept busy by national duty so far.
— PTI Scoreboard Rajasthan Royals: |
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Mumbai close in on semifinal spot
Opting to bat, Mumbai Indians piled up a challenging 178 for five, thanks to Rayudu and youngster Saurabh Tiwary who made a 44 off 35 balls at the floodlit Brabourne Stadium. The hosts then skittled out the Adam Gilchrist-led side for 115 in 18.2 overs, with left-arm pacer Zaheer, Harbhajan, Pollard and Ryan McLaren two wickets apiece. It was fifth straight defeat for the visiting team whose semifinal hopes receded further after this loss - their fifth in eight matches. The hosts, on the other hand, is almost through to the last-four with 14 points from eight games. Chasing a challenging 179-run target, the defending champions simply caved in by losing wickets at regular intervals as the hosts registered their sixth straight win in the tournament. Big overseas guns of Chargers - Gilchrist, Gibbs as well as Andrew Symonds failed to fire once again while VVS Laxman and Rohit Sharma too flopped. — PTI
Deccan Chargers:
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Delhi look to keep up wins
Daredevils had almost slid into the abyss, after suffering three straight defeats under Karthik, including two at home, when they took on Royal Challengers at their backyard in Bangalore in their sixth match. With powerful knocks from David Warner, De Villiers and a half century from debutant Kedar Jhadav, Delhi regained their winning touch to record their third win and the first under Karthik. The 17-run defeat was the second suffered by Anil Kumble’s team in six matches, and they have not forgotten that humiliation, though Daredevils have consolidated their position since, by recording two consecutive wins at home. Daredevils have now recorded five wins out of eight matches, and with captain Gautam Gambhir back at the helm, Daredevils are raring to have another go at Kumble’s Challengers. But Kumble’s team too are on a high after their convincing victory over Kings XI Punjab last night, and they have a choice of plenty to field players to suit any occasion. Daredevils have displayed their depth in batting and bowling as they no more depend on a couple of players like Sehwag and Gambhir to deliver. If David Warner’s century and his racy partnership with Paul Collingwood did the trick agaist Kolkata Knight Riders, the swashbuckling, no-holds-barred attacking knock by Karthik, without the burden of captaincy, setup the victory against Rajasthan Royals. Gambhir was too happy to play second fiddle to the blazing knock of the stumper-batsman. Farvez Maharoof turned out to be an able replacement for the injured Dirk Nannes and with the Kotla track playing slow, leg spinner Amit Mishra exploited the conditions to the hilt. Daredevils expect such a combined effort from the team when they face-off Royal Challengers. Daredevils and Royal Challengers have 10 points each from eight matches, and are second on the table behind Mumbai Indians, who are on 12 points from seven matches. Delhi cannot afford to take a resurgent Royal Challengers lightly, as they are back on a roll and have the distinction of inflicting Mumbai Indians their only defeat. Bangalore have big-game hunters like Kallis, Pietersen, Steyn, White and Taylor among foreign recruits, and Kumble, Praveen and Uthappa to field a well-balanced team.
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World Cup Kabaddi kicks off
Patiala , April 3 As chairman of the organising committee of the event and Deputy CM Punjab Sukhbir Singh Badal unfurled the flag and declared the games open - the jam-packed stadium cheered in unison. The presence of cine star Dharmendra and Sunny Deol in turbaned outfit literally made the event memorable for many, as the crowd was jostling to have a glimpse of their loved stars. The captivating colourful opening ceremony gave a befitting start to sports bonanza. While promising renewed focus on rural games in new sports policy of the state, Sukhbir Badal declared the games open at 8 pm and field was set open with nine nations vying for Rs 2.2 crore prize money in first ever “drug free” World Cup tournament. After having formal introduction with the players from teams from all participating nine countries, Sukhbir expressed happiness that his dream of giving boost to the traditional game Kabbadi has been realised. In his brief speech, Sukhbir said that new sports policy, yet to be announced, would be focusing on rural games and would open new vistas of employment for players with directions being issued to every department to fill the backlog of sports quota jobs within six months. Emphasizing that by adopting sports as our culture, Sukhbir said that games can wean away our youth from drugs and create a healthy society. Earlier in the day a colourful programme showcasing the cultural diversity of the country enthralled one and all. “The function seems to have projected the strength of a diverse country before whole world that was bound by common secular thread”, said many in the audience. While folk singer Sarbjit Cheema and Lakhwinder Wadali regaled the audience, comedian Bhagwant Mann and Jagtar Jaggi gave a new impetus to the show. The ceremony left the audience spellbound as they witnessed vibrant and colourful folk dances. Notably, the teams have been divided into two pools. Hosts India have been placed in Pool A while their traditional rivals Pakistan are in Pool B. United States of America, Australia, Italy and Iran are in Pool A along with India. Canada, United Kingdom and Spain are in Pool B along with Pakistan.
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Kabaddi World Cup
Patiala, April 3 The match began amidst loud cheers from the fans who had come from all corners of Punjab just to catch a glimpse of the kabaddi stars from nine top nations of the world. The India team led by renowned stopper Mangat Singh Mangi dominated from the beginning and retained dominance throughout the 40 minutes of the action-filled match. In the initial minutes, the raiders of both teams scored almost equal points but as the match started gearing up Indian stoppers gave a spectacular performance to nullify most of the raids. By half time, India had scored 31 points while USA were at 13. The US team tried unsuccessfully to come back into the game during the second half but failed to match the skill and determination of the Indians, backed by a vociferous crowd.
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Kabaddi catches common man’s fancy
Patiala, April 3 Hustle and bustle was in the air since afternoon, as hordes of villagers from far-flung areas of Punjab started reaching YPS Stadium, the venue, several hours ahead of the scheduled start of the mega event, just to ensure a seat for them. “Kabaddi is in my blood as I myself played Kabaddi from Shaukra village, Malerkotla”, echoed 60-years-old Satnam Singh, adding that now he is diabetic and want to relish the game by not missing any Kabaddi event. Amidst the hullabaloo, it seems bit surprising that how come all of a sudden Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, the brainchild behind the event, got so much interested in sports. Says a close aide of Sukhbir, “Channelising energy of youth towards sports is the best thing to keep them away from drugs. Though it took three years to transform his dream into reality but finally Sukhbir has fulfilled his promise of promoting sports at world level by taking initiative to organise the Kabaddi World Cup.” Interestingly, though nine countries are participating in the event but it is the players of Indian origin who are dominating most of the teams. For instance – the Australian team comprises of Kuldeep Singh, Jagjit Singh, Raj Kumar, Harjinder Singh and the list goes on. “The participants are actually the second and third generation Indians, who had settled in participating countries in late 60s and 70s”, said sources in the organising committee. Meanwhile, as all the roads leading to the YPS Stadium were dotted with big billboards announcing the start of the event, the craze for Kabaddi, especially among the farmers, could well be imagined from the fact that despite harvesting is on, farmers in huge number flocked Patiala today. “Shauk da koi mull nahi hunda (there is no price for the one’s love for sport”, chipped in another farmer Davinder Singh of village Bharthala Randhawa, near Ludhiana. Not only the veterans, even the youth are equally enthusiastic to be a part of the event. “There has been enough over-dose of cricket. Watching Kabaddi would be something really thrilling”, said a group of College going girls. Majority of people, who have come from various districts of Punjab, told The Tribune that they simply want to watch and enjoy the match. “I am still not able to believe that Kabaddi World Cup is here. It would be beginning of new era for the game and now Kabaddi would spread all across the world”, asserted Bara Singh and Dhyan Singh - farmers of Balachaur, Nawashehar.
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This would make Indo-Pak relations better: Pak team
Patiala, April 3 Speaking to The Tribune, coach of the Pak Kabaddi team Mazhar Bhatti said, “In Pakistan 50,000 people come to watch a routine Kabaddi tournament. The people there love the game more than Indians.” Bhatti also said that Indo-Pak cricket match is a routine affair in Pakistan but if Kabaddi World Cup is held in Pakistan, it would be much more successful and would attract more crowd than the cricketing events. Another team member Hamid Raza said that coming to India is like home coming. “Such events would help promote Kabaddi at the global level and we are happy that India took this initiative”, said an emotional Raza, while adding that such sporting events would also help in the strengthening of Indo-Pak ties. “Presently there is some disturbance going on in Pakistan but we are hopeful that as things become better, we would also be hosting such tournaments”, he added. M.Tayyab Gilani, the commentator of the Pakistan Kabaddi Team, said he loves to visit India. “I have been to India earlier also and I love the hospitality of the Indians”, said, a visibly elated Gilani. He further said that though in Pakistan the prize money is not that big but the interest among the Pakistani youth for Kabaddi is immense. “In our country, Kabaddi players get good amount of prize money, as well as jobs in the government departments”, he told The Tribune. Many other players of the 13-member squad expressed hope that this event would help in betterment of the Indo-Pak relations.
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Sitting pretty: 11 Gurdaspur MLAs as chief guests
Gurdaspur, April 3 Intriguingly, the organisers of the championship have not thought it prudent to adjust any former or present international or even national level sportsperson as the chief guest for prestigious event. According to sources, for the first match scheduled to be played between Italy and Australia the chief guests will be Transport Minister Master Mohan Lal, MLA Sujanpur Dinesh Singh Babu and MLA Narot Jaimalsingh Bishambar Dass. The Chief guests for the second match to be played between India and Iran will be Punjab Vidhan Sabha Speaker and Fatehgarh Churian MLA Nirmal Singh Kahlon, MLA Sri Hargobindpur Balbir Singh Bath and MLA Dinanagar Sita Ram Kashyap. The third match to be played between England and Canada will witness Agriculture Minister and MLA Dhariwal Sucha Singh Langah, Chief Parliamentary Secretary and MLA Batala Jagdeesh Raj Sahni, MLA Qadian Lakhbir Singh Lodhinangal and MLA Gurdaspur Gurbachan Singh Babbehali as guests of honour. “In our country politics is the skilled use of objects like sport. Our system is such that officials will be in a bind if at all they do not invite these politicians as chief guests to a sports event. To make matters worse, these elected representatives can not tell the difference between wrestling and rugby which kabaddi is all about,” disclosed a former Olympian on condition of anonymity. The Deputy Commissioner Dr Karamjit Singh Sra washed his hands off the vexed issue by saying that the list of chief guests had been finalised by the World Kabaddi meet organisers and that the District Administration had nothing to do with it. He denied that he was under any sort of pressure from any quarter for adjusting the politicians as chief guests. Director (Sports) Pargat Singh who is also the secretary of the Organising Committee for obvious reasons was guarded in his comments. “We have invited some sportspersons. However, I admit that due to political exigencies we could not accord them the honour of being chief guests. Our political system is such that sometimes for important sports functions we have to leave out sportsmen and instead invite political figures.” When queried over the exclusion of Gurdaspur Member Parliament Partap Singh Bajwa from the list of dignitaries invited for the function, vice chairman of the Organising Committee and former Akali Minister.
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Sutil 4th, Liuzzi 10th in qualifying
Sepang, April 3 Karun Chandhok, the lone Indian driver in the fray, however, found it difficult to handle his Hispania car in the slippery conditions and could only manage the 22nd position with 1m 56.299s on the clock ahead of teammate Bruno Senna (1m 57.269s) in the 24-driver grid. Australian Mark Webber grabbed Red Bull’s third successive pole, while Germany’s Nico Rosberg pipped his Mercedes teammate and seven-time World Champion Michael Schumacher for the third consecutive race to secure the second spot. Sutil claimed a strong fourth spot with a timing of 1 minute 50.914 sec, just behind Red Bull’s Sebestian Vettel (1m 50.789s), Roseberg (1m 50.673s) and Webber (1m 49.327s). Liuzzi, who finished inside the points bracket in the first two races, continued his impressive showing and made it two Force India cars in the top 10 with a timing of 1m 52.254s. Sutil said it was team effort and choosing the right tyres in the wet conditions played a crucial part to his success today. “It was a great qualifying again for us. As I expected it rained at 4pm. It was challenging and the conditions changed a lot over the sessions. Sometimes it was a lot of rain, sometimes half wet, half dry so it was very important to choose the right tyres. I think we did a great job in those conditions and every session we did the optimum,” Sutil said. “I am so happy to be in this position now. It’s a great achievement and my team really deserved it. They did a fantastic job: being there on the right time on the right tyre was very important. A great job all round,” he added. — PTI
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Manchester, April 3 Goals from Joe Cole after 20 minutes and a second from substitute Drogba in the 79th - in an offside position when he collected the ball before scoring - put Chelsea 2-0 ahead before substitute Federico Macheda scored two minutes later to give United hope of salvaging at least a point. The victory, inspired by an outstanding display from Florent Malouda, lifted Chelsea to 74 points, two ahead of United with both teams having five matches to play. Chelsea had the best of the opening half but United, without injured striker Wayne Rooney, had the better of the second in a largely tense game with few scoring chances for either side. Chelsea began the match, billed as the probable title-decider, with far more verve than United who looked leaden-footed and flat following their defeat to Bayern Munich in the Champions League on Tuesday, and Chelsea’s early dominance paid off when they went ahead. Malouda, who has been in outstanding form recently, powered his way through three defenders before holding off Darren Fletcher and crossing for Cole who scored with an impudent flick off his heel after 20 minutes. United failed to lift their game for the rest of the half but they looked livelier after the break with Dimitar Berbatovleading the line as a lone front man and going close with a well-taken header after 60 minutes. But just when United seemed likely to find an equaliser, Chelsea doubled their lead. Drogba, who replaced Nicolas Anelka 10 minutes earlier got the goal when he blasted the ball past Edwin van der Sar, but he was clearly in an offside position when he collected the ball from Saloman Kalou. Italian teenager Macheda set up a frantic finale when he bundled the ball in off a clearance from Chelsea keeper Petr Cech, but although Berbatov powered in a volley and a had a header saved, United could not save themselves. Arsenal, in third place on 68 points, could close the gap on United to one point if they beat Wolverhampton Wanderers at the Emirates Stadium. — Reuters
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Opener Murali Vijay cracked a blistering 56-ball century as Chennai Super Kings kept their semifinal hopes alive by beating Rajasthan Royals by 23 runs in a high-scoring Indian Premier League match here today.
Mumbai, April 3
Patiala, April 3
Patiala, April 3
Mumbai, April 3
Scoreboard
New Delhi, April 3
