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Kashyap
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To scream or not to scream, that is the question
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Devendro punches his way through
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Torrid day for Indian archers
Hancock wins 2nd straight men’s skeet gold
Venus crushes Wozniak
Virat Kohli seals series win for India
interview with 800m world champion
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Kashyap
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knockout
stage
London, July 31 The 21st ranked Kashyap outplayed his rival, ranked 11 places above him, 21-9 21-14 in the second and final Group D match of the men's singles event. By virtue of today's win, Kashyap finished on top of Group D, having beaten Belgium's Tan Yuhan in an earlier game.
Saina, ranked fifth in the world, too had little difficulty in disposing off the challenge of Belgium's Lianne Tan 21-4 21-14 in a Group E women's singles match last night. Against his higher ranked opponent today, Kashyap played aggressively right from the word go and never let the Vietnamese shuttler settle down. Kashyap set up the points beautifully by opening the court and executed the winners with ease. In all the Indian took 35 minutes to down his opponent and move to the next stage. The match featured long rallies with both the players playing some fierce flat shots, but it was the Indian who scored points consistently. Minh tried to claw his way back in the second game but Kasyhap never let the momentum slip and clinched the issue with a cross-court smash to the left of his rival. As expected Kashyap was delighted with the easy win but rued that his father could not be there to see him dominate the match. "I expected to win but not that easily. Not that it was an easy game - we had some long rallies and when he gets into his rhythm he can be very dangerous." Kashyap said. "My dad didn't get a UK visa in time. I don't know what's going on with the British Embassy. I feel really bad. I really wanted him to be here to see me play, especially in a match like this - to see me beat a player like this. I really hope that he'll get here tomorrow." Talking about his rival Minh today, Kashyap said he was not an easy player to beat. "Once he gets two or three points in a row he's very dangerous, so I really tried to keep it to two points only. If he gets five or six he can run away with the game. I trained really hard for this competition and I think I won because of my fitness levels," he said. Among other Indian shuttlers in the fray, Commonwealth Games gold medallist pair of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponappa also set the Wembley Arena ablaze when they stunned world number 10 Yu Chin Chien and Wen Hsing Cheng of Chinese Taipei 25-23 16-21 21-18 in a Group B round-robin match of the women's doubles late last night. However, Jwala and Ashwini had to toil hard to register the win. The Indian pair was pushed to the backfoot after they lost their first group match but the duo then played out of its skin to keep themselves afloat in the competition. World number 20 Jwala and Ashwini blew an early 11-6 lead to allow the Chinese Taipei pair to claw back and earn a game point at 20-19 in the first game. The Indian combo then saved game point thrice before moving into a game point themselves. However, they faltered again to allow the rivals to come back into the match before restoring their second game point at 24-23. A Chinese Taipei player found the net after a long rally to hand over the first game advantage to the Indian. In the second game, Jwala and Ashwini tried to vary the pace of the long rallies, but they were erratic as Cheng and Chien lead 11-7 at the break. The Indian pair failed to negotiate the bodyline and angled smashes. The Chinese Taipei soon earned a game point at 20-14 when Ashwini hit the nets. Though the Indians saved a couple of game points, Ashwini hit wide to allow their rivals to come back into the match. In the decider, Jwala and Ashwini earned a small 11-9 lead early on. After the interval, they extended the lead to 16-12 and cautiously moved to 18-19 when a silly mishit by Cheng gave India the match point. The Indians didn't make any mistake after that and sealed the match with a disguised drop. The 2011 world champion bronze medallist pair of Jwala and Ashwini will take on world number 13 Shinta Mulia Sari and Lei Yao of Singapore in their last group stage match today. — PTI |
To scream or not to scream, that is the question
Stillness of body and mind lies at the centre of a successful shooter's construct. Shooters hate adrenaline highs - they'd rather have ice in their veins instead of blood. So that, when competition reaches a climax, their body and hands wouldn't shake as they press the trigger, which is light as a feather. They don't like it when it becomes noisy inside the shooting hall - each one of them. But the International Shooting Sport Federation, to liven up a staid sport, wants noise and music at the shooting hall to get the audience involved. They had loud music on before the final began, and they had a young woman exhorting the crowd to be noisy. "A score of 10 is awesome - if it's 10.5, it's fantastic... but if it's 10.9, it's incredible," she said. "At 10.9, you have to go wild!" The crowd did just that. The Olympics shooters weren't prepared for it. They say they had no clue that they would run into a wall of noise at London 2012, especially in the final round of 10 shots each, when each shot was followed by massive cheers or gasps. Silver medallist Niccolo Campriani of Italy, the world No. 1, possibly lost out on the gold medal because of the noise. "The federation is changing things, but it may lead to lower scores in competition. It was very challenging here," Campriani told the Tribune. "Each time someone finished a shot, people were clapping. So while aiming, I was really worried that if there was a sudden noise, I could pull the trigger in the wrong moment. So I always tried to pull the trigger as the first or second shooter. There were some dangers in that choice, and I paid for that with a few 9s." Those 9s shook his grip on the gold, allowing Rumania's Alin George Moldoveanu to grab it. What about the elaborate protection the shooters wear on their ears? With a sad smile, Campriani said: "With this sort of a noise, those ear-muffs are no use." Some shooters may be affected more than the others - it could be down to many factors, including their concentration. Bindra was affected more than the others because he was among the last of the 48 competitors to finish in qualification. That meant that while he was still in action, all the others were finishing, prompting waves of noise in the stands. Bindra said later that he was forced to take risks in his sixth series. He had to take risks because he was running out of time - the shooters had 105 minutes to finish their six series of 10 shots each in qualification, ie 60 shots in all. Bindra was lying in the sixth position when the others began to finish - each finish was met with resounding noise in the packed shooting hall that had only standing room. As the time remaining was announced at intervals, he seemed to be trying to get his wits together, maybe even trying to wait for the noise to end. That would put him under greater time pressure. Bindra later said that he wasn't at his best yesterday, that the event was coming to an end and the noise in the hall bothered him. Indian coaches Stanislas Lapidus and Sunny Thomas both agreed. "It's not an excuse, because the noise was there for everyone," Thomas told the Tribune. "But the fact is that the shooters aren't used to noise. It has been allowed in other sports, but not in shooting." Thomas added that in sports like tennis too, quiet is appreciated. "During serves, people are required to be quiet," he added. "During qualifying too here, there was control on the noise, and there was applause only when each shooter finished. But with 48 shooters in the hall, and all of them finishing one after the other, Bindra had to suffer a lot." |
Devendro punches his way through
London, July 31 The ferocity of the Indian boxer's assault left the Honduran stunned as he went down twice and had to take a standing count. Singh became the third Indian boxer to enter the pre-quarterfinals after Vijender Singh and Jai Bhagwan. Singh is 20 and Figueroa 19, but youth is the only thing they shared - they live on the opposite sides of the world and as for boxing skills, they were worlds apart. Singh, whose entry into the ring met with a huge roar of welcome, came out with fists flying. He displayed a dazzling quickness of both hands and feet as he went for Figueroa, who was clearly overwhelmed by the attack. After dealing Figueroa a few punches that shook him, Singh landed a powerful left that made Figueroa weak-kneed; he went down to the canvas to his haunches and had to take a standing count. The fight resumed, and with it Figueroa's punishment. Another flurry of punches left Figueroa trying to protect himself desperately, falling back to the ropes. The referee stopped the punishment and Figueroa took his second standing count. Then the referee decided that Figueroa had had enough and stopped the fight. Singh later said, "I knew from the start that this was going to be an easy bout," Singh later said. He said that his coaches had been asking him to go slow, but added with a twinkle in his eye: "Us se kaam nahin hota hai - going easy doesn't make things work." His win should be seen in its proper context - his opponent is as lowly as they go. But the next round is much tougher, against Beijing 2008 silver winner Purevdorjiin Serdamba of Mongolia, who got a bye into the pre-quarterfinals. "Yes, that's going to be a tough bout... he's won a silver medal at the Beijing Olympics," Singh said. "Me and my coaches will study videos of his bouts to prepare." — Rohit Mahajan |
London, July 31 So, when Jayanta Talukdar and Chekrovolu Swuro crashed out in the first round, the Indians in the crowd grimaced and bore it. They got a reward for their fortitude when Rahul Banerjee reached the pre-quarterfinals, though he too fell by the wayside in the evening. In the individual events, matches are played on a best-of-five sets format – winning a set gives you two points, a draw one point to both archers. Rahul Banerjee scored the lone win of the day for the Indian archers, beating Mongolia’s Janstan Gantugs 6-0. Later in the after, Banerjee too bowed out, losing 3-7 to Poland’s Rafal Dobrowolski in the pre-quarters. In the round of 32, Talukdar was knocked out by Jacob Wukie of the US, losing 0-6, but Swuro let go of a winning position. Swuro led 5-3 at one stage after winning two sets, losing one and drawing one. She needed only a draw in the last set to take her tally to six, while her opponent would have been stranded on 4. But nerves made her collapse while Nicholas lifted her game, shooting 9, 9 and 10. Swuro hit 9 and 10 and needed a 9 with her last arrow but shot a shocking 6 and exited. — Rohit Mahajan |
Hancock wins 2nd straight men’s skeet gold
London, July 31 At 23, the American is now a two-time Olympic champion in men's skeet shooting, successfully defending his crown today with a score of 148 to take the top spot at the London Games. Anders Golding of Denmark finished two targets back to win the silver, and Qatar's Nasser Al-Attiya won a shoot-off over Russia's Valery Shomin for the bronze at the Royal Artillery Barracks. "Being able to stand back up there again, and listen to the national anthem again, it's got to be better," said Hancock, a US Army sergeant and the first skeet shooter to win consecutive Olympic titles. "But it hasn't set in fully yet." Hancock's win gave the US a skeet sweep, after Kimberly Rhode won the women's competition earlier this week. "I firmly believe that I'm shooting better right now than I ever have in my entire career," Hancock said. After setting an Olympic record with a score of 123 (out of a possible 125) in qualifying Tuesday, Hancock entered the medal round with a one-target lead. And when Golding missed, Hancock's lead was two with seven targets remaining. In skeet, that's massive. "I had no chance," Golding said. Hancock clinched the gold on his next-to-last shot, made his last for good measure, then spun around and punched the air in celebration. At the Beijing Games, he may have been a bit of a surprise winner, even though he was already a world champion. In London, he was the favorite, looked the part and made good on a promise uttered at a rally in his native state of Georgia four years ago, telling well-wishers that in 2012, he'd give them reason to celebrate again. Yep, he hit that target as well. "I told him when I got out there and hugged him, he's the best I've ever seen," US coach Todd Graves said. "And I've seen a lot." — AP |
London, July 31 Venus hasn't won a Grand Slam since 2008, but the American has always thrived at the All England Club and is clearly determined to emulate her singles success at the 2000 Sydney Games. The 32-year-old, who has also won two doubles golds with sister Serena, was far too powerful for Wozniak and took just 63 minutes to set up a last 16 clash with German seventh seed Angelique Kerber, who reached the Wimbledon semi-finals earlier this month. When Venus, a five-time Wimbledon champion, crashed out against Elena Vesnina in the first round of the grass-court Grand Slam last month, the result was seen as further evidence of the American's struggles with Sjogren's syndrome, an auto-immune disease which leaves her fatigued and with painful joints. But she has looked back to her ferocious best over the last two days in south-west London. She crushed French Open finalist Sara Errani in the first round and Wozniak, the world number 54 who is actually ranked 15 places about Venus, was clearly out of her depth on Centre Court. When Wozniak began the match with a double-fault, Venus immediately smelled blood and pressured her opponent into surrendering her serve twice to take the first set. Venus was equally merciless in the second set, breaking three times to secure a smooth passage into the last 16. — AFP |
Virat Kohli seals series win for India
Colombo, July 31 Courtesy's Kohli's 119-ball 128 and his partnership of 146 runs with another in-form batsman Suresh Raina (58), India reached the 252-run target in 42.2 overs at the R Premadasa stadium. This is Kohli's 13th century in his 89th ODI appearance, a feat still unattained by any other batsman in ODI history. The Delhi batsman, on his way to another three-digit figure, also completed quickest 1000 runs in a calender year with a whopping average of 77.15. He has now scored his fifth century in last eight matches. It was Raina who scored the winning run with a hit over extra cover off Tillakaratne Dilshan as India reached 255 for four. Raina's 51-ball 58 was his 24th half century and eighth against Sri Lanka. Both Kohli and Raina blunted Sri Lanka's spin attack and batted beautifully. Raina may not be as prolific numbers as Kohli but batting at number 5 and 6, he has more than pulled his weight. India were off to a poor start as pacer Lasith Malinga struck in his first over to bowl out Gautam Gambhir (0). Virender Sehwag along with Kohli put the Indian chase back on track with a 50-run stand for the second wicket but Angelo Mathews got rid of the opener in the 10th over to somewhat derail visitors' chase. Mathews got Sehwag caught by substitute Senanayake after his fighting knock of 34. — PTI Scoreboard Sri Lanka innings Dilshan c Dhoni b Dinda 42 Thirimanne b Ashwin 47 Chandimal c Irfan b Tiwary 28 Mahela c Dhoni b Sehwag 3 Mathews c Kohli b Tiwary 14 Jeevan b Tiwary 17 Perera c Raina b Tiwary 2 Herath not out 17 Malinga not out 15 Extras (lb 2, w 13) 15 Total (8 wkts, 50 ovrs) 251 Fall of wickets: 1-91, 2-102, 3-152, 4-155, 5-190, 6-213, 7-218, 8-219. Bowling: Zaheer 6-0-36-0, Irfan 6-0-27-0, Dinda 6-0-28-1, Kohli 2-0-7-0, Sehwag 8-1-38-1, Ashwin 10-1-46-2, Tiwary 10-1-61-4, Rohit 2-0-6-0. INDIA innings Sehwag c sub b Mathews 34 Kohli not out 128 Rohit lbw b Pradeep 4 Tiwary lbw b Mendis 21 Raina not out 58 Extras (lb 2, w 6, nb 2) 10 Total (4 wkts, 42.2 ovrs) 255 Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-52, 3-60, 4-109 Bowling: Malinga 8-1- 41-1, Perera 6-0-51-0, Mathews 6-1-18-1, Pradeep 8-0-52-1, Herath 7-0-44-0, Jeevan 6-0-37-1, Dilshan 1.2-0-10-0. |
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interview with 800m world champion Kenya’s David Rudisha is running to make history in London Having missed Beijing in 2008 through injury, how important is London 2012? I am desperate to win an Olympic medal. So far that is what I am missing. It is my main focus and priority this year. What would it mean for your family - especially your father - if you were able to win in London?
It would be good for me to win gold, so we can have gold and silver in our family so I can tell him 'I am better than you! How well prepared are the Kenyan team for the Olympics? We have gone through a successful training program and now the focus has to be on delivering the medals at the Olympics. Kenya will always be a big country in regards to the Olympics and I hope that in London we will continue to show this development. Why have Kenyan runners been so successful at long-distance running? There is no secret as many people believe the only thing that makes Kenyans best is because of their hard work, motivation and inspiration they have around elite athletes. One of your nicknames is Pride of Africa. What does it mean to you to be so highly regarded in your homeland? It's such an honour. For those who are not able to come and watch us in Europe, I try to do my best to show them how we perform there live. What is your priority at this Olympics? My event 800m comes first and I'm that happy the 4 x 400m will come after my event. This year I have tested a few 400m and I'm in good shape. That would mean going head-to-head with Usain Bolt in the 4x400m relay? If the Kenyan team makes the Olympic final then I will be ready to offer help, to be part of it. I think this year I am quite flexible. People are expecting a lot because we hear in the news that Bolt might want to participate in the 4 x 400m relay. Maybe we will do the last leg together. This is a good challenge; it is very rare to find two world record holders from different events competing at the same competition. It's good for us and for the fans. Who do you think is the fastest of the two of you at 400m? Bolt is fast, he has speed, that I don't have. But I have the mileage, so we will see how it goes. What do you think is more important - your world title or world record? Having the world title is very important to me, more important that the word record. The title will remain with you for the rest of your life but the record can be broken." What does it take to set world records, as you have done more than once? To break the world record you need to get everything perfect and in position. How did it feel to become World Champion when you won in Daegu? I was so happy for the victory becasue I was under a lot of pressure. I had never run a race under the kind of pressure I felt that day but in the end, I finally made it. Is it true you changed your tactical approach after being boxed in at the 2009 World Championships? Yes, after losing the world championships, I decided to run from the front. — PMG |
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