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The Golden Goodbye
Mary Kom storms into quarterfinals
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 Twin celebration for Mary KomElena Savelyeva, world No. 3 in the flyweight (51kg) category, became the first ever woman winner of a boxing bout at the Olympics - women made their debut in the sport on Sunday.
Heartbreak for Manoj Kumar
The points system is confusing all
Hip hip Murray for Britons
Williams sisters unmatchable at Wimbledon
Chong sees red in Lin
Mexico, Japan in semis
Jin wins men’s 50m pistol gold
Saina’s strategy was tiring wang xin
Gopi Chand: The perfect coach for a perfect student
Hapless India lose fourth match in a row
Kohli rises to second position in ODI rankings
Matt Prior gives England the lead
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The Golden Goodbye
London, August 5 "To Michael Phelps," it said, "the greatest Olympic athlete of all time." Too bad it was silver. Gold was the only color for this guy. In a final race that was more a coronation than a contest, Phelps headed into retirement the only way imaginable — with an 18th gold medal. Reclaiming the lead with his trademark butterfly stroke, the one seen in his Olympic debut as a 15-year-old in Sydney a dozen years ago, he capped off a mind-boggling career with a victory in the 4x100-meter medley relay yesterday. "I've been able to do everything that I wanted," Phelps said. When it was done, he hugged his teammates — Matt Grevers, Brendan Hansen and Nathan Adrian — before heading off the deck for the final time in his hip-hugging swimsuit. He waved to the crowd and smiled, clearly at peace with his decision to call it a career. And what a career it was! "I was able to really put the final cherry on top tonight, put all the whipped cream I wanted and sprinkles. I was able to top off the sundae," Phelps said. "It's been a great career. It's been a great journey. I can't be any more happy than I am." Phelps retires with twice as many golds as any other Olympian, and his total of 22 medals is easily the best mark, too. He can be quite proud of his final Olympics as well, even though there were times he had trouble staying motivated after winning a record eight gold medals at the Beijing Games four years ago. The 27-year-old could surely swim on for another Olympics, maybe two, but there's really no point.
"Bob and I have somehow managed to do every single thing," Phelps said. "If you can say that about your career, there's no need to move forward. Time for other things." Bouncing back from a disappointing first race in London, a fourth-place finish in the 400 individual medley, Phelps wound up with more medals than any other swimmer at the games: four golds and two silvers. Sounds familiar. "Honestly, the first race kind of took the pressure off," Bowman said. "If it's not going to go too well, we should at least have fun while we're here. That helped us relax a little bit, then he started swimming well in the relays and he picked it up again." Grevers had the Americans in front on the opening backstroke leg, but Kosuke Kitajima put Japan slightly ahead going against Hansen in the breaststroke. Not to worry, not with Phelps going next. He surged through the water in the fly, handing off a lead of about a quarter of a second to Adrian for the freesytle anchor. — AP
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Mary Kom storms into quarterfinals
At exactly six minutes past 2 PM here today, MC Mary Kom stepped into the boxing ring - on her seemingly slight, 29-year-old shoulders, she carried the hopes of millions of Indians. Some 10 minutes, Mary had won her first bout in the Olympic Games and all was well with the world. She knew what it meant for India - she knows her fight is no more just about her, and made a statement beyond the confines of the ring. "All Indians have supported me - Hindus, Christians, Muslims and Sikhs, all of them," she said. "My family, my community has been fasting today, praying for me. I had to win."
The win put her into the quarterfinals, setting her on her way to the semifinals, where a medal is assured. Mary beat Poland's Karolina Michalczuk 19-14 in a tough first-round scrap - the scores don't convey the fact that it was a tough and close fight. The scores were tied 3-3 after the first round and 8-7 in favour of Mary after the second; the Indian decisively moved ahead 15-10 after the third round, and eased up in the fourth round, which was shared 4-4. Now only a miracle, or miraculous boxing by her next opponent, Maroua Rahali of Tunisia, can stop Mary from entering the semifinals. Rahali has entered the Olympic Games because she was the best boxer from Africa at the 2012 World Championship - and her best was good enough for only a 18-20 defeat to Karlha Magliocco of Venezuela in the first round. Michalczuk's bout ended in tears, but she is a very brave and tough fighter. She is 32, three years older than Mary Kom, and enjoys a significant 3-cm height advantage over the Indian. She held another advantage - she won the 54-kg category gold in the 2008 World Championship in the US; Mary had won the 46-kg gold there. They met in the 51-kg category at the Olympics because Mary has moved up and Michalczuk down to flyweight. Michalczuk, thus, had the style of a heavier boxer, while Mary is still more like 48kg fighter. Adding it all, it was a significant advantage that Michalczuk enjoyed. Her strategy was quite plain right at the beginning - she was going to bulldoze the smaller Mary towards the ropes, into the corner. Michalczuk, bronze medallist at this year's World Championship, was doing her best for a knockout. And when Mary slipped and went to her knees in the first round, it seemed the Pole was on the ascendant. Michalczuk was aggressive, very aggressive. She kept taking punches but kept on going after Mary, who seemed a bit overwhelmed. Into the second round, Mary knew that she had to dance around, move away from the ropes, and she managed to do that. But then she fell down again. She immediately sprang up, and indicated to the referee that she was all right. She won this round by one point. The third round put Mary ahead - Michalczuk continued to crowd her, but her punches were tired and wild now. Mary wasn't getting stung, and she was punching with accuracy and effect, all the while keeping away from her opponent. "She is very strong, but she is a little bit weak technically," Mary later said of Michalczuk. "If she was good technically no-one could beat her." It was a pity that the world No. 4 Mary and No. 5 Michalczuk fought in the first round, while the unseeded, unranked Tunisian Maroua Rahali got a bye. |
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Twin celebration for Mary Kom Elena Savelyeva, world No. 3 in the flyweight (51kg) category, became the first ever woman winner of a boxing bout at the Olympics - women made their debut in the sport on Sunday. Indian fans and mediapersons, had eyes and ears only for the third woman winner of the day, MC Mary Kom. It was a historic day, it was also a day of personal joy for the 29-year-old Manipuri. Her twin boys, Rengpa and Nainai, were born on this day five years ago. "I am crying because it is my twins' fifth birthdays," Mary said later. "It is emotional because I cannot be with them to celebrate their birthdays, but I am here at an Olympics, and I am fighting and winning." "This was a gift for them," she added. "They told me to buy a scooter for them too." The five-time world champion in the light-flyweight (46kg) category, Mary had moved to flyweight because light-flyweight isn't part of the Olympic Games. She was desperate to not end her career without and Olympic Games medal. There are 36 women fighting for gold in the three categories included - fly, light and middleweight. "The Olympics are very special. Every athlete works to play at the Olympic Games," Mary said. "This is my 12th year of fighting and I came back out of retirement and changed my weight because I had to play at the Olympic Games. Luckily I qualified and today I won." The Indian coach, Gurbakhsh Singh Sandhu, later said: "It is a very big day for Indian boxing. She boxed intelligently with good footwork and was scoring and moving. I think she demonstrated all the moves. She comes from the north of India and I think this has been a very big lift for her and for women's boxing." It may seem presumptuous to look beyond her next bout into the semifinals, but the fact is that her next real challenge lies there. Her opponent in the quarterfinals, Maroua Rahali, is not a boxer of great renown. "That should be an easy match for her, much easier than this one," India coach Blas Iglesias Fernandez said. |
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Heartbreak for Manoj Kumar
After Vikas Krishan in the 69kg category, it's Manoj Kumar (64kg) who's become the epicentre of the Indian dissatisfaction with refereeing at the Games. Manoj Kumar wasn't coy about his feeling after he was declared a 16-20 loser to British boxer Thomas Stalker late on Saturday night. "Cheating, cheating, cheating," was Manoj's verdict about the scoring during his loss.
"It doesn't look like an Olympic Games but more like a district competition because if it's Great Britain in the ring, it doesn't matter who's against them. It's like a district competition where there's lots of cheating, cheating, cheating," he said. "It doesn't look fair because he was going in one direction and the scores 7-4 and 9-4 to him don't justify that," Manoj added. Stalker became the sixth home boxer to enter the quarterfinals with his 20-16 win over Manoj. Amidst uproarious cheering and shouting in the stands, Stalker had won the first round 7-4 and the second round 9-5 - the Indians believe that these scores were unjust. After two rounds, Manoj knew he was cornered - the only way to get out with a win was to either knock the Briton out, or to out-box him completely. Manoj did claim the third round 8-4, but this wasn't enough. Blas Fernandez, the Cuban coach of the Indian boxers, said Manoj had actually been by far the better boxer in the first two rounds as well. "The last round was 7-4... Why no other rounds? All rounds were the same. It was very poor judging," he said. He added that in his view, his man was robbed. There seems to be some basis for the Indian dissatisfaction with this result. In fact, the British boxer later said that he felt "sluggish after the first round" and that"fans got me through" the fight. "It was a tough fight and I felt I didn't really box too well but a win is a win," he added. "I felt like I needed to move my feet a bit more. The last round was not good. I think I went a bit more negative in the last round when I could have been more positive." |
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PUNCH LINE Akhil kumar
Indian boxers went to London with really high hopes, and they have in a lot of ways justified those hopes. Win or lose, the important part is to show the spirit to fight and that has been on offer in abundance. Devendro, Vijender and now Mary Kom have all lived upto the expectations. But there is a flip side too, talented pugilists like Vikas Krishan, Sumit Sangwan and last night's causality Manoj Kumar have lost in somewhat 'unexplained' circumstances. But to understand the real reasons behind these defeats, one has to get a grip of the new scoring system that has been introduced by AIBA.
That, in my opinion, has been the biggest problem at the London Olympics. There seems to be a genuine lack of knowledge about the scoring system, patterns and rules on part of not just the players and coaches, but also the referee. It was evident during Vikas Krishan's fight. Whatever might be the reasoning, the truth is that the referee should have warned Vikas, and that would have saved us all from the entire drama that followed. Even Manoj's fight last night saw some bizarre points being awarded. After a close first round bout, the British boxer suddenly had an overwhelming lead at the close of the second round. It never looked that lop-sided a contest, and still Manoj must get huge credit for fighting a lion-hearted bout. So when the officials are all confused, we should probably try and simplify the scoring system for the fans and the common man. Introduction of the new scoring system With and eye on reversing the old art of skilful boxing, with sound technique and tactics, footwork and feints, and combination punches with jabs, hooks, uppercuts and body blows be given due recognition, AIBA introduced the new scoring system to be effective from the various International Competitions being organized from March 2011 onwards. National federations were given the directives to use the new system from January 2012 onwards. Scoring Blow: All boxers and officials need to note that the definition of the scoring blow has not changed and still remains the same ie., each blow to have scoring value must, without being blocked or guarded, land directly with the knuckle part of the closed glove of either hand on any part of the front or sides of the head or body above the belt. Swings landing as described above are also scoring blows. Changes: The new AIBA scoring system does not require the judges to press the button simultaneously within one second to be recorded as an accepted point. This implies there is no more accepted score based on three judges pressing within one second. Scoring of blows: The new system only considers individual scores of all the five judges. Each judge can independently press the button for as many number of legitimate scoring blows that he has seen from his position. If he sees a combination of three punches landing correctly as scoring blows, he can press the button three times. In the old system, probably only one point would have been accepted by the combination of three judges pressing within one second. Working of the new scoring system Basis of calculation One of India's finest boxers, Olympian Akhil Kumar is a former Commonwealth Games Gold medallist and also a bronze medal winner at the AIBA World Cup in 2008. |
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Hockey: India lose fourth match in a row London, August 5 The eight-time gold medallists are now heading for their lowest-ever finish in the Olympics as they will finish at the bottom of the group and will have to play for the 11th and 12th positions. India's defence showed some resolve to hold on grimly against the fast-paced Koreans, but it crumbled thrice on well-directed penalty corner shots. South Korea's gameplan to exert pressure on India with fast overlapping game produced rewards as the tentative Indian defence again conceded some soft penalty corners. Indian seemed a more coordinated unit that the previous three matches, but the their goal fell two times in the last four minutes. The sustained pressure built by the Koreans midway through the first session was an indication of things to follow as India seemed desperate and fell back to defend their citadel, but they had no mechanism to stop Nam Hyun Woo from converting two penalty corners in the 59th and 70th minutes to shatter the Indian hopes of salvaging some pride. South Korea took an early lead Jang Jong Hyun converted a penalty corner. — PTI
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Wimbledon, August 5 Exactly four weeks after Federer had beaten him to claim a 17th grand slam title on the same court, reducing Murray to tears in the process, the Scot returned with an army of flag-waving fans to demolish the world number one 6-2 6-1 6-4. Defeat virtually ended Federer's chances of completing the "golden career slam" of all four grand slam titles and the Olympic singles crown as he will be 34 at Rio de Janeiro in four years. From the moment that Murray moved 4-2 ahead in the first set he barely gave Federer a look-in, rattling off nine games in a row to seize complete control of the final. Murray went for the jugular in the third set, breaking for a 3-2 lead with a searing backhand and marched on to victory with chants of "Andy, Andy" ringing around court. Murray can later become the first British tennis player to win two gold medals at the same Games since John Boland in 1896 if he triumphs in the mixed doubles final with Laura Robson. Argentina's Juan Martin del Potro overcame his marathon semi-final defeat to win bronze in the Olympic tennis men's singles on Sunday with a 7-5 6-4 victory over Serbia's Novak Djokovic. Del Potro, whose semi-final loss to Federer on Friday was the longest men's three-set match in professional era, broke late in a rain-interrupted first set to take lead. — Reuters
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Williams sisters unmatchable at Wimbledon
Wimbledon, August 5 The American sisters beat Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka of the Czech Republic 6-4, 6-4 under the roof on a rainy afternoon at the All England Club. Venus - with her red, white and blue braids pulled back into a bun - closed out the match with a backhand volley winner after the Czechs saved a pair of match points. On Saturday, Serena beat Maria Sharapova 6-0, 6-1 for the singles gold. She joined Steffi Graf as the only women to complete the Golden Slam - winning the Olympics and the four majors.When the Americans in the crowd at Centre Court broke into a chant of "U-S-A! U-S-A!" as the players left the court, the sisters each pumped their fists, turned around to wave, then slapped a high-five. The medal ceremony had to wait for the outdoor bronze-medal match, which was delayed by rain.Serena became tennis' first double gold medalist at an Olympics since Venus won singles and doubles at the 2000 Sydney Games. The sisters also won the doubles gold at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Now, they each have a record four Olympic tennis gold medals, and the sisters didn't drop a set through their five matches at the Games. — Reuters
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Chong sees red in Lin
Wimbledon, August 5 The match was a lot closer than the one-sided final four years ago, with Lin prevailing in a deciding game for a 15-21, 21-10, 21-19 victory. Lin, 28, becomes the first man to retain the Olympic title; and he takes China to within one match of a clean sweep of the gold medals in London. Lee hit long to hand Lin the gold on match point, prompting wild celebrations from the Chinese camp. The final looked to be headed the Malaysian's way as Lee looked far sharper in the early exchanges. In the first set, Lin gifted his opponent game point with a bad leave, and lifted long to give his opponent the early advantage. But Lee handed the initiative to his opponent in game two, shipping five points cheaply with wayward lifts and net shots as Lin went 16-8 up. An attacking crosscourt clear handed Lin a game point, and Lee obliged with a half-hearted stab into the net. Lee took an early 8-5 lead in the deciding set, but he allowed Lin to go 11-9 up with a series of un-forced errors that began with an errant flick serve. Lin showed nerves of his own, though, putting consecutive smashes and drop shots wide for 12-12. An exhibition in pinpoint smashing took them to 15-15, before Lin netted and then Lee misjudged a clear to bring them to 19-19. Lin earned a gold medal point and converted it at the end of a mammoth rally, as Lee went long on a clear from the net. Earlier, China’s Chen Long won the singles bronze, beating South Korea’s Hyun Il Lee 21-12, 15-21, 21-15. Top seeds Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng take on Danish pair and third seeds Mathias Boe and Carsten Mogensen in the men's doubles final later in the day. — Reuters
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London, August 5 Mexico, 2-0 up midway through the second half, were pegged back to 2-2 by the African debutants before Giovani Dos Santos put them back in front after 98 minutes when he pounced on an error by Papa Gueye to fire home for his third goal of the tournament. Substitute Hector Herrera made it 4-2 after 109 minutes when he headed home following some more loose defending to put Mexico into the last four for the first time since they hosted the Olympics in 1968. Japan also made it through to the last four for the first time since they beat Mexico in the bronze medal match in 1968 after keeping a fourth consecutive clean sheet with a 3-0 win over Egypt. The north African side were reduced to 10 men in the 41st minute at Old Trafford in Manchester, where 70,000 fans turned up for the often maligned men's Olympic soccer tournament. he other two semifinalists will be known later on Saturday after gold medal favourites Brazil face Honduras in Newcastle and hosts Britain play South Korea in Cardiff. The Japan-Mexico semi-final will be at Wembley on Tuesday with other game at Old Trafford on same night. — Reuters
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Jin wins men’s 50m pistol gold
London, August 5 Jin finished with a score of 662.0 to take the title ahead of Choi on 661.5, with Zhiwei Wang of China third on 658.6. Jin had begun the final seven points behind Choi but closed the gap as Choi crumbled at the end. — Reuters
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shuttle speak prakash padukone It was a red letter day for Saina Nehwal and Indian badminton when she bagged the first ever medal by an Indian in the Olympic badminton event. Though the bronze medal came to her in unfortunate circumstances when her opponent, 26 year old world number 2 Wang Xin from China had to concede the match in the second game due to an injury. No doubt Saina would have liked to win by actually beating her and not the way it turned out, but that is the way sport is played. A medal is a medal and there was nothing Saina could do about it. The Indian was slowly catching up with her left handed opponent, who also seemed to be tiring slowly towards the end of the first game. It was also a part of the strategy to engage her opponent in long rallies and it is possible that Saina would have won the next two games, had the match gone the full distance. Full credit goes to Saina for breaking the great Chinese wall. This medal should give her a lot more confidence to perform more consistently in the future and also to get the better of her only nemesis Wang Yihan whom she has never beaten in their previous six encounters. This is a rich reward for all her hard work and sacrifices she has made over the years. She has also become a role model for all other Indian sportspersons (Not just badminton players). Other athletes need to emulate her work ethics and learn a thing or two about her never say die attitude. Her self-belief is also something others should make a note of. At the highest level only technical and physical superiority is not enough. Other things being equal, a player with stronger will power and mental strength will always have an edge as the difference in the game at that level is very marginal. Saina has also shown the other Indian badminton players once again that the Chinese can be beaten. All you need is hard work and loads of self-belief in one’s own ability. What happened to Vikas Krishan and Manoj Kumar in boxing was most unfortunate and deplorable. I have never commented earlier about other Indian protests in hockey, badminton, boxing etc, but this time I think we have really been cheated of a medal. To reverse the result after almost 5 hours of the bout does not speak highly of the way things have been handled by the World Boxing Federation. There have been so many instances of reversal of decisions in the boxing event of this Olympics that it needs a thorough probe by the International Olympic Committee into the conduct of the event itself. Whether it is the scoring system that needs to be changed or selection of umpires and jury the world body needs to wake up and act fast or else the image of the sport itself will be tarnished for no fault of the athletes. — PMG |
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Gopi Chand: The perfect coach for a perfect student
Beneath his near diffident, even bashful exterior, Pullela Gopi Chand, the Indian badminton coach, hides flint; he's truly a lion in sheep's clothing. And he's made the Indian badminton team in his own image - or has been endeavouring extremely hard to.
When Saina Nehwal, the bronze medallist in the women's singles event, was asked how she'd celebrate what is only the second medal by an Indian woman at the Olympics, she said: "I will go back to training again, and that will be my celebration, with so many tournaments coming up this year!" These words were Saina's but the attitude was Gopi Chand's, absorbed by Saina through years of training. Gopi's devotion to badminton is beyond the shadow of a doubt - his integrity unmatched in Indian sport. It must never be forgotten, it must be emphasised at every opportunity that this is a man who said no to big Cola money, because he - like every other sportsperson - knows that the colas aren't good for health. No one says no to easy money for something as trifling as personal conviction - except someone really exceptional like the Indian badminton coach. Talking with the Tribune after his protégé Saina won the bronze, giving him possibly the happiest moment in his life after he turned to coaching, Gopi Chand said that he knew she was going to win a medal in London. "At this level, every little bit matters, and she was ready for Wang Xin," he said. "You need to plan for everything - of course it was not part of the plan to get her (Saina's opponent Wang Xin) injured!" Rather, the plan was to keep the rallies long. Wang wanted to keep Saina away from the net because the Indian enjoyed an edge over her there. She also wanted to keep the rallies short and play a very fast-paced game. This did frustrate Saina at one stage in the first game and she started getting a bit impatient and attempted to stretch the limits of her opponent's court - and hit the shuttlecock out a few times. But Wang seemed to be tiring - which appears an odd thing to happen to a world-class player in the first game of a match. This gives rise to the question - was she also carrying an injury into the match? The Chinese have said no. Gopi said it was Saina whose game tired out the Chinese. "See, even if the players at the top are very fit, these very quick rallies can tire out even the best in the world," Gopi Chand said. "With long rallies, you negate the speed of your opponents, and you also tire them. I think Saina is physically stronger and the longer the match, the greater her advantage." This sounds a very odd thing to hear about an Indian athlete - that she's physically stronger than her world-class opponents. This, again, boils down to Gopi's near-fanatical approach to fitness. He himself had emerged from an impossible situation - a career-threatening knee injury and months of inactivity - with an iron will to win the All England title in 2001. In his wards, he's tried to inject a strong dose of the same spirit. "I learnt it the hard way - by trial and error," Gopi Chand told this newspaper. "When I became a coach, my first objective was to serve the game I love. I have tried to pass on my methods, my experience to the players I've been working with. I'm fortunate that I've had some excellent players to work with." Foremost among them is Saina among the women and P Kashyap - who reached the men's quarterfinals and bowed out to world No. 2 Lee Chong Wei after a tough fight. Gopi Chand emerged in the 1990s, after the era of Prakash Padukone and Syed Modi had come to an end. It was a time when Indian badminton was best with doubt and fear - fear of the world's best, the Chinese, the Malaysians, the Indonesians and the Danes. Indians believed these foes were unbeatable. Gopi Chand was the first in his generation to believe that they were. He's passing this confidence to his wards, and that could be his biggest contribution to Indian badminton, even more than his achievements as a player. |
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Hapless India lose fourth match in a row
London, August 5 The eight-time gold medallists are now heading for their lowest-ever finish in the Olympics as they will finish at the bottom of the group and will have to play for the 11th and 12th positions. India's defence showed some resolve to hold on grimly against the fast-paced Koreans, but it crumbled thrice on well-directed penalty corner shots. South Korea's gameplan to exert pressure on India with fast overlapping game produced rewards as the tentative Indian defence again conceded some soft penalty corners. Indian seemed a more coordinated unit that the previous three matches, but the their goal fell two times in the last four minutes. The sustained pressure built by the Koreans midway through the first session was an indication of things to follow as India seemed desperate and fell back to defend their citadel, but they had no mechanism to stop Nam Hyun Woo from converting two penalty corners in the 59th and 70th minutes to shatter the Indian hopes of salvaging some pride. South Korea took an early lead Jang Jong Hyun converted a penalty corner. — PTI
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Kohli rises to second position in ODI rankings
Kohli, who entered the India-Sri Lanka five-match ODI series as the third-ranked batsman, climbed to no. 2 following his player-of-the-series performance, in which he scored 296 runs. The former India Under-19 captain, who led his side to victory in the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup 2008 in Malaysia, also achieved a career-best rating of 866 after the fourth ODI, in which he scored 128 not out in India's six-wicket victory. Kohli now trails South Africa's Hashim Amla by 13 ratings point. Indian opener Gautam Gambhir has also broken into the top 10, which means India now has three batsmen inside the top 10 with skipper MS Dhoni sitting in fifth position. Gambhir scored 258 runs in the series and has been rewarded with a jump of seven places, which has put him in 10th position. Other Indian batsmen, who climbed up the order include Virender Sehwag in 26th (up by one) and Suresh Raina in 30th (up by two), while Rohit Sharma has slipped eight places to be at 54th. — PTI
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Matt Prior gives England the lead Leeds, August 5 Jacques Rudolph, opening in place of the injured Alviro Petersen, was unbeaten on 21 while skipper Graeme Smith was on 17 as he continued to bat with a minor knee injury. Thunder and lightning arrived just minutes after the players left the field with the skies over northern England turning an ominous dark grey. It was a frustrating passage of play for England, who had failed to capitalise on Kevin Pietersen's exhilarating first innings century that helped the hosts to 425 in reply to the Proteas' 419. Smith survived a scare before lunch when England reviewed an lbw appeal but it was rejected. Television replays showed the ball would have bounced over the stumps. Apart from a couple of edges that failed to carry through to the slips the South African openers held their own. Earlier on Sunday, Pietersen had resumed on 149 with the team on 351 for five. England had hopes of passing South Africa's first innings and taking a significant lead, but Pietersen was out to the second ball of the morning - lbw to Morne Morkel without adding to his overnight score. Pietersen's effort threatened to turn the test on its head on Saturday with a counter-attacking innings that carried England away from potential danger at 173 for four. It was his 21st test hundred and came from 214 balls. Tim Bresnan (9) and Stuart Broad (1) failed to wag and could not stay with Matt Prior (68) and help him to fashion out any kind of significant lead. — Reuters Scoreboard South Africa first innings 419 England first innings (overnight 351-5) Strauss c De Villiers b Steyn 37 Cook lbw b Philander 24 Trott c Smith b Steyn 35 Pietersen lbw b Morne 149 Bell c Smith b Kallis 11 Taylor b Morne 34 Prior Steyn b Tahir 68 Bresnan c Smith b Philander 9 Broad c sub b Tahir 1 Anderson b Tahir 8 Finn not out 0 Extras (b7, lb17, nb11 , w14) 49 Total (126.4 ovrs) 425 Fall of wickets: 1-65, 2-85, 3-142, 4-173, 5-320, 6-351, 7-396, 8-407, 9-420. Bowling: Morne 32-9-96-2, Philander 30-10-72-2, Steyn 28-8-102-2, Kallis 12-3-34-1, Tahir 23.4-0-92-3, Duminy 1-0-5-0. South Africa second innings Rudolph not out 21 Smith not out 17 Extras (lb1) 1 Total (17 overs) 39 Bowling: Anderson 6-4-4-0, Broad 6-0-18-0, Finn 3-1-4-0, Bresnan 2-0-12-0.
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London, August 5
It
Leeds, August 5
"I told myself I never want to swim when I'm 30," Phelps said. "No offense to those people who are 30, but that was something I always said to myself, and that would be in three years. I just don't want to swim for those three years." He hugged his longtime coach, Bob Bowman, who was teary eyed as he whispered three words that said it all, "I love you." Their partnership was formed 16 years ago, when Bowman took a gangly, hyperactive kid with an extraordinary gift and helped turn him into a swimmer the likes of which the world had never seen.
Dubai, August 5
