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badminton
World Championships
Ready to take on Saina in IBL: Sindhu
Girl grit could lift Indian hockey
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India ‘a’ tour
to South Africa Sardar to lead young side in Asia Cup
Rafa beats Novak to set up final against Raonic
Serena to meet Cirstea in Toronto final
Persie double gives Moyes first trophy at Man U
Clutch finish leaves Furyk one clear
Soumyajit, Manika win TT titles in Brazil Open
Never foresaw this day would come: Bigan Soy
Cricket made me a better person: Dravid
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World Championships Great Dan of China remains the king Lin Dan takes his fifth title as Lee Chong, match point down, withdraws; Intanon ends Chinese reign in women’s singles
Guangzhou, August 11
In the men's singles, Lin Dan overcame a year off to retain his title with another closely fought battle with Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia, who retired and was taken off court on a stretcher at match point down in the third set. Lin’s win was his fifth world championship and China's sixth consecutive one in the men's singles. Ratchanok, 18, beat Li 22-20 18-21 21-14 to become the first Thai to win the world championship and first non-Chinese woman since Denmark's Camilla Martin lifted the title at home in 1999. World number one Li led 19-12 in the opening set but Ratchanok came storming back to take it 22-20, the first set the Chinese had dropped all week. Ratchanok nudged ahead 15-14 in the tight second before Li recovered to force a decider which the Thai was always in control of. That brought Lin and Lee to the court for the showpiece men's singles and the old rivals served up another classic encounter. It was nip and tuck in the first set between the duo, who contested the Olympic final last year, with Lee breaking out from a 13-13 tie to take it 21-16. Olympic champion Lin wasted little time levelling the contest as he raced ahead 12-1 in the second set thanks to a run of seven consecutive points. Lin wrapped it up 21-13 to make it one set all but Malaysian media were unhappy, reporting that the air conditioning had been switched off in the venue by the Chinese organisers to Lee's disadvantage. Lee, though, took a 10-6 lead in the third set and looked on course to claim a first world championship title after many years of near misses, only for Lin to storm back. The Chinese went ahead 20-17 before Lee called it quits to leave Lin celebrating a fifth world title. — Reuters Results (Finals)
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Ready to take on Saina in IBL: Sindhu
New Delhi, August 11 “I`m thrilled to win the medal, and my immediate target is to excel in the next two weeks at the Indian Badminton League. I am ready to play against Saina and will try to give my best performance. Hope it will be a good show,” Sindhu said. The 18-year-old, who reached semifinals at the World Championships in China, is a marquee player for the Lucknow franchise while Saina will lead the Hyderabad`s challenge. The two will face each other on August 15 in New Delhi. “I am charged up for the IBL. It will be a tough competition and I`m looking forward to play with all the great players,” Sindhu said from Guangzhou. The 2013 IBL will feature six franchises and will run for 18 days. Each franchise will host a two-day leg, with a total of 90 matches in the league. — PTI
Sports minister lauds Sindhu’s achievement
New Delhi: Sports Minister Jitendra Singh on Sunday congratulated P V Sindhu for clinching a bronze medal at the World Championships in Guangzhou. “Congratulations on your outstanding performance at the World Badminton Championship-2013 being held at Guangzhou, China. You have made the country proud by winning Bronze Medal in Women`s Singles Event," Singh said in a statement. "The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports stands committed to supporting your endeavour to bring laurels to India in future," he added. — Agencies
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Girl grit could lift Indian hockey
The eight Olympics gold medals won by the Indian men's hockey team is a sporting beacon. The historical veneration accorded the men has put the women's game into the shade, as a novel curiosity. Since 1928 the men have played in every Olympics but one, and in every World Cup. The women have played in only one Olympics in 1980 and six World Cup tournaments, since 1971. They have never qualified for the Champions Trophy. Women's hockey in India has few tournaments, and limited spectator support. In 2012, the considerable achievement of reaching the finals of the London Olympics qualifying tournament in Delhi, a major FIH’sponsored tournament, was under’appreciated. A half’empty stadium diminished the importance of the occasion, while the media focussed on the men's qualification. Having watched both the men's and women's finals, I can vouch for the difference in atmosphere. That tournament featured three of the world's top 20 women's teams: South Africa (12 ), India (13) and Italy (19). True to their rankings, India and South Africa reached the finals. Undaunted by the early 0’2 deficit, the Indians fought hard, but submitted 1’3 to the hustle of stronger limbs and lungs. Yet, while the public celebrated the men's qualification for the Olympics, they forgot that the women had done almost as well. The sentiment surrounding Indian men's hockey damages objectivity. The women were fourth at the 1974 World Cup in Mandelieu and at the 1980 Moscow Olympics. They won gold medals in the 2002 Commonwealth Games, the 2003 Afro’Asian Games and the 2004 Hockey Asia Cup. They have won the Asia Cup twice, and the Asian Games once. The junior women's team has just won a World Cup bronze medal, India's first World Cup medal since 1975. The men have not fared much better since the 1970s. In the 2002 Manchester Commonwealth Games I watched the gold medal match between the Indian and British teams. The Indian victory was a notable achievement for a team that had failed to qualify for the World Cup, and was playing the Commonwealth Games against better’ranked teams: Olympic champions Australia, England, New Zealand and South Africa. In the 2013 Hockey World League Round Two in Delhi, the Indian girls played well against 9th’ranked Japan, scoring twice from a 0’2 deficit, to tie the contest. They lost on penalties, but the ability to play at pace was the result of coach Neil Hawgood’s good work on fitness. Like men the women also won the World League Round Two, but once again the men won the accolades. Hawgood would later tell me that the girls had got fitter, and were learning to take their own decisions on the field, rather than depending on the coach to take them. He had kept emphasizing to the team that a coach cannot take decisions for those on the field of play. As a result, despite a 7th place finish, the Indian women's team seemed as fit as the others in the 2013 World League semis at Rotterdam, where men's team performed no better, ending 6th. We tend to forget that the men get to play higher’ranked teams more often than the women, which explains why the men have been slightly better. For the women, playing tough opposition has shown results. Seven of the girls in the bronze’medal winning junior World Cup team had, just months earlier, played for the senior team in the World League Semifinals, against much tougher opposition. Hockey India plans to introduce a women's league that could make up for the lack of opportunities to play better teams. Playing alongside the world's best players will boost the Indian girls' confidence. Imagine a Luciana Aymar or Marsha Marescia playing with our own Rani Rampal, voted to the FIH and Asian Hockey Federation All Stars Teams in 2010, and Player of the Junior World Cup 2013, where she was the hero of India's bronze medal’winning team. Girl grit is the need of the hour. Jitendra Nath Misra is an Indian Foreign Service officer. These are his personal views.
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India ‘a’ tour
to South Africa
Pretoria, August 11 Opting to bat, Australia A scored 310 for seven riding on Shaun Marsh's 96 and marauding Glenn Maxwell's 56-ball 93. Bowlers then came back to dismiss India for 285 in 48.3 overs. Despite best efforts from openers Rohit Sharma (61), Murali Vijay (60) and skipper Cheteshwar Pujara (51), Indians were stopped well short of target. Seamers Josh Hazlewood (3/59) and Moises Henriques (3/24) were the most successful bowlers for Australia. Perveez Rasool's cameo (27) wasn't good enough to stop the Aussies from beating India for the second time in the tournament. Indian batsmen started the chase in an impressive fashion with Sharma, who has been in red hot form, attacking the Aussie new ball bowers Hazlewood and Gurinder Sandhu as smacked seven fours along with two sixes in his 57-ball knock. Once Sharma was run-out, Vijay playing his first match of the tournament upped the ante in presence of his skipper Pujara. Pujara, who has been out of touch so far in this 'African Safari', finally found some form as he played himself in with a half-century. Brief scores: Australia A 310/7 in 50 overs (Shaun Marsh 93, Glenn Maxwell 96, Stuart Binny 4/55). India A 285 in 48.3 overs (Rohit Sharma 61, Murali Vijay 60, Cheteshwar Pujara 51, Moises Henriques 3/22, Josh Hazlewood 3/59). — PTI
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Sardar to lead young side in Asia Cup
New Delhi, August 11 Four key strikers — Danish Mujtaba, SV Sunil, Gurwinder Singh Chandi and Akashdeep Singh — have been ruled out due to injuries. The new-look forward line comprises Nithin Thimmaiah, Mandeep Singh, Malak Singh and green horns Ramandeep Singh and Nikin Thimmaiah. The other new face in the team is defender Amit Rohidas while mid-fielder S.K. Uthappa is making a comeback. Goalkeeper P.R. Sreejesh replaces drag-flicker V.R. Raghunath as Sardar's deputy. India are in Pool B with South Korea, Bangladesh and Oman. — IANS Squad
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Alarm Bell rings yet again for Aussies
Chester-le-Street, August 11 Earlier, Ryan Harris had threatened to put Australia in complete control of the match with the first three strikes, reducing England to 49/3 in the 15th over of the innings. Bell and Pietersen then repaired the earlier damage caused by Harris, who produced a fiery spell of fast bowling to account for Joe Root, Alastair Cook and Jonathan Trott. Root was the first man to go, clean bowled for two by a perfect delivery from Harris that pitched on middle before uprooting his off stump. Captain Cook (22) followed his fellow opener back to the pavilion with the total on 42, playing a poor shot to a wide ball and feathering a catch behind to Brad Haddin. Harris claimed his third victim seven runs later when Trott (23) gloved a short ball down the leg side and Haddin swooped for an athletic catch. England were wobbling at that stage but Pietersen and Bell weathered the storm. Pietersen went to tea in typically flamboyant style with two successive fours, a neat clip through mid-wicket followed by a crunching stroke through the covers. Earlier, Australia added 48 runs to their overnight 222 for five before being bowled out for 270. Brad Haddin was the first Australian batsman to fall when off-spinner Graeme Swann turned a delivery from around the wicket and trapped him lbw for 13. Matt Prior then produced a spectacular catch to end Rogers's six-hour vigil, diving full length in front of the opener to take a sprawling effort off the bowling of Swann. Rogers was initially given not out but England reviewed the decision and it was successfully overturned when 'Hotspot' technology showed the ball had flicked the left-hander's glove. England took the second new ball and James Anderson picked up his first wicket of the innings when Peter Siddle (five) edged the paceman low to Cook at first slip. Anderson then trapped Lyon lbw for four. There was no review but television replays later showed the ball would have comfortably missed leg stump. Harris responded with a belligerent 28, hitting three successive fours off Broad. The England all-rounder had the last laugh, though, trapping Harris plumb lbwRyan Harris sent shudders through the home dressing room by grabbing three early wickets but Bell weathered the storm with a majestic unbeaten 105 that led England to 234 for five in their second innings at the close, an overall lead of 202 runs. — Reuters Scoreboard England 1st innings 238 England 2nd innings
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Moscow, August 11 Fast-starting American Justin Gatlin took silver in 9.85 with Jamaican Nesta Carter securing bronze in 9.95. As rain fell and thunder clapped around the Luzhniki Stadium, a pensive-looking Bolt mimed taking out an umbrella before the start. Disqualified from the 2011 final for false-starting, Bolt made no mistake out of the blocks this time and although trailing Gatlin, directly to his left, at halfway, he surged to the front at 60metres. Gatlin stayed on his shoulder all the way to the line, followed by Carter and two more Jamaicans Kemar Bailey-Cole and Nickel Ashmeade. Unbeatable Dibaba wins third 10,000m title Ethiopia's Tirunesh Dibaba bided her time before letting loose on the final lap with an awesome display of speed to complete a hat-trick of world championship 10,000 metres titles. Olympic champion Dibaba who is now unbeaten in her 11 outings over the distance won in 30:43.35. Kenya's Gladys Cherono was second in 30:45.17 and fast-finishing Ethiopian Belaynesh Oljira pipped Emily Chebet for bronze in 30:46.98. Eaton wins decathlon title to complete treble American Ashton Eaton cemented his position as the world’s greatest athlete when he won the world decathlon title, completing a spectacular hat-trick having won Olympic gold and broken the world record last year. Eaton led from the first event on Saturday morning when he laid down a marker with a 10.35-seconds 100 metres, completing the first day with the fastest 400m ever run in a decathlon world championships. He poured on the pressure on Sunday as a 5.20 metre pole vault and a brave 64.83m last-throw javelin opened a virtually unassailable lead and he made no mistake in the 1,500m finale to triumph with 8,809 points. Germany’s Michael Schrader took silver with 8,670 while Canadian Damian Warner of Canada got bronze with 8,512. Reese wins a record third long jump crown With one giant leap Brittney Reese again rose to the occasion and became the first woman to win three long jump titles at the world championships. Reese, gold medallist in 2009 and 2011, had scraped into the final on countback after a below-par showing in Saturday’s qualifying but the American had no intention of losing her crown and leapt 7.01 metres. It was the only seven metre jump of the competition and left Nigeria’s Blessing Okagbare, who briefly led in the first round with 6.89 and later improved to 6.99 on her penultimate jump, with silver. Serbia’s Ivana Spanovic was third with a national record 6.82 metres on countback from Belarussian Volha Sudarava. Discus favourite Perkovic delivers gold Croatian Sandra Perkovic went into the championships as one of the hottest favourites and duly delivered as her 67.99 metre throw added the title to her Olympic gold of last year. Perkovic had the four longest throws of the year to her name before Moscow and the Croat took that tally to five with her second-round throw of 67.99 and was never seriously threatened. 34-year-old Frenchwoman Melina Robert-Michon won silver with a national record 66.28 and Cuban Yarelys Barrios threw 64.96 to add another bronze to her collection. — Reuters
Indians Disappoint in 20Km Walk
Indians disappointed in the men’s 20km Race Walk competition at the 14th IAAF World Athletics Championships here today with K T Irfan being disqualified after raising hopes of a creditable finish till the halfway mark. National record holder Irfan was in the sixth position after the halfway mark and was maintaining his spot just before touching the 15-km point. But Irfan, who had finished 10th in the 2012 London Olympics, was stopped by the race officials before the three-fourth mark for race rule violations. His two compatriots Gurmeet Singh and Chandan Singh finished 33rd and 34th with timings of 1 hour 26 minutes and 47 seconds and 1:26:51 respectively. 20 year-old Aleksandr Ivanov of Russia won the event in personal best effort of 1:2:58 while 2012 London Olympics gold winner Ding Chen (1:21:09) of China and Miquel Angel Lopez (1:21:21) of Spain were second and third respectively on the second day of the Championships. — PTI
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Rafa beats Novak to set up final against Raonic
Montreal, August 11
Nadal held off a surging Djokovic to win 6-4 3-6 7-6(2) in a pulsating semi-final that resembled a heavyweight boxing showdown with the duo trading breathtaking winners. The victory was Nadal’s second successive over Djokovic at this stage of a tournament following his epic five-set triumph on clay at the French Open in June. “To beat Novak on any surface is very important,” Nadal said. “His level is always high and you have to play well ... almost perfect to beat him.” Nadal made a flying start in front of a capacity crowd as Djokovic was unusually tentative and struggled on serve. But the lull did not last long as the Serbian, two time defending champion, stormed back into the contest, unleashing some crunching forehand winners as he drew level. With the audience roaring their approval at every thrilling rally, Djokovic looked to have the momentum in the match as he continued to find success in going for his shots, keeping his opponent pinned on the baseline. But all the while Nadal showed off some magic of his own and it became clear that this high-quality encounter, the 36th between the pair, would need a tiebreak to settle the issue. Nadal went up another gear in racing a 6-0 lead in the breaker but even in defeat Djokovic went down swinging. He saved two match points before a forehand drifted long to hand the Spaniard a first hard court victory over his rival since 2010. “It was a very close match,” Djokovic told reporters. “There were very few points that decided the winner. I had my chances. He had his chances. At the end he played better.” Local Favourite
Raonic had earlier advanced to his first Masters series final when he recovered from a mid-match slump to win a third set tiebreak 6-4 1-6 7-6(4) against wildcard and compatriot Vasek Pospisil. “I’m very happy at this moment,” said Raonic, who will move into the world’s top 10 for the first time after reaching the final. Raonic needed all his superior experience to win through, as Pospisil, ranked 71st, fought from a set down to nearly pull off an upset. A solitary break of serve was all that separated the two in the opening set as Pospisil adopted an aggressive approach to win the second set. Both players traded winners from all parts of the court before Raonic sealed victory as he became the first Canadian in more than 50 years to reach the final. — Reuters |
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Serena to meet Cirstea in Toronto final
Toronto, August 11
The American held a 5-0 record against Radwanska coming into the match, but the Pole surprised the 16-times grand slam champion by being aggressive and not mixing up her shots. “It was really close and I had my chances but wasn’t really taking them,” Radwanska said. Williams broke Radwanska at love to go ahead 5-4 in the first set with a heavy forehand crosscourt winner, but then was broken back at love herself when she double faulted. Both women held to go to a tiebreak which Williams dictated and sealed it 7-3 with a forehand volley winner and big ace down the T. Williams called the trainer in between sets for a stomach problem but said that it did not affect her play as Radwanska broke to take a 2-1 in the second set when she forced the American into a backhand error. Radwanksa, however, could not maintain her advantage, as Williams picked up the pace, breaking back to 3-3 with a booming overhead. While the Polish world number four is faster than Williams, the American stayed in most of their long rallies and serving at 4-4, she fought off a break point with a forehand crosscourt winner and then held in a long point that ended with her ripping a forehand down the line. Williams broke Radwanska to win the match with a backhand winner and another forehand blast. Williams will now face the unseeded Cirstea who has put together the best run of her career. She beat two former top ranked players in Caroline Wozniacki and Jelena Jankovic, and then two former grand slam champions in Petra Kvitova and Li. — Reuters
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Persie double gives Moyes first trophy at Man U
London, August 11 The prolific Dutch striker scored in each half for the Premier League champions who outclassed the surprise FA Cup winners to give their new manager David Moyes an early trophy in his reign at Old Trafford. Van Persie powered home an angled header after six minutes and fired in a deflected shot just before the hour to see off Championship side Wigan. Young United winger Wilfried Zaha showed touches of quality on his debut alongside 39-year-old Ryan Giggs who made his 21st Wembley appearance for the club and the first without Alex Ferguson as his manager. — Reuters
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Clutch finish leaves Furyk one clear
Rochester, August 11 Furyk, who began the round two shots back of Dufner in a three-way tie for second, drained an 18-foot birdie putt on the par-four 17th en route to a two-under-par 68 that put him at nine-under 201 for the year’s final major. “Overall, I’m comfortable with where I’m at,” Furyk, 43, told reporters. “There’s a crowded leaderboard at the top and instead of really viewing it as who is leading and who is not, I’m really viewing it as I need to go out there tomorrow and put together a good, solid round of golf, fire a good number and hope it stacks up well.” Dufner (71) scrambled a par on the 18th after sending his tee shot into the deep rough, but a brilliant approach to about 10 feet and a putt that curled around the right lip of the cup before dropping in left him alone in second. Swede Henrik Stenson (69) was a further shot back while compatriot Jonas Blixt (66) moved into fourth. Masters champion Adam Scott began the day level with Furyk and Matt Kuchar (76) but slipped into a tie for fifth place with Steve Stricker (70) after a two-over 72 that included a double-bogey six at the 16th. Furyk managed to deal with the swirling winds best at Oak Hill as he offset two early bogeys with a pair of birdies on the front nine and then grabbed the lead with a birdie on the 10th. He traded a birdie for a bogey over his next five holes before that long putt on 17 and a 15-foot par from the fringe on 18 that left him in prime position to claim his first PGA Tour win since 2010 and first major since the 2003 U.S. Open. “It was nice,” Furyk said of his putt at 18. “I don’t think it would have ruined my day had it not gone in, but it was definitely the icing on the cake.” Dufner was cruising along with a string of pars and enjoying a three-shot lead when his tee shot at the par-four fifth went into a creek. After sending his third shot right of the green and chipping well past the hole, Dufner two-putted for a double-bogey six that cut his lead to one stroke. The PGA Championship runner up in 2011, Dufner opened his back nine with a birdie before making pars the rest of the way, most notably at 18 when he looked headed for a sure bogey after an errant tee shot. “These golf courses put a lot of stress on your game. You have got to be really prepared and when doubt creeps in to kind of put that in another spot in your mind and be confident,” said Dufner. “It’s kind of a tussle out there between yourself and your mind. You’d like to get some birdies early so you can get a little but more comfortable.” — Reuters
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Soumyajit, Manika win TT titles in Brazil Open
New Delhi, August 11 After Manika accounted for host nation’s Caroline Kumahara 11-5, 9-11, 12-10, 11-5, 11-5 to take the Under-21 women’s singles crown, Ghosh defeated Benjamin Brossier of France 8-11, 6-11, 11-7, 11-6, 9-11, 11-7, 11-2 to win the men’s singles title. The Indians also pocketed USD 1500 each for their title wins. “I have played Caroline before this year and won the team event in the Slovak Republic,” said Manika. “I started the match confidently and tried to play slowly as she is a strong attacking player,” added the Delhi girl. Manika varied her speed and used a lot of backspin to dictate terms throughout the final. Ghosh, who had beaten teammate G Sathiyan in the semi-finals 11-4, 11-7, 14-12, 9-11, 11-9, knew Brossier would be a hard nut to crack. Though Ghosh was up to the task, the Brazilian was time and again breathing down his neck in the The Indian, however, had the measure of his rival, particularly in the decider, taking a 4-0 lead. Pumping his fist and more vocal with every point, Ghosh stayed closer to the table to finish the job in style. “I was able to win those crucial points which made the difference in the sixth game. After that I was very confident of winning the match,” said Ghosh. Meanwhile, Sagarika Ghosh won the Cadet Girls singles title while Birdie Boro had to be satisfied with a silver in the Cadet Boys singles at the Guatemala Junior and Cadet Open Table Tennis championships. Sagarika, the winner of South Asian Junior title recently, beat Sreeja 11-6, 11-5, 11-8 to take gold in the final. — PTI
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Never foresaw this day would come: Bigan Soy
Ranchi, August 11 Beginning her tryst with hockey as any other tribal girl or boy at Bandgao in Jharkhand`s West Singhbhum district as a 12-year-old, Soy`s first tasted victory when she won a local `Khashi` tournament (a goat for the winning team) before she elevated to bigger meets. “During picnics we all had it," Soy said sheepishly when asked whether she participated in the feast after winning the `Khashi` tournaments -- traditionally a popular one in villages, and many national and international players rose playing those tournaments. "I began playing with a bamboo stick, played Khashi tournaments, won a couple of goats before being selected for hockey training and got admitted to Bariatu School, Ranchi," the BA student recalled after being felicitated here today for her stupendous show in the Junior World Cup in Monchengladbach, Germany. "I am extremely happy as I never expected that such a felicitation was awaiting me when I used to play with bamboo sticks," Soy said after Jharkhand government gave her Rs 5 lakh on Friday and Hockey Jharkhand rewarding her with Rs 51,000 today for helping India win the bronze medal in the Women`s Junior World Cup. A member of the Indian team that won the country`s first ever bronze medal, the 20-year-old said had she continued playing as a forward she would not have seen glory. "But thanks to my coach who advised that I am better suited as goalkeeper, and I will have good chances of playing at higher level as goalkeeper” — PTI
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Cricket made me a better person: Dravid
Panji, August 11 Dravid narrated several anecdotes from his career, starting from his school days, making a special mention of school principal, Father Coelho. He also said that his father was an ardent fan of the game. “After Australia tour I felt it is time to make way for the next generation. Now I am back to the little boy listening to cricket commentary in my father`s studio,” said Dravid, who dubbed himself as a boy from a middle-class family. There were millions of ways to be successful, he said. “You don`t have to be number one in the world, you have to be number one to yourself by achieving all the height which you always aimed,” Dravid said, receiving a huge applause from the audience. — PTI
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Teenage Thai Ratchanok Intanon won her first badminton world championship title when she upset Olympic champion Li Xuerui in the women's singles to end China's decade of domination.
The eight Olympics gold medals won by the Indian men's hockey team is a sporting beacon.
Rochester, August 11
