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Huge traffic brings down website selling 200th match tickets
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Clinical Djokovic sets up Nadal showdown
Injured Messi out for up to eight weeks
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Go get a 400, Lara tells Sachin
Lara, a guest of the Cricket Association of Bengal, visited Mother’s Teresa’s Missionaries of Charities during the day — that was his moment of sobriety during these days of hyperbole and hero-worship in the city. At night, though, Lara suited his words to the occasion. Participating in a talk show with former India captain Sourav Ganguly, Lara spoke words of genuine admiration of Tendulkar, interspersing them with the occasional well-meaning hyperbole. “I don’t think any other career compares with Sachin’s. I would tell him to just enjoy the next five days of cricket,” he said, before adding: “You have the ability to score 400 runs, so go and score 400.” At this, Ganguly chipped in, saying: “For me, it doesn’t matter whether he gets a hundred or not in his final Test. He will still be one of the best. He will always be the champion.” Lara, incidentally, holds the world record for the highest Test score of 400 not out. Tendulkar’s highest is 248 and his last century came nearly three years ago. A 400 in Mumbai is well nigh impossible. Lara said Tendulkar is to cricket what Michael Jordan is to basketball and Mohammad Ali to boxing. “In terms of stats, you're going to have players with better stats, you never know. Virat has been exceptional in One-day games. There are boxers who have better record than Mohammad Ali but if you mention boxing you've to mention Mohammad Ali, basketball you have to mention Michael Jordan,” he said. “When you speak about cricket, you'll speak about Tendulkar.” Asked what could be going on in Tendukar's mind ahead of his last match, Lara said it was hard to predict. “But if I was in his shoes at the moment I would think I don't need to prove anything. It would be wonderful to get a big score in his last match,” he said. “I would prepare for that. But I would not put any undue pressure. I've nothing to prove. It's very important for him to find what motivates him. If it's pressure then let him be under pressure.” “Sachin deserves the respect to decide when he wants to leave the game. He has served Indian cricket and also world cricket so well over the years,” said Lara when asked if Tendulkar has possibly delayed his exit. “He has given over 25 years of his life to cricket. A Test match involves some eight days, including the travelling and practice,” went on the West Indian genius. “Now multiply that by 200. Then add all the One-day Internationals that he has played for India. He’s still very fit, though his performance hasn’t been great in the last couple of years. I just think this is the right time to walk away from the game.” Lara, who retired in 2007 but toyed with the idea of returning to play one of the lucrative Twenty20 leagues around the world, said retirement is tough to deal with. “You've to realise that. It's not a job you do after your schooling days,” Lara said. “You devote your time a youngster to make it to the top level. But there comes a time when you've to make the tough decision.” At this, Ganguly said that if he’s been in Tendulkar’s position, dogged by bad form, he’d have retired a year ago. “When you are at your best, the gap between good performances is narrow. Now, the frequency of good performances is not there,” Ganguly said. Ganguly said Tendulkar got a leeway from the selectors because of who he is. “The last two-three years have not been that good, and only because he is Sachin Tendulkar has he got that time. I can’t think of anyone else who would have been given that much time,” he said. “But once he sits back and thinks about his career, he will say that he has done himself proud. If he had gone on for another six months, he wouldn’t have done himself or cricket proud. He has made the right decision, going out on a high at his home ground. He deserves every bit of the adulation he is getting, it’s the right send-off to a champion.” “While he would have been celebrated in South Africa, all of this that has happened in Kolkata and that will happen in Mumbai wouldn’t have happened,” Ganguly said. “I am happy he is going on his own terms. But if I was in his place, I would have gone a year earlier.” Ganguly and Lara agreed that Tendulkar was the best batsman they’ve seen. “I will put Sachin a little ahead of Lara because we both played for the same team,” Ganguly said with a chuckle. Lara was then asked to name the five batsmen he considers the best of all time. “Without thinking too much, it is Sachin, Sir Viv Richards, Allan Border, Sourav Ganguly and … Ricky Ponting,” said Lara. “I really didn’t come prepared for this question, it’s difficult.” |
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Huge traffic brings down website selling 200th match tickets
Mumbai, November 11 The Mumbai Cricket Association had earlier announced that tickets for the test matches would be sold via the Kyazoonga.com website. While 3500 tickets were priced at Rs 500, Rs 1000 and Rs 2500. Another 1500 tickets were priced at Rs 10,000 each. The MCA had earlier said only two tickets would be allowed per person. The 45,000 capacity Wankhede Stadium can accommodate 32,000 spectators during cricket matches, officials said. However most of the tickets have been reserved for various clubs that are part of the MCA, five gymkhanas, the Garware Club that is part of the stadium and corporate sponsors. The MCA has also handed over more than 3000 tickets as complementary passes to various government agencies, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation and the police. Late this afternoon, kyazoonga.com announced in a tweet that huge traffic has brought down the website. "We are seeing 5x the traffic the Olympics games saw and rising. Please bear with us," said the website in a message on Twitter. The site went on to say that tickets would be available when the site went live again. MCA officials said this afternoon they won't be selling tickets at the Wankhede stadium in order to avoid crowds there. Senior police officials have warned the cricket authorities that things could get out of hand should a large number of people go without tickets. fans protests outside Wankhede
Unaware of the MCA's move to sell the limited 5000 tickets meant for general public online, hundreds of fans wishing to watch Sachin Tendulkar's 200th and final Test today protested outside the Wankhede Stadium, which will host the landmark match from November 14. Unaware of MCA’s decision to sell tickets online, hundreds of supporters started queueing up from early morning. Fans started shouting slogans against the administrators when they were told that tickets would only be sold online. However, police force present at the stadium soon disbursed the crowd.
— PTI |
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Anand-Carlsen duel fires up chess fervour
Chennai, November 11 Their mother, B Tamilarasi, travelled with them 450 km from Madurai to Chennai, allowing them to miss school to watch the Anand-Carlsen matches and take part in chess games throughout the two-week event. “When I watched the inaugural ceremony for the World Championship, I dared to think that they too could eye the world championship crown some day,” she said. With India having overtaken France as the nation with the most players rated by the World Chess Federation, the country that invented the predecessor of the strategic game is finally proving to be a hotbed of chess talent. The enthusiasm for chess ignited by Anand in the 1980s is now a fervour as India hosts the world championship this year. Anand and Carlsen are playing a total of 12 games through to November 26 on a glass-encased, soundproof stage at a five-star hotel in Chennai on India’s southeast coast. Their first two matches, on Saturday and Sunday, ended in draws. Just 22, Carlsen is considered the favourite after beating Anand in their last encounter in June. Anand, 43, is unperturbed.A household name in India, Anand is widely credited with firing up the nation’s passion for chess more than two decades ago with his world junior tournament victory in 1987 and his world championship wins starting in 2000.
— Reuters Kasparov checks in
Garry Kasparov, considered by many as the greatest modern chess champion, reached Chennai today as "a chess tourist". Kasparov had caused a division in the world chess federation, FIDE, 20 years ago by starting his own world championship. He now wants to contest the FIDE elections next year. It was no surprise, thus, that Kasparov's visit has been ignored by FIDE and the Indian chess federation. Kasparov and his wife checked into the Hyatt Regency hotel, where the World Championship match is being played. There was no one from the chess fraternity to welcome him. "I am here as a chess tourist," Kasparov said arriving at the hotel. "It's a free country." Kasparov will not be allowed to address the media at the venue.
— Agencies |
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Worlds gold in pocket, Heena sets her sights on CWG, Asian Games
Patiala, November 11 “She has always been very confident. Very strong mentally. She always gives her best in the finals, you just look at her records. She raises her game in the finals,” Heena’s father Rajbir Singh said. The new rules governing world shooting, according to which the preliminary round scores are wiped off and all finalists start at zero, suit her well. Heena’s gold in the World Cup finals in Munich is a big deal for Indian shooting. This event is held only once a year and only the top ten shooters of the world compete. In the past, Rifle shooters Anjali Bhagwat (2002) and Gagan Narang (2008) have won this prestigious competition. The field is tough, and Heena won the gold by beating double Olympic champion Guo Wenjun of China, world champion Arunovic Zorana of Serbia and multiple Olympic medallist Olena Kostevych of Ukraine after stiff competition in the 10m air pistol event. Heena had qualified for the finals in the World Cup in Korea and Germany in April and May. However, she had not still got a grip on the new format of the finals, introduced on January 1, 2013. Thus, she had slipped from second to eighth position in both these events. Heena married Commonwealth Games gold medallist Ronak Pandit (son of Arjuna Awardee Ashok Pandit) early this year and shifted from Patiala to Mumbai. She believes that she was fortunate to win in Munich because she was not even supposed to participate there and was called to compete only when the three shooters in front of her in the qualification line withdrew due to personal reasons. There were problems to confront. She could not apply for a visa due to paucity of time. Her earlier Schengen was valid until November 9, so she boarded the flight to compete, thinking that she would return mid-way. However, her visa was extended there. Then she won the most prestigious medal of her life. In the finals, Heena shot a satisfactory result of 384 points in the qualification stage and was on the 3rd position behind Olena Kostevych but ahead of Guo Wenjun of China, who was placed ninth. World champion Arunovic Zorana was placed 6th after the qualification stage. The start to Heena's ‘final’ was shaky. She shot a 9.3 followed by another 9.3 and thus slipped to eighth position. The previous experiences of this year were haunting her, as was evident from the poor start. But after the first two shots, Heena displayed proceeded to execute flawless 15 consecutive bulls eye to end the competition with a huge lead of 5.2 points. Her father Rajbir Singh is a proud man. Speaking to The Tribune, he said that at a world competition where only the top 10 shooters of the year are qualified to compete, even a margin of 0.5 seems to be huge. Thus winning with a lead of over five points is nothing short of a humiliation for the others and only showed the calibre of Heena. “So high was her level of commitment and determination that even after having reached the top position midway through the finals, she did not let herself relax even once and kept adding to her lead,” Rajbir said. “This new format of elimination is definitely more spectator friendly but adds more stress for the shooter. On the one side you had Heena shooting 10 after 10 and on the other side were Olympics and world champions shooting 9s and 8s — looking like absolute novices,” he added.
Heena has finished her dental internship, and wants to set up her own dental practice. “Up next on her agenda is next year’s Commonwealth and Asian Games,” said her father. |
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Clinical Djokovic sets up Nadal showdown
London, November 11 Djokovic extended his winning streak since the US Open to 21 matches and will bid for his third Tour Finals crown when he faces world number one Nadal in Monday's final at London's O2 Arena. After losing out to Nadal in the race to finish the year top of the world rankings, world number two Djokovic has a golden opportunity to get a measure of revenge against the Spaniard. The Serb has now won his last nine matches at the O2 Arena and will seek to avenge his recent US Open final defeat against Nadal, who holds a 22-16 edge in their 38 meetings. "It was a very enjoyable match for me, it was my best performance at the tournament so far," said Djokovic. "I don't think it's the right word to say I'm unbeatable. Nobody's unbeatable. Being in the moment and taking it one step at a time helps me keep my focus." Wawrinka had enjoyed his best season over the last 11 months and, after advancing to the last four on his maiden appearance at the Tour Finals, the Swiss seventh seed was bidding to become the first debutant to reach the final since David Ferrer in 2007. But Djokovic had won the last 14 of his 16 meetings with Wawrinka dating back to 2006, including nine of their 10 clashes on hard courts. Two of those victories were among the most enthralling matches of 2013, with Djokovic emerging victorious from five-set encounters with Wawrinka in the Australian Open fourth round and US Open semifinals.
— PTI |
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Injured Messi out for up to eight weeks
Barcelona, November 11 The World Player of the Year was substituted during the first half after pulling up following a sprint for possession. It was his 16th game of the season in which he has scored 14 goals. It was also the third thigh injury of the season for a player renowned under former Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola for his ability to avoid injury, despite being the focal point of Barcelona's famed tiki-taka, one-touch football.
— Reuters |
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Kolkata, November 11
