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Delhiites go shooting for Tiger
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Crowe says Kohli a combo of Sachin, Sehwag and Dravid
WADA takes dope samples at NIS Patiala
Srini has agreed for Indo-Pak bilateral series: Ashraf
Punjab gets 2 international hockey events
City feel Jose blues
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Delhiites go shooting for Tiger
NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 4 In a lucrative 18-hole exhibition match, Woods mesmerised the spectators with his imaculate sense of the game as he hardly put a foot wrong and had most greens in regulation in the DGC, which is known for its narrow fairways. The 38-year-old Woods, who is in the capital on an invitation from a motorbike company, showed why he is the greatest active golfer as he went about his business with consummate ease on a warm Tuesday morning. The top golfer has been reportedly paid Rs 15 crore to play a round of golf with the owner of the company and his guests. A visage of Woods appeared around the fairways after compere Alan Wilkins announced the golfer's arrival at the first hole. After a few practice shots and exchange of pleasentaries, Woods teed off amid a couple of thousands people who had thronged the DGC at what was supposed to be a private event. Dressed in a blue T-shirt, black trousers and white cap, Tiger started with a wonderful shot straight down the middle, which was the hallmark of the man all through the day as he played along with his host Pawan Munjal exclusively for the first nine holes and returned with a card of six-under. In the next nine holes, Woods was accompanied by Rajiv Singh of DLF and Justice Vikramajit Sen of Supreme Court on the 10th and 11th holes, while leading Indian woman golfer Sharmila Nicollet played a couple of holes at the 12th and 13th, before media honchos Prannoy Roy and Aveek Sarkar joined the golf great. On the last three holes, it was a skins game between two teams — Pawan Munjal-Tiger Woods vs Shiv Kapur and Anirban Lahiri, which ended on an even keel with Kapur winning the 17th hole with a birdie and Munjal and Woods pocketing the 18th hole with both hitting birdies on the last. Had a blast
After the end of the 18th hole, Woods waved to the more than 2000 crowd which had gathered near the stand and cheered the American legend. “Thanks so much for the time, it was an absolute blast. It is hard to say how much fun I had today. It was a narrow golf course and I was nervous with my tee shot. My best buddy Arjun (Atwal) told me so much about India and I am happy to be here. Thank you so much,” said Woods, who donated some portion of the money he earned from the event to a charity organisation. Woods found the bunker only twice but he found his way out on both the occasions. The only time he had to drop a shot was at the 11th hole, when his tee shot landed in the bushes. It cost him a bogey. May come again
Munjal played the entire stretch of 18 holes and after the round promised that he would bring Woods to play a tournament in India soon. “The way Woods was playing, I think he should come back again to play in Indian Open. I am honoured to be able to get him to India on his first visit. Let me say it won't be his last visit to India,” Munjal said. The veil of secrecy that enveloped the run-up to the event didn't stop people from stealing a glimpse of Woods as they came in hordes and followed him all through the 18-holes. The 2000-odd crowd was so excited to watch Woods that they spilled over to the golf course, giving a nightmare to the security people who had a difficult time cordoning off the area with the help of a rope. Woods gave his fans ample opportunities to cheer for him as he fired as many as 10 birdies on a course which is considered to be difficult.
— PTI Woods meets Sachin, says he is so cool New Delhi: They are legends in their own domain, but it seems iconic cricketer Sachin Tendulkar managed to floor ace golfer Tiger Woods when the two greats caught up in the capital on Tuesday. After meeting Tendulkar and his family, Woods wrote on micro-blogging site ‘Twitter’ that the batting genius was a “cool” guy. “Just met a cricket legend and his family. Sachin Tendulkar @sachin_rt was so cool and loved being welcomed to India," Tiger wrote on his twitter handle. Woods met Tendulkar and his family on his arrival at a five star hotel. Tiger scores with his fans
Thanks so much for the time, it was an absolute blast. It is hard to say how much fun I had today. It was a narrow golf course and I was nervous with my tee shot~
— Tiger Woods It was a dream come true to play along with Tiger Woods. I was thrilled as well as nervous. It would always be a great memory for my
life. —
Sharmila Nicollet, Indian golfer |
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Crowe says Kohli a combo of Sachin, Sehwag and Dravid
Auckland, February 4 Crowe feels that Kohli is the “beacon in this re-building team” who will need to rapidly learn to become a true leader and a role model for millions. “In some ways, this young giant (Kohli) is a combination of all those three (Sehwag, Tendulkar and Dravid), learning a bit from all of them to shape his own unique creation. He is the next chosen one. He exudes the intensity of Rahul, the audacity of Virender, and the extraordinary range of Sachin. That doesn't make him better, simply sui generis, his own unique kind,” Crowe wrote in his column for ESPN Cricinfo. “At present, he is a beacon in this re-building team, while some of those around him who have come in to fill the void left by the big three struggle to cope. Already he is the leader of the batting line-up, with just 22 Tests to his name, and so a huge responsibility beckons,” Crowe pointed out. Crowe reckoned that Kohli has quickly grown from being a “pupil to teacher” from the time he saw a precocious but immensely talented teenager as the coach of RCB during the IPL-I. “In many ways, he follows the essence of life: loving what he does and doing what he loves, and learning all he can, often at a rapid pace. Kohli has gone from pupil to teacher quickly, and his next level is to become a master. That he will achieve. It's in his eyes. I watched this young 19-year-old when he joined Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2008, for the inaugural IPL. Often he fell victim to his own seduction, his growing, glowing image, mixed in with his confusion about who to bat and be like, as he had so many choices. I often encouraged him to simply play straighter, be wiser in shot selection, put the odds more in his favour,” Crowe said. Crowe said that Kohli's fierce focus is a hallmark of greatness that he is destined to achieve in years to come. “His badge is one of courage. He is fiercely focused. He is often fiery and emotional, possibly a product of his upbringing in Delhi. Yes, a fire burns within, sometimes wildly. His aggressive streetfighting qualities are worn on his sleeve. He looks for a fight. He singles out opposition for face-to-face interrogation; he even confronts officials,” Crowe said. The New Zealand captain felt that a bit of controlled aggression won't be bad as millions look upto him. “He will need to learn rapidly that to be a true leader and role model to millions all over the globe, the ugly stuff needs to be tamed, even put away.... It's an important lesson, one Sachin and Rahul will have taught him, yet his own restlessness is still dominant. Someone needs to guide him on this vital code.” — PTI
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WADA takes dope samples at NIS Patiala
Patiala, February 4 Indian Weightlifting Federation (IWF) Vice-President Sahdev Yadav confirmed that a team of doctors flew down from Hungary and collected the samples of all lifters, including Olympian K Ravi Kumar, Rahul, Rustam, Chandrakant D Mali, Sukhen Dey and woman lifter Saikhom Mirabai Chanu, who had won three bronze medals in the Junior World Weightlifting Championships last year. Sahdev informed that prior to this WADA had visited India twice in 2013 and collected 70 samples of Indian lifters, all of which have been found to be dope-free. “We have extended full cooperation to the team and all lifters have given the samples as per their directions. The results will be out in 15 days. In case someone is found guilty, the federation would be informed immediately,” he said. There was no member of the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) or the IWF along with the WADA team. There have been controversies around the IWF in the past one decade since many lifters have tested positive for banned substances. The federation has issued strict instructions to the campers to be careful about everything they consume in between and during the off season. Indian lifter Sukhen Dey was suspended in 2011 for flunking a dope test during the Continental Grand Prix in Malaysia. |
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Srini has agreed for Indo-Pak bilateral series: Ashraf
New Delhi, February 4 “Mr Srinivasan has reassured me they are serious about playing a bilateral series with us even at neutral venues of our choice, but eventually we will need some written assurances and firm guarantees that this series will happen,” Ashraf said. Ashraf termed the offer by the BCCI as a positive gesture. “We want to be sure that this proposed series against India will actually take place, because you have to keep in mind that India had avoided playing regular bilateral series with us in recent years,” he said. Ashraf pointed out that, in contrast, Pakistan had gone out of its way to play against India and had toured India in 2007 and 2013 but in this period India only came to Pakistan for the Asia Cup in 2008. The offer from the BCCI for a bilateral series at a neutral venue has come after Indian cricket board along with its Australian and England counterparts moved a draft proposal paper at the ICC, which proposes to restructure the governance model of the world body and also revise the distribution of finances and revenues among member nations. Ashraf said that as far as relations with India were concerned, PCB would seek guarantees and written assurances from the BCCI for any future series. He admitted that the BCCI had told Pakistan before the ICC meeting late last month that they needed to sign the draft proposal by the three boards but since then India's stance had changed for the positive. Ashraf also said that the PCB was in talks with the South Africa and Sri Lankan cricket boards to have regular series with them.
— PTI PCB to oppose ‘Big Three’ proposal to restructure ICC
Karachi: The Pakistan Cricket Board has been told by its Governing Board to strongly oppose the changes proposed by India, Australia and England cricket boards in the governance and distribution of finances in the ICC. PCB chief Zaka Ashraf told reporters after the meeting of the Governing Board that the members had been given a detailed presentation about the proposed changes and they were clear about the line of action to be adopted by Pakistan at the next International Cricket Council meeting in Singapore on 8 February. |
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Punjab gets 2 international hockey events
Jalandhar, February 4 "A six nation tournament would be held in September. Looking at the schedule, Pan-American countries are expected to participate in the tournament," said Batra. He added that another International Hockey Federation (FIH) tournament would be organised in Punjab, in 2015, but the details were yet to be finalised as Odisha has also been selected for hosting international tournaments. “HI would be organizing the World league Final (men) and the World League Round One (women) next year. We would be organising one in Punjab. We have not decided the venue but very soon will be doing that.” While Hockey Punjab welcomed the decision, it requested HI to allow the Punjab body to host a six-nation tournament of its own. "We have been requesting HI for the last six years to allow us to host a six-nation tournament in Punjab with a prize money of $2,50,000 (Rs.1.5 crore), but they have refused due to busy schedule," said Pargat Singh, secretary of Hockey Punjab. |
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City feel Jose blues
London, February 4 Chelsea's battling victory puts the Londoners level on 53 points with second-placed City and within two points of league leaders Arsenal after 24 games. It also ended City's run of scoring in 61 consecutive home league games since 2010. Ivanovic struck just after the half-hour mark when Ramires' effort was blocked by Vincent Kompany and fell for the Serbian right back, who let fly first time from the edge of the box and saw his powerful left-foot shot nestle in the far corner. City had chances to equalise but Chelsea, who also hit the woodwork three times, were always a threat on the break in an absorbing contest, which was decided by Mourinho's ability to find the perfect blend between attack and defence. "We showed a lot of character, and created a lot of chances. We spent a good couple of days working on their strengths and weaknesses — that is typical Jose Mourinho," Chelsea captain John Terry said. "We have a couple of games at home now to kick on.”
— Reuters |
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Spirited Magicians hold Ranchi
Ranchi, February 4 Justin Reid Ross drew first blood for the Rhinos with a blistering strike from a penalty corner in the 52nd minute. The Mumbai team restored parity six minutes later through Trent Mitton. The hosts could have shot ahead three minutes before the final hooter but Ashley Jackson's penalty stroke was saved by the Magicians' goalkeeper David Harte, who also pulled off a couple of extraordinary saves to help his team pull off their first draw of the tournament. "I am very satisfied with the overall performance of the team. We got various opportunities, particularly in the first half. As the game proceeded the boys improved. If we play consistently like this we can win more matches in the future," Glenn Turner, captain of Mumbai Magicians said. TODAY’S MATCH Delhi VS UP (8 PM) LIVE ON STAR SPORTS |
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Dream come true
Ivanovic blasts open race as Chelsea beat Man City