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world championship
Now, SAI won’t send Walsh a fresh proposal |
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hong kong open
Leander fails to set pace for Punjab
Bangalore lead after three games
world snooker championship
Sarfraz, spinners bring Pakistan back in the game
Seb to replace Alonso at Ferrari
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Draw keeps Anand in hunt
With just three games left and trailing by one point, the Indian will need to go all out Sochi, November 20 The scoreboard reads 5-4 in favour of defending champion Carlsen, who may just seal it with another win in the next three rounds. As for Anand, he desperately needs a win to remain in contention. The Indian, expectedly, did not go for any risky venture with black pieces. While many had expected Carlsen to press for a victory today, he was simply taken aback by the Indian’s preparation in the Berlin defence. The shortest game of the match thus far was over in just over an hour, lasting a mere 20 moves and the last five of those moves were just repetitions. The players again blitzed out the opening moves and Anand was on top during the initial phase of the game, especially after he uncorked his 12th move that forced Carlsen to ponder a lot over his next move. As it turned out, Carlsen played his next move after thinking for more than 13 minutes. And after the next move by Anand — which was a new idea — he again sank into his chair for 26 minutes. The ‘new idea’ was in fact a brilliant find by Anand and his team that probably changed the evaluation of the position at that time. A game-changer it might have been, but Anand did not reveal much about it. “It is something I would rather not discuss about,” he said in the post-game conference. Carlsen, on his part, quickly conceded that playing for a win from this point was futile. He just made a routine pawn move, and then quickly gave repeated checks to the black king to sign the peace treaty. With three games still to come, Anand will now play with white pieces in the 10th game tomorrow. After that the players will get a day’s rest before the penultimate game of this World Championship is played. Compared to the match in Chennai last year, when he lost 6.5-3.5 in just 10 games, Anand has done quite well and playing with whites in two of the last three games gives him a real chance to make a match of it. Carlsen, on his part, was not disappointed as he still maintained the lead. “If there’s any disappointment with a short draw with whites, it’s easy to swallow if you’re up in the match,” he said after the game. — PTI I still have a chance to win: Anand
Despite being 4-5 down with just three more games to go, Viswanathan Anand said he was fine with an easy draw in the ninth game and insisted that he still has a chance of posting a win in the World Chess Championship match. “You have to just play the positions you get, the situations you get. I can count, I know the score but I think I still have some chances," said Anand after the game. Asked about the level of his confidence at this point, the five-time world champion said, “Quite reasonable! I mean (after) an easy draw like this with black, I just have to try harder with white." Meanwhile, calling it a pretty even match so far, Magnus Carlsen said nerves will play a part in the remaining games. Carlsen agreed that this was a much tougher match than he played against Anand in Chennai a year back. "It's a pretty even match so far. In Chennai, I was up three at this point. This is much tougher," Carlsen said, adding that Anand was better prepared today. "He was better prepared than I was today, it's also been the opposite a couple of times," said Carlsen. On the psychological warfare, Carlsen said his mind was at ease. "I think you can never be completely prepared, the nerves are always going to be there. I have been in this situation before. After all, the rules are still the same regardless of the match situation and regardless of what part of the match you are in.” — PTI |
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Now, SAI won’t send Walsh a fresh proposal
New Delhi, November 20 The whole issue has reached a point of no-return, so much so that even the Sports Authority of India (SAI), which had been talking about working out a new contract for Walsh in conjunction with the Sports Ministry, has decided against sending him a fresh proposal for his consideration. If the official sources are to be believed, the growing interference of Walsh in matters concerning the team selection and his demand to give him financial autonomy for purchasing equipments rubbed the Indian sports administrators the wrong way. “The Walsh chapter is over. He is not coming back. The SAI has decided against sending him a proposal after going through his list of demands. Most of the demands are unacceptable and it does not work as per the Indian bureaucratic system. Walsh should realise that this is India, not Australia. It’s up to him whether he wants to come back or not,” an official in the know of the developments told The Tribune. SAI Executive Director (Teams) Sudhir Setia had said on Wednesday that they would send a fresh proposal to Walsh within the next 48 hours, but things changed dramatically after SAI officials briefed Sports Minister Sarbananda Sonowal that some of his demands would be difficult to implement. Sonowal had agreed to Walsh’s demands in principle when the two met on Tuesday to work out a solution after the latter’s talks with HI and the SAI had broken down. Walsh, however, insisted on having a representation or assurance in writing. “Walsh became demanding after he guided the team to Asian Games high. During his meeting with the Ministry-appointed committee, the panel tried to explain things to him, but he did not budge. After defeating a second-string Australian side in a Test series, he started dictating terms, which did not go down well with the SAI and HI,” the official said. The official said that the Ministry also understood that it was not practically possible to implement Walsh’s demands. However, there is still a window of opportunity for Walsh to come back to India if the team does well at the Champions Trophy in Bhubaneswar. “Everything will depend on it. The players wouldn’t forget in two weeks’ time what Walsh taught them over a year. His coaching style will remain with them. If the team finishes on the podium, which is unlikely, he would be approached, otherwise not,” the official informed. Even if Walsh agrees to resume his job with a new contract, he might find it difficult to work in India since HI president Narinder Batra has alleged that he was involved in a financial impropriety during his stint with US Hockey. It has been learnt that HI is already on the lookout for a new coach and two-three names have been shortlisted.
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Srikanth, Saina in quarters
Hong Kong, November 20 However, two-time World Championship bronze medallist PV Sindhu’s campaign came to a halt when she lost a marathon 61-minute encounter to Japan’s Nozomi Okuhara. The world No. 48 upset the seventh-seed Sindhu 21-17, 13-21, 21-11 in their second career meet to level the record at one-all. Third seed Saina, on the other hand, had a pretty straight and easy outing as she demolished American Beiwen Zhang 21-16, 21-13 in 31 minutes at the Hong Kong Coliseum. With this win, the Olympic bronze medallist extended her head-to-head record to 2-0 against Beiwan. The world No.4 Indian, however, will take on old foe Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei in the last eight. The Hyderabadi, however, holds a big advantage against her opponent in terms of head-to-head record — she has beaten Ying five times in seven outings. Earlier, the in-form Srikanth had a tough singles outing but nevertheless came out on top against World No. 29 Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk 21-19, 23-21 in 39 minutes. With the victory, the Guntur lad levelled his career record 1-1 against the Thai shuttler. — PTI
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Leander fails to set pace for Punjab
The Marshalls started on the backfoot after Paes lost to Sergi Bruguera 6-5 in the legends’ category. In the mixed doubles category, Tommy Robredo and Alize Cornet beat Paes and Garbine Muguruza 6-3 in a keen contest. Muguruza later beat Alize Cornet 6-5 in their singles game. Though Paes was finally able to pull off a victory with Somdev Devvarman in the doubles, it proved inconsequential as Robredo later thrashed Devvarman 6-1 in the last game of the tie. As expected, the Chandigarh leg of the league turned out to be a cold affair. The tennis-loving crowd largely gave it a miss. The Marshalls, who claim to be representing not only Punjab but the entire region, failed to attract the crowd from the nearby areas. There were hardly 500-700 spectators, most of whom starting leaving after 10pm, at the CLTA Courts Complex to watch the top players in action. Those present drew comfort from watching Paes in action against Bruguera in the first match. However, that too was short-lived as Paes’ serve was broken early on. Paes, though, made his trademark turnaround later in the match. Eventually, it was Bruguera who won the match and gave Mumbai Masters the lead. The tie, which was to scheduled to begin at 8pm, started well past 9 o’ clock. However, the spectators patiently waited for the match to begin. Match delays have now become a recurrent feature in the league which is still struggling to find its feet. Add to it the chilly conditions which are keeping the spectators away from the courts. The organisers’ approach to the comforts of the spectators, an important aspect for any sporting event to succeed, has been nothing less than callous. With no hope of action beginning anytime soon, the crowd’s attention was caught by dholis who were there to cheer up the crowds. However, they too became a butt of all the jokes once they sat down, tired of beating the dhol endlessly. Gurpreet Singh, a Punjab and Haryana High Court advocate said, “This is very unprofessional. Even if you are giving a free entry you cannot take spectators’ time for granted.” No wonder top players are leaving the league one by one.
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Bangalore lead after three games
After losing the first two matches, Pune kept their hopes alive as Agnieszka Radwanka, currently ranked sixth in the world, defeated former world No. 1 Williams 6-3 at the Karnataka State Lawn Tennis Association Stadium. Both Radwanska and Williams held their serves until the Pole broke the American in the eighth game. Williams also had a wonderful chance of breaking Radwanska, but failed, as she committed crucial unforced errors, hitting into the net and smashing out. Radwanska fought her way back in the ninth game, from 0-40 down, to pocket the game and the match. She played cleverly and made Williams run around and forced her opponent to play to her strengths. Enqvist regaled the spectators with his familiar shots and took an early 2-1 lead after he broke Australia's Pat Cash in the singles legends' clash. Enqvist did not give any room for the veteran Cash to make a comeback of any sorts. The agile Enqvist maintained his tempo and won the match 6-3. In the mixed doubles, the second game of the tie, Williams and Lopez overwhelmed Radwanska and Marcos Baghdatis 6-3 after the Bangalore pair took an early 3-2 lead. Lopez served well and Williams capitalised on her famous baseline shots. Both Baghdatis and Radwanska proved no match to the power game of Williams and delectable serves of Lopez. The final result is decided on the basis of aggregate score of the five-match tie. The five matches are in the category of Legends (singles), Mixed Doubles, Women's Singles, Men's Doubles and Men's Singles. — PTI
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Advani shows his ruthless side, wins 4-0
Bengaluru, November 20 After a tight 4-2 win yesterday, Advani did not take his foot off the pedal to humble Chi Wai of Hong Kong 4-0 today. Hot favourite to pick up his 13th world title, India's poster boy of cue sports never faltered once in his 99(47)-24, 67(45)-39, 65(53)-0, 84(63)-45 victory. Madhya Pradesh cueist Chawla, bronze medallist in 2011 Bangalore Championship and now playing with a bandaged finger, lost only one frame in his 4-1 win over Marwan Alfalasi of the UAE. In the women's section, eight-time national champion Vidya Pillai showed no Indian hospitality to a hapless Fernando Irinen of Brazil, demolishing her 3-0 with a 44 break. Three-time winner Wendy Jans of Belgium, one of the favourites this year as well, overcame Kathy Parashis. Neena Praveen, a vastly improved player now, won 3-1 against Claudia Zardo Cordeiro of Brazil. — PTI
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Sarfraz, spinners bring Pakistan back in the game
Dubai, November 20 By the time New Zealand got the better of Sarfraz's grit, Pakistan had posted 393 runs, finishing 10 behind New Zealand in their first innings. Batting a second time, New Zealand suffered a top order collapse to finish Day four on 167 for six. The Kiwis have an overall lead of 177 and Ross Taylor (77) and the scoreless Mark Craig will return on Friday to stretch it and set Pakistan a difficult target. Brendon McCullum (45) gave New Zealand a breezy start in the second innings before Yasir Shah and spin partner Zulfiqar Babar took over claiming three wickets apiece. Leg-spinner Shah drew first blood dismissing the in-form Tom Latham for nine and left-arm spinner Babar dismissed Kane Williamson and McCullum to peg back the Kiwis. Corey Anderson, Jimmy Neesham and BJ Watling also succumbed to spin and only Taylor looked confident against the slow bowlers. It was quite different from the way New Zealand began the day with Tim Southee's double strike reducing Pakistan, who resumed on 281 for six, to 287 for eight in the morning session. Realising he was running out of partners, Sarfraz accelerated, hitting two fours in a Trent Boult over and was undaunted even after losing Babar at the other end. Sarfraz hit off-spinner Mark Craig for three boundaries in an over and meted out the same treatment to leg-spinner Ish Sodhi in the next over to storm into the 90s. The wicketkeeper-batsman cut Southee past gully for a boundary to register his third Test century. Sarfraz's patient 195-ball knock came to an end when he offered a return catch to McCullum. It was the Kiwi skipper's first Test wicket as a bowler. Brief scores: New Zealand: 403 & 167/6 in 48.2 overs (Taylor 77*; Babar 3/60, Shah 3/65); Pakistan: 393 (Sarfraz 112, Younis 72; Southee 3/67, Boult 2/69). — Reuters
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Seb to replace Alonso at Ferrari
Abu Dhabi, November 20 The long-awaited news, an open secret since the German announced in October that he was leaving Red Bull, formally ended a five-year love affair with double world champion Alonso that frustrated both sides. Vettel will partner Finland’s 2007 world champion Kimi Raikkonen, who has a year remaining on his contract. “The next stage of my Formula One career will be spent with Scuderia Ferrari and for me that means the dream of a lifetime has come true,” said Vettel. “When I was a kid, Michael Schumacher in the red car was my greatest idol and now it’s an incredible honour to finally get the chance to drive a Ferrari,” added the 27-year-old, who took his first Formula One win in a Ferrari-powered Toro Rosso at Monza in 2008. — Reuters Bianchi out of coma, back in France
Nice (France): Formula One driver Jules Bianchi has been brought out of an artificial coma and arrived back in France on Wednesday nearly seven weeks after his near-fatal crash at the Japanese Grand Prix. The 25-year-old Frenchman’s family said in a statement that the Marussia driver was still listed as “critical” and that he could remain in a serious way for a long time. They said they were delighted that he has stabilised enough to be flown to a hospital in Nice, near the family home. — PTI |
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Chandigarh, November 20
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Chandigarh, November 20
