Showing posts with label sports. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sports. Show all posts
Harbhajan Singh not treated well by India, says ex-Pakistan bowler Saqlain Mushtaq
Harbhajan Singh not treated well by India, says ex-Pakistan bowler Saqlain Mushtaq
Saqlain Mushtaq feels sad about the manner in which the senior India off-spinner Harbhajan Singh has been sidelined by the team management.
Practitioners of the same art do have fellow feelings and no wonder pioneer of ‘doosra’ Saqlain Mushtaq feels sad about the manner in which the senior India off-spinner Harbhajan Singh has been sidelined by the team management.
While he terms Ravichandran Ashwin as a “world class bowler”, he feels that Harbhajan not getting a single start during the last seven T20 internationals is “not doing the bowler’s confidence any good”.
“I am afraid that Indian cricket board and team management’s treatment to Harbhajan has not been great. He was a world class bowler and is still a world class bowler. The emergence of Ashwin doesn’t mean that you drop Harbhajan or put him under tremendous pressure,” Saqlain told PTI during an interaction.
The 39-year-old Saqlain, who has 208 Test and 288 ODI wickets, said dropping a top grade performer according to convenience is not the best example to set.
“Look from the time he got dropped (in 2011), he has made three comebacks which meant that when you needed him, you picked him and when the need was over, you dumped him. So the pressure that you have created on him, you have already negated his past achievements.
“But what logically should have been done is that when his graph was going down, one should have given him a short break and brought him back. He should have been the first choice spinner supported by Ashwin. Instead you put self doubts in him and now made him the third or fourth choice spinner in the side,” Saqlain did not mince words while explaining.
He feels when a player is making comeback, he is shaky and one needs to give him the confidence that he would be back to his best.
“In my 10 years for Pakistan, I have seen legends being dropped due to form or injury and after they came back, in first 2 or 3 matches, their confidence looked to have been shaken. But after five or six matches, their rhythm came back.
“Let me be very clear, even if Bhajji has 100 per cent potential, he will not be able to perform because you people have made him feel like a No 4. At the end, players are only human with same kind of feelings and emotions. A good performance is emotion driven. If you are in a good space mentally, your graph will go up and vice versa,” Saqlain said.
Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis’ winning streak ends at 41
Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis’ winning streak ends at 41
Top ranked women’s doubles pair Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza had their 41-match winning streak halted on Thursday after they were beaten in the quarter-finals of the Qatar Open.
The Swiss and Indian, the current Wimbledon, U.S. Open and Australian Open champions, were beaten 2-6, 6-4, 10-5 by Russian duo Elena Vesnina and Daria Kasatkina.
“That was an amazing match for us,” Vesnina was quoted as saying by the WTA Tour.
“We played against them just a week ago, and they’re one of the greatest doubles teams we have in women’s tennis. I think everything worked today for us to win, and we’re just so excited about it.”
Mirza and Hingis had started their win streak in September at the U.S. Open, the first of nine straight titles.
If they had won the Qatar event they would have tied Natasha Zvereva of Belarus and Czech Jana Novotna’s 1990 mark of 44 consecutive wins.
The longest women’s doubles win streak is 109 matches, set by American pair Martina Navratilova and Pam Shriver between 1983 and 1985.
Cristiano Ronaldo becomes first sportsperson with 200 million followers on social media
Cristiano Ronaldo's numbers put him past the combined total of basketball stars LeBron James, Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant.
Cristiano Ronaldo has become the first athlete to surpass 200 million followers on social media and the Real Madrid star wrote on his Twitter page, “Really proud to be the 1st athlete with 200 million social media followers. A big thank you to all my fans!”
Ronaldo has 109.7 million followers on Facebook, 49.6 million on Instagram and 40.7 million on Twitter.
The Real Madrid superstar crossed the 200 million mark on Tuesday. Ronaldo is easily winning the social battle against Barcelona’s Lionel Messi. Messi has 120.8 million followers, though he doesn’t have a Twitter account.
Ronaldo’s numbers put him past the combined total of basketball stars LeBron James, Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant and Steph Curry, who combine to garner 187 million.
Ten man PSV Eindhoven hold Atletico Madrid to goalless draw
PSV were forced to play the closing stages deep in their own half after striker Gaston Pereiro was sent off for a second booking.
PSV Eindhoven played for more than 20 minutes with 10 men but held on for a goalless draw at home to Atletico Madrid in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie on Wednesday.
The Spanish club have earned a well-founded reputation for iron-clad defence this season but it was the Dutch champions who had to produce a stout rearguard action to avoid being beaten and leave the tie balanced ahead of the return leg on March 15.
PSV, making their first appearance in the knockout phase of the competition since 2007, were forced to play the closing stages deep in their own half after 20-year-old striker Gaston Pereiro was sent off for a second booking in the 68th minute.
Having been cautioned in the first half, he was dismissed for a needless shoulder challenge on Atletico defender Diego Godin.
“It was a difficult game. They were super good and super quick,” PSV defender Jeffrey Bruma told reporters.
“We fought with power and we did it well and we can be satisfied with the 0-0. We still have it in our own hands.”
The home side had started the game in an ambitious mood, fielding three attackers despite the absence of suspended top scorer Luuk de Jong.
Godin did put the ball in the net with a close-range header midway through the second half but his effort was ruled out for a push on a PSV defender.
The best chance of the first half also fell to Atletico.
Forward Luciano Vietto raced on to a long ball inside the opening three minutes and scooped it over PSV keeper Jeroen Zoet, but saw his effort cleared off the line by the back-tracking Bruma.
Atletico had to wait almost an hour for another opportunity with substitute Fernando Torres hitting a good effort wide almost immediately after coming on.
Bruma blocked a close-range effort from Angel Correa in the final 10 minutes with the ball striking him full in the face and knocking him off his feet.
Australia’s top five outplayed us, says New Zealand coach Mike Hesson
Australia completed a sweep of the two-match series with a seven-wicket victory in second Test and claimed the top ranking in Test cricket.
at Hagley Oval on Wednesday which ensured they claimed the top ranking in Test cricket.
New Zealand had entered their Test series against Australia with expectations they could beat their trans-Tasman rivals only to be outplayed by their top order and pace bowlers, coach Mike Hesson said.
Steve Smith’s side completed a sweep of the two-match series with a seven-wicket victory
“We certainly felt that we had a chance, without doubt,” Hesson told reporters in Christchurch. “To lose the series two- nil was very disappointing.
“We weren’t close in the end result but certainly felt that if things had been a little different then we might have been able to put a bit more pressure on them.”
Australia’s bowlers had created pressure on New Zealand’s batsmen, initially courtesy of winning the toss and getting first chance on the green pitches, which assisted them.
Later in the innings, however, they also found significant and consistent reverse swing, something Hesson said his side had been unable to do.
“I think Australia were better with the ball and were able to generate movement throughout the match not just the first innings,” Hesson said.
“At times we got it to go (reverse swing), but we didn’t get it to go as consistently as Australia did and they got it to go a lot earlier than us.”
He added that the pitch and conditions had not helped his side, with the Australians batting at optimal times to build big totals.
Australia passed 500 twice in their three innings with four of their top five scoring a century, while New Zealand’s highest score was the 370 they posted in Christchurch when McCullum belted the world’s fastest Test century from 54 balls.
“The top five of Australia outplayed us,” Hesson said.
“We were unable to break them down and get wickets in clumps which obviously Australia were able to do. To be fair I think their top five batsmen were exceptional.”
Manchester City keep quarterfinal in sights after thrashing Dynamo Kiev 3-1
Pellegrini's side did enough to win the game and ensure Manchester City were in commanding position with three away goals.
Manchester City may be toiling domestically at the moment but they produced a superb European away performance to beat Dynamo Kiev 3-1 in Ukraine in their Champions League last 16, first leg.
Manuel Pellegrini’s side did enough to win the game in the first half with Sergio Aguero and David Silva both scoring to underline their importance to City.
Dynamo pulled a goal back in the second half through midfielder Vitaliy Buyalskiy, but Yaya Toure’s late beauty ensured that City are very much on course to reach the quarter-finals for the first time in their history.
“It was an exceptional result away from home. We couldn’t have hoped for better,” City captain Vincent Kompany told BT Sport.
“The performance was good and 3-1 is a good result. We’re happy with it, we just don’t want to get carried away with it.
“We could have scored many more goals. It was a Man City performance that we’d like to see more often.”
They have been eliminated by Barcelona at this stage in each of the last two seasons but this was a far kinder draw for City against opponents who were playing their first competitive match since December due to the Ukrainian winter break.
“We made lots of mistakes in the middle of the pitch and with this team of Manchester City it’s not acceptable,” said Dynamo coach Sergiy Rebrov, who denied the long period without a competitive game had been a factor.
Pellegrini, meanwhile, had complained of not having enough time to prepare his team for this encounter.
He named a fringe side containing numerous untested youngsters for Sunday’s 5-1 FA Cup fifth-round defeat to Chelsea but his starting XI in the Olympic Stadium was back to full strength, with Fernando the only player to keep his place.
With Joe Hart, Kompany, Toure, Silva and Aguero in the side, City are a different proposition and, after three consecutive defeats, they looked in the mood in Kiev.
There was an early fright when an Andriy Yarmolenko cross was parried by Hart only for the ball to drop down onto the bar, but the visitors played with a degree of hunger and intensity not seen in recent weeks.
How Vijender Singh gets title fight within 9 months of his professional debut
Having made an impressive start to his pro career, Vijender Singh is set to compete in a WBO sanctioned title-bout in June
On June 11 Indian Olympic bronze medalist, Vijender Singh is expected to fight his first professional fight in India. That maiden contest, to be held at New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium if all goes well, will be World Boxing Organisation (WBO) sanctioned title bout. The event has generated a fair amount of buzz with WBO first vice-president John Duggan saying the bout will be a ‘historic and epic contest.’
Tempering the hype is the fact that the Indian has fought only three opponents in decidedly one-sided contests so far, but now has a chance to take a shot at a continental belt just nine months into his professional stint. The Indian Express takes a look at how Vijender’s rather quick rise on the pro circuit, the significance of an Asian belt and what this contest might mean for his prizefighting career.
What is he fighting for?
While he boxes in England, Vijender cannot box for a British title as he isn’t a British National. The title he is likely fight for will be sanctioned by WBO Asia Pacific – an affiliated organisation of the WBO, which is considered one of the four major world championship sanctioning bodies (alongside the WBC, IBF and WBA). The Asia Pacific belt is a regional belt. Similar regional titles exist other regions as well. North America has the NABO Title, Central and South America have the WBO Latino Title, Asia has WBO Asia Pacific, Oriental, and Youth Titles, while Africa is opening its region as WBO Africa, and China Zone is being developed. Europe has the WBO Intercontinental Titles well as the WBO-Europe title. Other major sanctioning bodies too have regional titles. The WBC’s Asian affiliate is the Asian Boxing Council. Neeraj Goyat is currently the ABC welterweight champion, having won the belt in New Delhi in November last year.
Is Vijender getting a title shot too early?
With just three fights under his belt so far, Vijender is undoubtedly receiving a title shot rather soon. However this isn’t entirely without precedent as title fights are often sanctioned rather early in the professional careers of boxers who have had exceptional amateur careers. Double Olympic gold medalist Vasyl Lomachenko fought for and won the WBO International featherweight title in his professional debut. Cuban double Olympic gold medalist Guillermo Rigondeaux also won the vacant WBA interim super bantamweight title in just his seventh professional bout. “With Vijinder we have observed his stellar amateur career and his boxing skills. Normally a regional boxing champion wouldn’t be considered until he had 10 of 15 professional fights. But because of his maturity he will be eligible for consideration for a regional contest like Lomachenko or Rigondeaux,” said John Duggan of Vijender who has an estimated 360 amateur bouts under his belt. Vijender’s promoter Francis Warren had initially said he was hoping for the boxer to fight for his first title fight in September this year. However, the plan was changed. “Vijender’s development surprised me. I thought he might have needed 8 fights hopefully 6-0. He has excited me.”
How does the title bout help Vijender?
By competing for and hopefully winning the Asia Pacific title, Vijender will be able to enter the WBO boxer rankings. This will permit him to increase his chances of competing for other belts sanctioned by the WBO including the Intercontinental and European belts. “This will be a big stepping stone for Vijender for at least his next four or five fights. If he wins here it could help him competing for the Intercontinental and Commonwealth titles,” says Neerav Tomar.
Is this a done deal?
While Vijender’s bout is all but certain, Tomar says the bout is still a conditional, with the WBO keeping a close eye on on Vijender’s performance in his subsequent bouts. “The WBO will give its go ahead only after March 12,” says Tomar. That day would mark Vijender’s fourth professional bout. If Vijender stumbles to a loss or puts in an unimpressive performance, the title bout might perhaps be in jeopardy.
What’s there for his promoters?
On the face of it, Vijender’s promoters will have to pay a sanctioning fee – which will be 10 per cent of the prize money purse — to the WBO. However, Queensberry Promotions is likely to make a fair amount on Vijender’s Indian debut. They expect to sell at least 15,000 seats at the IG Stadium and get much more from TV rights deal. A boxer with a title belt will also be a more promotable name even back in the UK. “I didn’t want to rush him at all. We know what we are doing in his developmental career. Id love to keep him there. He is getting big ticket numbers from UK sports fans as a whole. He is going to be in demand,” said Warren. Vijender’s bout is also expected to provide a launch platform for the Indian professional scene. “What better way to get people excited about the first high profile professional boxing fight in India than a title fight,” says Warren.
Who will Vijender fight?
This depends on which WBO Asia Pacific belt Vijender will be fighting for. “It’s not just about the belt,” says Francis Warren. “Its about choosing the right fight. Its got to be the correct fight. We will see which is the opponent who will be right for Vijender at this stage of his career. It has to be someone at or only slightly higher than his level,” said Warren. The Super Middleweight (76.20kg) title is currently held by Australian Rohan Murdock who has an impressive 18-1 record. The Middleweight title (72.6kg) is currently vacant which means that this is likely the belt Vijender will compete for. The fighter ranked number one by the WBO in the middleweight division is experienced Australian Kerry Hope who has a 23-7 record. However Vijender’s promoter Neerav Tomar says that Vijender will likely face either ‘a Korean or a Chinese’. How this plays out is uncertain because there is no Chinese or Korean boxer in the top ten of either the WBO’s middleweight or super middleweight rankings. Promoter Warren says that depending how Vijender performs he may even compete against the number eight or nine ranked boxer in the WBO Asia Pacific region.
What has he been doing so far?
While fans may be looking forward to his first title bout, it must be kept in mind that Vijender is still relatively early in his professional boxing career. He will only be fighting for the fourth time in March and will only compete a total of six times in all before his India debut. However, Vijender has scarcely been tested in his contests so far with only his first fight going past the first round. Vijender’s March fight will be his second six round contest and his subsequent two fights will be eight rounders. His tentative title bout will have to be either a 10 or 12 round contest.
Asia Cup, Ind vs Ban: Four India bowlers return with same economy rate
Four India bowlers finished with the same economy rate, a rarity in any form of international cricket.
In a rarest of rare instance in international cricket, four of the five Indian bowlers used in the opening Asia Cup Twenty20 encounter against Bangladesh, finished with the same economy rate. And had it not been for the two wides left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja bowled in the final over, all the five bowlers would have finished with the same economy rate, a rarity in any form of international cricket.
In a rarest of rare instance in international cricket, four of the five Indian bowlers used in the opening Asia Cup Twenty20 encounter against Bangladesh, finished with the same economy rate. And had it not been for the two wides left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja bowled in the final over, all the five bowlers would have finished with the same economy rate, a rarity in any form of international cricket.
