India’s doubles star Leander Paes and Rohan Bopanna warmed up for the next week’s Australian Open in great style as they won ATP titles with their partners in Auckland and Sydney respectively.
Paes captured 55th title of his career as he triumphed at the Heineken Open with new partner Raven Klaasen while Bopanna clinched the Apia International with Canada’s Daniel Nestor.
Paes and South Africa’s Klaasen, seeded fourth, overcame a fighting combo of Dominic Inglot and Florin Mergia 7-6 (1) 6-4 in the final of the USD 519,395 in the Auckland ATP event.
They surely go into the first Grand Slam of the season as serious contenders. The new pairing has clicked in no time as they had ended runners up the Chennai Open, which was their first tournament together.
Paes, who has now won a title every year since 1997, was all praise for his new partner.
“The best part about Raven is that he’s a student of life, he’s a student of the game and the amount he’s improved in the last 14 days. Every day we’ve gotten a better understand of our team, a better understand of the way we play and how we play against different teams,” Paes said.
“We’re really happy, but at the end of the day, it’s a long season. We keep each other happy. We’ve got to take it to them every day that we play.”
Meanwhile in Sydney, The third-seed team of Bopanna and Nestor defeated second seeds Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau 6-4 7-6(5) in one hour and 26 minutes, converting three of their seven break point chances and winning 91 per cent of their first serve points.
“Since we started together this year, we’ve been working hard. Playing with a guy like Danny, with so much experience, I think it really helps my game. I just have to focus on my side of the court and that makes it much easier,” Bopanna said.
“In these big matches, big moments, he keeps me relaxed and I can play my best tennis. That has helped us this week and I hope we can continue like that.”
It was a great week for Indian tennis as Sania Mirza and her American partner Bethanie Mattek-Sands had won the Apia International yesterday.
The 2015 edition of the Mumbai Marathon, the largest marathon in Southeast Asia, will take place on Saturday, Jan. 18, bringing together thousands of long-distance runners, fanatics and a handful of runners hoping to qualify for the World Championships. The Elite marathon will start at 5:10 p.m. CST.
Traditionally, the marathon doesn’t attract many international stars due to the high humidity and temperatures, making it unsuitable for runners looking to put down a top time.
But this year’s edition will serve as a trial for the Beijing World Championships in August, according to The Free Press Journal, so local favourites Lalita Babbar and Karan Singh will be gunning for a top performance on Saturday.
Event Info
Date: Jan. 18
Start Time: 5:10 p.m. CST, 11.40 a.m. GMT
Location: Mumbai, India
TV Info and Live Stream
Star Sports 4 and Star Sports 2 HD will carry full coverage of the event for Indian viewers. The Mumbai Marathon will also provide mobile coverage via procamrunning.in.
The start and finish will take place at the Azad Maidan sports ground, in the southern part of Mumbai. Runners will turn at the Trident Hotel toward Wankhede Stadium, continuing north past the Babulnath Temple and Jaslok Hospital.
At the spectacular Rajiv Ghandi Sea Link, the course will turn east toward the Lilavati Hospital and follow the Mahim Causeway until they reach the original racecourse, this time following it in a southerly direction.
Mumbai Marathon would be the pre-qualification event for the Indian team at the (IAAF) World Championships in Beijing in August.
[On whether it would also serve as a qualification event for the Summer Olympics in Rio, Brazil] It’s too early. There will be another Mumbai Marathon next year (before the August 5-21, 2016 Olympic Games).
[On the new marathon calendar] This is being done for the benefit of our athletes, to bring in some system in long distance running and prevent their burn-out. It will help our long-distance runners. Each athlete should run only X number of events.
Babbar and Singh are the defending champions in the women’s and men’s categories, respectively, and both will once again be favourites for the title in 2015.
Babbar’s 2014 time (two hours, 50 minutes and 31 seconds) was over six minutes short of the women’s cut-off time for the World Championships (two hours, 44 minutes), while only a handful of male Indian athletes have ever managed to dip under two hours and 18 minutes, their mark for qualification.
Booking a spot in the championships in Beijing won’t be easy, but local runners know more is at stake in 2015 than just the title. Mumbai 2015 will present a unique opportunity for India to make their mark on the sport of long-distance running—it will be up to the individual athletes to perform on Saturday.
New Delhi: Open water swimming champion Bhakti Sharma of India set a world record by swimming 1.4 miles in 52 minutes in one degree temperature in the Antarctic Ocean.
Bhakti Tuesday became the first Indian woman to achieve this feat, beating the record of British open water swimming champion Lewis Pugh and American swimmer Lynne Cox, according to information received here.
She is the youngest and the first Asian girl to have achieved this success and has now conquered all the five oceans of the world.
Hindustan Zinc sponsored Bhakti in her quest.
“We are very proud of Bhakti Sharma for this rare achievement. The whole country is proud of her and particularly girls who would be seeing her as inspiration to join swimming. Her achievement only proves that given the right support and opportunities, India can produce many such talents,” Akhilesh Joshi, CEO of Hindustan Zinc, said.
Bhakti had been pursuing open water swimming for the last 10 years and also swam across four oceans, eight channels and seas, which itself is a world record.
In 2010, she was awarded the Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award.
MUMBAI: Tata Consultancy Services, co-sponsors of the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon to be run on January 18, on Friday announced it would sponsor the top two Indian finishers in both men’s and women’s full marathons at the TCS New York City Marathon in November.
“We are pleased to announce that the top two Indian men and women finishers in the 2015 Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon will be fully sponsored at the TCS New York City Marathon 2015. All their expenses will be borne by us,” Ajoy Mukherjee, Executive VP and Global Head of Human Resources of the software giant, said at a media conference.
“We will make sure through the Athletics Federation of India that all the necessary training programme to take part in the TCS New York City Marathon are available to them. Hopefully in the long run it will help India to get into the Olympics (marathon),” said Mukherjee.
AFI president Adille Sumariwalla welcomed the decision. Sumariwalla, former national men’s 100 metre champion, said the NYC Marathon is among the biggest in the world and it is a great opportunity for our athletes to run there “with the best in the world outside India where the conditions are not the same.
Top Indian finishers among men and women respectively in the last edition of the Mumbai race – Karan Singh and Lalita Babar – said their focus at present was to do well on Sunday.
“If I do well here I can do well there. My aim is to clock my personal best of 2 hours, 18 minutes,” said Karan Singh who clocked 2:24:08 in the January 18, 2014, race.
Lalita, who won a bronze medal in the women’s 3000m steeplechase event at the 2014 Incheon Asian Games, also said her focus was on the race to be held here in two days.
“I first have to do well in the Mumbai Marathon and only then can I make it to the New York Marathon. It’s a good opportunity for me if I qualify,” she said.
MS Dhoni has retired from Test cricket with immediate effect following the drawn Test against Australia in Melbourne. Virat Kohli will take over as India captain for the final Test of the series, which India have already lost, in Sydney.
Dhoni was batting on 24 when the Test was called off early at the MCG – four overs were left and India had four wickets in hand – and he made no mention of his retirement during the customary captain’s press conference at the end of the match. The announcement was made via a BCCI press release shortly after and it cited “the strain of playing all formats” as the reason.
“One of India’s greatest Test captains under whose leadership India became the No. 1 team in the test rankings, MS Dhoni, has decided to retire from Test cricket citing the strain of playing all formats of cricket,” the board said. “BCCI, while respecting the decision of MS Dhoni to retire from Test cricket, wishes to thank him for his enormous contribution to Test cricket and the laurels that he has brought to India. Virat Kohli will be the captain of the Indian team for the fourth and final Test against Australia to be played in Sydney.”
In recent months Dhoni suffered from fitness issues, missing five ODIs against Sri Lanka in November because of a hand injury, which also sidelined him from the first Test against Australia in Adelaide. In addition to the pressure of leading India in all three formats, and the Chennai Super Kings franchise, for six years Dhoni has also had to play an extraordinary amount of matches. Since the start of 2008 – taking into account international matches across formats, IPL and Champions League T20 games – Dhoni has played 398 matches, the most for any cricket during this period. Suresh Raina is second with 369 games.
Though Dhoni’s place in India’s Test side has not been under question, his batting form took a dip in 2014 and he averaged only 33 in 17 innings this year. His wicketkeeping has also deteriorated, in particular his ability to move laterally to take testing catches. India’s overseas results have also suffered under Dhoni’s leadership in recent years. Since 2011, they have won only two out of 22 away Tests and lost 13.
Dhoni, however, is India’s most successful captain, having presided over 27 wins in his 60-Test tenure, which began in 2008. His first Test as captain was against South Africa in Kanpur in April that year, because of an injury to regular captain Anil Kumble, and he took over full time after Kumble retired following the Delhi Test against Australia in October. Dhoni led India to the No. 1 Test ranking in 2009, a position they enjoyed until the tour of England in 2011.
Overall, Dhoni played 90 Tests in a career that began in 2005 and scored 4876 runs at an average of 38, with a high score of 224 against Australia in Chennai in 2013. As a wicketkeeper, he effected 294 dismissals, the fifth highest in Test cricket
London: While professional footballers in the rest of Europe sleep off their Christmas hangovers, the Premier League ploughs on regardless on Friday with a bumper schedule of traditional Boxing Day fixtures.
For the first time in the 2014-15 season, all 20 English top-flight clubs will be in action on the same day, with leaders Chelsea`s home game against high-flying London rivals West Ham United the stand-out match.
Chelsea`s professional 2-0 victory at Stoke City on Monday allowed Jose Mourinho`s side to re-establish a three-point lead over champions Manchester City, who visit West Bromwich Albion on Friday.
The visit of fourth-place West Ham marks the start of a run of five games in less than two weeks, which includes an FA Cup third-round tie at home to second-tier Watford on January 4.
Mourinho`s side also remain in contention in the League Cup and the Champions League, and midfielder Nemanja Matic believes they can go all the way in all four competitions.
“I think it`s possible. We have a chance,” the Serbian told several British newspapers.
“I don`t want to say that we`re going to, but we`re going to try. We have quality. We will see if we can do. But I am confident, I believe in my team, my team-mates, so everything is possible.”
Belgian winger Eden Hazard is a doubt for Chelsea after hobbling off against Stoke, with Brazilian playmaker Oscar a potential candidate to replace him.
West Ham, meanwhile, will be boosted by the return to fitness of midfielder Mark Noble, who has missed the last four games with an Achilles problem.
Injuries are a major concern for second-place City, who will be without all their senior strikers — Edin Dzeko, Stevan Jovetic and top scorer Sergio Aguero — for the trip to West Brom.
But they can equal a club record of nine successive wins if they prevail at The Hawthorns and manager Manuel Pellegrini believes that after a mid-autumn wobble, his side have rediscovered the form that swept them to the title in May.
“We are playing now with the intensity and style of play we always do,” said the Chilean. “Again we have players in high level of performance and good moments.
“We are trusting in what we do so, in the same way maybe we played in a poor way two months ago, we are doing very well.”Third-place Manchester United saw a six-game winning run come to an end in a 1-1 draw at Aston Villa last weekend, but confidence at Old Trafford remains high ahead of Friday`s visit of Newcastle United.
Manager Louis van Gaal has granted his players Christmas Day off, rather than obliging them to train, and captain Wayne Rooney says that he and his team-mates are eager to repay the Dutchman`s benevolence.
“We`re not training on Christmas Day this year because we`ll be spending it at home, which will be good for the foreign players and those of us with children,” said Rooney, who has two young sons.
“It must be strange for the new players to have more games than ever over Christmas, having had the time off previously.
“They have to adapt and be ready for it, while being aware of the fixture list. I`m sure they`ll be prepared for the upcoming games.”
United trail Chelsea by 10 points and City by seven, while West Ham are a point further back, and there is a glut of teams vying to break into the top four.
Fifth-place Southampton, who are two points behind West Ham, visit Crystal Palace on Friday, having snapped a damaging run of five straight defeats in all competitions by winning 3-0 to home to Everton last weekend.
North London rivals Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur are both two points below Southampton.
Arsenal host Queens Park Rangers, while Tottenham visit bottom club Leicester City.
Liverpool, runners-up last season, are a further five points off the pace in 10th place, but after last Sunday`s last-gasp 2-2 draw with Arsenal, manager Brendan Rodgers said he remained confident of a top-four finish.
On Boxing Day Liverpool travel to third-bottom Burnley, who trail Palace on goal difference in the battle to escape the relegation zone.
Fixtures
Friday (1500 GMT unless otherwise stated):
Arsenal v Queens Park Rangers (1730 GMT), Burnley v Liverpool, Chelsea v West Ham United (1245 GMT), Crystal Palace v Southampton, Everton v Stoke City, Leicester City v Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester United v Newcastle United, Sunderland v Hull City, Swansea City v Aston Villa, West Bromwich Albion v Manchester City
AFP
Cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar was on Monday named the ICC World Cup ambassador for the second successive edition.
“The International Cricket Council today announced Sachin Tendulkar as the World Cup 2015 Ambassador. It will be the second successive time that the India maestro will be the Ambassador of ICC’s pinnacle tournament, after he fulfilled the role in the previous event in 2011,” the ICC said in a statement.
In his role as ambassador, Tendulkar will promote and support a variety of ICC initiatives to enhance the profile of the tournament, which is the third biggest sporting event in the world and will take place in Australia and New Zealand from February 14 to March 29.
Tendulkar retired from international cricket last year after representing India in 200 Tests, 463 ODIs and one Twenty20 International. In a career spanning 24 years, the 41-year-old scored a total of 34,357 international runs and 100 centuries.
Tendulkar added the missing World Cup title to his long list of achievements in his sixth attempt in 2011. He is the all-time leading run-getter in World Cup history with 2,278 runs in 45 matches at an average of 56.95.
“I am delighted and honoured to be appointed ICC Cricket World Cup Ambassador for the second successive time. After playing in the last six editions, the upcoming World Cup will be a different experience as I will follow it from the sidelines. It could probably be comparable to the ICC Cricket World Cup 1987 where I was a ball boy, enthusiastically cheering every ball,” Tendulkar said.
“The image of the champion team lifting the World Cup inspires many youngsters around the world and gives them a dream to chase — a dream which I fulfilled after 22 years of relentless pursuit by being part of the victorious Indian team in 2011,” he added.
A listless India capitulated to a four-wicket defeat in the second cricket Test against Australia with an inept batting display by the top-order to give the hosts an invincible 2-0 lead in the four-match series here today.
Resuming at the overnight score of 71 for one, the visitors lost four wickets in quick succession with an addition of only 16 runs and were eventually bowled out for 224 in 64.3 overs.
Chasing a paltry victory target of 128, Australians lost as many as six wickets but were always in control as they knocked off the required runs with more than a day to spare in what turned out to be a miserable fourth day for the Indians at the Gabba.
Nothing seemed to go right for the visitors when play started this morning with regular opener and overnight unbeaten batsman Shikhar Dhawan (81) not coming out to bat.
Dhawan, apparently suffered an injury to his right wrist during the morning practice session which led to Virat Kohli (1) coming out with Cheteshwar Pujara (43).
Kohlis early departure virtually triggered off the collapse as Mitchell Johnson ripped through the top-order and finished with figures of four for 61 while Josh Hazlewood (2/74), Mitchell Starc (2/27) and Nathan Lyon (2/33) also chipped in.
Had it not been for 60-run eighth wicket partnership between Dhawan and Umesh Yadav (30), India wouldnt have been able to set a three-figure target.
Australian run-chase was marked by two early jolts with David Warner (6) and Shane Watson (0) and though they continued to lose wickets, the target was never beyond reach.
Mitchell Marshs cover drive brought about the victory triggering off scenes of celebrations in the Australian camp as the players hugged each other.
The defeat also brought to the fore Indias dismal record outside the sub-continent with their 15th defeat in the last three and half years.
Mahendra Singh Dhonis poor track record as Test captain in overseas conditions continued as he lost his 14th Test match outside the sub-continent. Dhoni has now lost seven Tests in England, four in Australia, one in New Zealand, one in South Africa since 2011.
The two teams will now travel to Melbourne for the Boxing Day Test with Australia needing a win or atleast a draw to regain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
Even though there couldnt be excuse for abject surrender, India did suffer due to a few umpiring howlers with Rohit Sharma (0) and Ravichandran Ashwin (19) being adjudged out when the TV replays showed that there was no nick.
However one cant deny that Indian batsmen were done in by the extra bounce.
When Australia chased, Chris Rogers (55 runs, 57 balls, 10 fours) and Steve Smith (28 runs, 39 balls, 4 fours) added 63 runs for the third wicket to lay the platform which ensured that Australia reached home safely despite the fall of a few wickets.
Rogers brought up his seventh Test half-century off exactly 50 balls, playing the aggressor as the Australian batsmen scored at a good pace. Their 50-mark came up in the 13th over and only two overs later they celebrated their 50-run stand.
India suffered a blow to any hopes they had of winning the match when Smith, on nine, was dropped in the 14th over off Varun Aaron (0-38) by Virat Kohli at second slip. Then came the hiccups with Rogers the first to go, caught at third slip off Ishant Sharma (3-38).
Shaun Marsh (17) then added a quick-fire 29 runs for the 4th wicket with Smith, before being dismissed off Umesh Yadav (2-46) in the 21st over, caught behind as he tried to clip one to the leg-side.
Smith was run-out in the very next over, and when Brad Haddin (1) was caught at fine leg in the 23rd over, there was still some cricket left to play as Australia struggled to 122/6. But Mitchell Marsh (6 not out) and Mitchell Johnson (2 not out) had none of it, taking their side home without any more fuss.
Just before tea, Ishant took two quick wickets to send back David Warner (6) and Shane Watson (0), reducing the hosts to 25/2 at the break and raising visions of a tough fight-back from the touri
Brazilian great Pele says he is not seriously ill, easing fears Thursday that his health deteriorated even though a hospital said he was in intensive care and undergoing renal support treatment.
The 74-year-old Pele used his official Twitter account to deny widespread reports that said his condition worsened and that he was put in intensive care to treat a urinary tract infection.
“I want to take this opportunity to let you know that I am doing fine,” he said. “I was not put into intensive care today, I was simply relocated to a special room within the hospital for privacy purposes only.”
Pele had an operation to remove kidney stones on Nov. 13, but he was readmitted to the hospital on Monday after being diagnosed with the infection. The three-time World Cup winner has remained in the hospital since.
“I am blessed to receive your love and support, and thank God this is nothing serious,” he said. “I am looking forward to spending the upcoming holidays with my family, and will start the new year with renewed health, with many international trips already planned! Thank you!”
Pele’s manager had already said that the former player was expected to make a “quick and full” recovery from the “minor” infection.
Paul Kemsley said in a statement sent to The Associated Press that reports about the deterioration of Pele’s condition and about him going into intensive care “were greatly exaggerated.”
“He was relocated to a special area of the hospital for privacy purposes only, due to having an overwhelming number of visitors which prevented him from getting the necessary care and treatment,” Kemsley said.
The Albert Einstein hospital released a statement earlier in the day saying Pele was transferred to a “special care” unit after his condition became unstable. The statement created a scare in Brazil, with local media widely reporting that Pele’s condition had deteriorated.
Jose Fornos Rodrigues, Pele’s spokesman and personal aide, told the AP that Pele “is fine,” also saying that the move within the hospital was because “he was receiving too many visitors and that wasn’t helping, so they transferred him to a calmer area.”
“He should be out of the hospital in a few days,” he said.
The hospital later released another statement saying that Pele’s condition “improved,” but for the first time mentioned that he was in “an intensive care unit” and temporarily undergoing renal support treatment. The hospital’s press office did not confirm whether the treatment meant dialysis.
The hospital’s press office had previously denied that Pele was in intensive care. Pele’s tweets and Kemsley’s statement about Pele’s condition came after the hospital’s latest report.
“Pele plans to spend the upcoming holidays with his family, and in the new year, he will recommence his busy worldwide schedule,” Kemsley said. “Trips to Australia, China, Nigeria and Azerbaijan are already confirmed for the early part of 2015.”
Pele has enjoyed good health in recent years despite needing to undergo surgeries for a hip replacement and a detached retina.
Widely known as the greatest footballer of all time, Pele is a national hero in Brazil. He remains a worldwide ambassador to football and is active with his many businesses across the globe. He still participates in many advertising campaigns and is present at most major football tournaments.
He won the World Cup with Brazil in 1958, ’62 and 1970 and is known as the game’s most prolific scorer, credited with 1,281 goals in 1,363 career matches
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