pg 18_Layout 1 9/13/2010 12:24 AM Page 1
SPORTS
Liverpool, Birmingham play goalless Pg 17
ABC Boys win Benaulim Trophy Pg 16
GOA, MONDAY, 13 SEPTEMBER, 2010 www.oheraldo.in
Rafi named FPAI Player of the Year
Kallis on the kill for Royals AGENCIES CENTURION, SEPT 12
AGENCIES NEW DELHI, SEPT 12
Churchill Brothers striker Mohammad Rafi was on Sunday named India’s Player of the Year by the Football Players Association of India at a glittering function held in the evening in New Delhi on Sunday. Dempo Sports Club’s Joaquim Abranches was declared Young Player of the Year while another Churchill player Odafe Okolie was named the Foreign Player of the Year. Dempo's Anthony Pereira was named Fittest Player of the Year. Pune FC and India goalkeeper Subrata Paul was chosen as the Fan Player of the Year while Dempo's Armando Colaco won the Coach of the Year award at a glittering function attended by Asian Football Confederation President Mohammed bin Hammam. All India Football Federation President Praful Patel, other top AIFF officials, national team players and chief coach Bob Houghton were also present on the occasion. Bollywood actors and football enthusiasts John Abraham and Rahul Bose were also present. "I thank all my team-mates for helping me win this award," Rafi said. Houghton said the biggest strength of Indian football team is its unity and praised FPAI President Bhaichung Bhutia for his leadership qualities. "Indian football's biggest strength is its team unity. Bhaichung is Indian football icon but he is just like one of the members when he is with the team," he said.
In BrIef Sushil Kumar wins gold Wrestler Sushil Kumar rewrote the history books once again as he became the first Indian wrestler to win a gold medal in the World Wrestling Championships. Sushil outwitted Russian grappler Gogaev Alan 3-1 to win the final bout of the 66 kg men's freestyle category to clinch the gold medal. According to international body's website (FILA), Sushil clinched two crucial points in the first period while his opponent only managed one.
Argentina win hockey World Cup Carla Rebecchi scored twice as Argentina were crowned women's hockey world champions for the second time on Saturday after beating holders Netherlands 3-1 in the World Cup final. It was Argentina's third win over the Olympic champions in two months after they twice beat them on their way to retaining the Champions Trophy in Nottingham in July. Earlier, England beat Germany 2-0 to win the bronze medal, also a repeat of the result for third place in Nottingham.
Beckham back in action David Beckham returned to competitive action for the first time in almost six months with a second half substitute appearance for the LA Galaxy in their 3-1 win over Major League Soccer rivals Columbus Crew. He came on in the 70th minute of the game at the Home Depot Center with the Galaxy leading 30 against the Eastern Conference leaders on Saturday. ''It feels amazing,'' Beckham said after the game, ''Doing rehabilitation is kind of tough. That was a big win in a big game,'' he said.
An all-round effort by Jacques Kallis (43 runs and three wickets) helped Royal Challengers Bangalore began their Champions League campaign with a resounding nine-wicket win over minnows Guyana at SuperSport Park on Sunday. Experienced duo of Jacques Kallis and Rahul Dravid (33 off 34) begin well in pursuit of a meager 104-run target set by Guyana and put up a 75-run stand before Dravid was clean bowled by offspinner Royston Crandon in the eleventh over. R o b i n Uthappa (25 off 8) started off where he left in the Indian Premier League (IPL) and spanked a boundar y and t w o s i xe s o f f Christopher Barnwell. He completed Challengers' victory in the next over. E a r l i e r, t h e C a r i b b e a n champions Guyana had no answers to on-song Royal Chall e n g e r s B a n g a l o r e ( RC B ) bowlers who made life difficult for the batsmen throughout the 20 overs and in the end bowled a helpless team out for a paltry 103. For RCB, Jacques Kallis toyed with the inexperienced Guyanese batting line-up and picked up three wickets, while Praveen Kumar took two wickets with his nagging line and length. Dale Steyn,
Nayan Doshi and Anil Kumble also chipped in with a wicket each. For Guyana, none of the batsmen except Christopher Barnwell crossed the 20-run mark. Royal Challengers' bowlers proved Anil Kumble's decision to bowl first right as both Dale Steyn and Praveen Kumar stifled Guyana's batsmen from the word go with their discipline. After keeping Guyana openers quiet initially, Praveen struck for Royal Challengers as he got rid of opener Travis Dowlin (10 off 17) in his third over. Ramnaresh Sarwan started off brilliantly, hitting a six over extra cover off Jacques Kallis, but then chopped a straight delivery on to his stumps. S Chattergoon (18 off 17) became the victim of one-handpick-up throw by Cameron White that hit the stumps direct. Narsingh Deonarine tried to break the shackles, but he too holed out at deep mid-wicket to Ross Taylor. Kallis then came back to take two quick wickets (Jonathan Foo and Derwin Christian). South African pacer Dale Steyn did the clean-up job after that with two late strikes that ended the Caribbean champions' innings for a paltry 103.
29 suspected in ‘spot-fixing’ in IPL2: Reports UNI LONDON, SEPT 12
The spot-fixing controversy involving Pakistani trio has not only rocked international cricket, but unearthed several cricketers' involvement with shady characters, with reports today claiming that as many as 29 players, including two Australians, were suspected to be involved in spot-fixing at the IPL 2 in South Africa. According to a leading London newspaper The Sunday Times, some high-profile names were included in a secret dossier compiled by the ICC's anti-corruption and security unit. However, the list didn't include any cricketer from England or Pakistan, as their players did not take part in last year's IPL due to security reasons, the daily said. ''Some betting patterns were very suspicious at IPL 2,'' the report said quoting a source. There have been concerns looming large over the integrity of the cash-rich T20 league for sometime now, whose commissioner Lalit Modi has been suspended over corruption allegations, but England players are expected to be available for the whole of next year's IPL for the first time. The Pakistan cricketers -Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamer -- were at the centre of the spot-fixing controversy following a British tabloid's expose that the Asif and Aamer deliberately bowled no-balls in the Lord Test against England. Meanwhile, a fourth Pakistan player Wahab Riaz's name has emerged in the sopot-fixing episode and would be questioned by the Scotland detectives on September 14.
Klinger blitz gives Redbacks victory PTI CENTURION, SEPT 12
Captain Michael Klinger smashed a blistering 78 as he led South Australia Redbacks to an 11-run victory over giant killers Highveld Lions in a Champions League Twenty20 match here today. Klinger led from the front with a stroke full 48-ball innings which had six fours and five sixes in it to take his side to 178 for six after they struggled on a lively SuperSport park pitch. He got an able ally in Callum Ferguson, who scored a 27-ball 47 with seven fours and the duo shared 97 runs from just 57 balls for the third wicket after the Redbacks were put into bat. Highveld Lions, who stunned Mumbai Indians in their opening match on Friday, were on course of their chase of a stiff target of 179 as they raised 90 for three at the halfway mark before they lost way later. Opener Jonathan Vandiar, who top-scored with 71 against Mumbai Indians, could not repeat his form today as he was out in the first over, dragging a Shaun Tait
TODAY’S MATCHES Warriors v. Victorian Bushrangers, 9 p.m.
express delivery to his off stump. Captain Alviro Petersen (35ball 56) kept the Lions on course with some aggressive batting but once he was out in the 13th over, the South African side's run chase lost direction. With the asking rate mounting, Lions lower order batsmen failed to deliver at the slog overs. Lions needed 32 form the last two overs and Robert Frylinck smashed two sixes off Tait in the penultimate over before he was out in the same over. That left 19 runs to be scored from the last over for a victory which Lions tailenders could not achieve. For Redbacks, Tait, who gener-
Strauss leads way for England Pakistan 294-8 (50 overs). England 295-6 (49.3 overs) AGENCIES LONDON, SEPT 12
England edged to a four-wicket win over Pakistan at Headingley to take a 2-0 lead in the oneday series. Openers Kamran Akmal (74) and Mohammad Hafeez (43) shared 122 after Pakistan opted to bat, and Asad Shafiq hit 50 in their 2948, Stuart Broad taking 4-81. Andrew Strauss shared 146 with Jonathan Trott, but fell for 126 in the 45th over and Eoin Morgan went in the next. Six were needed from the final over but Michael Yardy and Tim Bresnan guided their side home with three balls left. An exciting finish in good conditions was exactly what the series needed, given England's dominance in the Test and Twenty20 matches. Another improved Pakistan performance saw them come agonisingly close, but they succumbed to their seventh defeat in eight internationals against England this summer. The opening stand of 122 was their highest opening ODI partnership against England and more than the entire team made
on five occasions during the international matches on this trip. Bresnan's first three overs went for 25, and the 50 partnership was recorded in 53 balls courtesy of a rare James Anderson misfield. The bright Leeds sunshine and flat surface gave little assistance to the bowlers, but England's fielding in general was unusually lax and tactics with the ball that previously proved so effective did not work. Yardy has often stemmed the scoring with his unique brand of flat slow to medium left-arm, but he conceded 26 in his opening four overs. It was Paul Collingwood who made the breakthrough, ironically with an off-cutter, to trap Kamran marginally on the line of off-stump when sweeping, while Hafeez was bowled via the inside edge and pad off Graeme Swann, who found some spin and was relatively economical. Mohammad Yousuf again started slowly before gradually beginning to find his touch. Things did not improve for Yardy when he returned to the action and was wristily flicked over mid-on for six by Yousuf.
ated a lot of pace with some deliveries touching 150kmph, was the most successful bowler with three for 36 from his four overs. Daniel Christian chipped in with two wickets while Aaron O'Brien got one. Earlier, Klinger smashed a blistering 48-ball 78 to lead Redbacks to 178 for six. South Australia lost opener Daniel Harris (13) and one-down Graham Manou (12) cheaply to reach 65 for two at the halfway mark before pressing the accelerator. The Australian Twenty20 runners-up side scored 113 runs in the second half of their innings with opener Klinger and Australia international Callum Ferguson (47) raining fours and sixes. The duo shared 97 runs from just 57 balls for the third wicket to help their side post a challenging total. The duo were particularly severe on pacers Zander de Bruyn and Ethan O'Reilly and with Ferguson smashing the two bowlers for three fours in the 16th and 17th overs respectively. He was run out in the 18th over after hitting seven fours in his 27-ball innings.
US Open:1,2,3 for Clijsters Djokovic stuns Federer, faces Nadal in final REUTERS NEW YORK, SEPT 12
It was all too easy for Kim Clijsters at the US Open. And all too hard for Roger Federer. Clijsters won her third women's singles title with ridiculous speed, thrashing her nervous R u s s i a n o p p o n e n t Ve r a Zvonareva 6-2 6-1 in less than an hour yesterday. For the second year in a row, Clijsters celebrated her victory by fooling around with her infant daughter on the centre court. The photographers lined up to start snapping away but Jada protested. ''No photos, no photos,'' she told them. Clijsters giggled and the crowd at Arthur Ashe Ashe Stadium lapped it up. ''I'm very excited that I was able to defend my title,'' Clijster said. ''It's always an honour to go back to a place, especially a Grand Slam, where you've done well and you've won.'' Zvonareva was reduced to tears, hiding her head under her towel as she sobbed. The seventh-seed had played some brilliant tennis to get to the final but these were not her finest 59 minutes. It was not Federer's greatest day at Flushing Meadows either. For the first time since 2003, the Swiss master will not be appearing in the men's singles final after his loss in the semi-finals to Serbia's Novak Djokovic. ''I'm not as disappointed as I would have been in the final. That's the only positive news to enjoy anything out of it,'' he said. Federer had two match points in the final set, which lasted longer than the entire women's final, but missed his chances and Djokovic went on to win 57 6-1 5-7 6-2 7-5. ''It's one of those matches that you will remember for the rest of your life,'' said Djokovic. ''I am very proud of myself.'' His reward was a place in today's final against the world number one Rafa Nadal, who sailed through with a 6-2 6-3 6-4 victory over Russia's Mikhail Youzhny. Nadal has never won the US Open but it will take an extraordinar y per formance from Djokovic to deny him this time. ''I have tried my best for a lot of years,'' Nadal, who has not dropped a single set in the tournament, said. ''So now after a lot of work I am here and I'm happy for that.''
Nadal is now tantalisingly close to completing a career grand slam. Only six men, including Federer, have achieved the feat and Nadal only needs the US Open to become the seventh.
Kim Clijsters of Belgium with daughter Jada celebrates her win over Vera Zvonareva of Russia in the women's final with the trophy at the US Open 2010 tennis tournament in New York.
If he does it later today, the 24-year-old will be second youngest. ''I feel great,'' Nadal said. ''It's not a dream, because a dream is to win the tournament.'' Nadal's only moments of concern against Youzhny were late in the match when he dropped serve for just the second time in the tournament and had his left foot retaped and bandaged because of a blister. Djokovic's victory put the Serbian into his third grand slam final. The world number three made the US Open final in 2007, losing to Federer, but won the Australian Open the following season. At 23, he has time on his side and the game to match. The biggest questions about him have revolved around temperament. He has been labelled
a quitter whenever he has failed to finish a match. In the third set against Federer, he repeatedly smashed himself in the head with his racket in an attempt to motivate himself. It worked and by the end, he was on his knees planting a sloppy kiss on the court. ''(I have) many, many more years to come. I look forward to it,'' he said. ''I'm working hard on my game. I'm getting some things together and hopefully on the court it's gonna pay off.'' His victory robbed the tennis world of what might have been the ultimate grand slam final. Federer and Nadal have played each other in the Wimbledon, French Open and Australian Open finals, but no two men have ever met in the finals of all four majors.
''I would have loved to play against him here,'' Federer said. ''I won't watch but I hope he wins.'' Clijsters won her first US Open title in 2005 but was unable to defend her crown because of an injury. She missed the next two years after taking time off to start a family. She won it again last year in her comeback to grand slam tennis and Saturday's win saw her become the first woman to successfully defend her the crown since Venus Williams in 2001. ''When I started my US summer, the US Open was my main goal,'' Clijsters said. ''It was a new situation for me as well, going back to the Grand Slam where I was actually defending my title for the first time. Not having been able to do that in 2006 was frustrating at the time.''
A dream win for Alonso
today that lose world championships," the Briton told reporters. Vettel was fourth, leaving his pitstop to the last lap after earlier suffering an engine problem and slipping behind Webber. He cut his deficit to Webber from 28 to 24 points, with his result demonstrating that Red Bull were in no mind for the 'team orders' that led to Ferrari being hauled before the governing body last week. Germany's Nico Rosberg was fifth for Mercedes with compatriot Nico Hulkenberg seventh for Williams. Poland's Robert Kubica was eighth for Renault with Schumacher ninth in a Mercedes and Brazilian Rubens Barrichello, last year's winner for Brawn GP, taking the final point for Williams.
ICC to halt Pak’s ’11 visit to England AGENCIES LONDON, SEPT 12
ICC is expected to tell Pakistan that they will not be returning to England next season, as a sequel to allegations of spot-fixing controversy, media reports said on Sunday. According to The Sunday Telegraph, England was going to be Pakistan's second home as long as the security situation in their country was desperate. The Pakistan-Australia Test series held this summer was intended to be the first of several neutral series staged here. But at the ICC chief executives meet in Cape Town tomorrow, the ECB CEO David Collier is not going to offer Pakistan the same facilities for 2011, as a consequence of the recent decline in the tourists' popularity. Earlier this year the ECB had hoped that Pakistan would play India in England next summer, which would have been a real money-spinner as the two countries meet so seldom and have such large and passionate following. According to the report, there is a small window for a one-day series between Sri Lanka -- the other country to tour England next season -- and Pakistan to be staged in this country in July.
Pg18
No points for Force India
Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso of Spain celebrates on the podium after winning the Italian Formula One Grand Prix at the Monza racetrack in Monza, Italy on Sunday. AGENCIES MONZA, SEPT 12
Fernando Alonso seized a longed-for victory in his first Italian Grand Prix for Ferrari on Sunday while Lewis Hamilton lasted less than a lap and handed the championship lead back to Australian Mark Webber. It was Ferrari's first Formula One win at their home circuit since Michael Schumacher's victory in 2006 and Alonso answered the fans' prayers despite being overtaken at the start by McLaren's world champion Jenson Button. Button, who led for more than half the race by little more than a second, finished runner-up after losing out at his pitstop after 36 of the 53 laps. With Button's team-mate Hamilton going out on the first lap, Red Bull's Webber surged
five points clear despite finishing only sixth. The top five are now separated by just 24 points, less than the 25 available for a victory, with everything to play for and five races remaining. Webber has 187, Hamilton 182, Alonso 166, Button 165 and Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel 163. Button denied Ferrari a one-two finish, with Brazilian Felipe Massa joining team mate Alonso on the podium in third as a sea of red-shirted fans invaded the track in jubilation. "This is a good motivation for all of us but the remaining five races are the really important ones," said Alonso, who started on pole position and had earlier described Monza as crucial to his hopes of a third title after he crashed in Belgium last month. "We need to remain calm. This
was a good weekend for us. Spa was a bad weekend. We need to find some consistency in the final races," he added. Massa had challenged Alonso at the start, a seemingly futile gesture for a driver ordered to let the Spaniard win in Germany, but his main contribution was to knock Hamilton out of the running at the Della Roggia chicane on the opening lap. The two banged wheels in a risky bid by the 2008 champion for third place and Hamilton's front right suspension was broken by the impact. Hamilton's retirement was his second in three races, although he won the previous race in Belgium, and his second in succession in Italy. "The championship is not over but it's mistakes like I made
Force India returned empty handed for the fourth time this season with Vitantonio Liuzzi finishing 12th and Adrian Sutil 16th at the Italian Grand Prix in Monza on Sunday. It is third time in the last four races that Force India has failed to get a point in an otherwise impressive season. Before this race, Force India had returned without any points from the Chinese, German and Hungary Grand Prix. Sutil, who began 11th on the grid, was pushed back to the rear after an opening lap trouble which also forced him an early pit stop, but the German driver raced amazingly to move up. He switched on to hard tyres and moved to 17 by the lap 18. In another five laps, he was in top-15. With the 16th-place finish, Sutil dropped one position to 10th.