SPORTS
Pg 15
GOA, Monday, 16 May 2011
Chelsea set for 2 place, West Ham relegated nd
Arsenal… 1 Aston Villa… 2 Birmingham… 0 Fulham… 2 Chelsea… 2 Newcastle… 2 Liverpool… 0 Tottenham,… 2 Wigan… 3 West Ham… 2 AFP LONDON, MAY 15
West Ham were relegated from the English Premier League after squandering a 2-0 lead in a 3-2 defeat away to fellow strugglers Wigan on Sunday. Senegal striker Demba Ba's first half double gave West Ham hope in a match they had to win to set up a chance of a last day reprieve against Sunderland next weekend. But Wigan, who stayed second bottom, hit back through Charles N'Zogbia's blistering 57th minute free-kick before substitute Conor Sammon drew the hosts level at the DW Stadium 11 minutes later. N'Zogbia then sealed Wigan's remarkable recovery in stoppage time when he slid a shot under the body of England goalkeeper Robert Green, who had previously made several fine saves. Defeat left the Hammers on 33 points, meaning a win against Sunderland would not be
enough for the London club to climb out of the relegation zone. Wigan though could yet avoid the drop if they get a draw or better against Stoke and other results go their way. In all, five clubs were left within a point of each other as they faced a frantic finale to stay in the top flight. Wigan and Blackpool were in the relegation zone on 39 points. Birmingham, beaten 20 by Fulham on Sunday, also had 39 points but were above the bottom three on goal difference alone. Meanwhile Blackburn and Wolves, on 40 points apiece, were still not assured of avoiding relegation ahead of their meeting at Molineux. Birmingham's survival prospects were dealt a blow when Brede Hangeland headed in from a fifth minute corner before the central defender doubled Fulham's lead in the 49th minute. At the top of the table, Arsenal's hopes of a second-place finish ended with a match to spare following a 2-1 home loss to Aston Villa as England striker Darren Bent scored twice early
in the first half before Robin Van Persie pulled a goal back in the 89th minute. Defeat left the Gunners four points adrift of second-placed Chelsea, who earlier Sunday gave their London rivals hope by conceding a late equaliser in a 2-2 draw with Newcastle. Arsenal could now miss out on the top three finish needed to guarantee a Champions League group stage spot and avoid the qualifying round, with fourth-placed Manchester City just two points behind with a game in hand. FA Cup winners City play Stoke at Eastlands on Tuesday in a repeat of Saturday's Wembley final. Elsewhere, Tottenham Hotspur moved into pole position for a place in the Europa League after a 2-0 win away to Liverpool, playing their first match since Kenny Dalglish was named as their permanent manger, moved them a point in front of their rivals for a spot in the second-tier tournament. Dutch midfielder Rafael van der Vaart fired Tottenham into a ninth minute lead with a fierce shot into the top corner from
the edge of the box. World Cup final referee Howard Webb then angered the Anfield faithful by awarding a penalty after what seemed like a shoulder charge between Liverpool's John Flanagan and Spurs' Steven Pienaar. Luka Modric then struck the 56th minute spot-kick down the middle to double Tottenham's lead. Chelsea had seen their slim hopes of retaining the title ended by champions United's 11 draw away to Blackburn Rovers on Saturday. But they responded by going ahead as early as the second minute through defender Branislav Ivanovic at Stamford Bridge. H o w e v e r, Newcastle equalised eight minutes later through Argentina midfielder Jonas Gutierrez. Chelsea though regained the lead seven minutes from time when a mistake by Newcastle goalkeeper Tim Krul, who misjudged a Frank Lampard freekick, allowed Brazilian defender Alex to head in at the far post. But Newcastle defender Steven Taylor headed in from close range shortly before the final whistle.
Ravi moots volleyball revival l Ponda event homage to Borkar-Mathias-Cleto HERALD SPORTS REPORTER PANJIM, MAY 15
Big time volleyball will grip Ponda and surrounding areas as Home Minister Ravi Naik, as president of one of the oldest clubs in the area – Jawahar Club of Ponda – is all set to launch an invitational volleyball tournament in memory of their explayers Sharad Borkar, Mathias D’Costa and Cleto Caldeira figuring two prominent outstation teams – Marina Club of Chennai and Hyderabad XI besides the local ones from May 18 at Ponda. It will be a revival of volleyball and Ravi is all set to give volleyball fans some extraordinary fare. What’s more, it is being held in memory of three former volleyball stalwarts, exnational volleyballer Sharad Borkar, former National player Mathias D’Costa and Cleto Caldeira, who in the days of past dominated the volleyball scene in Goa and were an integral part of the then famous Jawahar Club when Ravi (National player) himself was a player of great repute and an inspiration behind the club. The threesome shone for Jawahar Club of Ponda with Sharad moving to Mala Sports Club to become a spiker of repute and earn the State Jivabadada Kerkar Award for outstanding sportspersons. Mathias, popularly known as Tiger and Cleto played for Jawahar till their retirement. “The tourney is dedicated to Borkar, Mathias and Cleto. We need to pay homage to the
A 1974 file photo of Jawahar Club of Ponda with (sitting l to r) Daniel Rodrigues, Sharad Borkar, Ravi Naik, Subash Kuvelkkar and (standing l to r) Mathias D’Costa, manager Vishwanath Naik and Cleto Caldeira.
threesome who played for Jawahar alongwith me and even represented the State at various National championships,” stated Ravi, who has been the president of the club since 1965 and is sponsoring the event now. Ravi must be praised for the wonderful effort as volleyball in Goa is moribund. And, coming as it does from a club which kept the volleyball flag flying high in the years gone by, he deserves a big pat on the back.
Having been himself a National player and even sponsored State volleyball teams for various Nationals in 70s, 80s and 90s, he is keen to infuse fresh ideas, get outstation players and teams of repute, allow Goan clubs to rope in leading players from other States and ultimately revive the past glory of volleyball when the sport was almost on par with football, there being regular senior division, first division, women league, friendly inter-state events, unlike now
Windies win first Test AFP GEORGETOWN, MAY 15
West Indies had wrapped up their first and most significant Test win in over two years, since they beat England at the start of 2009 against Pakistan by 40 runs on Sunday at Providence Stadium. Ravi Rampaul and captain Darren Sammy were at the centre of it, taking eight wickets between them to lead the side to a 40-run win in Providence. Misbah-ul-Haq and Umar Akmal battled but Pakistan had been outplayed, their batting as brittle as ash. Though Sammy took five wickets, Rampaul was actually the key, the best fast bowler in this Test by some distance. Devendra Bishoo's arrival has taken the limelight away from Rampaul, for whom, in a normal non-dysfunctional cricket setup, this would be hailed as a breakthrough performance. He's bustled in all game, with pace, intelligence and movement. Brief scores: West Indies 226 (Lendl Simmons 49; Saeed Ajmal 5-69) and 152 (Saeed Ajmal 6-42) v Pakistan 160 (Abdur Rehman 40 not out) and 178 (Misbah-ul-Haq 52, Umar Akmal 47, Asad Shafiq 42; Darren Sammy 5-29, Ravi Rampaul 4-48).
when the association’s main aim is securing international trips like Lusofonia Games in Macau and Lisbon, participating directly in Nationals even without organising full-fledged championships, knowing well that the standard is absolutely awful. The winners will get Rs 30,000 and the runners-up Rs 25,000. Matches will be held at the municipal court, Ponda under floodlights from 7 p.m. The event has generated lot of enthusiasm in Ponda with those in the know of things even suggesting that Ravi should take over the affairs of the volleyball association so that the sport gets a new direction and impetus.
Sharapova wins Rome title AFP ROME, MAY 15
Triple Grand Slam title winner Maria Sharapova won her first tournament in almost a year as she powered past Australia's Samantha Stosur 6-2, 6-4 to win the Rome International on Sunday. Sharapova's last title came at the low-key Strasbourg claycourt event on the eve of the 2010 French Open.
Siolim Sodiem in semis HERALD SPORTS REPORTER MAPUSA, MAY 15
Siolim Sodiem Sports Club eventually prevailed to move into the semi-finals after defeating Sirsaim Sports and Welfare Club 4-2 via the tie-breaker in Siolim Sodiem Super Soccer at St Anthony’s church ground, Sunday. The match ended 1-1 after normal time. Rashiket Salgaoncar connected onto Prestino Fernandes’ corner in the sixth minute to give Siolim the lead. Eleven minutes later, Jason Mendes equalised with a neat placement for Sirsaim. In the tie-breaker, Anthony D’Souza, Rakshek Vaigankar, Dipesh Salgaonkar and Mahendra Soraskar scored for Sodiem while Agnelo D’Sousa and Vincent Rodrigues were successful for Sirsaim.
Betalbatim SC march into final HERALD SPORTS REPORTER MAPUSA, MAY 15
Betalbatim Sports Club marched into the finals defeating Brasil Futebol Academia 4-3 via the tie-breaker in GFA’s U-16 playoff at Duler Stadium, here, Sunday. Betalbatim led 1-0 at the breather. Betalbatim coach Eban Mesquito was sent off in the 64th minute which amazingly left Betalbatim with no other official sitting on the bench. Betalbatim raced into the lead in the 7th minute as Floyd Fernandes placed past the Brasil goalkeeper. Betalbatim dominated the first half with splendid use of the 4-5-1 formation. By half time it was obvious that Brasil would have to change tactically, and they pushed forward from the defence with more urgency to unsettle Betalbatim. Seven minutes into the second half, Saish Kavlekar finally put the ball into the net for Brasil after the ball initially rebounded off the crossbar. In the tie-breaker, Betalbatim kept their nerve with Russell Vaz, Elison Pereira, Selvin Cardoza and Leslie Costa converting. Binatone Singh, Sahil Tavora and Shubam Shetgaonkar scored for Brasil, while Saish Goltekar and Saish Kavlekar missed. Betalbatim will now face Salgaocar Sports Club Juniors in the All-Goa finals.
PORTUGUESE LEAGUE RESULTS
Benfica 3 (Cardozo 41, Javi Garcia 58, Jara 64) Uniao Leiria 3 (Silva 45, 89, Lima 75). Maritimo Funchal 0 FC Porto 2 (Varela 21, Walter 32). Vitoria Setubal 3 (Neca 31-pen, Claudio Pitbull 56, Michel 75) Portimonense 1 (Silva 18). Pacos de Ferreira 5 (Rondon 21, 34, Ozeia 24,
Pedrinho 26-og, Pizzi 43) Academica Coimbra 1 (Eder 82). Sporting Braga 0 Sporting Lisbon 1 (Djalo 4). Naval 0 Vitoria Guimaraes 3 (Jorge Ribeiro 33, 40, Edgar 78). Beira Mar 0 Nacional 2 (Diogo 3, Costa 81). Olhanense 2 (Yontcha 57, Dady 80) Rio Ave 2 (Yazalde 11, Tomas 61).