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Sunday 18•06•2017
SPORTS
THE MORUNG EXPRESS
Srikanth enters final, Prannoy Favourites India wary of maverick loses in Indonesian Open JakaRta, JuNe 17 (IaNs): Indian shuttler Kidambi Srikanth defeated World No.1 Son Wan Ho to enter the men's singles final of the Indonesian open Superseries Premier after H.S. Prannoy faced defeat against Kazumasa Sakai in the first semi-final here on Saturday. World No.22 Srikanth kept his nerves to win 21-15, 14-21, 24-22 against the South Korean Son. He will face Sakai in the final on Sunday at the Jakarta Convention Center (JCC). The first game looked a cake-walk for Srikanth -- who won 21-15 over Son. The only point where Son looked a bit dangerous was when he came close 10-12 from 6-11 but failed to take advantage. In the second set, 29-year-old Son made a come back after trailing 4-6 to rely on his deft net-game to equalise one game apiece with a 21-14 win. The final game remained stiff till the very end with none of the shuttlers giving any space to the opponents. Son edged ahead with a 13-10 lead but Srikanth kept firing winners to equalise at the 14-point mark and even held a point lead. But Son didn't flinch and kept rallying hard till the end to find crucial points. With the match reaching a tipping point in terms of intensity at 20-all, both the shuttlers felt the heat. While Srikanth banged a smash at the net, Son erred in hitting long. But the Indian kept his nerve to edge past Son and win 24-22. In the final, Srikanth will eye his third C M Y K
Superseries title after victories in the 2014 China Open and the 2015 India Open. Earlier, Prannoy's dream run was halted by unseeded Sakai, who came back from a game down to win 21-17, 2628, 18-21, and seal his berth in the final on Sunday. Prannoy, who defeated multiple Olympic and World Championships medallists Lee Chong Wei and Chen Long in the last two matches, on Saturday dominated the opening game with a 8-3 lead. The Indian continued to lead for the rest of the game and won it in 19 minutes after Sakai saved two game points. The Japanese bounced back well into the second game to open up a 11-5 lead by the break before Prannoy fought back to draw level at 18-18, but failed to convert five match point opportunities as Sakai won the game in 32 minutes. The decider saw Sakai marching ahead with a 6-2 lead which he extended to 11-9 at the changeover. After the breather, World No. 47 Sakai continued to dominate the third game, opening up a six point lead at 17-11. Prannoy managed to narrow the deficit to two points at 17-19 but Sakai converted his second match point opportunity to win in one hour and 17 minutes. "Well not my day I guess. Served 5 match points but not lucky enough to get a finals birth. Thank you everyone for the support this week," Prannoy said after the defeat.
LONDON, JuNe 17 (ReuteRs): India are favourites to retain the Champions Trophy on Sunday but they would probably have preferred to face different opponents than arch-rivals Pakistan in what is sure to be a highly-charged final. The neighbouring countries have moved on from years of political conflicts but emotions will run high as millions of supporters around the world watch the first major cricket final between the teams since the 2007 Twenty20 World Cup. One of the most unpredictable sides in world sport, Pakistan were the lowest-ranked side going into the tournament and produced a shambolic performance in their heavy opening defeat by India. As they have done many times before, however, Pakistan suddenly found their form with wins over top-ranked South Africa and Sri Lanka before delivering an outstanding all-round display to stun previously unbeaten hosts England in the semi-finals. India suffered a shock loss to Sri Lanka in the group stage before overwhelming Bangladesh in the semis and their captain 'what are they for?' and if Virat Kohli has been imthere is no particular rea- pressed by Pakistan's reson then would changing surgence. them make the game better?" A long-term supporter of video assistance for referees, Elleray believes trials are going well and improving behaviour. "Players know they cannot get away with things such as violent conduct and bad tackles," he said. The strategy document, called Play Fair, will be discussed over the next few months, before the 2018 IFAB annual general meeting, in March, which will decide which proposals should be trialled in competitive matches. "The underlying philosophy of 'Play Fair' is a call to the conscience of everyone involved in football," said a statement on the IFAB website.
IFAB to discuss a 'quiet revolution' in laws of football
LONDON, JuNe 17 (ReuteRs): Penalty goals, dribbling from free kicks and corners, and points deductions for mobbing the referee are among a crop of radical proposals for discussion by football's lawmaking body, the International Football Association Board (IFAB). IFAB's technical director David Elleray, the former English referee, is behind a strategy document which he describes as 'a quiet revolution'. Under the proposals players would be allowed to play free kicks and corners to themselves instead of passing; the ball need not be stationary for a free kick; a penalty would be awarded for a goalkeeper handling a backpass; and a penalty goal could be given if an outfield player handles on or close to the
goalline. Possible changes to time keeping include the whistle only being blown for halftime and fulltime when the ball goes out of play; and using 60 minutes of actual playing time rather than 90 overall minutes as at present. Teams could also be docked points for surrounding a referee. Minor amendments include a goal kick not having to leave the penalty area before a defender touches it and a goal kick being awarded if a player misses a penalty kick, instead of any follow up being allowed. "You could say it is a quiet revolution aimed at getting football even better," Elleray told The Times newspaper. "My starting point was to look at the laws and say
Pakistan in high-octane final
As India take on Pakistan in the Champions Trophy final on Sunday, there'll be tensions for hundreds of millions of people tuning in across South Asia, where this rivalry transcends sport. (AFP Photo)
"The turnaround has been magnificent," Kohli said. "Obviously, if you reach the finals you have to play some good cricket and credit to them, they've turned around things for themselves really well. "The belief just showed on the field the way they played together as a team and regardless of who you play in the finals, it's always going to be challenging because once you start think-
ing that it's a big game, then strengths and weaknesses your mindset changes." they have," Kohli said. "I don't think we need OUTSTANDING to look too far away from BATTING what we are doing as a India, who beat Paki- group, focus on our skills stan by five runs in the and our abilities and beTwenty20 final 10 years lieve in ourselves on that ago, have been lifted by the particular day." outstanding batting form of Pakistan, without their Kohli, Shikhar Dhawan and leading fast bowler MoRohit Sharma. hammad Amir due to in"What we are going to jury, strangled the usually try to do is repeat the similar free-scoring England batssort of cricket that we have men on a slow wicket in played so far, knowing the Cardiff with a disciplined
display of bowling and fielding. The Oval pitch should be more favourable for batsmen but India, who have beaten Pakistan in eight of their 10 World Cup and Champions Trophy meetings, will not be complacent. "We've seen some really surprising results and it's been amazing for the fans to watch and for the players to be a part of," Kohli said. "We played some really good cricket but we're not going to take anything for granted for sure." Pakistan's rejuvenation has been built around the runs of opener Fakhar Zaman and the experienced Azhar Ali while Hasan Ali and Junaid Khan stepped up to compensate for the absence of Amir who is expected to be fit for the final. Their captain Sarfraz Ahmed said they had quickly forgotten the opening loss to India and simply focused on the next game in their bid to win the Champions Trophy for the first time. "After the India match, we just motivated the guys," he said. "Don't worry about the India match. This is gone. If we play good cricket, definitely we will win this tournament."
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