Family turns down offer of state funeral for Benaud S YDNEY —The family of cricket icon Richie Benaud
Ramsey keeps Arsenal’s EPL title dream flickering BURNLEY (United Kingdom)—Arse- blown Liverpool away 4-1 with some Emirates on April 26 could have a sig- Burnley have enjoyed some of their nal edged to their eighth successive Premier League victory by beating Burnley 1-0 yesterday, with Aaron Ramsey’s first-half goal moving them to within four points of leaders Chelsea. Wales midfielder Ramsey struck in the 12th minute as Arsene Wenger’s team did just about enough to see off their relegation-threatened hosts at Turf Moor. Arsenal are the form team in the country and have now won eight league games in succession for the first time since they romped unbeaten to the title in the 2003-04 ‘Invincibles’ season. The north London club had
has declined the offer of a state funeral, Australia´s Prime Minister Tony Abbott said on Sunday. Abbott said the offer was a mark of respect for a man who meant so much to millions of people in Australia and around the world. But he said the former Test captain and renowned commentator, who died aged 84 on Friday after fighting skin cancer, wanted a quiet and private funeral. “My understanding is that Richie´s own wishes was for something very, very quiet and very, very private,” Abbott told reporters. Benaud´s widow, Daphne, phoned the Prime Minister´s office on Saturday to kindly decline the offer of a state funeral, he said. Overall Benaud played in or commentated on approximately 500 Test matches and has been lauded as the most influential Australian cricketer and broadcaster of his era.—AFP
sumptuous football at the Emirates Stadium seven days earlier, but this was a victory of a different nature. After getting their noses in front, Arsenal rarely threatened to carve the hosts open and had their fair share of defending to do. Nevertheless, their winning run has not only served to ensure that they are likely to record an 18th consecutive top-four finish, but it has seen Wenger’s team emerge as Chelsea’s closest rivals for the title. They have not finished as high as second for 10 years and while Chelsea have played two fewer games, the encounter between the sides at the
nificant bearing on the title race. Confidence is clearly high among Wenger’s squad and it took them just over 11 minutes to establish a lead. The movement of Arsenal’s four attacking midfielders had caused Burnley problems from the start and a poor pass out of defence by home captain Jason Schackell was punished. Alexis Sanchez had a shot blocked before Mesut Ozil’s effort was well saved by Tom Heaton, but Burnley could not clear the danger. Ramsey applied the finish, high into the net from close range, for his ninth Arsenal goal of the season.
best results of the season against the Premier League’s elite, taking four points from fixtures against Manchester City, drawing with Chelsea and holding Tottenham Hotspur a week ago. They responded well to falling behind, managing to disrupt Arsenal’s passing patterns, and the visitors never really hit their stride. David Ospina was called into action to save at the feet of Sam Vokes and the Arsenal goalkeeper was also forced to make a save from Kieran Trippier’s curling free-kick. Ashley Barnes hooked an effort towards goal that Ospina had to claim as Burnley maintained their relentless work rate in the second half. At the other end, Sanchez forced a smart save from Heaton with a low drive from 20 yards and Ramsey saw a fierce first-time shot bravely blocked by Ben Mee following Ozil’s brilliant lobbed pass. Moments later, Mee nutmegged Hector Bellerin and delivered a low cross that narrowly evaded his teammates, but it was enough to enliven the home crowd. Burnley top scorer Danny Ings had seen very little of the ball, but he tested Ospina with an acrobatic effort after Scott Arfield lifted the ball into the area from Vokes’s knockdown. It was as close as Burnley came and while they never really looked like grabbing a leveller, the suspense for Arsenal’s fans endured until the final whistle.—AFP
ENGLAND: Arsenal’s Aaron Ramsey, second right, scores his side’s first goal of the game against Burnley during their English Premier League soccer match at Turf Moor, Burnley.
West Indies, England seek fresh start N O R T H S O U N D (Antigua and campaign, appears to be paying the Barbuda)—West Indies and England face-off in the first Test of a three-match series on at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua on Monday, with both sides involved in reconstruction and rehabilitation following a wretched few months. Facing the wrath of the Indian authorities following an unprecedented abandonment of the tour there last October and with several of their star players either overlooked by the selectors or unwilling to represent the regional team, there is considerable trepidation over the prospects of the West Indies in the opening fixture, notwithstanding the ground´s reputation as a batting paradise. Chris Gayle, who led the West Indies to an upset 1-0 triumph the last time the English played a Test series in the Caribbean in 2009, announced his unavailability for the assignment, although he is turning out for the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the lucrative Twenty20 Indian Premier League. Dwayne Bravo, captain of the squad who walked out of the Indian
price for his role in that fiasco, although the official line from the selectors, headed by outstanding former captain Clive Lloyd, is that they are looking to younger players to try to take the team forward. While the West Indies were at
least able to qualify out of their preliminary group at the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand last month, England failed to advance beyond the group stage, inviting widespread condemnation at home and at the same time fuelling speculation over the possible return of controversial batsman Kevin Pietersen for the Ashes series against arch-rivals Australia in three months´ time.
One batsman who is expected to make a return in Antigua is Jonathan Trott. Seemingly lost to the game when leaving the last Ashes series in Australia after struggling to cope with the pace of Mitchell Johnson in the first Test in Brisbane, the 33-yearold South African-born player looks set to open the batting in his 50th Test with captain Alastair Cook. Without a century for his country in more than a year-and-a-half, Cook is likely to attract almost forensic attention, both for his leadership and form with the bat, as England embark on an arduous campaign of 17 Tests over a nine-month period. Rustiness will also be a concern as their last Test was more than eight months ago when they completed a 3-1 home series demolition of a dispirited Indian side. Their brief build-up to this series was hardly taxing as the couple of two-day matches against a St Kitts Invitational XI provided such a low standard of opposition that the tourists resorted to using some of their squad players in the home team for the second match.—AFP
PARIS: Mark Korir of Kenya celebrating after winning the 39th Paris Marathon.
Kenya’s Korir wins Paris Marathon P A R I S —Mark Korir of Kenya won the Paris men’s marathon on Sunday, his first career victory in a prestigious international race. Korir, 30, who was second in last month’s Paris Half-Marathon, came home in am official time of 2hr 05min 49sec, ahead of another Kenyan, Luka Kanda (2:07:20). Seboka Tola of Ethiopia was third, in 2:07.33, with yet another Kenyan, Mike Kigen, fourth. Meseret Mengistu of Ethiopia, a surprise late entry after an invitation from the organisers, won the women’s event in 2:23:26. Mengistu, 25, shattered her own personal best, the 2:29:22 she ran in 2013. Her compatriot Amane Gobena (2:23:30) was second and Kenya’s Visiline Jepkesho third in 2:24:44. Kigen led the decisive breakaway 10km from home but he was reeled in by Korir, who set off in pursuit and caught him up 5km out in the Bois de Boulogne before streaking away to leave Kigen trailing in behind the first three. “When I saw the others accelerate between 25km and 30km, I just kept the same rhythm without looking to follow them,” Korir said. “The first half of the race was run at a slowish pace, so that meant I could accelerate whenever I wanted to.” Korir is only the fifth man to run under 2hr 06min in the French capital. Ethiopia’s Kenenisa Bekele set the race record of 2:05:04 last year, beating the 2:05:10 run by Kenya’s Stanley Biwott in 2012. Kenyans Peter (2:05.37 in 2013) and Vincent Kipruto (2:05:47 in 2009), have also broken the 2:06 barrier.—AFP
Junaid to replace injured Sohail for Bangladesh ODIs K A R A C H I —Pakistan spearhead Sohail Khan was Sunday ruled out of the tour of Bangladesh after suffering a back injury and was replaced by Junaid Khan. This is the second injury setback for Pakistan after batsman Sohaib Maqsood was also ruled out last week due to a fractured arm. Sohail, 31, suffered the injury on the last day of team’s training session in Lahore after breaking down in his fourth over of a practice match. Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said Sohail was advised to rest for two to three weeks. “Sohail suffered a back injury at the training camp, precisely reporting pain during the practice match, and post MRI scan he was advised recuperation for 2-3 weeks,” a PCB release said. Sohail staged a surprise comeback after a fouryear hiatus and impressed with his five-wicket haul in the key match against India in the World Cup held in Australia and New Zealand in FebruaryMarch. Pakistan chief selector Haroon Rashid has named Junaid as Sohail’s replacement for the one-day squad. Junaid was already part of the Twenty20 and Test squad for the Bangladesh series. Pakistan will open the tour with the first of three one-day internationals in Dhaka on Friday. They also play a Twenty20 and two Tests on the tour. Sohail is part of the Twenty20 and Test squad as well, but his place in these two formats is also doubtful after the latest injury setback.—Agencies
Badminton: Momota makes Superseries history for Japan A statement said Lu had aggravated a SINGAPORE —Kento Momota became the first Japanese man to win a Superseries bad- knee injury. In 2011 in Singapore, Chinese minton singles title when he beat Hong star Lin Dan was loudly booed for pulling Kong’s Hu Yun in a thrilling Singapore out of the men’s final against countryman Chen Jin. Open final on Sunday. Lu and Huang’s withdrawal was posted Playing his first final in the elite series, the world number 10 saved his best for last on the electronic scoreboard but was not when he reeled off six consecutive points announced to the crowd. But Zhang, playing in the men’s doubles to seal it 21-17, 16-21, 21-15. “The margin was really close and Hu final later with Fu Haifeng, was unable to Yun was really good offensively,” said capitalise on the extra rest as they lost 2115, 11-21, 21-14 to unseeded Indonesians Momota. “I was running around and trying to Angga Pratama and Ricky Karanda keep patient, patient and that was the key Suwardi. In the women’s doubles, China’s Ou to winning this match.” The women’s final was even closer as Dongni and Yu Xiaohan upset top seeds China’s Sun Yu saved three match points Misaki Matsutomo and Ayaka Takahasi of against Tai Tzu-ying of Taiwan for what was Japan 21-17, 21-16.—AFP also her maiden Superseries win. Sun shrieked with joy and threw herself on the floor in celebration after she strung together five straight points in the third game to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. “I’m overjoyed. I came to Singapore last year and it was the first time I got into the semi-finals but lost eventually,” said the 21-year-old, who won it 21-13, 19-21, 2220. “Now it’s my second time and I won the championship, so Singapore must be a lucky place for me.” In the mixed doubles, there was a whiff of controversy as Chinese top seeds Zhang Nan and Zhao Yunlei profited from SINGAPORE: Japan’s Kento Momota poses with the troa walkover from their com- phy after winning against Hong Kong’s Hu Yun in their patriots Lu Kai and Huang men’s single final at the Singapore Open badminton tournament on Sunday. Yaqiong.
Faridkot villagers in Delhi to cheer Grurinder Sandhu’s IPL team Bipin Dani OBSERVER CORRESPONDENT MUMBAI —Few villagers of Hardialeana village in Faridkot district left for Delhi early morning to witness Delhi Daredevils’ home match against Rajasthan Royals at the Ferozshah Kotla ground on Sunday. They were hoping to see the performance of 22-year-old right arm fast bowler Gurinder Sandhu’s team performance in this IPL match. Incidentally, Australia-born Gurinder Sandhu is a son of Iqbal Sandhu, who hails from this village. Iqbal Sandhu migrated for Australia about three decades ago. He is on a short trip to India to watch the IPL matches. Speaking exclusively from Delhi, Iqbal Sandhu says, “all our villagers who have come here for this match only will cheer
for Delhi team. Gurinder’s mother (Mukhtar) and my younger son (Harman Singh) have arrived from Australia yesterday night”. “After watching to-day’s match, we shall visit our village tomorrow and stay there for few days”. The family has no plan to stay in India till the IPL final is played in Kolkata on May 24. “My younger son, who plays Under19 team for NSW has to return to Australia. His net practice will begin on May 12 and therefore have to go back”. However, the father may change his plan, if Gurvinder’s team progresses well in the IPL season. Gurinder’s uncle Charanjit Singh, a farmer at Hardialeana in Faridkot, had to travel about 425-km to-day to meet his brother Iqbal Sandhu and his family. Gurinder’s father is a taxi driver in Sydney.