Sports Today

A Research paper on the Effect of Aerobic Excersises and Yogasanas paper by S. Natarajan and Dr. N. PremKumar

2011-10-24T18:48:00.002+05:30

Paper on "Effect of Aerobic Excersises and Yogasanas Practice on Psycological variables among University players" by S.Natarajan, Yoga Instructor, Centre for Yoga Studies, Annamalai University and Dr. N. PremKumar, Associate prof, Dept, of Physical Education, Annamalai University.

ABSTRACT

The purpose of the preset study was to find out the effect of aerobic exercise and yogasana practice on psychological variables among university players. To achieve this purpose the investigator met the players, from Annamalai university randomly selected thirty male subjects. And their age between 18 to 25 years. The selected subjects were divided into three experimental groups and a control group with ten subjects in (n=10) each. Experimental group I underwent aerobic training (AT), Group II underwent yogasana training (PT), Group III act as a control group. The experimental groups did training for all eight weeks. The pre and post test were taken for all subjects before and after the training respectively. The data pertaining to the variables in this were examined by using dependent T- test and analysis of covariance (ANCOVA).The eight weeks of selected aerobic exercise and yogasana practices reduced the anxiety level and improved mental health among the university players.

INTRODUCTION
The philosophy of Yoga and the psychology behind its practice the two are bound up together in such a way that any consideration of the one inevitably has to simultaneously take into account the other, because the practice of Yoga is laid upon the basis of a psycho-philosophical background. The philosophy of Yoga and the psychology of Yoga are present not only as a background to this science of Yoga, but also as the basis for the practice of the Yogic processes. It is upon this basis that the different practices have been formulated and presented and this point should be borne in mind always, not only when we make a study of Yoga, but also when we actually practice the different Angas of Yoga. Only then will the practice become more meaningful to us and only then can the practice itself be done in a right way and in a rational way.

METHODOLOGY

The investigator met the university players, Annamalai university selected thirty male subjects were randomly. And their age between 18 to 25 years. They were divided into three equal groups namely experimental group and control groups. The experimental group I aerobic exercise underwent and experimental group II underwent yogasana practices weekly five days i.e. Monday to Friday, between 6.00 P.M to 7.00 P.M.for a period of eight weeks, and group III not practicing aerobic exercises and yogasna. Anxiety and mental health were selected as criterion variables all the subjects were tested (Dr.C.D.Spielberger Anxiety Scale, Tried Personality Inventory (TPI) developed by Peter Becker) at prior and immediately after the training period on selected dependent variable. The collected data were analyzed statistically by using analysis variance to find out the significant differences if any between the groups at before and immediately after the training period on selected dependent variable separately. In all cases, .05 level of confidence was fixed to test the significance.

ANALYSIS OF DATA

PRE AND POST MEANS AND STANDARD DEVIATION

SCORES ON TRAIT ANXIETY

GROUPS NTESTSMEAN STD. DEVIATION
Control group 10Pre test 46.00 4.784
10 Post test46.60 5.295
Aerobic Experimental Group 10 Pre test 46.30 5.222
10 Post test 42.70 7.056
Yogasanas Experimental Group 10 Pre test 46.40 5.211
10 Post test 40.20 3.705

The Table I, shows that there is a marginal difference in pre-test mean on trait anxiety of all three groups, whereas the difference in post-test on trait anxiety level across the groups are remarkable. The post-test mean on trait anxiety means are 46.60, 42.70 and 40.20 for control group, aerobic exercise group and yogasanas training group respectively. It is noted that the trait anxiety is higher for the respondent group with yogasanas training compared to that of other two groups

PRE AND POST MEANS AND STANDARD DEVIATION
SCORES ON MENTAL HEALTH

GROUPS N TESTS MEAN STD. DEVIATION
Control group 10 Pre test 39.00 8.419
10 Post test 39.70 8.433
Aerobic Experimental Group 10 Pre test 39.10 8.319
10 Post test 39.10 8.319
Yogasanas Experimental Group 10 Pre test 39.50 9.009
10 Post test 49.60 6.603

The Table II, shows that there is a marginal difference in pre-test mean on mental health of all three groups, whereas the difference in post-test on mental health level across the groups are remarkable. The post-test mean on mental health means are 39.70, 39.10 and 49.60 for control group, aerobic exercise group and yogasanas training group respectively. It is noted that the mental health is higher for the respondent group with yogasanas training compared to that of other two groups.

SUMMARY

Yoga, a form of physical activity, is rapidly gaining in popularity and has many health benefits. Yet healthcare providers have been slow to recognize yoga for its ability to improve health conditions, and few interventions have been developed that take full advantage of its benefits. Yogis observe the mind and the body as one and that if one is provided with the right yoga kit and tools and taken to the correct atmosphere; it can discover harmony and men itself. Yoga so is regarded as therapeutic. Ancient theories, explanation and ideas about the mind and body connection that is now being established by modern drug.

CONCLUSIONS

Within the limitations of the present study, the following conclusions were drawn The extent of reduction in the ‘trait anxiety’ is almost equal between computer professional with aerobic and yogasanas training. It is found that the aerobic training and yogasanas training are significantly reducing the ‘state anxiety’ among students and the degree of impact on reducing ‘state anxiety’ is equal between aerobic training and yogasanas training. The aerobic and yogasanas training have significant influence on increasing the ‘mental health’ of students. Increase in ‘mental health’ through yogasanas training is significantly higher than that of through aerobic training. Psychological variables of state anxiety and mental health were significantly improved by aerobic exercises and yogasanas for the experimental group when compared to the control group.

Reference

Aurobindo, Letters on yoga. Pondicherry: Reflection on Hindu Spirituality
Heritage Publishers, Part II, 1984.

Barrow, M. Harrold and McGee, Rose Mary, A Practical Approach to
Measurement in Physical Education. Philadelphia: Lea & Febiger, 1979.

Basvanne. Manual for Self Confidence Inventory. Varanasi: Chawta Offset Printers, 2003.

Bucher, Charles .A. Foundations of Physical Education and Sports.
London: C. V. Mosby Company, 1983.

Bucher, Charles. A and E William. Practice Fitness for College men Life. Missouri: C.V. Mosby Company Publishing, 1985.

De Geus, E. J. et. al, Regular Exercise and Aerobic Fitness in Relation to

Psychological Make-Up and Physiological Stress Reactivity. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Vrije Universities, 1993.

Albright, C L. “Effect of a Six-Month Aerobic Exercise Training Program on Cardiovascular Responsivity in Healthy Middle-Aged

Adults”. The Journal of Psychometric Research 36(1), (January 1992).

Blumenthal, J. A. et. al. “Aerobic Exercise Reduces Levels of Cardio-vascular and Sympatho Adrenal Responses to Mental Stress in Subjects Without Prior Evidence of Myocardia Ischemia”. The American Journal of Cardiology 65(1), (January1990).

Blumenthal, J. A. et. al. “Aerobic Exercise Reduces Levels of Cardiovascular and Sympathoadrenal Responses to Mental Stress in Subjects without Prior Evidence of Myocardial Ischemia” Psychological Report 99(2), (October 2006).

2010-2011 EPL Season Team Kits

2010-07-21T13:47:00.003+05:30

So, the World cup is done and dusted. Its time for the regular business to begin and the EPL Kits for the 2010-2011 season has been revealed. Lets take a look at the home and away kits of all the teams.

Arsenal 2010-2011 Kits

May be the underachievers of EPL. Their kit looks retro and stylish though.

Arsenal 2010-2011 Home Kit

Arsenal 2010-2011 Away Kit

Birmingham City 2010-2011 Kits

Surprise package of last year! Alex Mcleish's side will be looking to prove that their last year form was no fluke!

Birmingham City 2010-2011 Kits

Bolton Wanderers 2010-2011 Kits

There isn't much change to their last years kit. Looks decent. But seriously, a red second kit?

Bolton Wanderers 2010-2011 Home Kits

Bolton Wanderers 2010-2011 Away Kits

Chelsea 2010-2011 Kits

Ah! The Champions! Elegant and beautiful kits!


Chelsea 2010-2011 Home Kits

Chelsea 2010-2011 Away Kits

Everton 2010-2011 Kits

Seriously? Pink? What are you thinking guys?


Everton 2010-2011 Home Kits


Everton 2010-2011 Away Kits

Fulham 2010-2011 Kits

With Roy gone, many wouldn't give much changes to Fulham but their Kits too has become worse! Its a classic white shirt of the 70s with a additional sponsor's name.


Fulham 2010-2011 Home Kit

Newcastle United 2010-2011 Kits

The new boys are here! St.James's park will be on television once again! And the toon are back with their classic white and black stripes!

Newcastle United 2010-2011 Home Kits

Liverpool 2010-2011 Kits

A new season! Will the Reds forget the past and be good?Their kit certainly looks good!


Liverpool 2010-2011 Home Kits

Liverpool 2010-2011 Away Kits

Manchester United 2010-2011 Kits

The Red Devils will feel the pain as they missed the title last year. This year with a new sponsor, they are looking to win! Their kit looks retro, bright and special!

Manchester United 2010-2011 Kits

Stoke City 2010-2011 Kits

The fans from Brittania Stadium will be looking forward to shouting their mouths out. Their kit though hasn't changed much.

Stoke City 2010-2011 Home Kits

Sunderland 2010-2011 Kits

See, how is this different from Stoke's kits?! God alone knows!

Sunderland 2010-2011 Home Kits

Tottenham Hotspur 2010-2011 Kits

The Team to look ahead of this new season! Spurs have taken a classy look!

Spurs 2010-2011 Home Kits

Preview : Australian GP 2010 | Who is heading where?

2010-03-27T06:00:00.001+05:30

We are used to seeing Australia at the starting of the season. But Bahrain started the proceedings two weeks before where Ferrari made the cut with a 1-2. Although it did seem that the Red Bull were a second or two faster than the other cars on the grid. It was unfortunate for Sebastien Vettel who began the race at pole position and finished only at fourth due to a exhaust failure. Michael Schumacher who made his F1 return after 3 years, finished 6th behind his team mate Nico Rosberg.

Australian GP - Track

Australia without a doubt has one of the most dangerous first turns. With 24 cars rushing at the start, there are going to be incidents involved. In 2002, Ralf Schumacher rided over Rubens Barrichello's Ferrari and literally flew over 50 meters. Even last year, Barrichello ran into Mark Webber.

Melbourne often produces stop-start races with several safety car interruptions. Last year there were two, courtesy of Kazuki Nakajima and the Sebastian Vettel-Robert Kubica crash in the dying stages of the race.

Without the refueling, F1 will see very less overtaking maneuvers. So the qualifying will play a important part.

Drivers to watch out for :
Mark Webber : The Australian has never had a great home race so far. His best finish was in 2002 where he came home 5th in a humble Minardi. Now, he has the fastest car on the track. If there is a chance then this is it. Mark Webber would be my dark horse for the race. Webber failed to make use of his pace at qualifying in Bahrain but he wouldn't want to miss out to win the race in front of his home crowd.

Michael Schumacher : The whole world knows about Schumacher's love affair with Albert Park. He has won at this very circuit 4 times. It would not be easy for him to race with the younger and faster lot, but who can if he can't? I will place my bet on Schumi without thinking once. If Schumacher can get a decent enough place at the qualifying, he sure can enter the podium.

Team to watch out for :
Force India : After two season of frustration, Force India are beginning to strike the cord. They are not going to challenge with the big 4 - Ferrari, Mclaren, Mercedes or Red Bull. But they have some healthy competition at the middle of the table which they would want to win. Force India along with Renault, Williams and Toro Rosso are all running for the 5th spot finish and Force India seem to have the better chance. Adrian Sutil and Tonio Luizzi are performing decently and both of them finished at Bahrain. If it was not for the first corner fiasco, Sutil too would have bagged some points.

Final Prediction:
It all depends on the qualifications. Expect atleast one Ferrari and one Red Bull on the podium.

Manchester United defeat Liverpool | Chelsea drop points against Rovers

2010-03-22T14:24:00.000+05:30

It has been an eventful evening. Manchester United go 4 points clear off Chelsea as they defeated Liverpool 2-1 and Chelsea only managed a draw against Blackburn Rovers. Chelsea do have one game in hand.

Man Utd vs Liverpool | Match Review
The match had all the hype before its start. Man United clearly needed a win to take the title. Liverpool had to win to stay in the champions league. More than these, it was pride which was at stake. Liverpool had defeated United 3 times in a row. They did a double over the champions last season and won the match at Anfield this season 2-0.

Sir Alex Ferguson decided to play Park Ji-Sung in a free role. Nani and Valencia occupied the wings while Rooney took the striker's job all alone. Benitez played with Torres, Gerrard, Kuyt and Maxi leaving out Aquilani and Babel.

The match began and Liverpool got a very early goal as Torres headed the ball across Van Der Sar's net. It was perfectly executed by Liverpool's Talisman. Rio Ferdinand and Gary Neville totally forgot to mark Torres who gave Liverpool the upper hand very early in the game. Then after less than 10 minutes, Valencia made a great run through the penalty box, where Mascharano pushed him. United were awarded an shot from the spot. Rooney took it and Reina saved a excellent ball but he couldn't prevent the rebound which Rooney finished quite easily. Then the match went to half time

After the beginning of the second half, both the teams had half chances but the real blow came when Fletcher sent an awesome ball into the box and Park headed it into the goal post. United lead 2-1. It stayed like that till the end although Torres had an amazing chance in the 89th minute. United went top but the real boost came when Chelsea managed only a draw in their game against Blackburn.

Man of the Match : Park Ji-Sung. The cultured mid fielder from South Korea was all over the park yesterday. He had missed an half chance in the first half but he couldn't miss the one in the 60th minute as he converted an easy header. Sir Alex Ferguson's trust with Park in big games is proving to be valuable as he has scored against both Arsenal and Liverpool now.

Chelsea vs Blackburn Rovers | Match Review

Chelsea should have thought that their week wouldn't get any worser after their debacles display against Inter Milan in the mid-week but It did get worse. They dropped points againt Blackburn Rovers as El-Hadji Diouf scored an equaliser in the 70th minute to make the scoreline 1-1. Chelsea could not get a goal past their defense as Chelsea surrendered their lead to Man Utd.

After Drogba netted a 5th minute goal, his 28th of the season it did look as if it was going to be a massive Chelsea win but Rovers got back their defense and Diouf did the rest.

All of Chelsea's international power houses looked tired and used up as they gave up fairly quickly. To add to their woes, Brainslav Ivanovic picked up an injury and left the field.

Now taking that Chelsea win their game in hand, they would still be 1 point behind Manchester United and only 1 point ahead of Arsenal who defeated West Ham United 2-0.

Manchester United vs Liverpool | The Match Preview

2010-03-21T14:22:00.000+05:30

The English Premier League is reaching its pivotal point and Today's game could decide two important things. The battle for the title and the battle for the 4th spot. Manchester United dearly need this win to keep their hopes on the 4th consecutive titles alive while Liverpool need to win this to stay on course for the last European spot.

Needless of all these, Man United vs Liverpool games have always been full of adrenaline. Both of them have won England's biggest 18 times and of course, Liverpool has not won a single title after the inception of the Premier League in 1992. But they have defeated United 3 times in a row now including that 4-1 thrashing last year at Old Trafford. Both Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard were on fire that particular night and having them both fit will only rise Rafa Benitez's hopes.

United too have struck some form lately. Having got back their best center half combination of Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic, it is only fair to say that they hold the advantage here. Rooney is in amazing form having scored 32 goals in 35 starts. He has been Man United's talisman this season but he has only scored 1 goals against Liverpool in 14 attempts.

Expected Lineups

Manchester United : Van Der Sar, Rafael, Vidic, Ferdinand, Evra, Carrick, Fletcher, Scholes, Nani, Valencia, Rooney.

Liverpool : Reina, Agger, Carrager, Insua, Johnson, Lucas, Mascharano, Gerrard, Kuyt, Babel, Torres.

Scoreline Expected : 2-1 to United.

UEFA Champions League draws out | The Road to Benabaeu heats up.

2010-03-20T12:17:00.000+05:30

As we all know, Man Utd, Arsenal, Barcelona, Inter Milan, CSKA Moscow, Bordeaux, Lyon and Bayern Munich made it to the quarter final stages of the world's most prestigious club championships.

Inter Milan defeated 2008's runner-ups Chelsea 3-1 on aggregate. The other two teams from England, Manchester United and Arsenal over powered their respective oppositions. United defeated 7 time Champions AC Milan 7-2 on aggregate while Arsenal made a riot out of Porto defeating them 6-2 which included 5 goals at the Emirates.

Now, the draw for the later stages of the tournament has been made. United take on Bayern whom they famously defeated in the injury time in 1999,while Arsenal face their 2006 Champions league final opponents and the defending Champions Barcelona. Lyon face compatriots Bordeaux.

Inter Milan who had the toughest first knock round have the easiest quarter final opponents facing CSKA Moscow.

Further, the winner of United vs Bayern will face the winner of Lyon vs Bordeaux in the semifinals, so there is a solid chance that Manchester united can make it to the finals third time in a row. In the other half, there is a potential Barcelona vs Inter Milan semifinals, providing Arsenal bow out.

Interestingly, only two English teams and just a single Spanish team have made it to the last 8. France has two contenders for the title. So its going to be one heck of a fight fot he title.

We will be back!

2010-03-13T10:36:00.000+05:30

Hello People,

Yes. It has been a really long break but I'm sure that we will be back in action covering all kinds of crap from March 19th. And sports has just got interesting. The new F1 season, Finale to BPL, Later stages of EPL, and of course the year long ATP race. We will be back. Thank you for your patience with us.

Pro Evolution Soccer (PES) 2010 Download |Direct Links| Hotfile | Mediafire

2010-01-16T11:56:00.003+05:30

Pro Evolution Soccer 2010 (officially abbreviated as PES 2010 and known as World Soccer: Winning Eleven 2010 in Japan) is a lastest football video game in the Pro Evolution Soccer series. The game was developed and published by Konami for release on Sony's PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, and PlayStation Portable; Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Windows; Nintendo's Wii; and mobile phones.

Features :

PES 2010 contains improved visuals, animations and moves, including live player expressions and movements that will change according to conditions on the field. Animations of dribbling and shots on goal, as well as individual skills, have all been reworked.... Click "read more" to view download links

Gameplay has been made more realistic. This includes more versatile goalkeepers and greater control over penalties in terms of placing and accuracy.
There will be an enhanced online experience: a new development team is solely dedicated to improving online play and other aspects, such as downloadable content and more updates.
The A.I. has been improved thanks to Teamvision 2.0. Referees have been reworked to make more balanced calls during matches.
PES 2010 introduces greater strategy control: various strategic elements, such as pass frequency and width of play, can be altered.
The match-day atmosphere gives a better taste of home and away crowds, which will react spontaneously to all the action on the pitch.
Master League has been enhanced. It has improved managerial aspects, resulting in an increased managerial career lifespan.
360-degree control is introduced, available on the PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 versions of the game via the analog sticks on the respective controllers. PS3 owners will also benefit from this when using the DualShock’s D-Pad, but the Wii D-Pad is limited to eight-directional control and the Xbox 360 D-Pad to sixteen-directional control due to their hardwares.

Links:

DIRECT LINK

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USE ONLY IDM or ORBIT...or any DOWNLOAD MANAGER
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HOTFILE :

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MEDIAFIRE :

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Pass : DM_PES_2010_Reloaded

Installation instructions:

1) Mount image
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5HRV-LVRU-F75R-MV2L-RK45
RPJ4-7YVV-XSV5-5JK2-H25T
AT7H-KMJL-334W-W3LT-XJWM
D565-K4ES-56JC-YNXN-54J3
CV3L-25UM-7NF7-7RJA-45C3
S2H6-5DTJ-MDPV-37N7-2FAT
73VD-V59A-5ACY-JPDV-EP9J
PJ5C-P7X9-F35D-FDDK-Y7J6
AKF7-LJPK-5YPS-JVDU-J4YP
9VNE-M9ME-KY9S-MVCV-27EM
3) Unpack the Crack in a folder with a game
4) Play!

Sporting Moments which defined 2009 : Nadal's show of Compassion

2010-01-03T16:10:00.001+05:30

It was January 2009. Roger Federer was chasing the record-equaling 14th grand slam at the Australian Open. And as always Roger and Rafa qualified to the finals. Nadal was coming back from a marathon match he played against his fellow spaniard Fernando Verdasco.

Federer has more than one chance to win the match. He converted only 6 of the 19 possible break points. He lost a match which he should have won quite easily not taking any credit off the Spaniard. This turned out to be Federer's 3rd consecutive defeat to Nadal. He had lost to Nadal previously in the French and Wimbledon championships in 2008.

The things which followed melted everyone's heart. Roger Federer broke down into tears. Not just because he lost but he yet again failed to overcome the young man from Mallorca.

"God, it's killing me," Federer said on accepting the runners-up prize from Rod Laver, the brilliant former Australian tennis player and hero of Federer's. "I love this game, it means the world to me and it hurts when you lose."

He went on saying "In the first moment you're disappointed, you're shocked, you're sad. Then all of a sudden it overwhelms you. You can't just go in the locker room and take a cold shower, take it easy - you're stuck out there. It's rough."

Nadal promptly reduced his celebrations. "Sorry for Today" he said. "I know how you are feeling right now. It's really tough. But remember you are a great champion, you're one of the best in the history and you're going to improve the 14 of Sampras. He hugged Federer.

It really is difficult to find someone with a great talent and a great compassion. Just only about a year back, everyone thought that Nadal was a clay court specialist and he would have to press really hard if he wants to win any other Grand Slam. Now he had 3 out of the possible 4. What impresses us more is the way he remains. Even after 6 Grand Slam victories, he remains humble as ever.

He knew to respect his opponent. For many years, I have never been a fan of Nadal but that day changed my opinion.

Sporting Moments which defined 2009 : Messi's Goal in the Champions League Finals.

2010-01-03T01:08:00.001+05:30

The Champions league finals which took place at Rome between Manchester United and Barcelona was one of the top footballing moments of 2009. More than the teams, it was widely considered as a personal battle between Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi to determine who is the greatest player in the world.

The match was vividly expected as it took place between two equally stronger teams which play completely different football in contrast to the last year finals between Man Utd annd Chelsea which saw United winning in a Penalty Shoot-out.

Manchester United are a stronger defensive team while Barcelona go all guns blazing in the offensive end. No other team has won the Champions League in back-to-back years. Can Man Utd make history?

Barcelona had different plans in their minds. The game opened with Cristiano Ronaldo almost scoring. After 5 minutes, it was all Barca. Samuel Eto'o scored in the 10th minute.

The only factor which many criticized about Messi was his size. He is a small man. Man felt that he lacked the strength and physique of Ronaldo they said “He can’t head the ball, he’s too small.”

Lionel Messi rose into the heavens in the 70th minute and netted the ball into Van Der Sar's net and secured the cup to the Catalan Giants, it silenced everyone. Messi came out victorious in the clash of the titans. He silenced his critics and was considered "flawless".
2009 will be the year in which Messi took over the apparent crown from Ronaldo and Manchester united.

Wimbledon Finals : Its R Fed Vs A Rod!

2009-07-05T08:02:00.004+05:30

Andy Roddick has more than one thing to settle with the 14 time Grand Slam Champion. Federer has dismantled the American No.1 countless number of times. Federer holds a head-head record of 18-2 against Roddick. Will all these play a role in the Wimbledon Finals? Well We are not sure

Federer has won the past two matches against Roddick in Grand Slams- The AO 09 and US OPEN 07 and has already defeated him in two previous Wimbledon Finals at 04 and 05. Still Roddick is one of the most feared force in the world of Tennis.

Roddick's game depends heavily on his huge first serve. Players like Nadal and Federer are too good to guess the direction and speed of Roddick's serve so its never really a competition. Thats why Roger has this amazing record against Roddick.

What Roddick has to do is elevate his game to a high where Federer will find it new and difficult. These two old horses have met each other so many times that they know what the other will do. Although Federer is too good to be at any Situation its just a all or nothing game for Roddick. He has nothing to lose but Federer does have something. Roddick have to make use of that Scenario.

He will have support from the Crowd- The Murray and Rafa supporters will e cheering for him. If he mounts on a little pressure and puts Federer trailing who knows what will happen?

Still The chances are very slim for Federer losing. If Federer losses today we can openly announce that A Rod has arrived! Countless number of Americans are praying for a Miracle but The Swiss Genius is too good for any prayer! Lets see What happens!

Womens Finals : Its Venus vs Serena yet again!

2009-07-04T08:17:00.002+05:30

Women's Semi Finals had two very contrasting games the one where the two time defending champion Venus Williams cruised past Russia's Dinara Safina 6-1 6-0 without any kind of resistance showed by the world no.1.

The next one was a treat to watch the younger William sister faced of Russian No.2 Elena Dementieva. Elena who has been in the bettter of touches was looking to make it to her first Wimbledon Finals.

Serena reached her fifth final with a 6-7 (4/7), 7-5, 8-6 win over Elena Dementieva where she saved a match point in the longest women's semi-final in the tournament's history.

Dementieva had a match point seeing Williams approaching the net, the Russian went cross-court, rather than down the line, and the American gleefully accepted her opportunity with a simple saving backhand.

"That's my only regret. I should have taken more of a risk by going down the line," said the 27-year-old Dementieva.

Venus, who beat Serena in the 2008 final, will be playing in her eighth Wimbledon title match.

"It's my eighth final here and it's a dream to be able to have the opportunity to hold the trophy again" said Venus.

The Williams sisters have 17 majors between them.

"Venus is just too good on grass," admitted Safina who will remain the world number one regardless of the outcome of Saturday's final.

Sorry Elena!

With Williams approaching the net, the Russian went cross-court, rather than down the line, and the American gleefully accepted her opportunity with a simple saving backhand.

"That's my only regret. I should have taken more of a risk by going down the line," said the 27-year-old Dementieva.

Dementieva defied predictions of a one-sided encounter by breaking the American in the first game although Williams hit straight back.

The Russian bravely fought off three break points in the eighth game before going on to dominate the tie-break despite a nervous double fault on the first of three set points.

Williams, stung by the Russian's all-out assault, broke straightaway in the second set and was quickly 2-0 ahead. But Dementieva refused to yield and broke back to love in the sixth game for 3-3.

Williams, bidding to reach a fifth Wimbledon final, fought off two break points in the eighth game, but nipped ahead on a break to 6-5 when the American successfully challenged a ball which had been called good by the linesman.

Dementieva wasted four break points in the 12th game and was made to pay when Williams sent down a 12th ace to level the contest.

The Russian blonde broke a weary-looking Williams to lead 3-1 in the decider, but handed the advantage straight back with a tense service game.

Williams, with the experience of having won 10 Grand Slam titles in her career, saved a match point in the 10th game with a backhand volley.

The 2002 and 2003 champion capitalised on her escape by breaking to lead 7-6 and took the match when Dementieva pushed a return wide.

Roger, Murray and other top seeds off to fourth round at SW 19

2009-06-29T06:56:00.002+05:30

A easy first ween at the all England Club will mean that Roger Federer has the opportunity to break Pete Sampras's record f 15 Grand Slams. Roger began his first match in the center court in the absence of the Top seed Rafael Nadal.

He walked up in a military attire after all thats what Wimbledon for Federer is all about. He cruised past the fist two matches in straight sets then in the third round he had to struggle a bit against German's Philip Kohlschribber winning it in four sets.

Roger is looking for his 6th Wimbledon title and the only thing that is supposed to stand in his way is Britain's very own Andy Murray. Murray now the second seed too got through his fourth round with ease.

Roger faces Soderling !

Now a interesting fourth round game for Roger, against the man who he won his French open crown, Yup thats right Robin Soderling. Now Soderling said "No one can defeat me 11 times in a row" Well..We certainly hope that becomes true but its Roger Federer my god! It would be a big upset if Roger fails to go the quarter Finals.

Other top seeds Novak Djokovic and Andy Roddick too got to their respective fourth round games. The upsets were Juan Martin Del potro, semi finalist at RG , Fernando Gonzalez and Nikolay Davydenko.

In the women's draw two time defending champion and tournament favourite Venus Williams and her sister Serena, Ana Ivanovic and Dinara Safina too progressed for their respective fourth round games while Maria Sharapova, Jelena Jankovic did not.

Nadal pulls out of Wimbledon

2009-06-21T13:33:00.004+05:30

Nadal should have made the toughest decision of his life. Pulling out of the most prestigious even of the world. So the Men's draw will not have a defending Champion this year.

Nadal withdrew from the grass-court Grand Slam tournament Friday, three days before it begins, becoming only the second men’s champion in 35 years to decline to defend his Wimbledon title.

He announced his withdrawal about 2 1/2 hours after losing to 18th-ranked Stanislas Wawrinka in an exhibition match on grass at Hurlingham Club in south London. He earlier lost to Lleyton Hewitt.

“When I start a tournament like Wimbledon, it is to try to win,” the No. 1-ranked Nadal said, “and my feeling right now is I’m not ready to play to win.”

Aside from the physical issues, Nadal spoke Friday about the mental toll the injury has taken. This is, after all, a player whose rise to the upper echelon of tennis was built in part on his ability to race around a court and track down shots.

“One of the big problems is, when I am playing, I’m thinking more about the knees than about the game. So that’s very difficult to play well like this, no?” the six-time major champion said.

By pulling out after Friday morning’s draw, Nadal forced organizers to shuffle the men’s bracket. No. 5-seeded Juan Martin del Potro was moved from a potential semifinal against No. 2 Federer on the bottom half of the field into Nadal’s old spot in the top half. And No. 17 James Blake switched from the top half to the bottom half in del Potro’s old spot—and a possible semifinal against Federer.

It also means that No. 6 Andy Roddick, a two-time Wimbledon runner-up, now could face del Potro—rather than Nadal—in the quarterfinals. The other potential men’s quarterfinals are Federer vs. No. 7 Fernando Verdasco; No. 3 Andy Murray vs. No. 7 Gilles Simon; and Blake vs. No. 4 Novak Djokovic.

Now the door is even wider for Roger to get his 15th Grandslam and possible become the new world no.1!

Blog News : Sorry for the break guys!

2009-06-16T21:59:00.002+05:30

Hey Friends,

So We are back now! And yes..Sorry for the break we took for the past 2 months. I coudnt cover the action for the past 2-3 months due to my personal reasons. I assure you we will be covering what will be happening in the world of sports and provide you a recap about what has happened these days. Sorry for the inconvenience.

RECAP : Tennis (click here to View)

Regards
Sriram

Photo Gallery- Fed wins RG !!! Relive the Moments!

2009-06-16T19:51:00.006+05:30

The most enthralling moment in any Tennis fan's life. No one hates Roger! You can Roger that! Here are a few pictures to relive the magical moments! Click "read more" to view the gallery!

Recap- Federer wins Roland Garros !!

2009-06-16T18:56:00.005+05:30

Hey Friends, Im really sorry that I couldn't update about the events which took place for the past 2 months or so due to my personal reasons... So a Quick Update on what has happened.

Tennis:

Yeah Yeah Yeah! Federer has done it at last! 3 Finals and 3 humiliating defeats on the hads of his Nemesis Nadal!. He defeated Robin Soderling 6-1 7-6(1) 6-4 to make a mark in history!

The tennis gods brewed up a storm around Roland Garros on Sunday afternoon as they prepared to welcome a new member into their midst. Roger Federer repelled the rain, thunder, and a certain Robin Soderling to take his rightful place among the immortals of the game.

He went past Soderling 6-1 7-6(1) 6-4 to make a mark in history!

In the women's draw Svetlana Kuznetsova of russia defeated her compatriot Dinara Safina, the world No.1 to grab her second grand slam. And the world No.1 Still remains without a Grandslam!

The Men's doubles was won by Leander Paes and Lukas Dlouhy and A. Medina Garrigues
Virginia Ruano Pascual of Spain won their second consecutive Doubles title while Liezel Huber and Bob Bryan won the mixed doubles crown!

French open began with nothing to speak about. Everyone was so sure about the Men's draw. Nadal was clearly everyone's favorite even Federer's!.

Would you have expected Rafa Nadal to exit Roland Garros on the 4th round? No ! But it happened! Robin Soderling of Sweden shocked the whole world by defeating the 4-Time defendind champion Rafa in 4 sets. The same day 4th seeded Novak Djokovic went out of the tournament. The next day Federer faced his 4th round opponent Tommy Hass and things got worse! Haas took the first two sets. Federer was in backfoot then suddenly things got back to the way it was supposed to be. Federer won in 5 sets. Then Murray lost in his Quarter Finals but Fed defeated Gael Monfils easily.

In the other side of the draw The Giant Killer Robin Soderling was on fire! He was dismissing everything thrown at him. Roger Federer, Juan Martin Del Potro, Robin Soderling and Fernando Gonzalez progressed to the semi-finals!

The day of Semi Finals saw one of the best Matches of all time. Robin Soderling VS Fernando Gonzalez. It was really heroic by Soderling as he just edged Gonzalez 6-3 7-5 5-7, 4-6 6-4. And at last he showed some emotions! Federer had a tough time with Del Potro. It was once again a five setter. He held on to win 3-6 7-6(2) 2-6 6-1 6-4

Its Sunday, June 7, 2009 it could see a great history or one of the greatest upsets! Federer VS Soderling, the man who defeated his greatness Rafa Nadal!

The tennis gods brewed up a storm around Roland Garros on Sunday afternoon as they prepared to welcome a new member into their midst. Roger Federer repelled the rain, thunder, and a certain Robin Soderling to take his rightful place among the immortals of the game.

He went past Soderling 6-1 7-6(1) 6-4 to make a mark in history!

Soderling said in the presentation ceremony " Roger, you taught me how to play tennis" and that shows a character! We look forward to see you Soderling!

Captain Tsubasa - Sport Anime

2009-06-15T22:53:00.002+05:30

Our Xtra Sport Special Editor Amrit Mishra publishes yet another Anime Series

Captain Tsubasa is a popular long running Japanese manga, anime, and video game series, originally created by Yoichi Takahashi in 1981. The series mainly revolves around the sport of Football (soccer).

The story focuses on the adventures of a Japanese youth football team and its football captain Tsubasa Ozora ,whose name literally translates to "Big Sky Wings". The series is characterized by dynamic football moves, often stylish and implausible.

The plot focuses on Tsubasa's relationship with his friends, rivalry with his opponents, training, competition, and the action and outcome of each football match. All of the versions of the Captain Tsubasa anime series has been broadcast by the anime satellite television network, Animax, across its original network in Japan and later across its respective networks worldwide, including East Asia, Hong Kong, Southeast Asia, South Asia, and other regions. It has also been broadcast across several other regions over the world, including South America, Europe and the Middle East. The success of the series also spurred several Nintendo Super Famicom video game adaptations. Enoki Films holds the United States license to Captain Tsubasa, under the title Flash Kicker. U can watch Animax if u have satellite connections like Tata Sky, Airtel, etc Storyline [edit] Captain Tsubasa Tsubasa Ozora is a young Japanese Elementary school student who is deeply in love with football and dreams of one day winning the FIFA World Cup for Japan. He lives together with his mother in Japan, while his father is a seafaring captain who travels around the world. Tsubasa Ozora is known as the Soccer no Moshigo which translates as "heaven-sent child of soccer". When he was only barely a year old, he was almost run over by a rushing bus while playing with a football (soccer ball). However, Tsubasa had held the ball in front of him which served as a cushion for most of the impact. The force of the bump blew him away, but he was able to right himself over again with the ball. Hence, Tsubasa Ozora's motto of

"The ball is my friend". Ever since he was little, he always went out with a football. His mother now having concluded that he was indeed born only to play football. At a very young age, Tsubasa Ozora already has amazing speed, stamina, dribbling skills and shotpower, astounding anyone who sees him play. At the beginning of the story, both of them move to the city of Nankatsu, a town well-known for their talented high school football teams, and where Tsubasa meets Ryou Ishizaki, a football-loving young student who often sneaks out from his mother's public bathrooms and chores in order to play football, Sanae (also known as Anego), a young enthusiastic girl who also loves football and helps cheer the Nankatsu High team on, and Genzo Wakabayashi, a highly talented young goalkeeper whom he soon challenges to a game in Nankatsu's annual Sports Festival. He also meets Roberto Hongo, one of the best Brazilian football players, who is a friend of Tsubasa's father, and who arrives in Japan and starts living with Tsubasa and his mother. Roberto becomes a mentor to Tsubasa and helps him to harness his football skills, convincing him to join Nankatsu Elementary and its fledgling high school football team, which Roberto coaches later as he passes his techniques onto Tsubasa. Tsubasa also meets Taro Misaki, who has travelled around Japan due to his father's job and soon joins Nankatsu, and the two become the best of friends in both the pitch and real life, forming a partnership soon to be renowned as the "Golden Duo" or "dynamic duo" of Nankatsu. Soon Tsubasa and his Nankatsu team start taking on the best of high school football, meeting such talented players as Kojiro Hyuga, Ken Wakashimazu, Jun Misugi, Hikaru Matsuyama, and many others. His Nankatsu squad wins numerous youth national championships, and wins the U-16 World Championships for Japan, before leaving the country to play in Brazil. [edit] Captain Tsubasa World Youth Tsubasa leaves Japan for Brazil, and starts playing, with his mentor Roberto as the manager, for São Paulo[2] (F.C. Brancos in the anime[3]) , in Brazil's premier professional league, Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, winning the final against Flamengo (F.C. Domingos in the anime), 4-3. While in Brazil, Tsubasa gets to meet several talented Brazilian players, such as his teammate and roommate Pepe, who comes from humble backgrounds to become one of the primary playmakers in the squad along with Tsubasa, and Flamengo playmaker Carlos Santana, a prodigious talent. Enthusiastic football-loving youngster Shingo Aoi, whom Tsubasa once played against while in the high school national championships, leaves Japan to play football in Italy, where he hopes to play for a major Italian professional team. After arriving in Italy, however, Shingo gets tricked by a man who gives him fraudulent promises of getting him selected for an Italian team, but after Shingo is taken to a badly-furnished field, the man runs away, stealing all his money in the process. Shingo realizes that he is swindled, and tries hard to get his money back, doing such jobs as shoeshining, and his enthusiastic attitude catches the eye of one of the coaches of one of the local teams, Inter Milan, who sign him to play for their squad as an attacking midfielder. The Japan's youth side plays the first phase of AFC Youth Championship without Taro Misaki, Makoto Soda, Jito, Nitta, the Tachibana brothers and Kojiro Hyuga. After Tsubasa, Wakabayashi and Shingo join the team, it defeats Thailand 5-4 after being 4-1 down at one stage. In the second phase Japan beats Uzbekistan 8-1, China 6-3 and Saudi Arabia 4-1. In the semifinals Japan beats Iraq 3-0. The Japanese win the Asia Youth title beating South Korea 2-0 and qualifying for the FIFA World Youth Championship. In the first phase Japan defeats Mexico 2-1, Uruguay 6-5 and Italy 4-0. In the quarterfinals, they beat Sweden 1-0 and Netherlands 1-0 in the semifinal.

The Japanese win in the "Great Final" the World Youth Championship, defeating Brazil 3-2 after extra time with Tsubasa scoring a hat-trick and the golden goal despite the fact that Brazil used a new player at the extra time called Natureza, who became the second person to score a goal on Wakabayashi from outside the goal area. Tsubasa moves from São Paulo to FC Barcelona[4](FC Catalunya in the anime) , in the Spanish La Liga, after the end of the FIFA World Youth Championship final, taking his childhood friend and now wife, Sanae. He asked her out before moving to Brazil, and the couple maintained a long-distance relationship before he proposed to her after the World Youth Championship. [edit] Captain Tsubasa Road to 2002 While Tsubasa moves from São Paulo (Brancos in the anime) to FC Barcelona[5](FC Catalunya in the anime) , Kojiro Hyuga is bought by Juventus (F.C. Piemonte in the anime). Tsubasa plays very well in training, displaying all his skills, but the Dutch coach Van Saal (Edward in the anime) demotes him to FC Barcelona B,[5] the reserve team that plays in the second division, because Tsubasa and Rivaul (inspired by Rivaldo) cannot play together.[6] Meanwhile, Kojiro Hyuga plays for his first game for F.C. Juventus (F.C. Piemonte in the anime) against Parma in the Italian Serie A, but does not score because of his physical imbalance. Juventus coach Carlo Monetti replaces him with David Trezeguet (David Tresaga in the anime), who scores the winning goal as Juventus beat Parma 1-0. In Germany, Genzo Wakabayashi and his Bundesliga team, Hamburger SV (Grunwald / Gurenbald in the anime version), play against Bayern Munich (Routburg in the anime version), led by Karl Heinz Schneider. Wakabayashi makes several saves but he makes two mistakes, allowing Bayern to win 2-1. In Spain the liga championship begins and the match between Barcelona (led by Rivaul) and Valencia (San Jose in the anime) (who have just bought Tsubasa's old rival Carlos Santana) ends 2-2. Tsubasa watches the match from the tribune (in the anime version Tsubasa plays as a substitute the match and scores a goal). In the 2nd stage of the Japanese J. League, Júbilo Iwata, led by Misaki, Gon Nakayama (inspired to real player Masashi Nakayama), Ishizaki and Urabe, defeats the Urawa Red Diamonds led by Igawa and Sawada 2-1. In others J.League matches, F.C. Tokyo led by Misugi draws 1-1 with Consadole Sapporo led by Matsuyama. [7] In Italy Hyuga and Aoi are bought respectively by Reggiana and Albese. In Spain, Tsubasa plays three matches with FC Barcelona B and he records 12 goals and 11 assists in three matches. Tsubasa is inserted in the Barcelona lineup because of an injury to his rival Rivaul and the disastrous results of the Barça (one point in four matches), and plays the Súper Clásico against Real Madrid, who have just bought his old rival Natureza. Tsubasa ends the match with three goals and three assists and Barcelona wins 6-5. [edit] Captain Tsubasa Road to 2002 - Go For 2006 This is the epilogue of Captain Tsubasa Road to 2002. It is composed by 5 chapters. This manga follows Kojiro Hyuga and Shingo Aoi in Italy. In this manga Kojiro Hyuga plays in AC Reggiana while Shingo Aoi plays in Albese. Kojiro Hyuga makes a hard training and he makes his debut scoring a hat-trick. [8] [edit] Captain Tsubasa Golden 23 While Tsubasa plays for Barcelona against Real Valladolid, recording a goal and an assist in a 2-0 win, the 23 players of Japan's U-22 national team ("The Golden 23") are convoked to play two friendly matches against Denmark and Nigeria. Two futsal players, Kazami and Furukawa, join the national team and display great skills, scoring two goals in a training match. Meanwhile, the Japan U-20 side led by Takeshi Sawada win the AFC Youth Championship, defeating South Korea 6-5 on penalty kicks in the final. In Brazil, Minato Gamo, the former coach of the U-20 national team, tries unsuccessfully to convince Soga, a Japanese player who plays in Vasco da Gama, to join the national team. Tsubasa's wife Sanae informs him that she is pregnant. In Japan the match with Denmark begins. At the end of the match Japan-Denmark Japan defeats Denmark 4-2 (scorers: Misaki (J), Haas (D), Nitta (J), Nitta (J), Matsuyama (J), Haas (D)). In Germany Hamburger SV plays a Bundesliga match and Genzo Wakabayashi isn't in the line up because of the bad relationship with the coach Zeeman. In January probably Hamburg will sell him to another team. A lot of teams want buy Wakabayashi such us ACF Fiorentina, A.S. Roma, Bayern Munich and Werder Bremen. Minato Gamo meanwhile wants to convince Igawa, a player who can play in all the roles (Goalkeeper, Defender, Midfielder, Forward), to join the national team. In Spain FC Barcelona plays a liga match against Real Betis and Tsubasa scores two goals and makes an assist for Rikaar. In Japan Genzo Wakabayashi joins the national team. The match Japan-Nigeria begins and Nigeria plays very well. It has two champions Ochado (that plays in Paris SG) and Bobang (that plays with Shingo Aoi in Albese). After some minutes from the beginning of the match Nigeria has the first great opportunity to score the first goal in the match with a penalty kick but the Japanese goalkeeper Genzo Wakabayashi saves in corner kick. Wakabayashi saves another shot and makes an assist for Ken Wakashimazu who scores a goal with a overhead kick. However Nigeria scores two goals with Bobang and Ochado. Nigeria at the end of the first half is winning 2-1. Meanwhile Minato Gamo convinces Gakuto Igawa to join the national team. The second half begins, the Japan attacks and during the injury time Misaki scores the equalizing goal. The match ends 2-2. In Spain Barcelona wins 3-2 the match against Valencia led by Carlos Santana In Japan,the match Japan-Paraguay begins, at the end Japan defeats Paraguay 3-0(scorers: Gakuto with his Bullet Shoot, Wakashimazu with a Jumping Head, Nitta with a Running Volley Shoot). In Spain, Barcelona plays against Athletico Madrid, this team is very good and Fersio Torres quickly scores a goal.But Barcelona replies quickly and Tsubasa scores a goal with his famous Overhead Kick and an another goal with a Twin Shoot Tsubasa-Rivaul. The Asia qualifications begins and Japan beats Malaysia (6-0 for the first match and 5-0 for the return match), Thailand (2-0 for the first match, 3-0 for the return match), and Bahrain (score unknown for the first match and 5-0 for the return match) and qualifies to the third round. In the third round Japan beats Vietnam 5-0, draws against Saudi Arabia 1-1 and loses against Australia 3-1. Standings after Day 3 (of 6): Australia 9; Japan and Saudi Arabia 4; Vietnam 0. Only the first classified is admitted to Olympic Games. In the Day 4, Japan defeats Saudi Arabia 2-0. Unfortunately, Australia defeats Vietnam 5-0. In Day 5, Japan defeats Vietnam 4-0 and Australia draws against Saudi Arabia 1-1. Standings after Day 5 (of 6): Australia 13; Japan 10; Saudi Arabia 5; Vietnam 0. In the last day Japan plays against Australia. If Japan defeat Australia 3-0, 4-1, 5-2, 6-3 etc. qualifies to Olympic Games. If Japan wins 3-1, 4-2, 5-3 etc. plays a playoff against Australia. The match against Australia begins and Japan scores the first goal of the match with Tachibana brothers's skylub hurricane; unfortunately Tachibana brothers gets injured and are substituted by Wakashimazu and Nitta. Nitta scores another goal. Japan tries to score the third goal but unfortunately all their shots hit the bar or are saved by the goal keeper. In the second half Australia scores the goal of 2-1 but Japan reacts and scores two goals (scorers: Igawa and Misaki). Japan wins 4-1 and qualifies to Olympic Games. The manga continues running up to date. Characters Japanese Players Tsubasa Ozora (大空　翼 Ōzora Tsubasa?) • Date of birth: 28th July • National team jersey number: #10 • Position: Mid-fielder • Nickname: Soccer Genius, Field Samurai • Tsubasa, the title character, is a boy whose was destined to become a born football player. His name translates to “Big Sky Wings”. His love and dedication towards the game is truly great. With his cheerful and positive personality, he overcomes many hardships in his quest to become a world-class star player. He made many friends every where he goes; even some ill-tempered players are fascinated by his friendliness. All his shots were powerful and his techniques are unique and were difficult to follow. • Main Techniques: Drive Shoot, Flying Drive Shoot, Skywing Shoot o Other Techniques (some of them he learnt while playing with others: Barcelona Roulette (In Barça team), Heel Lift, Golden Combi (with Taro Misaki), Golden Trio (with Taro Misaki and Shingo Aoi), Sky Dive Shot, Overhead Kick (from Roberto), Drive Pass, Flying Drive Pass, Twin Shoot (with Taro), Drive Tiger Twin Shot (with Hyuga), Chokkaku Feint (from Shingo), Green Cut Pass(From Misaki),Back Spin Pass, Counter Arrow Shoot, Foul Inducing Dribble, Gamnen Block (from Ishisaki),Back Flip and acrobatics (from Dias), Sorachû Soccer Tachibana kyô (from Tachibana Bros.), Jumping Pass,Rolling Overhead Kick (from Santana), Santana Turn (from Santana), Skylab Defense (from Tachibana Bros.), Rivaul Turn (from Rivaul) Genzo Wakabayashi • Date of birth: 7th December • National team jersey number: #1 • Position: Goalkeeper • Nickname: SGGK (Super Great Goalkeeper) • Genzo Wakabayashi is an extroardinary goalkeeper who can catch almost anything thrown at him. Not many shots can come past Genzo. A charismatic guy, Genzo is also loyal to his friends and he is firm with his decisions. Genzo always keeps his feelings to himself and people close to him as seen in Shin Captain Tsubasa, when he's willingly criticize his teammates' performance in order to make them realize that football in Europe is different than what they play in Japan. His actions caused a lot of Japanese players to dislike him and Genzo only told Tsubasa his true intentions. From early childhood, he has aimed to be the best goalkeeper in the world. He tended to be selfish, and brag about his skills before he met and played a couple of games against Tsubasa. After his match against Tsubasa, he has learned to enjoy the game with his other teammates. • Special Techniques: Straight Defense and Upper Defense Kojiro Hyuga • Date of birth: 17th August • National team jersey number: #9 • Position: Forward • Nickname: Tiger Striker • To help his family, Kojiro Hyuga wants to be a professional player, an ace striker. His devotion to football and his persistence to shoot the goal is outstanding. He was both Tsubasa’s and Genzo’s top rival. A great guy, Hyuga is not only strong, he is also tough but at the same time caring. Can be a bit impulsive at times, though. He was once famous because of his roughness and many players were scared of him. But, Hyuga is actually a kind boy who cares about his family and friends. In the World Youth series, Hyuga was one of the 7 players to be excluded from the Japanese National team after they lost 3 group matches with Real Japan 7 (R.J.7). Determined to get back into the team, Hyuga developed a new shot, the Raijuu shot, a shot which is a bit similar to Tsubasa's Drive Shoot, except that Hyuga's Raijuu Shot is a ground shot that will curve upward, unlike Tsubasa's Drive Shooter which will go up then curve downward. • Special Techniques: Chokusenteki (Straight line) Dribble, Tiger Shot, Neo-Tiger Shot, Raiju Shoot, Overhead Kick and Toho Golden Combi Taro Misaki • Date of birth: 5th May • National team jersey number: #11 • Position: Mid-fielder • Nickname: Field Artist • He came to Nankatsu a few days after Tsubasa, whom he becomes his best friend. Taro moves from one place to another, following his father who works as a traveling artist. Before he met Tsubasa at Nankatsu, he played with Hyuga, Takeshi and Ken at Meiwa and with Matsuyama at Furano. Taro is sweet, kind and loyal to his friends. He is also sensitive to everybody’s feelings. Taro is a tender-hearted boy who is always smiling. But don’t underestimate him because he is as skilful as Tsubasa. Taro is also one of the 7 members to be excluded from the Japanese National Team after they lost to R.J.7 in 3 group matches in the Captain Tsubasa J series. The Boomerang Shot and the Boomerang Pass was something Taro developed after he was excluded from the Japanese Team. • Special Techniques: Boomerang Shoot, Green Cut Pass and Golden Combi Jun Misugi • Date of birth: 23rd June • National team jersey number: #14 • Position: Defender / Part-time coach • Nickname: Field no Kikoshi (Field Prince), Ace of Glass • Jun Misugi is easily one of Japan’s best players. Unfortunately his failing heart condition forces him to play for only a short time almost every game. During Japan's match against Argentina, Japan's coach silently thought to himself that Jun would have been Japan's top player(even better than Tsubasa) if it wasn't for his current heart injury; indeed, Jun scored Japan's final goal in that match. He completely recovered in the World Youth Series though. Jun is strong-willed and dedicated besides being kind and clever. Jun can read the opposing team’s formation and tactics even when he is not playing on the field; not to mention his ability on how to control his opponent’s movements. • Special Techniques: Drive shoot, Overhead Kick and Off-side strategy Hikaru Matsuyama • Date of birth: 21st June • National team jersey number: #12 • Position: Sweeper (defending midfielder) • Nickname: Wild Eagle • Hikaru Matsuyama is one of the best defenders in the world. He can intercept many passes and shots from the opposing team. Matsuyama is selfless and he is a smart leader. But he can be very reserved sometimes. Matsuyama is well-known for his great ball control and accuracy. It was stated in an episode of Captain Tsubasa that he is considered to have the best footwork among the Japanese players. Any team would be very lucky to have him as a defender. His trademark shot called Eagle Shot or Arawashishot(Wild Eagle Shot), a powerful ground shot. In the Captain Tsubasa original series, it is said that Matsuyama's Arawashi Shot was inspired when he watched a group of girls playing volleyball with the Furano team manager and later his girlfriend, Yoshiko Fujisawa. However, in the Road to 2002 / Road to Dream series, the Arawashi Shot was something Matsuyama thought up himself to defeat Tsubasa and Nankatsu FC. • Special Techniques: Eagle shoot, Eagle tackle, Avalanche strategy Shingo Aoi • Date of birth: 12th March • National team jersey number: #20 • Position: Mid-fielder • Nickname: Prince of the Sun, Green light,Midfield's Dynamo • Excellent player who debuted in the series in the World Youth saga, previous number 12 of Nakahara FC and later went to train to Italy but previous to that he received three coins from Tsubasa that Aoi keeps as luck charms. He played in FC Inter Milan and became friends with Gino Hernandez, and he developed a grude against Gentile. After two years of training in that team, he was called to go back to the Japanese Youth Team to play against Thailand. He left Inter to go to play for a Serie C1 team, Albese. He's very fast and has excellent techniques, even becoming friends with Tsubasa and Misaki to made a "Golden Trio". • Special Techniques: Overhead Kick, Chokkaku Feint, Chokkaku Tornedo Feint, Golden Trio(With Tsubasa and Misaki), Chokomaka Defense(One-Shot All Stars), Hinotama Press(One-Shot All Stars), Shinkansen Shoot, Twin Shoot, Heikaku Feint, Fake Chokkaku Feint, Chokkaku Dribble, Matanuki Shoot, Matanuki Rovesciata, Various Angle Feint. Makoto Soda • Date of birth: 10th July • National team jersey number: #7 • Position: Defender • Nickname: Ace Killer, Kamisori Fighter • Makoto Soda is a fearsome defender who knows how to injure people with tackles without the referee's knowledge. He is quite fast and he tends to put effects on his balls when he passes or shoots. A bit like Hyuga and Napoleon, he is an impulsive person and can get into a fight with someone. His various techniques include Kamisori Shoot, Kamisori pass and Kamisori tackle. • Special Techniques: Kamisori Shoot, Kamisori Centering and Kamisori Tackle Shun Nitta • Date of birth: 22nd March • National team jersey number: #18 • Position: Forward • Nickname: Speed Star, Falcon Fighter • Shun Nitta is one of the youngest player in Japan. But he is the fastest runner there. Being a forward in Japan national team, Nitta has an incredible speed. It is said that he can run 100 metres in 11 seconds or less. Nitta is very kind and he respected all the players on the team. Although he is a bit arrogant and impulsive at first, Nitta can be considered as one of the most talented forward in Japan. • Special Techniques: Falcon Shoot, Jumping Falcon Volley Shoot, Running Falcon Shoot and Left Falcon Shoot Ken Wakashimazu • Date of birth: 29th December • National team jersey number: #17 • Position: Goalkeeper, Forward • Nickname: SGKK (Super Great Karate Keeper) • Ken Wakashimazu is one of Japan’s top goalkeepers. He used to be a karate fighter before becoming a goalkeeper. Known as the“ Karate Keeper ”, Ken uses his karate skills and speed to his advantage as a goalkeeper. A cool guy, Ken is faithful to his best friends, which are Hyuga and Takeshi. He is a bit conceited at first, though. Ken is calm and can read one team’s tactics very quickly. However, he always gets competitive with Genzo in seeing who is a better goalkeeper. In the new Golden-23 series he becomes a forward and scores a goal in a friendly match against Nigeria. • Special Techniques: Shuto Defense & Sankaku geri defense Overhead Kick Ryo Ishizaki • Date of birth: 1st April • National team jersey number: 4 • Position: Defender • Nickname: Monkey • Ishizaki Ryo is Tsubasa's best friend since the story's very beginning. Though Ishizaki's soccer techniques are far from Tsubasa's level, his strong will and relentless personality has won himself a position in the national team. A demonstration of this is shown during World Youth Cup Finals when Ishizaki was knocked out-cold by blocking an extremely powerful shot at close distance with his face. • Special Techniques: Face Block Defense Takeshi Sawada • Date of birth: 2nd January • National team jersey number: 15 • Position: Mid-fielder • Nickname: Star of Next Generation, Extension of Golden Age Masao Tachibana • Date of birth: 6th October • National team jersey number: 2 • Position: Mid-fielder, Defender • Nickname: Air Monkey • Special Techniques: Aerial Soccer, Skylab Hurricane (with Kazuo or Jito) Kazuo Tachibana • Date of birth: 6th October • National team jersey number: 3 • Position: Mid-fielder, Defender • Nickname: Air Monkey • Special Techniques: Aerial Soccer, Skylab Hurricane (with Masao or Jito) Hiroshi Jito • Date of birth: 29th April • National team jersey number: 5 • Position: Defender • Nickname: Giant • Jito is a huge player. Because of this he always guards the other team's tallest player, as in the World Youth series he had to defend China's tallest member, Hi Sho, despite lack of jumping power, and Saudi Arabia's Vulcan, who is 210 cm. At first, he was a terrifying rival for Tsubasa. In the Shin Captain Tsubasa series, he scored a goal for the Hirado Football team by blowing Morisaki into the net with the ball. Tsubasa repaid him by doing the same, getting Jito in the net with his Drive Shoot. • Special Techniques: Hirado Combi (with Sano), Skylab Hurricane (with Tachibana twins) Mitsuru Sano • Date of birth: 2nd August • National team jersey number: 16 • Position: Mid-fielder • Nickname: Field Acrobat • Sano is a brilliant Midfielder. He and Jito form the Hirado Combi. He keeps the ball very skillfully from opposing players. His ball keeping ability can only be edged by Matsuyama. • Special Techniques: Hirado Combi (with Jito) Tomeya Akai • Date of birth: 10th May • National team jersey number: 23 • Position: Mid-fielder, Defender • Nickname: Red Stopper Gakuto Igawa • Date of birth: TBD • National team jersey number: 32 • Position: Any Position (Including Goalkeeper) • Nickname: TBD Furukawa • Date of birth: TBD • National team jersey number: 26 • Position: Mid-fielder • Nickname: TBD Shinnosuke Kazami • Date of birth: TBD • National team jersey number: 25 • Position: Mid-fielder • Nickname: TBD Yuji Soga • Date of birth: TBD • National team jersey number: 32 • Position: Forward • Nickname: TBD Mamoru Izawa • Date of birth: 20th December • National team jersey number: #8 • Position: Mid-fielder • Nickname: Field Soldier • Mamoru Izawa is a substitute of Japan. He is a specialist at headers and usually wins most of his heading duels. He also has a good team play especially with Kisugi and Taki. The three of them form the Shutetsu Trio which is a combination of fast passes to each other. Izawa is the most skillful in the Shutetsu Trio. Although Izawa is only a substitute of Japan, he has proved himself several times that he was a good defender. In the new Golden-23 series, in a match vs Denmark, he replaces Jito and showed that he was capable of defending. • Special Techniques: Shutetsu Trio Hajime Taki • Date of birth: 8th August • National team jersey number: #13 • Position: Forward • Nickname: Excellent Wing • Hajime Taki is a substitute of Japan. His best friend is Kisugi and they have always been together since primary school. Together with Kisugi and Izawa, The three of them form the Shutetsu Trio which is a combination of fast passes to each other. He is reasonably fast and his favourite technique is to run straight along the right side line of the field. • Special Techniques: Shutetsu Trio and Nankatsu Silver Combi Teppei Kisugi • Date of birth: 15th May • National team jersey number: #19 • Position: Forward • Nickname: Maintainer of Score of Shutetsu • Kisugi Teppei is a substitute of Japan. His best friend is Taki and they have always been together since primary school. Together with Taki and Izawa, the three of them form the Shutetsu Trio which is a combination of fast passes to each other. • Special Techniques: Shutetsu Trio & Nankatsu Silver Combi Yuzo Morisaki • Date of birth: TBD • National team jersey number: #21 • Position: Goalkeeper • Nickname: STGK (Super Tenacity Goalkeeper) • Yuzo Morisaki is the third-string goalkeeper of the team. At first, he doesn't standout very much. He was just a replacement keeper for Wakabayashi in Nankatsu. In The World Youth series versus Thailand, he was the starting keeper, as Wakashimazu left the team and Wakabayashi is still injured and in Germany. Even if he took 4 goals, which was a 4-1 start for Thailand, he held his own until Wakabayashi miraculously went to the game and praised him for his efforts, in which he managed to crash on the goal bar just to save a shot, where he got his nickname, STGK. • Special Techniques: TBD Foreign Players Karl Heinz Schneider • Date of birth: 4th July • National team jersey number: #11 • Position: Forward • Team: Bayern Munich (Germany) • Nickname: The Kaiser, King of German football • He is the captain and ace striker of the German team. He is also the guy whom Genzo admired the most when he was in Germany since many shots from Schneider were untouchable. He can be called the European version of Tsubasa since they're surprisingly similar in looks (their only real differences are the eye and hair colors; Tsubasa has black hair and black eyes, while Schneider has blond hair and blue eyes). Schneider is very sweet and kind in real life (he loves his family dearly, specially after his parent's close divorce), but he is very dangerous on the field and is a very noble and dignified rival to Genzo. • Special Techniques: Fire Shot, Neo Fire Shot, Chokusenteki Dribble Carlos Santana (Brazil) • Date of birth: 1st May • National team jersey number: #11 • Position: Forward • Team: Valencia CF (Spain) • Nickname: Son of the Soccer God, Soccer Cyborg to make Arrow Jumping Overhead(Inspired by Tsubasa), Rolling Overhead, Rising Arrow Shoot(Inspired by Tsubasa), Santana Turn, Skywing Shoot(From Roberto), Tornado Arrow Skywing Shoot(Inspired by Roberto,Tsubasa and Hino), Twin Shoot(With Natureza) Elle Sid Pierre (France) • Date of Birth: 16th August • National team Jersey Number: #10 • Position: Mid-fielder • Team: Paris Saint Germain (France) • Nickname: Field Artist, Beautiful Beast • He is the Captain, and Play maker of the France team. El Sid (Alcide) Pierre is the son of a multi-millionaire, he was disgusted with how he was treated because of this whether it was with favoritism or discrimination. His only outlet was football, he practiced football because in football there are no relations, poor or rich, the rules are the same for everyone, and everyone's objective is the ball. Pierre is very patriotic and places enormous pressure upon himself to perform well for France. He has developed a rivalry with Misaki of Japan. • Special Techniques: Slide Shoot, Off-side Strategy, Eiffel Attack(with Napoleon) Juan Diaz (Argentina) • Date of Birth: 25th January • National team Jersey Number: #10 • Position: Mid-fielder • Team: Argentinos Juniors (Argentina) • Nickname: Heaven-sent Child of Soccer, Soccer Genius • He is the Captain and top scorer of the Argentina team. At first Diaz is arrogant and conceited, but he is somewhat humbled after his match with Japan and duel with Tsubasa. Diaz has been playing football since he was 7 months old, and is considered to be a Soccer Genius. Throughout Argentina no one of his age group could compete with him, at 12 years old he was recruited by his hometown's club along with his best friend Alan Pascal. Diaz is very talented and has been deemed to be the next generation superstar of Argentina Soccer, even being compared to Diego Maradona. Because of their talents and similarities he has developed a rivalry with Tsubasa of Japan. • Special Techniques: Drive Shooter, Argentina Golden Combi(with Pascal), Drive Shoot, Acrobatics Gino Hernandez (Italy) • Date of Birth: 4th February • National team Jersey Number: #1 • Position: Goalkeeper • Team: Internazionale FC (Italy) after Gino recognized Aoi's potential and determination. Gino's skills as a keeper is superb as he is able to stop many great shots from many great players. Gino also has the ability to remain calm in dire situations and create strategies as he displayed in Italy's match against Japan. Brazil, by been born in there he never play in any club of soccer and only train in his village with his friends. He is nicknamed the King of Soccer because of his great ability with the ball, he has all the attributes to be the greatest soccer player in the world, only compared to TsubasaBarcelona. He is still playing for the Real Madrid and we can see that a second confrontation with Tsubasa is about to happened in a chapter of the Golden 23 but the result is remain unknown. • Special Techniques: Aurora Feint, Back Heel Pass, Kakudo 0 no Shoot (angle 0 shoot), Nidan Flying Drive Shoot, Rabona Feint, Flying Drive Shoot, Heel Lift, Jumping Volley, Overhead Kick, Handoshusoku Jinho (Reverse Shoot), Twin Shoot(With Roberto Carolus and Santana), Basketball Ball Keep, Brazil Golden Trio (with Santana and Rivaul) Non-players • Sanae Nakazawa (known as Anego -"older sister"- in the anime series): Oozora Tsubasa's cheerleader, team manager, girlfriend and later wife. In the new golden-23 series she is pregnant. • Yayoi Aoba: Tsubasa's first friend and Jun Misugi's close friend. • Yoshiko Fujisawa: Hikaru's assistant and later girlfriend. She moved to the United States, to return some months later. • Kumi Sugimoto: Sanae's close friend, who joins the Nankatsu club because of her crush on Tsubasa. When she declares her love for him but he tells her that he loves Sanae, she accepts it and encourages him to tell her. • Yukari Nishimoto: Originally from Nagasaki, she's the cousin of Jito Hiroshi and the best friend of Sanae. In the WYC manga, she falls for Ryo Ishizaki and they later start dating. • Kaori Matsumoto: First the castout for the Toho team, later Hyuga Kojiro's manager. • Roberto Hongo :A former Brazilian player who was forced to retire after an eye injury. Trained Tsubasa and Nankatsu's Team, and later, became the coach for Brazil.

Safina wins an Epic against Venus!

2009-05-09T13:20:00.002+05:30

Dinara Safina was a set and 0-2 down and she came back to win a Epic battle against Venus Williams, who earlier defeated the 2 time reigning champion Jelena Jankovic. Now Safina will face her compatriot Svetlana Kuznetsova in a all Russian affair.

Dinara and Svetlana will face each other for the second time in two weeks, earlier Svetlana defeated Safina in the finals of Stuttgart Grand Prix last Sunday.

It was clearly a display of a True Champions! Safina has send in some strong message to her opponents. Will last year's Rolland garros runner up be victorious this time?

The fourth seed Venus Williams played better early on to go 4-1 and then 5-2 ahead. But Safina refused to give up and the first set went into a tie breaker but Venus eventually won 7-3.

Williams kept up the pace to go 2-0 up in the second set before Safina stormed back to win six of the next seven games to level the contest.

The Russian twice let a break advantage slip in the third set but she broke again with a powerful crosscourt backhand return.

She then saved four break points in the following game and failed to convert two match points before finally clinching an enthralling match that lasted over three hours.

It was clearly a display of a True Champions! Safina has send in some strong message to her opponents. Will last year's Rolland garros runner up be victorious this time?

Barcelona are through to the CL Finals to face Man Utd!

2009-05-07T15:50:00.002+05:30

It was really a heart break for Chelsea at Stamford bridge last night. They began the match with a shaky start. But in the 9th minute Michael Essien saw the ball which rebounded from Yaya Toure and smashed it straight into the nets.

Although they scored a goal the match was still in balance as Barca were having around 70% possession and only a single goal can take Barcelona to the Finals based on Away goals rules.

Then came a serious of Terrible mistakes by the referee which ultimately say Chelsea lose the match.

Then, in the second of four added minutes, Barcelona cancelled Chelsea's tickets to Rome. Essien's clearance was weak, Messi turned the ball to the edge of the box and Andres Iniesta mustered Barcelona's first shot on target of the evening. It was an absolute stunner, and the Spanish champions elect will play Manchester United in the Champions League final.

The things which happened after the match were like a disgrace to the world of football.Didier Drogba came up and shouted the refree in a offensive language.

Now Chelsea would have a lot to mourn about but they should remember that they wasted like 3 easy opportunities and they were over defensive. Drogba acted on the field like he had a major injury and wasted hell a lot of time that resulted in 4! minutes added up at the end!. They gave away the balls so easily and at the end of the night according to me Barca deserved to win!

Ashley Cole returned from suspension for Chelsea, allowing Jose Bosingwa to revert to right-back at the expense of Branislav Ivanovic. Nicolas Anelka started again, virtually as a right winger, with Didier Drogba in the lone striker role.

Barcelona, meanwhile, were defensively without the injured Rafael Marquez and the suspended Carles Puyol. Pep Guardiola moved Eric Abidal into the centre of defence, with Sergi Busquets starting on the right. Perhaps most crucially, weekend hero Thierry Henry failed a late fitness test, so Seydou Keita was drafted in.

On 26 minutes, Drogba latched onto another through-ball and ended up on the deck under pressure from Eric Abidal. There may have been a slight tug inside the box, maybe some contact by the leg of the defender. Either way, it was debatable, and the officials weren't interested. This really should have been a penalty.

Chelsea at the moment were handling Leo Messi very well. Then On 65 minutes, however, another Chelsea long ball resulted in disaster for the Catalan giants for Barcelona. Abidal was beaten for pace by Anelka, who cut across the defender and went to ground. There was contact, if minimal, as Anelka adjusted his position, and the referee decided to send Abidal for an early bath. This should have not really been a Send off!

Then, Pique – soon after trundling wide at the other end – was at the centre of a hand ball appeal as Anelka desperately attempted to get round him. Referee Tom Henning Ovrebo was adamant that he wasn't going to give the Blues the benefit of the doubt on the night. The Third penalty Chance not Given yet again!

Then, in the second of four added minutes, Barcelona cancelled Chelsea's tickets to Rome. Essien's clearance was weak, Messi turned the ball to the edge of the box and Andres Iniesta mustered Barcelona's first shot on target of the evening. It was an absolute stunner, and the Spanish champions elect will play Manchester United in the Champions League final.

The things which happened after the match were like a disgrace to the world of football. Ballack, Terry and Lampard went and kept on shouting at the refree and then Didier Drogba came up and shouted the refree in a offensive language. I hope UEFA has a see on that clip. Didier Drogba is not going to get away with that easily.

Now Chelsea would have a lot to mourn about but they should remember that they wasted like 3 easy opportunities and they were over defensive. Drogba acted on the field like he had a major injury and wasted hell a lot of time that resulted in 4! minutes added up at the end!. They gave away the balls so easily and at the end of the night according to me Barca deserved to win!

Serena loses Opener at Italian Open !

2009-05-06T18:19:00.004+05:30

Serena williams should watch her mouth from now i suppose. Days after she claimed that "She was the real no.1 and not Safina", she has lost in a first round match up in the Italian open against Patty Schnyder 6-2, 2-6, 6-1

We all know who the real No. 1 is,” Williams said Monday. “Quite frankly, I’m the best in the world.”. (Read more on This!)

Earlier, Dinara Safina, the player who overtook the top spot from Williams, bumped off Virginie Razzano 7-6 (1), 6-1. . After Serena's comments and her defeat, Safina had something to say to the media,

“It’s not luck,” Safina said Monday. “Nobody gave it to me—I proved it. I played two Grand Slam finals, and last year I won four titles … so I think I belong to this, because this doesn’t come out of sky.”

Defending champion Jelena Jankovic and French Open champion Ana Ivanovic all advanced to the third round, as play was disrupted by rain and went late into the night
In other matches, Svetlana Kuznetsova beat Daniela Hantuchova 6-3, 6-3, and Nadia Petrova beat Carla Suarez Navarro 6-2, 3-6, 6-3.

Caroline Wozniacki, Flavia Pennetta and Kaia Kanepi also advanced, while 11th-seeded Marion Bartoli and Alize Cornet were both upset.

The 13th-seeded Cornet, last year’s runner up, lost 6-4, 6-1 to Kateryna Bondarenko, and Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez beat Bartoli 6-1, 7-5.

Team mates sorry for Fletcher's sending off

2009-05-06T13:57:00.004+05:30

Manchester United may have got through to the finals with flying colours but they will miss the service of their key player Darren Fletcher in the Finals as he was unfairly awarded a red card.

Darren Fletcher's Manchester United team-mates have expressed their sympathy for the player after he was ruled out the UEFA Champions League final.

United trio Michael Carrick, Wayne Rooney and Patrice Evra all believe Fletcher was unlucky to be red carded for the offence. Rooney said

" It is a massive game to miss out on. I think over the last two seasons he has been brilliant for us and if anyone deserves to be there and play it is him."

"I thought it was harsh to be honest," "In that situation he seems to have got the ball. I was behind him and the ball changed direction." Carrick told Media

Evra too was sorry for Fletcher he commented "I am so sorry for Darren Fletcher," said Evra. "The real big bad news about all this is Darren not being able to play in Rome.

"I am very, very frustrated and disappointed for him and his family. I played with a lot of pain in my stomach worrying about missing the final."

United reach Champions League finals!

2009-05-06T13:18:00.005+05:30

By : Sriram Ilango
Machester united are going through to their Second Consecutive Champions League Finals after they defeated Arsenal at the Emirates 3-1. United made it clear to the whole world that they are coming to Rome as they scored twice in the first 11 minutes.

They will miss the service of Darren Fletcher in the finals as he was send off for a rather controversial tackle. Park scored in the 8th minute and Ronaldo scored twice in the 11th and 61sr minutes.

“I’ve said it many times, we should have won this cup more times than we have,” United manager Alex Ferguson said after the defending champions defeated Arsenal 3-1 in an all-English semifinal on Tuesday night. “We’ve got the hunger and the quality.”

Manchester United faced off their EPL rivals Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium last night in a UEFA CL Semifinals 2nd leg match-up. United had a 1 goal advantage from their 1st leg at Old Trafford. With Rooney, Tevez and Evra all under a Yellow card, they were under the probability of missing a Champions League Finals. Many thought that Rooney may not start but he did.

With Berbatov and Tevez both on bench Ronaldo was the Center Forward with Park Ji sung in the right and Rooney in the left. Rio Ferdinand was back from an 1st leg injury.

The match started then all of a sudden in the 8th Minuted Kiren Gibbs slipped giving J.S Park a easy goal. The 60,000 crowd at Emirates were in a slumber. The World Player of the year Cristiano Ronaldo made the situation even worse for Arsenal as he struck a majestic free kick away from 35 yards.

“The shot was quite difficult to save because the ball moved a little bit,” Ronaldo said. “I just try to do my best to put the ball in the net and it was a good goal.”

Now United have scored twice in a span of 10 minutes. Based on away goals rules Arsenal have to score 3 times now to win the match which seemed almost impossible .

After the first half Substitutions were made for Rooney, Evra and Anderson as Berbatov, Rafael and Giggs came on. Ronaldo started and scored on a 61st-minute counterattack. He backheeled the clearance to Park, who sent the ball to Wayne Rooney, who then crossed to the FIFA player of the year.

Everything was going on United's way until the referee Send off Darren Fletcher for an undeserved tackle. Fletcher will now miss the Champions league finals. Fergie seemed a little distressed with the sending off. Neville and Scholes went staright into the dressing room to consolidate Fletcher. Van Persie converted that Penalty into a Goal but it was too little too late as United are going to rome to face either Barca or Chelsea. Will it be a repeat of last year's Finals or last year's Semifinal?

Serena : Im the real No.1 Not Safina!

2009-05-05T17:45:00.003+05:30

Serena Williams has said that She is the real world number 1 of women's Tennis although the rankings indicate otherwise.

Dinara Safina, took over the No.1 Spot from the American two weeks ago, but Serena Williams frankly says

quite frankly, I’m the best in the world

at the Italian open.

Safina has never won a Grant Slam title, and was beaten in the Australian Open final this year by Williams, who has won 10 Grand Slam titles. Safina gained her No.1 ranking by playing consistently good in the tour for more than 2 years now.

Safina says she is still coming to terms with her new position but insists it is well deserved. She notes she has played in two Grand Slam finals and won four titles last year.

The upcoming Rolland Garros should reveal us who is the best but I don't see either Safina or Serena winning the cup.

Ronaldo : Real Madrid dream is over!

2009-05-04T11:51:00.004+05:30

Manchester United's World player of the year Cristiano Ronaldo has said that his dream about moving to Spain to play in Santiago Bernabue is over. The united winger who is having a great season with the club who are looking to win more than 4 trophies this season.

Ronaldo said

I'm no longer thinking of Madrid. That dream is dead.

in a interview to The People He also added "The only thing I dream about now is Manchester United and winning the Champions League again in Rome."

Source :Sky Sports News

Sir Alex Ferguson, Manager of United made a great effort last season to make the Portuguese Super Star stay at Old trafford. Now Ronaldo has turned his back at the Spanish Giants.

It should also a morale boost to United who will be facing Arsenal in the Second leg of the UEFA Champions league Semi Finals in 2 days (May 5th).

Ronaldo has his deal extended to 5 more years!

About us

2009-03-22T15:03:00.004+05:30

Sriram Ilango - Editor In Chief
He is the founder of the blog. Sriram is a high school graduate from Chidambaram, a town in the Cuddalore district of Tamilnadu. He is passionate about blogging and writing about sports. Being a well established social networker, he finds it easy to make his news reach people. He is a huge fan of Roger Federer, Manchester United and Ferrari racing Team.
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Amrit Mishra - Writter
Amrit too is a high school graduate from Chidambaram. He is an ardent fan of games and animes. He helps the blog to get an "colorful" perspective. He wishes to pursue a career in Medicine.
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Man United Win Carling Cup

2009-03-02T21:24:00.001+05:30

Manchester United won the League Cup with a 4-1 penalty shootout victory over Tottenham on Sunday that kept the English Premier League leaders on course for an unprecedented five trophies this season.

After a 0-0 draw through extra time, United goalkeeper Ben Foster saved Tottenham’s first shootout kick from Jamie O’Hara and David Bentley missed the third before Anderson hit the winning penalty.

The victory gave United its second trophy of the season following December’s Club World Cup title. The Red Devils also lead the Premier League by seven points and are in contention for the Champions League and FA Cup.

In Sunday’s Premier League action, Aston Villa’s chances of qualifying for the Champions League were dented when the home side squandered a two-goal lead in the final minutes against Stoke to draw 2-2 at Villa Park.

The result means Villa remains fourth, in the final Champions League slot, three points behind Liverpool in third and sixth points clear of Arsenal, which is fifth.

Stoke stays 19th, below Middlesbrough on goal difference.

West Ham moved up to seventh after a 1-0 win over Manchester City at Upton Park on Sunday.

Blackburn moved out of the relegation zone on goal difference with a 2-1 win at Hull, a fiery game that saw both sides reduced to 10 men.

MILAN (AP)—AC Milan slipped further behind Inter Milan and Juventus in the Serie A title race after losing to Sampdoria 2-1.

Antonio Cassano gave the Genoa side the lead in the first half, and Gianpaolo Pazzini doubled it early in the second. Alexandre Pato scored in the 80th minute to give Milan some hope, and Emerson had a goal disallowed.

Inter, which hosted AS Roma later Sunday, is in first place with 59 points, followed by Juventus with 53, AC Milan with 48 and Fiorentina with 46.

Cassano gave Sampdoria the lead in the 33rd minute. He tapped in the ball at the far post after Marius Stankevicius headed Angelo Palombo’s corner.

Fiorentina and Genoa, the two teams chasing the fourth Champions League qualification place, both failed to win.

Fiorentina drew 1-1 at last-place Reggina, with Emiliano Bonnazzoli’s goal equalizing Alessio Sestu’s opener for Reggina.

Genoa was unable to breakdown stubborn defending by Siena in their 0-0 draw.

Also Sunday, it was: Atalanta 0, Chievo Verona 2; Cagliari 0, Torino 0; Palermo 0, Catania 4; and Udinese 2, Lecce 0.

MADRID (AP)—Malaga’s pursuit of a Champions League spot lost momentum after a 2-0 loss to Recreativo Huelva, while Deportivo La Coruna bolstered its European ambitions with a 1-0 win at last-place Numancia.

Albert Camunas gave Recreativo the lead in the 54th minute, and 10 minutes later Adrian Colunga added a goal to hand Malaga only its third loss in 15 games.

Juan Rodriguez scored from a sharp angle with 15 minutes to play as Deportivo rallied from Thursday’s UEFA Cup exit to join Malaga and Valencia— which played Valladolid later Sunday—on 39 points. The three clubs are only two points behind fourth-placed Villarreal, which occupies the final Champions League spot and will attempt to consolidate its position against lowly Real Betis later Sunday.

Barcelona also played later, and needed to snap a three-game winless streak at Atletico Madrid to get its title campaign back on track. The Catalan giant led Real Madrid by 12 points going into 2009, but has since let Madrid narrow that gap to just four

Barcelona has 60 points, Madrid has 56, Sevilla is third with 47 and Villarreal has 41.

In Sunday’s other 25th round results, it was: Almeria 2, Getafe 1; Racing Santander 1, Osasuna 1; and Sporting Gijon 0, Mallorca 1.

FRANKFURT (AP)—Defending champion Bayern Munich failed to score against 10-man Werder Bremen and fell to fifth place in the Bundesliga after a 0-0 draw.

Werder lost central defender Naldo when he was ejected after 15 minutes, but Bayern, coming off a 5-0 win at Sporting Lisbon in the Champions League, was unable to break the deadlock. Bayern has won only one of its last five games in the Bundesliga, losing three of them.

Wolfsburg won 3-1 at Hamburger SV behind two goals from Grafite to move past Bayern into fourth place on goal difference. Also on Sunday, Stuttgart beat Karlsruhe 2-0.

PARIS (AP)—Paris Saint-Germain routed Nancy 4-1 with two goals from Guillaume Hoarau to consolidate its second spot in the French league.

Marseille and Bordeaux kept pace with PSG in the race for a Champions League berth as Marseille edged Caen 1-0, while Bordeaux beat Lorient 1-0.

AMSTERDAM (AP)—Blaise N’Kufo scored his 100th league goal for FC Twente, securing a 1-0 victory over ADO The Hague to keep alive his team’s slim Dutch title hopes.

N’Kufo headed home Ronnie Stam’s 24th minute cross to give Steve McClaren’s side all three points. Twente is second in the standings, nine points behind AZ Alkmaar and three clear of Ajax, which won 2-0 at FC Utrecht.

Alkmaar, led by former Barcelona coach Louis van Gaal, tops the league with 63 points after beating FC Groningen 3-0 on Saturday. Twente is second with 54 and Ajax third on 51.

Carling Cup Final Review

2009-02-27T18:55:00.002+05:30

Rarely can a cup final have crept so low under the radar as Sunday’s League Cup showdown between holders Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United with both clubs pre-occupied for vastly different reasons.

While Spurs boss Harry Redknapp has been juggling his squad for relegation scraps and UEFA Cup ties, his opposite number Alex Ferguson has watched his side surge to the top the Premier League while plotting a Champions League showdown with Inter Milan and his old adversary Jose Mourinho.

League leaders United appear unstoppable at present and are still on course for a possible five trophies this season having already taken FIFA’s Club World Cup in Tokyo although of the four still on offer, the League Cup is likely to be bottom of Ferguson’s priorities.

The Scot may even elect to leave the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney and Dimitar Berbatov on the bench for the Wembley showpiece, although such are his attacking and midfield options and the Scot’s insatiable appetite for trophies that United will still start firm favourites to win the competition for the third time.

“Alex will want to win the game make no mistake,” Redknapp said on Wednesday with half an eye on a UEFA Cup tie with Shakhtar Donetsk on Thursday, a game which is proving a big distraction.

“Whoever he picks he’ll pick a strong team because he only knows one thing and that is he wants to win. That’s why he is the best in the business.

“So it’ll be a very, very hard game. It should be a terrific game, we’ve got good players and I think it will be a great spectacle.”

Complicating the issue for Redknapp, whose side have already been beaten by United in the FA Cup this season, is the fact that all five of the players he signed in the transfer window to revive the club’s season are not available.

Unlucky striker Jermain Defoe, who missed Tottenham’s 2-1 win in the final against Chelsea last year because he had joined Portsmouth and the FA Cup final because he was cup-tied, having played in the competition for Spurs, is out with a broken foot sustained soon after returning to White Hart Lane.

Striker and new club captain Robbie Keane, who played in last year’s final before his ill-fated transfer to Liverpool, is cup tied, as are goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini, midfielder Wilson Palacios and Pascal Chimbonda, another player who returned to Spurs after joining Sunderland.

No wonder Redknapp has worn a hang dog expression all week, although the thought of leading the side out at Wembley restored his sense of humour. “I’ve got my suit ready to go,” he said. “They’ve all got their suits all the lads. I don’t know if they’ve got new suits, some of them have probably got them left over from last year. I wasn’t here last year so I’ve got my new suit.”

United arrive at the final on the back of 10 consecutive Premier League wins that have fired them seven points clear in the title race and an impressive display in 0-0 draw with Inter in the San Siro on Tuesday

Hungry Heart - Sports Manga

2009-02-24T18:42:00.005+05:30

By our Xtra Sport Editor Mr. Amrit Mishra
Contact Author : amritthegoku.dbz44@yahoo.com

First of all we regard our Sincere thanks to Mr. Amrit for regardless working for us in the Anime and Manga division and keeping us in touch with even the Animated version of Sports!

Hungry Heart: Wild Striker is a Japanese soccer manga and anime series, authored by Yōichi Takahashi. The manga series was serialized in Akita Shoten's Weekly Shōnen Champion. The anime series was produced by Nippon Animation and Animax, and premiered in Japan on Animax between September 11, 2002 and September 10, 2003, spanning a total of 52 episodes.

Animax later aired the series across its other networks worldwide, including its English-language networks in Southeast Asia and South Asia, and its other networks, including Hong Kong, Taiwan, Latin America and numerous other regions. The anime series has also been broadcast, translated and dubbed in English, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian and other languages.

German-based sportswear brand Puma were the commercial sponsors for the anime series, with many of the clothing and sportsgear sporting Puma's brand. Storyline Hungry Heart: Wild Striker tells the story of Kanō Kyōsuke, a teenage high-school student, who, at the beginning of the series, has just transferred into the Jyoyō Orange high school. Kyōsuke's older brother is the illustrious and extremely famous A.C. Milan soccer player, Kanō Seisuke, who had first taught him how to play and love the game of soccer and whom he has greatly admired since childhood.

After Seisuke left Japan to sign with Italian powerhouse A.C. Milan, people started comparing Kyōsuke with his brother, and criticizing him due to his different playing style. Living in his brother's shadow, Kyōsuke's love for the game slowly started to evaporate and lessen, and he eventually lost most of his passion for it. After his transfer to Jyoyō and a fated meeting with Tsujiwaki Miki, an enthusiastic girl with a lot of passion for soccer and who soon reinvigorates his love for the game with her determination to excel, Kyōsuke's deep love and passion for soccer returns to its fullest and soon joins the Jyoyō soccer team, making several friends, such as his fellow freshmen, Sakai Jefferson, a talented goalkeeper, and Rodrigo, a passionate Brazilian transfer student.

Kyōsuke, along with his friends at Jyoyō, invigorated with Miki's care and help, and by his love and determination to excel in soccer, takes on the best, and discovers an immense and determined passion for the game. Characters Note: Names are given in the original Japanese order, with the family name, or surname, followed by the given name. This is also the format used in the English dub. Kanō Kyōsuke Called Orangehead jokingly by some of his friends, Kyōsuke learns the tricks and trades of soccer from his illustrious elder brother, A.C. Milan playmaker Kanō Seisuke.

After Seisuke's departure, he slowly loses interest in the game, but rediscovers his love for it after a fated meeting with Miki. Initially joining as the coach of Jyoyō's girl's soccer team, the determination exhibited by the girls, especially Miki, invigorates his passion for soccer, and soon he joins Jyoyō's male soccer team, emerging as their ace striker. In the last episode, he becomes a player for AFC Ajax. Tsujiwaki Miki Kyōsuke's closest friend, and the captain of the female soccer team in Jyoyō. He later falls in love with her.

Rodrigo A transfer student from Brazil, who wants to become a pro in order to help his family. Rodrigo is Jyoyo's playmaker, who earns the interest of several professional J-League clubs. In the final year, he becomes the captain of Akanegaoka. Sakai Jefferson Kōji Known for charming all the girls in school, he is Jyoyō's goalkeeper. He is also known for his superior acceleration speed. Kamata Gohzo He's known as Sergeant Chin. He played forward in junior high. Sako Toshiya Jyoyo's team captain in the first year.

Ichikawa Hiroshi Known for his hot-headed attitude. In the first year, he has troubles with Rodrigo's individualist attitude, as he believes teamwork is the key for victory. In the second year, he's chosen to be the sub-captain, and has to deal with Yūya and his group. Esaka Masashi He's called Ōsaka by Kyōsuke. He's the series' comic relief for his bald look. In second year he is chosen by Sako as the new captain. Kiba Yūya Anime-only character. Called Nesthead by Kyōsuke. Kyōsuke's rival in 2nd year for the forward position. He also falls in love with Miki and battles with Kyōsuke in order to win her heart.

Shinkawa Masahiko Anime-only character. The fastest in the team. Yūya's buddy. He and Muroi joined soccer to help Yūya make it into the J-League, as a way to thank him for getting them out of their lives as outcasts. Muroi Kazuya Anime-only character. Replaces Kamata in 2nd year as defender. Known for his Mohawk look. Like Shinkawa, he started playing soccer to help Yūya make it into the J-League. Murakami Kazuo Coach of Jyōyo men's soccer club. He was formerly a powerful forward for the Japanese National Team. Mori Kazuto Jyōyo's team manager.

He used to play soccer in middle school, but due to an injury he cannot play anymore. Ōmori Fukuko Jyōyo dormitory's cook. Dōmoto Kaori Jyōyo's nutritionist and cook. She has some feelings for Seisuke, who asked her to watch over his brother in his absence. Kanō Seisuke Kyōsuke's brother. When he was young, he led both his Middle and High School's soccer teams to the nationals and won, and was in the top three in High School. A world renowned player before 17, he also had a J-League contract before 21, and later became the AC Milan star and captain. He also had excellent academic grades. Furuki Ryosei's team captain.

He plays ID (Important Data) soccer. Makoto Iguchi Kokuryō's ace goalkeeper. He also plays with the Japan youth team. Kamiyama Yuujirou Kokuryō's ace striker. Kyōsuke's rival as the best striker in the region. JYT member. Fujimori Minoru and Fujimori Kaoru Kokuryō's dynamic duo. They are members of the JYT. Yuki Kagami Known as Kanō Seisuke Jr. Tenryū's captain. He's Kyōsuke's rival as the best player in high school soccer in Japan. Gon Like Murakami Kazuo, he was a former Japanese football player. He was the first man to ever score a goal in a World cup for Japan, since this was their first time to play the tournament. Narumi Keisuke Biological father of Kyosuke. He holds a mark in japanese football.

Lost his life in a car accident shortly before being called to the Japanese football team. Kyosuke was in the car, but managed to survive the accident. Narumi Mitsuko Biological mother of Kyosuke. She lost her life in the car accident along with her husband. Coach Numakawa Head coach of Tenryu High and Japan Under 22 delegate. Toda and Ueno Both are side backs for Jyoyō's Soccer Club. Kamata "Sergeant Chin" teachs them some defensive techniques in the first year. Sakai also tells them what to do in some trainings and matches.

Teams • Jyōyo Akanegaoka High School (Jyōyo Orange Hill) - Kyōsuke Kanō's high school team. Members: Sakai Jeferson Kouji, Toda, Ueno, Kamata (graduated), Muroi, Ichikawa, Shinkawa, Esaka, Sako (graduated), Tanaka, Rodrigo, Kanou Kyosuke, Kiba Yuya, Sasao, Shimizu (graduated), Omura (graduated).

• Ryōsei High School - Known for their ID soccer, based on data collected by their captain, Furuki.

• Yamanomori High School - A school in the mountains known for their teamwork.

• Kokuryō high school - The regional champions and Tenryū's rival school. Members: Kamiyama, Iguchi, Fujimori Twins

• Tenryū High School - The national champions. Seisuke Kanō's former high school. Members: Seisuke Kanō (graduated), Kagami, Sawamura, Suzuki, Mishima, Aida

• Japan Under 22 delegate - Chosen by coach Numakawa to represent Japan in the Amsterdam Preliminaries. Members: Kanou Kyosuke, Kagami, Kamiyama, Iguchi, Fujimori Twins

• Jyoyo Asahigaoka High School - Sister school to Jyōyo Akanegaoka High School.

Slam Dunk - Sports Anime!

2009-02-22T16:16:00.005+05:30

Our Xtra Sports Editor Mr. Amrit Mishra publishes his second Article!

Slam Dunk also known as Suramu Danku, officially romanized SLAM DUNK in Japan. It is a sports-themed manga series written by Takehiko Inoue about a basketball team from Shōhoku High School. It was first serialized in Shueisha's Weekly Shōnen Jump in Japan from 1990 to 1996 and has sold over 100 million copies in Japan alone. In 1995, it received the 40th Shogakukan Manga Award for shōnen. The success of Slam Dunk is cited as an influence in the increased popularity of basketball among the Japanese youth during the 1990's. Inoue has also used basketball as a central theme in two other manga series: Buzzer Beater and Real.

Plot Slam Dunk centers around Hanamichi Sakuragi, who starts as an deliquent outcast, becoming the leader of a gang. Hanamichi, being very unpopular with girls, has been rejected by them fifty times. Yet, he finds out that Haruko Akagi is the girl of his dreams, and is happy when she's not scared of him like all the other girls he has asked out. Haruko Akagi, who recognizes Hanamichi's athleticism, introduces him to the Shohoku basketball team. Hanamichi was reluctant to join the team at first because he had no previous background in any sports and thought that basketball was a game for losers (also because the fiftieth girl rejected him for a basketball player). Sakuragi, despite his immaturity and hot temper, proves to be a natural athlete with potential and joins the team in order to impress Haruko and prove that he is worthy of her. Kaede Rukawa - Sakuragi's bitter rival (both on the basketball court and love, even when Rukawa doesn't acknowledge Haruko's crush on him), the star rookie and a "girl magnet" - joins the team at the same time. Hisashi Mitsui, an ex-junior high school MVP, and Ryota Miyagi , a short but fast player, both also rejoin the team and together these four struggle to complete team captain Takenori Akagi's dream of making Shohoku the national champion. Together, these misfits gain publicity and the once little known Shohoku basketball team becomes an all-star contender in Japan. Media Manga Slam Dunk premiered in Japan in Issue 42 of the Weekly Shonen Jump in 1990 and lasted until Issue 27 in 1996.

An English version of Slam Dunk was published for the Singapore market by Chuang Yi. Anime The anime series, consisting of 101 episodes, was produced by the TV Asahi terrestrial television network and Toei Animation and directed by Nobutaka Nishizawa. It was first aired on TV Asahi from October 16, 1993 to March 23, 1996. It was later aired on the anime satellite television network, Animax, in addition to four animated movies produced. The anime series follows the manga storyline, but leaves out the National Tournament games. Toei and Geneon briefly chose to release the anime on DVD after the manga was discontinued, though the anime was also discontinued after only a few volumes. Toei is currently streaming episodes of the series on-line for a fee and for free through Crunchyroll. Teams Except where otherwise noted, the following basketball teams appear in both the anime and manga. Aiwa High School Aiwa is ranked 4th in Japan and was favored to win the Aichi Interhigh Tournament, but was upset by Meihou. Shohoku faces them in the third round of the National Championship and loses to them because they were exhausted from the Sannoh match. The team's captain, shooting guard Dai Moroboshi, is known as the "Star of Aichi". He was injured by Meihou's Hiroshi Morishige during the Aichi Interhigh finals, and despite returning to the game later, could not push Aiwa over the top because of Meihou's insurmountable lead. Some consider Moroboshi as the only one who can beat Sannoh's Eiji Sawakita in a one-on-one, though Moroboshi himself does not think so. Daiei High School Daiei (Daiei Gakuen) is the lead representative for Osaka in the National Championship, having beaten Toyotama. Their captain, point forward Atsushi Tsuchiya, is also the top player for the team, and proved key in their victory. Jousei High School Jousei is ranked 8th in Japan, and the main representative for the Shizuoka Prefecture. Their coach is a former pupil of Coach Anzai's, and prior to the start of the National Championship, Shohoku (minus Sakuragi, who undergoes a weeklong training on how to shoot from Coach Anzai) visits them for a weeklong training camp that includes three matches, resulting in a win, loss, and tie for Shohoku. They are knocked out of the National Championship in the second round by Meihou, in a match where Morishige alone eclipses the whole opposite team, leaving the team captain, Mikoshiba, greatly depressed. Kainan University Affiliated High School Kainan University Affiliated High School basketball team Meihou High School Meihou is a surprise newcomer to the National Championship, knocking off the favorite Aiwa to qualify as the lead representative for Aichi. They are spearheaded by a massive first year student, Hiroshi Morishige (so massive, he can take Sakuragi down with a mere nudge - given by Sakuragi himself). Meihou beat Jousei in the second round of the National Championship. Miuradai High School Miuradai faces Shohoku in the first round of the Interhigh Tournament. They do well at first, because Takenori Akagi is the only one of the five starters to actually start the game, the other four being temporarily benched by Coach Anzai for fighting. The tide turns against Miuradai once the other four starters enter the court and Shohoku is restored to full strength. Miuradai is quite a self-confident team, whose members - particularly their captain, Kengo Murasame - only respect Kainan as an opponent. One character who only appears in the anime, Tetsuya Naito, is enrolled in the ranks of Miuradai as a substitute Power forward and a brute physical force - he used to play for the Miuradai rugby team, but he was dissatisfied with the lack of challenge and dropped out after Murasame approached him. Naito's inexperience as a basketball player is quickly exposed by Rukawa though, and Shohoku go on to win decisively. In the end, Naito ends up knocked out after Sakuragi (who was pissed off after Naito blocked him several times successfully) tries to use a slam dunk, yet ends up bashing him on the head by mistake. Ryonan High School Ryonan High School basketball team Ryokofu High School Ryokofu appears in the third OVA, inviting Shohoku for a friendly match right after their defeat from Kainan. They are a relatively new team, but were a force to be feared as their ranks included star players from junior high, including their half-American ace, Michael Okita. Sannoh Industry Affiliated High School Sannoh Industry Affiliated High School basketball team Shohoku High School Shohoku High School basketball team Shoyo High School Shoyo High School basketball team Takezato High School Takezato was seeded first in its respective bracket in the Kanagawa Interhigh Tournament and makes the final four. However, they prove to be the weakest team present, losing to Shohoku, Ryonan, and Kainan and finishing fourth. Takezono High School Takezono is the team for which Tatsumasa Oda, the boy for whom Sakuragi suffered his 50th rejection, plays. Unluckily, their last match in the Kanagawa Tournament is against the reigning champion Kainan, who beats them handily with a reserve team, the only starters to play being Jin and Muto. Sakuragi, who at first mistakenly thought that Oda was mistreating his girlfriend Yoko Shimamura, wanted Takezono to win so he could face Oda again (Shohoku and Takezono face each other in the first Slam Dunk OVA, in a friendly match). Oda was injured, but played all the same. However, none of these events are mentioned in the manga. That Oda is playing in Takezono or that Shohoku played them are also not mentioned. Toyotama High School Toyotama is the runner-up team from Osaka in the National Championship, having lost to Daiei. They are an A ranked team and almost all of their starters are third years. Shohoku faces them in the first round of the National Championship, where Toyotama show a talent for getting away with violent, flagrant fouls, not to mention the constant teasing from the crowd, that constantly yells, swears and threatens the opposite team. They have mastered the run and gun style of play and divide their effort between 80% offense and 20% defense. Their main weakness was the replacement of their coach,'Kitano , who nurtured the team's offensive philosophy and is widely respected by the players. His replacement, on the other hand, Jiei', emphasizes defensive basketball, which the players have difficulty adjusting to. Because of this, they prefer to play their own way than listening to their new coach. The Toyotama match only appears in the manga. One of the reserve players, Teruo Okawa, is a friend of Hikoichi Aida's from junior high. Toyotama has an ace in the form of Minori Kishimoto, who earns not only Hikoichi's enmity for Toyotama after he dismisses Sendoh's abilities as a player (Hikoichi in retribution gives Shohoku information on Toyotama), but also from Sakuragi, who spent the first half under intense pressure and could not perform well enough, being substituted for by Yasuda early in the match. Their other ace and captain is Tsuyoshi Minami (who Sakuragi calls "chick-face" after the bird), who is the most aggressive of the players. He is known as the "Ace Killer", and lives up to this nickname by hitting Rukawa in the face with his elbow as he once did to Kenji Fujima from Shoyo, leaving him with a black eye for the whole second half of the game. Minami however makes up for it later, as the night before the match against Sannoh, he gives Rukawa an ointment to help his eye heal and warns him about Sawakita. The other players include Mitsuaki Iwata (center), Kyohei Yajima (shooting guard) and Daijiro Itakura (point guard). Tsukubu High School Tsukubu used to be a high-leaguer team before the rise of Shohoku. They were the fourth team Shohoku faced in the Prefectural Tournament and, after a good start, they let their defense be breached by Miyagi's fast play and lost concentration, leading to a rather shameful loss. Tsukubu is featured prominently in the second OVA (which portrays the tournament match), where their star rookie, Koichiro Nango (who is actually a center player despite his youth, something quite uncommon in local basketball), falls in love with Haruko and becomes a bitter rival to Sakuragi, to the point of betting with him: whoever wins the game will have the right to ask Haruko out. Their coach, Kazuma Kawasaki, was a former pupil of Anzai, while their captain, Tomokazu Godai, attended Kogure and Akagi's former junior high and is on friendly terms with them, but is kicked out of the game after losing his temper.

In spite of all this, along with Yohei they are among Sakuragi's most loyal supporters, going to all his games to cheer him on, and helping him out when he had to make 20,000 shots in one week to prepare for the National Championships. According to Yohei, they are known as "The Three Stooges of Wakoh Junior High". Tatsuhiko Aota Year: 3rd Year Voice Actors: Hideyuki Umezu The captain of the Shohoku judo team, Tatsuhiko is a childhood friend of the Akagi siblings, having argued with Takenori over which sport was better, judo or basketball, since their youth. This grudge continued until their present age, where their feud is over which team will be National Champion first. He once tried to make Sakuragi join the judo team because he considered his fighting skills exceptional, and to achieve this, "bribed" him with some photos of Haruko when she was younger. Still, Sakuragi refused, saying simply, "because I'm a basketball player" (actually because he knew he would actually be closer to Haruko if he stayed with the basketball team). But Tatsuhiko does not give up on trying once in a while. He is rather loyal to Takenori when the need arises, cheering him on when he is outplayed and hard-pressed during the second Ryonan match. Despite his inability to physically coerce Sakuragi into joining the judo team, Tatsuhiko has proven that he is skilled, as he is the sole member of the judo team to qualify for the National Championships in judo. However unlike Takenori, he has to beg for the chance to retake the exams that he failed or else face academic disqualification - much like the other four starters of the basketball team. It is also worth noting that Tatsuhiko has had a crush on Haruko since they were young.

She calls him "Ta-chan" instead of by his last name, which irritates Sakuragi immensely. Norio Hotta Year: 3rd Year Voice Actors: Hōchū Ōtsuka Hotta is the leader of a gang of fellow Third Year students who are the reigning delinquents at Shohoku. Sakuragi catches his attention on the first day of school when he gets into an altercation with two of his cronies, resulting in his issuing a direct challenge to Sakuragi by interrupting one of his classes. Before Sakuragi and his Gang arrive, Hotta and his cronies run into Rukawa on the school roof, who singlehandedly knocks out all four of them. Hotta is a good friend of Mitsui, and backed him up when he challenged Miyagi to a fight a year ago. He and his friends provide the muscle again after Miyagi returns, and they join Mitsui in his attack on the basketball team. From Kogure’s revelation of Mitsui’s prior history with basketball, Hotta realizes that Mitsui deep down wants to play again, and is persuaded by Sakuragi’s Gang to share the blame with them for attacking the team, getting the team off the hook for fighting. It should be noted that though Hotta and his friends failed to win in fights against Sakuragi’s Gang or even Rukawa, they are portrayed as among the best fighters in Shohoku. Hotta and his cronies later become supporters of the basketball team during the National Championship Tournament (though even they get scared by the aggressiveness of the Toyotama crowd), largely because of their friendship with Mitsui, who they give the epithet Honoo no Otoko (lit. "Flaming Man"). Tetsuo Voice Actor: Masaharu Sato Tetsuo is a biker and the only adult member of Mitsui’s gang, which included Norio Hotta and his cronies, in addition to some other delinquent high school students. It would appear that he is the gang leader, although he largely defers to Mitsui when they launch their attack on the Shohoku basketball team. He appears to be in his late 20's/30s, and is the gang’s most experienced and capable fighter. Tetsuo succeeds in knocking out five Shohoku players, among them Rukawa and Miyagi, but meets his match in Sakuragi. After Mitsui leaves the gang and rejoins the team, Tetsuo later runs into him after the former is heading home after getting his knee checked. He accepts Mitsui as an athlete, reaffirming the latter’s decision to rejoin the team. Because he refuses to wear a helmet when riding, Tetsuo has to constantly watch out for the police. Tetsuo makes an additional appearance in the anime when on the morning of Shohoku’s match with Shoyo, he is chased and cornered by the non-Shohoku members of his gang, who beat him up in a bid to challenge his leadership.

Mitsui comes upon them, but refuses to fight because of the promise he made to Coach Anzai not to fight again. Tetsuo stands up for him, but gets knocked out. However the timely intervention of Sakuragi and his Gang enables the two basketball players to leave the scene, resulting in Tetsuo teaming up with Sakuragi’s Gang to take out Ryu and his cronies. Yayoi Aida Voice Actor: Yuko Nagashima Hikoichi's older sister, she is a reporter for a weekly basketball magazine. Even though her brother plays for Ryonan, she is mostly designated to cover Shohoku matches, in which she is always impressesed about Shohoku players' performances, as they mostly play stronger opponents like Kainan or Sannoh. In the National Championship though, she gets to watch Sannoh's exercise training routines. She is almost always accompanied by a bubbly trainee called Nakamura, who does the driving when they need to go from gym to gym even though he drives slowly, as he had just gotten his driving license.She also has a huge crush on Ryonan ace Sendoh. Fujii and Matsui Year: 1st Year Voice Actor: Etsuko Nishimoto, Tomomi Sugimoto and Machiko Toyoshima (Fujii), Hiromi Nishikawa (Matsui) Haruko's classmates and friends from Junior High. They often appear together with or without her. They do not trust Sakuragi too much at first, but try their best to deal with him for Haruko's sake, and gradually become more fond of him. Fujii is shy, soft-spoken and has short hair, while Matsui has her hair tied in pigtails, has thick lips and is rather sassy at times. Their first names are not known. Ryu Voice Actor: Nobuhiko Kazama Ryu is one of the non-Shohoku members of Mitsui’s gang and the only other non-Shohoku member besides Tetsuo given the most depth. During Mitsui’s attack on the basketball team, he is matched up with Rukawa, giving him a bloody head wound with a broken mop head, but in turn gets knocked out by Rukawa. In the anime, Ryu challenges Tetsuo’s leadership by recruiting new members and targeting him after Mitsui rejoins the basketball team. He takes advantage of Mitsui’s reluctance to fight to attempt to break his hands, but is interrupted by Sakuragi’s appearance. To his surprise, Sakuragi thanks him for beating up Rukawa. The arrival of Sakuragi’s Gang enables Mitsui and Sakuragi to break away and head to the 3rd round match (which they are late for), and results in the trouncing of Ryu and all his gang members.

Dr. T • Voiced by: Yoku Shioya Dr. T is the avatar of Takehiko Inoue in the story. Every once in a while he appears in a short segment called Dr. T no Basukettobooru no Nyuumon ("Dr. T's Introduction to Basketball" or, more loosely speaking, "Basketball for Dummies"), where he breaks the fourth wall by explaining to the reader (or the viewer in the case of the anime) the rules of basketball, usually when Sakuragi makes a mistake for not knowing the rules, or a new basketball concept is introduced. He appears once in the manga as an unnamed "manga artist" outside the Kanagawa Interhigh Tournament arena just before Shohoku faces Ryonan in the league round. Kawai Mari Year: 2nd Year Voice Actor: Nanae Sumitomo (Japan) A good friend of Ayako, Mari is a member of the Shohoku school newspaper and a skilled reporter, always followed by two of her clubmates. Sassy and outspoken, she likes to tease Ayako off-court, and like other girls from the school she has a huge crush on Rukawa, even when she considered him a rude brat at first. The owner of Chieko Sports Voice Actor: Hideyuki Umezu (when Sakuragi buys the Air Jordan Series VI), Hirohiko Kakegawa (when Sakuragi is offered the Air Jordan Series I)

The Last 16 of Europe!

2009-02-21T17:36:00.003+05:30

The Sports Today previews about the most exciting Competition of the world which begins this Wednesday

Inter Milan v. Manchester United: Well..Even the finals wouldn't get this interesting.The most interesting of all the EPL match-ups in the Champions League. Two-time defending Italian champions against the two-time defending champions of England. My two favorite mangers..... My two favorite teams to play as in FIFA 09. How do you separate them? Form, that’s how. Manchester United have it, and will settle for a well-deserved draw going back to Old Trafford. But Jose's Inter are too Strong for it Prediction : Inter Milan

Arsenal v. Roma: Luciano Spalletti’s team boast my favorite player outside of England in the talismanic Francesco Totti. Arsenal have very few players that I like. This isn’t a popularity contest though, and right now the Gunners are a better team and will take the first leg. Prediction: Arsenal

Chelsea v. Juventus: Another tough call as the teams are similar in lots of ways. My gut is telling me the Bridge shows outsiders how tough a place it can be to play in, momentarily restoring the old glory of years past. Prediction: Chelsea

Real Madrid v. Liverpool: Would be a great final, don’t you think? The Spanish influence of Liverpool playing the Spanish giants themselves. It’s not to be, however, as these two meet in the first knockout round. I think the Reds will hold out for a draw in this one, despite being dangerously outplayed. Prediction 1-1 tie.

Atletico Madrid vs Porto The Spanish side will have to give Porto the respect they deserve, if they are to beat them. Porto are not just any side. They are two time winners of the Champions League, with one of those coming recently in the 2003-04 season, under the able guidance of Jose Mourinho. Another noteworthy fact is that this is the team that beat Arsenal to take the top spot in Group H.Prediction : Atletico

Lyon Vs Barcelona : This According to me is way one sided. Barca are reigning supremacy everywhere they go. La Liga, Champions League, everywhere and the most brilliant thing is they score around 2.75 goals every match. Well Lyon are not Bad but when compared to Barca they are just too weak. But who can find there can be a dark horse in the form of Lyon for Barca. Prediction : Barcelona

Sporting Vs Bayern: Bayern Munich have a point to prove to everyone. After oliver Kahn left everone is speaking that they are not the old Club which demolished everyone . Will they prove everyone wrong? Prediction : Tie

Ana Ivanovic Wallpapers

2009-02-19T17:07:00.002+05:30

Murray defeats Nadal at Rotterdam

2009-02-16T18:48:00.002+05:30

Well n Sunday it looked as if 2009 will witness a new Grand Slam Champion in form of Andy Murray. He was in fine swing as he rattled past the world no.1 Rafael Nadal

The top-ranked Nadal was bothered by a right knee injury and had to call a medical timeout in the second set, before deciding to continue the match.

Rafael was hurt at the beginning of the second set,” Murray said. “On one leg he could still go on. That’s how good he is.”

Murray took the first set after breaking Nadal in the sixth game, but the Spaniard fought back in the second. He struggled, however, with his serve in the third set because of his knee and Murray was able to seal the win with an ace.

Britain’s Tim Henman was runner-up here three times, losing the 1999, 2000 and 2002 finals.

Nadal was attempting to become the first Spaniard to win in Rotterdam. Juan Carlos Ferrero lost the 2004 final to Lleyton Hewitt.

“It was a very important week for me, but Andy has had a wonderful year and I would like to congratulate him,” Nadal said.

Appearing in his 41st career final, the Australian Open champion wasn’t at his best, struggling to counter Murray’s powerful service game.

After breaking Nadal’s first game in the deciding set, Murray held on to claim his 10th career title.

Nadal faces Murray In ABN AMRO Finals

2009-02-15T16:31:00.003+05:30

Rafael Nadal beat Gael Monfils of France 6-4, 6-4 Saturday, setting up a final against Andy Murray in the ABN Amro.

Nadal broke Monfils in the fifth game of the second set. The top-ranked Spaniard withstood 10 aces by Monfils to earn his first two-set win this week. Nadal lost to Monfils in the quarterfinals at Doha last month for his only loss of the year.

Now, two weeks after winning his first Australian Open and sixth Grand Slam singles title, Nadal will play for his 33rd career title on Sunday.

Murray overcame a slight injury to his right foot to rout two-time champion Mario Ancic of Croatia 6-1, 6-1 in the earlier semifinal.

Nadal is 5-1 against Murray, but the Scotsman won their last clash in the U.S. Open semifinals.

“Our matches are usually guaranteed to be a spectacle,” the second-seeded Murray said.

It will be first Rotterdam final between the top two seeds since 1984, but Ivan Lendl and Jimmy Connors didn’t play because of a bomb scare.

Murray broke serve in the second game of the first set after running the score to 0-40. He then then held and broke again in the sixth game.

Ancic was broken in the first game of the second set. He had a single break point in the second game, but Murray evened the score and went on to win with an ace. Ancic surrendered the following game as well, netting a smash on the first of three break points against him.

A telling statistic was points won on first return of serve—four of 26 for Ancic and 12 of 22 for Murray.

Serena Williams wins Womens Champion Title!

2009-02-01T04:54:00.002+05:30

Serena Williams always selects a special outfit to bring to Australia for a victory celebration. Every second year, she gets to wear it.

“I always bring an outfit for the championships,” she said. “I always try to think positive, and I think it helps me be able to win.”

Williams was so dominant that Safina, a 22-year-old Russian playing in her second major final, didn’t feel worthy of being on the same court.

“It was first time for me to play not only for the Grand Slam, but also for No. 1 spot,” said Safina, the 2008 French Open runner-up. “I never been through this situation, and she was already.

“Serena was too good … I was just a ballboy on the court today,” added Safina, apologizing to the Rod Laver Arena crowd after the 59-minute match.

After Melbourne’s hottest three-day heat wave on record, conditions were a relatively mild 79 degrees for the tournament’s first women’s final at night.

Safina had been hoping to emulate two feats her brother, Marat Safin, achieved. He won the 2005 Australian Open—the day after Serena won her second title here—and held the No. 1 ranking.

“She played exactly the way she had to play and she was much more aggressive and she just was taking time out of me,” Safina said.

“She didn’t give me a chance.”

Williams’ win at the U.S. Open in September gave her the No. 1 ranking for the following four weeks, her first stint at the top since a 57-week stretch from July 2002.

She started this year at No. 2 and slowly worked her way through the tournament. She was struggling with her serve at times and had to fend off Svetlana Kuznetsova in the quarterfinals when the Russian was serving for the match.

“I was playing lazy tennis in the beginning and I was doubting myself,” she said. “I’ll thank my mom for hanging in there this week. The first week was tough, but we got through it.”

She lifted herself in the semis to snap Olympic champion Elena Dementieva’s 15-match winning streak and was overpowering from the first game of the final, losing only eight points and winning 18 of the last 20 in the 22-minute first set.
Williams’ 6-0, 6-3 rout of Dinara Safina on Saturday earned her a 10th Grand Slam title, a fourth Australian title—coming each odd-numbered year since 2003 — and the No. 1-ranking.

“I actually forgot until the end when I was saying hi to my box. They’re like, ‘Hey, you’re No. 1.’ I was like, ‘Oh, yeah,”’ she said.

Not that a number means everything.

“I always believe I’m the best, whether I’m No. 1 or 100,” she said. “Just having that extra bonus is pretty cool.”

Williams set aside a stylish black top to wear for the big occasion this time. In between the match, doping tests and media commitments, she changed into it.

“I always bring an outfit for the championships,” she said. “I always try to think positive, and I think it helps me be able to win.”

Williams was so dominant that Safina, a 22-year-old Russian playing in her second major final, didn’t feel worthy of being on the same court.

“It was first time for me to play not only for the Grand Slam, but also for No. 1 spot,” said Safina, the 2008 French Open runner-up. “I never been through this situation, and she was already.

“Serena was too good … I was just a ballboy on the court today,” added Safina, apologizing to the Rod Laver Arena crowd after the 59-minute match.

After Melbourne’s hottest three-day heat wave on record, conditions were a relatively mild 79 degrees for the tournament’s first women’s final at night.

Safina had been hoping to emulate two feats her brother, Marat Safin, achieved. He won the 2005 Australian Open—the day after Serena won her second title here—and held the No. 1 ranking.

“She played exactly the way she had to play and she was much more aggressive and she just was taking time out of me,” Safina said.

“She didn’t give me a chance.”

Williams’ win at the U.S. Open in September gave her the No. 1 ranking for the following four weeks, her first stint at the top since a 57-week stretch from July 2002.

She started this year at No. 2 and slowly worked her way through the tournament. She was struggling with her serve at times and had to fend off Svetlana Kuznetsova in the quarterfinals when the Russian was serving for the match.

“I was playing lazy tennis in the beginning and I was doubting myself,” she said. “I’ll thank my mom for hanging in there this week. The first week was tough, but we got through it.”

She lifted herself in the semis to snap Olympic champion Elena Dementieva’s 15-match winning streak and was overpowering from the first game of the final, losing only eight points and winning 18 of the last 20 in the 22-minute first set.

Nadal defeates Verdasco in a 5 set Thriller to face Federer in Finals

2009-01-30T21:18:00.002+05:30

Well Federer advanced to Finals yesterday with a dominating victory over Andy Roddick of USA. Now today the second semi Finals had two left Handed Spaniards facing each other for a spot to stop Federer from winning his 14th Grand Slam.

I solemnly swear that I never thought that Verdasco would never give a fight to the World Number one. But What happened in Melbourne Park was something I cant describe in words. The match which had 5 sets, 3 Tie breaks, spanning over 5 hours and 14 minutes was certainly a match of Lifetime for both the players.

Comparing it would be Unfair but It certainly was the best Tennis match I have ever seen. Verdasco gave the Number one A run for his money. He took the first set 7-6 then he lost the next two 4-6 and 6-7 but then after almost 3 hours the two players never lost their breathe, never shouted in frustration or nothing.

It was just PURE TENNIS. Verdasco came back from no where and won the 4th set Tiebreak 7-1. Then in the after 4 hours of DIE HARD tennis there were TWO CHAMPIONS standing there but the painful result of this game is some has to lose and it was Verdasco.

And the sadful part was When verdasco was serving 4-5 he gave a double fault at 0-30 to give 3 break points. He survived 2 of them with some amazing volleys but then came the saddest part of this great match. Verdasco double faulted again to give Nadal the Victory and also the right to stop Federer from winning that 14th title.

The Spanish top seed beat compatriot Fernando Verdasco 6-7
6-4 7-6 6-7 6-4 in a five hour 14 minute contest which started
on Friday but did not finish until the early hours of Saturday.

"Right now I'm feeling more happy than tired," Nadal said in
a courtside interview.

"For sure it will be tough to play the final in another day.
My opponent will be difficult because Roger is always very
tough.

"It was amazing for me. Playing this match with an
unbelievable atmosphere. Thank you very much, it was one of my
best matches in my career."

Verdasco had lost all six previous meetings between these
two left-handers. Under the floodlights he clobbered 95 clean
winners and became the first player here this year to take sets
off the seemingly invincible Iberian.

He was ultimately unable to improve his miserable
head-to-head record, though, handing Nadal the victory when he
double-faulted on match point.

"That's a lot... too much I think," Nadal said of the number
of clean winners which flew past him.

"Fernando was playing unbelievable. His serve was amazing,
so, I think it's his best tournament in his career. He played
unbelievable. Today he deserved this win too so I want to
congratulate him."

Federer enjoyed a day off as Nadal toiled deep into the
night. The Swiss reached the final on Thursday evening, blasting
Andy Roddick off court 6-2 7-5 7-5 to reach his 18th grand slam
final and fourth one here.

AUSSIE OPEN DAY 8 : Murray Ousted!

2009-01-26T22:15:00.004+05:30

Andy Murray was one of the strong contenders for winning the title this time at the Australian open but he went out of the Grandslam in the 4th round itself without doing much damage to the top contenders.

And the man who defeated him is Spain's Fernando Verdasco 2-6, 6-1, 1-6, 6-3, 6-4. It was a tough fought match with some amazing tennis being played by both competitors.

Murray said he, too, hasn’t been feeling well the last few days, though he refused to use it as an excuse.

“I don’t feel that was the reason why I lost,” Murray said. “I definitely did have my chances, and he played too well. I’m disappointed that I lost. But I’ll try and learn from it. It’s not a disaster. I’m still playing well. I lost to a good player in a very close match. I’ll have more chances to win Grand Slams.”

Murray saved two match points after falling behind 40-0 in the last game but wasn’t able to fend off a third, dumping a backhand into the net.

Murray, who lost in the U.S. Open final last year to Roger Federer, was attempting to become the first British man since 1936 to win a Grand Slam singles title.

Top-ranked Rafael Nadal, meanwhile, left 2007 runner-up Fernando Gonzalez feeling out of sorts with another dominating performance in a 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 win. He has yet to drop a set and next faces the sixth-seeded Simon, who advanced when fellow Frenchman Gael Monfils retired with a wrist injury.

“I am playing well, but you never know if it’s going to be enough,” said Nadal, who had 33 winners and just 11 unforced errors.

Fifth seed Jo Wilfried-Tsonga produced an explosive performance that rivalled an overhead fireworks display to beat James Blake in the fourth round of the Australian Open on Monday.

Tsonga, last year’s beaten finalist, won the match 6-4 6-4 7-6 to set up a quarter-final with Fernando Verdasco, who had earlier beaten British fourth seed Andy Murray while Giles Simon defeated Compatriot Gael Monfils 6-4 2-6 6-1

AUSSIE OPEN DAY 8 | Womens: Serena survives a scare

2009-01-26T21:59:00.002+05:30

Elena Dementieva, made the quarterfinals for the first time in 11 years at Melbourne Park with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Slovakia’s Dominika Cibulkova.Elena was all over Cibulkova with her blashing forehands and cross hands.

Williams was the biggest beneficiary of the wave of retirements. She lost the first set to 13th-seeded Victoria Azarenka of Belarus and was so frustrated with her first serve that she cursed it, earning a warning for a verbal obscenity. The 19-year-old Azarenka, who woke up sick, had to quit in the second set.

Williams, seeking a 10th Grand Slam singles title, next plays 2004 U.S. Open champion Kuznetsova, who advanced when Zheng Jie of China retired at 4-1 in the first set. They are the only major winners still in the women’s draw.

No. 22 Zheng, hoping for victory on Chinese New Year, injured her left wrist when she tumbled after the third game. She had treatment immediately but retired two games later and will go for X-rays Tuesday.

Carla Suarez Navarro, the 20-year-old Spaniard who had an upset win over seven-time Grand Slam winner Venus Williams in the second round, beat No. 21 Anabel Medina Garrigues 6-3, 6-2.

She next plays Olympic gold medalist Elena Dementieva, who made the quarterfinals for the first time in 11 years at Melbourne Park with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Slovakia’s Dominika Cibulkova.

The fourth-seeded Dementieva, who reached the finals at the French and U.S. Opens in 2004 but has not been to a Grand Slam championship match since, extended her winning streak to 14 matches. She won two titles in tuneup events.

AUSSIE OPEN DAY 7 | Federer comesback from 0-2 in a thrilling 5 setter

2009-01-25T22:00:00.004+05:30

After the first two sets in the 4th round Match between Roger Federer and Tomas Berdych at Melbourne Park, the whole world thought that it was going to be the biggest upset of the Tournament so far as Federer lost the two sets 4-6 6-7 but after 2 hours the same world realized why Federer has 13 Grandslams in his kitty!

The King of Tennis came back from 2 sets down to win the match 4-6, 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-4, 6-2. Truly the class of a Champion. No. 8 Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina, a 5-7, 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 winner over No. 19 Marin Cilic of Croatia.

Defending Champ Novak Djokovic defeated Marcos Bagdatis 6-1, 7-6 (1), 6-7 (5), 6-2 while Andy Roddick cruised past Tommy Robredo 7-5, 6-1, 6-3

“You’ve got to hang in there, there’s no other solution,” Federer said. “… Tried to weather the storm. He was hitting the ball so heavy and so hard. He pushed me to the limit.”

A massive upset result loomed in the late afternoon when 20th-seeded Berdych was on top for the first two sets, working Federer around with powerful forehands to keep the Swiss star on the defensive. He consistently targeted Federer’s backhand with his powerful, kicking serve.

But Federer started finding his range and rallied in the third set and the momentum, already shifting toward him as Berdych’s errors mounted, really shifted his way at the start of the fourth set.

Berdych recovered from double breakpoint to deuce, and Federer got another breakpoint on a close line call. Berdych wanted to challenge, but no replay was available due to a technical glitch, so the call stood. Berdych argued with the chair umpire to no avail with the crowd breaking out in jeers, then netted a forehand to fall behind for the only break of the set.

Federer led 4-0 in the fifth but, serving at 5-2, nervously squandered double match point then double-faulted to give Berdych a break chance.

He forced deuce, fired back-to-back aces—the last was No. 20 for the match — then leapt in the air with a big “Yes!”

“I enjoy those kind of fights. It doesn’t happen all the time. It’s always special,” Federer said. “I hope it’s a good omen. I feel like I could play a couple more sets, so that’s a good sign.”

Federer has won 13 Grand Slam singles titles, one short of Pete Sampras’ record.

Federer will face No. 8 Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina, a 5-7, 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 winner over No. 19 Marin Cilic of Croatia.

Defending champion Novak Djokovic wasn’t pushed while taking a 5-0 lead, then had to work hard for a 6-1, 7-6 (1), 6-7 (5), 6-2 victory over 2006 runner-up Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus.

Andy Roddick improved his career record against Tommy Robredo of Spain to 10-0 and advanced to the Australian Open quarterfinals.

The seventh-seeded Roddick beat Robredo 7-5, 6-1, 6-3 on Sunday, staying on track for a semifinal appearance for the fourth time in seven years.

Federer will face No. 8 Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina, a 5-7, 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 winner over No. 19 Marin Cilic of Croatia.

AUSSIE OPEN DAY 7 | Womens: Top seed out!

2009-01-25T21:44:00.002+05:30

The shaky situation of the Women draw in the Australian open 09 continued even today as the Top seed Jelena Jankovic crashed out of the tournament following her compatriot Ana Ivanovic who went out yesterday and Venus Williams the day before.

Melbourne Park shook with an explosion of home-town roars, however, when Yugoslav-born Australian wildcard Jelena Dokic buried years of personal pain to reach the quarter-finals of the first grand slam of the year.

Jankovic was totally denied a chance by Marion Bartoli of France 6-1 6-4. The French women who wasw a Former Wimbledon finalist totally dominated the match winning it comfortably.

Melbourne Park shook with an explosion of home-town roars, however, when Yugoslav-born Australian wildcard Jelena Dokic buried years of personal pain to reach the quarter-finals of the first grand slam of the year.

The 25-year-old, whose split from domineering father Damir and subsequent struggle with severe depression and injuries was played out in front of the world’s media, wiped tears from her eyes after her 7-5 5-7 8-6 win over Russian Alisa Kleybanova.

No. 3 Dinara Safina had a narrow escape in the subsequent match, saving match points before fending off another French woman, Alize Cornet, in three. Safina, who was down 5-3 and 40-15 with Cornet serving for the match, rallied to win 6-2, 2-6, 7-5 to reach the Australian Open quarterfinals here for the first time.

In another encounter No. 7 Vera Zvonareva, defeated No. 10 Nadia Petrova 7-5, 6-4 in an all-Russia match.

AUSTRALIAN OPEN DAY 6 Top seeds Dominate

2009-01-24T21:48:00.002+05:30

Murray's confidence is growing day by day and so is his performance, Today he defeated Jurgen Melzer 7-5, 6-0, 6-3 in his third round. Nadal the top seed defeated his opponent Tommy Haas in 6-4, 6-2, 6-2.

Serena Williams wasn’t her sharpest, but she hasn’t had to be so far. And there were no distractions as she beat overmatched China’s Peng Shuai 6-1, 6-4.

Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray dominated their third-round matches Saturday at the Australian Open to move closer to a possible semifinal showdown.

Top-ranked Nadal was broken by Tommy Haas for the first time in the tournament, but showed no weakness in ripping 53 winners to only eight unforced errors in a 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 victory.

“I think I played one of my best matches here at the Australian Open,” said Nadal, making his fifth appearance at Melbourne Park.

He will face 13th-seeded Fernando Gonzalez of Chile, who beat Nadal in straight sets en route to a runner-up finish in 2007, who needed more than 4 hours to beat France’s Richard Gasquet with a 12-10 fifth set.

The fourth-seeded Murray, seeking his first Grand Slam title, ran off 11 straight games while overwhelming Jurgen Melzer 7-5, 6-0, 6-3. The 21-year-old Scot had only 10 unforced errors and next plays No. 14 Fernando Verdasco.

“I hope I can keep this form up,” Murray said. “I’m going to have to play my best every match to have a chance.”

Serena Williams wasn’t her sharpest, but she hasn’t had to be so far. And there were no distractions as she beat overmatched China’s Peng Shuai 6-1, 6-4.

Williams, still chuckling about the man who dashed on court half-naked during her doubles match Friday, overcame two service breaks in the second set to keep alive her pursuit of a 10th Grand Slam title.

With Haas playing at the top of his game, Nadal fell behind 2-0 in the first set, then never faced another breakpoint. He lost only 13 points in 12 service games and committed only one unforced error in the 43-minute second set and two in the third.

The crowd favorite for Murray’s match was clear, with Scottish flags and tartan hats scattered about on a cool night.

Constantly confounded by Murray’s blend of power, speed and spin, Melzer did get a huge ovation when he held while down 3-0 in the third set to end Murray’s streak of 11 games.

Melzer broke as Murray served for the match at 5-1 and fended off double match point in the next game. But Murray finished it off with his eighth ace, getting one step closer to becoming the first British man to win a major since 1936.

Sometimes sprinting to his chair during changeovers, Murray has raced through his first three matches in a combined 4 hours and 15 minutes—just six minutes longer than Gonzalez and Gasquet were on court Saturday—thanks in part to a 45-minute effort when Andrei Pavel retired in the first round with a bad back.

With fans screaming after every point like a Davis Cup match, Gonzalez saved a match point in the third-set tiebreaker, then a break point in the 21st game of the fifth set. The Beijing Olympics silver medalist broke Gasquet in the next, setting up match point with a perfect lob and clinching it with a backhand winner.

The mood seemed almost subdued as play got under way at Melbourne Park, a day after the streaker and a violent clash between Serbian and Bosnian fans kept security guards busy. A chair-flinging skirmish after defending champion Novak Djokovic of Serbia beat Bosnian-born American Amer Delic left a woman injured, three men charged with riotous behavior and 30 people ejected by police.

Williams became increasingly frustrated against Peng as she was broken twice early in the second before pulling herself together.

“I started making more errors and then I lost my serve a couple times,” she said. “Then I think I put too much pressure on myself. Then, next thing I know, I was down.”

Luckily for Williams, that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

“I was like, ‘You know, Serena, sometimes you just play better when you’re down.’ I started playing better.”

Her concentration was severely challenged when the streaker danced his way on court a day earlier.

“I noticed he didn’t have underwear on. I thought, ‘OK, I must be seeing things.’ Then I just thought, my eyes, my innocent eyes,”’ she said, smiling.

Williams next faces No. 13 Victoria Azarenka of Belarus, who ousted 2006 Australian Open and Wimbledon champion Amelie Mauresmo.

Olympic gold medalist Elena Dementieva extended her winning streak to 13 matches, beating Australia’s Samantha Stosur. Carla Suarez Navarro, who had an upset win over reigning Wimbledon champion Venus Williams in the second round, beat fellow Spaniard Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez.

Also advancing were No. 21 Anabel Medina Garrigues, who ousted 12th-seeded Flavia Pennetta of Italy, and No. 18 Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia.

The Bondarenko sisters of Ukraine both were ousted, missing out on a fourth-round meeting. Kateryna lost to No. 22 Zheng Jie of China and older sister Alona fell to No. 8 Svetlana Kuznetsova, the 2004 U.S. Open champion.

No. 14 Fernando Verdasco of Spain beat No. 22 Radek Stepanek to advance along with three Frenchmen Saturday.

Among them was fifth-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, the runner-up here last year, who beat Israeli Dudi Sela and next meets No. 9 James Blake, who became the second American to reach the final 16, joining Andy Roddick.

Gael Monfils, a French Open semifinalist last year, beat No. 17 Nicolas Almagro of Spain and will face No. 6 Gilles Simon, who ousted No. 19 Mario Ancic of Croatia.

AUSTRALIAN OPEN DAY 5 | Ivanovic Out, Federer IN

2009-01-23T19:57:00.003+05:30

Well it seemed that the third round of the Australian open is gonna witness some marvelous tennis between Federer and Safin but in the end it was the classy Swiss master who came out with the flying colors as he defeated the Russian 6-3 6-2 7-6.

In the womens draw a Major upset came in the form of Ana Ivanovic as the 5th seed and the last year Runner up was defeated by Russia’s Alisa Kleybanova 7-5, 6-7 (5), 6-2. It came as a shocker for the former world no.1 as she finished with 50 unforced errors to just 23 winners.

WINNERS: Men: No. 3 and defending champion Novak Djokovic, No. 8 Juan Martin del Potro, No. 19 Marin Cilic; No. 21 Tommy Robredo.

Women: No. 1 Jelena Jankovic, No. 3 Dinara Safina, No. 7 Vera Zvonareva, No. 10 Nadia Petrova, No. 15 Alize Cornet, No. 16 Marion Bartoli.

LOSERS: Men: No. 11 David Ferrer; Women: No. 19 Daniela Hantuchova, No. 25 Kaia Kanepi.

When it was over, Kleybanova dropped to the ground on both knees, pumped her fists and blew kisses to the crowd. Ivanovic appeared to be nearly in tears as she walked off court, throwing a towel to someone in the crowd.

The Serb’s loss came on a day that the late match between second-ranked Roger Federer and former No. 1 Marat Safin—which the Swiss star won in three sets—was supposed to produce the biggest news.

Instead, ethnic violence erupted between nationalist fans after Serbia’s Novak Djokovic, the defending men’s champion, beat Bosnian-born American Amer Delic.

One of several thrown chairs hit a woman and left her briefly unconscious. Insults and water bottles filled the air. Arrests were made, with dozens of people ejected from Melbourne Park.

This was what organizers had feared when they announced before the tournament that they were instituting a no-tolerance policy for disruptions.

In a rematch of the 2005 men’s semifinal, won by Safin en route to the championship, was dominated by Federer, who again looked sharp in his pursuit of a 14th Grand Slam title that would tie Pete Sampras’ record, winning 6-3, 6-2, 7-6 (5).

Federer never faced a breakpoint, and the mercurial Safin’s growing frustration nearly boiled over when he was called for a foot-fault on his second serve. That gave him a double-fault and Federer a 4-1 lead in the third-set tiebreaker. Safin rallied to lead 5-4 before Federer ran off the last three points, the last on a backhand winner down the line.

“He gave me quite a few free points in the first two sets, but after that he got tougher,” Federer said. “I’m pretty lucky I got through in three.”

Safin has said he is unlikely to continue playing after this year. Federer clearly would miss him.

“I always like to play Marat,” Federer said. “We go back, we like playing each other. It doesn’t matter who wins.”

No. 8 Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina, who won a warmup tournament in New Zealand, extended his winning streak to seven matches. No. 19 Marin Cilic of Croatia ousted No. 11 David Ferrer of Spain.

Chelsea's Takeover? !

2009-01-23T19:48:00.003+05:30

They are not doing that great in the Championships and now they may lose their Russian owner as well. Chelsea's owner Roman Abramovich is also a victim of Financial crisis in the world and may well sell the club.

Chelsea aren’t the only English giants facing a potential takeover, as Liverpool recently entered talks with Kuwaiti billionaire Nasser Al-Khafari.

Chelsea could yet change hands, despite Roman Abramovich and his lawyers’ insistence to the contrary, as a Swiss firm backed by German businessmen are considering a takeover bid for the Premier League club.

The negotiations, if they do eventually take place, will be handled by Dr Sulaiman Al-Fahim, the very same man who brokered Abu Dhabi United Group’s purchase of Manchester City last year.

Speaking to The Guardian, Al Fahim said, “It’s not entirely clear if Chelsea is for sale, but regardless of that, we first need to see if we are in a position to buy it.

“Given that Roman Abramovich has invested over £500m into the club, it would not be cheap, and with the current credit crunch, nobody wants to be over-exposed on one deal.

“But through a number of investors, there is money available to put together a deal.”

Abramovich has already made it perfectly clear that he does not wish to sell the Blues, taking the publishers of The Sunday Times to court after they claimed he was looking to cash in on the club.

Nevertheless, a spokesperson for Falcon Equity - the aforementioned Swiss firm - told the Arabian Business website, “We have looked before at some European clubs to see if the numbers added up, and now we are doing the same with Chelsea.

“I don’t believe anything is ever not for sale if you come up with the right price. It’s not about trying to buy a football team but about a business.

“You don’t make money because 11 guys run around the pitch, you make money because of all the other commercial aspects that go with a football club, particularly real estate and television rights.”

Chelsea aren’t the only English giants facing a potential takeover, as Liverpool recently entered talks with Kuwaiti billionaire Nasser Al-Khafari.

AUSTRALIAN OPEN DAY 4 The day of Marathon matches | Venus Williams defeated

2009-01-22T19:21:00.004+05:30

It really was a day of Marathon matches. Some had easy winners struggle to go through and some had eliminations of Favorites. The most classy one among them was the one in which last year runner us Jo-Wilfried Tsonga got past Ivan Ljubicic in a nail biting 6-7 (4-7), 7-6 (10-8), 7-6 (9-7), 6-2 scoreline.

It really was a electrifying match seeing some brilliant shots by both the players and some top class rallies. It was just a thing called Victory which separated Tsonga and Ljubucic.

In the womens draw a Major upset came with the defeat of Venus Williams, the Wimbledon Champion as she was defeated by the well know Gian killing Spaniard Carla Suarez Navarro 2-6, 6-3, 7-5, Venus wasted a match point before giving it up to Navarro. This is the biggest uoset of the 09 edition of the Australian open.

“I tried to think positive and say, ‘okay, I keep going, keep going all the time’,” Tsonga said.

“Today I was a little bit lucky.” “Tonight my back was very stiff but I won. I’m happy with that. I know I can play with (it).” added Tsonga

In another encounter Ivo Karlovic, the 25th seed defeated Mario Ancic in 7-5, 5-7, 6-4, 4-6, 3-6 scoreline.

Jurgen Melzer, defeated Andreas Beck, 5-7, 7-6 (9-7), 6-4, 6-3 while Radek Stepanek,defeated Michael Berrer, , 6-3, 6-2, 6-7 (3-7), 7-5.

It was rather a easy outing for the top seeds as Rafael Nadal marched past Roko Karanusic 6-2, 6-3, 6-2, while Andy Murray the British favorite defeated Marcel Granollers-Pujol, 6-4, 6-2, 6-2.

In the womens draw a Major upset came with the defeat of Venus Williams, the Wimbledon Champion as she was defeated by the well know Gian killing Spaniard Carla Suarez Navarro 2-6, 6-3, 7-5, Venus wasted a match point before giving it up to Navarro. This is the biggest uoset of the 09 edition of the Australian open.

Usually the aggressor with her powerful shots, sixth-seeded Williams was sluggish as she was broken while serving for the match and dropped the last five games with the crowd cheering loudly for Suarez to finish off the victory.

“She was super consistent and aggressive and just went for her shots,” said Williams. While her sister and three time Champion Serena Williams went through to the next round with a 6-3, 7-5 win over Argentina’s Gisela Dulko.

“Lots and lots and lots of room for improvement,” second-seeded Serena Williams said. “But it’s good that I was able to win, too, when I wasn’t playing my best.”

AUSTRALIAN OPEN DAY 2- Federer will meet Safin!

2009-01-21T20:59:00.005+05:30

Former World no.1's and Former Australian open champions Roger Federer and Marat Safin will meet in the third round of the Australian open. Safin is the only man other than Nadal and Djokovic to have defeated Federer in a Grandslam after Federer won his first Grandslam.

That was in this same event in 2005 where Marat defeated Federer in the semi finals to defeated Lleyton Hewitt in the finals. Federer who is in search of the 14th grandslam will face a big challenge in form of Safin, for Safin he has nothing to lose.

The serbian top seed in the Women's ranking Jelena Jankovic cruised pass the second round defeating Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium 6-4, 7-5. While her compatriot Ana Ivanovic defeated Italy’s Alberta Brianti 6-3 6-2 in her famous 'yeah' style.

Roger displaced Evgeny Korolev 6-2 6-3 6-1 in just around 86 mintues. He showed total class and dominance over his under ranked opponent.

“We had the epic in 2005.” said Federer about facing Safin. That was a semifinal thriller here that Safin won in a 9-7 fifth set en route to the championship. Federer, seeking to tie Pete Sampras’ record of 14 Grand Slam titles, has won their last three meetings, including the last two at Wimbledon. Although Federer’s No. 2 ranking is 24 places higher, Safin’s talent, unpredictability and famed volatility set the stage for an early marquee matchup.

Djokovic defeated Jeremy Chardy in a 7-5, 6-1, 6-3 win. “I’m playing better and better which is very encouraging,” Djokovic said. “I really stepped it up.”

The serbian top seed in the Women's ranking Jelena Jankovic cruised pass the second round defeating Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium 6-4, 7-5. While her compatriot Ana Ivanovic defeated Italy’s Alberta Brianti 6-3 6-2 in her famous 'yeah' style.

No. 3 Dinara Safina overcame 44 unforced errors in a 6-7 (3), 6-3, 6-0 win over fellow Russian Ekaterina Makarova and will next play No. 25 Kaia Kanepi of Estonia.

Seventh-seeded Andy Roddick had his hands full against Xavier Malisse of Belgium, Roddick, a semifinalist here three times and the 2003 U.S. Open champion, rallied for a hard-fought 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 (1), 6-2 victory. Malisse seemed to lose steam after forcing the third-set tiebreaker, where he won only one point.

The upset of the day came with David Nalbandian who was defeated by relatively unknown Yen-hsun Lu of Taiwan 6-4, 5-7, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 in just under four hours.

In the doubles, second-ranked Bob and Mike Bryan opened with a victory, as did Serena and Venus Williams, the Beijing Olympics doubles gold medalists on the women’s side.

So Far So Good!

2009-01-20T11:32:00.006+05:30

It was a good opening for all Men and Women Top seeds at the Australian open 09 as Federer, Djokovic, Murray, Roddick and Jankovic, Ivanovic, Serena, Venus all Cruised pass through the next round.

Roger Federer took his first step towards a record-equalling 14th grand slam title with a 6-1 7-6 7-5 victory over Italy’s Andreas Seppi in the first round of the Australian Open on Monday.

World No.1 Jelena Jankovic and World no.5 Ana Ivanovic both posted straight-sets wins Monday to advance to the second round at the Australian Open. The prospective of a serbian victory looks damn bright.

The world number two, seeking to equal Pete Sampras’s grand slam-title record of 14, romped through the first set but was made to work hard by the world number 35, who squandered several break opportunities throughout the match.

Third seeded and Defending Champion Novak Djokovic made a Quick work out of Andrea Stoppini by defeating him 6-2 6-3 7-5. Andy Roddick made a total joke over Bjorn Rehnquist by thrashing him 6-0 6-2 6-2 with his huge forehands and Bulleting Serves. He sure looks like a tough competition to the top 4.

Other seeded players like Juan Martin Del Porto, David Ferrer, David Nalbandian, Stansilas Wawrinka and Robin Soderlink all advanced to the second rounds.

The Women's Draw

World No.1 Jelena Jankovic and World no.5 Ana Ivanovic both posted straight-sets wins Monday to advance to the second round at the Australian Open. The prospective of a serbian victory looks damn bright.

Jankovic defeated Yvonne Meusburger in a commanding 6-1 6-3 scoreline while Ana secured her passage to the second round with a 7-5 6-3 victory over Germany’s Julia Goerges at Hisense Arena.

Another strong Contender Dinara Safina defeated Alla Kudryavtseva, 6-3, 6-4. Indian Sania Mirza too went through the second round with a 6-1 6-4 victory over Marta Domachowska.

Second-seeded Serena Williams progressed to the second round of the Australian Open on Tuesday with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over China’s Yuan Meng, while her Sister takes on Angelique Kerber later today. The fourth seeded Elena Dementieva will take on Kristina Barrois.

Man united paint Japan Red!

2008-12-21T22:06:00.004+05:30

Manchester united were crowned the Club champions of the world in Japan as they defeated Ecuador’s LDU 1-0. Nemanja Vidic was sent off from the field in thr 49th minute but the Golden Combo of Roon and Ron (Rooney and Ronaldo) provided the decisive goal with a Rooney strike. No United can return back to England as the Champions of the World. United became the first British winners of the FIFA tournament following Liverpool’s failure in 2005 when they were ambushed by Brazil’s Sao Paulo.
The European champions overcame a moment of madness from Nemanja Vidic, who was sent off four minutes into the second half in Yokohama for elbowing LDU striker Claudio Bieler in the face.

“The sending off made it difficult for us,” United manager Alex Ferguson told reporters. “Half-an-hour to go is a long road with 10 men but Wayne scored a magnificent goal.

“Unbelievable!” said United captain Rio Ferdinand. “We’re elated. It’s been a hard trip but winning softens any feelings of tiredness.”

Ferguson’s side won the tournament’s forerunner, a one-off match between the champions of Europe and South America, with a 1-0 win over Brazilian side Palmeiras in 1999.

Ronaldo vs Messi !

2008-12-18T19:07:00.006+05:30

Is Lionel Messi a better footballer than Cristiano Ronaldo?
Ronaldo the European Footballer of the year, the 42 goal scorer in one season, lauded as one of the greatest. Messi the young Argentinian player, lauded as the little Maradona. These two have many things in common, their desire to score goals, their glitz and glamor and everything. But they have many uncommon things too which can differentiate them.Today Messi is the only competition to Ronaldo or vice-versa. This is a really intresting post which you dont want to miss. Please read the full article and do comment!

This may sound a bit odd to many people. Although I’m a big follower of Manchester United and Ronaldo, my mind can’t agree. Well Ronaldo has scored some marvelous goals. Some even the greats can’t even imagine of. But his temperament, his capability to rise to the occasion is not as good as Messi’s. The Messi’s purity of football cannot be compared to anyone’s. Ronaldo has scored some great goals but his temperament and ability to rise to the occasion is not as good as Messi’s. Yes for a winger to score 42 goals in one season is just marvelous.

You may have seen Maradona score the goal of the century after receiving the ball in England’s half he dribbled pass 8 English players and a goal keeper all by himself to score that Marvelous goal. And today you see Football there are some excellent dribblers but you never see a dribble like what Maradona did. The Reason is the commitment, the desire to score goals. Messi never lacks that if he receives the ball he feels that its his duty to score the goal. Very rare it is to find Messi losing the ball inside the Penalty box. He just scores some goals or assists them to his Team mates.

Ronaldo on the other hand is an attacking footballer. He too has a burning desire to score goals but all by himself. Although his team play is much improved now, his capability to help his team rise is a bit low. His contribution from the wings is fairly low than his goal scoring abilities.

Alexander Hleb a Barcelona Team mate of Lionel Messi has said that he has never seen anyone like Messi. Messi’s sprint speed is by far the best among all players who have played, which are playing and even who are going to play. His control of ball in tight places and absolutely accurate passes make him one of the all time best.

Everyone is comparing Messi to the great Maradona. The over hype has led to the fall of many footballers but not Messi. He is continuing to score goals at the top level. Messi’s new Argentina coach Maradona himself applauded himself by saying “Messi has got a long way to go he is just 20. He at least has an 10 years more. “May be he can become somewhat like me”

European Footballer of the Year award went to Ronaldo and not Messi. As I said this article has nothing to do with the Ballon d’or. 2007-2008 season Ronaldo was way better than Messi. But will he retain the Ballon d’or next year it’s a clear doubt. All players are giving thumps-up to Messi lifting that gorgeous trophy next year. What ever be what ever but the beautiful game of Football is getting beautiful but some great players like Ronaldo and Messi.

Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal all held to Draws

2008-12-14T18:51:00.000+05:30

If it was without Gerrard Liverpool's Top place in the table would have been really on the edge of a rope as the Skipper scored twice to hold the ambitious Hull City to a 2-2 Draw!. Manchester United on the other hand failed to capitalize on a rather easier opponents Tottenham and were held to a goalless draw. Arsenal to were held by Middlesbrough to a 1-1drawSteven Gerrard scored twice to give first-place Liverpool a 2-2 tie against Hull on Saturday. Manchester United failed to capitalize on the Premier League leader’s stumble, drawing 0-0 at Tottenham.

Liverpool could now be overtaken by Chelsea when the Blues play West Ham on Sunday.

“I am very disappointed, everyone is disappointed,” Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez said.

United, the defending champion, was held to a draw on the road. It is six points behind Liverpool, which is two points in front of second-place Chelsea.

Arsenal’s fading title ambitions were dealt a further blow when former Gunner Jeremie Aliadiere scored a tying goal to give Middlesbrough a 1-1draw. That allowed Aston Villa to move up to fourth place with a 4-2 win over Bolton.

Hull was projected to be a candidate for relegation when it made its debut in the top tier of English soccer, but it strengthened its hold on sixth place with a point at Liverpool.

“It is too early to start making bold statements. … I am just delighted with an outstanding performance,” Hull manager Phil Brown said.

Victory for Liverpool maintains their No.1 spot in the league

2008-12-07T20:28:00.000+05:30

Liverpool survived a scare of a draw and made a rather overwhelming victory over Blackburn rowers on saturday. There were no goals for 69 minutes at Anfield then suddenly liverpool managed 3 goals and Blackburn with 1.Nemanja Vidic scored in injury time to give Manchester United a 1-0 win over Sunderland and stay third ahead of Arsenal, which edged Wigan by the same score.Chelsea cruised after getting early goals from Nicolas Anelka and Deco.The Man Utd story
Emotional homecomings were never really Roy Keane's forte. Not when the alternative was a brooding absence. As some 75,000 assembled, granting him a valedictory chorus of "Keano" in their mutual mourning, the man himself was elsewhere. Yet, such is Keane's dominant persona, a match can be about him, even without him. And this, indeed, took place without a manager on the touchline. With Sir Alex Ferguson serving a suspension and in the stands, the teams in the technical area were headed by Mike Phelan and Ricky Sbragia, two men unencumbered by worldwide renown. The battle of the understudies almost finished equal, Nemanja Vidic denying Sunderland's caretaker manager a point with an injury-time winner. United salvaged victory in unlikely fashion. Throwing a defender into attack can appear a desperate tactic, but it was the reason why Vidic was to be found unmarked eight yards out to roll in the rebound after Carrick's long-range shot struck the post.

"We put Nemanja Vidic up the pitch and left Rio [Ferdinand] to play one on one with Kenwyne Jones," explained Ferguson. "We had complete control. We just needed height in the penalty box. We deserved to win the match. It was hard work. It is difficult to break down a team as defensive as that."

The blues, and the 'other'Reds

Quite simply, Wigan will always be a rugby league town and nothing Bruce or his team does will change that, yet those wearing the blue and white stripes every week are doing a fine job of enhancing their own reputations at a club where expectation is a word rarely muttered.

However, when your side features the defensive talents of Titus Bramble, limited ambition is justified. Poor old Titus has been on the receiving end of some horrendous stick down the years, so we will say that his mis-kicked clearance 16 minutes into this game was 'unfortunate'. In truth, it was another Bramble cock-up and Emmanuel Adebayor was on hand to pick up the pieces and open the scoring.

The opening goal should have been the spark to ignite Arsenal, but it was Wigan who dominated the rest of the first half as they targeted the Gunners' long-standing difficulties against set-plays. Cross after cross peppered Manuel Almunia's goal before the break and a defence with Johan Djourou at the heart rarely looked comfortable.

Liverpool, though, almost took the lead in their first attack after 19 minutes following superb vision from Kuyt.

He released Benayoun with a marvellous through ball but it was taken off his toes by Stephen Warnock as he shaped to shoot.

It was little wonder the Blackburn full-back got a pat on the back from goalkeeper Paul Robinson for a crucial tackle.

Blackburn hit back and almost stunned Liverpool in the 29th minute when Gerrard lost possession to Pedersen.

The Norway midfielder raced on and rattled in a 25-yard shot but Reina reacted superbly to push it onto the bar.

Pedersen could hardly believe his eyes - and it was a narrow escape for Liverpool.

The visitors were again forced on the back foot in the 39th minute and Reina showed good reflexes to push Pedersen's free-kick from distance around the post.

Liverpool responded and Gerrard tried to pick out Kuyt but Robinson was alert to the danger and made the save.

Rafael Benitez's side were beginning to dictate the pace and two minutes later Alonso fired in a shot from inside the six-yard area.

But Robinson stood tall to make the block and keep Blackburn on level terms.

Liverpool then won a free-kick after Warnock's challenge on Babel and there was keen anticipation from the visiting fans.

But Gerrard only succeeded in sending his effort from 25 yards high into the stand.

Gerrard was then denied by Robinson in the 61st minute when the goalkeeper made a splendid parry and Benayoun was unable to make the rebound count.

Liverpool went ahead in the 68th minute when Gerrard delivered a cross from the right. Kuyt took a swipe at it and in the process released Alonso, who beat Robinson with a weak low shot he probably should have saved.

This was a worrying spell for a Blackburn side who had all but forgotten what it was like to win a league match.

Liverpool extended their lead with that marvellous solo effort from Benayoun.

He latched on to ball over the top from Kuyt and skipped away from Warnock before rifling a shot into the corner.

Blackburn secured a consolation goal in the 86th minute with a Santa Cruz header but Gerrard had the final word in stoppage time after substitute Albert Riera laid the ball into his path with Robinson marooned.

On his old Bolton stamping ground 11 months after a £15million move, a diving header from Anelka gave the Blues an 11th consecutive away win in the league, with eight this season.

Deco's sumptuous scissor-kick 12 minutes later sealed the victory as Chelsea eclipsed the mark set 48 years ago by Bill Nicholson's Tottenham side.

With leaders Liverpool winning at Blackburn, the win keeps Chelsea hot on the heels of the Merseyside club at the top of the table.

In fairness, the first half was all too easy for Chelsea once Anelka set them on their way.

But shortly before that there was one a chance for Bolton that would undoubtedly have put a different complexion on the game.

Despite Chelsea's frightening away record coming into this game, and their dominance over Bolton as they have now won their last six at the Reebok Stadium without conceding a goal, the home side came into the match on a roll themselves with four wins in five games.

Salomon Kalou had cleared the crossbar by inches with a deft flick with the outside of his right foot from the edge of the area in the fifth minute.

But three minutes later came an opportunity for Kevin Davies to at least put Chelsea on the back foot.

However, despite being given a free header from six yards in latching onto an inswinging corner from Gavin McCann, he shaved the crossbar instead of putting Petr Cech under pressure.

Chelsea's relief was evident, and Davies' dismay intensified just a minute later when Anelka found the back of the net.

Switching the play from left wing to right, Deco fed an unmarked Jose Bosingwa who then produced a measured cross into the six-yard box.

Anelka drifted off the back of Andy O'Brien and planted a home diving header off Jussi Jaaskelainen's right-hand post.

It was the Frenchman's 15th goal in all competitions this season and his ninth in his last seven Premier League games.

It was a simple chance for an on-song Anelka to take, in particular in light of Bolton's recent upturn in form and new-found resilience.

Yet just 12 minutes later boss Gary Megson's side were left chasing shadows as Chelsea doubled their advantage, even if the visitors enjoyed a touch of fortune into the bargain.

There can be no doubting the clinical nature of Chelsea's attack, culminating in Deco and Michael Ballack teeing up Bosingwa for a fearsome drive that cannoned off Jaaskelainen's legs.

Then came the luck as the ball ballooned up in the air straight to Ballack who instinctively nodded on for Deco.

The finish from the unmarked Portuguese, though, was exquisite as he beat Jaaskelainen inside his right-hand post with a right-foot scissor -kick from 15 yards.

It was a fine way for Deco to end a personal 14-match drought after scoring in his opening two matches for the Blues following his move from Barcelona in the summer.

If Anelka had made it 3-0 midway through the half then a rout would have been on the cards, but instead he sidefooted an angled effort wide after Jaaskelainen had fisted clear a Frank Lampard free-kick.

But Bolton dug in for the remainder of the half, and for the majority of the second period, without the reward their character and attitude deserved.

They were fortunate, though, not to have conceded a third in the 56th minute when Deco was sent scampering clear from the edge of the centre circle.

But with only Jaaskelainen to beat, and although making the right choice in lifting the ball over Bolton's number one as he went to ground, he somehow contrived to send his flick wide.

If Chelsea felt they should have been out of sight, Bolton will have felt aggrieved at being denied a nailed-on penalty on the hour.

Replays showed Johan Elmander's half-volley clearly struck Terry on his upper-left arm, but a possibly unsighted Howard Webb turned aside the vociferous appeals.

Cech then produced a superb point-blank reaction save 10 minutes later to block Gary Cahill's diving header inside the six-yard box as Bolton fought desperately for a foothold in the game.

But it never came, and instead Luiz Felipe Scolari's side are now record-breakers, but that will matter little to the Blues boss unless this season ends with the title in his grasp.

Ronaldo Wins Ballon d'Or

2008-12-03T17:49:00.000+05:30

Ronaldo wins another awards and this is a Big one!. The Ballon d'Or recognised as the Golden Ball award was bagged by the Manchester United Winger after he lost the last years competition to Brazilian Kaka. Lionel Messi of Barcelona was placed second while Liverpool's Torres was third Ronaldo succeeded 2007 winner Kaka after convincingly seeing off competition from Barcelona's Lionel Messi and Liverpool striker Fernando Torres.

Of the 96 top journalists polled by France Football, 77 voted the Portugal winger as their leading player this year and every one placed him in their top five after he scored 42 goals to help United win the Premier League and Champions League double.

Ronaldo polled 446 points from a maximum 480, finishing comfortably ahead of second-placed Messi (281) and third-placed Torres (179).

The 23-year-old becomes the third Portuguese player to lift the famous trophy – after Eusebio and Luis Figo – and joins fellow United players George Best, Denis Law and Bobby Charlton in taking the award.

Eleven Premier League players earned votes, with Steven Gerrard (ninth), Wayne Rooney (13th) and Frank Lampard (15th) the highest placed England players.

Ronaldo is just the second England-based player to win the award since Best in 1968. Michael Owen, in 2001, is the other.

"It is one of the most beautiful days of my life. To gain this trophy is something I dreamed of as a child," said Ronaldo.

"Great emotion fills me but I cannot really describe it. I want to thank those who voted for me, those who know me and those who live with me.

"I was not worried, because I was aware of what I did in the course of the season. But to the people who mentioned my name, I say thank you. Thank you also to my team-mates.

"This (trophy) is one that I want to win again because it is so good. Therefore, I will wake and I will say to myself 'I want to be even better.'"

Ronaldo admitted the number of strong candidates this year made his achievement even more special.

"I am only 23 years old and it is splendid, incredible," he continued. "There were other great names this year. I see that Lionel Messi finished second and Fernando Torres third, but also (fifth-placed) Xavi... all these people could have taken the trophy and I won it."

Euro 2008 was the biggest disappointment in Ronaldo's season, where he scored once as Portugal were eliminated in the quarter-finals. However, his performances were hampered by an ankle injury which required surgery immediately after the tournament.

2008 Ballon d'Or voting.

1. Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United), 446 points
2. Lionel Messi (Barcelona), 281 pts
3. Fernando Torres (Liverpool), 179 pts
4. Iker Casillas (Real Madrid), 133 pts
5. Xavi Hernandez (Barcelona), 97 pts
6. Andrei Arshavin (Zenit St-Petersburg), 64 pts
7. David Villa (Valencia), 55 pts
8. Kaka (AC Milan), 31 pts
9. Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Inter Milan), 30 pts
10. Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), 28 pts
11. Marcos Senna (Villarreal), 16 pts
12. Emmanuel Adebayor (Arsenal), 12 pts
13. Wayne Rooney (Manchester United), 11 pts
14. Sergio Aguero (Atletico Madrid), 10 pts
15. Frank Lampard (Chelsea), 8 pts
16. Franck Ribery (Bayern Munich), 7 pts
17. Samuel Eto'o (Barcelona), 6 pts
18. Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus), 5 pts
19. Michael Ballack (Chelsea), Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal), 4 pts
21. Didier Drogba (Chelsea), Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid), Nemanja Vidic (Manchester United), 3 pts
24. Edwin van der Sar (Manchester United), Ruud van Nistelrooy (Real Madrid), 2 pts

Brian Lara Cricket 2007 Free download

2008-11-24T17:11:00.000+05:30

The ball’s hurtling towards you at 95mph, hit it for six and you’re a hero, miss it and you’re history… In Brian Lara International Cricket your every move is captured and analysed using innovative television presentation techniques.Select "click here to real full article" for easy download links!!!Links for download:

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VIVA ESPANA !

2008-11-24T13:59:00.000+05:30

Spain wins the DavisCup

Spain who were without Rafael Nadal still managed to clinch the Davis cup 3-1 stunning thr hot favourites Argentina in their home soil. Fernando Verdasco's five-set victory over Jose Acasuso on Sunday helped Spain clinch the Davis Cup final.
Spain won the Davis Cup for the third time on Sunday when Fernando Verdasco beat Jose Acasuso in five sets to give them an unassailable 3-1 lead over Argentina in the final.

Verdasco won 6-3 6-7 4-6 6-3 6-1 as Spain, missing world number one Rafael Nadal through injury, still managed to hand Argentina their third defeat in three final appearances and their first home loss for 10 years.

“It’s a dream. I’ve wanted this chance since I was a boy, few get it and even fewer take it,” said an elated Verdasco.

Verdasco, ranked 16th in the world, was brought in as a replacement for off-form David Ferrer who was crushed in straight sets by David Nalbandian on Friday.

Acasuso, ranked 48th, was thrown into the fray after Argentina’s number one Juan Martin del Potro was ruled out with a pulled muscle in his right leg which he suffered in Friday’s defeat to Feliciano Lopez.

Verdasco won the first set after breaking in the fifth game as Acasuso struggled to find his rhythm.

The Argentine came to life in the second set, which he won in a tiebreak after both players dropped service twice.

Playing some excellent tennis and backed by a passionate crowd, Acasuso took the third set and looked as if he could take the tie to a decisive rubber involving Nalbandian which would have left the hosts as favourites.

But Acasuso lost his nerve after Verdasco broke in the sixth game of the fourth set to level the match.

Acasuso then looked tired and demoralised and the Spaniard strolled through the final set to shatter the hopes of the home crowd.

Although Acasuso saved two match points, Verdasco finished off the match at the third attempt with a rasping forehand down the line.

“In the Davis Cup, you have to fight to the death and you always have to keep your hope of winning. This mental strength helped me win the match,” Verdasco said.

THE GOALLESS FAB 4

2008-11-23T10:53:00.000+05:30

Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal all went goalless on their respective matches on saturday but the difference was that MAN UTD, Chelsea and Liverpool went to goalless draws but Arsenal once again suffered a goalless defeat in the hands of MAN CITY. What will Arsene Wenger do to get his team out of this inconsistency misery?

Premier League leaders Chelsea could find no way through Newcastle United at Stamford Bridge. Liverpool had the same problem at home to Fulham and third-placed Manchester United were held 0-0 in a lively game at Aston Villa.

Troubled Arsenal’s season went from bad to worse as they slid to fifth.

With captain William Gallas dropped for questioning the fighting spirit of his team mates, injury-hit Arsenal capitulated with Stephen Ireland, Robinho and Daniel Sturridge on target for City.

Arsenal are 10 points behind Chelsea and Liverpool who are locked together on 33 points from 14 matches although Chelsea have a superior goal difference. United are eight points behind with a game in hand while Villa rose to fourth.

Hull City twice came from behind to draw 2-2 at Portsmouth, Bolton Wanderers won 3-1 at Middlesbrough while bottom club West Bromwich Albion lost 1-0 at Stoke City.

Chelsea were frustrated by a gritty Newcastle performance. The leaders have now drawn three times at Stamford Bridge this season and also lost at home to Liverpool.

“Who won today? Newcastle because they came here to draw. The players tried but it is not the day for us,” Chelsea manager Luiz Felipe Scolari told the BBC.

Shay Given was Newcastle’s hero, making a superb save to deny Frank Lampard while Joe Cole had a goal disallowed.

OFF COLOUR

The dropped points could have proved costly for Scolari’s team but Liverpool were also off colour at Anfield.

Liverpool keeper Pepe Reina had to make good saves in the first half from Jimmy Bullard and Andrew Johnson.

The home side dominated the second half but could find no way past Fulham keeper Mark Schwarzer.

Arsenal’s season appears to be unravelling fast.

With goalkeeper Manuel Almunia wearing the captain’s armband in place of Gallas, who was left behind in London by manager Arsene Wenger for his controversial comments, Arsenal were a shadow of the side that recently beat Manchester United.

City went ahead in first-half stoppage time when a mistake by Gael Clichy gifted Ireland a goal after the City midfielder had burst into the area.

Robinho made it 2-0 early in the second half after a splendid pass from Shaun Wright-Phillips and Sturridge won and converted a late penalty to condemn Arsenal to a second consecutive defeat without scoring a goal.

Wenger refused to discuss Gallas’s absence.

“I will not speak about William Gallas in a post-match interview. He is a player who did not play today so what can he do? Nothing,” he said.

Though there were no goals at Villa Park there was plenty of attractive football as Martin O’Neill’s home team showed why they are challenging the so-called big four.

Villa may have had a penalty in the second half when new England cap Gabriel Agbonlahor tumbled under a challenge from Nemanja Vidic while Ashley Young also went close.

United could have taken the points though when Wayne Rooney blasted wastefully over the crossbar with only Villa keeper Brad Friedel to beat.

ADVANTAGE ESPANYOL!

2008-11-23T10:35:00.000+05:30

Feliciano Lopez (left) and Fernando Verdasco triumphed over Argentina's David Nalbandian and Agustin Calleri on Saturday to give Spain a 2-1 lead in the Davis Cup Even the Player who replaced Rafael Nadal seems to be Rocking the Stage like his replacement. Lopez won his singles and now he just volleyed to make his team go 2-1.
Feliciano Lopez and Fernando Verdasco sent a chill through Argentine tennis Saturday, winning their doubles match to give Spain a 2-1 lead in the Davis Cup final.

Lopez and Verdasco defeated David Nalbandian and Agustin Calleri 5-7, 7-5, 7-6 (5), 6-3, boosting Spain’s hopes of winning the best-of-five championship on the road despite the absence of an ailing Rafael Nadal.

Spain could be in good position for its third Davis Cup crown if Argentina’s leading player, Juan Martin del Potro, cannot play reverse singles Sunday because of a leg injury.

“This was an important victory; it gives us life,” Spain captain Emilio Sanchez Vicario said. “We need one more game.”

Sunday’s schedule tentatively has del Potro meeting David Ferrer, then Nalbandian playing Lopez at Islas Malvinas Stadium. On Friday, Nalbandian defeated Ferrer in straight sets and del Potro fell to Lopez in four.

“We have to keep fighting, there are still two points to play,” Argentina coach Alberto Mancini said. “We know it’s hard, but we can do it. We have to overcome this difficult moment and get our hopes up.”

Mancini said his choices for Sunday will depend in part on del Potro’s injury. Sanchez Vicario said he was expected to stick with Ferrer and Lopez.

Nalbandian left the stadium without talking to reporters. Mancini said he was not feeling well, but discounted any injuries.

Spain has never won the Davis Cup away from home. Argentina, unbeaten at home since 1998, has to sweep both for its first Davis Cup triumph. But it’s hopes became bleaker Saturday, with Potro undergoing treatment on his right thigh after hurting it in Friday’s singles. If he cannot play, he could be replaced by Calleri or Jose Acasuso.

“It’s not over yet,” Calleri said. “We are not happy right now because we wanted a victory, but we still have chances tomorrow (Sunday) and we remain confident.”

Calleri and Nalbandian, playing their first Davis Cup doubles since the 2006 final, won the first set, but couldn’t hold back the veteran Spanish pair over 3 hours, 18 minutes.

The Spaniards had 86 winners and only 30 unforced errors. The Argentines struggled on serve and were broken six times. But they came through first, breaking Verdasco for 6-5. then erasing a 0-40 deficit for Nalbandian to hold and win the first set.

The rally pumped up the crowd, and the nearly 10,000 fans chanted constantly between games. A small group of Spaniards tried to keep up, at times managing to make some noise.

Argentina saved three break points on Nalbandian’s serve in the eighth game of the second set to stay even at 4-4. But after Spain went up 6-5, Nalbandian could not hold again. Calleri’s backhand volley flew long to even the set score.

In the third set, Nalbandian and Calleri were broken in successive games to trail 5-1, but Argentina came back to make it 5-5.

With the crowd growing louder, the Argentines seemed ready to prevail in the tiebreaker after jumping ahead 4-0. But Spain won six straight points to win the tiebreaker 7-5 and hush the crowd.

“The third set was full of different emotions,” Sanchez Vicario said. “It was an incredible finish and gave us confidence to keep going.”

The match was stopped for a few minutes during the tiebreaker because of fans from both nations provoking each other and making noise during points. Sanchez Vicario later said his players were insulted during the match.

In the final set, the Spaniards bolted to a 5-2 lead and cruised to their fourth win in seven Davis Cup doubles, and by far their most important.

“These are very special matches, when you are playing for your country,” Lopez said. “I didn’t expect to win yesterday and didn’t expect to win today.”

Spain Vs Argentina 1-1

2008-11-22T18:54:00.000+05:30

The ATP Tennis season has ended and its now time for the Davis cup tie between Spain and Argentina. Spain who are without Rafael Nadal were playing with Feliciano Lopez in their Singles tie and the man who replaced Rafa did miracles for Spain by defeating Juan Marin Del porto while his senior and higher ranked Ferrer fell apart to David Nalbandian. so its all squared 1-1 in MAR DEL PLATAFeliciano Lopez upset Juan Martin del Potro 4-6, 7-6 (2), 7-6 (4), 6-3 Friday, allowing Spain to escape the first day of the Davis Cup final tied 1-1 tie with Argentina.

David Nalbandian brushed aside David Ferrer 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 in the opening singles, and del Potro was expected to comfortably handle Lopez on his favored hard court.

But Lopez took the two tiebreakers, and del Potro injured his right thigh in the sixth game of the fourth set. After treatment, he lost his serve and Lopez cruised to victory in 3 hours, 19 minutes, hushing the boisterous crowd of about 10,000 at Islas Malvinas Stadium.

“I never felt this happy before in my career,” Lopez said. “It’s great to win a match like today, in a Davis Cup final, away from home.”

Del Potro’s injury and his defeat suddenly made Saturday’s doubles even more crucial for Argentina, a heavy favorite to win its first Davis Cup, and unbeaten at home for 10 years. Spain is looking to add to its home victories in 2000 and 2004.

David Nalbandian was picked to join Agustin Calleri against the experienced Spanish pair of Lopez and Fernando Verdasco.

The manner of Nalbandian’s easy and quick singles win likely persuaded Argentina captain Alberto Mancini to play Nalbandian in doubles. He has a 10-4 record in Davis Cup doubles, and has won with Acasuso and Calleri.

Del Potro is scheduled to open the reverse singles Sunday against Ferrer, depending on the seriousness of his thigh injury.

“The doctor could not make a diagnosis right now,” del Potro said. “I don’t know what the injury is. Tomorrow we’ll find out what happened.”

Spain was playing without top-ranked Rafael Nadal, who has knee tendinitis. Captain Sanchez Vicario replaced him with 56th-ranked Marcel Granollers. The Davis Cup final has not featured a No. 1 player since Australia’s Lleyton Hewitt in 2001.

Nadal was vacationing at an undisclosed location, but kept phoning his countrymen for updates.

“He was calling the people on the bench in between points to find out because they cut the TV signal in the hotel he is staying (at),” Lopez said.

Argentina finished second to the United States in 1981 and to Russia in 2006. It chose the blue indoor hard court for the final, trying to curtail the Spaniards’ advantage on clay.

After winning the first set, del Potro couldn’t break Lopez again in the second as they headed into a tiebreaker. There, Lopez jumped ahead 4-0 and won 7-2.

“I wasn’t feeling comfortable in the first set,” Lopez said. “But I was able to overcome that moment. I’m glad I was able to do that.”

There were no breaks either in the third set, in which Lopez won five straight points in the tiebreaker and clinched the set with one of his 17 aces. In the fourth set, Lopez broke del Potro in the fourth game but del Potro came right back with a break of his own.

Del Potro was trying to reach a crosscourt shot on the baseline when he injured himself. He left the court to be attended by doctors but when he returned he was obviously affected by the injury.

Lopez’s win bolstered Spain’s hopes of winning its third Davis Cup, and first away from home. After Nadal withdrew this month, Spain’s chances were diminished considerably.

Ferrer, however, was routed by Nalbandian in under two hours. Nalbandian broke Ferrer in the third game and led all the way.

“I played a great match,” Nalbandian said after his 17th win in 21 Davis Cup singles. “I couldn’t have played it any better. It was good to win it fast.”

Ferrer still leads their head-to-heads at 6-4, but all of Nalbandian’s wins have been on hard courts.

“No match against David is easy, but I didn’t have good feelings on the court,” Ferrer said.

Djokovic wins the Masters Cup

2008-11-16T19:54:00.000+05:30

Great Tennis! that is the only rightful word to describe Novak Djokovic's Tennis here at the Shanghai tennis stadium at China where he defeated Russian Nikolay Davydenko to become the New masters Cup champion. Novak Djokovic was in devastating form as he capped a huge season by racing to his first Tennis Masters Cup title with a 6-1, 7-5 victory over Nikolay Davydenko. The final victory earns Djokovic 50 points in the ATP 2008 Race and takes him to within just two points of second-placed Roger Federer at the season end.
"I would put it in the same league as a Grand Slam because the best eight players in the world are participating here," said Djokovic. "I feel very happy. End up the season the way I started it, with a win in a big event. So it's a great boost up for upcoming season."

The Belgrade native began Sunday afternoon’s final at the Qi Zhong Stadium in blistering form, breaking the Davydenko serve twice as he raced to a 5-0 lead. While Davydenko made a nervous start, hampered by poor serving, Djokovic played one of his finest sets of the tournament, dominating and dictating the points and hitting winners from every area of the court.

Davydenko barely had time to find his feet in the second set, just settling in at 1-1, when he was powerless to stop an inspired Djokovic from breaking through with a big forehand passing shot to lead with a break.

Djokovic looked to be on the verge of one of the biggest tournament victories of his career when he held two match points with Davydenko serving at 3-5. But the Russian chose that moment to produce some of his best tennis, winning seven of the next eight points to first hold serve and then command a 0-30 advantage as Djokovic attempted to close out victory. Tremendous hitting into both corners by Davydenko left Djokovic facing two break points and he surrendered on the second with a double fault to hand Davydenko a lifeline.

By However, Davydenko’s respite was short-lived as Djokovic played arguably his best game of the final to immediately recoup the break of serve and, at the second time of asking, made no mistake as he roared to victory with a powerful serve that Davydenko could not return.

"It was special because I've played in the second part of the season in a couple of finals, and I didn't manage to win the title for a long time, since Rome," said Djokovic. "That's probably the reason why I couldn't close it out in 5-4. I was a bit nervous. It's not easy, you know. There is a lot of pressure involved. I'm happy that I managed to hold my nerves in the end."
"For me I think was today a very difficult day," said Davydenko. "He played very good. We played both from baseline. I tried to control, but he played fast. He didn't play like one ball fast; he played like every point, very good concentration completely first set. Because he didn't make so many mistakes. Good serve, good return.

Against Djokovic you need to be perfect, also play very fast and very good. That's what he did, and I didn't. Doesn't matter how he played one game; he still had good concentration for the next game. That's why I lost everything from the baseline. He played faster, and I really had no chance."

The 21-year-old Djokovic closed and opened his season with a title, having won his first Grand Slam at the Australian Open in January with victory over Federer in the semifinals and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the final. The Serb also punctuated his season with ATP Masters Series shields at Indian Wells (d. Fish) and Rome (d. Wawrinka) and now takes his career total to 11 (11-6 record).

The Monte-Carlo resident, who finished 2008 with a 64-17 match record, also made semifinal exits at Roland Garros (l. to Nadal) and the US Open (l. to Federer) and captured a bronze medal at the Beijing Olympic Games (d. Blake).

The 27-year-old Davydenko enjoyed his best performance at the Tennis Masters Cup this week, improving on the semifinal finish he achieved on his debut in 2005 (l. to Nalbandian).

The Volgograd resident, who upset the in-form Andy Murray in the semifinals, finished his fine season with a 56-21 record, marred only by his inability to reach the quarterfinals of any Grand Slam for the first time since 2004. He collected three ATP titles at the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami (d. No. 2 Nadal), Poertschach (d. Monaco) and Warsaw (d. Robredo), helped Russia to the Davis Cup semifinals and represented his country in the circuit finale championship match for the first time..

MAN UTD, Chelsea fly high, Gunners stunned at home

2008-11-16T11:26:00.000+05:30

Saturday was a day of Highs and Lows for the Big 4 of EPL. Arsenal was the shock of the week. They set themselves on the backfoot after a 0-2 home defeat to Aston villa. An own goal from Gael Clichy was followed by a Gabriel Agbonlahor strike - and they could even afford for Ashley Young to miss a penalty. Things became worse for Arsenal at the top of the table when its rivals MAN UTD, Chelsea and Liverpool all three got their whole 3 points with wins over Stoke city, West Brom and Bolton respectively.

Ashley Young missed a first half penalty for Aston Villa at the Emirates but Martin O'Neill's side had the resolve to bag all three points against Arsenal with a 0-2 win that puts huge question marks over Arsenal's title bid whilst enhancing Villa's own Champions League prospects.

Manuel Almunia was the Gunners hero when he saved Young's penalty but Gael Clichy assumed the role of villain when he headed Young's cross in to his own net with twenty minutes remaining.

Emmanuel Adebayor went close for Arsene Wenger's side when he headed against the post but Villa scored again through Gabriel Agbonlahor to wipe the gloss from Arsenal's handsome win against Manchester United last week.

Chelsea moved back to the top of the table in Saturday's late game with a 0-3 win against rock bottom West Brom at the Hawthorns in a devastating display .

Jose Bosingwa scored an astonishing opening goal with his left foot as his shot from 30 yards out totally deceived Scott Carson in the West Brom goal.

Nicolas Anelka continued his fine run of scoring form with another brace for the visitors as the Frenchman justified Luiz Felipe Scolari's decision to leave Didier Drogba on the bench as Chelsea surged to a 0-3 lead at the break.

Chelsea cruised in the second half and could have had several more goals but for some careless finishing as West Brom were crushed mercilessly.

Liverpool put an end to Bolton's recent winning spell with a 0-2 victory at the Reebok on Saturday.

Dirk Kuyt's looping header opened the scoring in a dominant opening half for the Reds during which Robbie Keane missed a golden opportunity to add to the brace of Premier League goals he scored last week.

Gary Cahill had a goal controversially ruled out by referee Rob Styles just before the break after Kevin Nolan was adjudged to have fouled Pepe Reina.

Steven Gerrard wrapped up the points for the visitors with another headed goal after good work from substitute Fernando Torres.

Manchester United secured a comfortable 5-0 win against Stoke City with Cristiano Ronaldo bagging his 100th goal for the home side. Ronaldo's dipping free-kick fooled Thomas Sorensen in the Stoke goal and he was beaten again just before half-time when Michael Carrick's left-footed drive found its way in to the Stoke net.

Dimitar Berbatov grabbed the third after Carlos Tevez played him in to score from eight yards out.

United's fourth was from debut boy Danny Welbeck before another Cristiano Ronaldo free-kick wrapped up a perfunctory afternoon's work for the champions.

Under-fire Sunderland boss Roy Keane saw his side come from behind to win 2-1 and bag a precious three points against Blackburn at Ewood Park.

Kenwyne Jones 49th minute bicycle-kick levelled the scores after Christopher Samba had headed his side ahead just before half-time but Djibril Cisse had the final say with the winner in a fiercely contested clash.

Ten-man Wigan gave Joe Kinnear plenty to swear about as early as the third minute when a Ryan Taylor goal gave the Latics the lead against Newcastle at St James' Park in a see-saw 2-2 match.

Emerson Boyce was controversially sent off for Wigan in the second half for a second bookable offence but Steve Bruce's side managed to hang on until the 80th minute when Michael Owen came to Newcastle's rescue with an effort from close range after Chris Kirkland failed to hold a Shola Ameobi shot.

Obafemi Martins then thought he had won it for the home side but Newcastle old boy Titus Bramble popped up at the death to head in Wigan's equaliser.

Heurelho Gomes saw his reputation take another battering with a first-half howler in the Spurs goal to give Fulham the lead at Craven Cottage as Spurs were beaten 2-1.

The Brazilian keeper allowed a Simon Davies shot to slip through his grasp before Andy Johnson grabbed a second for the home side.

Frazier Campbell got one back in the 81st following his brace in midweek but it wasn't enough to end Harry Redknapp's impressive sequence of results since taking over at Spurs.

West Ham and Portsmouth played out a goalless draw at Upton Park which saw Craig Bellamy go close with a free-kick. The Welshman struck the bar in the second half in a game which saw Jermain Defoe go close for Portsmouth.

Davydenko Pulls on a surprise!

2008-11-16T07:56:00.000+05:30

Nikolay Davydenko defeated the US OPEN finalist and the unbeaten man in the round robin stages to advance to the Finals of the Year end masters cup where he will face the tournament 2nd seed Novak Djokovic. If Djokovic wins the final he could possible be the World no.2 replacing Roger Federer.
Nikolay Davydenko reached the Masters Cup final with a 7-5, 6-2 victory Saturday over Andy Murray, who seemed exhausted from his upset of Roger Federer a day earlier.

Davydenko will meet Novak Djokovic, who earlier rallied to oust France’s Gilles Simon 4-6, 6-3, 7-5. In a round-robin match this week, Djokovic beat Davydenko in three sets.

Despite consistently being ranked in the top five, the 27-year-old Davydenko has never reached a Grand Slam final. His best performance in three previous appearances here had been a semifinal loss in 2005.

He was steady and relentless against Murray, who looked exhausted from his 3-hour victory over second-ranked Federer on Friday night. Davydenko was fresher, having not played since Thursday, and finished with 33 winners to just seven for Murray.

Murray said he had no reason to question his decision to go full out against Federer even though he already had clinched a semifinal spot.

“I beat probably the best player of all time,” he said. “I have no regrets about doing that. To beat him … means a similar amount to winning a tournament like this.

Murray said he didn’t get to sleep until 2:30 a.m.

“Ideally I would have liked to have beaten him easier … and given myself a slightly better chance to prepare for this match,” Murray said.

Davydenko said he owed thanks to Federer—and hopes Djokovic’s nearly 3-hour match against Simon will have the same effect in the final.

Murray and Davydenko stayed on serve in the first set until Murray served at 5-5. He went up 40-15, but swung his racket in anger between points as Davydenko pulled to deuce.

Murray thought he had an ace to save a break point, but it was overruled on a Davydenko challenge. Murray wasn’t convinced, walking toward the net for a closer look, then sent a backhand wide for the break.

Davydenko held to finish off the set with an ace and a backhand winner down the line. He then ran off the last five games of the second set as Murray looked increasingly dispirited, trudging around the court between points.

“I don’t want to try to make excuses,” Murray said. “He played much better than me. I did the best that I could with what I had.”

Djokovic struggled against Simon in the first set, committed 21 unforced errors. But the Serb pulled himself together, mixing up stinging groundstrokes with deft drop shots from behind the baseline.

Djokovic, who went 0-3 in his Masters Cup debut last year, got down on his knees and kissed the court after winning in 2 hours, 51 minutes.

“I didn’t have such a great time here last year,” Djokovic said. “Didn’t win a single set. But I learned something. Took the best out of it and used it this year.”

Simon dropped only six points in five service games in the first set. Djokovic made back-to-back mistakes to hand Simon the only break he needed.

In the second set, Djokovic picked up his game and started clipping the lines.

At the same time, Simon’s level of play dropped. He had his first two double-faults in the next game, the second on a break point. Djokovic held serve for the rest of the set to even it.

Simon, who was added to the field of the season-ending tournament when No. 1 Rafael Nadal withdrew with a knee injury, was twice unfortunate with net bounces to lose his serve in the third game of the third set.

Djokovic served for the match at 5-4, but double-faulted.

“I was pretty exhausted, had to save some energy,” he said. “I went for the shots. I wanted to make the points shorter. I risked, and the risk didn’t pay off in that game. But it paid off afterwards.”

He broke right back and converted his second chance to finish the match.

Djokovic through to the semis

2008-11-12T11:16:00.000+05:30

People have still not recovered from the shock loss of Federer to relatively unknown Giles Simon two days back. Fed will now have to defeat the TWO BIG ANDY's to open up his chance to get into the semis. Meanwhile in the Gold group The 2nd seed Novak Djokovic has confirmed his seat in the semis with a awesome performance of tennis over Nikolay Davydenko by coming up and defeating him with one set down.

Confused and jittery after failing to win a game in the second set, Novak Djokovic rallied past Nikolay Davydenko 7-6 (3), 0-6, 7-5 Tuesday to reach the semifinals of the season-ending Masters Cup.

In the day’s other round-robin match, Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina defeated Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France 7-6 (4), 7-6 (5) in a meeting between promising players making Masters Cup debuts.

Tsonga sat out three months with a knee injury this year and had to win the Paris Masters nine days ago to qualify for this showcase for the game’s top eight players. Del Potro was ranked No. 65 in July before a 23-match winning streak vaulted him to No. 8.

Davydenko will play Del Potro on Thursday with a semifinal berth at stake.

“You know it’s your last chance,” Davydenko said. “If I win, I can qualify. If not, then I go on holiday.”

Del Potro’s holiday will be delayed at least another week. He will play for Argentina in the Davis Cup final Nov. 21-23 against a Spanish team that will be without top-ranked Rafael Nadal because of a sore knee.

“For all tennis players, it’s like a dream to be here,” Del Potro said. “But also next week it will be another dream.”

Roger Federer and Andy Roddick, who lost their first matches in the Red Group, face each other Wednesday. Andy Murray and Gilles Simon will also play.

Djokovic ran his record to 2-0 in the Gold Group and eliminated Tsonga. Djokovic won only nine points in the second set. Davydenko, who fell to 1-1, said he never saw the third-ranked Serb play so poorly.

“I had a very unexplainable lapse. I just wasn’t myself,” Djokovic said. “It was very hard to come back. I was really nervous.”

The last time he failed to win a game in a set came against Richard Gasquet at the Estoril Open final in April 2007. He won that match, too.

Davydenko yielded only four points in his first four service games, leaving Djokovic frustrated and looking toward his fans. Then Davydenko self-destructed. Serving for the first set at 5-4, the Russian double-faulted at 30-30 and sent a forehand wide to even the match.

In the tiebreaker, Davydenko handed the first four points to Djokovic with three forehand errors and a double-fault, then double-faulted again on set point.

Djokovic recovered in the third set. Serving at 5-5, 40-30, Davydenko grimaced after hitting a backhand volley wide, then sent two forehands long for the break. Djokovic held to finish the match.

Del Potro, at 20 the youngest player in the field, has had a sore toe since the U.S. Open. He said he was trying to win while also conserving energy for Davis Cup, but Tsonga’s power sent him lunging from side to side.

Tsonga had the linesmen ducking with 10 aces in his first four service games. But inconsistency—and solid play from Del Potro—undid the Frenchman.

Tsonga led 3-1 in the first tiebreaker, but Del Potro ran off six of the next seven points to finish the set.

In the second tiebreaker, Del Potro ripped a backhand winner on the run to pull ahead 4-2. An overhead winner set up triple match point at 6-3. Tsonga hit an ace and a service winner before netting a forehand to end the match.

“I know he played better than me in the tiebreak,” Tsonga said. “I miss some easy balls, and that’s it.”

Hamilton becomes Champ!

2008-11-06T14:25:00.000+05:30

So near yet so Far for Massa as Glock betrays Ferrari
Hamilton is the MAN in the sau paulo race which saw all the drama which a F1 race can provide. Massa should finish first and Hamilton should not finish within 5 for Massa's victory it came that true for Ferrari. Massa crossed the checkered flag with 1st and Hamilton is still in 6th in the last corner of the race. Massa, Ferrari and the whole of Sau paulo was in total joy what happened then was truly a Ridiculous act. Timo Glock slowed down on the fifth spot to let Hamilton pass on the 5th spot and eventually make him the winner.

Hamilton won the drivers championship by a single point from Brazilian Felipe Massa following a dramatic Brazilian Grand Prix at Interlagos last Sunday but the Briton is seen in some quarters as arrogant, something Ecclestone feels is unwarranted.

"Hamilton is a young man doing his best and I get upset with people who say he is an arrogant bastard and all this nonsense. Lewis has achieved an awful lot," Ecclestone told The Times.

Ecclestone opined that "there are so many people out there that want him to lose, so he has to make sure he delivers."

"I think he comes over as a bit over-confident but don't forget they said the same about (former champion) Michael (Schumacher)," he added.

"He has to be careful what he says and how he presents himself," warned Ecclestone, who told the Daily Express that if Hamilton handles himself well then "things will open up commercially" meaning that he could ultimately become as feted in his sport as Tiger Woods is in golf.

"There could be a Tiger Woods effect," Ecclestone acknowledged.

Hamilton has meanwhile praised the role of his father Anthony in helping him become world champion.

Anthony Hamilton introduced his son to karting aged eight and played a variety as Lewis' passion for motorsport developed once his fathe had sown the initial seed.

"He's been an inspiration," said Hamilton.

Jokingly, Hamilton added that "he's a dad, a pain" on occasion.

"But he has done all the work to get me where I am, made all the sacrifices from the beginning, and even now he is still doing that."

British lawmakers on Tuesday praised Hamilton's achievement - although one, Liberal Democrat Bob Russell, MP for the southern town of Colchester, criticised his tax exile status.

Hamilton last year decided to move to Switzerland, a move which Accountancy Age magazine has estimated could save him an estimated six million dollars a year.

A House of Commons motion tabled by Labour MP for Leicester, Keith Vaz, congratulated Hamilton and lauded him as "an excellent role model and inspiration for all young people to aspire to".

Russell, however, tabled his own motion to add the words: "but regrets that his patriotism to the country which nurtured him, and made his success possible, is to live abroad as a tax exile."

Safin outsetted !

2008-10-28T12:26:00.000+05:30

Former world no.1 Marat Safin was outsetted in the First round of the Paris Masters cup yesterday. He lost to relatively unknown Juan Monaco in straight sets 6-0 7-6. Safin known for his colourful display of tennis has been in a realtively poor form ever since his Wimbledon semi finals loss to Roger Federer
Marat Safin, one of the most colourful figures in tennis, said on Monday he was considering his future in the game after his first round loss at the Paris Masters Series.

“I need to enjoy my life without tennis, I will see if I continue,” the 28-year-old Russian told reporters after losing 6-0 7-6 to Argentine qualifier Juan Monaco.

“I need to think it through. I will see, it was too intense these last three years. We will see. I have no pressure, nothing to show, nothing to prove.

“If I feel like I want to continue to play, I will. If not, it will be over. For the moment, I just need to rest.”

Safin, who reached the world number one spot following his U.S. Open victory in 2000, is widely regarded as one of the most gifted players on the tour.

However, he won only one more grand slam tournament, the Australian Open in 2005, which was the last of his 15 titles overall, as he squandered career opportunities due to a hot temper and, more recently, injuries.

Safin, who has been out of the top 10 since January 2006, has a propensity to throw matches away and Monday’s encounter with Monaco was no exception.

The Russian, who lies 31st in the ATP rankings, had already lost the first set and smashed a racket on the court when the clock ticked past the 20-minute mark.

DOUBLE FAULTS

He then served four double faults in the opening game of the second set as Monaco opened a 2-0 lead. The Russian broke back to level to 2-2 but lost the tiebreak 7-4 and stumbled out of a tournament he has won three times.

“I had my opportunities but unfortunately it was a bit too late already because the guy started to play well and started to feel much more comfortable on the court,” said Safin.

“I didn’t take my chances, that’s why the score is 6-0 7-6.”

Safin will not improve his position in the rankings and it is no secret he does not feel comfortable with the situation.

“It’s a little bit uncomfortable to find yourself in the top 10 for many years and (then) to find yourself ranked 70th and 30 and 50 and outside of the hundreds,” he said.

“It’s not really a comfortable position.

“I’ve been struggling throughout my career with injuries, left and right,” he added, referring to knee injuries that hampered his 2005 and 2006 seasons.

Although he does not yet know whether he will play professional tennis next year, Safin already knows where he will spend his holidays.

“Yeah, I’m already flying to Miami,” he said

Liverpool Thrash Chelsea 1-0

2008-10-27T07:48:00.000+05:30

Liverpool handed Chelsea their first defeat at Stamford bridge in more than 80 games with a 1-0 win over the blues yesterday. Liverpool were without Torres but his team mate Xabi Alonso provided the needed break through with a superb kick in the 10th minute.

Liverpool’s victory at Chelsea on Sunday could be a decisive moment in their quest for a long-awaited title, manager Rafael Benitez said.

An early strike by Xabi Alonso was enough to earn a 1-0 victory and put Liverpool three points clear of Chelsea at the top of the Premier League.

“They were unbeaten for a long time so it was a massive game and a big boost for the rest of the season,” Benitez told reporters after ending Chelsea’s 86-match unbeaten home league run at Stamford Bridge.

“It’s important to have shown everyone we can do it here. They have a very good, very offensive team. We were trying to win…the commitment of the players showed they wanted to win.

“If we want to stay at the top of the table we have to beat almost everyone. We have the belief, we have the mentality.”

While Benitez celebrated a first away league victory against either Chelsea, Arsenal or Manchester United, his opposite number Luiz Felipe Scolari had to digest a first defeat since taking the manager’s job at Stamford Bridge.

“We did not expect the result,” the Brazilian said. “But we have to understand that Liverpool are a very good team. They didn’t play better than us but they shot one ball better than us and they won.”

Scolari said his players should shake off the disappointment of losing their long unbeaten record at home, a run stretching back to February 2004.

“It is no different losing three points at home or in Manchester or Tottenham or Liverpool, it is three points lost,” he said. “They are sad, that’s normal but it’s not the end of the world, it’s only one game.”

Scolari said he hoped Joe Cole would be fit for Wednesday’s trip to third-placed Hull City, although he said Didier Drogba and Michael Ballack would miss the trip.

FIFA 09 Free download!

2008-10-26T14:00:00.000+05:30

FIFA 09 Open for Free Download!!!!

Excellent Game with more than 20 game modes and over 5000 players and 50 stadiums around the world! Interactive bonuses too.

Excellent Game with more than 20 game modes and over 5000 players and 50 stadiums around the world! Interactive bonuses too.

Instructions

FIFA.09.Full-Rip.Skullptura

Notes:
Full Game (English Only)
English commentary only, make sure to choose English from the main menu.
Ripped - Nothing!
You cannot play online with this rip, you must buy this game and get a valid CD key to play online.

1) disable UAC on Vista
2) extract .rar archive to NORMAL/SHORT PATH , somewhere like D:\Games
3) run setup.bat
4) follow on-screen instructions

How to uninstall:
1) run delete_game_from_registry.reg file
2) delete "FIFA 09" folder

Cracked by : ISR
Ripped by : ISR

Codes
http://rapidshare.com/files/156526486/game.part01.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/156549183/game.part02.rar
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Chelsea Vs Liverpool Today!

2008-10-26T13:30:00.000+05:30

Terry looks to defeat his Team Mate Gerrard!
The two top teams in the premier league are going to face off each other in the BIG BATTLE today. Chelsea and Liverpool are leading the pack with 20 points each of 8 games. Today one of these two teams will get a soul lead in the table. Mean while Frank Lampard is looking forward to play with his English Mid Field colleague Steven Gerrard. There have been speculation over the Lampard-Gerrard co-operation in the Mid-field which many say is the main reason for England's exit in the preliminary stages of the Euro Competitor.

Ever since The Big Phil's arrival at Stamford bridge Chelsea have been clearly Invincible. They dominated all their European as well as Premier league games with superior goal difference. They drew with their top-most rivals Manchester united. Everything is going good for the London club owned by Russian Roman Abrohimovic. Will they Blast of Liverpool? Look out tonight guys!

Comeback Kings

Liverpool’s 3-2 win against Wigan Athletic last weekend was their fourth come-from-behind triumph in the Premier League this season. The Kop have been forced to endure a torrent of last-gasp winners as their side have been left in the lurch by indifferent first-half showings. And while the level of performance has been inconsistent, the accumulation of results sees Rafael Benitez’s men gaining momentum in the title race. The football may not always be as pretty as Chelsea’s, but the outcome has been the same as the Merseysiders seem to have recaptured that ominous win-at-all-costs mentality that served them so well in the past.

Players to watch out for

Chelsea

Deco
He is back and he is Bad for the opposition. The 32-year old Portugal international has played in the starting stages of the tournament and suffered a injury during the Practice session before the chelsea-Man Utd match. Now he is
Back what to Expect?

Liverpool

Fernando Torres
Well we still dont know whether he is fit or not bur Rafa Benitez has said that they will play him although he is not at his 100%. So will the Euro 2008 Hero provide his club magic?

Our Prediction
Chelsea 1-0 Liverpool

India defeat Australia!

2008-10-21T19:50:00.000+05:30

The Indians defeat the World champions in the second Test at mohali

It was a match that was never out of India's control. After the tremendous work done over four days, they needed less than a session on the fifth morning to defeat Australia, sealing the Test by 320 runs, their biggest margin of victory in terms of runs ever. Zaheer Khan nipped out three wickets in the space of four deliveries when play started, and though Michael Clarke resisted with 69, it was always going to be a matter of when India would take a 1-0 series lead. In terms of runs, it was Australia's biggest defeat since their 343-run loss to West Indies in Barbados in 1991.

India had reduced Australia to 58 for 5 yesterday, but had to wait 84 runs for their next strike, after which proceedings resembled a bowling alley as Zaheer knocked over the lower order like nine pins. Zaheer was simply unplayable. He struck in the first over of the day, bowling Brad Haddin for 37 with a ripper. It pitched on a length, shaped back in, and took out the middle and off stumps. In his next over, Zaheer struck with his second and third deliveries and found himself on a hat-trick. A leaden-footed Cameron White went for a drive and edged to Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Next ball, Brett Lee had no clue to one pitched fractionally shorter and had his stumps splayed. Three wickets had fallen for three runs.

With nine men around the bat, Mitchell Johnson averted the hat-trick. Zaheer had slowly built up his momentum through the fourth day and struck gold on the fifth morning. He got the ball to move slightly away from the batsmen, and was very accurate. Ishant Sharma achieved movement both ways, evident when Clarke outside-edged towards slip - the ball didn't carry - and later inside-edged towards square leg.

Perhaps significant with two Tests to play, Clarke shrugged off an indifferent tour with a fluent 69. On a pitch with good movement and against bowlers who were on song, he batted with focus and determination. He and Johnson, who batted well for his 26 before popping a return catch to Amit Mishra, added 50. Clarke had been the glue that held a poor Australian innings together, but he was last out when he clipped Mishra - who finished with seven on debut - to midwicket. As the fat lady sang and Punjabi bhangra filled the Mohali air, Dhoni - India's stand-in captain who rarely made a wrong call through the Test - led the charge towards the catcher, Virender Sehwag.

Teams that have a habit of winning know how to seize the momentum and never let it go. Like Australia had done for the last decade and more, India did that very well in Mohali. They were, unquestionably, the superior side in this Test

India on threshold of a Famous Victory!

2008-10-20T18:46:00.000+05:30

The Indians Rattle the mighty Aussies after a great display of batting by Opener Gautam Gambhir, Captain MS Dhoni and Virender Sehwag and some scintillating Spin by Harbhajan singh

Indians were dominant through out the Second Test match of the Four Test Series between India and Australia. The second test match which saw Tendulkar crossing 12,000 mark and becoming the Top run getter in test cricket history could provide India a lead in the series.

This morning Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir who were unbeaten on 100 last evening began their batting and Sehwag fell for 90. Then MS Dhoni promoted himself up the order to score some Quick runs and he did what was needed he scored some quick fire 68 while Gautam Gambhir flew towards his second Test century and First ever in India. then Dhoni added a further 66 with Sovrav Ganguly. Indians set Australia a massive 516 runs as the second Innings Target.

Then it was Bhajji show as things never got better fot the Aussies. To drive home their advantage, India dismissed Australia's openers in the last over before tea, tore the heart out of their middle order, and had them hemorrhaging at 141 for 5 . Harbhajan Singh, who took 3 for 23, and Ishant Sharma had once again turned on the heat when India needed it most.

Australia had launched a spirited chase for seven overs, racing to 49, but Harbhajan's double-wicket over before tea stunned them. Matthew Hayden, who had begun in one-day mode, tried to sweep and was lbw for 29. Three balls later Simon Katich, losing his composure, threw his bat at a flighted delivery and was superbly caught by Sachin Tendulkar, who had to dive forward to take the catch inches off the grass. The wickets had come in Harbhajan's first over, an inspired bowling change by Dhoni after the new-ball bowlers had been expensive.

Harbhajan tossed it up more than usual but a shooter brought him his third wicket soon after tea. The length was short and the ball skidded through to Michael Hussey who suffered from poor shot selection: he tried to pull but was hit plumb in front. The wicket sparked manic celebrations in Mohali for it was Harbhajan's 299th.

Sports Anime- The Prince of Tennis!

2008-10-20T18:30:00.000+05:30

Our New Xtra sports Editor Mr. Amrit Mishra publishes his first article

The Prince of Tennis is a popular Japanese manga written and illustrated by Takeshi Konomi. The manga was first published in Japan in Shueisha's Weekly Shōnen Jump in July 1999, and ended publication on March 3, 2008. A total of 379 chapters were serialized, spanning 42 volumes. As of volume 40, the manga has sold over 40 million copies in Japan.[1] The manga is published in English in North America by Viz Media. The Prince of Tennis was adaptated into an anime series directed by Takayuki Hamana, animated by Trans Arts and co-produced by Nihon Ad Systems and TV Tokyo. The anime aired across Japan on the anime satellite television network Animax and the terrestrial TV Tokyo network from October 10, 2001 to March 30, 2005, spanning a total of 178 episodes, as well as a theatrical movie. In April 2006, an original video animation (OVA) continuation of the anime began to be released on DVD. You can watch this anime on Animax. The series is primarily set in Tokyo. Ryoma Echizen, a tennis prodigy, attends Seishun Academy or Seigaku for short, a private school famous for its strong tennis club and talented players. Ryoma quickly defeats numerous upperclassmen shortly after entrance to secure himself a spot as one of the team's regulars. In pursuit of their ultimate goal of winning the all-Japan junior high school tennis championship, members of the team make new friends while learning and mastering increasingly complex techniques. Ryoma also begins to develop his own style of tennis, and eventually realizes what the sport really means to him.

Posted by our Regular Viewer- Mr. Amrit Mishra (amritthegoku.dbz44@yahoo.com)

Our Thanks and Regard to Amrit. Do you wanna see your article on Sportstoday like Amrit? here's the way to do it ! click on the below page and submit your stuff!

Sportstoday: Submit

WE ARE BACK FOR SEASON TWO! Sportstoday returns to action after a month break!

2008-10-19T22:00:00.000+05:30

Sorry Guys!

We needed a break and so it happened after the US OPEN where of course Roger Won!
So, now its back to day-to-day business. Well if we look at what happened in the sports fiels during our absence there have been much action. The Club competitions have started in Europe, The UEFA cup, the Champions league have also been started.

The Madrid-Masters and other Tennis tournaments have been over. THE HIGH SPECULATED India- Australia Test series have came to the second Test match with a draw in the first one. The Ryder cup golf was won by the Americans. The Formula one season has only one race remaining with Lewis looking to become the Champ!

Our Future coverages and Plans

Well Of course we are going to look at every Tennis Tournaments. Good coverage on the Barclay's Premier League and a brief look at the other league and the European championships.

And a Change is gonna happen! Last season we concentrated more on the Tennis Grand slams, Football competitions and Olympics now there is no Olympics there is going to be Tennis there is going to be Football as it always has been.

And a surprise! Cricket will be given shear importance as many of my comments wanted Cricket Last season there was barely any post on Cricket so its Cricket time this season. And we will concentrate more on Indian issues and there will be a Scan of a News paper Sports Section Everyday which will make you know what is going on in the papers of course there will be not the full sports sections but the important Columns by top sports players and many new kinda things so tune around Guys !!!

THE RETURN OF THE KING!

2008-09-09T17:28:00.000+05:30

Federer wins his 5th straight US OPEN

Well Well Well it looked as if Federer is gonna retire and now He is back with a Bang! as he defeated 6th seed Andy Murray of Britain to win his 13th Grandslam and 5th at the flushing meadows and that too in 5 consecutive years.

Roger Federer owns a dazzling array of shots, a keen court sense and a winning disposition.

He’s also got a pretty good set of ears. And he could hear what the tennis world was saying about him: At 27, his reign at the top was over.

“I was aware of it,” he said.

Whatever, that version of the vulnerable Federer was nowhere to be seen at center court Monday. Instead, the Roger of old returned, overwhelming Andy Murray 6-2, 7-5, 6-2 to win his fifth straight U.S. Open championship and 13th Grand Slam title.

“I felt like I was invincible for a while again,” Federer said.

Federer won his first major title of the year, breezing through three sets without a double-fault and leading 36-16 in winners. He earned nearly half his points at net, a skill he honed while winning the Olympic gold medal in doubles.

When Murray’s final shot landed in the net, Federer fell to his knees on the blue court at Arthur Ashe Stadium and rolled onto his back.

“I always knew that if I were to get one Slam under my belt, especially the last one, things weren’t looking that bad, like everybody was talking about,” he said.

Because, for sure, people were talking. His reaction to all that jabbering?

“Sometimes, to a point, a bit annoyed because all sorts of crazy people started writing me and trying to reach me, telling me I need some help either mentally or physically,” he said. “You’re laughing, but it’s the way it goes. People come out of the closet and think they can start helping me now. It’s just a pain.

“For me, this sort of puts them to rest a little bit and calms down the phones at my parents’ a little bit, which I’m happy about,” the Swiss ace said.

While Federer enjoyed a glass of champagne with family and friends inside the locker room, his dad wandered out.

“Maybe you can’t win everything,” proud pop Robert said. “After the French Open, you could see many (negative) comments saying, ‘Federer is gone,’ ‘Federer will never win another Grand Slam.’ And Federer proved the opposite.”

Federer won’t leave New York with the No. 1 ranking—after 4 1/2 years on top, he lost that to Rafael Nadal—but the No. 2 seed sure enjoyed getting the silver trophy, the $1.5 million winner’s check and a new Lexus.

All in all, a nice way to end a season that Federer began with a bout of mononucleosis.

The sixth-seeded Murray went into his first Grand Slam final with a 2-1 lifetime record against the champ. But trying to become the first British man to win the U.S. Open since Fred Perry in 1936, he never had a chance.

“I came up against, in my opinion, the best player ever to play the game,” Murray said. “He definitely set the record straight today.”

The 21-year-old Scotsman paid tribute to Federer when they met at the net.

“He told me that it was a great tournament for me. I said that I agreed with everyone that he’d had a terrible year,” Murray kidded.

“Making the semis of Australia, final of the French, the final at Wimbledon — playing one of the best matches of all-time—winning a gold medal, and obviously winning the U.S. Open,” he said. “I told him that he had a phenomenal year, regardless of what anyone said.”

Federer became the first man since Bill Tilden in the 1920s to win this tournament so many times in a row. He’s now within one major title of matching Pete Sampras’ career record of 14.

“One thing’s for sure,” Federer said, “I’m not going to stop at 13. That would be terrible.”

This win also made Federer the only man in tennis history to take five straight titles at two major tournaments.

“It’s nice to compare five U.S. Opens to five Wimbledons. Not many—nobody can do that,” he said.

Murray was the fifth different opponent Federer had played in the finals at Flushing Meadows during his run. The former U.S. Open junior champion won the opening coin toss and, based on his previous success, chose to let Federer serve first.

Federer won the first game by taking four straight points.

Murray’s best chance to stay in the match came in the second set with score tied at 2. Down 15-40, Federer hit a shot that looked long, but Murray kept it in play and wound up losing the point.

Murray walked to the spot to see if there was a mark, having lost his chance to call for an instant-replay challenge. Too bad, too, because a television replay showed the ball was out.

Instead of being up 3-2 and serving, Murray watched Federer rally back to win the game.

“That was key,” Federer said. “After that, I began to play freely, the way I usually do.”

By the third set, it was no contest as Federer went up 5-0. Murray won two games and a couple more ovations from the crowd, then it was soon over.

“I don’t understand redemption quite that well, but I don’t think that’s what it is. I don’t feel like I needed this win particularly to prove myself,” Federer said.

“It’s just being happy to be on top,” he said. “So things are not looking that bad like everybody’s talking about.”

Meet the New world No.1

2008-09-08T18:11:00.000+05:30

Serena Williams wins her 1st US open after 6 years

On the very first point of the match, Serena Williams hit a backhand so hard that her earring flew off.

Turns out she was just getting warmed up.

Williams kept pounding away, her shots and shouts getting louder with every stroke. And when she finished off Jelena Jankovic 6-4, 7-5 Sunday night for the U.S. Open championship and a ninth Grand Slam title, Williams really went wild.

She flung her racket high into the sky, hollering and hopping in a celebration that even she thought might’ve been over the top.

“I’m sorry I got so excited,” she told Jankovic when they met at the net.

Williams’ father, Richard, jumped to his feet after the final point. He didn’t seem to expect his daughter to do the same.

“I never knew Serena to be very, very excited. I knew Serena to be very, very mean,” he said after it was over. “I describe her as being a combination of a pit bull dog, a young Mike Tyson and an alligator.”

The fourth-seeded Williams beat sister Venus in the quarterfinals and barreled through this tournament without losing a set. This win did more than earn Serena her third silver trophy at Flushing Meadows—it assured she will return to No. 1 in the rankings for the time since August 2003, the longest gap at the top for a woman.

“I feel so young and I feel so energized,” Williams said. “Sometimes, I’d wake up at 6 in the morning to go practice and it was too dark.”

Williams and Jankovic originally were scheduled to play Saturday night, but rain from Tropical Storm Hanna delayed their match.

Murray upsets No.1 Nadal

2008-09-08T17:57:00.000+05:30

Rafa Nadal was looking to win his First grandslam as No.1 but he was outclasees by the scotland born Andy Murray in the semi-finals of The US OPEN. The rain intrupted Semis finals saw Murray defeating NAdal 6-2 7-6 4-6 6-4.

“He beat me because he was better than me,” acknowledged Nadal, whose 19-match winning streak at major tournaments ended. “When he’s playing aggressive, he can beat everybody.”

Federer will be attempting to win his fifth consecutive U.S. Open championship and 13th Grand Slam title overall. And Murray? The 21-year-old Scot is trying to become the first British man to win a major tennis title since Fred Perry at the 1936 U.S. Open.

Get this, though: Murray owns a 2-1 career mark against Federer.

So Will Murray be a better threat to Federer than Nadal? Well Tuesday morning 2.30 IST can answer.....

Federer reaches 18th straight GS semi finals

2008-09-05T17:03:00.000+05:30

Men and Women draw come to semi Finals

That litany of health issues Novak Djokovic dealt with earlier in the week—hip, ankle, stomach and more—seemed a tad humorous to Andy Roddick.

So Roddick joked about it, first by saying in an on-court interview it sounded as though Djokovic had “about 16 injuries,” then by wondering aloud whether the problems might not also include bird flu, anthrax, SARS and a common cold.

Djokovic heard about the comments. He wasn’t amused.

So when he finished beating Roddick 6-2, 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (5) in the U.S. Open quarterfinals Thursday night, Djokovic said so.

“That’s not nice, anyhow, to say in front of this crowd that I have 16 injuries and that I’m faking,” Djokovic said after match, eliciting hearty boos from spectators in Arthur Ashe Stadium.

“They’re already against me,” he said of the fans, “because they think I’m faking everything.”

Still, as much motivation as Djokovic might have derived, and as well as he played in the match, 2003 U.S. Open champion Roddick’s own serving miscues had a lot to do with the outcome.

After working his way back from a huge deficit, Roddick was two points from forcing a fifth set at 5-4, 30-love in the fourth. But he double-faulted twice in a row and was broken for the fifth time—twice more than he lost serve in his first four matches combined.

“You know what? I honestly don’t feel like they were super-tight doubles,” Roddick said. “I had been playing pretty high-risk, high-reward tennis to get back and I probably wasn’t about to stop.”

In Djokovic’s prior match, a five-set ordeal Tuesday against No. 15 Tommy Robredo, the reigning Australian Open champion called for the trainer more than once. Later that day, Roddick made light of the matter and also said: “He’s either quick to call a trainer or he’s the most courageous guy of all time.”

Roddick sought to smooth things over with Djokovic on Thursday.

“It was completely meant in jest,” Roddick said, pausing to choose the right words. “I should know better. But listen, I joke all the time. I don’t think anyone in their right mind takes me serious.”

The players spoke privately—and said they would keep the conversation private. Both were contrite afterward.

“He made a joke and it was a misunderstanding, so I don’t blame it on him,” Djokovic said, after getting nearly an hour to consider his on-court statements. “Maybe I exaggerated and reacted bad in that moment. I apologize.”

The third-seeded Djokovic will play Roger Federer in the semifinals. It’s a rematch of last year’s U.S. Open final, which Federer won for his fourth consecutive title at Flushing Meadows.

Federer—bidding for a 13th major title, one shy of Pete Sampras’ record— beat qualifier Gilles Muller 7-6 (5), 6-4, 7-6 (5) to extend his own record by reaching the semifinals at an 18th consecutive Grand Slam tournament.

Djokovic is 2-6 against Federer and called him the “absolute favorite.” No. 1 Rafael Nadal will face No. 6 Andy Murray in the other semifinal.

Friday was to feature the women’s semifinals, with two-time champion Serena Williams against Dinara Safina, and Jelena Jankovic against Elena Dementieva. One of the four will move up to No. 1 in the rankings after the tournament.

The men’s semifinals and women’s final are all scheduled for Saturday, but tournament organizers have seen forecasts calling for about 12 hours of rain and wind at up to 35 mph that day. So they began the process of negotiating with TV networks and preparing contingency plans, including the possibility of announcing Friday that no tennis would be played Saturday, and that the men’s final would be shifted from Sunday to Monday.

Such changes would give Djokovic extra time to rest, something he said would be welcomed.

Against the eighth-seeded Roddick, Djokovic grew increasingly agitated when spectators called out as he was trying to serve or in the middle of points.

With Djokovic serving at 3-3 in the fourth set, he watched Roddick’s backhand winner fly past to set up break point and yelled, “Shut up!” in the direction of the stands, then cursed. Roddick followed with another backhand winner to cap a 12-stroke exchange and take the lead in the set.

But he couldn’t stay ahead.

Serving at 5-4, having held nine times in a row, Roddick opened with a 142 mph ace and a 143 mph service winner. At 30-love, he was two points from being all tied up.

And right there, all so suddenly, everything came apart.

First, Roddick pushed a forehand wide. Then he double-faulted, not once but twice, to hand over a break point. Djokovic took advantage, delivering a perfect lob winner to get to 5-5.

At 5-5 in the tiebreaker, a 15-stroke point at the baseline concluded when Roddick missed a backhand slice into the net.

“A bad shot,” Roddick conceded.

Seconds later, the match was over when Roddick returned a 125 mph serve long, and Djokovic was pounding his fists on his chest.

Only moments after that, Djokovic was drawing jeers—a stunning turnaround from a year ago, when he endeared himself to U.S. Open fans with his stylish play, his sense of humor and his spot-on impersonations of other players.

“I figure if you’re going to joke and imitate other people and do the whole deal, then you should take it. Listen, if someone makes fun of me I’m most likely going to laugh,” Roddick said. “I’m sorry he took it that way. … I don’t think I was over the line. It wasn’t my intention, and, you know, I’m sorry he felt that way. Maybe I did him a favor tonight.”

Top seed Ivanovic crushes out

2008-08-29T17:51:00.000+05:30

Too easy for The Muscles from Mallorca

Top-seeded Ana Ivanovic lost in one of the biggest upsets in tennis history Thursday, stunned by 188th-ranked Julie Coin 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 in the second round of the U.S. Open.
Coin had tried to qualify for the Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon and never made any of them.

Ana Ivanovic the Womens world No.1 was sent packing in the second round of the womens singles even earlier today in The Flushing meadows of the US OPEN. Ana who tookover the World no.1 Ranking from Maria sharapova earlier this year never played like a world no.1 since after capturing the French crown. She was eliminated in the second round of the Wimbledon championships and she Quitted the Olympics due to a Injury and Now she lost to a qualifier in the second round of the the final Major of the year

Now she will defenetly be displaced as the world numbet one by either Jankovic or Safina or Serena Williams or Svetlena kuznetsova.

Well If it is this way for the Womens No.1 its the opposite side for the mens No.1. Rafa Nadal who overtook the Longstanding No.1 Roger Federer was in total control of his match.

The top-seeded Spaniard, who is in search of his third consecutive major championship, ousted American Ryler De Heart, 6-1, 6-2, 6-4, in the second round at the U.S. Open on Thursday.

Other top seeds like David Ferrer, David Nalbandian, James Blake and Andy murray all advanced to their respective third rounds.

US OPEN BEGINS ! TOP SEEDS OFF TO A FLYER

2008-08-28T18:33:00.000+05:30

Too EAsy for Federer and Roddick | Top seed Ivanovic stumble

No.2 Roger Federer yes No.2 Roger Federer after almost half a decade he has become the number 2. But his game was ELECTRIFIED to be honest. He was moving fastly and confidently. He finished off net points with ease as a result 6-3 6-0 6-3 win over little-known Argentine Maximo Gonzalez in the first round on Tuesday.

Andy Roddick The Fan favourite American the Big serving American. Yes this time the correct word has been used!. Roddick just served off his opponent

Roddick, who turns 26 on Saturday, used his blistering serve to record 15 aces - including one serve which topped out at 140 miles per hour. He lost just four points on his first serve en route to dispatching his 35-year-old foe.

“I served real well tonight, and that’s going to be key at this tournament,” Roddick said.

Roddick also admitted that he wanted to be relentless in his attack on Santoro.

“I knew with Fabrice tonight, if you let him in, then you have a tough match,” he said. “I wanted to try and bully the ball around and try and get on top of him early. I felt I did that.”

Nadal's opening match as the World no.1 too was a walk on the park as he just passed off his opponent in fine style.

Seeded first in a major for the first time in his career, Nadal began his pursuit of tennis history Monday with a 7-6 (7-4), 6-3, 7-6 (7-4) victory over feisty German Bjorn Phau in the opening round of the U.S. Open.

Ivanovic was never in shape after winning the French crown. She proved that this time too where she escaped a scare in the first round of the US OPEN.

Ivanovic also dropped the first game of the third set, putting the Serb in danger of a stunning exit at the year’s final major.

At 3-3, Ivanovic broke Dushevina’s serve. Nerves may have started to play a part for the Russian, who had a double fault in the game, then had two more unforced errors to give Ivanovic the crucial break.

Ivanovic held serve at love for a 5-3 lead.

But the pesky Dushevina fought off a match point to hold serve. Ivanovic then needed to save two break points before finally ending the tense affair when Dushevina hit a backhander into the net.

“The last game I had a couple of miss-hits,” Ivanovic said. “I just tried to stay strong and to play each point and forget what happened. I’m so happy I managed to do that.”

Even though Ivanovic moved on, her play may be cause for concern. The 20-year-old improved to just 7-4 lifetime at this Grand Slam, an event where she never has advanced past the fourth round.

Threesome Bolt!!!

2008-08-23T14:39:00.000+05:30

Usain Bolt loves the cameras, the cameras love Usain Bolt, and when they connected during his third victory lap of these Olympics, he smiled that infectious smile and raised three fingers.

As in: 3-for-3-for-3.

As in: three events, three gold medals, three world records.

Bolt capped his spectacular Summer Games by tearing through his portion of the 400-meter relay Friday night, setting up Jamaica’s victory in 37.10 seconds to break a 16-year-old world record.

It was the perfect way to end a weeklong coming-out party that began with a world record of 9.69 in the 100 meters Saturday, followed by a world record of 19.30 in the 200 meters Wednesday.

“The greatest Olympics ever,” Bolt called it.

A NEW BEGINNING

2008-08-23T14:34:00.000+05:30

Vijender made india proud

First, note the name. It’s Singh, Vijender Singh. A couple of hours after stomaching the disappointment of losing his semi-final bout on Thursday, the 22-year-old says the Olympics information sheet has it wrong. He is not Vijender Kumar.

His Olympics campaign at an end — and a happy one on balance, bringing India its first medal, a bronze, in boxing — Vijender has now moved beyond the apologies he kept repeating to his country for failing to gain a slot in the middleweight (75 kg) final. He now has the clarity to see the mistakes he made.

Yes, he says, he would have played differently if he could start that match again: “I made mistakes. In the third round I got aggressive. I should have used my head.”

It’s a different analysis from the one floating around on this rare blue-sky day, by which he lost the bout in the first round when Cuba’s Emilio Correa Bayeaux took a 2:0 lead. After all, so much of the Indian strategy at these Games has balanced on running away with bouts on the momentum of an early flurry of points.

Bayeaux’s impressive straight punches and left jabs gave him distance and a ready chance to connect for a point every time Vijender attacked. But in the second round Vijender managed to narrow Bayeaux’s lead to 4:3. It was in round three that the Cuban got the better of Vijender, taking his lead to 7:3. Till 30 seconds to go in the fourth, and last, round, it had gone up to 8:3, before Vijender got the benefit of two points awarded to penalise the Cuban for pushing, and brought the final score to 8:5.

The Cuban was no pushover, coming as he does from a strong Caribbean boxing tradition. His father won a gold in boxing in the 1972 Munich Games.

But the semi-final defeat returns Vijender to the benefits that come with international experience. It was, for instance, not bravado when he said after his pre-quarterfinal win over Thailand’s Angkhan Chomphuphuang that he does not lose to the same boxer twice. Today, he says, he will be better prepared if he meets Bayeaux again.

So, the disappointment of this afternoon is not cause for disheartenment. And the scene outside the athletes’ entrance at the Workers’ Gymnasium attested to that, as Indian fans and Haryana politicians milled around festively.

There were reportedly other words of encouragement. Former world champion Evander Holyfield, who was once again at the stadium today, was impressed and praised Vijender. I would have met him if I knew he was there, says the Bhiwani boy.

But the inspiration for his bronze, he explains, was the dashed Olympics dream of another Indian, Gurcharan Singh. In the 2000 Sydney Games, Singh lost a place in the semi-finals on a countback. (In case the scores are tied, for each boxer the highest and lowest scores of the five judges are erased, and the winner found from the scores of the remaining three.) It was a heartbreaking moment for Indian boxing, and Vijender says of that day eight years ago: “I cried.”

Magnificant 8th gold!

2008-08-17T10:23:00.000+05:30

Phelps makes history by winning 8 golds in a single olympiad!

Cheering from the pool deck, Michael Phelps won his record eighth gold medal of the Beijing Games on Sunday to become the grandest of Olympic champions.

Jason Lezak held on to the lead Phelps gave him, anchoring the United States to a world record in the 400-meter medley relay against an Australian team that did its best to spoil history.

But Phelps, with a big hand from three teammates, would not be denied. He eclipsed Mark Spitz’s seven-gold performance at the 1972 Munich Games, an iconic performance that was surpassed by a swimmer fitting of this generation: a 23-year-old from Baltimore who loves hip-hop music, texting with his buddies and wearing his cap backward.

“I don’t even know what to feel right now,” Phelps said. “There’s so much emotion going through my head and so much excitement. I kind of just want to see my mom.”

Debbie Phelps was sitting in the stands at the Water Cube, tears streaming down her cheeks, her two daughters by her side. After getting his gold, Phelps quickly found his family, climbing through a horde of photographers to give all three of them a kiss.

Mom put her arm around his neck and gave him a little extra hug.

Her son sure earned it.

“The Beijing Olympics has witnessed the greatest Olympian of all time— Michael Phelps of the USA,” the announcer said as Phelps posed on the deck with his teammates.

Thunder 'BOLT' - The Fastest Man of the world

2008-08-17T10:17:00.000+05:30

It emanated from those loping, waist-high strides 6-foot-5 Usain Bolt churned with his golden spikes—untied lace and all—to win the 100-meter Olympic gold medal and break his own world record Saturday night.

It was there for all to see, too, in the “Is that really possible?!” gap of several feet between the Jamaican and the rest of the field at the finish. And, of course, in those bright, yellow numbers on the red-and-black trackside clock blaring the official time: 9.69 seconds.

It radiated from Usain Bolt’s wide eyes as he playfully nudged an opponent during the prerace stroll through the stadium hallways, and, moments later, when he clowned with one of the volunteers at the start line before handing her his black backpack.

It was there for all to see, too, in his “How good am I?!” mugging for the cameras with about 20 meters to go, already certain victory was steps away— outstretched arms with palms up, slap to his chest while taking the last of his oh-so-long 41 strides, leaning back to enjoy the moment instead of leaning forward in effort. And in the arms-swaying dance moves he showed off as reggae music flowed from the loudspeakers to help him celebrate.

The so said Tough fight was just blown away by Bolt. He is infact the fastest man of the world

Team FedRinka wins Gold

2008-08-17T10:13:00.000+05:30

Roger Federer extended his arms in triumph and began to hop. Then he embraced his doubles partner and they hopped together.

Federer had waited awhile for a big victory to celebrate, and when the chance came he was ready. He added a gold medal to his extensive trophy collection by teaming with Stanislas Wawrinka to win the Olympic doubles Saturday.

The Swiss duo beat Simon Aspelin and Thomas Johansson of Sweden 6-3, 6-4, 6-7 (4), 6-3.

For Federer the victory was a moment to savor in a frustrating year. He lost in the quarterfinals of Olympic singles, his Grand Slam total has been stalled at 12 since last September and his 41/2-year reign atop the rankings will end Monday when Rafael Nadal becomes No. 1.

But he’s now a medalist for the first time in his three Olympics.

“Sort of a dream-come-true moment,” Federer said. “Maybe it comes around once in a lifetime. It’s almost disbelief, to some degree.”

Venus and Serena Williams are assured of a doubles medal, too. They advanced to Sunday’s final by beating another sibling pair, Ukraine’s Alona and Kateryna Bondarenko, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1.

Federer and Nadal For gold but not against each other!

2008-08-16T13:50:00.000+05:30

Roger Federer kept alive his bid for an Olympic gold medal Friday night, joining Swiss teammate Stanislas Wawrinka to upset top-ranked American twins Bob and Mike Bryan and win a spot in the final.

The fourth-seeded Swiss pair collapsed to the ground in elation and hugged each other after beating the Bryan brothers 7-6 (6), 6-4.

“I’m very excited,” Federer said. “Having beaten the best in the world and going for gold, it’s an incredible scenario. This is a big moment in my career.”

An Olympic gold medal is one of the few glories that has eluded Federer, who holds 55 titles, including 12 Grand Slams. Federer’s best Olympic showing was a singles semifinal appearance at the 2000 Sydney Games.

The Swiss star, who is struggling to overcome a yearlong slump, came to Beijing knowing he would lose the No. 1 ranking to Rafael Nadal next week after 41/2 years on top.

Federer seldom plays doubles but brought his trademark elegance to the game, whipping off well-placed winners that had the Bryan brothers swinging their rackets at the air as balls sped by.

“He’s a genius with the ball,” Bob Bryan said.

Brother Mike added: “He plays loose, relaxed and comes up with the shots. That’s why he’s the best.”

The Bryans, who have been playing tennis since the age of 2, have won 48 titles together but never an Olympic medal. The twins reached the doubles quarterfinals in Athens four years ago.

It was the second match of the day for Federer and Wawrinka, who a few hours earlier beat Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi of India 6-2, 6-4 in a quarterfinal match that had been suspended overnight because of rain.

“They both came up guns-a-blazing,” Paes said. “We got stuck with Roger just playing unbelievable tennis.”

It was a turnaround from the night before, when Federer put on a lackluster performance in his singles quarterfinal against James Blake and was eliminated in straight sets.

Federer and Wawrinka will face unseeded Simon Aspelin and Thomas Johansson in the final Saturday. The Swedes beat French duo Arnaud Clement and Michael Llodra 7-6 (6), 4-6, 19-17.

Their third set tiebreaker went back-and-forth with head-to-head battles at net for 36 games, setting an Olympic men’s record for most games in a set. The old record was 34 games.

Phelps equals Spitz record

2008-08-16T13:47:00.000+05:30

Is Olympics looking lost, Michael Phelps decided to flap those gangly arms one more time.

Milorad Cavic, inches from spoiling it all, glided along just under the surface, convinced he had won gold.

But it didn’t matter who was fastest. Just first.

Phelps swam into history with a magnificent finish Saturday, tying Mark Spitz with his seventh gold medal by the narrowest of margins in the 100-meter butterfly.

One-hundredth of a second, the time it takes lightning to strike the ground.

Whew!

“Dream as big as you can dream and anything is possible,” Phelps said. “I am sort of in a dream world. Sometimes I have to pinch myself to make sure it is real.”

This man is just one gold away from HISTORY

Abhinav Bindra Creats History

2008-08-11T19:40:00.000+05:30

Bindra Wins India's First induvidual medal Gold

11-08-08 has turned out to be the day to be written in India's History as Abhinav Bindra won the first induvidual Gold medal for India in the 10-m Air rifle event.

Bindra had been fourth after qualifying but had a brilliant final round and the Indian, the epitome of tranquillity, hit a near perfect 10.8 on his last shot to pull in front of Henri Hakkinen of Finland, who fell to bronze with a poor final shot.

That late stumble by the Finn allowed China’s Zhu Qinan, the defending Olympic champion and heavy favourite, to salvage a bitter day with silver. Zhu sobbed uncontrollably on the podium and again at a news conference.
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“I can’t describe how happy I am,” the ever-calm Bindra told journalists. “It’s the thrill of my life. That’s about it. It’s hard to describe. I just went for it. I knew I was lying in fourth. Thankfully it went my way and I just went for it.”

Zhu suffered a lapse in concentration in the qualification earlier when he had to rush his final shots to make the time limit, dropping to second behind Hakkinen ahead of the final.

“I was under tremendous pressure and at times I felt really agitated,” Zhu said just before stepping on the podium and breaking down in tears. “But I tried my best.”

Moments later at the news conference Zhu was crying harder.

“I’ve been through a lot of hardship and shed a lot of tears in the last four years, there have been successes and failures,” he said. “After 2004 my only aim has not changed. I had so very much wanted to be a champion at the Beijing Olympics.”

He added: “In the last two rounds I made several mistakes because I had used up all my physical and mental energy.”

Bindra, who faced criticism for failing to deliver on the great promise he showed as a child, said he was not thinking about making history in India with a first individual gold medal. In fact, he said, he was “not thinking about anything”.

“I was just trying to concentrate on shooting,” he said. “I wasn’t thinking of making history. I was two points behind the leaders. I was just trying to shoot good shots. I wanted to shoot well and shoot aggressively. And that’s what I did.”

His 10.8 of a possible 10.9 on his final shot sparked loud celebrations from group of fans from India.

Hakkinen, who was even with Bindra before his mere 9.7 on his last shot, said that crucial shot felt like the nine before it.

“It just wasn’t my turn,” he said. “It shows that shooting is a sport from the first to the final shot. Every one counts.”

Randhir Singh, Indian Olympic Association secretary-general and former shooter who was present at the range, was stricken by nerves as the competition reached its climax.

“I haven’t prayed so much in my life. With the second last shot they tied together and then he (Bindra) shot a 10.8. It couldn’t have got better,” he told Indian television.

Bindra won the 2006 world championships and finished seventh in Athens four years ago

Phelps's dream stay alive!

2008-08-11T19:25:00.000+05:30

Jason Lezak churned like an unstoppable nuclear submarine, redlining to complete an impossible mission.

He pummeled the last 50 meters of water, dilating fans’ pupils and scorching their veins with adrenaline and sucking their torsos forward in their seats. He churned straight for Garrett Weber-Gale, who was cursing and howling and pounding on the starting blocks. He charged toward Cullen Jones, who jumped so frantically that he almost slipped and fell into the pool. And he roared past U.S. coach Eddie Reese, who was being squeezed nearly to death by one of his assistants.

And in the last meter of the greatest relay race in the history of the Olympics, Lezak grazed his outstretched fingertip on the wall just ahead of France’s Alain Bernard, who last week boasted of “smashing” the Americans in this event. When Reese tried to capture the moment later, he thought for a second and shook his head.

“It would have to be in the unbelievable category,” he said. “That’s the biggest word I know.”

That sounded about right, as fans milled around the Water Cube shaking their heads in disbelief, with dazed smiles, as if to say, Did that just happen?

Label it inconceivable, unimaginable or impossible. Just don’t expect the description to stick for long. The swimming world will be swapping out superlatives for ages on this one. Five – five – of the teams that took part in Monday’s 4x100 relay final beat the word record set by the United States in the preliminary round. And the new world record established by Lezak, Weber-Gale, Jones and Michael Phelps cut 3.99 seconds off the former mark.

1 down 7 to go ! Phelps create 400m world record

2008-08-10T13:18:00.000+05:30

Quest to become the best!

Michael Phelps powered to the wall and whipped around to get his time, so eager to see another amazing set of numbers that he bumped his head on the end of the pool.

Not that he felt any pain.

With President Bush cheering him on, Phelps dominated his first event of the Beijing Olympics on Sunday morning, crushing his own world record and all hopes of his challengers with a mark of 4 minutes, 3.84 seconds in the 400-meter individual medley.

One down, seven to go in Phelps’ quest to break Mark Spitz’s record of seven gold medals.

“I’m not downplaying this race by any means, but I have to put that race behind me,” Phelps said. “I have to act like it never happened because I have so many tough races ahead of me.”

Phelps had a rivalry with fellow American Lachte. But Phelps beat Lochte when it really mattered. Laszlo Cseh of Hungary took the silver in 4:06.16, while Lochte faded to third in 4:08.09—more than 4 seconds behind.

As colorful as Beijing !

2008-08-08T23:19:00.000+05:30

Olympic Games open with a mind blowing ceremony

Once-reclusive China commandeered the world stage Friday, celebrating its first-time role as Olympic host with a stunning display of pyrotechnics and pageantry—topped by the unworldly sight of a flying gymnast, traversing the heights of the stadium to light the flame and begin the Summer Games.

Now ascendant as a global power, China welcomed scores of world leaders to an opening ceremony watched by 91,000 people at the eye-catching National Stadium and a potential audience of 4 billion worldwide. It was depicted as the largest, costliest extravaganza in Olympic history, bookended by barrages of some 30,000 fireworks.

It ended in spectacular fashion, when China’s first Olympic superstar, 1984 six-time gymnastics gold medalist Li Ning, was hoisted by wires to the top of the stadium, circled the entire circumference as though he was spacewalking, then used his torch to send a torrent of flame spiraling upward to light the Olympic flame in a huge cauldron overlooking Beijing.

That was preceded by the parade of athletes, climaxing with the entry of the 639-strong Chinese team; It was led by flag-bearer and basketball idol Yao Ming alongside a 9-year-old schoolboy who survived May’s devastating earthquake in Sichuan province.

The welcome—by a frenzied, chanting, flag-waving crowd that sought to cool itself with paper fans in the stifling heat—was thunderous. And moments later, the crowd erupted again when President Hu Jintao declared the games formally open.

President Bush and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin were among the glittering roster of notables who watched China make this bold declaration that it had arrived. Bush, rebuked by China after he raised human-rights concerns this week, is the first U.S. president to attend an Olympics on foreign soil.

Already an economic juggernaut, China is given a good chance of overtaking the U.S. atop the gold-medal standings with its legions of athletes trained intensely since childhood. One dramatic showdown will be in women’s gymnastics, where the U.S. and Chinese teams are co-favorites; in the pool, Chinese divers and U.S. swimmers are expected to dominate.

The run-up to the games had epic story lines—China investing $40 billion to build the needed infrastructure, reeling from the catastrophic earthquake in May, struggling right up to Friday to diminish Beijing’s stubborn smog. China’s detentions of political activists, its crackdown on uprisings in Tibet and its economic ties to Sudan—home of the war-torn Darfur region—fueled relentless criticisms from human rights groups and calls for an Olympic boycott.

Second-guessed for awarding the games to Beijing, the International Olympic Committee stood firmly by its decision. It was time, the committee said, to bring the games to the homeland of 1.3 billion people, a fifth of humanity.

“For a long time, China has dreamed of opening its doors and inviting the world’s athletes to Beijing for the Olympic Games,” IOC President Jacques Rogge said in his speech. “Tonight, that dream comes true.”

Rogge mentioned the Sichuan earthquake, saying the world was moved “by the great courage and solidarity of the Chinese people.” And he exhorted the assembled athletes, as role models for the world’s youth, to “reject doping and cheating.”

The story presented in Friday’s pageantry sought to distill 5,000 years of Chinese history—featuring everything from the Great Wall to opera puppets to astronauts, and highlighting achievements in art, music and science. Roughly 15,000 people were in the cast, all under the direction of Zhang Yimou, whose early films often often ran afoul of government censors for their blunt portrayals of China’s problems.

He produced some majestic and ethereal imagery—at one point a huge, translucent globe emerged from the stadium floor, and acrobats floated magically around it to the accompaniment of the games’ theme song, “One World, One Dream.”

The show’s script steered clear of modern politics—there were no references to Chairman Mao and the class struggle, nor to the more recent conflicts and controversies. The ceremony was taped for broadcast 12 hours later in the United States.
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A record 204 delegations paraded their athletes through the stadium— superstars such as tennis great Roger Federer and basketball’s Kobe Bryant, as well as plucky underdogs from Iraq, Afghanistan and other embattled lands. The nations were marching not in the traditional alphabetical order but in a sequence based on the number of strokes it takes to write their names in Chinese. The exceptions were Greece, birthplace of the Olympics, which was given its traditional place at the start, and the Chinese team, which lined up last.

Athletes from Japan, an old foe and current economic rival of China, were greeted coolly by the crowd even though they waved tiny Chinese flags. But cheers erupted for the next delegation, Taiwan, which China considers a breakaway province that should reunite with the mainland.

The U.S. team—second-largest after China’s with nearly 600 members—was welcomed loudly, with many in crowd recognizing the basketball stars who brought up the rear. Bush rose from his VIP seat to wave at the athletes, nattily dressed in white trousers, blue blazers, red-white-and-blue-striped ties and white caps.
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“It was a breathtaking experience walking into the stadium,” said Oganna Nnamani, a volleyball player from Bloomington, Ill. “I am thankful to be part of this moment.”

“This is the biggest stage,” said LeBron James, who hopes to lead the U.S. basketball team to a gold medal.

The American flag-bearer was 1500-meter runner Lopez Lomong, one of the Lost Boys of Sudan, who spent a decade of his youth in a refugee camp in Kenya. He’s a member of the Team Darfur coalition, representing athletes opposed to China’s support for Sudan. On Friday he avoided any criticism and said the Chinese “have been great putting all these things together.”

Abroad, human rights activists were less generous.

“The Chinese government and the International Olympic Committee have wasted a historic opportunity to use the Beijing Games to make real progress on human rights in China,” said Sophie Richardson of Human Rights Watch.

For Chinese dissidents who have dared to challenge the Communist Party’s monopoly on power, the start of the Olympics meant tighter surveillance and restrictions.

“It’s not my Olympic Games,” said Jiang Tianyong, a human rights lawyer. “It’s not the games for the ordinary people.”

By all indications, however, most Chinese have embraced the games, buying up tickets at a record pace, volunteering by the thousands for Olympic duties, nursing expectations of triumphs by their home team.

To their eyes, the omens were good. The ceremony began at 8 p.m. on the eighth day of the eighth month of 2008—auspicious in a country where eight is the luckiest number.

“It not easy to meet with such a date,” said Wang Wei, secretary general of Beijing Organizing Committee. “Hopefully this lucky day will bring luck.”