Monday, November 30, 2009

Bopanna-Aisam wins Germany ATP Challenger event


Rohan Bopanna and his Pakistani partner Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi won their second ATP Challenger doubles title of the season after a Rohan Bopanna straight set victory over Philipp Marx and Igor Zelenay in the final of Aachen event in Germany.

The second seed Indo-Pak pair scored a 6-4, 7-6 (8-6) victory over the third seeds German-Slovak duo of Philipp Marx and Igor Zelenay in the final of the euro 42,500 event.

Bopanna and Qureshi had won their first doubles title together this year at the Khorat Open in Thailand in March. They had also reached the final of the ATP 250 event in San Jose along with Jarkko Nieminen of Finland in February.

An elated Bopanna said, "It feels great to win a title after a three-month injury layoff and this is the second one Qureshi and I have won this year. Hopefully this trophy will improve my chances of finding a partner for Australian Open next year. I'm aiming to end the year on a winning note.

Serena Williams earns fine, probation for U.S. Open outburst


Serena Williams was fined a record amount for her infamous U.S. Open tirade three months ago and has been placed on an unprecedented two-year probationary period at Grand Slam events. She will have to pay an $82,500 fine and avoid a "major offense" at the next eight major events or the fine would increase to $175,000 and she would be barred from the following U.S. Open. Though it seems harsh (and the headlines play up the severity of the rebuke), the punishment isn't nearly as bad as it seems.

Serena, of course, screamed at a lineswoman during a semifinal match against Kim Clijsters and was docked a penalty point which ended up giving her opponent the match. Since then, the worry in her camp was that she would be suspended for one, or multiple, Grand Slam events. She avoided that punishment and won't earn a tournament ban unless she has a similar incident over the next two years. Given the fact that Serena's outburst was more the exception than the rule (translation: she's not John McEnroe), it seems likely she'll avoid further sanction.

As for the fine, $82,500 is a big number, but Serena routinely makes three times as much for just showing up at overseas events. Last year she signed a $2 million endorsement deal with Hewlett Packard, this year she became the face of Tampax. And we haven't even mentioned her long-time deal with Nike. In 2008, Forbes said Serena made $14 million through prize money, appearance fees and endorsements. For her, having to cut a check for $82,500 is more an annoyance than anything.

The biggest question is why it took so long to make the decision about Serena's punishment? As we wrote at the beginning of the month, there wasn't much investigating to do here. This wasn't the Warren Commission. The Grand Slam officials needed to speak to Serena, the lineswoman, the chair umpire and, perhaps, any other U.S. Open officials within earshot. Stringing Serena along for three months was unfair and unnecessarily kept the story in the spotlight for longer than necessary. There was no reason this couldn't have been figured out in late-September. (Plus releasing the news of a Monday morning after a holiday weekend only intensified the interest. Learn from politicians and dump the news on a Saturday morning).

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Tennis star's love match


Tennis babe Maria Sharapova has sparked rumours of romance with fellow court star Andy Roddick.

The leggy blonde caused speculation she was dating the handsome sportsman, whose ex-girlfriend is actress Mandy Moore, when he turned up to support her at the launch of her new perfume in New York.

Last week, Maria was reported to be seeing Maroon 5 frontman Adam Levine.

But she was quick to laugh of all rumours of romance at the launch party.

She joked: "Right now I'm known to be dating three guys. So I guess I'm just a cheater. What can I say?"

Earlier this month, reports claimed Levine had secretly been dating Maria - who won the Wimbledon tennis tournament in 2004 - since serenading her at her 18th birthday bash in New York.

A source revealed at the time: "Adam always has a lot of women after him, but he really likes Maria and they have been seeing each other quietly for several months."

Adam, whose hits include 'She Will Be Loved' and 'This Love', has previously dated 'Star Wars' actress Natalie Portman and model Kelly McGee.

Saturday, November 14, 2009

What is sports?



Sport is an activity that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often engaged in competitively. Sports commonly refer to activities where the physical capabilities of the competitor are the sole or primary determinant of the outcome (winning or losing), but the term is also used to include activities such as mind sports (a common name for some card games and board games with little to no element of chance) and motor sports where mental acuity or equipment quality are major factors. Sport is commonly defined as an organized, competitive and skillful physical activity requiring commitment and fair play. Some view sports as differing from games based on the fact that there are usually higher levels of organization and profit (not always monetary) involved in sports. Accurate records are kept and updated for most sports at the highest levels, while failures and accomplishments are widely announced in sport news.

The term sports is sometimes extended to encompass all competitive activities in which offense and defense are played, regardless of the level of physical activity. Both games of skill and motor sport exhibit many of the characteristics of physical sports, such as skill, sportsmanship, and at the highest levels, even professional sponsorship associated with physical sports.

Sports that are subjectively judged are distinct from other judged activities such as beauty pageants and bodybuilding shows, because in the former the activity performed is the primary focus of evaluation, rather than the physical attributes of the contestant as in the latter (although "presentation" or "presence" may also be judged in both activities).

Sports are most often played just for fun or for the simple fact that people need exercise to stay in good physical condition.

Although they do not always succeed, sports participants are expected to display good sportsmanship, standards of conduct such as being respectful of opponents and officials, and congratulating the winner when losing.


History

There are artifacts and structures that suggest that the Chinese engaged in sporting activities as early as 4000 BC. Gymnastics appears to have been a popular sport in China's ancient past. Monuments to the Pharaohs indicate that a number of sports, including swimming and fishing, were well-developed and regulated several thousands of years ago in ancient Egypt. Other Egyptian sports included javelin throwing, high jump, and wrestling. Ancient Persian sports such as the traditional Iranian martial art of Zourkhaneh had a close connection to the warfare skills. Among other sports that originate in Persia are polo and jousting.

A wide range of sports were already established by the time of Ancient Greece and the military culture and the development of sports in Greece influenced one another considerably. Sports became such a prominent part of their culture that the Greeks created the Olympic Games, which in ancient times were held every four years in a small village in the Peloponnesus called Olympia.

Sports have been increasingly organized and regulated from the time of the Ancient Olympics up to the present century. Industrialization has brought increased leisure time to the citizens of developed and developing countries, leading to more time for citizens to attend and follow spectator sports, greater participation in athletic activities, and increased accessibility. These trends continued with the advent of mass media and global communication. Professionalism became prevalent, further adding to the increase in sport's popularity, as sports fans began following the exploits of professional athletes through radio, television, and the internet—all while enjoying the exercise and competition associated with amateur participation in sports.

In the new millennium, new sports have been going further from the physical aspect to the mental or psychological aspect of competing. Electronic sports organizations are becoming more and more popular.

Activities where the outcome is determined by judgement over execution are considered performances, or competition.


Sportsmanship


Sportsmanship is an attitude that strives for fair play, courtesy toward teammates and opponents, ethical behaviour and integrity, and grace in victory or defeat.
Sportsmanship expresses an aspiration or ethos that the activity will be enjoyed for its own sake. The well-known sentiment by sports journalist Grantland Rice, that it's “not that you won or lost but how you played the game," and the Modern Olympic creed expressed by its founder Pierre de Coubertin: "The most important thing . . . is not winning but taking part" are typical expressions of this sentiment.
Violence in sports involves crossing the line between fair competition and intentional aggressive violence. Athletes, coaches, fans, and parents sometimes unleash violent behaviour on people or property, in misguided shows of loyalty, dominance, anger, or celebration. Rioting or hooliganism are common and ongoing problems at national and international sporting contests.

Professionalism

The entertainment aspect of sports, together with the spread of mass media and increased leisure time, has led to professionalism in sports. This has resulted in some conflict, where the paycheck can be seen as more important than recreational aspects, or where the sports are changed simply to make them more profitable and popular, thereby losing certain valued traditions.

The entertainment aspect also means that sportsmen and women are often elevated to celebrity status.

Politics

At times, sports and politics can have a large amount of influence on each other.

When apartheid was the official policy in South Africa, many sports people, particularly in rugby union, adopted the conscientious approach that they should not appear in competitive sports there. Some feel this was an effective contribution to the eventual demolition of the policy of apartheid, others feel that it may have prolonged and reinforced its worst effects.

The 1936 Summer Olympics held in Berlin was an illustration, perhaps best recognised in retrospect, where an ideology was developing which used the event to strengthen its spread through propaganda.
In the history of Ireland, Gaelic sports were connected with cultural nationalism. Until the mid 20th century a person could have been banned from playing Gaelic football, hurling, or other sports administered by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) if she/he played or supported soccer, or other games seen to be of British origin. Until recently the GAA continued to ban the playing of soccer and rugby union at Gaelic venues. This ban is still enforced, but has been modified to allow football and rugby be played in Croke Park while Lansdowne Road is being redeveloped. Until recently, under Rule 21, the GAA also banned members of the British security forces and members of the RUC from playing Gaelic games, but the advent of the Good Friday Agreement in 1998 led to the eventual removal of the ban.

Nationalism is often evident in the pursuit of sports, or in its reporting: people compete in national teams, or commentators and audiences can adopt a partisan view. On occasion, such tensions can lead to violent confrontation among players or spectators within and beyond the sporting venue (see Football War). These trends are seen by many as contrary to the fundamental ethos of sports being carried on for its own sake and for the enjoyment of its participants.


Physical art

Sports have many affinities with art. Ice skating and Tai chi, and Dancesport for example, are sports that come close to artistic spectacles in themselves. Similarly, there are other activities that have elements of sport and art in their execution, such as artistic gymnastics, Bodybuilding, Parkour, performance art, Yoga, bossaball, dressage, culinary arts, etc. Perhaps the best example is Bull-fighting, which in Spain is reported in the arts pages of newspapers. The fact that art is so close to sports in some situations is probably related to the nature of sports. The definition of "sports" above put forward the idea of an activity pursued not just for the usual purposes, for example, running not simply to get places, but running for its own sake, running as well as we can.

This is similar to a common view of aesthetic value, which is seen as something over and above the strictly functional value coming from an object's normal use. So an aesthetically pleasing car is one which doesn't just get from A to B, but which impresses us with its grace, poise, and charisma.

In the same way, a sporting performance such as jumping doesn't just impress us as being an effective way to avoid obstacles or to get across streams. It impresses us because of the ability, skill, and style which is shown.

Art and sports were probably more clearly linked at the time of Ancient Greece, when gymnastics and calisthenics invoked admiration and aesthetic appreciation for the physical build, prowess and 'arete' displayed by participants. The modern term 'art' as skill, is related to this ancient Greek term 'arete'. The closeness of art and sport in these times was revealed by the nature of the Olympic Games which, as we have seen, were celebrations of both sporting and artistic achievements, poetry, sculpture and architecture.

Technology


Technology has an important role in sports, whether applied to an athlete's health, the athlete's technique, or equipment's characteristics.

Equipment As sports have grown more competitive, the need for better equipment has arose. Golf clubs, football helmets, baseball bats, soccer balls, hockey skates, and other equipment have all seen considerable changes when new technologies have been applied.

Health Ranging from nutrition to the treatment of injuries, as the knowledge of the human body has deepened over time, an athlete's potential has been increased. Athletes are now able to play to an older age, recover more quickly from injuries, and train more effectively than previous generations of athletes.

Instruction Advancing technology created new opportunities for research into sports. It is now possible to analyse aspects of sports that were previously out of the reach of comprehension. Being able to use motion capture to capture an athlete's movement, or advanced computer simulations to model physical scenarios has greatly increased an athlete's ability to understand what they are doing and how they can improve themselves.

Terminology


In British English, sporting activities are commonly denoted by the collective noun "sport". In American English, "sports" is more used. In all English dialects, "sports" is the term used for more than one specific sport. For example, "football and swimming are my favourite sports", would sound natural to all English speakers, whereas "I enjoy sport" would sound less natural than "I enjoy sports" to North Americans.

The term "sport" is sometimes extended to encompass all competitive activities, regardless of the level of physical activity. Both games of skill and motor sport exhibit many of the characteristics of physical sports, such as skill, sportsmanship, and at the highest levels, even professional sponsorship associated with physical sports. Air sports, billiards, bridge, chess, motorcycle racing, and powerboating are all recognized as sports by the International Olympic Committee with their world governing bodies represented in the Association of the IOC Recognised International Sports Federations.

Friday, November 13, 2009

Pakistan vs newzealand 2nd t20 international


Pakistan beat newzealand by 7 runs in t20 match played in Dubai. Umar Akmal score wonderful 50. He is the man of the match. Umar Gul took 2 wickets, Afridi took 1 wicket and score 22. Ajmal took 1 wicket.Pakistan also took a world record of consistence 17 victory in t20 international. Afridi shows his happiness after winning match.

Summary

pak vs nz


Pakistan 153/5 (20/20 ov)

New Zealand 146/5 (20.0/20 ov)

Pakistan won by 7 runs

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Advertising in sports

Introduction

How does sports lend itself to advertising on television? Television has transformed sports into a lucrative business, where the money made around the games is seen as more important than winning the contests. Are sports traditions compromised so they can be better received by television viewers?

History of Sports Television


Television in America was born at the opening ceremonies of the 1939 World's Fair when it was broadcasted on David Sarnoff's NBC network. Sarnoff declared " we have added sight to sound" and that it was bound to affect all of society. (Schwartz, 2002). Since the advent of radio Americans took to this medium for news and entertainment. A voice painted a picture of wars, comedy routines and of Babe Ruth smacking a homerun out of Yankee Stadium (Rader, 1984).

Although 1939 signaled the beginning of the television age, it was still at the early stages and open to experimentation. On May 17 1939, legendary radio broadcaster Bill Stern's voice came across the airwaves; along with it were live pictures of Baker Field at Columbia University. Several hundred at the RCA pavilion, including Orrin E. Dunlap Jr. of The New York Times, viewed the game (Rader, 1984). That following Sunday, Dunlap had this to say about televised baseball:

The televiewer lacks freedom; seeing baseball on television is too confining, for the novelty would not hold up for more than an hour, if it were not for the commentator.

To see the fresh green of the field as The Mighty Casey advances to the bat, and the dust fly as he defiantly digs in, is a thrill to the eye that cannot be electrified and flashed through space on a May Day, no matter how clear the air.

What would Christy Mathewson, Smokey Joe Wood, Home Run Baker, Eddie Collins, Frank Chance, Tris Speaker, Ty Cobb, Rube Marquard and those old timers think of such a turn of affairs- baseball from a sofa! (as cited in Rader, 1984,17)

Experimental network W2XBS continued to televise sporting events through 1939 and 1940. Some of which were the first professional sporting event televised in America between the Cincinnati Reds and Brooklyn Dodgers, and the first professional football game between the Brooklyn Dodgers and Philadelphia Eagles. Few fans watched these games because television sets were not selling due to lack of quality programming and little money from advertisers. Soon all television experimentations were ceased due to the war effort (Rader, 1984).

Two years before W2XBS began experimenting with televised sports, The BBC in London broadcasted all matches from Centre Court at Wimbledon. More than sixty years later the two-week tennis tournament put on by the All England Lawn and Tennis Club is still broadcast by the BBC and seen by a worldwide audience. The BBC continued broadcasting sporting events up until 1939, including soccer matches from Wembly Stadium and boat races. These were met with much success in England but were brought to a halt due to the Second World War (Barnett, 1990).

At the conclusion of the war television in the United States and England resumed. In America the golden age of television was on its way and it also brought upon the first era of television sports. The first era found sports easily controlled for large audiences to gain popularity. These sports included wrestling, roller derby, and boxing. Wrestling went from a mighty battle of grappling artists to a theatrical fight between good and bad. Roller Derby added fake violence to a sport were the goal is to skate oval, and boxing substituted slugfests for finesse fights (Rader, 1984).

In the 1960s color television, slow motion, and replays brought more control to outdoor team sports, such as baseball and football. Television audiences for these sports began to grow, hurting attendance. Colleges took action by reducing the number of games being telecast. Professional sports, such as the NFL, embraced television and used it to propel them into a form of entertainment.

The second era began with the increased popularity of football, and baseball on television and was officially set policy changes by the networks (Rader, 1984).

Prior to the 1960s, sports had small portions of network budgets and programming time. That changed when "doormat network", ABC, made sports the centerpiece of their programming. The boldest move was the launch of Monday Night Football. For the first time professional sports were up against programs like the movie of the week. This move propelled ABC to the top in ratings. By the mid 1970s, NBC and CBS would follow suit (Rader, 1984).

A war between the three major networks had begun. By the 1980s the hours of televised sports had doubled in comparison to ten years before. The rights to telecast professional and college sports along with the Olympics were driven to incredible amounts of money. Sports were packaged to be more appealing to television, in effect compromising the nature of the games (Rader, 1984).

The Commercialism of Sports

The second era has changed the landscape of both television and sports. The leagues and teams are bringing in millions of dollars from television contracts. The television networks pay for these contracts with the money they receive from advertisers paying for airtime on their telecasts of these sporting events. The effects that this money has caused since the beginning of the second era to know are insurmountable (Chandler, 1988).

The profitability of sports on television has caused leagues to expand to cities with large media outlets as well as to expand the length of their seasons. From this athletes have been put on a pedestal. They command large salaries and put a much larger strain on their bodies to perform than the players in the past (Klatell & Marcus 1988).

Television executives will point out that without the money from television, many events would not exist. To accommodate for television, sports have had to adjust schedules, the pace of games, and the locations. Professional baseball went from a sport played mostly in the afternoon to a game that is mostly seen now in the evening under artificial lights. Basketball, hockey, and football have added television timeouts to break for commercials. (Klattell& Marcus, 1988).

Television's influence has brought upon on-site banners, logo, and sponsor tie-ins. Arenas and stadiums are covered with billboards. The networks sell ad space for such things as the halftime report, or the official beer of the event (Klatell& Marcus, 1988). For example, NBC's coverage of the 2002 Winter Olympic Games used tie-ins along with commercial breaks. One of these tie-ins was the "Chevy Moments". These were personal profiles produced by NBC and sponsored by Chevy to attract viewers to some of the lesser-known athletes that are only heard of every four years (Goetz & Thomaselli, 2002). Another example is Tuner Sports' "AT&T Half Time Report," used for their NBA programming (Cassidy, 2001).

Regular sporting events usually bring in low ratings. In Television and National Sport, Chandler (1988) evaluated television ratings for the week of September 28, 1980. The highest rated sporting event was "Monday Night Football," and it was twenty-forth overall, behind hit shows of the time like Little House on The Prairie, and The Jefferson's. His research goes on to show that regularly scheduled sporting events fell short in the ratings.

The big ratings for sports come from the big events, such as the Super Bowl, World Series, and the Olympics (Chandler, 1988). Five of the top ten all time top rated programs in America are sporting events. Four of those are super bowls including "Super Bowl XVI," played in 1982 between The San Francisco 49ers and the Cincinnati Bengals, the highest rated sporting event. It pulled in a 49.1 rating, seen by nearly half of the television sets in America and it is fourth overall (Brown & Morrison, 2000)

The one high rated sporting event that is not a Super Bowl is, the women's figure skating final from the 1994 Winter Olympics. It is the third most watched sporting event and sixth overall with a 48.5 rating. It was so widely watched due to the circumstances involving two of the competitors, Tonya Harding, and Nancy Kerrigan (Brown & Morrison, 2000).

Normally, one of the largest television events of the year is the Super Bowl. Averaging nearly eighty millions viewers, the Super Bowl commands over two million dollars per thirty seconds of commercial time. Watching the commercials has become a separate part of the festivities. The Super Bowl held February 3, 2002 was not so super when it came to advertising. A mix of dealing with a sagging economy and competition from the Olympics being held the same month, took away from the normally biggest ad day of the year (Lowry, Khermouch & Grover, 2002).

For the first time the rate for commercial spots dropped. Although there was a drop, the Fox Network still managed profit over one hundred million dollars. Seventeen days of exposure on the worlds biggest stage was too enticing for such companies as Nike, and Volkswagen (Lowry, Khermouch & Grover, 2002).

Along with the seventeen days, another key reason for choosing the Olympics over the super bowl is women viewers. Advertisers choose to target women, with the logic that they do most of the shopping in American homes. Executive Vice President of NBC Olympics, David Neal said in Advertising Age (Goetz & Thomaselli, 2002) "figure skating is the crown jewel of any Winter Olympics. It appeals to all demographics, but particularly to women."

Safin ends career with Paris Masters defeat



PARIS, Nov 11 (Reuters) - Former world number one Marat Safin ended his playing career with a 6-4 5-7 6-4 defeat by U.S. Open champion Juan Martin del Porto at the Paris Masters on Wednesday.

The 29-year-old Russian, who had saved three match points to squeeze past French qualifier Thierry Ascione in the first round of his final tournament on Monday, fought bravely against the Argentine world number five.

“I knew there were not many chances I would beat him but I played pretty well, had pretty close calls,” said Safin, who was warmly cheered on by the crowd at the Bercy hall and greeted with rounds of the Mexican wave.

Showing glimpses of his old form, Safin, who has not won a title since the 2005 Australian Open, challenged Del Porto by taking a tight second set.

Safin, who held the number one spot for several weeks in 2000 and 2001 but has dropped out of the top 50, was broken in the third game of the decisive set and his opponent then stayed in control.

The Russian, who won the Paris event three times, saved a match point at 5-3 down with a forehand winner but Del Potro then served for the match, sealing victory with an ace.

“This is where it all started and this where it finishes,” said Safin, who burst into the limelight as a teenage qualifier at the 1998 French Open, posting wins over Andre Agassi and Gustavo Kuerten. “There was no better place to do this.”

REBELLIOUS SPIRIT

The gifted but erratic Russian, who also won the 2000 U.S. Open, defeating Pete Sampras in a memorable final, was once regarded as one of the world’s most spectacular players and will also be remembered for his rebellious spirit and dry humour.

The rise of Roger Federer, then Rafael Nadal, and a string of injuries meant, however, that the hugely talented Safin could not live up to high expectations.

“I was a decent player,” he said. “Just in general, I’ve been great to everybody, even if I had a few fights with chair umpires.”

Safin said he was not sure what he would do next but was delighted to be freed from the gruelling routine of competitive tennis.

“Now I have no schedule, no practices, no nothing,” he said. “I belong to myself. Tomorrow I’ll wake up and see what I want to do.”

Asked if he could emulate Agassi by coming up with a book of revelations, Safin said: “I’m not writing a book, no chance. All my memories, all my secrets will stay with me.”

Ronaldo ruled out of Bosnia World Cup playoff


* Portugal tests conclude Ronaldo not fit to join squad

* Winger will miss World Cup playoff matches against Bosnia

* Ankle injury picked up in late Sept. still not healed

(adds background)

By Shrikesh Laxmidas

OBIDOS, Portugal, Nov 10 (Reuters) - Portugal winger Cristiano Ronaldo will miss the two-legged World Cup playoff against Bosnia, the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF) said in a statement on Tuesday.

Ronaldo has not recovered from an ankle injury and will not play in the game in Lisbon on Saturday and in Zenica four days later.

“After a clinical evaluation, it was concluded that the player does not meet the physical conditions to join the national squad training for the (Bosnia playoff) matches,” the FPF said.

Real Madrid’s world record signing suffered the injury in late September which was aggravated in Portugal’s 3-0 win over Hungary 10 days later and he has not played since.

Real had said earlier on Tuesday that Ronaldo would travel to Portugal to be examined by national team doctors, after complaining about coach Carlos Queiroz’s decision to call him up.

The club said last Friday that Ronaldo needed two more weeks of treatment. Director general Jorge Valdano had said playing him now would be a serious mistake.

Queiroz denied there was a row with Real over whether the winger should play.

“The steps are simple—there is a call up, an evaluation, a decision, and then life goes on,” Queiroz told a news conference.

NBA: Refs' call correct after Nuggets-Bulls review


NEW YORK – The NBA says the review that overturned a winning shot by Chicago's Brad Miller was correct and handled appropriately.

Referees looked at video replay for about three minutes before determining that Miller's shot came after the final buzzer, giving Denver a 90-89 victory on Tuesday night. Though a review is supposed to be completed in a two-minute period, crew chief Mark Wunderlich then asked the truck if there were any additional angles.

He was provided with the overhead view that showed the ball was still on Miller's fingertips at the buzzer.

NBA spokesman Tim Frank says Wednesday "the replay was handled by the book and the referee made the right decision," adding there was no issue with the officials taking extra time

Sunday, November 8, 2009

pakistan beat japan in world cup and qualify for the world cup hockey 2010


Pakistan beat japan by 3-1 in world cup and qualify for the world cup hockey 2010. Sohail Abbas score 2 goal and Abdul Haseem khan score 1. Pakistan show his strength in starting of match Abdul Haseem Khan opened the scoring for Pakistan four minutes after the start before Sohail Abbas came into action with a 24th minute conversion of a short corner.Japan reduced the margin through Shibushi who found the target from a penalty corner in the 27th minute with Pakistan leading 2-1 at the halfway stage.



Sohail Abbas widened Pakistan’s lead with another successful strike in the second period of a fast-paced match.

Pakistan then missed a couple of sitters but their defence, particularly the goalkeeper, stood firm against the repeated Japanese attacks, according to reports available here.



With victory in the play-off match to decide the first position in this six-Nation qualifying tournament, Pakistan grabbed the lone qualifying spot for the final round of the hockey World Cup 2010 to be played at New Delhi (India) in February-March next year.



Pakistan, the four-times World Cup winners, will now join the nine other teams, with two places still up for grabs, which have already made it to the final round.



International Hockey Federation (FIH) will soon hold another two qualifying tournaments, one in New Zealand and the other in Argentina, to fill the vacant berths for the final round.



The final standings in the qualifying round at Lille were:1-Pakistan, 2-Japan, 3-Poland, 4-France, 5-Russia, 6-Italy.



Pakistan, which had to appear in the World Cup qualifiers for the first time ever, had beaten Japan 6-1 in the league, also defeating Italy, Russia, France before being beaten by Poland in the last league encounter.



Despite defeat by Poland, Pakistan topped the league points table, thus setting up a first-position duel against fellow Asians Japan.

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Aisam press conference before next match


" I am very happy after defeating Roger Federer in street set 6-3 6-4 . I have a dream to defeat him and which has comes mostly true. We will try to win this title. I want to defeat Federer in single match in a big Slam Of Tennis event."

Phillies' Rollins yearns to be king of the hill, top of the heap


NEW YORK — The stage is the biggest. The lights are the brightest. The stakes are the highest.

This is New York City. And this, Jimmy Rollins says, is where the Philadelphia Phillies will win the World Series, for the second year in a row, and become one of the greatest teams in the past half-century.

The Yankees might be up 3-2 with Game 6 scheduled today at Yankee Stadium, but the Phillies shortstop packed his bags for two games. "Phillies in seven," Rollins says.

The Phillies would become the first visiting team to throw a party at the Yankees' new $1.5 billion crib.

"Wow, playing the Yankees in the World Series, and now to beat them at Yankee Stadium," Rollins says. "It doesn't get any better than that.

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Hendon: The week that was


Eurosport commentator David Hendon looks back on the week that was, including Rory McLeod's win at the Masters qualifying event.

So well done to Rory McLeod for winning the Masters qualifying event.

His career seems to have blossomed much later than you would expect. Rory's 38 now but in the last year made three successive centuries against Ronnie O'Sullivan at the UK Championship, qualified for the Crucible for the first time and is now Wembley bound.

A Wellingborough boy of Jamaican parents, McLeod now lives in Qatar.

During the Masters qualifiers he spent time between matches listening to verses from the Koran in an attempt to relax himself. It obviously worked and he now waits to see whether he will play Mark Williams or Mark King.

This will depend on who the other wildcard is. Liang Wenbo is hot favourite and will surely only miss out if there is a shock winner of the UK Championship.

You will recall McLeod and King played out a long, often tedious match at the World Championship last season that went into an extra session, so if they are paired together again I fear for the sanity of whoever is making the decision.

Better to pair McLeod with Williams and King with Liang.

Not that Rory will care who he plays. Snooker professionals at all levels are well used to the setbacks and disappointments that inevitably come as part and parcel of a sporting career.

This, though, is a moment to relish.

The Masters is the game's most prestigious invitation tournament and to many players second only to the World Championship in terms of prestige.

Stephen Hendry won it a record six times and has appeared in a record nine finals.

He likes a record, does Stephen, just as he likes a trophy.

On Sunday he won his 74th in defeating Ken Doherty 5-3 to win the first 110sport Legends event in Glenrothes.

I can report it was a fun weekend, although the action was serious as the old warhorses locked horns once again.

I was alarmed by the sight of a frail Alex Higgins unable to produce any sort of form but cheered by Cliff Thorburn's warmth towards him and the Canadian's general charisma.

Hendry was a fitting winner, given that his legendary status cannot be questioned.

He remains snooker's greatest ever player. Tony Drago, with whom I did some commentary, also pointed out that he has profoundly changed snooker.

"Stephen is the most attacking player I have ever played. All the players who have come since have copied him," he said.

While we were enjoying ourselves in Scotland, Ricky Walden was out pounding the streets as he completed the New York marathon in a time of four hours, 17 minutes.

That sounds pretty good to me and Ricky raised around £1,500 for the Teenage Cancer Trust.

Meanwhile, the WPBSA board member, Jim McMahon, made an attempt to broker peace in the civil war afflicting Scottish amateur snooker and came very close, but the old order - having agreed on a way forward with the rival group - reneged on it at the last minute.

The WPBSA understandably withdrew from the mediation process and have now taken away the main tour place for Scotland.

While I was in Scotland I heard nothing but bad things about those who have been running Scottish Snooker for the last few years.

Their actions have now resulted in the young Scottish players they are supposed to be representing suffering the ignominy of not having a place on the circuit to play for.

If this doesn't galvanise action north of the border, surely nothing will.

Next up in November is Pro Challenge Series event three in Leicester, followed by the UK Championship qualifiers.

Also, the IBSF world amateur championship takes place in India, starting on the 15th.

NPB Japanese Baseball Draft Winners: Hiroshima Carp


The Hiroshima Carp came away from the NPB Japanese baseball draft the hands down winners on Thursday. After swiping up Ren Nakata last year from hometown Koryo High School, the Carp added to their young pitching corps by snagging Takeru Imamura from Seiho High School with their first pick, and adding pitcher Shota Dobayashi from Koshien winners Chukyo High School in round two. Imamura is thought to be the second best player in the draft behing Yusei Kikuchi, who was awared to the Seibu Lions by lottery.

If that was not impressive enough, in the third round they grabbed Hisashi Takeuchi, arguably one of the best pitchers at the college level from Hosei University and infielder Hayato Shoji from Tokoha Kikukawa High School in Shizuoka, who improved his stock greatly in the 2009 Koshien tournament.

Afridi inspires Pakistan to crushing victory


ABU DHABI: Shahid Afridi smashed 70 off 50 deliveries and took two wickets Tuesday to lead Pakistan to a 138-run win over New Zealand in the first one-day international.

Afridi put on 101 in less than 15 overs with Kamran Akmal, who made 67 not out from 43 balls, to help Pakistan reach 287-9 after having lost two wickets for no runs at the start of its innings.

Akmal belted five boundaries and four sixes, while Afridi hammered four fours and three sixes.

Khalid Latif, playing in only his second ODI and replacing the more experienced Shoaib Malik, made 64 from 112 balls.

Afridi was then one of four Pakistan bowlers to take two wickets, finishing with 2-46 as New Zealand was dismissed for 149 with more than 10 overs remaining at the neutral venue of Sheikh Zayed Stadium.

Aaron Redmond top-scored with 52 for New Zealand, while captain Daniel Vettori made 38.
Captain Younis Khan hailed the victory as a ‘complete team performance.’

‘We started on the wrong foot, but luckily Afridi and Akmal did the job for us,’ he said.

Mohammad Yousuf and Umar Akmal put on 54 in 15 overs to rebuild Pakistan's innings after fast bowler Shane Bond dismissed opener Salman Butt and captain Younis Khan in his first two overs.

Yousuf was then run out by Martin Guptill as he hesisted for a quick single, and Umar Akmal was bowled by an arm ball from Vettori to leave Pakistan were 75-4 in the 24th over.

Afridi, the captain of Pakistan's Twenty20 side, and Latif then picked up the momentum. Afridi brought up his 30th half-century in only 37 balls, hitting across the line on a flat pitch with plenty of bounce to step up the run rate.

Latif had a slice of luck on 34 when he was dropped by wicketkeeper Brendon McCullum down the leg side.

Only Jacob Oram kept his composure as Afridi cut loose despite just returning from a hamstring injury.
Afridi departed in the 42nd over, moving across for a paddle sweep but holing out to Ian Butler at short fine leg off Oram.

That left Pakistan on 176, and Latif was out eight runs later after deflecting a ball from Vettori on to his stumps.

Kamran Akmal and Abdul Razzaq (26 from 20 balls) helped Pakistan score 104 runs in the last nine overs.

Bond finished with 2-61, while New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori took 2-34.

New Zealand also made a sedate start after a tight spell by new ball bowlers Mohammad Aamer and Umar Gul. Both worked up decent pace. Aamer, hailed as the next Akram, was particularly impressive with his first seven overs costing only 15 runs.

He bowled Brendon McCullum for 21 and Martin Guptill for 4 within two overs after both tried to force the pace.

Younis' persistence with Aamer also paid off as Ross Taylor was caught behind for 0 by Kamran Akmal to an angling delivery to leave New Zealand on 35-3 in the 11th over.

Scott Styris went for 5 only 15 runs later, caught by substitute Imran Farhat off Abdul Razzaq. Redmond and Vettori then provided some brief resistance with their right-left hand batting combination adding 69 runs for the fifth wicket.

Offspinner Saeed Ajmal provided the breakthrough, trapping Redmond lbw.

It was then Afridi's turn to strike as Vettori played on to his stumps and Nathan McCullum was bowled next delivery. The hat trick was saved but the Blacks Caps caved in, the last six wickets adding only 30 runs.

Vettori said the total was too much to chase.

‘We were on course to restrict them to 220-230 but Afridi and Akmal were fantastic,’ Vettori said. ‘They took the game from us.

‘After losing early wickets it was always going to be difficult. We thought if we could keep the target to 100 from the last 10 overs we could get there with the help of batting powerplay.’

Pakistan overwhelm Russia 5-0 in qualifiers


KARACHI: It was smooth sailing again for favourites Pakistan in the World Cup hockey qualifiers on Sunday as they overwhelmed Russia 5-0 at the Metropole Hockey Club in the French city of Lille.

According to the information received here, Pakistan, who won their opening match against Italy on Saturday by the same score line, led 3-0 at interval.

Experienced striker Rehan Butt opened the account for Pakistan through an individual field attempt in the 23rd minute followed by another field goal by frontrunner Shakeel Abbasi in the 31st minute. Sohail Abbas also did his bit by converting a 33rd-minute penalty-corner.

The second session saw Pakistan scoring twice with centre-half Mohammad Imran (37th minute) and centre-forward Abdul Haseem Khan (43rd minute) scoring through a penalty-corner and a field goal, respectively.

In Sunday’s remaining fixtures, Japan, who trounced Russia 4-0 on Saturday, easily defeated Poland 3-2 with all the goals coming in the first half while hosts France beat Italy 3-0 after leading by a solitary goal at the interval.

Meanwhile, France were held to a 2-2 draw by Poland in Saturday’s last match.

Pakistan and Japan have each collected six points with the former on top on goal difference. France have four points and Poland one. Monday is a rest day in the tournament.

Tuesday’s fixtures: Italy v Japan; Poland v Russia; Pakistan v France.

Pakistan v New Zealand 2009/10 / Scorecard


Pakistan v New Zealand

Pakistan won by 138 runs


Pakistan innings (50 overs maximum) R B 4s 6s SR
View dismissal Salman Butt c †BB McCullum b Bond 0 4 0 0 0.00
View dismissal Khalid Latif b Vettori 64 112 2 0 57.14
View dismissal Younis Khan* c †BB McCullum b Bond 0 3 0 0 0.00
View dismissal Mohammad Yousuf run out (Guptill) 30 49 4 0 61.22
View dismissal Umar Akmal b Vettori 9 18 0 0 50.00
View dismissal Shahid Afridi c Butler b Oram 70 50 4 3 140.00

Kamran Akmal not out 67 43 5 4 155.81
View dismissal Abdul Razzaq c Styris b Butler 26 20 1 2 130.00
View dismissal Umar Gul run out (Vettori/Butler) 0 1 0 0 0.00
View dismissal Mohammad Aamer c †BB McCullum b Southee 0 1 0 0 0.00

Saeed Ajmal not out 0 1 0 0 0.00

Extras (lb 8, w 11, nb 2) 21











Total (9 wickets; 50 overs) 287 (5.74 runs per over)
Fall of wickets1-0 (Salman Butt, 0.4 ov), 2-0 (Younis Khan, 2.1 ov), 3-57 (Mohammad Yousuf, 16.6 ov), 4-75 (Umar Akmal, 23.3 ov), 5-176 (Shahid Afridi, 38.2 ov), 6-184 (Khalid Latif, 41.1 ov), 7-270 (Abdul Razzaq, 48.2 ov), 8-271 (Umar Gul, 48.4 ov), 9-277 (Mohammad Aamer, 49.1 ov)










Bowling O M R W Econ

View wickets SE Bond 10 2 61 2 6.10 (3w)
View wicket TG Southee 10 2 54 1 5.40

View wicket IG Butler 7 0 54 1 7.71 (2nb, 2w)
View wicket JDP Oram 10 0 47 1 4.70 (1w)
View wickets DL Vettori 10 1 34 2 3.40


NL McCullum 3 0 29 0 9.66










New Zealand innings (target: 288 runs from 50 overs) R B 4s 6s SR
View dismissal BB McCullum b Umar Gul 21 27 4 0 77.77
View dismissal AJ Redmond lbw b Saeed Ajmal 52 91 6 0 57.14
View dismissal MJ Guptill b Umar Gul 4 9 0 0 44.44
View dismissal LRPL Taylor c †Kamran Akmal b Mohammad Aamer 0 5 0 0 0.00
View dismissal SB Styris c sub (Imran Farhat) b Abdul Razzaq 5 17 0 0 29.41
View dismissal DL Vettori* b Shahid Afridi 38 41 1 0 92.68
View dismissal JDP Oram b Abdul Razzaq 9 23 1 0 39.13
View dismissal NL McCullum lbw b Shahid Afridi 0 1 0 0 0.00
View dismissal IG Butler run out (Umar Gul) 4 7 1 0 57.14

SE Bond not out 4 9 0 0 44.44
View dismissal TG Southee lbw b Saeed Ajmal 1 7 0 0 14.28

Extras (lb 8, w 2, nb 1) 11











Total (all out; 39.2 overs) 149 (3.78 runs per over)
Fall of wickets1-30 (BB McCullum, 7.4 ov), 2-34 (Guptill, 9.2 ov), 3-35 (Taylor, 10.2 ov), 4-50 (Styris, 15.1 ov), 5-119 (Redmond, 29.3 ov), 6-139 (Vettori, 34.5 ov), 7-139 (NL McCullum, 34.6 ov), 8-139 (Oram, 35.3 ov), 9-144 (Butler, 37.2 ov), 10-149 (Southee, 39.2 ov)










Bowling O M R W Econ

View wicket Mohammad Aamer 7 1 15 1 2.14

View wickets Umar Gul 6 3 24 2 4.00 (1nb)
View wickets Abdul Razzaq 9 1 38 2 4.22

View wickets Shahid Afridi 10 0 46 2 4.60 (2w)
View wickets Saeed Ajmal 7.2 0 18 2 2.45

Match details
Toss Pakistan, who chose to bat
Series Pakistan led the 3-match series 1-0
Player of the match Shahid Afridi (Pakistan)
Umpires Asad Rauf (Pakistan) and BNJ Oxenford (Australia)
TV umpire Zameer Haider (Pakistan)
Match referee AJ Pycroft (Zimbabwe)
Reserve umpire Nadeem Ghauri (Pakistan)
Match notes
  • Pakistan innings
  • Power Play 2: Overs 10.1 - 15.0
  • Drinks: Pakistan - 48/2 in 15.0 overs (Khalid Latif 21, Mohammad Yousuf 22)
  • Pakistan: 50 runs in 16.3 overs (102 balls), Extras 5
  • 3rd Wicket: 50 runs in 89 balls (Khalid Latif 22, Mohammad Yousuf 26, Ex 5)
  • Pakistan: 100 runs in 28.5 overs (177 balls), Extras 6
  • 5th Wicket: 50 runs in 45 balls (Khalid Latif 15, Shahid Afridi 34, Ex 1)
  • Khalid Latif: 50 off 93 balls (2 x 4)
  • Shahid Afridi: 50 off 36 balls (2 x 4, 3 x 6)
  • Pakistan: 150 runs in 34.4 overs (212 balls), Extras 6
  • Drinks: Pakistan - 150/4 in 35.0 overs (Khalid Latif 54, Shahid Afridi 51)
  • 5th Wicket: 100 runs in 90 balls (Khalid Latif 29, Shahid Afridi 70, Ex 2)
  • Power Play 3: Overs 42.1 - 47.0
  • Pakistan: 200 runs in 43.1 overs (264 balls), Extras 7
  • 7th Wicket: 50 runs in 33 balls (Kamran Akmal 32, Abdul Razzaq 12, Ex 8)
  • Pakistan: 250 runs in 47.3 overs (292 balls), Extras 15
  • Kamran Akmal: 50 off 35 balls (5 x 4, 2 x 6)
  • Innings Break: Pakistan - 287/9 in 50.0 overs (Kamran Akmal 67, Saeed Ajmal 0)
  • New Zealand innings
  • Power Play 2: Overs 10.1 - 15.0
  • New Zealand: 50 runs in 14.6 overs (91 balls), Extras 4
  • Drinks: New Zealand - 50/3 in 15.0 overs (AJ Redmond 16, SB Styris 5)
  • New Zealand: 100 runs in 23.5 overs (145 balls), Extras 7
  • 5th Wicket: 50 runs in 53 balls (AJ Redmond 26, DL Vettori 21, Ex 3)
  • AJ Redmond: 50 off 82 balls (6 x 4)
  • Power Play 3: Overs 39.1 - 44.0

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