Manavjit shoots his best to clinch gold

Published>Thu, Feb 25 10 11:19 AM

It was a golden day for India as world champion Manavjit Singh Sandhu stunned all competitors to grab the gold in the men's trap individual event at the Commonwealth Shooting Championships at the Dr Karni Singh Ranges on Wednesday.

India won the gold in all three events to stay atop the medals tally after the sixth day of the championships.

After shooting perfect 25 in all three qualifying rounds on Tuesday, Manavjit made a stunning start scoring 25 and 24 in the fourth and the fifth rounds respectively. The final round saw tough competition.

Manavjit was moving far ahead as others kept missing the birds.

As the pressure was building up on the contenders, Manavjit kept his focus on the targets and brought another 22 points in the final to make a total score of 146 and claimed the top honours along with his personal best score and the meet record.

Manavjit missed some birds at 144 and another at 145 but he shot the final bird to reach 146.

Reacting after his victory, Manavjit said, ''This is my personal best score. This is the first competition of the year for me. So, it is a nice feeling to start well. The crowd was very supporting and that instilled confidence in me.'' ''Generally the final round takes place in the evening but today it happened in the afternoon. The visibility was fantastic but it became cloudy and the light was a bit little less and brown,? he said.

Indian team's performance also impressed Manavjit. He said, ''It is good that we are winning so many gold medals here.Actually, we all wanted to win here and that is what kept everyone inspired.'' Asked about the newly- constructed Dr Karni Singh Ranges, Manavjit said, ''This is a world class venue. There are so many benefits when you have such facilities. More young shooters can use them and perform better for the country. I would like to thank the government for the infrastructure they have managed to put up.'' England's Aaron Heading was second with 143 points while Adam Vella of Australia registered 142 to win the bronze.

India dominated completely in the 25metre centre fire pistol men's individual event as Vijay Kumar, Mahender Singh and Viraj Singh clinched the top awards.

Vijay combined 286 and 294 in first and second stage to aggregate 580 in total to walk away with the gold. Mahender and Viraj won the silver and bronze.

In the 10m air rifle women's individual competition, Neha Sapte outdid Bangladeshi Sharmin Akhter Ratna and bagged the gold. Neha, appearing for her Class XII exams this year, got into rhythm after losing some crucial points and scored 101.1 in the final. Her qualification score was 395 as she got 99 each in all four rounds.

Neha said she suffered some balancing problems. ''I had some balancing problems initially but I corrected them.'' Ratna and Australia's Robyn Van Nus grabbed the silver and bronze.

Meanwhile, the Commonwealth Championships president Graeme Hudson announced on Wednesday that the badges will be counted in the total medals tally. ''Badges will be counted as medals. We noticed that the media is not counting the badges in the total medals tally so we decided to explain why the badges should be included in the list. That's how it works everywhere in the world,'' he said.

Reproduced From Mail Today. Copyright 2010. MTNPL. All rights reserved.

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Tendulkar rewrites history as India beat SA; lift ODI series

Published>Thu, Feb 25 10 11:05 AM

Gwalior, Feb. 24 -- Unbelievable, magical, miraculous. One can go on using adjectives, but nothing can come close to describing what Sachin Tendulkar pulled off at the Captain Roop Singh Stadium on Wednesday. Simply put, he became the first batsman to breach the 200-run barrier in ODIs with arguably the best knock played in this format. While the innings gave spectators their fondest memories to take home from a cricket stadium, South Africa were so overwhelmed that they capitulated to a massive 153-run defeat to lose the three-match series. In fact, the plot was lost when Tendulkar's double powered India to a mammoth 401. It was then a matter of completing the formalities and South Africa fell for 248. That a Sachin-special was in store became evident when he caressed Wayne Parnell to the cover boundary and then to the mid-wicket fence in the second over. What followed is now part of cricketing folklore. Scoring a double hundred in an ODI is extraordinary, but more than the number, the way Tendulkar got the runs stay etched in the mind. Such was the class that it could be used as a batting manual for aspiring youngsters. The first part of the innings was largely about caressing the ball through the gaps and the second was about raw power and ferocity. To begin with, Tendulkar toyed with Dale Steyn and Wayne Parnell, caressing them through the point-to-extra cover region on the off side and mid-wicket on the on side. Such was the precision that hardly any shot went to the fielders. After the field spread out and left-arm spinner Roelef van der Merwe was pressed into service, Tendulkar executed the inside-out stroke to loft him over extra cover. When the burly South African fired the ball onto his pads, it invited a delicate flick to the fine leg boundary. Once the hundred was reached, the booming straight drives and other big shots started to flow like an unstoppable torrent. Almost every ball flew out of the ground, leaving the bowlers staring helplessly. Once Tendulkar had zoomed past 150, the crowd egged him on to go for the double. And the master himself wasn't in a mood to miss out. He reached the milestone in the final over with a single, sparking off hysterical scenes in the stands. It had taken him 147 balls, 25 boundaries and three sixes to achieve the feat.

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Inter edge Chelsea 2-1 after thrilling first leg

Published>Thu, Feb 25 10 10:35 AM

Inter Milan battled to a 2-1 win over an impressive Chelsea to hold a slight advantage after their Champions League last-16 first leg at the San Siro on Wednesday.

Home striker Diego Milito netted on three minutes when he easily turned John Terry and fired in at the near post from six metres, prompting little reaction from Inter's former Chelsea coach Jose Mourinho who had promised not to celebrate.

The Londoners dominated a thrilling game for long spells and Salomon Kalou deservedly equalised on 51 minutes with a 20-metre shot before Esteban Cambiasso soon put the hosts back ahead after his first shot was blocked.

Chelsea keeper Petr Cech was carried off on a stretcher in the second half with a calf injury but Carlo Ancelotti, who spent eight years at the San Siro as AC Milan coach, will be confident of turning the tie around in the second leg on March 16.

"It was a high-level Champions League game," Mourinho told ITV Sport. "I said to my players, 'they are not better than us, they are different to us'.

"Chelsea and Inter can both play better. This is the Champions League, it is difficult to fully express yourself because of the pressure."

Just like rivals AC Milan in their defeat by Manchester United on the same pitch last week, Serie A champions Inter got off to a good start.

CECH BEATEN

Thiago Motta threaded the ball forward and Samuel Eto'o miscontrolled it before strike partner Milito confirmed his excellent form this season by cutting in from the left and beating Cech at the near post.

Chelsea's heads failed to drop despite the vast roar from the Inter crowd and they were soon troubling keeper Julio Cesar, playing despite being shaken in a car crash early this week.

A Michael Ballack piledriver forced the Brazilian into his best save and Didier Drogba rattled the bar with a vicious free kick.

Kalou, included on the left with Florent Malouda employed at left back, then had a strong shout for a penalty turned down on the stroke of halftime after a challenge by Walter Samuel five metres out.

The Ivorian had his reward after 51 minutes when Julio Cesar failed to stop his curling shot through a crowd of players.

Argentine Cambiasso then grabbed the winner, blasting in at the second attempt from the edge of the box.

"I think on the balance of play, possession, the shots we had, we were the stronger team," said Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard.

"We knew they like to soak up pressure and they got the early goal which made it easier for them but we've got an away goal and with a performance like that in London we've got a great chance."

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'Red is the colour for sportsmen, advertisers'

Published>Thu, Feb 25 10 10:15 AM

Toronto, Feb 25 (ANS) Wearing red at top international sporting events like the Olympics benefits an athlete, says a new study.

In fast-paced sports such as races and skating a referee's perceptions of motion are subconsciously affected by the colour the athlete is wearing, says the study at York University here.

'All things being equal between two figure skaters - including their actual speed on the ice - the judges will perceive a skater in red is moving with greater speed than a skater in blue, and may reward the skater in red with higher marks,' said Mazyar Fallah, study author and assistant professor at the School of Kinesiology and Health Science in the university.

The study may also be important for other fields such as advertising, in which capturing attention is paramount, and in designing human-computer interfaces that are effective, he said.

During their study on visual processing, Fallah and co-author Illia Tchernikov found that people's eyes more quickly follow a red target on a computer screen than a green, yellow, or especially a blue target, a university statement said Wednesday.

'In sports, the outcome of a competition is supposed to depend on the abilities of the players, rather than the colours they are wearing,' said Fallah.

'However, our research shows it may make sense to wear red in a sport such as figure skating, in which you want to be perceived as quick. In contrast, it may be best to wear another colour in a sport in which a referee is handing out penalties,' he said.

Fallah said their research has implications for many sports, including figure skating and gymnastics, in which speed may be perceived by a judge rather than measured in milliseconds.

The research was based on five participants, with each completing about 1,000 tests.

During the tests, each participant focussed on targets on the screen and all produced the same colour hierarchy - choosing red targets first, followed by green, yellow and blue.

Fallah said this suggests that the colour hierarchy is ingrained in the human mind, either because of evolution - red is the colour of blood, whereas blue is the colour of the sky - or as a result of experience, as red stop signs and traffic signals indicate danger.

The study has been published in the journal Public Library of Science.

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Canada bounce back to send Russians packing

Published>Thu, Feb 25 10 10:05 AM

The Canadian men restored order in their Olympic ice hockey house on Wednesday and headed to the semi-finals after a 7-3 rout of Russia that eased the pain of a demoralising loss to the Americans.

Hockey-crazed Canadians celebrated the redeem team across the Winter Games host nation, but especially in Olympic venue Vancouver where Maple leaf-clad fans went wild in the stadium and on the streets.

Canada's happiness was compounded minutes later as two of the women's bobsleigh teams took the top two medals, the gold going to Kaillie Humphries in a thrilling final that saw a highly rated German team crash in the last of four runs.

With a gold that takes Canada to the top of the gold medal table alongside the United States and Germany, two silvers, a bronze and a big hockey win, Wednesday was already Canada's day.

Germany, the U.S. and Canada have seven golds apiece.

Day 12 of the Winter Games had its notable losers too, most notably American skier Lindsey Vonn, who crashed out on a fog-enveloped giant slalom and broke her little finger.

Vonn's fall wreaked havoc on team mate Julia Mancuso, who was forced to stop her run with Vonn still on the course. She made a poor second attempt that puts her back in the pack for the second leg of the race, postponed by fog until Thursday.

As the Games enter the final stretch, two athletes accumulated their second gold medal. Martina Sablikova of the Czech Republic won the women's 5,000 metres speedskating gold while Marcus Hellner led Sweden to a surprise victory in the men's cross country relay.

China won the women's 3000 metre relay short track gold medal after South Korea was disqualified. Canada were promoted to the silver and the U.S. took bronze.

It was the ice on the hockey rink, however, that ruled the day in these parts.

After losing to the United States in the final round of preliminary matches on Sunday, Canada's coach Mike Babcock told the nation the team had chosen to take a "longer route" to get where they wanted to be. And so far, he was right.

'MAD AT ME'

Forced to play an extra match to qualify for the quarter-finals, Canada dispatched Germany 8-2 on Tuesday. Twenty four hours later, they lined up for a mouthwatering clash with Russia and dominated from start to finish.

The U.S. was the first team to reach the semi-finals when they beat Switzerland 2-0 on Wednesday, both goals coming from Zach Parise.

The United States will face the winners of the Finland-Czech Republic quarter-final, while Canada will meet either Slovakia or Sweden, the defending gold medallists.

The semi-final teams will all be determined by Wednesday night.

Heavy fog at Whistler mountain forced the postponement of the women's giant slalom until Thursday morning. Austrian Elisabeth Goergl was leading France's Taina Barioz by 0.02 seconds.

Mancuso, the defending Olympic champion in giant slalom, finished her second attempt at the first run back in 18th place and left left the course in tears, unhappy at being stopped because of her team mate's fall.

"I know that she is mad and probably frustrated and probably mad at me but I can't help that I fell," Vonn said.

"I wanted to finish, I was having a great run and wish I could have come down and not have her be flagged and that is absolutely not what I wanted."

Merchandisers had been cashing in on her appeal by selling t-shirts and baseball caps with Vonn-Couver emblazoned on them, but she has failed to live up to the hype.

She defied a painful shin injury to win gold in the women's downhill and a bronze in the super-G, but blew her chances of adding to her medal haul by falling in her two other events.

Despite the broken pinkie, Vonn is expected to race in the final women's Alpine event, the slalom scheduled for Friday.

The slender Sablikova added the 5,000m gold to her 3,000 metres title and surprising bronze in the 1,500m, with a time of six minutes 50.91 seconds.

Hellner, who also won gold in the 30km individual pursuit, held off a storming final leg by Norway's Petter Northug to give Sweden a thrilling victory in the cross country relay.

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Latest medals table

Published Thu, Feb 25 10 09:46 AM

REUTERS - Olympic Games latest medals table on the 12th day of events in Vancouver on Wednesday.

Rank Country G S B Total

1. Germany 7 10 7 24

2. U.S. 7 9 12 28

3. Canada 7 6 2 15

4. Norway 6 6 6 18

5. Switzerland 6 0 2 8

6. South Korea 5 4 1 10

7. Austria 4 3 3 10

8. Sweden 4 2 2 8

9. China 4 1 1 6

10. Russia 3 4 6 13

11. Netherlands 3 1 2 6

12. France 2 3 5 10

13. Czech Republic 2 0 3 5

14. Slovakia 1 1 1 3

15. Australia 1 1 0 2

16. Britain 1 0 0 1

17. Poland 0 3 1 4

18. Latvia 0 2 0 2

19. Italy 0 1 3 4

20. Japan 0 1 2 3

21. Croatia 0 1 1 2

21=. Slovenia 0 1 1 2

21=. Belarus 0 1 1 2

24. Kazakhstan 0 1 0 1

24=. Finland 0 1 0 1

24=. Estonia 0 1 0 1

Total 63 64 62 189

G = Gold

S = Silver

B = Bronze

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Canada rout Russians, move to semis

Published>Thu, Feb 25 10 09:26 AM

Canada punched their ticket to the semi-finals of the Olympic men's ice hockey tournament by rolling over Russia with a 7-3 win on Wednesday, delivering a jolt of excitement felt right across the country.

Now safely through to the last four, Canada's goal has come into sharper focus with only the winner of the Sweden-Slovakia game standing in the way of playing for the gold that means more to the ice-hockey mad nation than any other on Feb. 28.

As Canada celebrated, their stunned rivals, tipped by many to return home with Russia's first gold medal since the breakup of the Soviet Union, were left to wonder how it all went wrong.

While the contest might not be remembered as one of the great classics in a rich rivalry that stretches back decades, it is one Canadians are not likely to soon forget.

The atmosphere inside a seething Canada Hockey Place could not have been more electric but apprehension also hung heavy in the air as the world's two top ranked teams and gold medal favourites prepared to take to the ice.

Plugging into the energy of a frenetic crowd, Canada set the tone for the rout with a furious first period that left the Russians feeling as if they had run into a buzz saw.

Ryan Getzlaf ignited the crowd when he opened the scoring just over two minutes into the first period after he slammed home a puck into a gapping Russian net.

Dan Boyle and Rick Nash then scored 46 seconds apart to shift the party atmosphere in the arena into high gear.

Dmitri Kalinin slowed the mauling when he counted Russia's first but Brenden Morrow answered to send the hosts into the first intermission with a 4-1 lead.

The Canadians kept their foot on the gas in the second with two quick goals from Corey Perry and Shea Weber to go up 6-1.

Perry would add another while Maxim Afinogenov and Sergei Gonchar scored to cut into the Canadian advantage but there would be no way back for the Russians, who will now hope National Hockey League will still be part of the Olympics when the 2014 Winter Games go to Sochi.

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