New Delhi, June 21: Saina Nehwal on Sunday defeated China’s Lin Wang 12-21, 21-18, 21-9 to win the Indonesian Open Super Series.
This is Saina’s maiden Indonesian Open title.
In the semis, she had defeated China’s Lan Lu 25-23, 21-19.
—–Agencies
London, June 21: The huge commercial success of the World Twenty20 has given the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) enough reasons to turn down the offer to host an overseas edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) in order to promote their own domestic tournament.
Bloemfontein, June 21: David Villa and Fernando Llorente scored the goals that gave Spain a 2-0 win over South Africa on Saturday for a world record 15th straight victory.
Valencia’s Villa broke the deadlock in the 52nd minute and substitute Llorente sealed the game with 18 minutes left to ensure the European champions finished top of their group at the Confederations Cup.
It means they play the runner-up in Group B, likely Italy or Egypt, in the semi-finals next Wednesday.
London, June 21: An unpredictable Pakistan will be desperate to shed their runners-up tag by pulling off a win against a rampaging Sri Lanka when the two teams meet in the Twenty20 World Cup final at the Lord`s.
Pakistan, who lost the Cup by a whisker to India in the inaugural edition in South Africa, have played little international cricket since then because of political turmoil back home and would be eager to win the honour in a bid to bring the sport back on track in their country.
New Delhi, June 20: Indian golfer Jeev Milkha Singh will need more than brilliant play and probably a prayer, too, as he gets off to the second round in search of a berth into the final two rounds of the 109th US Open.
Placed at 11-over after 24 holes, he was certain to miss the cut, but some of the bigger names, including Tiger Woods were also battling to make the cut at the 109th US Open, where the tournament seems to have been divided into two halves – the Lucky and Unlucky ones.
London, June 20: Actress Jessica Biel is better at golf than beau Justin Timberlake, the reason why the singer refuses to play with her.
“Jessica has just joined a course in golf but he (Justin) prefers not to play with her since she’s gotten so good,” contactmusic.com quoted a source as saying.
Though Jessica is not really that interested in the game, she wants to get better at it so that she can spend more time with Justin. The singer is a big fan of the sport and also owns a golf course.
—IANS
London, June 20: Yet to get over the disappointment of losing the final to arch-rivals India two years ago, Shahid Afridi is desperate to make amends when Pakistan takes on Sri Lanka for the World T20 title at Lords here tomorrow.
The sturdy Pathan turned in a superb all-round performance in the semi-final against South Africa as Pakistan stormed into their second World T20 final in a row.
Islamabad, June 20: Pakistan and Sri Lanka playing in the World Twenty20 final on Sunday will send a strong message to the world that cricket cannot be brought down by terrorism, former Pakistan captain Ramiz Raja said.
A militant attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore on March 3 ended Pakistan’s chances of hosting any international matches in the near future following earlier concerns about security.
Islamabad, June 20: Former Pakistan skipper Wasim Akram said to get the best out of star all-rounder Shahid Afridi, he needs to be pampered and constantly reminded that he is the main match-winner for the team.
“I have worked with Afridi as captain. The way to get the best our of him is to give him confidence and motivate hims. He needs to be acknowledged as a senior player. He has to be constantly told he is the main match-winner. He is somebody who needs a lot of attention and you need to give him that much of attention,” Akram wrote in his column for the .
London, June 20: At the very heart of Pakistan’s invigorating run to a second successive World Twenty20 final has been a player you might think was put on the planet to play Twenty20 cricket.
A three-four over bash with the bat, a quick four-over spell hustled through the middle overs and some adrenaline-fuelled cheerleading in the field: thanks very much, Shahid Afridi.
Notthingam, June 20: It is exactly 10 years to the day since Pakistan – and Shahid Afridi – last appeared in the showpiece Lord’s final of a global cricket tournament.
It all went horribly wrong for Pakistan and Afridi, then 19, in the 1999 World Cup final as Australia bowled them out for 132 and raced to a nine-wicket win.
One of Pakistan’s most embarrassing days on the field finished very early, in front of a packed and disappointed crowd, as Australia completed the job with almost 30 of their 50 overs unused.
London, June 20: The Sri Lankan juggernaut crushed West Indies by 57 runs in Friday’s lop-sided semifinal to set up a summit clash with Pakistan in the final of the Twenty20 World Cup at Lord’s on Sunday. Scorecard I In pics I Profiles
Put into bat, run-machine Tillakaratne Dilshan hit a sublime unbeaten 96 to help the Lankans overcome a mid-innings collapse and post 158 for five. And when they returned to defend the total, Angelo Mathews sent down a sensational first over, claiming three crucial wickets, and West Indies could never really recover from the setbacks.
New Delhi, June 20: Saina Nehwal came up with her best showing at the Super Series events in the last six months when she outdid South Korean Hwang Sung Hwan 21-17, 11-21, 21-15 to enter the semi-finals of the Indonesian Super Series badminton championships in Jakarta on Friday.
Saina came up with her best performance in December when she made it to the semi-finals of the Malaysian Super Series. She beat the unseeded Hwang, who had upset fourth seed Wang Chen.
New Delhi, June 19: The legendary Steve Waugh on Friday dismissed the element of fatigue as a valid excuse for India’s under-par performance in the Twenty20 World Championship and said it was time for skipper MS Dhoni to take a break.
“There have been conjectures of fatigue that led to the losses suffered by the Indian team, but at the top level of sport it is just not acceptable,” said the former Aussie skipper, who is known not to mince his words.
The 44-year-old Waugh added that Dhoni’s “should take some days’ break now”.
–Agencies
Farmingdale, June 19: Heavy rains forced an early end to first-round play Thursday in the 109th US Open as water-logged Bethpage Black became unpla yable and stars such as Tiger Woods battled through a deluge.
Soaked spectators braved intense showers to watch a super group of reigning major champions navigate the 7,426-yard par-70 course but rain swamped holes so badly that one green had a flagpole in the center of a pond.
London, June 19: Will Roger Federer reclaim his Wimbledon throne? Will Rafael Nadal’s knees permit him to defend his title? Can Andy Murray finally put the wo Those are the three burning questions as the All England Club’s famous lawns get their final trim before the start of the year’s third grand slam on Monday.
A sun-kissed first week is in store, according to the weather forecasters, but the British climate can be unpredictable, just as the men’s game has been in recent weeks.
New Delhi, June 19: All is not well with team India, as after the ouster from T20 World Cup, team manager V Chamundeswarnath has been suspended following charges of misbehaviour with the women’s team.
V Chamundeswarnath, who is the secretary of the Andhra Cricket Association, was suspended on Thursday by the state association after a meeting of its executive committee meeting in Vijayawada.
The executive committee found him guilty of misuse of funds and misbehaviour with the women’s team.
New Delhi, June 19: The Steve Waugh Foundation Global launched on Friday, announced their association with 6UP, hosts of the ‘runs per over’ SMS game played via mobile.
The game had been launched during IPL-2 and was subsequently taken off after India’s sports minister M S Gill expressed reservations about the game and how it could bring in elements of betting and match-fixing.
But at the official launch here on Friday, 6UP founder George Tomeski said all such fears had been dispelled.
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Colombo, June 19: Arjuna Ranatunga, the former Sri Lankan captain, has said the BCCI “sacrificed national interest” and hurt India’s chances at the ICC World Twenty20 by giving the IPL more importance.
His comments come soon after India coach Gary Kirsten blamed the fatigue caused by the IPL and the minor injuries picked up during the tournament for the team’s lacklustre showing at the World Twenty20.
Nottingham, June 19: Pakistan beat South Africa in Twenty20 World Cup first semifinal as Afridi found form to his first fifty of the Twenty20 cricket.
Unusually for Afridi, he batted for 34 balls without clearing the ropes once. This was a reflection of a tricky pitch, which offered appreciable turn and some variation in pace. But he still managed to cudgel 51 runs – his first half-century in all international cricket for 28 innings.
Washington, June 19:
US Open Golf Championship 2009 Schedule dates –
June 18, Thursday
10:00 AM – 3:00 PM – ESPN
3:00 PM – 5:00 PM – NBC
5:00 PM – 7:00 PM – ESPN
8:00 PM – 11:00 PM – ESPN (replay)
June 19, Friday
2:30 AM – 5:30 AM – ESPN2 (replay)
10:00 AM – 3:00 PM – ESPN
3:00 PM – 5:00 PM – NBC
5:00 PM – 7:00 PM – ESPN
8:00 PM – 11:00 PM ESPN (replay)
June 20, Saturday
3:00 AM – 6:00 AM – ESPN (replay)
2:00 PM – 8:00 PM – NBC
June 21, Sunday
3:00 AM – 6:00 AM – ESPN (replay)
1:30 PM – 7:30 PM – NBC
Location where matches play is Old Bethpage New York
London, June 19: ronaldo Christiano Ronaldo is making news all over. Just last week the Portuguese superstar footballer had made headlines for being the highest bid footballer of all time. In a short span of two days, he was back in news for being seen partying with Hilton heiress, Paris Hilton in Los Angeles. Now he is making news for his clothes, more precisely, the lack of it.
Nottingham, June 19: Shahid Afridi’s inspired all-round display saw Pakistan knock out favourites South Africa by seven runs and book a place in the final of the World Twenty20 cricket at Trent Bridge here Thursday.
Afridi slammed 51 off 34 balls to take Pakistan to 149 for four and then made the Proteas bleed with his bowling, taking the wickets of Herschelle Gibbs and Ab de Villiers, at a miserly 16 runs from four overs.
Farmingdale, June 18: The first round will resume 7:30 a.m. Friday and may push the tournament’s final round into Monday, although a definitive schedule has not been released. Friday’s forecast contains a chance of rain; it will otherwise be cloudy with temperatures in the mid-70s. Saturday brings another chance of rain.
United States Golf Association officials said that roughly an inch of rain had fallen on the course Thursday morning and early afternoon and that workers were no longer able to clear water off the greens fast enough to make them playable.
Bangalore, June 18: Former Pakistan skipper Wasim Akram has predicted a Pakistan-Sri Lanka clash in the final of the on-going World Twenty20 tournament to be held at Lord’s on June 21.
“Agreed that South Africa and Sri Lanka are still unbeaten in the tournament so far, but most dangerous of the four to me looks to be Pakistan. With the return of Abdul Razzaq, the side looks very strong. They have variety in the bowling and suddenly they are looking like a side which can cause a major upset,” Akram wrote in his column for The Times of India.