Athletics Frenzy!

               Day Four of the Athletics Championships at Moscow, turned to be a thrilling day, with many major events taking place as we go halfway through the Championships. 

               Alexandr Ivanov from the host country, brought the first gold medal to the hosts, as he conquered the men's 20 km. walk. Ivanov, 20, beat China's Chen Ding (silver) and Spaniard Miguel Lopez (bronze) as the Luzhniki stadium burst with delight. 

               Two-time world champion, and the greatest ever pole-vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva thrilled the crowd yet again. She won the world title for the third time after 2005 and 2007, and maybe the last one in her illustrious career. Isinbayeva, who won gold twice in the Olympics, cleared 4.89 m. to beat America's Jenn Surh (silver) and Cuba's Yarisley Silva (bronze). 
               Men's pole vault turned out to be an enormous upset. Germany's Raphael Holzdeppe edged out France's favourite Renaud Lavillenie with a faultless 5.89 m. vault. As a result, Lavillenie won silver, and Germany's Bjoern Otto won bronze.
               Jamaica's domination in sprint prevailed, as Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce gained the world title again after winning it in 2009. She won gold in the 100 m. by clocking 10.71s. and beating Ivory Coast's silver medalist Murielle Ahoure, and USA's bronze-winner Carmelita Jeter by a considerable margin. 

               Valerie Adams from New Zealand, struck gold in the women's shot put for the fourth time, after winning the title at Osaka in 2007, Berlin in 2009, as well as Daegu in 2011. She had also won gold at the Beijing Olympics; and a lucky gold medal at the London Olympics in 2012. She was promoted to the gold medal, after original winner Belarus's Nadezhda Ostapchuk was stripped off the medal due to doping infringement. 

The Athletics World Championships commence!

             

 

                 The IAAF World Championships kicked off at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, Russia. The 8-day event which started on Sunday saw bids from Brisbane and Barcelona, but Moscow won the bidding process to stage to World Championships. The first day turned out to be quite eventful, even though the Luzhniki stadium was more or less deserted, with vacant seats, and rare instances of spectators cheering the athletes on. 

 



               In one of the earliest events in the World Championships, Briton Mo Farah won gold with a well-executed run at the 10,000 m. run. Mo Farah, originally from Somalia, had also won 5000 m. and 10, 000 m. gold at the London Olympics. Ethiopian Ibrahim Jeilan, who won the title at Daegu in 2011, won silver while Kenyan Paul Tanui won bronze.

 



               Indians disappointed on the first day, as medal-prospects relinquished medal hopes. In the men's 20 km. walk, India's K T Irfan was disqualified, and compatriots Gurmeet Singh and Chandan Singh finished at a dismal 33rd and 34th respectively.
               Sudha Singh, gold medallist at the Asian Games, ended up a miserable 12th in the 3000 m. steeplechase heats.
               100 m. world record holder, 26-year old Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt won gold in the 100 m. finals. He clocked his season-best 9.77 seconds to regain his world title after having a false start at Daegu. Following him, Justin Gatlin from USA (9.85s.) bagged silver, and Nesta Carter (9.95s.) from Jamaica again bagged bronze.

 



               In the women's 10,000 m. Ethiopia's star runner Tirunesh Dibaba won gold to add a third world title for 10,000 m. She had earlier won gold for both 5000 m. and 10,000 m. at the Beijing Olympics, and 10,000 m. at the London Olympics as well as 2 world titles for 5000 m. Kenya's Gladys Cherono won silver, and Ethiopian Hitomi Niiya won bronze.
               In the women's discus throw, Croatian Sandra Perkovic won the gold with a 67.99 m. throw and added the title to her Olympic gold last year at London. The silver and bronze was bagged by France and Cuba respectively.  USA's Ashton Eaton gained the world decathlon title in addition to last year's Olympic gold. Germany's Michael Schrader and Canada's Damian Warner won silver and bronze respectively.
               Meanwhile, Brittney Reese of USA bagged the gold for women's long jump besides the silver of Nigerian Blessing Okagbare, and bronze of Serb Ivana Španović. Kenya's legendary marathon runner Edna Kiplagat became the first woman ever to retain a marathon world title by clocking 2:25:44.




 

World Aquatics Championships Barcelona: A Summary

              

               The 15th FINA World Championships held recently at the Catalonian city of Barcelona really upheld itself as a show of 'aquatic prowess', and saw many records smashed by splendid performances. The Championships which were originally meant to be held by Dubai, featured six disciplines namely; water polo, swimming, diving, high diving, open water and synchronized swimming starting from July 19, 2013.

               The swimming and synchronized swimming were held at the iconic Palau Sant Jordi arena. A total of 181 countries appeared for the Championships, but only 34 could manage to earn a medal. The medal standings at the end of the tourney were:

1. USA 34 (15 Gold)
2. China 26 (14 Gold)
3. Russia 19 (9 Gold)
4. France 9 (4 Gold)
5. Hungary 7 (4 Gold)
6. Australia 14 (3 Gold)
7. Germany 10 (3 Gold)
8. Brazil 10 (3 Gold)
9. South Africa 5 (3 Gold)
10. Spain 12 (1 Gold)

The swimming meet is always considered the most popular event in the Championships, and the USA again topped the Swimming medal standings, with Missy Franklin bagging the most number of medals (6). The 'female swimmer of the meet' was earned by Katie Ledecky, while Sun Yang was rewarded 'male swimmer of the meet'.

Men's Swimming:

• 50 m. freestyle: César Cielo (Brazil)
• 200 m. freestyle: Yannick Agnel (France)
• 400 m. freestyle: Sun Yang (China)
• 800 m. freestyle: Sun Yang (China)
• 1500 m. freestyle: Sun Yang (China)

• 100 m. backstroke: Matt Grevers (USA)
• 200 m. backstroke: Ryan Lochte (USA)

• 50 m. breaststroke: Cameron van der Burgh (RSA)
• 100 m. breaststroke: Christian Sprenger (AUS)
• 200 m. breaststroke:  Dániel Gyurta (HUN)

• 50 m. butterfly: César Cielo (Brazil)
• 100 m. butterfly: Chad le Clos (RSA)
• 200 m. butterfly: Chad le Clos (RSA)

• 4x100 m. freestyle relay: France
• 4x200 m. freestyle relay: USA

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Women's swimming:

• 200 m. freestyle: Missy Franklin (USA)
• 400 m. freestyle: Katie Ledecky (USA)
• 800 m. freestyle: Katie Ledecky (USA)
• 1500 m. freestyle: Katie Ledecky (USA)

• 100 m. backstroke: Missy Franklin (USA)
• 200 m. backstroke: Missy Franklin (USA)

• 50 m. breaststroke: Yuliya Yefimova (RUS)
• 100 m. breaststroke: Rūta Meilutytė (LIT)
• 200 m. breaststroke: Yuliya Yefimova (RUS)

• 50 m. butterfly: Jeanette Ottesen (DEN)
• 100 m. butterfly: Sarah Sjöström (SWE)
• 200 m. butterfly: Liu Zige (China)

• 4x100 m. freestyle relay: USA
• 4x200 m. freestyle relay: USA

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               The World Championships truly gave incentive to swimming stars, and record-breaking performances. About six world records were smashed in the women's swimming. American 17-year old swimming sensation Missy Franklin became the first person ever to bag six gold in the World Championships. She became level with Australian legend Libby Trickett with 9 gold medals overall. Earlier, Missy Franklin had also won four gold including sweeps of the 100 m. and 200 m. backstrokes in the 2012 London Olympics.
               Rūta Meilutytė, from Lithuania, broke the records for the 50 m. and 100 m. breaststrokes in the semi-finals. Furthermore, Katie Ledecky from the USA, also managed extraordinary, record-breaking feats in the 800 m. and 1500 m. freestyle events.





Proposed Transfer of Bale to Real Madrid!

               La Liga giants Real Madrid and English Premier League side Tottenham Hotspurs are said to be close to a potential transfer of Gareth Bale at around £105 million. Real Madrid under manager Carlo Ancelotti, are trying to break through with Bale, though the deal still remains elusive. If this possible transfer is agreed upon by the Spurs, then it could become the world transfer record for the highest ever signing fee ever, beating the £80 million record of Cristiano Ronaldo's move to Real Madrid from Manchester United. 

               Bale, pulled out from Tottenham's 5-2 defeat to Monaco on Saturday. However, he arrived twice consecutively for the Tottenham training sessions. Tottenham manager Andre Villas-Boas insisted that Tottenham would be interested in the offer, only on a player plus cash combination. Real Madrid seem to consider left-back Fabio Coentrao who is valued at £10 million, as the prime candidate for this trade, though Villas-Boas had eyes on striker Alvaro Morata and even former Spur Luka Modric. 

               Spaniard Roberto Soldado, who was newly signed by the Spurs at £26 million, urged Bale to stay at White Hart Lane. Meanwhile, Read Madrid claimed that Bale's transfer was already agreed upon. Bale, a Welshman, was FWA and PFA Player of the Year in 2012-13 and has scored over 40 goals in his Tottenham career. Since then, the 24-year old has been seen as hot property on transfer lists.

 

Whitewash in Zimbabwe

               Amit Mishra's 6-wicket haul led India to a comprehensive victory over beleaguered Zimbabwe, at Bulawayo. India secured a 5-0 whitewash of the series without much sweat. Earlier,  Mishra's skilful manoeuvres pummelled Zimbabwe to a paltry total of 163. Then, India knocked off the target in just 34 overs, with Jadeja, Pujara and Rahane scoring around 50 runs each. Amit Mishra became the Man of the Series as he bagged a total of 18 wickets, beating the record of the highest number of wickets by a spinner in a bilateral series. Along with this, India recorded their first clean sweep away from home in a five-match series.

Match Stats:

Zimbabwe 163 (Masakadza 32, S Williams 51, Mishra 6-48)

India 167 (Rahane 50, Jadeja 48, Jarvis 2-18) 

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               This five-match series saw a relatively young Indian side taking on and defeating the underperforming Zimbabweans. We saw Virat Kohli's competence as a captain, as well as good performances from Jaydev Unadkat, Shikhar Dhawan, as well as Mishra's remarkable bowling, which stages a good claim for his Test recall. However, a reason for disappointment was that J&K spinner Parvez Rasool did not get his first international outing, and warmed the benches instead. It could have been a beacon of opportunity for other J&K players who are marginalized from Indian cricket. J&K CM Omar Abdullah expressed his discontent saying "Did you really have to take him all the way to Zimbabwe to demoralize him?".

     

                 

 

 

Oosthuizen down with Injuries for two Months

               South African golfer Louis Oosthuizen is out with multiple back, neck and hip injuries ahead of the World Golf Championships Bridgestone Invitational as well as next week's PGA Tournament. Oosthuizen, 30 years old, had pulled out from this year's British Open after eight holes. He's estimated to be back by late September for the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship and later, the Presidents Cup in early October.
               Oosthuizen, is a 2010 British Open Champion and is currently ranked No.12 in the PGA rankings as of July 21, 2013. His best ever placing was No.4 in January 2013.

 

 

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2013 PGA Major Tour Results:

 

Masters Tournament (Georgia)

Winner- Adam Scott (Australia)

 

US Open (Pennsylvania)

Winner- Justin Rose (England)

 

The Open Championship (Scotland)

Winner- Phil Mickelson (USA)

 



 

England alter Bowling for Third Test

               England has dropped Graham Onions and Steven Finn from the final XI playing the Third Test of the Ashes at Old Trafford, Manchester. The replacement is Monty Panesar, right arm off spinner. Also included in the playing XI was the burly English pace bowler, Chris Tremlett. Meanwhile, Kevin Pietersen was retained for the third test despite his calf strain, and rumours whether James Taylor would take his place. The final XI was announced by England's national selector Geoff Miller who said Pietersen's fitness would be assessed pre-match.

 

Here's a lowdown on the first two Tests.

 

First Test Scoreboard:

England 1st innings 215 (Trott 48, Siddle 5-50, Pattinson 3-69)

Australia 1st innings 280 (Agar 98, Hughes 81, S Smith 53, Anderson 5-85)

England 2nd innings 375 (Cook 50, Pietersen 64, Bell 109, Broad 65, Starc 3-81)

Australia 2nd inninings 296 (Rogers 52, Haddin 71, Anderson 5-73)

 

England won by 14 runs.

Man of the match: James Anderson 10-158

 

Match moments:

1) Maiden test fifty on debut for Ashton Agar.

2) Ian Bell's 18th Test hundred.

3) Record 10th wicket partnership of 163 between  Hughes and Agar.

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Second Test Scoreboard:

England 1st innings 361 (Trott 58, Bell 109, Bairstow 67, R Hariis 5-72)

Australia 1st innings 128 (G Swann 5-44)

England 2nd innings 349 (Root 180, Bell 74, Siddle 3-65)

Australia 2nd innings 235 (Khawaja 54, Clarke 51, Swann 4-78)

 

England won by 347 runs.

Man of the match: Joe Root

 

Match moments:

1) Graeme Swann's 16th five wicket haul.

2) Joe Root's 2nd test ton.

 

 

 

 



Caught Doping!

               The World Championships at Moscow are out of bounds for dope victims Tyson Gay and Asafa Powell. Either have tested positive for banned stimulants. This news shocked the world of athletics just after the doping scandal of Jamaican athlete Veronica Campbell-Brown who had won gold for 200m in the 2004 & 2008 Olympics.

Tyson Gay, an American 2007 World Champion, was informed by the USADA that he had failed the dope test

on Friday. Gay, was the fastest man this year when he clocked 9.75s at the WC trials in Iowa.

On the other hand, Asafa Powell from Jamaica, is the fourth fastest man of all time with a best time of 9.72s was confirmed failed for a dope test at the Jamaican WC trials.

Along the this duo, was Sherone Simpson, silver medallist at the 2008 Olympics women's 100m.

Another bunch of names to be engraved on the Hall of Shame to accompany cyclist Lance Armstrong. D: