Indian Hockey women finish seventh in FIH challenge Tournament

NEW DELHI: India came from behind to beat Azerbaijan 3-1 and finish seventh in the FIH Womens Champions Challenge 1 Hockey Tournament at Dublin, Ireland on Sunday. Saba Anjum (44th), Chanchan Devi Thokchom (49th) and Anuradha Devi (68th) were the goal scorers for India, while Zhang Suleymanova was on target for Azerbaijan in the 28th minute. Both teams were lethargic in the first half of the match, with scoring chances being few and far between. The only goal of the first half came on a penalty stroke in the 28th minute when Azerbaijan's Zhang Suleymanova scored on India's Yogita Bali. However, India, who had trounced Azerbaijan 6-1 in their earlier round robin Pool match, came out stronger in the second half and immediately started pressuring the opposition. Their efforts were rewarded in the 44th minute when captain Saba Anjum put in the only field goal of the game to even things up. Five minutes later winger Chanchan Devi Thokchom gave the Indians their first advantage with the 2-1 penalty corner goal. The one-goal lead stood for another 20 minutes, but India were never really in a danger of surrendering the game-tying goal. But for good measure Anuradha Devi put in an insurance marker with two minutes left in regulation to bring the final to 3-1.

Krishnan Sasikiran beats Negi to win AAI title

NEW DELHI: Krishnan Sasikiran scored a third successive win and in the process avenged his recent loss at the hands of Parimarjan Negi in the inaugural Airports Authority of India (AAI) grandmasters chess tournament here Sunday. In another game, women's World champion Hou Yifan got her first points through a draw against Filipino Wesley So in 52 moves. The third game between Fabiano Caruana and Viktor Laznicka, which began in the Caro-Kann Advanced Variation, also ended in a draw in 59 moves. It was the first time a round had produced two draws. Overall only four games out of 15 have ended in draws in the first five days. Caruana leads with four points while Laznicka is second with 3.5 points. Sunday's win with black for Sasikiran from a Ruy Lopez in 56 moves brought him to three points and that must seem a big relief after two losses at the start. Wesley So has 2.5 points, Negi 1.5 and Hou Yifan has half a point. Asked if he was relieved with three lout of five in the first half, Sasikiran said: "No doubt about that. It felt good to come back at fifty per cent after the two wins and now I am plus one." For both Sasikiran and Negi, the tournament has been bitter-sweet. The game against Negi may well have been Sasikiran's first in the past week but Negi in most of his games in the ongoing tournament has begun well only to be found wanting in the middle game. "I agree there were no major errors from my side, but I would still be happier if I can play higher quality chess than what has been seen so far. Hopefully, in the second half I will get to do that also. My today's aim was to stay clear of time trouble and I think I managed that." In a Ruy Lopez Closed with Breyer Variation, Negi was again fine in the opening and in fact was actually better positionally. But once again he went awry in the middle game. This time, he attempted to go for Saskiran's a6 pawn with Qe2 on the 29th and that may well have been the beginning of the end. Negi did make a fight of it, but Sasikiran hung onto his advantage to grab the full point. Wesley So, who had admitted to having mistakenly having got ready for Hou Yifan instead of Fabiano Caruana a day earlier, did not quite manage to grab a win from the Women's World champion. In a game that was a Vienna opening, Wesley kept pushing Hou Yifan, who made a dubious 46th move Rh2 but her opponent's reply of Re7 was not too good either. Hou got a draw to appear to finally appear on the scoreboard. "She was slightly better in the opening and then I may have had chances, but she defended very well," said the smiling Wesley. "Hopefully the second half will see better chess from me." It was Hou's first draw after four losses. With a rest due for Monday, she will be hoping for a better second half of the tournament. It was a very well fought 59-move draw between Caruana and Lazincka, who are now first and second at the midway stage of the tournament. The sixth round will be played Tuesday. Points after five rounds: 4 points - Caruana; 3.5 - Laznicka; 3 - Sasikiran; 2.5 - Wesley So; 1.5 - Negi; 0.5 - Hou Results of fifth round: F Caruana drew with Viktor Laznicka; Parimarjan Negi lost to Krishnan Sasikiran; Hou Yifan drew with Wesley So.

Erratic Saina nehwal ends runner-up at Indonesia Open

JAKARTA: A profligate defending champion Saina Nehwal faltered at the final hurdle, failing to complete the hat-trick of titles at the Indonesia Open Super Series after losing to Chinese world number three Yihan Wang in the final here on Sunday. Fourth seed Saina, who won the title in 2009 and 2010, frittered away a match point en route to a 21-12 21-23 14-21 loss to her equally error-prone rival. In a contest which lasted a little over an hour, Saina gained from Wang's numerous errors of judgments, misplaced shots and her own trademark smashes to clinch the opening game rather easily. Wang committed 12 unforced errors in the opening game. But the Chinese recovered in the second game and although the number of unforced errors did not improve, Saina helped her rival's cause by trying too hard to hurry up the proceedings. The result was 10 unforced errors for the Indian, who also struggled to connect the smashes that more often than not had bailed her out in crunch situations. Wang was quick to pounce on the chance and took 11-8 lead at the change of ends. The Chinese was cruising along 17-14 before Saina smashed her way back again to make it 20-19. The Indian had a match point in hand but Wang fought back to make the scoreline 21-21 before clinching the game 23-21. The shift in momentum was evident in the third game and though the two players went neck-and-neck till 9-9, it was clear that Wang had gained in confidence while Saina's game began to fall apart. Saina's stock smashes were not getting the desired result as Wang showed better judgment on the baseline. In fact, Wang managed nine smash winners compared to Saina's two in the deciding game.

European GP: Vettel makes it his sixth win

VALENCIA (SPAIN): Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel won his sixth race of the season at the European Grand Prix on Sunday to further strengthen his already commanding Formula One championship lead. Vettel beat Fernando Alonso of Ferrari by 10.891 seconds for his second straight victory along Valencia's street circuit. It was the German's fifth win this season starting in pole and came in stifling 46 degrees Celsius (115 degrees Fahrenheit) heat. Red Bull teammate Mark Webber was third after starting on the front row, pushing Lewis Hamilton down to fourth. Felipe Massa of Ferrari split the McLarens after Jenson Button finished sixth. Vettel, the defending F1 champion, extended his championship lead to 77 points with his 16th career victory. Vettel leads with 186 points, Button and Webber both have 109. "Fantastic race - better than anything I could have imagined," Vettel screamed over his car radio, before being handed the trophy in front of Spanish tenor Placido Domingo. The F1 season has previously been marked by exhilarating overtaking, thanks to new technology and tires. However, those additions failed to spice up Sunday's race for the 85,127 fans at the notoriously hard to overtake America's Cup harbor course, even with a new engine regulation put into place this weekend that did nothing to dampen Red Bull's leading pace. Instead, Vettel continued his dominating title defense with a sixth victory from eight races - and second place in the other two. "It's incredible this achievement and the steps the team has made in the past 2½ years," the young German driver said before brushing off fears he could sit on his lead now. "I don't look at the (points) gap, it's a long season. We've had a phenomenal season and we have to continue that way, that's our target. The target is still to win races. "We have to keep doing what we do and stay hungry." Red Bull has won 18 of the past 30 GPs stretching to 2009, when Button won six of the first seven races on his way to the title for Brawn. Hamilton, who had finished runner-up here the last three years, stayed fourth with 97 points. Alonso trails Vettel by a huge 99 points on 87 after a second runner-up finish in three races. "I think second place is the maximum we can have in these days, so to be here between the Red Bull cars is a great achievement," Alonso said after earning his first podium in Valencia. "We are definitely moving in the right direction, working to get closer to these guys." Hamilton surrendered his third-place start with a terrible beginning as both Ferraris passed the McLaren driver, who has been under pressure to curb his aggressive driving style following incidents at the last two GPs. "Damage control - we did as much as we could. We're not fast enough, really," said Hamilton, who was almost ready to write off his hopes of catching Vettel after finishing 46 seconds behind. "It's finished really, in the sense of the championship it's almost over already." Button also surrendered sixth to Nico Rosberg at the first corner, but a sly pass later on recouped it to leave the McLarens trailing both the Red Bulls and Ferraris. "I didn't mind losing out to Nico at the start because it was the only fun part, trying to get past him later," said Button, who failed to build on his dramatic Canadian GP victory two weeks ago. "To finish eight seconds behind a Ferrari after the problems we had is not bad." After the first round of stops Hamilton had managed to get past Massa but still trailed Alonso, who was right on the back of Webber before passing the Australian at the end of the long straight near the close of lap 21. Webber recovered his place by the second round of pits but then yielded back to Alonso after the final round of stops, but the Spanish driver's hopes of catching Vettel were hampered as he was slowed by traffic after coming out of the pits. Webber regretted his last pit stop. "It was probably my best race of the year until the last pit stop," said Webber, who rued his decision to come in early to swap back to the soft tire while Alonso stayed out on the medium to get ahead. "It was my fault for missing second today. The three of us were nick and tuck to the end." Rosberg finished seventh for Mercedes ahead of Jaime Alguersuari, whose seat at Toro Rosso has been under pressure. Adrian Sutil of Force India was ninth and Renault's Nick Heidfeld was 10th. Sergio Perez's first race since crashing at Monaco yielded an 11th-place finish as Sauber opted for a one-stop strategy. "It was not an easy Grand Prix for a comeback and I'm happy I was able to race again," the Mexican rookie said after finishing six places ahead of Michael Schumacher. The German was knocked all the way back to 22nd after a collision with Vitaly Petrov of Renault on the 15th lap. It was the first time the entire field completed a race since the 2005 Italian GP, when HRT driver Narain Karthikeyan also finished last but with Jordan. The season continues on July 10 with the British GP.

Squash: Anaka wins maiden Asian Junior title

CHENNAI: Anaka Alankamony of India staved off stiff resistance from top seed Tsz Wing Tong (Hong Kong) to bag the Asian Junior (U-19) girls squash title in a contest lasting five games. The Chennaiite became the third Indian after Joshna Chinappa and Dipika Pallikal to win the Asian crown. Tong, who had a flawless record against Alankamony, started aggressively to take the first game 11-6. But Anaka drew level, almost immediately. She slowed down her game much to her opponent's discomfiture and started getting her drop shots on target to take the second game 11-8. A close third game game saw Tong winning 12-10. However, at crucial points in both the fourth and fifth games, Anaka held her nerve to win both 11-7, making her coach Cyrus Poncha proud. "She was eligible to play in the U-17 category, but was determined to participate in the U-19 section. It's a remarkable achievement," he said. Ramit Tandon looked like making it a double for India. Showing his superior racket skills against Pakistan's Danish Atlas Khan, Ramit won the first game 11-9 and took a 7-2 lead in the next. But Danish won nine straight points, as the match swung on its head. Danish went on to win the U-19 boys title at 9-11, 11-7, 11-4, 11-5. Earlier, Saumya Karki lost to Ho Ka Po 17-15, 10-12, 11-5, 11-3 in the U-17 girls final. India bagged one gold, two silver & five bronze from the event.

France World Cup football team suspended

Paris: The 23 members of France's World Cup squad have been suspended for the country's next game, the French Football Federation (FFF) said on Friday. The decision was taken during a meeting of the FFF's Federal council on the recommendation of new coach Laurent Blanc following the country's World Cup debacle, a statement said. France's next international is a friendly against Norway in Oslo on Aug. 11. The country's World Cup campaign in South Africa was a total failure as France were ousted in the first round without a win. Their exit followed a players' boycott of a training session in support of striker Nicolas Anelka, who was sent home for insulting coach Raymond Domenech.

Argentina team bosses betrayed me: Maradona - football

Buenos Aires: Diego Maradona accused Argentine soccer chiefs of betraying him on Wednesday, a day after they voted unanimously to end his tenure as national team coach. The Argentine Football Association (AFA) decided not to renew Maradona's contract following the team's 4-0 drubbing by Germany in the World Cup quarter-finals. In his first public comments since the defeat, Maradona took aim at AFA President Julio Grondona and the technical director of national teams, Carlos Bilardo. "Grondona lied to me, Bilardo betrayed me," a sombre Maradona told a news conference at a restaurant, reading from a prepared statement. "Grondona told me in the changing room after we were eliminated in South Africa ... that he was very pleased with the work I'd done and he wanted me to stay on," he said. "When we were in mourning, Bilardo worked in the shadows to kick me out." Maradona, who led Argentina to World Cup victory as captain in 1986, was appointed as coach in 2008 despite having very little coaching experience. During his tumultuous spell in charge, Maradona was banned for two months for a foul-mouthed outburst at a news conference and the squad barely scraped through the qualifiers. After convincing wins in their opening World Cup games, Argentina became one of the tournament's favourites, but Maradona's dreams of lifting soccer's most-coveted prize as coach were dashed by the Germans. Dressed in a navy suit and blue shirt, Maradona appeared in a reflective mood, occasionally appearing to fight back tears as he read from the statement. He said he was still recovering from the loss to Germany but put some of the blame for the patchy World Cup campaign on AFA. "They called me to put out a fire and then when I did, this happens," he said, adding that he had taken over the team during a time of crisis and had been dropped before being able to finish the job. He said he wanted to continue as coach but that during a meeting with Grondona, the AFA head had asked him to replace seven members of his coaching staff. "He knows it's impossible for me to continue without my coaching staff, Maradona said. "I defend everyone from the masseuse to the assistant because I have values and I'm not going to change." "I've given my all for the Argentine soccer shirt ... to wear this shirt again... And I'm convinced that the players felt this again ... maybe that was my job." Grondona said he had asked Maradona to stay, but said changes had to be made among the coach's staff team. "I can't see how there was a betrayal of any kind," Grondona told reporters. "Perhaps he sees betrayal as trying to make things better. ... the only thing I was looking for was to make a change, not to get rid of Maradona." President Cristina Fernandez, who has backed Maradona's tenure since the World Cup exit, said she was sad he had been dropped. "He took over the national team when it was a hot potato and lots of people predicted we wouldn't even qualify for South Africa," Fernandez said at the presidential palace. "I'm really sad about Diego, I think the team put on a very dignified performance," she said. "I don't know what happened (with Grondona) but it saddens me, they should come together and fix things."

Even referees' brains have their limits in football

Detroit: It was the World Cup goal seen around the world but missed by the eyes that mattered most: England midfielder Frank Lampard's shot that dropped cleanly past the German goal line but was not given by the referee. The avalanche of complaints about that missed call and others during the largest soccer tournament in the world raised the philosophical question of whether instant-replay technology improves games or turns them into soulless events run by a bank of blinking lights. Scientists who study the human brain say it is surprising that bad calls do not happen more often. "Despite all of the apparent surprise that the referees would be blowing calls, especially at crucial points, from a psychological standpoint this is what we would expect," said David Meyer, director of the University of Michigan's Brain, Cognition and Action Laboratory. "It's like every once in a while you draw the ace of spades," the psychology professor added. "It's going to happen." Questions about the capacity of the human brain to judge action on the sports field are not limited to conversations at the local bar, but are examined by neurobiologists and psychologists using such measures as "relay latency", "perceptual fluency" and "speed-accuracy trade-off curve". While it is easy for fans to throw up their hands in disgust at a missed call and curse the referee, they need to realise that officials are weighing up actions which happen in fractions of a second, experts say. "Human beings are never going to be perfect at making calls," said Gary Marcus, a professor of psychology at New York University. "Our memories just aren't cut out to allow us to be perfect referees. "Our eyes work a lot like cameras but our memories don't work anything like an SD (secure digital) card," Marcus, author of the book "Kluge: the Haphazard Construction of the Human Mind", said, referring to memory cards used in digital cameras. "We can't literally play back what we just saw." Making it tougher was the fleeting nature of moves in sport, said Emilio Salinas, an assistant professor of neurobiology at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center who helped to write a paper entitled "Perceptual decision making in less than 30 milliseconds". Salinas and fellow authors found that as little as 30 milliseconds of extra viewing time was the difference between a correct and an incorrect judgment about whether a flashed light had turned red or green. "Thirty milliseconds is sort of an upper bound on how fast you can do that kind of discrimination," he said. Then there is the fact that referees simply cannot see everything. University of Michigan's Meyer said the maximum number of players any one person could carefully track was four, meaning something would be missed even with multiple referees watching. When referees do miss a crucial piece of evidence, their brain will fill in the gaps using past experiences to help them make the call. "Filling in is really a deeply embedded part of human consciousness," New York University's Marcus said. Just as a driver's brain would tell him a car was in his blind spot even though he could not see it, referees' brains would fill in what was missing, he said. Obstructed views or bad angles are supplemented by the official's past experiences, something that may have happened when a botched call in early June cost Detroit Tigers pitcher Armando Galarraga a perfect game in Major League Baseball (MLB). Scientists and even referees understand that the accuracy of calls increases with experience. However, additional practice does not always make perfect. "You can train your eyes all day long to see as quick as possible, but we're talking about 300 milliseconds to see a 95-mile-an-hour fastball coming from a professional pitcher's rubber to home plate," said Kevin Gee, director of the Sports Vision Performance Center at the University of Houston College of Optometry. Given the challenges for the human brain, even some staunch critics of technology to aid referees have changed their minds. "I don't know if we can get any better at doing what we do," said retired MLB umpire Don Denkinger, who is remembered for an incorrect call in the 1985 World Series. "There's no super umpire sitting out there. "You have plays that are going to pop up that are called wrong and if you don't want to use instant replay, you just have to accept them," added Denkinger, who no longer opposes the use of instant replays. After Lampard's no-goal in June, FIFA president Sepp Blatter apologised for refereeing mistakes at the World Cup and said soccer's governing body would reopen the debate on goalline technology. Even the scientists, however, recognise the appeal of the drama offered by human error. "In real life, most of the time we do not have the possibility of engaging in instant replay in order to correct mistakes," Meyer said. "By keeping the technology out of play, we make the sport more traditionally lifelike and in some ways that can enhance the drama."

Goalline technology on IFAB agenda: Blatter

Singapore: The issue of goalline technology is on the agenda for the International Football Association Board's (IFAB) October meeting, FIFA President Sepp Blatter said on Wednesday. Blatter told a news conference in Singapore that IFAB, the body responsible for determining the rules of the sport, had agreed in their July meeting to put the issue on their agenda for their official gathering in Wales later in the year. "At this meeting (in October), we will bring the point of goalline technology," Blatter told reporters. "It is now on the this agenda." The debate on the of the use of technology was raised again when England's Frank Lampard was denied a goal in their World Cup second round defeat to Germany in June despite television replays showing the ball clearly crossing the goalline. Blatter, who is in Singapore to open the men's and women's soccer tournaments for the inaugural Youth Olympic Games, said that he was in favour of using technology to rule on such contentious decisions providing it was reliable. "My personal opinion on goal technology has never changed, I have said if we have an accurate and simple system then we will implement but so far we have not had a simple, nor an accurate system." The 74-year-old, flanked by AFC President Mohamed Bin Hammam, FIFA executive committee member Chung Mong-joon and Singapore FA president Zainudin Nordin, said that a number of groups would be able to present their solutions at the meeting. "The Cairos-Adidas system said they will have something more simple and the Italian group presented by the Italian FA said they now have a system which is absolutely accurate. "We have the Hawk-Eye again and then a Swiss watch company Longines, they said we have something that will beat everything so in this meeting all of these people can come and present their different items."

Germany win to close in on Euro 2012 finals

London: Germany swept to the brink of a place in the 2012 European Championship with a seventh straight qualifying win Tuesday, while Zlatan Ibrahimovic's hat-trick in a 5-0 rout of Finland kept Sweden in the hunt for top spot in its group. Real Madrid playmaker Mesut Oezil scored one goal and set up another as Germany beat Azerbaijan 3-1 in Baku, leaving Joachim Loew's side needing two points from its last three Group A games to guarantee a spot in next year's tournament in Poland and Ukraine. Ibrahimovic inspired Sweden to a fifth win in six Group E matches, with the AC Milan striker coming off the bench to score three times in 22 minutes to help lift his country three points behind the Netherlands. World and European champion Spain followed up a 4-0 thrashing of the United States on Saturday with a 3-0 win against Venezuela but fellow European heavyweight Italy was upset 2-0 by Ireland in Liege, Belgium, in another friendly. In other Euro 2012 qualifiers, Hungary stayed three points behind Sweden, thanks to a 3-0 win in San Marino, Belarus beat Luxembourg 2-0 to close to within a point of Group D leader France and there were also wins for Bosnia-Herzegovina and the Faeroe Islands. Germany, one of three countries with perfect records in qualifying along with Spain and the Netherlands, moved 10 points clear of second-place Belgium. Only Turkey - a point further back but with a game in hand - can stop Loew's men finishing top. "It was important to win and to end the season with the seventh win. It was a perfect season," Germany captain Philipp Lahm said. Oezil crashed an angled shot into the net off the post in the 30th minute to open the scoring before setting up striker Mario Gomez for the second goal 11 minutes later. Murad Huseynov scored for Azerbaijan, which is managed by former Germany coach Berti Vogts, in the 89th, but Andre Schuerrle sealed victory for the visitors in injury time. Ibrahimovic was a substitute after only recently recovering from an ankle injury but came on in the 25th as a replacement for the injured Ola Toivonen, with Sweden already 1-0 up through Kim Kallstrom's goal in the 12th. After taking the captain's armband, Ibrahimovic slotted a low finish into the bottom corner in the 31st following a slide-rule pass from Kallstrom. He then stroked the ball into an empty net four minutes later after Sebastian Larsson's cutback. The former Barcelona and Inter Milan striker clinched his hat-trick with a free header at the back post from Kallstrom's inswinging 53rd-minute free kick before setting up Emir Bajrami for Sweden's fifth in the 82nd. Fresh from scoring for Barcelona in a 3-1 victory over Manchester United in the Champions League final 10 days ago, strikers David Villa and Pedro Rodriguez set an understrength Spain on its way to a convincing win in Venezuela with first-half goals. Real Madrid midfielder Xabi Alonso added the third on the stroke of halftime as Spain coach Vicente del Bosque set a record for wins at the helm of the national team, his 39th surpassing the total achieved by predecessor Luis Aragones. Keith Andrews and Simon Cox scored either side of halftime for Ireland, whose coach Giovanni Trapattoni got one over Italy counterpart Cesare Prandelli, who he used to manage when in charge of Juventus in the early 1980s. In other friendlies, Norway defeated Lithuania 1-0 and Austria won 3-1 against Latvia, which ended the match with eight men after three late sending-offs. The other four Euro 2012 qualifiers on Tuesday featured teams with only outside chances of gaining automatic qualification as group winners, although second-half goals from Sergei Kornilenko and Anton Putilo eased Belarus to a win over Luxembourg that kept the pressure on France, which has a game in hand over its closest rival. Bosnia-Herzegovina, a 2-0 winner at home to Albania - thanks to goals by Haris Medunjanin and Darko Maletic, is two points further back in Group D and has played six games like France. Zoltan Liptak, Imre Szabics and Vladimir Koman were the scorers for Hungary against San Marino, which remains without a point or a goal in qualifying. Faeroe Islands earned a maiden victory in Group C and a first three-point haul since 2009, beating Estonia 2-0 through goals from Frodi Benjaminsen and Arnbjorn Hansen.

Ronaldo bids emotional farewell as Brazil win

Sao Paulo: Ronaldo's career with Brazil's national team came to an emotional end as he was given a send-off during Tuesday's friendly game against Romania. The striker made a cameo appearance in the game from the 30th minute until halftime, when he was honoured in a ceremony that recognised his contribution to the 'Selecao'. Brazil won the match - its last before the Copa America - 1-0, with Fred scoring in the first half. The 34-year-old Ronaldo retired in February after an 18-year career. The three-time FIFA Player of the Year represented Brazil in four World Cups - winning two of them - and remains the competition's all-time leading scorer with 15 goals. Only Pele scored more goals for Brazil than Ronaldo. Players from both teams lined up near the sideline and applauded Ronaldo as he left the field at halftime. Visibly moved, he put the Brazilian flag on his back, and with the ball in his hand, went around saluting the fans that packed the Pacaembu stadium. There were banners remembering the matches in which he scored each of his 15 World Cup goals. "Thank you for all that you have done for me throughout my career," Ronaldo said, addressing the supporters from the pitch. "Thank you for having accepted me the way I am, for having cried when I cried and for having smiled when I smiled." Fans loudly chanted the striker's name as he went into the locker room one last time. "Brazil thanks Ronaldo," read a banner held by fans. "There is only one Ronaldo," read another. Fred opened the scoring from close range in the 20th minute after a pass by Neymar, then celebrated with his index finger raised, mimicking Ronaldo's trademark goal celebration. Ronaldo then substituted Fred, who bowed to Ronaldo before leaving the field. The crowd cheered loudly every time he touched the ball and he nearly scored in the 35th after Neymar found him free from any markers in front of the net but he was unable to finish from close range. He missed another good chance in the 40th, scooping a shot from near the penalty spot and sending it way over the crossbar. Neymar set up Ronaldo again in the 43rd but his low shot was saved. "I had three chances, but in an ironic twist of fate, I couldn't score in my final match," Ronaldo told fans. "It would have been a small retribution for all that you have done for me." It was the first time Ronaldo played along with young sensation Neymar, who is touted as his replacement in the national team. Ronaldo said this week that the Santos player has the potential to be a star for Brazil when it hosts the 2014 World Cup. Neymar is one of the clients of the sports marketing agency that Ronaldo became a partner of after retiring. Ronaldo also has in his portfolio young playmaker Lucas, who is touted as a future star and entered Tuesday's match in the second half. Among those watching Ronaldo's farewell at Pacaembu was Barcelona president Sandro Rosell and several former Brazil teammates, including Cafu and Ricardo Rocha. Tuesday's match marked the end of the career of a player considered as one of the greatest Brazilian strikers of all time. He thrived with some of Europe's top teams - Barcelona, Real Madrid, Inter Milan and AC Milan - but it was with Brazil that he excelled the most. He scored 67 goals in 104 matches in the yellow shirt, behind only Pele's 95 goals. As a teenager, Ronaldo was a member of the squad that won the 1994 World Cup in the United States and in 1998 he was part of the team that lost in the final to France, having taken his place in the team despite suffering seizures the night before the match. His biggest moment came at the 2002 World Cup, after he recovered from one of the many serious knee injuries that plagued his career. He scored twice in the final against Germany to lead Brazil to its fifth world title. Ronaldo's debut with Brazil was as a 17-year-old in 1994 and his last official match was in the 2006 World Cup in Germany, where Brazil lost to France in the quarterfinals. His last club was Corinthians, Sao Paolo's biggest club. Although the night was for Ronaldo, Brazil coach Mano Menezes was focused on preparing the team for the Copa America and the team put in an underwhelming performance. Some fans jeered Brazil as it struggled to create scoring opportunities. Brazil drew against the Netherlands on Saturday and under Menezes' coaching, it has yet to be beat a major team, having lost to Argentina and France while recording wins over the United States, Iran, Ukraine, Scotland and now Romania. The match also showed up some problems officials must fix ahead of the 2014 World Cup, with a power outage at the stadium a few hours before the game.

Liverpool set to sign Sunderland's Henderson

London: Sunderland midfielder Jordan Henderson is set to complete his switch to Liverpool, after the two clubs reportedly agreed on a 20 million pound fee for his transfer. The move is thought to be likely to be completed on Wednesday subject to a medical, before the youngster travels with the England Under-21 squad to Denmark for the European Championship tournament. The deal would also see Liverpool striker David Ngog move to the Stadium of Light, according to the Press Association. Henderson had been heavily linked with a move to Merseyside in recent weeks, with the Black Cats having previously been reported to have rejected bids from the Reds. The 20-year-old put in strong performances for Steve Bruce's side and earned his first call up to the England senior team in their friendly with France in November. The fee for the midfielder together with the sale of Darren Bent is likely to leave Bruce a large transfer kitty this summer, with Manchester United pair Darron Gibson and Wes Brown said to be on their list.

Sri lanka draw second Test vs England

London: Sri Lanka reached 127-3 from 43 overs on Tuesday to draw the second Test against England and avoid a repeat of last week's humiliating defeat. Set 343 off 58 overs when England declared its second innings on 335-7 after lunch, Sri Lanka never attempted to chase a target that was near impossible with captain Tillakaratne Dilshan able to bat only in an emergency because of a broken thumb. Sri Lanka resumed the final session at Lord's on 32-1 but took few risks and comfortably survived the loss of Mahela Jayawardene for 25 and opener Tharanga Paranavitana for 44. England won the first Test after a similar declaration, putting the tourists in for 50 overs in Cardiff and bowling them out for 82 for an innings victory. Alastair Cook's 18th Test century for England and the early loss of stand-in opener Kumar Sangakkara - out for 12 when he miscued a cut off Chris Tremlett to Eoin Morgan at cover point - had left Sri Lanka facing a nervous final session with 45 overs remaining. But an unadventurous run rate of 2.95 per over used up plenty of time, with Mahela Jayawardene taking 71 balls for his 25 before falling when he drove at a wide delivery from Stuart Broad to Kevin Pietersen at fourth slip. England had hope of another memorable win when an inswinger from part-time bowler Jonathan Trott trapped Paranavitana lbw, reducing Sri Lanka to 96-3. But Thilan Samaraweera finished 17 not out after successfully reviewing an lbw decision on 4 - Billy Doctrove giving him out not offering a shot to a ball that pitched well outside off stump - and Prasanna Jayawardene inched his way to 12 with 15 overs remaining at the close. Sri Lanka now needs to win the June 16-20 third Test at The Rose Bowl to salvage the series, but it is likely to be without Dilshan. Dilshan did not field or open the batting on Tuesday after the thumb on his bottom hand was struck twice by Chris Tremlett during his first-innings 193. He was hit when on 55 on Saturday and set a Test career best the following day before Tremlett struck him again, bending his already taped thumb back toward the wrist. Dilshan batted on but added only one more run before falling for by far the highest score in Sri Lanka's first-innings 479 all out. With Sangakkara now averaging 26.60 in eight innings in England, Dilshan's injury could rob Sri Lanka of much of its batting prowess.

Indian cricket team plan to keep West Indies on the mat

Port of Spain: India had to fight before taking a 1-0 lead over the West Indies in the five-match ODI series but Suresh Raina would want his team to assert their supremacy over the hosts in the second match here at the Queen's Park Oval on Wednesday. Gaps created by the absence of seasoned pros like Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, MS Dhoni and Zaheer Khan are not easy to plug but the second-string team has shown the zeal one associates with the world champions. Cleary missing Chris Gayle, West Indies can do without dwelling on the opener's loss and focus on getting the best out of the resources at hand in their second confrontation. What must have hurt the hosts in the four-wicket loss on Monday was the inability to press home the advantage when they had the chance to do it. Had one out of the two half-centurions - Ramnaresh Sarwan (56) and Marlon Samuels (55) - stayed till the end, West Indies would have scored the 50-odd runs that they eventually fell short of. Then their bowlers fought well defending an average score of 215 but failed to keep the Indians in check even after reducing them to 104/4. Devendra Bishoo and Anthony Martin impressed on the sluggish surface, which was one of the positives for the hosts other than the batting of Sarwan and Samuels. Probably, Kieron Pollard lower down the order was what they missed in the first match. But facing quality Indian spin remains the West Indies' Achilles heel and needs to be addressed sooner rather than later as coming back will be difficult should they go 2-0 down on Wednesday. They have to come up with better answer than block and run, which only resulted in 29.2 overs as dot balls in the first ODI. The visitors look more settled in their bowling than batting, thanks to the absence of all the stalwarts. And it's hard to remember when last did Indian bowling looked better than their batting. Lack of quality openers is their biggest headache. While Parthiv Patel has failed so far, Shikhar Dhawan had one miss (in the Twenty20) and one hit when he scored 51 runs on Monday. However, the middle order, especially Rohit Sharma, has so far made up for the opening blues with some level-headed approach, which must be heartening to watch for MS Dhoni, who is resting back home. Rohit, along with Raina, Virat Kohli and S Badrinath, presents a quality challenge for the inexperienced West Indian attack. In fact, it's the success or failure of India's middle order that may decide West Indies' fortunes in the first leg of the tour. Making early inroads into India's batting lineup will give the hosts best chance to restrict the visitors. Harbhajan Singh and Co. has so far found the slow, turning tracks to their liking. But it would be foolish to ignore the discipline shown by Munaf Patel and Praveen Kumar, who provided early wickets on Monday that made the spinners more effective. But it has to be admitted that Gayle's absence makes a huge difference to the confidence of any bowler. On the face of it, India clearly have an edge going into the second ODI but the West Indies can never be taken lightly, especially at home. Squads: West Indies: Darren Sammy (c), Lendl Simmons, Kirk Edwards, Darren Bravo, Marlon Samuels, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Dwayne Bravo, Kieron Pollard, Carlton Baugh (wk), Andre Russell, Anthony Martin, Devendra Bishoo, Ravi Rampaul. India: Shikhar Dhawan, Parthiv Patel, Virat Kohli, Subramaniam Badrinath, Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma, Yusuf Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, Ravichandran Ashwin, Munaf Patel, Praveen Kumar, Ishant Sharma.

No. 7 is too low for Yusuf pathan - Kiran More

 

Mumbai: Yusuf Pathan, India's most destructive batsman in the current team, comes in at No. 7 and that has not gone down well with Baroda-based Kiran More, the former chairman of selectors. Pathan did not get many opportunities during India's successful 2011 World Cup campaign in a star-studded batting order. But even in a second string outfit, he comes in too late for the liking of cricketing pundits. The ongoing West Indies series, which does not feature big guns like Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh and Mahendra Singh Dhoni, was the best opportunity to give the Baroda man a push up the order. But he still bats at No. 7 amidst a lineup of less experienced one-day players. Pathan, a member of India's 2007 World T20-winning squad, batted at No. 7 in the T20 international and first one-day international against West Indies, scoring 15 not out and 10 respectively. I am quite disappointed, emphasised More. He should be batting up the order. A player of his class cannot be playing so low in the team that has so many youngsters. By now, Yusuf has rich experience in international cricket (52 ODIs and 20 T20 internationals). In IPL-4, Kolkata Knight Riders skipper Gautam Gambhir regularly had him at No. 3 or No. 5 and Pathan finished up as the fourth highest run-scorer for his team with 283 runs. By slotting him at No. 7, the team management is not sending the right signal to Yusuf. Everyone deserves a promotion if they are good and this guy is a match-winner. It is disheartening to see the treatment meted out to Yusuf. After all, he is the future of Indian cricket, More added. Pathan has enjoyed success at No. 6 where he has scored 193 runs, including his highest ODI score of 123 not out in seven matches at 64.33. At No. 7, his average drops down drastically to 32.71. Former India swing bowler Balwinder Singh Sandhu, who played a significant role in Pathan's career when he was coach at Baroda, said the exciting cricketer has to prove his worth at any batting position. Wherever he bats, Yusuf will have to prove his mettle. Although I agree that he has the ability to bat up the order, it sometimes depends on how much the coach and captain believe in you, said the 1983 World Cup-winning team member. Pathan's first coach Mehendi Shaikh was confident of his ward's promotion. The wickets in the West Indies are slow, so that is probably why he was sent at No. 7. I am sure he will be promoted up the order soon, said Shaikh from Baroda.