Athletics: Lagat regains indoor record

 

Bernard Lagat regained the American indoor 5,000-meter record on Saturday with a victory at the 104th Millrose Games, the first in 98 years to be staged outside of Madison Square Garden.

 

Three-time Olympian Lagat won in 13mins 7.15secs, showing his fitness six months before the London Olympics at age 37 by breaking the US mark of 13:11.44 set by Galen Rupp last year in the British city of Birmingham.

 

“I had a few problems in training this past week and rested a bit more than I usually do, so to run 13:07 at this time of the year, in a week like this, that s a good indication I can do a lot better,” he said.

 

Lagat, a two-time 1,500 Olympic medalist, performed just as coach James Li had expected right down to the second.

 

“Bernard did exactly what we expected,” Li said. “We knew from his training that he was ready for something like this.”

 

Kenya s Lawi Lawang, Lagat s training partner, was second in 13:08.28 to smash the US college record that was also owned by Rupp.

 

Rupp answered by breaking Lagat s two-mile American record, winning in 8:09.72 at the USA Track and Field Classic in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

 

“That s the way it goes,” Lagat said. “You win some, you lose some.”

 

In a showdown of US Olympic contenders, David Oliver won the 60m hurdles in 7.51 with Terrence Trammell second in7.52 and Aries Merritt third in 7.53.

 

Two-time US Olympic relay medalist Sanya Richards-Ross won the 400 in 50.89, surpassing Bulgarian Vania Stambolova for the fastest time in the world this year.

 

Matthew Centrowitz, the son of a two-time US Olympian, won the men s mile in 3:53.92.

 

Women s world 1,500m champion Jenny Simpson won the 1,500 title in 4:07.27 while LaShawn Merritt, the 2008 Olympic 400-meter champion and 2011 world 400 runner-up, won the rarely contested 500m in 1:01.39.

 

World high jump champion Jesse Williams of the United States cleared 2.32 to win while Russian Olga Kucherenko of Russia won the long jump in 6.75 and world leader Jenn Suhr took the pole vault by clearing 4.58m.
 

Miandad turns down Pakistan coaching job

LAHORE: Pakistan confirmed Tuesday that former captain Javed Miandad has turned down an offer to become the side’s batting coach.

The team has been let down by faltering fielding and under-achieving batsmen and Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Ijaz Butt and one-day captain Shahid Afridi had asked Miandad to come on board, manager Intikhab Alam said.

“The Pakistan team surely needs a batting coach and the board approached Miandad but he unfortunately declined the offer because of personal reasons. But I am sure that he will come and help the players in the near future,” Alam told reporters during team’s training camp for the West Indies tour.

But Miandad indicated he had rejected the offer because he was unwilling to work alongside other coaches.

“When you have four, five separate coaches, then the blame game starts in case the team loses a series or a tournament,” Miandad told reporters.

“For the last three years I have been saying ‘give me the team with full responsibility’, but it was not done,” he added.

Pakistan fly out to the Caribbean early Thursday to play one Twenty20 international, five one-day matches and two Tests.

Miandad’s Test batting average never dropped below 50 throughout his 20-year career. His 8,832 Test runs at 52.57 remain a record, with espncricinfo.com describing him as “the greatest batsman Pakistan has ever produced”.

The right-hander, now a PCB director, had initially hinted that he was willing to help out the squad, but also said he was unwilling to tour. He has had three separate stints as coach since 1998, the last of which was in 2004.

Alam said he was nevertheless happy with the team’s preparations for the West Indies.

“I can say this with great satisfaction — that this team maintained exemplary discipline during the World Cup, and I am also happy with the fitness level of the team because, unlike the other teams, we didn’t have any serious injury problems during the mega-event,” said Alam.

Alam said the team had moved on since their 29-run defeat in the World Cup semi-final against arch-rivals India.

“It was great disappointment to lose in the semi-final, and I can tell you that players wept in the dressing room. But since then they have moved on which was very necessary,” said Alam, also a former captain and coach.

He said he hoped that new players would put in strong performances during the West Indies tour.

“We have selected some new players in the team as we felt that the West Indies tour will help us groom some youngsters, and I hope these players grab this opportunity,” said Alam.

Parveen Kumar Go Through Fitness Test

Indian Seamer Praveen Kumar will go through the fitness test as he is having an elbow injury. He had an elbow injury and after having consultation with consultants he has given a fitness test. Now he has to wait for the announcement of the result of the test. He carried an injury during the South African series and after that went back.

On Monday he has given a fitness test but BCCI has still to say on the announcement. Dr Andrew Wallace, a London-based surgeon is giving treatment to him. He has also given consultation to Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar. BCCI is not saying anything about the fitness test of Kumar. They are waiting for full consultation regarding his injury and might be having an option of his replacement.

There is a possibility that Sreesanth might be the option for his replacement. Indian team was also having injuries before the South African tour and they also send their players back home for rest. Gambhir and Sehwag are the main players who got injuries. India is one of the hosts of the world cup 2011. They will play the match on their home grounds and will have benefit of home conditions. The new player chose as replacement will not find it difficult to adjust in home conditions.

Gul Panag molested at Delhi Marathon 2010

Delhi has steadily maintained its image as one that is extremely unsafe for women. In between, thanks to the Common Wealth Games, the spotlight shifted to corruption but with the latest Delhi Marathon 2010, its back to its past stature. The victim this time was none other than the actress who is a sports enthusiast, Gul Panag, who has never missed an opportunity to put her fitness regime to test.

On Sunday, 21st November, when Gul Panag participated in Half Marathon held in Delhi, she was groped by the men standing at the starting point. They took advantage of the crowd to feel her up and the actress was obviously quite taken aback by the whole indecent act.

It was a typical women-in-crowded-places syndrome and Gul being the fighter, instead of letting this event disturb her more than required, went ahead with the marathon and completed the run.

Gul says that she has participated in several other marathons and has never experienced something like this before and blames it on the Delhi culture. She feels that compared to Mumbai, something like this is expected in Delhi which is typical of that city.

The offenders on the other hand took advantage of the melee and got away. Gul too realised the futility of filing a complaint as she really cannot recognise the offenders considering the crowd of people. Though she did feel that no matter what the security, certain decorum is expected from participants.

Australia keep options open in Ashes squad

SYDNEY: Australia kept their options open by naming a 17-man squad for the first Ashes test on Monday, allowing key players time to prove their fitness and form over the next 10 days.

Left-armed spinner Xavier Doherty was the biggest surprise in the party for the Brisbane test having made his one-day international debut against Sri Lanka just 12 days ago at the age of 29.

Doherty is one of three spinners in the squad, alongside offspinner Nathan Hauritz and young leg-spinner Steve Smith as the selectors continue wrestling with who should support their likely three-pronged pace attack at the Gabba from Nov. 25.

Uncapped batsmen Usman Khawaja and Callum Ferguson, who with Smith will face England for Australia A this week, were other inclusions who should keep the more experienced players focused.

“It’s a longer squad than normal primarily because we

Big B harassed by follower on his blog; files complaint

Amitabh Bachchan was probably the first most sincere celebrity blogger in Bollywood who used the platform to connect with his fans and update them on his activities, thoughts and interact with them regularly. No wonder then that he had innumerable followers who would start their day with reading what the revered Big B had to say.

But apparently there was one errant follower who used the ability to comment on the blog to vent out his negativity. He would leave derogatory remarks that would cross the line of decency and were abusive. Big B mentions in his blog, “There is a serious effort by a member that writes and comments on this blog to use language and expression that is abusive, filthy and utterly disgusting.” The unrelenting person would even send messages that were downright vulgar on Big B’s phone and provoked the star to take corrective measures.

Amitabh Bachchan reported the matter to the authorities and now any attempt from this miscreant would come under legal cyber space action.

Bipasha to shoot her fitness video in Goa

Bipasha will be spending a lot of time in Goa in the coming weeks. First she will shoot her fitness video on the beaches quickly before winter sets in. Then she is all set to shoot a re-mix of the song ‘Dum Maro Dum’ for Rohan Sippy’s film of the same title.
In Rohan Sippy’s film, Bipasha Basu is all set to swing to the sound of the R D Burman track ‘Dum Maro Dum’. The copyright issues with Dev Anand and his film Hare Rama Hare Krishna have apparently been sorted out. Pritam Chakraborty is all set to record a new version of the Asha Bhosle classic.
Says Bipasha, “I can’t talk about it right now. But when it happens it will happen. Give it another two weeks.”
She has another issue-based film Aakrosh coming up after Lamhaa. And Bipasha wonders how the audience would react to it. “The social issue, honour killings, is treated like a thriller. Even Lamhaa was treated like a thriller. But how many people went to see it?”
Bipasha plays a schoolteacher in a tradition-bound village in Aakrosh. “For me the interesting part of doing Aakrosh was to see how far away I can get away from my glamorous image. I discovered it was easy for me to do real characters. The director, Priyadarshan, is a delight to work with. And my co-star is Ajay Devgn who is a good dependable actor. I’ve another film Mr. Fraud with Ajay directed by Abbas-Mustan which got stuck. I don’t know if that will ever release.”
Bipasha has a message for her colleagues who are keen to lend their names to issue-based films. “Don’t charge any money for working in such films. It’s the only way to make issue-based films commercially viable.”
Says the actress, “After Lamhaa, I am tempted to tell a committed filmmaker like Rahul Dholakia to make out-and-out commercial films. Or if you make a film on a social issue then make sure it doesn’t go over-budget. The audience doesn’t care about what’s happening in the real world. It’s shameful that Lamhaa was so costly. If it was made for Rs. 4 crores it would have been a hit. When a mainstream actor does a film on a social cause it should be done free of cost as a sign of commitment to society.”
Bipasha is all set to go to Goa well in advance of her earlier plan to shoot her video. “I want it to be shot outdoors in Goa. Winter gets too crowded. And I’ve a film to shoot in September. So I’ve to rush the video. I am going crazy doing my calorie counts. This time I’ve no team. I am doing everything on my own. It’s a little boring to do it by myself. But I’ve always been a loner.”
And yes, all is well between Bipasha and John. Says Bipasha confidently, “If God forbid, anything were to go wrong between me and John, he would be the loser not me.”
John Abraham may go right ahead and insure his body parts. Bipasha isn’t doing any such thing. Bipasha can’t see the sense of John insuring his butt.
She says, “I’m a body person and I am definitely into fitness. But I’d never insure any body part. He’s welcome to do what he likes. I just want to know which insurance company is insuring his butt.”

Sri Lanka sweat on Malinga fitness

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka are sweating on the fitness of Lasith Malinga as the fast bowler battles to recover from injury and illness ahead of the third and final test against India starting on Tuesday.

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Sri Lanka sweat on Malinga fitness

Pak squad for Asia Cup announced

LAHORE: Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced a 15-man national cricket team for the 10th Asia Cup in Sri Lanka to be played from June 15-24.

PCB chairman Ijaz Butt told at a press conference here on Thursday that fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar and allrounder Shoaib Malik have passed their fitness test after which they have been included in the team.

He said that he had no pressure on selection matter.

On this occasion, captain Shahid Afridi said that a balanced team has been selected for the Asia Cup.

The team is as follows:
Shahid Afridi (captain), Salman Butt (vice-captain), Imran Farhat, Shahzeb Hasan, Kamran Akmal, Umar Akmal, Shoaib Malik, Asad Shafiq, Umar Amin, Abdul Razzaq, Mohammad Asif, Moahammad Aamir, Shoaib Akhtar, Saeed Ajmal, Abdul Rehman.

Reserves: Mohammad Irfan, Fawad Alam, Athar Ali, Zulfiqar Babar.

mexico vs england

mexico vs england

While the 2010 World Cup isn’t officially here yet, it might as well be. Today, we get a very intriguing warm-up contest between England and Mexico at Wembley Stadium, in a match that will definitely catch the eye of U.S. national team supporters. And then the United States will take their game to the pitch tomorrow, as they face the Czech Republic in East Hartford, CT. The U.S. and England will kick off Group C against each other on June 12, and both are looking to pick up victories this week to give them a little momentum heading into the cup.
He explained that he wants flexibility in his players, adding that his style with England has always been a 4-4-2, or a 4-3-1-2 formation with Steven Gerrard as a midfielder free behind the two forwards. In his Roma times Capello played with three centre backs and he has been practicing that. He believes that England can play different styles and that the squad have to prepare for everything.
England reports that the fitness of Manchester City midfielder Gareth Barry is a concern, he picked up an ankle injury in the penultimate game of the season against Tottenham.
Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard are fully fit and they are both expected to play against Mexico. Other key players include Aaron Lennon of Tottenhum Hotspur and young Gunner Theo Walcott. James Milner is also expected to play. Milner, an Aston Villa player, has enjoyed a wonderful season with the club and he is Manchester United’s target for next season. Top quality striker Wayne Rooney scored more than 25 goals this season for the Red Devils and he is all set to start in front.

Tags: behind-the-two, czech, czech-republic, fitness, frank-lampard, penultimate, season, steven gerrard, then-the-united, united-states, walcott-james, wayne-rooney

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