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.
 

Mathews backs Sri Lanka big guns

 

Sri Lankan all-rounder Angelo Mathews believes his team s star batsmen are ready to start turning promising starts into substantial scores and help their side rediscover winning form.

 

Sri Lanka suffered their second successive defeat to start the triangular one-day series against Australia and India on Friday, falling by five runs to the hosts at the WACA.

 

Mathews said more runs were needed from the top order to turn Sri Lankan fortunes around.

 

Their three best batsman — Kumar Sangakkara, Tillakaratne Dilshan and Mahela Jayawardene — have all got into double figures in both their tri-series games, but none has gone on to make a substantial score.

 

Mathews, who made 64 batting at number seven to almost rescue his side from a seemingly hopeless position on Friday, said it was only a matter of time before the trio capitalised on their early good work at the crease.

 

“Sangakkara, Dilshan, Jayawardene, they are world-class players, we all know that,” he said.

 

They have been  getting starts. I am sure they will bounce back and go for a big one in the next few games. “

 

Mathews said the Sri Lankan bowlers had been doing a good job in restricting the opposition, but that their batting had suffered from the regular loss of wickets in both matches.

 

Despite successive losses under the new leadership of captain Jayawardene and coach Graham Ford, taking the recent record of last year s beaten World Cup finalists to just two wins in their past 10 matches, Mathews said morale was still strong.

 

“The camp is feeling pretty good,” he said.

 

“We are obviously disappointed, but the mood is pretty good. The last two games we have played pretty good cricket, we have six more games to go and we have to keep our heads up.”
 

WADA wants ban on Indian runners to be extended

 

The World Anti Doping Agency has appealed against the leniency of one-year doping bans given to six Indian female runners last year.

 

India s National Anti Doping Agency director-general Rahul Bhatnagar said the world body was seeking two-year bans on the six 400-meter runners.

 

A NADA panel handed down lighter punishments in December because it believed the runners had consumed banned substances unknowingly.

 

The athletes included three members of the winning relay quartet at the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games in 2010: Ashwini Akkunji, Mandeep Kaur and Sini Jose. The others were Jauna Murmu, Tiana Mary and Priyanka Panwar.

 

All of them tested positive for one or more of three banned steroids: methandienone, epimethandiol and stanozolol.
 

Djokovic not sure to play Davis Cup for Serbia in 2012

 

Tennis world number one Novak Djokovic said Wednesday he was not certain he would be able to play for Serbia in 2012 Davis Cup due to his “packed agenda,” Beta news agency reported.

 

Djokovic has already said he would skip the first round of the Davis Cup match with Sweden to be played in southern Serbian town Nis on 10-12 February in order to get some rest from the busy season.

 

“I am sorry that I will not play against Sweden in Nis… I can not promise that I will take part in this competition this year,” Beta quoted Djokovic as saying.

 

Djokovic returned to Serbia, where he is considered a national hero, after winning the Australian Open in the longest finals in the history of this tournament against Rafael Nadal.

 

He recently said his main focus this year would be on the Olympic Games and the French Open, a Grand Slam win that would see him hold all four major titles at once.

 

Djokovic said his participation in the Serbia Open tournament — which he won in 2011 — this spring was not “definitive yet.”

 

“I am on the list (of the participants), but it will be difficult to organise everything. In order to take part in it, I would have to make radical changes in my agenda,” Djokovic said, adding that he would consult with his team.
 

Mohsin expects Afghan players to do well

 

Pakistan is charged up and in high confidence coming off an historic first whitewash of England in a test series.

 

This one-dayer is serving as a warmup game for Pakistan before it takes on England in four ODIs and three Twenty20s.

 

Pakistan coach Mohsin Khan believes non-test teams like Afghanistan are a threat in ODIs and Twenty20s.

 

“I ve always been saying this, that you can t take any opposition lightly in shorter formats of the game,” Khan said on Wednesday.

 

“We have to play against them with full concentration and we can t take them easy. I am very happy for them and it s good that they are playing at a neutral venue and I hope it will be a good game.”

 

Afghanistan is ranked ninth in Twenty20s, and did well against South Africa and India in the 2010 World Twenty20.

 

Afghanistan has won 11 and lost seven one-dayers against affiliate and associate teams since it was awarded ODI status in 2009.

 

In 2010, Afghanistan defeated Pakistan in the Twenty20 semifinals at the Asian Games before winning the silver medal at Guangzhou, China.

 

Last year, Afghanistan became the first foreign team to tour Pakistan since 2009 when it played three one-dayers against Pakistan but was comprehensively beaten 3-0.–Agencies

Football: Australia, Japan hit by Olympic setbacks

SINGAPORE: Australia’s Olympic hopes were dealt a major blow with away defeat to Uzbekistan late on Sunday, while Japan were knocked off the top of Group C with an upset loss to Syria.

South Korea needed an injury-time equaliser to scrape a 1-1 draw against unfancied Saudi Arabia, while Southeast Asian Games champions Malaysia remained winless in four outings as they lost 2-1 to Bahrain.

But Aurelio Vidmar’s “Olyroos” were the biggest losers as they crashed to  the bottom of Group B with a 2-0 loss in freezing Tashkent, leaving them five  points off the lead with two games to play.

Only the top teams in each of three Asian groups gain automatic berths for  this year’s London Games, while three second-placed teams will compete for a  play-off spot.

Australia went down 2-0 through goals from Kenja Turaev and Oleg Zoteev  either side of half-time, meaning they are still yet to find the net in their  four qualifiers so far.

In temperatures of minus 12 degrees Celsius (10.4 Fahrenheit), Jason  Hoffman had a goal ruled out for offside while a Mitch Nicholls’s effort was  disallowed for a foul in the penalty area.

In Amman, Japan were rocked by an early Yuya Osako own-goal before Kensuke  Nagai got them back on terms just before half-time. But defender Ahmad Al-Salih  clinched it 2-1 for underdogs Syria with his winner on 90 minutes.

With the victory, Syria take over as Group C leaders due to their superior  tally of goals scored compared with Japan, who are also on nine points.

Meanwhile Kim Bo-Kyung spared South Korea’s blushes as he cancelled out  Omar Sultan Khudari’s opener for Saudi Arabia in the first minute of injury  time in Dammam.

The draw was enough to preserve South Korea’s slender one-point lead at the  top of Group A after Qatar and Oman drew 2-2 in Doha. AGENCIES

Gamer dies at internet cafe

 

A Taiwanese man who died while playing video games at an internet cafe was left for hours after fellow gamers failed to notice his death.

 

The body of Chen Rong-yu, 23, was found slumped in a chair at a cafe in New Taipei city on Tuesday night, according to local reports.

 

He was rigid on a chair with his hands stretched out towards the keyboard and mouse, police said.

 

He had been playing League of Legends.

 

Mr Chen s body had apparently been sitting there for up to nine hours without any of the 30 other people in the cafe noticing.

 

He was last seen by a waitress talking on the phone around noon on Wednesday.

 

An initial police investigation found he might have died of a cardiac arrest triggered by low temperatures.
The man s family said he had been treated for a heart problem in September of last year.

 

Police are still looking into the cause of the death.

 

They say they suspect that a combination of tiredness, lack of movement and the cold weather could have caused blood clots and a heart attack.
 

Milan match brought forward due to snow

 

AC Milan s match against Napoli has been brought forward to Sunday afternoon because of adverse weather conditions, while Cesena vs. Catania and Roma vs. Inter Milan will also be played earlier than scheduled.

 

Milan vice president Adriano Galliani had written to the league asking it to postpone the match because of heavy snow, with Milan experiencing its worst weather in nearly 30 years.

 

The league has now decided to play the game at 3 p.m. local time (1400 GMT) instead of 8:45 p.m. (1945 GMT). Cesena s and Roma s games will be played at 3 p.m. local time on Saturday.

 

Juventus  game at Parma on Tuesday was postponed because of snow, as were three of Wednesday s games: Atalanta vs. Genoa; Bologna vs. Fiorentina; and Siena vs. Catania.

Kim Kardashian on her slight hair color change

TrendPK.com: Kim Kardashian recently lightened up her dark hair color, and it seems the new look is all about feeling like a new person for the reality TV star.

Kim recently revealed that she changed her hair color to start over as the latest season of ‘Kourtney and Kim Take New York’ has finally ended, states UsMagazine.com. “It’s like the season was ending so I wanted a fresh start now. I’m loving it,” Kim commented.

The new color is described as more of a chocolate brown.

What color do you like her hair?

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Imax Corp, SPI Group in deal to build four theatres in India

MUMBAI: Imax Corp (IMX.TO) has signed a deal with SPI Group to build four theatres in India focusing on digitally enhanced “Bollywood” movies, Chief Executive Richard L. Gelfond said.

Imax, which now has three theatres in India, has been slow to build a presence in the country, which produces 1,000 films annually and tops in the world in movie attendance.

“This agreement puts us in position to build critical mass and consider the local release of Bollywood films, which will be key to the success and growth of Imax in this strategically important region of world,” Gelfond told Reuters on Monday.

So far, the Canada-based company has released only Hollywood movies in India using its digital technology on its signature giant screens.

“In India, we cannot just build a world class market with North American films,” Gelfond said. “We need to make Bollywood films an important factor.”

About 90 percent of revenue of the film industry in India is from non-English language movies.

Imax also plans to eventually release Bollywood films in cities such as Toronto and New York, as well as in cities in South East Asia that have large Indian populations.

The annual revenue of India’s film industry is projected to grow to $5 billion by 2014 from $3.2 billion in 2010, Imax said in a statement, citing industry reports.

Imax expects the theatres it is building with SPI to open over the next two years.

“Typically in India the partner becomes the licencee of the technology. So (SPI will) build the building and licence the technology and we provide the films,” Gelfond said.

Overall, the company plans to build five theatres in India in 2012 with SPI and other partners, and expects to have a total of 15 to 17 theatres in the country by the end of 2013.

“We can expect $1 million a year per screen,” Gelfond said.

Imax’s existing local partners include multiplex operator PVR Ltd (PVRL.NS) and BIG Cinemas, which is part of Reliance Mediaworks (RELM.NS) owned by the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group.

Chennai-based SPI Group has interests in infrastructure, retail, manufacturing and services, as well as entertainment.

Gelfond did not disclose financial details of the SPI deal but said the cost of converting a standard format film to Imax format in North America was between $1 million and $1.5 million.

Imax plans to focus on India and Brazil in 2012, he added.

“Out of the BRICS, Russia and China have been strong for us but Brazil and India have been a little bit slow and in 2012 one of our goals is to boost growth in South America and in India,” Gelfond said.

Imax now has 75 screens in China, up from about a dozen in 2008, helped by a surge in local content along with Hollywood movies. The company plans to have 200 theatres in China within the next few years, he said.

In India, the company’s growth has been hampered by low ticket prices — often about half of those in Western countries — and the small size of multiplexes.

“It is only now developers are building larger multiplexes with eight to 10 screens, and our JV with SPI is because they are building large theatres in India,” Gelfond said.

The company is in talks with several developers to sign more joint venture agreements, he said. AGENCIES

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