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08/02/2009
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AMOUNT MANCHESTER CITY WILL PAY per week to Carlos Tevez. The Argentine was signed for £25 million from United
£150,000
Bangalore, Monday, August 3, 2009
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e l b i s s o p Im g n i h t o n is Dev S Sukumar. Bangalore When Parupalli Kashyap takes to the court for the World Badminton Championships beginning August 10, he will epitomise the ability of the human spirit to go beyond the limitations of the body. Five years ago, he was a scrawny, sickly kid with severe breathing problems. Today Kashyap is world No.33, and one of those who will shoulder the responsibility of India’s challenge in the premier event.
SHUTTLE SERVICE
Parupalli Kashyap, on whom India’s hopes rest, overcame severe asthma to become a world beater in badminton
Hackett urges ban on hi-tech suits Australia’s Grant Hackett has urged the world’s best swimmers to join Michael Phelps in boycotting international meets until the swimsuit controversy is resolved. Hackett, who retired after last year’s Beijing Olympics, said it was time for all swimmers to take a stand against the world’s governing body FINA over their decision to permit the use of performance-enhancing suits. “For him (Phelps) to declare that he’s unwilling to compete at further international meets until this swimsuit controversy is over just speaks volumes,” Hackett wrote in Sydney’s Sunday Telegraph. FINA has promised to ban performanceenhancing suits from next year but their decision to allow them at the current world championships in Rome has been widely criticised after 39 world records fell in the first seven days of competition.
“It used to be very, very bad,” says Kashyap of his childhood years in Bangalore, which is notorious for its pollen and other allergens. “I used to be sick at every tournament. I had to keep taking antibiotics and I would feel ill all the time.” Kashyap had first enrolled with Mohd Arif ’s camp in Hyderabad as an 11-year-old and then Padukone Academy in Bangalore. His father had a transferable job and the family kept moving between cities. It was only a few months after his family moved back to Hyderabad in May 2004 that the real nature of his condition became apparent — he was diagnosed as an asthmatic after a series of tests. Having changed his medication, he transformed dramatically. From the short, scrawny kid he grew into a well-muscled teenager whose game took on the attacking contours of his current coach in Hyderabad, Pullela Gopichand. From 2005 onwards it has been a steady rise for Kashyap. “Before
Basically, asthmatics have to keep on working on endurance. You can’t build it up and stop working on it for a while, like the others. My endurance goes down if I don’t work on it.” 2005, nobody told me my condition was asthma,” he says. “But once it was diagnosed and I started the right medication, I grew quickly in strength. I could eat well and I got healthy. I’m still asthmatic and I take medication once a day, but I’m fine otherwise.” Although he had an indifferent 2008 affected by knee injury, his performance shot up this year. Having reached the final of the national championships in February, he went on to reach the finals at three international tournaments — the Smiling Fish International at Thailand in May, the Spanish Open, and the French Open in June, apart from a creditable quar-
Nasty coincidence
Perfect warm-up
Indian tactic
For world No.13 mixed doubles pair Robert Blair (Eng) and Imogen Bankier (Sco), fate played a nasty trick on both at the same time. Bankier suffered a knee problem in late July that ruled her out of the Worlds — and she called her partner to inform him. Blair, at the same time, was trying to reach her to say that he wouldn’t be going as well — for he had an acute tendon tear. Talk of coincidence.
World No.1 Lee Chong Wei was decimated in the Beijing Olympics final by old rival Lin Dan but he will have a ‘Mini Olympics’ gold to show off. The rather strangelynamed event was held in Kuala Lumpur and was actually a Malaysian championship. Chong Wei defeated Hafiz Hashim in the final last week and claimed it was the perfect warm-up for the Worlds, a title he has never won.
Mixed doubles pair Jwala Gutta and V Diju are the first Indian doubles pair to be seeded for a World Championships. The world No.8 pair have a bye in the first round, but face Nathan Robertson/Jenny Wallwork in the second round. Robertson is a former world champion but with a different partner (Gail Emms). “We will have to target Jenny,” said Jwala. “But Nathan is clever and won’t allow us to attack her.”
SUITABLE BOY
figurethis
RAHUL PLAYS STRAIGHT
World men’s badminton rankings
Lee Chong Wei (MAS)
84771.06
Jin Chen (CHN) Peter Gade Hoeg (DEN)
Tancock breaks 50m backstroke record
66200 64755.18
Taufik Hidayat (INA)
Paul Biedermann, who handed Michael Phelps his first loss since 2005, tells Gautam Sheth that though the Arena X-Glide helped him, it’s a little unfair to credit his feat only on the hi-tech swimsuit Britain's Liam Tancock broke his own world record set in the semifinals to take gold in the men's 50 metres backstroke at the world championships on Sunday. Tancock swam 24.04 seconds with Japan's Junya Koga second and South Africa's Gerhard Zandberg third. Meanwhile, Russia's Yuliya Efimova won the women's 50m breaststroke world title in a world record time of 30.09sec. Efimova broke the previous record of 30.23 set by Canadian Amanda Reason on July 8 in Montreal. American Rebecca Soni was second followed by Australian Sarah Katsoulis.
terfinal place at the Asian Championships. The asthma doesn’t hamper him much on court, although he has to accommodate some extra endurance work. “Basically, asthmatics have to keep on working on endurance. You can’t build it up and stop working on it for a while, like the others. My endurance goes down if I don’t work on it. So I do endurance workouts even during tournaments, when other players don’t.” He can take some solace from the fact that one of the greatest players ever, Morten Frost, was asthmatic and used to carry an inhaler on court. Perhaps those who overcome the troubles posed by the condition grow into tougher specimens mentally. “You tend to be more stubborn,” says TR Balachandran, former coach at the Padukone Academy, an asthmatic himself. “It’s like being strangled by a powerful man. Having known the pits of breath deprivation, a long match does not faze you at all.”
Paul, you beat Michael Phelps in the 200m freestyle and the credit went to the swimsuit — Arena X Glide. What’s your reaction? To beat Michael Phelps was an amazing feeling. I must confess that the X-Glide helped me. But it was not only about the suit. I mean, during the Olympics I had to wear a suit in which I didn’t feel comfortable at all. But that was past, I trained really hard for the Worlds and finally found a suit which suited me and has paid off well. Do you think hi-tech swimsuits turn average swimmers into great swimmers? No. You have to train very hard over the years to become a good swimmer. The suit makes you faster but things like technique, turns, start and stamina don’t come with the suits. The fact that so many world records are being rewritten suddenly, doesn’t it indi-
cate that the suits have something to do with it? Definitely the suits are a big help. But on the other hand swimming is getting more professional. The training is getting better, techniques are improving and there are many other factors too. It’s not only the suits that are improving! Are you fine with FINA’s ban on the new suits? I don’t think it’s a problem to me. I would be fine and I think in Jammers we are going back to the original swimming. Do you think Phelps would have beaten you had you been wearing a different suit, let’s say... the Speedo LZR? No chance. I was in good shape in the 200m freestyle final. But you never know. Do you think the records made at this
Worlds would remain unbeaten for a long time with the ban in place? I think so. It will be interesting to see what FINA is doing with the records. Was it intimidating to swim in a lane next to Phelps? I tried to swim my own race. Phelps is the best swimmer of all time but then I didn’t think about that during the race. Seeing Phelps at Olympics, did you even think of beating him at the Worlds? No. In Beijing he was in such a great shape, he looked invincible. I watched him from close quarters when he got his eighth gold medal. That was amazing. Do you think achieving WR at the worlds gives you an edge in 2012 Olympics? No I don’t think so. London Olympics is still three years away. We will see what
hardtalk
happens in this time. Phelps’s coach said that he would not want Michael to swim until the suits are banned. Do you support him? I think he is right. This is definitely piling up huge pressure on FINA. So they better deal with this situation fast. Have you spoken to your equipment manufacturers about the issue? Arena and I are feeling fine about the new changes in 2010 and we are looking forward to the next competitions. Do you think the charm of World Championships has lost due to the controversy? Not what from what I have seen. The people in Italia are great and they are having a lot of fun watching swimming. It is a great atmosphere. Last question, if not Arena X-Glide, what swimsuit would you fall back to? Arena Revolution.
Woods closes in on third Buick title World No.1 carries one-shot lead going into final round; Letzig faces the heat Steve Keating. Michigan
PUMPED UP: Tiger Woods celebrates after putting a birdie on the 17th green on Saturday —REUTERS
Tiger Woods carried a one-shot lead into the final round of the Buick Open as the world No.1 shifted into top gear on Saturday firing a seven-under 65. After an erratic opening round 71 left him eight shots off the pace and sparked talk of missing consecutive cuts for the first time in his professional career, Woods hit back to top the leaderboard on 17-under 199, one shot clear of faltering American Michael Letzig. Woods triggered a wild roar that
rumbled across the Warwick Hills layout when he rolled in a 34-foot birdie on the par three 17th to join Letzig at the top of the leaderboard. It looked to be the way the third round would end until Letzig stumbled and double-bogeyed at the 18th for a four-under 68, gifting Woods a one-stroke lead. Australian John Senden, who held a two-shot lead overnight, struggled to a one-under 71 to leave him two back going into final round. It will be the 50th time Woods has taken a lead into the final round. He has gone on to win the title 46 of the previous 49 times. “I had put myself so far back and it’s not like a US Open where you can make it up (here) in one round,” Woods said. “It’s going to take two or three rounds...
I’m right there at the end of the championship.” Woods, who went birdie, birdie, eagle, birdie, birdie to open his second round on Friday for the best five hole start to a round in his career, began Saturday four off the pace and made another redhot start. He reeled off three consecutive birdies from the second and one more at the seventh, though the 33-yearold American dropped his only shot of the day at the eighth. He was bogey free the rest of the way notching birdies at 12, 13, 16 and 17 during a scrappy back nine. “I got it going, hit some good shots, made three (birdies) in a row there,” said Woods, who is closing in on his third Buick Open title.
ontrack
“Overall, I hit a good front nine but the back nine was scratchy. I hit some bad shots... but I scored. “The whole idea of the game is put the ball in the hole.” The pressure on Sunday will be all on Letzig, who is making his 50th PGA Tour start while Woods will be bidding for his 69th PGA title and fourth of the season. It marks the second time this year the two have been paired together in a final round. Woods won the Memorial after shooting a 65 while Letzig wilted to a 75. “I probably won’t be as nervous,” said Letzig. “That was the first time I played with him last time and it’s something you try to prepare yourself for since you’re a little kid. You always want to play with Tiger Woods.” —REUTERS
62560
Lin Dan (CHN)
60744.58
Sony Dwi Kuncoro (INA)
58912.04
Joachim Persson (DEN)
50670.49
Park Sung Hwan (KOR)
50086.67
Tien Minh Nguyen (VIE)
43310
Boonsak Ponsana (THA)
41991.75
sharpsingles AKRAM SURPRISED Wasim Akram said he was surprised by Irfan Pathan’s omission from India’s 30member probables’ list for the Champions Trophy to be held in South Africa in September. “I have no doubt that Irfan is a quality bowler and will come back to the India squad soon. He should not have been dropped from the (Champions Trophy) probables list,” the former Pakistan fast bowler said. “Had I been a selector, I would have included Irfan in the team.”
‘MISBAH SHOULD BE AXED’ The split in Pakistan cricket team is wide open once again, as captain Younus Khan has said that vice-captain Misbah-ul-Haq should not remain in the squad. “The vice-captain should not remain in the team but it is hard to drop him,” The Daily Times quoted Khan, as saying. Misbah, who has been going through a bad patch with the bat in the recent past, was dropped from the second one day international against Sri Lanka.
BANGLA PLAYERS HAILED Cricketing minnows Bangladesh on Sunday celebrated the team’s victorious tour of the West Indies, with the government hailing the players as national heroes. After winning both Test matches, they also won all three ODIs. “They are our golden boys and they have made us proud,” sports minister Ahad Ali said. “We hope... they would score wins against all the major teams. There will be no going back for our cricket.”