“Sachin is my idol and I consider him as my ‘Guru’. Please don’t compare me with him,” the Rizvi Springfield student said on Friday.

“Even if I achieve one per cent of what he has achieved, I would be blessed. Meeting him is my dream, please write this,” he insisted.

Clearly uncomfortable with his overnight celebrity status, Sarfaraz said he had, in fact, fainted after giving a series of interviews on Wednesday.

“It feels great to be chased by the media, but they tend to go a bit overboard,” he complained.

Sarfaraz Khan

“I fainted after completing my media assignments at 11 pm last night. More than the time I spent at the crease, it has been the media interactions that has tired me out,” said the Mumbai cricket talent, who scored a mammoth 439 off 421 balls during a 456-minute vigil against a hapless Indian Education Society Secondary School.

His knock, which contained a staggering 56 boundaries and 12 sixes — nearly a triple hundred in itself — is the highest in the tournament, beating the earlier record of 427, set by Sanjeev Jadhav in 1963-64.

In the process, Sarfaraz also went past his idol Tendulkar’s 346 not out, which the master batsman had scored for his school, Shardashram Vidyamandir, when he, along with friend Vinod Kambli, added a record 664 runs for the third wicket in February 1988, a world record for any level of the game.

Sarfaraz’s heroics has also allowed his father Naushad Khan, himself once a probable for Mumbai’s Ranji Trophy squad, to live a dream that he had once seen for himself.

“I could not make it to the Mumbai squad that was led by Sachin Tendulkar, and had Sameer Dighe as the vice-captain. Hence, I am making sure that he does not make the same mistakes that I did,” said Naushad, who also coaches Sarfaraz.

“I never let him practise with boys of his age group. He practises with senior players, like Kamraan Khan [a Rajasthan Royals player in the IPL] and Iqbal Abdulla and Rahil Sheikh [both Mumbai Ranji players]. Playing against them will make him tough as nails and prepare him for the higher level,” he adds.

However, the feeling that his son has become a star overnight is yet to sink in for Naushad, who is busy fixing media appointments for him.

“Instead of so much happiness at one time, I would have preferred it in installments. All I pray is that you guys [media] let him stay rooted so that he can achieve more glory,” he said.

Source: Rediff.com

Their wins mean all the five Indian women boxers participating in the tournament are in the medal round. L. Sarita Devi and N. Usha had entered the semifinals Saturday.

This year’s Khel Ratna recipient, Mary Kom overcame a indifferent start to beat Chinese Taipei’s Ting Lo Yueh in the 46 kg weight category.

In the 51-kg category, Loura defeated Sri Lanka’s Kumari Nilmini while Goyat beat Huong Nguyen Thi Thiu of Vietnam in the 64 kg category.

The semi-final bouts of Mary Kom, Loura, Sarita Devi and Usha will be held Monday.

Playing in his rookie season, Muniyappa had put his dream on the backburner while trying to secure his full Asian Tour card for 2010. But then suddenly in one magical week, the 32-year-old is not just sure of the card, but is also exempt for next two years and will now stand shoulder-to-shoulder with golf greats including Tiger and Phil Mickelson at the WGC-HSBC Champions.

“My dream has always been to play with Tiger,” Muniyappa said here Tuesday. “I can’t imagine that I’m going to be in the same event with him. “Last year, I was watching the big events on TV and I saw Jeev (Singh) winning in Singapore. I asked myself when will I have the chance to play in such big events and I worked really hard. Now, I’m here.”

He is amongst four Indians in the 11-man Asian Tour group at the Sheshan International Golf Club for the historic first staging of a World Golf Championship event in Asia.

Muniyappa earned his spot in the $7 million showpiece through his sixth place position on the Order of Merit at the cut-off point for qualifying, thanks to a career breakthrough victory in the Hero Honda Indian Open last month.

A man who caddied for one rupee during his childhood, he has had the opportunity to shoot for a staggering $13 million over the past three weeks on Tour. “I’m going to try to play my best golf here. In Singapore last week, I didn’t play well as I didn’t have a visa ready for China and I was worried about that. But it was a good experience competing on a tough course. I feel lucky to be here,” said the man from Bangalore.

It has been hard work rather than sheer luck which has brought Muniyappa to golf’s biggest stage. He entered his first Asian Tour Qualifying School this year after mustering enough confidence to do so following a first domestic victory last year after more than 10 years in the play-for-pay ranks.

During the final round of Q-school, Muniyappa fell outside the top-40 with four holes remaining after a bizarre incident where he lost his ball despite hitting a perfect drive down the 15th fairway.

“I declared a lost ball but when we walked up to my second ball, I found the first ball lying on the fairway! I was so angry and made double bogey,” he said.

“At that point, it was the most pressure that I’ve ever felt in my life, even more than what I experienced in the Indian Open play-off. If I didn’t make the top-40, I would not be able to play on the Asian Tour for a year. I knew I had to birdie a few holes coming in, and I managed to do so on 16 and 18.”

Muniyappa’s emergence certainly mirrors the wonderful rise of Indian talent coming through on the Asian Tour.

This week would mark the first time that four Indians, the others being Jeev Milkha Singh, Jyoti Randhawa and Gaganjeet Bhullar, are featuring in a WGC event.

Bhullar, a talented 21-year-old who won the Indonesia President Invitational in July, said: “Four Indians in a WGC event, it’s the first time in our history. We are producing so many international players and it’s a great sign for Indian golf.

“It’s all thanks to Jeev, Jyoti and Arjun (Atwal) who have played well over the years and given the rest of us the inspiration to emulate them,” said Bhullar.

After earning his Major stripes when he qualified for the British Open this year, Bhullar will also be Tiger-hunting in Shanghai. “I’m so excited. I saw Tiger at the British Open and it was so inspiring for me. I’m looking for a great week.

“It feels good to be in a WGC event. The last two years, I’ve worked really hard and I want to work harder to get into contention at the big events.”

The other Asian Tour stars in the field include Thailand’s Thongchai Jaidee, Chapchai Nirat and Prayad Marksaeng, Anthony Kang of the US, Japan’s Daisuke Maruyama, Singaporean Lam Chih Bing and Chinese Taipei’s Lin Wen-tang.

Korea’s Yang Yong-eun, Asia’s first Major champion, will also challenge for the HSBC Champions title which he won in 2006.

While the flamboyant batsman was also named captain of both ICC Test and ODI teams, Test opener Gautam Gambhir too got top billing as he bagged the Test player of the year award.

The ODI team, led by Dhoni, also has dashing Virender Sehwag and the charismatic Yuvraj Singh , whereas the Test team comprises batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar and Gautam Gambhir.

Dhoni played 24 ODIs in the voting period from which he scored 967, inclusive of nine fifties, at an average of 60.43, the strike rate being 86.63.

The Indian skipper beat strong competition from team-mates Yuvraj Singh and Virender Sehwag, and West Indian Shivnarine Chanderpaul .

Australian right-arm fast bowler Peter Siddle was named Emerging Player of the Year.

The 24-year-old Siddle, who made his Test debut against India at Mohali in October last year, has taken 49 wickets in his 12-match Test career.

His 5 for 21 against England at Leeds in the Ashes series this August was his best.

The most coveted Cricketer of the Year award, however, went to Australia’s Mitchel Johnson, who had a phenomenal year with both the bat and the ball in Tests and ODIs. Johnson beat Dhoni, Gambhir and England captain Andrew Strauss in a four-way race.

Sri Lanka’s Tillakaratne Dilshan was chosen for the Twenty20 International Performance of the Year award for his outstanding performance of 96 from just 57 balls against the West Indies in the semi-finals of the Twenty20 World Cup in England on June 19.

Ireland’s William Porterfield was named the Associate and Affiliate Player, while New Zealand got the Spirit of Cricket award.

Aleem Dar got the Umpire of the Year award.

The awards were given for performances between August 13, 2008 and August 24, 2009.

The nominations were made by a five-member selection panel, headed by former West Indies captain Clive Lloyd . The panel also included former cricketers Anil Kumble , Mudassar Nazar, Bob Taylor and Stephen Fleming .

ICC Test Team of the Year: Gautam Gambhir (India), Andrew Strauss (England), AB de Villiers (South Africa ), Sachin Tendulkar (India), Thilan Samaraweera (Sri Lanka), Michael Clarke (Australia), Mahendra Singh Dhoni (India, captain), Shakib Al Hasan (Bangladesh), Mitchell Johnson (Australia), Stuart Broad (England), Dale Steyn (South Africa), 12th man: Harbhajan Singh (India)

ICC ODI Team of the Year: Virender Sehwag (India), Chris Gayle (West Indies), Kevin Pietersen (England), Tillakaratne Dilshan (Sri Lanka), Yuvraj Singh (India), Martin Guptill (New Zealand), Mahendra Singh Dhoni (India, captain), Andrew Flintoff (England), Nuwan Kulasekara (Sri Lanka), Ajantha Mendis (Sri Lanka), Umar Gul (Pakistan), 12th man: Thilan Thushara(Sri Lanka).

Article Source/Credits: rediff.com
Posted on: October 02, 2009

The world number two and top seed Vijender out-punched Ukrainian Sergiy Derevyanchenko 12-4 late last night to become the first Indian to make the last-four stage of the prestigious event.

“I am on cloud nine…it’s a feeling that cannot be described in words. I have broken another jinx for India and I am very happy,” the 23-year-old who won India’s maiden Olympic medal, a bronze in Beijing last year, told PTI from Milan.

Vijender is now up against former light heavy weight world champion Abbos Atoev, who returned to middle weight this year, but the Indian can draw confidence from the fact that he beat the Uzbek as recently as the Asian Championships in China.

“I always believe that one should never get intimidated by the opponent, it hampers the performance. So, I am not even thinking about his past record. After all, what matters is how I perform in those 11 minutes when we are competing,” Vijender said.

Talking about his bout, the Khel Ratna awardee said he measured his opponent in the opening round which ended 1-1 before going for all-out attack in the next two rounds.

Vijender,a strapping six footer, also had the height advantage against his much shorter rival.

The Indian began to take control of the proceedings with his trademark left straights and uppercuts to end the second round 5-3.

He went on the offencive in the final round and didn’t let his opponent breach his defence even once to round off the last three minutes 6-0.

“I had never even seen this guy before. I was just told that he is a good boxer so I observed him in the first round. Once I got a hang of his technique, I just fought from long range and made good use of my height advantage,” Vijender said.

National coach Gurbax Singh Sandhu lavished praise on the Haryana boxer.

“The composure with which he competes is remarkable. He hardly ever loses his cool and even in moments that can make one nervous, he seems in control,” he said.

Article Source/Credits: rediff.com
Posted on: September 10, 2009

There are five umpires of Indian origin officiating at this year’s Grand Slam. Their names are Abhishek Mukherjee, Abhaya Parthy, Vivek Kumar, Revathi Sudhakar and Mohan.

Mukherjee, who has been officiating at the Wimbledon for the last three years, said he is selected for the Australian Open again.

Another umpire, Abhaya Parthy, who was born in Mysore, has been officiating in Grand Slams for three years now. Vivek Kumar is another veteran umpire, having officiated seven years at the US Open.

Article Source/Credits: rediff.com
Posted on: September 10, 2009

Advani, who was awarded the country’s highest sporting honour – the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna in 2005-06, beat Russell 2030-1253 at the Northern Snooker Centre in Leeds, England.

The first Indian to win the professional billiards world championship was Geet Sethi, who crashed out of the tournament this time in a league match against eventual champion Advani 482-818.

It could well have been an all-India affair in the title match but Rupesh Shah squandered a first session lead to go down 880-1366 against Russell in the second semi-final.

Advani had in the first semi-final notched up a close win over compatriot Dhruv Sitwala.

Advani already has a slew of records against his name. He won his first world championship title in 2003 World Amateur Snooker Championship in China.

After winning the World Amateur Billiards Championship in 2005 at Qawra, Malta, he became only the second cueist after Malta’s Paul Mifsud to have won both the amateur billiards and snooker world titles.

Advani is also the only player to have achieved a ‘grand double’ of winning both the points and timed formats at the World Amateur Billiards Championships. He first achieved the feat in 2005 and repeated it in the 2008 championships held in Bangalore.

Twenty-four-year-old Advani also won the Asian Games gold medal at Doha in 2006.

Article Source/Credits: ibnlive.com
Posted on: September 07, 2009

The meeting comes on the heels of another big name Bollywood star, Salman Khan meeting the IPL Commissioner.

Two more teams will be up for auction in January next year and those teams will be added to the tournament from 2011. There are murmurs that more stars are interested in being part of the action, including actor-director Ajay Devgan.

If Sanjay Dutt succeeds in picking up a team, he will join a whole range of his colleagues to jump onto the IPL bandwagon.

Shah Rukh Khan is the most high profile face in the league, owner of the Kolkata Knight Riders. Actress Juhi Chawla is a co-owner of the Knight Riders.

If Salman Khan does end up buying a team then his professional rivalry with Shah Rukh Khan will extend onto the cricket pitch.

Preity Zinta is the other big name Bollywood star who owns the Kings XI Punjab, and she was joined by Shilpa Shetty, who bought a stake in Rajasthan Royals in the second season.

Article Source/Credits: ibnlive.com
Posted on: September 03, 2009