London, Aug 3: India’s sole woman triple jumper in London Olympics Mayookha Johny crashed out of the Games, failing to qualify for the finals with a disappointing 13th place finish in Group B here on Friday. The Indian finished a dismal 22nd overall with a best effort of 13.77 metres, which she got in her first attempt at the Olympic Stadium. Things only got worse for her as she jumped 13.68m in the second and 13.22m in the third.

Olga Rypakova of Kazakhstan had the highest jump in the qualification round with a 14.79m. Mayookha earned a last-minute qualification for the Games after an impressive showing in a German competition. IANS

London, Aug 3: India’s athletics campaign at the London Games got off to a disappointing start with shot putter Om Prakash Singh faltering in the qualification round and finishing 10th in group B here on Friday.

Om Prakash failed to make the finals and was ousted after he fouled in his third attempt to finish with a best of 19.86m, which is below his national record of 20.69m he managed in the run-up to the Games in May. The 25-year-old, who is participating in the Olympics for the first time, finished 19th overall. In his first attempt, Om Prakash touched 19.40m well behind American Reese Hoffa who led the qualifiers with an impressive 21.36m throw, while German David Storl took the second spot with 21.15m. IANS

London, Aug 3: Indian shooter Joydeep Karmakar finished a credible fourth in the men’s 50 meters rifle prone event here on Friday while Gagan Narang failed to qualify for the final.

Joydeep shot an overall score of 699.1, including 595 in the qualification and 104.1 in the medal round. His score in the final was third highest among the eight shooters.

Narang, who had won the bronze in the men’s 10m rifle, finished a disappointing 18th.

Belarusian shooter Sergei Martynov kept a steady hand to take the gold by a dominant margin.

Martynov, twice a bronze medallist in the event, set a world record final score of 705.5 to win by 4.2 points after earlier equalling the world record in qualifying with a maximum score of 600.

Silver went to Belgium’s Lionel Cox, who edged out Slovenian bronze medallist Rajmond Debevec by 0.2 points.

Ukraine’s Artur Avvazyan, the gold medallist in Beijing four years ago, scored 593 in qualifying and missed out on the final, as did Australia’s Warren Potent, who won bronze in 2008. Agencies

London, Aug 3: A jittery India crashed to a 2-5 defeat against Germany for their third straight reverse in Group B of the Olympic men’s hockey competition here on Friday.

The Germans, while recording their third consecutive win, gave a fine exhibition of their efficiency based on strong basics, the Indians, after an enthusiastic 15 minutes at the start, simply caved in under pressure.

Leading the German charge was 20-year old Florian Fuchs with three strikes (7th, 16th, 37th) and Oliver Korn (24th) and Christopher Wesley (33rd) chipped in with one apiece while India’s goals came from Ramachandra Raghunath, whose 14th minute drag-flick got deflected into the net, and Tushar Khandkar (62nd).

While Germany and the Netherlands are virtually assured of semi-final berths with nine points apiece, India are out of medal contention and have to be content to play for minor positions regardless of their results against South Korea and Belgium in their remaining two league games.

The Indians showed a lot of dash and flair in the first quarter when they had the German defence under pressure and even struck the equaliser, but faded away once the defending champions got going.

As always, India’s game was all about instinct and individual skills rather than any structure or plan in sharp contrast to the well-drilled Germans who epitomized team effort.

As in the previous game, it was the Indian midfield and deep defence that were guilty of unpardonable lapses by way of leaving a lot of space for the German forwards and also poor marking inside the striking circle.

The Indian defence was repeatedly caught flat-footed by the long balls that the Germans employed with success while swinging from defence to attack in the blink of an eye. Their slick ball rotation too put the Indians in a tangle.

After repelling early Indian raids, Germany took the lead. Fuchs latched on to a long ball and his first attempt came off goalkeeper Sreejesh’s pads, but even as the custodian lost his footing, the German forward reverse flicked to the second post past defenders Manpreet Singh and Ignace Tirkey.

India kept their composure to force a penalty corner that Raghunath converted as a defender unwittingly deflected his attempt past an otherwise solid goalkeeper Max Weinhold.

Thereafter, it was virtually a one-way traffic as Germany stepped up the pace while the back-pedalling left acres of space to be exploited. Fuchs struck again to put the Germans ahead as he swept home a rebound off Sreejesh.

Goals by Korn, who put home another rebound after Sreejesh had foiled veteran Mathias Witthaus for the third goal and just before the break, Wesley scored off a Christopher Zeller pass to give Germany a commanding 4-1 lead.

In less than a minute after resumption, the Germans moved to a 5-1 lead as Fuchs completed a swift Zeller move to virtually seal the game.

While the Germans then seemed to step off the pedal, the Indians managed to put together a few moves leading to a couple of penalty corners, but on the day, Weinhold was simply unbeatable under the German bar.

In the last quarter, India with their pride at stake, managed to strike their second goal as Khandekar found the boards with a weak push that Weinhold shockingly allowed between his feet, but it was all too little too late for the Indians. IANS

PALLEKELE, August 3: With the series already under the belt, a confident India will look to continue their dominating run and complete a 4-1 drubbing over an inconsistent Sri Lanka in the final one-dayer on Saturday. India have been consistent and have dominated the five-match series right from the start, barring the second ODI, which they lost by nine wickets, after coming into the tournament following a prolonged break.

The visitors took an unassailable 3-1 lead after winning the fourth one-dayer by six wickets in their last outing and Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s men will now aim to end the series on a high.

Sri Lanka, on the other hand, never bargained to be 1-3 down with just one to play in the one-day series and Mahela Jayawardene’s men will hope to salvage some pride by making it 2-3 rather than facing the 1-4 ignominy.

Jayawardene was honest in his assessment that the hosts were simply not good enough against the world champions and blamed their inconsistency for the sorry state.

The hosts came to Colombo with series level at 1-1. Given the consistent home favour in the history of games at the Premadasa, the expectations were high from the home team to press ahead the home advantage.

But it was not to be. Rather, it was Dhoni’s men who created history at Premadasa by comfortably winning the third and fourth ODI by five wickets and six wickets.

For Sri Lanka, it was not just inconsistency but more of an under-performance which has never been seen in a home series of such high stake.

Apart from Kumar Sangakkara’s brilliant 133 in the first game at Hambantota, Sri Lankans have been below par.

Jayawardene himself has been patchy. His decision to drop down the order to allow the young Dinesh Chandimal to take charge has not proved to be a wise option and the Sri Lankan captain would do well to return to his familiar position to see if he could inspire the team on Saturday.

Sri Lanka also have been suffering from a series of injury worries. Losing in-form Sangakkara after the third ODI following his fracture in the little finger of his right hand has affected their cause.

The fast bowling unit also looks bare with as many as six pacers being out through injuries. Lasith Malinga has been leading the attack but he has accounted for only five wickets in four games, while giving away runs at a premium.

Jayawardene now wants a decent performance from his team in the last ODI at Kandy and then his focus will be on the availability of resources ahead of a busy schedule.

“I need to speak to the management and see how best we can do that. I know a couple of guys are really struggling with fatigue. We will see what options are and try and motivate them to go out and take up the challenge,” he said. “Kandy is going to be a different challenge altogether. We need to try and put up a decent performance together.” Agencies

BANGALORE, August 3: The Indian

 U-19 colts are gung-ho with their skipper Unmukt Chand describing his band of boys as a charged-up lot having worked on their grey areas at the camp for the U-19 World Cup that concluded at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) on Thursday.

“It was really good. We have played in Australia and so we knew the things we had to work on. We tried to nullify the gaps that we came across in the last three-four tournaments and tried to strengthen our basics,” said Chand, who will be leading the side at the U-19 World bash to be held in Australia from August 11 to 26.

India will kick start their campaign against Zimbabwe on August 14 at the Tony Ireland Stadium, Townsville. India have been placed in Group B alongside West Indies, Zimbabwe and Papua New Guinea.

Dismissing the pressure of expectation, Chand felt that applying the right strategy will hold good for the team. “There is no pressure at all. We’ve been enjoying each other’s company. We’ve always tried to rectify the errors. If we do the right things again, we will be hopeful about this tournament as well,” he said.

Chand said his team has performing in unison, with all three departments coming good. “We have been doing well in all the three departments of the game for some time now. Batting has clicked sometimes and bowling has clicked on the other occasions. Everyone is chipping in really well,” he said.

The team left from Bangalore to Mumbai on Friday morning before they depart to Australia in the evening. TNN

2nd Test against England

LEEDS, August 3: Alviro Petersen hit a career-best 182 as South Africa stretched their first innings to 419 before they were bowled out at tea on the second day of the second Test at Headingley on Friday.

After Petersen’s marathon innings ended in mid-afternoon, JP Duminy hit an unbeaten 48 as the last three wickets added 66 runs to put a further question mark against England’s decision to pick an all-seam attack and send South Africa in.

There was irony for England, when part-time off-spinner Kevin Pietersen took his side’s first wicket of the day after Petersen and Jacques Rudolph had batted most of the morning in a stubborn sixth wicket stand of 59.

England left out front-line spinner Graeme Swann, opting for four specialist seam bowlers. But the quick men could not make a breakthrough despite bowling accurately in overcast conditions.

Finally England captain Andrew Strauss tossed the ball to South African-born Pietersen, whose second ball spun sharply past the bat as the left-handed Rudolph stretched forward defensively.

Wicketkeeper Matt Prior whipped off the bails and television umpire Asad Rauf ruled that the batsman had not got part of his foot behind the line in time.

James Anderson and Stuart Broad sent down six successive maidens at the start of the day.

In the fifth over Petersen was given out leg before wicket to Anderson by umpire Steve Davis without adding to his overnight score of 124.

But, for the second time in his innings, he called for a review and was reprieved when replays showed the ball would have missed his leg stump.

Petersen went past his previous Test best of 156 against New Zealand in Wellington in March before he was caught behind off Stuart Broad after batting for 530 minutes. He faced 365 balls and hit 23 fours. Agencies

KINGSTON, August 3: Kemar Roach took four wickets as the West Indies dismissed New Zealand for 260 before stumps on the first day of the second Test at Sabina Park on Thursday.

Roach finished with 4-70 and both Tino Best and Narsingh Deonarine took two wickets.

Martin Guptill top-scored for New Zealand with 71 and Ross Taylor contributed 60.

That left the home side having to bat five overs before stumps, which Chris Gayle and Kieran Powell safely negotiated for the addition of 11 runs.

An unbeaten 62 from Guptill earlier helped New Zealand to reach tea on 152 for three.

West Indies, leading the two-match series 1-0, struck two early blows before lunch in restricting New Zealand to 74 for 2 having won the toss and electing to field.

Guptill formed a fine partnership with skipper Taylor, punishing some wayward bowling from Roach.

The Black Caps’ captain brought up his half-century off 91 balls, including eight fours and the pair reached another milestone with a 100-run partnership.

New Zealand were without spinner Daniel Vettori and batsman Daniel Flynn owing to groin strains suffered in the opening Test which the Black Caps lost by nine wickets.

Guptill, who made 97 in the first innings of the opening Test, and recalled South Africa-born Bradley John Watling opened on a pitch moist from overnight rain.

But Watling had made just two when Roach had him caught at first slip by Gayle after a forward poke with the score on just ten.

There was worse to follow for the visitors as having added just a bye they had number three Brendon McCullum edged to wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin for a duck of the bowling of Tino Best. Taylor arrived to steady the ship with Guptill as they saw their side through to lunch without further loss having put on a partnership of 62. AFP

RIO DE JANEIRO, August 3: Former Portugal striker Liedson has signed a deal with Brazilian Serie A club Flamengo until the end of the 2013 season.

Liedson’s management company Think Ball & Sports Consulting confirmed an agreement had been reached between club and player on its Twitter account on Thursday.

The signing comes just days after Liedson was released by Flamengo’s rivals Corinthians, who told the player he was excess to the club’s needs.

Flamengo is awaiting the results of a routine medical examination before officially announcing the deal.

Liedson’s new teammate Leo Moura said the 34-year-old would be made to feel at home at the Rio de Janeiro club.

“He is a quality player who has been successful at every team he has played with,” Moura said. “He’s going to be welcomed here with open arms by everybody.”

Liedson played 14 games for Portugal and scored four goals between 2009 and 2010.

He was considered one of the most consistent strikers in Portugal’s top-flight during an eight-year spell with Sporting Lisbon where he scored 116 goals from 214 matches. IANS

LONDON, August 3: Giant images of David Beckham in his famous briefs have been projected onto the White Cliffs of Dover to welcome tourists flying into Britain.

Three images of the football star in his white H and M pants were projected onto the famous landmark, but sadly for his female fans, it was just a one-off stunt.

The impressive illumination is part of PR activity to promote his body wear line, which launched at the high-street store in February.

When the jaw-dropping campaign was first revealed, complaints were raised that the pictures were “offensive” and “irresponsible.”

But it seems as though the twitterati are strongly in favour of the campaign and the social networking site is already buzzing with beckham’s briefs of dover, a hashtag which is set to be trending worldwide in just a matter of time. ANI

PARIS, Aug 3: Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho said on Friday that his Portuguese striker Ronaldo should have won this year's Ballon d'Or and not Barcelona's Lionel Messi.

"For me, the best player of a season must be one that won," Mourinho told ESPN.

"What (Ronaldo) did helped the team to win something big and I don't think in the history of the Ballon D'Or, one player won it without winning a big thing. So I don't think Messi without winning the Champions League, without winning the Spanish League, how can he be the Ballon D'Or?"

Messi was La Liga's top scorer with 50 goals last season, four more than Ronaldo, and capped his season by winning a third Ballon d'Or title.

But Barcelona finished second behind Real Madrid who set records for most La Liga wins in a season with 32, most goals scored (121) and best goal difference (plus-89) en route to a first league title in four years.

Meanwhile, despite reports of a deal for Luka Modric, no new signings have been announced but Mourinho remained confident for the new season.

"The team is really full of talent and we have lots of solutions and we can play in different ways, in different systems, in different philosophies," he said.

"So, what I have in my hands in terms of human capital, human resources is very, very hard."

Real Madrid and Barcelona will play in the Spanish SuperCup on August 23 and 29, with the first of two La Liga clashes set for October 7.

And Mourinho estimated that the Spanish league is the strongest in the world.

"What I used to say is that every team in the world goes to the Spanish league, they finish third," Mourinho said.

"Man City goes there, Manchester United goes there, Chelsea goes there. Who else? They finish third because the two best teams in the world are in the same league, so of course to the others, it's a big difference." Agencies

Retains third straight Olympic gold in the 200m individual medley

LONDON, August 3: Swimming legend Michael Phelps, the most prolific Olympic medalist, has confirmed he would retire after the London Olympics.

“No more competitive swimming, no more club meets. I will definitely retire after London Olympics,” said Phelps on Thursday.

Phelps retained a third straight Olympic gold in the 200m individual medley on Thursday, becoming the first male swimmer to win the same event at three successive Games.

The effort last night increased his medal count to 20.

“It is a relief to win an individual gold,” the 29-year-old said after the race, adding he was so proud to be the first-ever to defend a third straight Olympic title.

“It’s special for me, indeed,” he said.

After failing to defend his 200m butterfly and 400m individual medley at London Olympics, Phelps had an epic triumph over compatriot Ryan Lochte in the 200m medley final.

Phelps led all the way to power home in 1:54.27, half-body-length clear over Lochte to prove he is still the man to beat. Lochte bagged a silver to add to his five medals in London.

Describing Lochte as his greatest racer over the years, Phelps said they pushed each other over the years and Lochte had brought the best out of him.

Also on Thursday, Phelps breezed into the men’s 100m butterfly as the fastest qualifier. IANS

LONDON, August 3: Track cycling king Sir Chris Hoy equalled former rower Sir Steve Redgrave’s British record haul of five Olympic gold medals after winning the men’s team sprint on Thursday.

Hoy’s Britain clocked their second world record of the night to successfully defend their Beijing 2008 title in the final against France, with Germany beating Australia to the bronze.

His tally of six Olympic medals includes five gold — one in London, three in Beijing and one in Athens in 2004 — and a silver medal from Sydney. He will also race the men’s keirin on Tuesday.

Redgrave owns five golds and one bronze from Olympic rowing events. AFP

LONDON, August 3: Belarus collected their first gold medal of the London Games on Friday when shooter Sergei Martynov easily won the men’s 50 metre prone rifle with a world-record score.

The 44-year-old, who serves in the air force at home, scored 705.5 to finish ahead of Belgium’s Lionel Cox on 701.2 with Slovenia’s Rajmond Debevec third on 701.

The mark bettered that of previous world record holder Germany’s Christian Klees, who scored 704.8 at the 1996 Atlanta Games.

The stone-faced Belarusian, who had won bronze in the event at the 2000 Sydney and 2004 Athens Games, had equalled the world record in the 60-shot qualifiers where he scored a maximum 600.

He started the eight-man final, where shooters fire 10 shots aiming for a maximum score or 10.9 with each, strongly as he extended his lead over Cox to 3.2 after six rounds.

With a lowest score of 10.2 in the final, Martynov showed a consistency that could not be matched by his opponents. He shot a maximum 10.9 in the ninth round to bring the crowd to their feet and afford himself the luxury of a massive 4.1 lead ahead of the finale.

After firing a 10.6 with his last shot, Martynov cracked a shy smile and punched the air in delight in front of a packed crowd in the indoor range at the Royal Artillery Barracks.

Cox fired a 10.4 with his final shot to claim the silver and hold off a charge from 49-year-old Debevec, who had started the final three points behind the Belgian. Reuters

LONDON, August 3: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday lauded the “brilliant” performance of Russia’s judo exponents at the London Olympics, where they have won three gold medals.

Putin cheered from the stands as Tagir Khaibulaev, the 2011 world champion, beat reigning Olympic champion Naidan Tuvshinbayar of Mongolia in the men’s 100kg category final by ippon. It was a third gold at these Games for Russia after Arsen Galstyan won the 60kg category on Saturday and Mansur Isaev took gold in the 73kg.

“It’s a brilliant success, the likes of which we’ve never had in the history of Russian or Soviet sport,” Putin said.

Ivan Nifontov won bronze in the 81kg on Tuesday, adding up to four judo medals for Russia in total.

“As far as I know, before there was only was such victory, at the Moscow Olympics,” Putin said, referring to the five medals, including two golds, won by the Soviets in 1980.

Putin’s one-day trip, his first to Britain in nine years, saw the Russian leader discuss the Syrian conflict and energy cooperation with Cameron, as well as dropping in on the judo.

Putin is a judo black belt and starred in the instructional video “Let’s Learn Judo With Vladimir Putin” in 2008. IANS

LONDON, August 3: American Rebecca Soni broke the women’s 200m breaststroke world record for the second time in two days on Thursday as she won Olympic gold for the second straight Games.

Using her trademark late kick, Soni won gold in 2min 19.59sec, improving the record of 2:20.00 she posted in the semifinals on Wednesday.

She became the first Beijing swimming gold medalist to successfully defend a title in London.

“I wasn’t trying to focus on records or medals or anything, I just wanted to swim one more race the way I knew I could,” Soni said.

“It has been my goal since I was a little girl to swim under 2.20, my coach told me I could be the first woman to do swim 2.19 and I have been chasing it ever since and I am just so happy.

Japan’s Satomi Suzuki took silver and Russian Yuliyia Efimova earned bronze. AFP

LONDON, August 3: Five-time world champion rower Mahe Drysdale of New Zealand powered to gold in the single sculls event at the London Olympics here on Friday.

Drysdale won by a length to clock six minutes, 57.82 seconds ahead of Czech rower Ondreij Synek, the silver medalist in Beijing, who was 1.5 seconds back.

Britain’s Alan Campbell won the bronze in 7:03.28, pushing Lassi Karonen of Sweden into fourth. IANS

LONDON, August 3: Mexico ended its medal drought in Olympic archery here on Thursday with a double triumph for Aida Roman and Mariana Avitia, who came away with the silver and bronze respectively.

South Korea’s Ki Bo-bae beat Roman in the final to take the gold.

Roman, 24, reached the finals after victories over Miki Kanie of Japan, Italy’s Pia Lionetti and teammate Avitia.

“The feeling is incredible,” Roman said. “I have been training my whole life and I have made it. This medal is for me, for my family and for everyone who has supported me. And, of course, for Mexico.”

Mariana Avitia, an 18-year-old, upset South Korean archer Lee Sung-jin in the quarterfinals and went on to defeat Khatuna Lorig of the US in the bronze-medal match.

“I am very, very happy, this is a very moving moment in the life of an athlete,” Avitia said after winning the bronze.

“To have the support of my family and my coach has been very important for me. Thank you, Mexico. I love you,” she said. IANS

LONDON, August 3: Dutch flyer Ranomi Kromowidjojo led from the blocks to win the women’s 100m freestyle swimming gold medal on Thursday.

The Netherlands’ newest Olympic swimming star went into the Olympic final as the fastest woman in the world this year and confirmed her ranking with victory in the pressure of a Games final.

The 21-year-old covered the first 50m in 27.24secs before hitting the wall in an Olympic record of exactly 53sec to land her country’s second gold in the event in the last 12 years.

Aliaksandra Herasimenia of Belarus claimed the silver medal in 53.38sec with China’s Tang Yi getting the bronze in 53.44.

Kromowidjojo, whose father is from Surinam and paternal grandparents from Indonesia, was a member of the Dutch team that won gold in the 4x100m freestyle relay in Beijing.

Kromowidjojo now joins a long list of Dutch Olympic swimming stars, including Pieter van den Hoogenband and Inge de Bruijn.

De Bruijn was the last Dutchwoman to win the Olympic 100m freestyle title, in Sydney in 2000. AFP

LONDON, Aug 3: Maria Sharapova swept into her first Olympic final as the Russian world number three defeated compatriot Maria Kirilenko 6-2, 6-3 in the semifinals on Friday.

Sharapova is competing in the Games for the first time and the French Open champion is now guaranteed at least a silver medal following her dominant display against the 14th seed in a clash clashing one hour and 29 minutes on Wimbledon’s Court One.

If Sharapova felt slighted by tournament organisers, who chose her match as the only one of the four men’s and women’s singles semifinals to be scheduled on Court One, she didn’t show it.

This was a composed display from the moment she landed the first blow with a break to love in the sixth game of the first set. Sharapova pressed home her advantage with another break to take the set in convincing fashion.

Kirilenko had a chance to get back in the match when she broke for a 3-2 lead in the second set, but Sharapova quickly regained control with a break in the next game.

That seemed to shatter Kirilenko’s spirit. Sharapova went for the kill and let out a scream of joy as she broke for a 5-3 lead.

There was a brief wobble from Sharapova with the finish line in sight as she fell 0-30 down, but the four-time Grand Slam champion recovered her composure, unleashing one stunning cross-court winner, before sealing the win on her second match point. Agencies

LONDON, August 3: The most anticipated track and field segment of the London Olympics would be waiting with baited breath for the showdown between Jamaicans Usain Bolt and Yohan Blake later this weekend.

While Olympic action started last week, many fans, including IAAF President Lamine Diack, believe the showpiece will really come alive with the start of the track and field fireworks.

“For me the Games are began on Friday,” Diack told reporters here this week.

“We have the same number of events (47) as in Beijing. Last Olympics brought five world records, 12 Olympic records, five successful title defenders, and world leading marks in eight men and 13 women events.”

In London, the Caribbeans are predicted to win 16 medals and again Jamaica is expected to dominate this table with Trinidad and Tobago, Bahamas, Grenada the other teams expected to score.

On the men’s side, Blake and Bolt, based on form, are expected to take the top spots, though fellow Jamaican Asafa Powell cannot be ruled out, and this could see a Caribbean sweep.

“You know when you have fast guys running wonderful times, Usain, Tyson, myself, Gatlin, and Asafa,” Blake said. “You know great things can be expected because those guys are really fast.

“We are not really looking at times, we are looking at the gold medal.”

Powell, who is not considered a gold medal contender by many, said: “If I don’t make the podium, I’ll be very disappointed.”

He added: “I know I have what it takes to go out there and perform.”

Bolt, the reigning Olympic champion in both sprints, remains the man to beat and envisions something spectacular over the weekend.

“Hands down, for sure, I am thinking this could easily be one of the fastest race everyone has ever seen,” he said.

“These guys have shown potential throughout the season, the guys are running fast, and that is expected because it’s an Olympic year.”

The 200m again is expected to feature Bolt versus Blake and that looks to be it for the Caribbean.

In the 400m, the region’s hopes are on Grenadian World champion Kirani James, although the Bahamian pair of Chris Brown and Demetrius Pinder could surprize with a podium place finish.

The 19-year-old James said he was ready, but noted: “It’s a very talented field throughout. A lot of good guys are coming up so you really can’t under estimate anybody.

“It’s the Olympics, anything can happen, and that is why you have to be ready for anything.” IANS

LONDON, August 3: Judoka Wojdan Shaherkani became the first woman from Saudi Arabia to compete at the Olympics while Teddy Riner and home favourite Karina Bryant lit up the ExCel Arena on Friday.

Shaherkani, 16, walked onto the judo mat and bowed to her opponent Melissa Mojica of Puerto Rico before grippng up to make history.

But her debut lasted just 82 seconds before she was thrown for the maximum ippon.

“I was disturbed and afraid at the beginning, it was my first time in a big competition and there was a lot of pressure because of the hijab issue.”

Shaherkani’s headwear almost cost her this opportunity after International Judo Federation president Marius Vizer said she wouldn’t be allowed to compete in a hijab. AFP

LONDON, Aug 3: Lee Chong Wei reached his second straight Olympic badminton final on Friday and awaited defending champion Lin Dan to set up a gold-medal rematch in Wembley Arena.

No. 2-ranked Chong Wei beat No. 3 Chen Long of China 21-13, 21-14 in 54 minutes in the first semifinal, securing for Malaysia a fifth ever Olympic medal, all of them in badminton.

Chong Wei won the fourth medal, a silver, in Beijing, where he was routed in the final by Lin.

Lin was playing Lee Hyun-il of South Korea in the other semifinal. The women’s final on Saturday will be an all-Chinese contest between world champion Wang Yihan and the teammate she has lost to three times lately, Li Xuerui. Agencies

LONDON, Aug 3: Army sharp shooter Vijay Kumar on Friday fought a nerve-wracking battle with five other top marksmen to clinch the silver medal in the men’s 25m Rapid Fire Pistol event at the Olympic Games.

Kumar beat back the challenge of world champion Alexei Klimov of Russia, Chinese duo of Ding Feng and Zhang Jian and German Christian Reitz in the 40-shot final to finish runner-up in a thrilling finale behind Cuba’s Leuris Pupo who shot his way to the gold with a world record equalling score of 34.

The 26-year-old army subedar from Himachal Pradesh found the target 30 times out of 40 attempts in the series comprising eight rounds of five shots each.

This is India’s second medal in the ongoing quadrennial extravaganza after fellow marksman Gagan Narang’s bronze in the 10m Air Rifle event on July 30. This was also the country’s fourth medal in shooting in Olympic history.

The other medal winners are Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore (silver in 2004 Athens), Abhinav Bindra (gold in 2008 Beijing) besides Narang.

Kumar started with a bang, hitting the target all five times and kept himself in the hunt for a medal by consistently finding the target. After a perfect five out of five at the start, Kumar, a double gold medallist in the 2010 Commonwealth Games, found the target four times in the second and third series, but missed it twice in the fourth.

He came back strongly by finding the target four times in the next three rounds and assured himself of a silver. In the last round after Pupo shot four to clinch the gold, Kumar seemed to relax a bit and missed three targets.

The bronze medal was won by Feng with a tally of 27.

In the final, Kumar was assured of a medal after the the elimination of the trio of Klimov (23), Jian (17) and Christian (13) leaving himself, Pupo and Feng in the fray.

The silver was in his bag when Feng missed twice in the seventh round and Kumar replied with four.

Kumar had earlier lifted the Indian shooting team’s spirit after the flop show by Narang, who failed to qualify for the final of the 50m Rifle Prone, by entering the finals of his event through the preliminaries.

En route to his total score of 585, Kumar became the second shooter to break the previous Olympic record of 583 to give a hint of his potential during the second stage of qualification.

Placed fourth in the list, Kumar, who had scored 293 in stage 1 of the qualification yesterday, shot a series of 98 97 97 in the second stage to take his total score to 585.

He shot a sequence of 99 96 98 at the Royal Artillery Barracks. The Army man then successfully competed with five shooters for a medal.

Pre-Games medal favourite Ronjan Sodhi had yesterday failed to qualify for the double trap event.

Klimov had created a new world record by shooting 592 but he could not replicate that in the final.

He scored a total of 592 after Stage 2, breaking the existing world record of 591 and Olympic record of 583, with 294 points in Stage 1 and a staggering 298 out of 300 in Stage 2. Agencies

LONDON, Aug 3: India’s Vijender Singh is just one victory away from claiming a second straight Olympic boxing bronze medal and so making yet more Games history for his country.

Vijender, 26, gained a narrow 16-15 win over Terrell Gausha of the United States in the second round of the middleweight competition at London’s Excel Arena on Thursday.

At the 2008 Games in Beijing, Vijender became the first Indian to win an Olympic boxing medal and admitted after Thursday’s bout it had been a job to give himself a chance of another podium place.

“The coaches were saying calm down, calm down otherwise you will blow the fight,” he said. “I admit I was very excited but I felt I had the measure of him and just needed to be prudent in the final round to ensure I got through.”

Vijender, who disappointed home fans by failing to reach the final in the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, said he realised he was carrying the weight of expectations of millions of supporters in India.

“Everyone is tuning in to their TV’s in India and watching me. It is a great honour but also puts on me a huge duty to reward their faith that they placed in me.” Gausha’s loss was the seventh successive defeat suffered by a US boxer in London and meant they’d just two male competitors remaining in the tournament. Agencies

"Wang was simply too fast for me. I was not moving well on the court and she exploited that. I made some errors in crucial stages which did not help me."

LONDON, Aug 3: Outclassed by a clearly superior rival, Saina Nehwal on Friday tamely lost to the top-seeded Yihan Wang of China in the women’s singles semi-final of the Olympic Games, acknowledging later that the Chinese was “too fast” for her.

World No 5 Saina, the first Indian to reach the Olympic semi-final in the shuttle game, was beaten 13-21 13-21 by the world’s top women’s badminton player in a match that lasted 42 minutes before a packed Wembly Arena where Indian supporters outshouted the Chinese but that too did not help.

Saina can still hope to win an Olympic bronze in a play-off with yet another Chinese player Xin Wang, who was defeated by compatriot Li Xuerui in a closely fought second semi-final 22-20, 21-18, played immediately after Saina-Yihan clash. The Indian will meet the World No 2 Chinese in the play-off on Saturday.

Clearly off colour, the Hyderabadi girl was never in the match except for brief moments in the second set. She was unable to draw her rival into rallies and could not hold her service for long.

The taller Wang moved swiftly on the court, never allowing Saina to engage in rallies which is her strength. The longest rally of the match lasted 38 seconds and the average rally just 10 seconds.

Acknowledging the superiority of Wang, the disappointed Indian said later that she was too fast for her while she herself was not moving so well on the court.

“Wang was simply too fast for me. I was not moving well on the court and she exploited that. I made some errors in crucial stages which did not help me,” she said.

“I tried hard in some areas but she just did not allow me to settle down and engage in rallies. She was finishing off quickly and was coming upto the net to attack. I could not counter that kind of a game,” Saina expplained.

Asked if she had not had enough recovery time for the match after her yesterday’s quarterfinal win, Saina said that was not an issue at all and that she had had enough recovery time.

Up against the top seeded Chinese, Saina committed too many unforced errors to see her dream of winning an Olympic gold medal come crashing.

There was very little margin for error for Saina as Yihan was sharper, more accurate and also used her powerful smashes to outwit the Indian.

The 22-year-old committed too many unforced errors to lag 6-11 at the interval in the first game. Although Saina tried to come back with the help of some brilliant net play, the Chinese employed some immaculate placements and powerful smashes to lead 1-0.

In the second game, Saina tried to match her superior rival and did trouble her to enjoy a one-point lead at the break. But the tall Chinese used her height to advantage and was also very quick on the court.

She mixed her repertoire of strokes to incude the Indian to commit errors and moved ahead.

Yihan anticipated the shots and was better prepared and, with Saina hitting wide and long, the Chinese registered three straight points after moving into the match point to cement her place in the finals. Agencies

London, Aug 3: World No.1 Roger Federer reached the Olympics men’s singles tennis final after beating Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina in an epic match here on Friday.

The epic third set lasted for 36 games until the Swiss legend converted his second match point for a 3-6, 7-6(5), 19-17 win in the longest match ever seen in Olympic tennis.

After losing the first set, the seven-time Wimbledon champion was on the verge of defeat in the second but saved it on a close-fought tie break.

The players spent four hours and 26 minutes on the court, 29 minutes longer than the second-round match between France’s Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Canada’s Milos Raonic, who still hold the record for the longest third set, which went to 48 games.

In the Olympic final, Federer will face either second seed Noval Djokovic or Britain’s Andy Murray.  IANS

LONDON, Aug 3: Serena Williams has clinched at least a silver and earned a berth in the Olympic final, beating No. 1-seeded Victoria Azarenka 6-1, 6-2.

On Saturday, Williams will face first-time Olympian Maria Sharapova, who beat Russian teammate Maria Kirilenko in the semifinals, 6-2, 6-3.

Williams has lost only 16 games through five rounds and has won 12 consecutive matches this summer at the All England Club, including her fifth Wimbledon title a month ago.

She teamed with sister Venus to win the gold medal in doubles in 2000 and 2008. They had a chance to clinch at least a silver in a semifinal match scheduled later on Friday. Williams has won 14 Grand Slam singles championships, the most of any active woman. Agencies

Medal tally : (Top 40)

Nation     G     S     B     Total

China         20     12     9     41

USA         18     9     10     37

South Korea     8     2     5     15

Great Britain     6     6     7     19

France     6     5     6     17

Germany     5     8     6     19

Italy         4     5     2     11

DPR Korea     4     0     1     5

Russia     3     7     8     18

South Africa     3     0     0     3

Kazakhstan     3     0     0     3

Japan         2     8     11     21

Cuba         2     2     1     5

Netherlands     2     1     3     6

Hungary     2     1     2     5

New Zealand     2     1     2     5

Ukraine     2     0     4     6

Australia     1     8     4     13

Romania     1     3     2     6

Brazil         1     1     3     5

Belarus     1     1     1     3

Slovenia     1     0     2     3

Venezuela     1     0     0     1

Lithuania     1     0     0     1

Georgia     1     0     0     1

Mexico     0     3     1     4

Canada     0     2     5     7

Colombia     0     2     1     3

Czech Republic     0     2     0     2

Sweden     0     2     0     2

Denmark     0     1     2     3

Mongolia     0     1     1     2

Norway     0     1     1     2

India         0     1     1     2

Poland     0     1     1     2

Indonesia     0     1     1     2

Spain         0     1     1     2

Chinese Taipei     0     1     0     1

Thailand     0     1     0     1

Egypt         0     1     0     1