Friday, 29 May 2009
Thursday, 28 May 2009
Gautam Gambhir comfortable with my form'
Gautam Gambhir hasn't had the time yet to unpack after returning from the IPL in South Africa, and it's already time for him to jet out again. Quietly shutting himself from everything cricket, he spent some quality time with his family to recharge his batteries. Before catching the flight for Mumbai on his way to England for the World T20 Championship, the versatile left-hander spoke to The Indian Express on his form, India's chances in England and his dislike for stereotyping.
I really don't feel stressed or worried about what is being said around me. It's not easy to come to T20 soon after playing a Test series and anybody who watched the games knows I was unlucky on a couple of occasions. If you look at the overall picture, I was not way off the mark. It's not that I didn't score runs at all. Just one match before the semi-final, I got 40-odd runs. I was Man of the Match against Kolkata Knight Riders. I think it's okay once in a while if you don't reach the peak. It's the mental state that really matters and it tells you what kind of form you are in. I am feeling very comfortable with myself and my form.
Ricky Ponting looking to improve T20 Australian
Ponting is the only cricketer to have twice scored more than 1500 runs in Test matches in a calendar year and with 37 centuries he trails India’s Sachin Tendulkar by 5 tons as the leading century scorer in Tests. “I think it's important this week that we do focus on that (ICC WT20), and make sure we're in the best shape we possibly can to put up a good showing there," he said."We know there's a lot of hype around the Ashes already and it's up to us senior guys, who have been around, to make sure the younger guys are well versed on the things to expect when we get there," Ponting added.
Monday, 25 May 2009
Miss Mumbai Indians Somayya Khan
Litigation relating to Trade Marks, Passing off, Unlawful competition, Copyright, Counterfeit goods, Domain names, Company/Close Corporations/Business name objections.
Miss Kolkata Knight Riders Genna Cloud IPL Criciet
she is a sexy model .she chose koiikata knight riders miss.
Dune Kossatz Miss Bollywood IPL South Africa Cricket
Dune Kossatz verlobte sich 1995 mit dem irischen Modedesigner Martin Kossatz. Martin und Dune trafen sich, während einer Vernissage in Braunschweig. Gemeinsam haben Martin und Dune drei Kinder.
Sunday, 3 May 2009
Yuvraj hat-trick for Punjab fails to stop Bangalore
A fine all-round performance by Yuvraj Singh was not enough to prevent Kings XI Punjab slumping to an eight-run loss against the Bangalore Royal Challengers in the Indian Premier League (IPL) on Friday.Punjab captain Yuvraj took a hat-trick to help restrict Bangalore to 145 for nine at Kingsmead before blasting a superb half-century only to see his side lose two wickets in the last over of their innings to finish on 137 for seven.
Punjab began the last over of their innings needing 13 runs to win but medium pacer Praveen Kumar held his nerve to allow a single boundary and capture two wickets.
Yuvraj earlier removed Robin Uthappa (19) and Jacques Kallis (27) with the fifth and sixth balls of the 11th over before trapping Mark Boucher lbw with the first ball of the 13th for the first hat-trick of this season's IPL and the fourth overall.
India's Yuvraj claimed figures of 3-22, while left-arm seamer Yusuf Abdulla captured 4-36 making him the leading wicket-taker in this year's IPL with 13 wickets in six matches.
Right-handed South African Roelof van der Merwe rescued Bangalore's innings with a blazing cameo of 35 off 19 balls with three fours and three sixes after Bangalore had been reduced to 84 for six after Yuvraj's three-wicket burst.
Yuvraj, who had opened the batting for Punjab, struck a quick-fire 50 off 34 balls with three fours and four sixes in a first-wicket stand with Karan Goel (20) of 70 runs off 60 balls.
However, Bangalore's bowlers fought back with Kumar, leg spinner Anil Kumble and left-arm spinner van der Merwe ending with two wickets apiece as Punjab lost five for 67 runs. The result lifts Bangalore to fifth place with six points from seven games, two off the pace set by Deccan Chargers, while Punjab stay fourth on six points having played six matches.
Earlier, an unbeaten half-century from JP Duminy helped the Mumbai Indians to a nine-run win over the Kolkata Knight Riders. The result moved Mumbai up to third place on seven points while Kolkata remained rooted to the bottom with just three points.
Duminy scored 52 not out off 37 balls with four sixes and a boundary as Mumbai posted 148 for six before restricting Kolkata to 139 for six in East London.
Opening batsman Sachin Tendulkar got Mumbai off to a decent start with a score of 34 off 30 balls before the elegant Duminy provided Mumbai's innings with some much needed momentum.
His team had struggled to 96 for five after 15.5 overs at a run-rate of slightly over six runs to the over.
Kolkata came in and looked in control of the match thanks to an 89-run third-wicket partnership off 77 balls from Australian Brad Hodge and South African Morne van Wyk (32).
But when the right-handed Van Wyk was caught at long-on in the 15th over and Hodge was run out for 73 off 60 balls with five fours and three sixes after 19 overs Kolkata's fate was sealed.
Mumbai seamer Zaheer Khan finished with 3-31.
Wednesday, 29 April 2009
Clarke leads Australia to beat Pakistan
Michael Clarke's all-round performance helped his team give Pakistan a dose of their own medicine as Australia won the third day-night international by 27 runs at Abu Dhabi Stadium here on Monday.The 28-year-old hit a fighting 66 to anchor an otherwise struggling Australian innings which helped them reach 198-7 in their allotted 50 overs before claiming 3-15 to bowl Pakistan out for 171 in 47.1 overs.
Clarke's brilliant bowling-which saw Pakistan lose their ten wickets in the space of 76 runs-steered his team to a 2-1 lead in the five-match series.
Pakistan won the first match by four wickets, while Australia clinched the second by six wickets-both played in Dubai last week.
The remaining two matches will be played here on May 1 and 3. The only Twenty20 match is scheduled for Dubai on May 7.Shoaib Malik (30) and Sohail Tanvir (11) added 22 for the eighth wicket to raise hopes of Pakistan's win before both were dismissed on the same score of 170.
Clarke and Nathan Hauritz got two wickets each off successive deliveries as Pakistan, fast approaching the target with openers Salman Butt (48) and Ahmed Shahzad (40) and having put 95 for the first wicket in 22 overs, lost four wickets in the space of 12 runs. Off-spinner Hauritz (2-25) struck with the first ball of the 23 over, forcing an edge off Butt's bat for a smart low catch in the slip. Butt hit seven boundaries during his 77-ball knock.
The very next ball, Younus Khan spooned a catch to mid-on off a ball which stopped on him.
Two overs later, Clarke dismissed Misbah-ul-Haq (nine), caught at long-on and as the batsmen crossed, Clarke bowled Shahzad with a straight delivery. Shahzad, playing only his second match, hit five boundaries off 61 balls.
Clarke sent Shahid Afridi back in his third over, leaving Pakistan at 123-5.
He credited Hauritz as the man who opened the doors for the team.
"As a bowler I am okay, but I think Hauritz provided the breakthrough and later I took three wickets," said Clarke, who also completed 50 one-day wickets in the match. "It was a brilliant effort to defend a low total."
Pakistan captain Younus Khan blamed poor batting for the defeat. "We have spurned a golden opportunity to win," he said. "We need to learn this from Australia - how they did not give up on the event after putting a low total and forced a win by taking wicket." Earlier, it was Clarke the batsman who hit a valiant 66 during an innings-building phase after Australia, who won the toss and batted, were made to struggle for runs by some accurate Pakistani bowling.
Clarke, who hit eight boundaries during his 93-ball knock, added 54 for the fifth wicket with Callum Ferguson (41) and 46 for the third wicket with opener Brad Haddin (26).
Clarke, who managed just 4 and 39 in the first two matches, anchored the innings Australia had lost after two early wickets with James Hopes (15) and Shane Watson (nought).
Malik removed Haddin, while leg-spinner Afridi had the dangerous Andrew Symonds for seven.
Clarke and Ferguson took the score to 145 by the 39th over when Clarke gave a return catch to Afridi to end Australia's hopes of a big total. Ferguson hit four boundaries during his 68-ball knock.
Tendulkar & Jayasuriya spearhead Mumbai's victory
Senior pros Sachin Tendulkar and Sanath Jayasuriya produced vintage strokeplay to give Mumbai Indians a key victory in the Indian Premier League here on Monday.The ageing duo hammered 127 for the first wicket from just 12.2 overs as Mumbai scored 187-6 in 20 overs after electing to take first strike and then bowled out Kolkata Knight Riders for 95 in 15.2 overs.
The massive 92-run
victory took Mumbai's tally to five points from four matches, putting them in third place behind
leaders Deccan Chargers (eight points) and Delhi Daredevils (six).
Bollywood star Shahrukh Khan's Knight Riders were left tottering on three points from five games and needed to win a majority of their remaining nine matches to stay in contention for the semi-finals.
Tendulkar, the world's leading Test and one-day batsman who has voluntarily opted out of India's Twenty20 squad, smashed a brilliant 68 off 45 balls.
The prolific 36-year-old hit six boundaries and four sixes, one of them against Sri Lankan spinner
Ajantha Mendis that landed outside the St George's Park stadium.Jayasuriya, who turns 40 in June, hammered 52 off 32 balls with two fours and four sixes as the veterans turned the clock back in a breathtaking display of attacking batting.
Kolkata's chase faltered early when skipper Brendon McCullum was dismissed by Lasith Malinga in the second over and West Indian captain Chris Gayle fell to team-mate Dwayne Bravo in the third.
Brad Hodge (24) and Sourav Ganguly (34) were the chief contributors to Kolkata's meagre total as Lasith Malinga and Abhishek Nayar scalped three wickets each.
Saturday, 11 April 2009
Most popular Dinara Safina Latest News
Latest NewsApril 8th 2009: Great news as yesterday's loss by Serena Williams confirmed that Dinara would reach the world #1 ranking later this month (April 20th!)..congrats Dinara!
March 29th 2009: Sad news today as Dinara lost her match in Sony Ericsson Open losing in the 3rd round 2 sets against Australia's Samantha Stosur, a 6-1, 6-4 loss.
March 27th 2009: Good news today as Dinara won her match in the Sony Ericsson Open 2nd round posting a 2 sets win against France's Mathilde Johansson, a 6-1, 6-3 win. In the 3rd round, Dinara will face Samantha Stosur.
March 19th 2009: Sad news today as Dinara lost her match in BNP Paribas Open losing in the quarterfinals 3 sets against Belarus's Victoria Azarenka, a 6-7, 6-1, 6-3 loss.
March 17th 2009: Good news today as Dinara won her match in the BNP Paribas Open 4th round posting a 2 sets win against USA's Jill Craybas, a 7-5, 6-4 win. In the quarterfinals, Dinara will face Victoria Azarenka.
March 15th 2009: Good news today as Dinara won her match in the BNP Paribas Open 3rd round posting a 2 sets win against China's Shuai Peng, a 7-5, 6-4 win. In the 4th round, Dinara will face Jill Craybas.
March 13th 2009: Good news today as Dinara won her match in the BNP Paribas Open 2nd round posting a 2 sets win against Bulgaria's Tsveta Pironkova, a 7-6, 6-2 win. In the 3rd round, Dinara will face Shuai Peng.
February 17th 2009: Sad news today as Dinara lost her match in Dubai losing in the 2nd round 2 sets against France's Virginie Razzano, a 6-4, 6-2 loss.
January 31st 2009: Wow, today Dinara was completly dominated in the final of the Australian Open, losing 6-0, 6-3 against American and #2 seed Serena Williams...
January 29th 2009: Great win by Dinara today in Melbourne, she advanced to the singles final with a 6-3, 7-6 win against Vera Zvonareva! She will now face American Serena Williams in the final..!
January 27th 2009: Dinara's run continued as she posted another win today defeating Australian Jelena Dokic with a 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 win to reach the semifinals! Up next for Dinara will be fellow Russian Vera Zvonareva!
January 25th 2009: Good news today as Dinara won her match in the Australian Open 4th round posting a 3 sets win against France's Alize Cornet, a 6-2, 2-6, 7-5 win. In the quarterfinals, Dinara will face Jelena Dokic.
January 23rd 2009: Good news today as Dinara won her match in Australian Open posting a 2 sets win against Estonia's Kaia Kanepi, a 6-2, 6-2 win. Dinara will now face France's Alize Cornet.
January 21st 2009: Good news today as Dinara won her match in Australian Open posting a 3 sets win against Russia's Ekaterina Makarova, a 6-7, 6-3, 6-0 win. Up next is Kaia Kanepi...
January 19th 2009: Good news today as Dinara won her match in Australian Open posting a 2 sets win against Russia's Alla Kudryavtseva, a 6-3, 6-4 win. Up next is Ekaterina Makarova..Thursday, 9 April 2009
Challenge Cup - Booth ready for 'tough contest'
London Irish boss Toby Booth has predicted "a tough contest" against European Challenge Cup quarter-final opponents Bourgoin on Thursday night.Victory for the Exiles would secure a semi-final tie - also at the Madejski Stadium - early next month.
But Booth (pictured), whose starting line-up features nine internationals under the captaincy of England lock Nick Kennedy (pictured), insists Bourgoin will not be taken lightly.
"We know we are in for a tough contest," he said.
"Bourgoin are a strong tem and they have a squad with real depth.
"They defeated Dax 43-6 last Friday night in what was a typically uncompromising French relegation battle, and with their future in the French Top 14 assured, the European Challenge Cup is an attractive prize.
Top seeds Irish start as overwhelming favourites to make it seven successive victories in the tournament this season.
They dropped just one point out of a possible 30 in sweeping aside pool stage opponents Connacht, Dax and Rovigo, and Booth fields a side featuring the likes of Kennedy, England backs Delon Armitage, Topsy Ojo and Peter Richards, plus red rose flanker Steffon Armitage.
Bourgoin are spearheaded by France international scrum-half Morgan Parra, who is determined to mark his farewell season with a trophy before joining Clermont Auvergne.
"I would like to finish the season on a high with Bourgoin," he said.
"We have beaten Montpellier and Dax recently, which has put us in good heart. We are back in our old routine and capable of producing solid team performances."
All four Challenge Cup quarter-finals take place in England, with the weekend games seeing Worcester hosting Brive, Northampton entertaining Connacht and Saracens having home advantage against Newcastle.
Heineken Cup - Jauzion wary of Lions factor
Toulouse centre Yannick Jauzion believes Cardiff players will be putting their bodies on the line in their Heineken Cup quarter-final as the race for Lions selection hots up.
With Lions, head coach Ian McGeechan announcing his touring party for South Africa on April 21, there are two weeks left for British players to stake a claim for selection.
There will be no better stage to do that than in a high-intensity Heineken Cup knockout tie and Jauzion (pictured) admits his team could not be meeting the Blues at the worse time.
"They are playing for selection for the Lions so they will sell their bodies for a lot more than they did when we played them last season," said the France centre, a member of the Toulouse team that thrashed the Welsh side 41-17 at the same stage 12 months ago It will be a big test for us and will allow us to measure the strength of our squad as we approach the end of the season and some crunch games."It's going to be very difficult because this team has the capacity to play with the ball in hand and to defend very well with a big defensive line.
"They are top seeds from qualifying because they deserve it."
Despite leaving a number of key players out of their line-up, Toulouse claimed a superb 42-10 win at Brive last Saturday to consolidate their position at the summit of the Top 14 table.
France quartet Thierry Dusautoir, Cedric Heymans, Florian Fritz and Vincent Clerc should all return to the starting XV for Saturday's match at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium.
Five other Les Bleus internationals - Clement Poitrenaud (adductors), Jean-Baptiste Elissalde (elbow), Jean-Baptiste Poux (neck), David Skrela and Romain Millo-Chluski (both ribs) - are all doubts for the match.
Current Boxing Champions
WBA WBC IBF
--- --- ---
HEAVYWEIGHT (A) Nikolay Vitali Wladimir
(unlimited) Valuev Klitschko Klitschko
50-1 (34) 37-2 (36) 52-3 (46)
CRUISERWEIGHT Guillermo Giacobbe Tomasz
(190 pounds) Jones Fragomeni Adamek
36-3-2 (28) 26-1 (11) 37-1 (25)
LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT Hugo Hernan Adrian Chad
(175 pounds) Garay Diaconu Dawson
31-3 (17) 25-0 (15) 27-0 (17)
SUPER MIDDLEWEIGHT Mikkel Carl Lucian
(168 pounds) Kessler Froch Bute
41-1 (31) 24-0 (19) 24-0 (19)
MIDDLEWEIGHT Felix Kelly Arthur
(160 pounds) Sturm Pavlik Abraham
31-2-1 (13) 35-1 (31) 29-0 (23)
JUNIOR MIDDLEWEIGHT Daniel (B) Vernon VACANT *
SUPER WELTERWEIGHT Santos Forrest
(154 pounds) 32-3-1 (23) 41-3 (29)
WELTERWEIGHT (C) Yuriy Andre Joshua
(147 pounds) Nuzhnenko Berto Clottey
28-0-1 (13) 24-0 (19) 35-2 (20)
LIGHT WELTERWEIGHT Andreas Timothy Juan
SUPER LIGHTWEIGHT Kotelnik Bradley Urango
(140 pounds) 31-2-1 (13) 24-0 (11) 21-1-1 (16)
LIGHTWEIGHT (D) Paulus Edwin VACANT *
(135 pounds) Moses Valero
24-0-0 (17) 25-0 (25)
JUNIOR LIGHTWEIGHT Jorge Humberto Cassius
SUPER FEATHERWEIGHT Linares Soto Baloyi
(130 pounds) 26-0-0 (17) 47-7-2 (30) 36-3-1 (19)
FEATHERWEIGHT Chris Takahiro Cristobal
(126 pounds) John Aoh Cruz
42-0-2 (22) 17-1-1 (8) 38-11-1 (23)
JR FEATHERWEIGHT (E) Bernard Toshiaki Celestino
SUPER BANTAMWEIGHT Dunne Nishioka Caballero
(122 pounds) 28-1 (15) 33-4-3 (20) 31-2 (22)
BANTAMWEIGHT (F) Anselmo Hozumi Joseph
(118 pounds) Moreno Hasegawa Agbeko
24-1-1 (8) 26-2 (10) 26-1 (22)
JR BANTAMWEIGHT Nobuo (G) Vic Vic
SUPER FLYWEIGHT Nashiro Darchinyan Darchinyan
(115 pounds) 12-1 (7) 31-1-1 (25) 32-1-1 (26)
FLYWEIGHT Denkaosan Daisuke Nonito
(112 pounds) Kaovichit Naito Donaire
46-1-1 (20) 34-2-3 (22) 20-1 (13)
JUNIOR FLYWEIGHT (H) Brahim Edgar Ulises
LIGHT FLYWEIGHT Asloum Sosa Solis
(108 pounds) 23-2 (9) 35-5 (19) 28-1-2 (20)
MINIMUMWEIGHT Roman (I) Oleydong Raul
STRAWWEIGHT Gonzalez Sithsamerchai Garcia
(105 pounds) 23-0 (20) 30-0 (12) 25-0-1 (15)
(A) Ruslan Chagaev (25-0-1, 17 KOs) is the WBA heavyweight champion
in recess.
(B) Sergio Gabriel Martinez (44-1-2, 24 KOs) is the interim WBC super
welterweight champion.
(C) Shane Mosley (46-5, 39 KOs is the WBA welterweight super champion.
(D) Juan Manuel Marquez (50-4-1, 37 KOs) is the WBA lightweight super champion.
(E) Celestino Caballero (31-2, 22 KOs) is the unified WBA and IBF super
bantamweight champion.
(F) Nehomar Cermeno (17-0, 10 KOs) is the interim WBA bantamweight champion.
(G) Vic Darchinyan is the unified WBA, WBC, and IBF super flyweight champion.
(H) Giovanni Segura (20-1-1, 16 KOs) is the interim WBA light flyweight champion.
(I) Juan Palacios (25-2, 20 KOs) is the interim WBC strawweight champion.
* Verno Phillips vacated the IBF junior middleweight title on November 19, 2008
because he elected to fight Paul Williams.
* Nate Campbell was stripped of the IBF lightweight title on February 13, 2009
because he failed to make weight at the weigh-in for his bout with Ali Fuenka.
Amir Khan is yet to lose a professional fight
British boxer Amir Khan, seen here in 2007, found out his reward on Wednesday for defeating Mexican legend Marco Antonio Barrera last month - a shot at the WBA world light-welterweight in June.
| Opponent | Round | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Baz Carey | 1 (4) | July 16, 2005 |
| Steve Gethin | 4 (4) | September 10, 2005 |
| Daniel Thorpe | 3 (4) | November 5, 2005 |
| David Bailey | 2 (4) | December, 10, 2005 |
| Vitali Martynov | 1 (6) | January 28, 2006 |
| "Action" Jackson Williams | 3 (6) | February 25, 2006 |
| Laszlo Komjathi | 6 (6) | May 20, 2006 |
| Colin Bain | 2 (6) | July 8, 2006 |
| Ryan Barrett | 1 (6) | September 2, 2006 |
| Rachin Drilzane | 10 (10) | December 9, 2006 |
| Mohammed Medjadi | 1 (8) | February 17, 2007 |
| Steffy Bull | 3 (8) | April 7, 2007 |
| Willie Limond | 8 (12) | July 14, 2007 |
| Scott Lawton | 4 (12) | October 6, 2007 |
| Graham Earl | 1 (12) | December 8, 2007 |
| Gairy St. Clair | 12 (12) | February 2, 2008 |
Of Khan’s wins listed above, a number were particularly impressive. In July 2007, Khan was knocked down during a fight against Willie Limond. Despite appearing to be badly injured, he retaliated and went on to knock Limond out in the seventh round.
The barrage of punches that Limond threw his way did not appear to have deterred him at all. Indeed it was Limond who appeared to have come off worse in the encounter - he suffered a damaged eardrum and sustained moderately serious injuries to his right eye.
Another prolific win came against Graham Earl. This win was particularly special for Amir Khan as it coincided with the boxer’s 21st birthday. Earl was easily the toughest opponent Khan faced at that point in his career.
He held the British Number One possession and was known for his ruthlessness in the ring. The situation was worsened by the fact that considerable animosity already existed between the two boxers. However, within 72 seconds, Khan had defeated his opponent. Earl was declared in ‘no fit state to continue.’ Khan later described his win as one of the greatest moments of his career.
Khan’s wins against Willie Limond, Scott Lawton, Graham Earl and Gairy St. Clair allowed him to win and retain the Commonwealth Lightweight title.
Amir Khan also holds a 2004 Olympic silver medal within the lightweight category. His Olympic round results may be found below, together with the names and nationalities of his opponents.
- Round of 32: Beat Marios Kaperonis of Greece
- Round of 16: Beat Dimitar Stilianov of Bulgaria
- Quarter Finals: Beat Jong Sub Baik of South Korea
- Semi Finals: Beat Serik Yeleuov of Kazakhstan
- Gold Medal Match: Lost to Mario Kindelan of Cuba
However, he will not be defending his position during the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
IOC panel calls Chicago a ‘vibrant’ city
CHICAGO (AP)—The leader of the International Olympic Committee’s inspection team said members were “most impressed” by Chicago’s bid for the 2016 Summer Games and the strong support they saw from the White House, City Hall and corporate boardrooms.
“We are leaving with a very strong impression that the bid is a strong one,” Nawal el Moutawakel, chairwoman of the IOC’s evaluation commission, said Tuesday afternoon.
We have been given a lot of guarantees for the past days and all the guarantees have been thoroughly studied,” she said, declining to elaborate.While there have been a lot of questions surrounding all the bid cities’ ability to pay for the games amid difficult economic times around the world, El Moutawakel did say she was impressed that Chicago’s support for the bid remains strong.
“When you see the heavyweight business community that … yesterday tried to convince us that they’re, all of them, backing the Chicago bid, I think the crisis will not last forever,” she said.
Chicago 2016 organizers went into the visit hoping to impress the commission with its plan to put on a compact games, one that would put most of the events along the lakefront, and el Moutawakel’s comments suggest they succeeded.
“We felt that the concept of the whole Olympic Games within the city of Chicago is very compact and the distance between the village is reasonable, and I don’t think there will be any problems,” she said.
Also, she indicated the bid hit the right note with its plan to build a temporary Olympic Stadium on the South Side—saying it’s in sync with the IOC’s philosophy that cities should not build facilities they can’t use later.
Chicago 2016 leader Pat Ryan said commission members could see for themselves what organizers mean when they say things like their plan for the village will put 90 percent of the athletes within 15 minutes of the places they compete and train.
Ryan said they also saw the events are not only close to each other, but close to such cultural attractions as the Field Museum and Millennium Park.
“They could see that … a family could go to Northerly Island and watch beach volleyball and then walk over to the Shedd Aquarium and see the beluga whales, or people could watch rowing and then with their family walk on up, get onto the bridge into the iconic Art Institute of Chicago,” he said.
The president’s excited, his cabinet is excited about bringing the Olympics back to the United States of America,” Daley said.El Moutawakel and Gilbert Felli, the IOC’s executive director, agreed the commission was also impressed by Daley.
And while they did not elaborate, supporters of the bid say Daley may be one of the biggest selling points of all for the simple reason that hanging over all the promises cities make is the question of whether they can deliver.
In Daley, the United States Olympic Committee believes it has a leader who can do just that.
“This is one of the strongest and most accomplished mayors in America,” said Darryl Seibel, USOC spokesman, who said Daley’s record, huge popularity and the belief that he will be mayor for a while were crucial to Chicago’s selection as the country’s bid city. “He is a person who you can depend on to get things done.”
Another message organizers wanted to send the IOC was that the bid has widespread support. Throughout the IOC’s stay there were very few protesters, and though the commissioners met with some on Tuesday, organizers said that was not unusual and they do that in every city they visit.
Perhaps as significant is that the commissioners were greeted by members of the City Council, whose wards on the South Side contain mostly minority residents. Their message was simple: Their constituents are excited about how the games might benefit by giving them both jobs and, after the games leave, affordable housing.
The IOC inspectors are now going to visit competing cities, Tokyo, then Rio de Janeiro and finally Madrid.
Wednesday, 8 April 2009
Man Utd 2-2 FC Porto
Manager Sir Alex Ferguson criticises Manchester United's "frail defence" after Porto's late strike resulted in a 2-2 draw in the Champions League quarter-final first leg.Porto, in contrast, were sharp on the ball and bright in attack - encouraged by the inability of their opponents to apply any concerted pressure on their defence.
Manchester United's hold on the Champions League hangs by a thread after Porto left Old Trafford with a well-deserved draw - and two crucial away goals - on a disappointing night for Sir Alex Ferguson's side.
Carlos Tevez's strike five minutes from time looked to have given United an advantage they barely merited as they looked a pale shadow of a side on course to collect an historic haul of five trophies.
But as Old Trafford breathed a sigh of relief, Porto delivered what could turn out to be the telling blow when Mariano scrambled home a last-minute equaliser to rekindle dark memories of United's exit to the same team five years ago.
Cristian Rodriguez gave Porto the lead inside four minutes, his sharp finish coming as a result of the defensive uncertainty that plagued United from start to finish.
Cristiano Ronaldo conceded possession wastefully before a lapse of concentration from Jonny Evans allowed Rodriguez to cut in and curl a precise finish beyond Van der Sar to leave Old Trafford stunned into silence.
United's response was a Ronaldo header that was clawed away by keeper Helton - and they were allowed to draw level after 15 minutes courtesy of a monumental defensive miscalculation from Porto defender Alves.
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