One month to go: Beijing prepares to deliver Olympics

By Nick Mulvenney

BEIJING (Reuters) – With a month remaining until the opening ceremony of one of the most scrutinized Olympic Games in history, the time has come for Beijing to deliver on seven years of promises and billions of dollars spent.

On July 13, 2001, the state news agency Xinhua hailed the decision to award the Olympic Games to Beijing as being a “milestone in China’s rising international status and a historical event in the great renaissance of the Chinese nation.”

Six months ago, preparations were going to plan with gleaming new venues and infrastructure almost completely in place for the August 8-24 Games.

But violent unrest in Tibet in March followed by global anti-Chinese protests have marred Beijing’s final countdown to the Games. Moreover, the threat of terrorism and pollution have presented the Communist authorities with new challenges.

However, with the 31 venues completed and the army of migrant workers putting the finishing touches to a $40 billion upgrade of the city’s once-creaking infrastructure, organizers are upbeat.

“We are fully prepared for the opening of the Beijing Olympic Games,” organizing committee (BOCOG) vice president Jiang Xiaoyu said last week. “We are going to use the last 36 days to further perfect the arrangements.”

China’s rulers wanted to use the Games to promote internal stability and show off a confident, increasingly influential economic power to the rest of the world.

After the public relations disaster of the March 14 Tibet riots and the protest-disrupted international leg of the Olympic torch relay, some have questioned whether China’s leaders care anymore about external opinion.

“China wants the Olympics to be applauded by the international community and at the same time instill a sense of pride in the Chinese people,” said Jiang Qisheng of the China chapter of International PEN, an association founded to defend freedom of expression.

“But stability is more important. International applause is ranked only second. If forced to choose, China would rather have stability.”

The May 12 Sichuan earthquake and the genuine outpouring of emotion over the death of nearly 70,000 people altered some perceptions of China, turning the award of the Olympics “from obscene accolade to worthy reward” in the words of British commentator Simon Jenkins.

TERRORISM CONCERN

But visa restrictions for visitors, plans to rid Beijing of petitioners, the homeless and migrant workers as well as the tight control of the media on “sensitive” legs of the domestic torch relay point to obsessive stage-management.

China says it views terrorism as the biggest threat to the Games and a 100,000-strong anti-terrorism force is already on alert.

Rights groups say Beijing is using the threat of terrorism to suppress internal dissent, especially in the restive far-Western regions of Tibet and Xinjiang, which is home to more than 8 million Muslim Uighurs.

“We are worried that there will be an even more wide-scale crackdown on the Uighur people, especially over the next month,” said Dilxat Raxit, spokesman for the exiled World Uyghur Congress.

“China is using the final opportunity the Olympics presents to portray Uighurs to the international community as terrorists. We have always opposed China holding the Olympics. We are the biggest victims of it, even more so than the Tibetans.”

Free Tibet is asking British athletes to express support for its cause by making a “T for Tibet” sign during the Games, it said in a statement on Monday.

American, Dutch and Australian athletes have already indicated their intention to express their concerns about human rights during the Games.

ALGAE STENCH

The stench of the algae in the city of Qingdao, which will host the Olympic sailing events, has been a vivid reminder that environmental concerns still dog the Games.

Of more pressing concern to most athletes is the air quality in the capital and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has said some endurance events might be rescheduled if the pollution presents a health risk.

The surrounding provinces of Hebei and Tianjin ordered factory closures this month and four others are also involved in the effort to keep the Beijing skies clear.

Beijing has spent more than 120 billion yuan on environmental improvements over the last decade and its own contingency plans will come into force mainly from July 20.

China’s athletes have continued to prepare for the Games away from the prying eyes of the media.

Life bans for two Olympic hopefuls caught doping this year — swimmer Ougang Kunpeng and wrestler Luo Meng — have left them in no doubt that the authorities do not want to lose face at their own party with any positive tests.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/

Rafael Nadal shows superhuman spirit

Tennis of this miraculously high quality has never been played so long and so late even on the most hallowed of courts

Has sport ever been so dramatic? Has a Wimbledon final, predicted to be one of the finest of all time, ever so outdone its’ billing? Has tennis of this miraculously high quality ever been played so long and so late on the most hallowed of courts?

For those fortunate enough to be inside Centre Court as darkness was falling and the luminous clock on the scoreboard ticked to 9.16 pm at almost the precise moment Rafael Nadal sunk ecstatically to the turf after Roger Federer’s final forehand thudded into the net, the memory will live with them to their dying day.

This truly was history being made and though the elements tried to intervene, they could not stop this becoming a masterpiece. The wind buffeted and blew, the rain came and darkness fell but still this was tennis of the very highest standard that mere mortals can only dream of recreating.

Not only is Nadal the first man to lift the trophies of the French Open, Queens Club and Wimbledon within the space of month. He also did it in the longest final ever played at the All England Club and, in his opinion, he overcame the greatest player in history.

Federer had his sights set on a sixth successive Wimbledon title, so beating the record he now has to share with Bjorn Borg. And there were moments during this great contest that the world no.1 did not just live up to his reputation, he further enhanced it.

Why was it Nadal eventually prevailed after 4 hours and 48 minutes of sheer drama that was in fact spread over nearly seven hours because of two cruel rain delays? Ultimately it was a question of which of these tennis superstars had the greater mental strength in a true battle royal.

Other aspects of course came into play, not least superior night vision. Surely if Nadal had not finally won 6-4,6-4,6-7,6-7,9-7 when he did, then the players would have been ushered off for the night to return after daylight had returned. Those who thought the conditions were dark as Andy Murray finally prevailed against Richard Gasquet six days earlier would have been amazed that such supreme tennis could be played in such conditions.

But Nadal is unquestionably a superhuman performer with the resolve and will that now makes it clear that anything is possible. He shrugged off the disappointment of seeing two \Championship points go to waste in the fourth set tie-break but then stood firm in the face of enormous pressure as Federer, of course intent on completing a comeback that would have demanded a rewriting of the history books

Nobody had battled back from a two set deficit to win the men’s final at Wimbledon since Henri Cochet beat his French compatriot Jean Borotra

81 years earlier. And no player had recovered from match points down to win the title since Bob Falkenberg beat John Bromwich in 1948.

The improvement in Nadal’s grass court game over the last few years is truly outstanding. Though he may have delivered just six aces compared to Federer’s 25, he still served supremely with 73% of his first deliveries getting into play. So many of these were hugely effective body serves making a telling return from the world’s paramount grass court expert virtually impossible. The fact Federer was successful on just one of 13 break point opportunities speaks volumes.

Surely now the rivalry that is already one of the most compelling in tennis history will continue and hopefully scale to new heights of excellence. But Nadal has not just brought to a close Federer’s imperious 65 match winning run on grass. He has established another step in the evolution of the game and the standard continues to rise and rise.

Source: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/

Mendis takes 6 for 13; Sri Lanka beats India

KARACHI, Pakistan (AP): Sri Lanka beat India by 100 runs to successfully defend its Asia Cup title Sunday with spinner Ajantha Mendis taking a record 6-13.

India, chasing 274 runs, was dismissed for 173 in 39.3 overs with Mendis often unplayable in his eight overs.

Sanath Jayasuriya had earlier smashed 125 _ his 27th century in one-day internationals _ after India won the toss and chose to bowl first.

“I am happy with the way we played,” Sri Lankan captain Mahela Jaywardene said. “A lot of people had talked about 300-plus totals in this tournament but we knew if we put 275-280 runs on the board it could be a good score for our spinners to defend.”

Mendis’ figures were the best ever in the nine Asia Cups, beating Pakistan’s paceman Aqib Javed’s 5-19 against India in 1995 at Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.

The Indian batsmen were facing the 23-year-old Mendis for the first time in the tournament and had no answer to his masterful bowling.

Mendis came on in the 10th over after hard-hitting Virender Sehwag (60 off 36 balls) had pushed the score to 76-1.

“I needed a wicket as Virender was playing really well,” Jayawardene said. “I took gamble on Ajantha because he was the kind of a bowler who could bowl wicket to wicket and it paid off.”

Mendis broke through in his second delivery when Sehwag, who had hit 12 boundaries, misread a quick delivery and was stumped. An over later, Mendis clean bowled Yuvraj Singh (0) and Suresh Raina (16) with balls that skidded through the Indian lefthanders before Rohit Sharma was trapped leg before wicket off a pefect off-spinner.

Mendis returned for his second spell and claimed the wickets of Irfan Patan (2) and R.P. Singh (0) before Chaminda Vaas (2-55) ended captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s innings _ caught behind for 49.

“We thought 273 was chaseable but Mendis was a difficult bowler to pick and his bowling made the difference,” Dhoni said. “Mendis bowled brilliantly and we didn’t have clues. We couldn’t pick up his deliveries.”

Earlier, Jayasuriya smashed 125 off 114 balls before India bowled out Sri Lanka in 49.5 overs.

Jayasuriya’s innings included nine fours and five sixes. The hard-hitting opener revived Sri Lanka’s innings by adding 131 runs for the fifth wicket with Tillakaratne Dilshan, who scored 56.

India hit back in the last 10 overs, conceding just 57 runs with R.P. Singh claiming 3-67.

India, which opted to bowl first, struck through its paceman Ishant Sharma (3-52) before Jayasuriya launched a counterattack.

Sharma’s triple strike reduced Sri Lanka to 66-4 after 12 overs, including the key run-out for only four runs of Kumar Sangakkara, who was chasing his fourth century in the tournament.

Sharma had captain Mahela Jayawardene (11) caught at point by Rohit Sharma and then removed Chamara Kapugedera (5) and Chamara Silva (0) in his sixth over.

But Jayasuriya felt little pressure from the wickets falling around him and hit paceman Singh for 26 runs in one over with three sixes and two boundaries.

Jayasuriya went on to complete his first century against India in the last four years off 79 balls.

“Sanath batted well and without his batting we couldn’t have put competitive total,” Jayawardene said.

With 27 centuries, Jayasuriya is now the second century-maker in one-day internationals behind India’s Sachin Tendulkar, who has 42 centuries.

India came back strongly when it removed both Jayasuriya and Dilshan in the space of 21 deliveries. Ishant Sharma took a well judged catch at deep midwicket as Jayasuriya failed to keep down his sweep shot from part-time off-spinner Virender Sehwag.

Dilshan mistimed a pull shot off left-arm paceman Pathan and skied an easy catch to Dhoni behind the wickets after hitting three boundaries in his 74-ball knock. Pathan finished with 2-67.

Source: http://www.hindu.com/

Asia Cup: India thump Sri Lanka by 6 wickets

Karachi (PTI): India exhibited their batting prowess to perfection with their top order firing in unison to score an easy 6-wicket victory over Sri Lanka in their must-win Asia Cup Super Four match and set up a summit clash against the same opponents on Sunday.

India chased down the target of 309 with 19 balls to spare and after losing four wickets, thanks to a half century each by Gautam Gambhir (68), captain M S Dhoni (67) and Suresh Raina (54) and a valuable 42 from Virender Sehwag after Sri Lanka, electing to bat, had made 308 for 8.

Yuvraj Singh (36 not out) and Rohit Sharma (22 not out) romped him with an unfinished 57-run stand for the 5th wicket.

Today’s result extinguished Pakistan’s any hopes of making it to the final and rendered tomorrow’s last Super Four match between the hosts and Bangladesh here inconsequential.

India made a blazing start with the opening duo of Sehwag and Gambhir carrying their solid batting form from their match against Pakistan yesterday, putting on 92 runs from 70 balls.

The duo drove, pulled and cut the Lankan opening bowlers without taking much risks, hitting boundaries in regular intervals and keeping the asking rate always lower than the required rate of 6.18 per over.

Sehwag played second fiddle to his junior partner but did not shy away from hitting odd balls for boundaries including a huge six off Nuwan Kulasekara early in the innings.

The ‘Nawab of Najafgarh’ fell to a soft dismissal in 12th over being deceived by a Kulasekara slow ball holing out to Dilhara Fernando at fine leg after scoring 42 off 34 balls, studded with six fours and a six.

Gambhir raised his 11th ODI fifty by hitting a four off Thilan Thushara after facing 45 balls in the 15th over with the help of nine fours.

Gambhir, however, failed to read a Muttiah Muralitharan ‘doosra’ and fell LBW in the 21st over at team total of 135 for 2 for a well-made 68 compiled with the help of 11 fours from 61 balls, to allow Sri Lanka come back into the match.

Suresh Raina, who got a life when he was on 11 when Lankan 12th man Jehan Mubarak failing to hold on to an easy chance, made the most of the reprieve to hit his fifth ODI fifty and did the consolidation work along with his captain Dhoni, who also struck his 22nd ODI half century.

Run rate dipped a bit after the return of the opening pair to the hut but Dhoni, who promoted himself up the order, and Raina survived the middle overs while keeping the scoreboard ticking.

The duo scored ones, twos and occasional boundaries including Dhoni’s six off Sanath Jayasuriya and frustrated the Lankan bowlers before Raina was run out in the 36th over after facing 66 balls for his 54 (3×4), at team total of 234 for 3.

Just as it seemed Dhoni would open up to end the run chase in quick time, the Indian captain fell to Muralitharan cleaned bowled for 67 (62 balls; 5×4; 1×6) in the 38th over.

Needing just 47 runs from from the last 10 overs, Yuvraj and Rohit Sharma romped home with the Punjab southpaw hitting the winning runs, a four off Kulasekara, to reach 310 for four in 46.5 overs.

For Sri Lanka, Muralitharan was the most successful bowler returning figures of 10-0-44-2.

Earlier, Sri Lanka made 308 for eight with half centuries from Chamara Kapugedera (75), captain Mahela Jayawardene (50) and Chamara Silva (50).

Playing before a sparse crowd, Sri Lanka was in control for most part of the innings but lost wickets at regular intervals after reaching 217 for three. In the final 10 overs, they lost four wickets for 74 runs.

After losing Kumar Sangakkara in the fourth over for just seven runs when he was caught down the leg side off Ishant Sharma, Sanath Jayasuriya went about his usual self.

Dropped on four by Yuvraj Singh, who attemped a difficult take running in from mid-off, Jayasuriya breezed his way to 43 from 37 balls with eight balls before he was caught by Dhoni on the leg side to give Sharma his second wicket.

Jayawardene, who scored his 47th career fifty, and Kapugedera put Sri Lanka into the driving seat with a 78 runs stand off 89 balls hitting some smooth boundaries to put the pressure on India.

Jayawardene fell just one ball after completing his half century from 62 balls. He was caught by Gautam Gambhir at long off dancing down the wicket and attempting to hit Pragyan Ojha out of the ground.

Kapugedera teamed up with Silva to put on another 68 from 66 balls for the fourth wicket as both the youngsters batted with freedom as Ojha went for runs.

Kapugedera raced to his fifth half century from 55 balls with the help of six fours before Praveen Kumar trapped him leg before at the total of 217 in the 38th over.

Five overs later, Tillakeratne Dilshan also pulled Irfan Pathan down to RP Singh at fine leg making 15 from 19 balls.

Silva’s run out after reaching his 50 in the 46th over at the total of 263 put Sri Lanka back in their effort to score quick runs in the final overs and post a big total.

Irfan Pathan was the most expensive bowler conceding 80 in his 10 overs with his final over conceding 14 runs.

Source: http://www.hindu.com/