Bolt storms to 100m victory, Farah wins 3,000m

July 25, 2015

London, Jul 25: Six-time Olympic champion Usain Bolt stormed to the men's 100 metres title at the Diamond League meeting at the Olympic Stadium here.

boltBritain's glittering star Mo Farah, competing in his first race at home since allegations of doping were made against coach Albert Salazar, won the 3,000m and received cheers as loud as those to Bolt from the boisterous crowd on Friday, reports Xinhua.

Bolt, who claimed three golds on the same track at the 2012 Olympics, powered home in a stunning time of 9.87 seconds, his best performance of the season. The Jamaican, running his second 100m race this season, had braved rain and headwinds to win the heat, also in 9.87 seconds, despite loosening the stride in the final metres.

"The heats were good, but the finals not so good. In the final I got a really bad start. I kind of lost focus for a minute and I lost my form but I got it back at the end. So it taught me a lot, these two races," he said.

"I wasn't looking for a specific time but I knew I could have gone faster if I had got the start I wanted. The key thing coming into this race was trying to get everything right on the track."

American Michael Rodgers finished second in 9.9 seconds while Bolt's fellow Jamaican Kemar Bailey-Cole was third in 9.92.

The 28-year-old Jamaican, who holds the 100m world record of 9.58 seconds, had not been in good form this season, registering his only 100m time of 10.12 seconds two months ago and putting his preparation for the Beijing World Championships in doubt.

He is now confident of adding more gold medals to his collection at the tournament in Beijing which will be held between August 22 and 30 at the iconic Bird's Nest.

"Anything is possible in Beijing, it's all about the effort you put in. My coach has been happy with my technique and my work but it's all about getting race-ready now," he said.

Later, Farah, who won the 5,000m and 10,000m gold medals here at the Olympics three years ago, won in seven minutes and 34.66 seconds.

"Today has helped because I can see my plans coming together. I got amazing support which was incredible. It meant everything to me. This is where I made my name and it changed my life to win and become Olympic champion," he said.

The men's 200m was won by Britain's Zharnel Hughes in a personal best of 20.05 seconds and his compatriot Laura Weightman upset the field to win the women's 1,500m in 4:06.09.

The United States bagged the two hurdles events with Jason Richardson winning the men's 110m in 13.19 seconds and Jasmin Stowers taking the women's 100m in 12.47.

The Americans narrowly missed a third hurdles title in 400m which was won by Zuzana Hejnova of the Czech Republic. American duo Georganne Moline and Cassandra Tate finished second and third respectively.

But Natasha Hastings added a third title to the US team, clocking a season best of 50.24 for the victory.

Olympic heptathlon champion Jessica Ennis-Hill of Britain finished fifth in 100m hurdles with a season's best time of 12.79 seconds.

Kazakhstan's Olga Rypakova won the women's triple jump in 14.33m, Italy's Marco Fassinotti captured the men's high jump by clearing 2.31m beating teammate Gianmarco Tamberi (2.28) and Qatar's Essa Mutaz Barshim (2.28) into second and third places.

Belgium's Philip Milanov won the men's discus throw with 65.14m.

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News Network
July 6,2020

New Delhi, Jul 6: India's cricket chief Sourav Ganguly says improved fitness standards and a change in culture have led to the country developing one of the world's best pace attacks.

Spearheads Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah are part of a battery of five formidable quick bowlers that have helped change India's traditional reliance on spin bowling.

"You know culture has changed in India that we can be good fast bowlers," Ganguly said in a chat hosted on the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Twitter feed.

"Fitness regimes, fitness standards not only just among fast bowlers but also among the batters, that has changed enormously. That has made everyone understand and believe that we are fit, we are strong and we can also bowl fast like the others did."

The West Indies dominated world cricket in the 1970s and 1980s led by a fearsome pace attack that included all-time greats such as Michael Holding, Andy Roberts, Malcolm Marshall and Joel Garner.

Recently Indian quicks have risen to the top in world cricket with Shami, Bumrah, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav and Bhuvneshwar Kumar in a deadly arsenal.

"The West Indies in my generation were naturally strong," the former India captain said.

"We Indians were never such naturally strong... but we worked hard to get strong. But I think it is the change in culture as well that is very important."

Shami last month claimed that the current Indian pace attack may be the best in Test history.

"You and everyone else in the world will agree to this -- that no team has ever had five fast bowlers together as a package," said Shami.

"Not just now, in the history of cricket, this might be the best fast-bowling unit in the world."

Shami took 13 wickets during India's 3-0 home Test sweep over South Africa last year, while Bumrah has claimed 68 scalps in 14 Tests since his debut.

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News Network
March 29,2020

New Delhi, Mar 29: Former Indian batsman Wasim Jaffer on Sunday picked his all-time IPL team and appointed wicket-keeper batsman MS Dhoni as its captain.

Jaffer's team's feature opener Rohit Sharma, current Indian skipper Virat Kohli, all-rounder Hardik Pandya, spinner R Ashwin, and pacer Jasprit Bumrah as seven domestic players.
While the foreign players spot have been occupied by West Indies' swashbuckling batsman Chris Gayle, all-rounder Andre Russell, Afghanistan's spinner Rashid Khan, and Sri Lanka's veteran pacer Lasith Malinga.
Indian all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja has been picked as 12th man by Jaffer.

Earlier this month, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) decided to postpone the IPL to April 15, 2020, as a precautionary measure against COVID-19 outbreak.
The board also assured that it will work in unison with the Sports Ministry and will adhere to the guidelines issued.

The 13th edition of IPL was scheduled to commence from March 29. 

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Agencies
March 15,2020

Chennai, Mar 15: Wicket-keeper batsman MS Dhoni has left the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) training camp following the postponement of the Indian Premier League (IPL) amidst the coronavirus scare.

The former India skipper had joined the CSK's camp earlier this month in order to practice for the upcoming IPL season.

CSK's official handle tweeted a video of Dhoni and captioned the post as: "It has become your home sir!" Keep whistling, as #Thala Dhoni bids a short adieu to #AnbuDen".

Thirty-eight-year-old Dhoni has been currently enjoying some time away from the game. He last played competitive cricket during the 2019 World Cup.

Dhoni had to face criticism for his slow batting approach during India's matches in the tournament.

Earlier this year, Dhoni did not find a place for himself in the BCCI's centrally contracted players list.

BCCI had released the list of central contract list of players for the period from October 2019 to September 2020.

On Friday, BCCI decided to postpone the IPL until April 15 as a precautionary measure against the coronavirus pandemic.

On Saturday, all the IPL franchises met in Mumbai to discuss as to how to go on with the tournament in the future.

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