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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Agencies
August 3,2020

New Delhi, Aug 2: The finals of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 will be played on November 20, the sources within the BCCI confirmed on Sunday.

The IPL's governing council met earlier today, and it has also been decided that the evening matches will start at 7:30 pm, half an hour earlier than usual.

Jay Shah, the secretary of BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) and Arun Dhumal, treasurer of BCCI did not attend the IPL's governing council meeting.

"The tournament will run for 51 days, usually the IPL should go on for 49 days as per the constitution, however in the meeting it has been decided that we will go to Supreme Court for conducting the IPL in 51 days," sources within the BCCI said.

"As the tournament is running for 51 days, we will get the chance to play fewer doubleheaders, there would be just 10 double headers, evening matches will start at 7:30 and the afternoon matches will start at 3:30. 

The matches will be played across three venues at Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and Sharjah as travelling here by road is easier and bio-secure environment can be maintained," he added.

The IPL's governing council also confirmed that Women's IPL will also go on and four teams would be participating in it.

"When it comes to women's IPL, there would be four teams and the matches would be played at the time of playoffs for men's IPL," the source said.

The source within the BCCI also said that the governing council would be meeting again to discuss the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for all the franchises that need to be followed in the IPL.

The governing council meeting discussed the quarantine measures along with the standard operating procedures (SOP), bio bubble training facilities, stay and travel of the players.

Issues related to the broadcaster, shifting, and scheduling of the tournament, and DXB app to be downloaded for players and other officials were also discussed as well.

A few days earlier, the IPL Governing Council chairman Brijesh Patel had confirmed that the 13th edition of the mega event will commence on September 19 in the UAE.

This year's IPL was slated to commence from March 29 but the tournament was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Emirates Cricket Board (ECB) had also confirmed receiving the official Letter of Intent from the BCCI to host the 2020 edition of the IPL.

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Agencies
April 15,2020

Former Australia batsman Mike Hussey has heaped praise on MS Dhoni, saying the veteran Indian wicketkeeper-batsman is the "greatest finisher" the game of cricket has ever seen.

"Dhoni is the greatest finisher of all time that the cricketing world has ever produced," Hussey said while speaking to Sanjay Manjrekar on ESPNcricinfo's Videocast.

"Dhoni can keep his cool and make the opposition captain blink first. Dhoni also has unbelievable power. He knows that when he needs to clear the ropes, he can do it. He has that kind of self-belief. Honestly, I didn't have that kind of belief in myself," he added.

The former Australian batsman, who shared the dressing room with Dhoni for the Chennai Super Kings, said the 38-year-old Indian believes in the philosophy that he who panics last, wins the game.

"I tried not to let it reach 12 or 13 runs an over," said Hussey while talking about his ability to finish the game without much hiccups.

"And I learnt this from MS Dhoni. He is incredible. He believes that he who panics last wins the game. So Dhoni would keep his cool, and keep it longer because the pressure is on the bowler as well," he added.

The 44-year-old believes that the greatest players of the game have a few common traits like "they don't hang on to a defeat for too long. If they lose, they move on quickly. They don't let a loss or a win hamper their thinking".

"They are always consistent, and level headed whether it's MS Dhoni or Ricky Ponting."

Hussey, who played 59 IPL matches for CSK, further revealed the secret about the franchise's success in the Indian Premier League.

"And I learnt this from MS Dhoni. He is incredible. He believes that he who panics last wins the game. So Dhoni would keep his cool, and keep it longer because the pressure is on the bowler as well," he added.

The 44-year-old believes that the greatest players of the game have a few common traits like "they don't hang on to a defeat for too long. If they lose, they move on quickly. They don't let a loss or a win hamper their thinking".

"They are always consistent, and level headed whether it's MS Dhoni or Ricky Ponting."

Hussey, who played 59 IPL matches for CSK, further revealed the secret about the franchise's success in the Indian Premier League.

"Supportive owners who let coach Stephen Fleming and captain Dhoni decide how to run the team, excellent chemistry between the coach and the captain, Dhoni's leadership and lastly the foresight of the owners, Fleming and Dhoni to pick the best players, particularly the good Indian players and then stick with them for as long as possible."

"This has built an excellent continuity in the team. And once you have continuity, you build relationships and trust that otherwise takes time to grow," he added.

Hussey also said that once Dhoni bids adieu to the game, CSK would probably like to start all over again.

"That's a 60-million-dollar question, and I am equally intrigued. I believe the owners would like to keep Dhoni involved in some way or the other," said Hussey.

"However, whenever the change of guard happens, CSK might want to start all over again, build a brand, new team, and use their existing philosophy as they enter the next decade of IPL. It is definitely going to be more challenging in current times," he added.

Dhoni was supposed to lead CSK in the 13th IPL edition which now stands postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

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Agencies
June 23,2020

Islamabad, Jun 23: Seven more Pakistan cricketers, including Muhammad Hafeez and Wahab Riaz, selected for the tour of England have tested positive for COVID-19, taking the total to 10, the PCB revealed on Tuesday.

The seven who tested positive on Tuesday are Kashif Bhatti, Muhammad Hasnain, Fakhar Zaman, Muhammad Rizwan, Imran Khan, Hafeez and Riaz. Shadab Khan, Haider Ali and Haris Rauf had returned positive tests on Monday.

“It is not a great situation to be in and what it shows is these are 10 fit and young athletes...if it can happen to players it can happen to anyone,” Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) CEO, Wasim Khan told a media conference.

He said a support staff member, masseur Malang Ali, had also tested positive for COVID-19.

Khan said that the players and officials would now assemble in Lahore and another round of tests would be carried out on June 25 and a revised squad would be announced the next day.

The squad has to leave on June 28 for the series scheduled to be held next month, he said.

“It is a matter of concern but we shouldn’t panic at this time as we have time on our hands,” Khan said.

He said the players and officials would be retested on reaching England.

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