Dafne Schippers scorches Beijing, Aries Merritt misses golden send-off

August 29, 2015

Beijing, Aug 29: Dutch sprinter Dafne Schippers ran into the history books after scorching to world 200m glory on Friday, but there was no golden send-off for Aries Merritt before next week`s kidney transplant.

Aries Merritt

Schippers, the 100m silver-medallist, clocked an electrifying 21.63sec, the fourth fastest time in history, as she lunged at the line to beat Jamaica`s Elaine Thompson, who timed a personal best of 21.66sec -- the fifth fastest time ever.

It was a remarkable win for Schippers, 23, who eclipsed the European record of 21.71sec set by Marita Koch in 1979 and matched by fellow East German Heike Drechsler in 1986.

Only Americans Marion Jones and world record-holder Florence Griffith-Joyner have run the 200m faster than Schippers, who won hepathlon bronze at the Moscow worlds two years ago.

But Schippers was quick to distance herself from doping allegations that plagued Koch, Drechsler, Jones and "Flo-jo".

"I know I`m clean and I work very hard for it," said Schippers. "I do all the dope controls and I don`t want to say more than that."

The Dutchwoman added: "I`m very happy with my time and the European record. I hoped coming here for the gold medal and a time under 22 seconds.

"I did it but I can`t believe it."However, there was no golden send-off for Merritt in the men`s 110m hurdles, his final race before returning Saturday to the United States for a kidney transplant.

The Olympic champion and world record holder won bronze behind two-time European champion Sergey Shubenkov of Russia and Jamaican Hansle Parchment.

"It means the world to me to be back here and to get a medal," said Merritt, who will receive a kidney from his sister on Tuesday after being diagnosed with a rare disease in the wake of the 2013 worlds in Moscow.

"I am looking forward to my kidney transplant. My sister will give me one and this is why she did not come to Beijing -- she didn`t want to endanger the transplantation."

The evening`s two other medal events were shared between Jamaica and the US, Danielle Williams winning the 100m hurdles for the former and Tianna Bartoletta crowned long jump world champion thanks to a final effort of 7.14 metres.

The first gold medal of the day broke a win drought for hosts China as Liu Hong led Lu Xiuzhi to a one-two in the women`s 20 kilometres walk.

Liu timed 1:27.45 for gold with Lu on her shoulder. Ukraine`s Lyudmyla Olyanovska took bronze at 28sec.

Elsewhere American Ashton Eaton sat in pole position of the gruelling multi-discipline decathlon.

The world record-holder and defending champion, also reigning Olympic and two-time world indoor champion, timed 10.23sec in the opening 100m before leaping a best of 7.88m in the long jump, both leading performances.

Eaton, whose Canadian wife Brianne Theisen Eaton claimed silver behind Jessica Ennis-Hill in the women`s heptathlon, then managed a best of 14.53m in the shot put, 2.01m in the high jump and a scintillating 45sec dead for the 400m to leave him on 4,703 points overnight.

Canadian Damian Warner sat in second with 4,530 points, with Germany`s Rico Freimuth third (4,406), with Saturday`s second day of action comprising the 110m hurdles, discus, pole vault, javelin and final strength-sapping 1500m.

"I was just trying to have fun!" said Eaton. "It`s all about having fun."

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News Network
July 1,2020

New Delhi, Jul 1: After being named as India's 'Most Valuable Player' in Test cricket in the 21st century, all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja on Wednesday said that he will always aim to give his best for the country.

His remark came as Jadeja achieved an MVP rating of 97.3 and as a result, he was also rated as the second most valuable player Test player worldwide, only second to Sri Lanka's Muttiah Muralitharan.

"Thank you Wisden India for naming me the 'Most Valuable Player'. I would like to thank all my teammates, coaches, fans, and well-wishers for your support as I aim to give my best for our country. Jai Hind," Jadeja tweeted.

Based on CricViz's market-leading analytics, each player in world cricket was awarded an 'MVP rating' by Wisden using a statistical model to rank their 'match impact' compared to their peers.

Jadeja has played in 49 Tests from 2012, managing to score 1,869 runs and has also picked up 213 wickets.

"It might come as a surprise to see Ravindra Jadeja, India's spin-bowling all-rounder, feature as India's number one. After all, he's not even always an automatic pick in their Test team. However, when he does play he is picked as a frontline bowler and has batted as high as No.6 - contributing to a very high match involvement," the official website of Wisden quoted CricViz's Freddie Wilde as saying.

"But Jadeja's position is based on more than simply volume: it's what he does when he's involved that really counts. The 31-year-old's bowling average of 24.62 is better than Shane Warne's and his batting average of 35.26 is better than Shane Watson's. His batting and bowling average differential of 10.62 runs is the second-best of any player this century to have scored more than 1,000 runs and taken 150 wickets. He is an all-rounder of the very highest quality," he added.

With the bat in hand, Jadeja has managed to score one century and 14 fifties in the longest format of the game.

He was last seen in action during India's two-Test series against New Zealand earlier this year.

He would have been in action for the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the IPL had the tournament commenced from March 29.

However, the IPL has been postponed indefinitely due to the coronavirus pandemic.

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News Network
June 13,2020

New Delhi, Jun 13: West Indies all-rounder Dwayne Bravo has said that wicket-keeper batsman MS Dhoni is the biggest superstar in cricket and is one of the easiest guys to interact with.

Bravo was doing an Instagram live chat with former Zimbabwe pacer Pommie Mbangwa and it was then that the all-rounder was asked to talk about his stint with Chennai Super Kings (CSK).

"I think a lot of credit for CSK's success has to be given to Dhoni and Fleming, obviously the owners, they trust both Fleming and Dhoni, so there is no outside interference when it comes to decision making, both are very big students of the game, players love MS and it's an environment and franchise that allows you to be you," Bravo told Mbangwa during the chat.

"MS Dhoni is the biggest superstar in cricket and in our team. He was one of the easiest people to interact with, outside of the cricket field, he is like playing video games, his door is open at all times, whenever you talk about the biggest superstar and then you think a person like Dhoni is the most humble of them all. CSK is a special team and we have the most loyal fans," he added.

Bravo has been with the CSK since 2011. He has played a total of 104 matches for the franchise, picking up 121 wickets.

The all-rounder has also managed to win the Purple Cap (most wickets in IPL) two times (2013 and 2015).

CSK has won the IPL thrice (2010, 2011 and 2018) and all the titles have come under the leadership of MS Dhoni.

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 high-profile game.

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

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

Dhoni is the only captain to win all major ICC trophies (50-over World Cup, T20 World Cup, and Champions Trophy).

Under his leadership, India also managed to attain the number one ranking in Test cricket.

He would have been leading the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) if the Indian Premier League (IPL) had commenced from March 29.

However, the tournament has been postponed indefinitely due to the coronavirus pandemic.

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News Network
February 10,2020

Potchefstroom, Feb 9: Bangladesh clinched their maiden ICC U-19 World Cup title after beating favourites India by three wickets in the summit clash here on Sunday.

Set a revised target of 170 after a brief rain interruption, Bangladesh won the match with 23 balls to spare.

Sent in to bat, India's batting wilted under pressure as a superb Bangladesh bowling attack shot the defending champions out for a paltry 177 in 47.2 overs.

Yasashvi Jaiswal (88 off 121 balls) was once again a standout performer but not for once did he look like dominating the Bangladesh bowling unit whose new ball bowlers Shoriful Islam (2/31 in 10 overs) and Tanzim Hasan Shakib (2/28 in 8.2 overs) literally stifled the Indians for runs.

The third seamer Avishek Das (3/40 in 9 overs) was the most successful bowler in terms of figures but it was Shoriful's first spell with channelised aggression that put the Indians on the back-foot from the onset.

After a short rain break towards the end, the target was revised to 170 from 46 runs but Bangladesh reached 170 for 7 in 42.1 overs to win the match.

Opener Parvez Hossain Emon top-scored for Bangladesh with a 79-ball 47 while captain and wicketkeeper Akbar Ali was not out on 43 from 77 deliveries.

For the India U-19 side, Ravi Bishnoi was the most successful bowler with figures of 4/30 while Sushant Mishra had 2/25.

India thus missed out on a record fifth title in their seventh final appearance.

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