Lahiri beats Palmer for winning debut in WGC Match Play

April 30, 2015

San Francisco (US), Apr 30: Anirban Lahiri indicated he is ready to make his presence felt at the highest levels, as he made a sensational debut at the WGC-Cadillac Match Play, beating higher-ranked Ryan Palmer of the US comprehensively for a 4&2 win in Group 6.

WGC MatchIn the second set of matches, Lahiri will meet Justin Rose, while Marc Leishman meets Palmer. In the other match in the Group, Leishman stunned Rose 2&1 to throw the Group wide open.

Lahiri, ranked No. 35 in the world, a seven-time winner on Asian Tour and twice on European Tour, started and closed well and had six birdies against no bogeys in his 16 holes to bolster his matchplay credentials.

"I played really good," said Lahiri. "It was a really solid round. I don't think Ryan played poorly, either, I think it was a really good match. It was massive for me to birdie 13, and then chip in on 14 to keep myself three ahead."

The other two players in the Group are Justin Rose, Masters runner-up and winner of the PGA Tour event in New Orleans, and World No. 60, Marc Leishman. Interestingly, Leishman stunned Rose 2&1 to throw the group wide open.

As per the new format the 64 players have been divided into 16 groups of four each. Each players plays the other three and the winner of the group proceeds to Last 16.

Lahiri was happy with the fact that he did not bogey.

"I'm pretty happy I didn't make a bogey today: that's a pretty good sign for me and putting better, feeling good."

Talking of Match Play, Lahiri added, "I think I do pretty well in match play. I was just talking to my caddie about it and there's no letting up. You have to kind of be in the zone right through. And you can't have a plateau in your focus, you've got to be really intense. And I think I like playing golf that way. So hopefully I can keep that up."

Lahiri, who has won twice in co-sanctioned events in Maybank Malaysian Open and Hero Indian Open, won the first hole with a birdie on the Par-5 and increased his lead with another birdie on fourth.

Palmer took the fifth and eighth with birdies to restore parity. In between both birdied the sixth to have the hole. Then Lahiri won the ninth and as Palmer bogeyed the 10th to Lahiri's par, the gap was again two.

A superb tee shot on Par-3 to five feet saw him pick another birdie and won the hole to go three-up with five to play. Lahiri birdied the 13th from five feet and 14th after chipping in. But on 14th Palmer also birdied to halve the hole. The 15th was halved again with pars.

Then on 16th Palmer conceded as Lahiri sat on a seven-foot birdie and he himself had missed a 13-foot birdie putt. Even a halved hole would not have taken the match further.

Against Rose, Leishman, whose wife’s lie-threatening infections forced him to miss the Masters, birdied the par-5 first and didn't look back. He never gave up the lead as he made four birdies on the round. He is returning after missing out for a month.

Leishman said, "Probably the difference is I holed the putts that kept the momentum on my side and Rosie probably didn't make the putts that could have switched it."

World Number One Rory McIlroy led The European Tour charge with a convincing 5&4 victory over Jason Dufner. The Northern Irishman didn’t need to bring his best golf to the first of his three round one matches in the newly formatted event, with a single birdie and 13 pars good enough to secure a stress free victory.

Englishman Lee Westwood beat Matt Every one-up, while Francesco Molinari pulled off a brilliant 5&4 win over World Number Nine Adam Scott.

Sergio Garcia and Jamie Donaldson emerged one up winners in their respective European battles with Tommy Fleetwood and Bernd Weisberger, while Louis Oosthuizen was in great form to take down Keegan Bradley 6&5.

English Ryder Cup star, Ian Poulter, like Justin Rose, lost 3&2 to Webb Simpson. Danny Willet and Marc Warren produced strong debut performances by defeating Ryan Moore and JB Holmes.

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Agencies
April 12,2020

London, Apr 12: Former Formula 1 legendary driver Stirling Moss died at the age of 90 on Sunday.

"All at F1 send our heartfelt condolences to Lady Susie and Sir Stirling's family and friends," Formula 1 said in a statement.

Often referred to as the greatest driver never to win the world championship, Moss contested 66 Grands Prix from 1951 to 1961, driving for the likes of Vanwall, Maserati and Mercedes, where he famously formed a contented and ruthlessly effective partnership with lead driver Juan Manuel Fangio.

In his 10-year-long stint at the tracks, Moss took 16 wins, some of which rank among the truly iconic drives in the sport's history - his 1961 victories in Monaco and Germany in particular often held up as all-time classics.

Moss won the 1955 Mille Miglia on public roads for Mercedes at an average speed of close to 100mph, while he also competed in rallies and land-speed attempts.

Following an enforced retirement from racing (barring a brief comeback in saloon cars in the 1980s) after a major crash at Goodwood in 1962, Moss maintained a presence in Formula 1 as both a sports correspondent and an interested observer, before retiring from public life in January of 2018.

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News Network
February 16,2020

Feb 16: Mayank Agarwal finally found some form going his way and Rishabh Pant mixed caution with his customary aggression as India's warm-up fixture against New Zealand XI ended in a draw in Hamilton on Sunday. The match was called off an hour after lunch with India reaching 252 for four just 48 overs into their second innings. Agarwal, who had gone through a wretched period since the second Test against Bangladesh, retired on 81 off 99 balls with 10 fours and three sixes to his name. To the relief of the Indian team management, Pant played in his customary manner to reach 70 off 65 balls, but also showed discretion when the opposition bowlers were in the midst of a good spell.

There were four sixes -- two each off leg-spinner Ish Sodhi and off-spinner Henry Cooper. While Sodhi was hit down the ground, Cooper was dispatched over extra cover on a couple of occasions.

He didn't curb his aggression though; there were times when he was ready defend against the spinners and also leave some of the deliveries that the Kiwi pacers bowled.

Even though Pant is easily the better batsman compared to his senior Wriddhiman Saha, the innings might have come too late in the day considering that the latter is a better keeper and possibly a more responsible batsman in pressure situations.

The biggest positive to have emerged from the second innings is Agarwal's poor run coming to an end.

The Seddon Park track easing out was definitely a factor but Agarwal's footwork was more assured as he played some glorious on-drives and pull-shots off fast bowlers.

Before this game, Agarwal had played 10 competitive games including first-class, ODIs and List A matches and couldn't cross the 40-run mark in 11 completed innings.

He even bagged a pair against New Zealand A in an unofficial Test match. Once he had got his form back, he didn't come out to bat after lunch giving Saha an opportunity to score an unbeaten 30, his runs coming mostly against non-regular bowlers.

The Agarwal-Pant pair added 100 runs in 14.3 overs and it also helped that part-timers like Cooper was introduced into the action. In the morning, Prithvi Shaw (39 off 31 balls) was bowled through the gate by Daryl Mitchell as the batsman left a gaping hole between his bat and pad.

Shaw, though, seemed to have done enough during his brisk 72-run stand with Agarwal, which could put an end to the debate around the opening slot even though the tracks in Wellington and Christchurch could be a test of technique for the flamboyant Mumbaikar.

It was a match that Shubman Gill would perhaps like to forget in a hurry as he was dismissed cheaply for the second time in a row. He scored 8 before Daryl Mitchell trapped him leg before.

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News Network
February 9,2020

New Delhi, Feb 9: The Indian Fed Cup team will travel to Dubai for this year's competition as the ITF has named the desert city as the new venue for the matches, to be held from March 3 to 7.

The ITF named the new venue after moving out the matches from then Chinese city of Dongguan due to Coronoavirus threat. The Asia/Oceania Group I matches were originally scheduled to be played from February 4-8.

"The event will be held in the week following the ATP Dubai tournament at the same venue, and will see six nations China P.R., Chinese Taipei, India, Indonesia, Korea Rep. and Uzbekistan - compete for a place in the Fed Cup Play-offs in April," an ITF release said.

The six teams will vie for two spots in Fed Cup Play-offs.

"Being in Dubai makes no difference. But the dates give enough time to Sania for her recovery. Doubles is an important point. Ankita is playing well. The other team members will also get some tournament to play under their belt," India's Fed Cup captain Vishal Uppal told news agency.

Sania's participation was under doubt due to a calf injury she aggravated during the Australian Open, where she pulled out of the mixed doubles before retiring mid-way into her women's doubles opening round match.

"I think we have a good chance but we will have to be at our best and fight hard for every point, every game, every set, every match," Uppal added.

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