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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News Network
June 10,2020

Kingston, Jun 10: "Enough is enough", said West Indies all-rounder Dwayne Bravo as he opened up on the raging issue of racism and called for "respect and equality" for black people, who have faced discrimination for years.

Bravo joined the likes of his former captain Darren Sammy and Chris Gayle in denouncing racism in the wake of African-American George Floyd's killing at the hands of a white police officer in the USA.

"It's sad to see what's going on around the world. As a black man, we know the history of what black people have been through. We never ask for revenge, we ask for equality and respect. That's it," Bravo told former Zimbabwe cricketer Pommie Mbangwa in an Instagram live chat on Tuesday.

"We give respect to others. Why is it that we are facing this over and over? Now enough is enough. We just want equality. We don't want revenge, war.

"We just want respect. We share love and appreciate people for who they are. That's what is most important."

The 36-year-old, who has played 40 Tests, 164 ODIs and 71 T20Is for West Indies, said he wants the world to know that they are powerful and beautiful people and gave the example of greats such as Nelson Mandela, Muhammad Ali, Michael Jordan.

"I just want our brothers and sisters to know that we are powerful and beautiful. And at the end of the day, you look at some of the greats of the world, whether it is Nelson Mandela, Muhammad Ali, Michael Jordan we have had leaders who paved the way for us," he said.

Two-time T20 World Cup-winning captain Sammy had earlier alleged that a racist nickname was used to address him during his IPL stint with Sunrisers Hyderabad and demanded an apology.

Sammy said he was called 'Kalu' while he was in India. 'Kalu' is a derogatory word to describe black people.

Gayle, who too plays in the IPL, took to Twitter to back Sammy, saying that racism does exist in cricket.

"It's never too late to fight for the right cause or what you've experienced over the years! So much more to your story, @darensammy88. Like I said, it's in the game!!," Gayle tweeted.

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Agencies
January 5,2020

Mumbai, Jan 5: All-rounder Irfan Pathan on Saturday announced his retirement from all forms of cricket, ending an injury-ridden career that prevented him from realising his true potential.

The 35-year-old's retirement was on expected lines, considering he last played a competitive game in February 2019 during the Syed Mushtaq Ali trophy for Jammu and Kashmir.

He did not even put himself in the IPL auction pool, last month.

The left-arm seamer's bowling was like a breath of fresh air when he made his India debut against Australia at the Adelaide Oval in 2003.

He never had express pace but his natural ability to swing the ball into the right-handers got him instant success, also drawing comparisons with the great Kapil Dev.

It seemed India had found the all-rounder they were looking for since Kapil left the scene. Pathan, who last played for India in October 2012, featured in 29 Tests (1105 runs and 100 wickets), 120 ODIs (1544 runs and 173 wickets) and 24 T20 Internationals (172 runs and 28 wickets).

He was part of the victorious Indian team at the 2007 World Twenty20 and was the man-of-the-match in the final against Pakistan.

One of his best performances came on the tour of Pakistan in 2006 when he became the second Indian after Harbhajan Singh to take a Test hat-trick, removing Salman Butt, Younis Khan and Mohammad Yusuf during the Karachi game.

He also played a big role in India winning a Test match against Australia on a tough Perth wicket, which offered steep bounce.

Injuries and lack of form troubled him thereafter and his ability to swing the ball deteriorated.

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Agencies
June 7,2020

Mumbai, Jun 7: The Mumbai airport became home for a 23-year-old Ghanaian footballer for 74 days after he got stranded there due to the coronavirus-induced lockdown that led to cancellation of flights.

The ordeal of Randy Juan Muller reminded people of Tom Hank's character in the Hollywood film "The Terminal", and it ended after Yuva Sena, the youth wing of the Shiv Sena, reached out to help him.

Muller has now shifted to a local hotel and is waiting for airlines to resume operations so that he can fly home.

The Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL) also provided him all help, including food, and allowed him to use the airport WiFi network to make calls, an official said.

Muller, a Ghana national who used to play for a club in Kerala, was scheduled to fly home by Kenya Airways flight when the lockdown was announced and he found himself stranded at the Mumbai airport.

"He would spend his time at the airport's fancy artificial gardens and somehow buy food from stalls and pass his time with the airport staff. Muller told me the airport staff was very helpful," Yuva Sena office-bearer Rahul Kanal said.

A security officer at the airport gave him mobile phone to call his family back home.

A Twitter user brought Muller's plight to the notice of Maharashtra Tourism Minister Aaditya Thackeray following which Kanal reached out to the footballer and helped him move into a hotel.

On Saturday, Muller thanked Thackeray and Kanal for their help.

"Thank you Aaditya Thackeray, Rahul Kanal. Thank you very very so much. I appreciate what you have done. Salute," he said.

Kanal in a tweet said when he met Muller at the airport, the latter cried with happiness.

"Have no words to salute his willpower and fight for survival in such circumstances at this age," Kanal said.

An official at the Mumbai International Airport Ltd said the footballer was provided all help.

"All personnel at the airport, including from MIAL and CISF, gave him every possible help during his stay at the airport. Besides food, he was also allowed to use the airport WiFi network to make calls. Airport staff would recharge his phone at their own expense," the official said.

The 2004 film "Terminal" of Steven Spielberg was about a man stranded at a US airport after being denied entry into the country and a military coup back home.

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