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
March 12,2020

Miami, Mar 12: The NBA has suspended its season "until further notice" after a Utah Jazz player tested positive Wednesday for the coronavirus, a move that came only hours after the majority of the league's owners were leaning toward playing games without fans in arenas.

Now there will be no games at all, at least for the time being. A person with knowledge of the situation said the Jazz player who tested positive was center Rudy Gobert. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because neither the league nor the team confirmed the test.

"The NBA is suspending game play following the conclusion of tonight's schedule of games until further notice,'' the league said in a statement sent shortly after 9:30 p.m. EDT. "The NBA will use this hiatus to determine next steps for moving forward in regard to the coronavirus pandemic.''

The test result, the NBA said, was reported shortly before the scheduled tip-off time for the Utah at Oklahoma City game on Wednesday night was called off. Players were on the floor for warmups and tip-off was moments away when they were told to return to their locker rooms. About 30 minutes later, fans were told the game was postponed ``due to unforeseen circumstances."

Shutdown for two weeks?

Those circumstances were the league's worst-case scenario for now -- a player testing positive. A second person who spoke to AP on condition of anonymity said the league expects the shutdown to last a minimum of two weeks, but cautioned that time-frame is very fluid.

"It's a very serious time right now," Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "I think the league moved appropriately and prudently and we'll all just have to monitor the situation and see where it goes from here."

The Jazz released a statement saying a player -- they did not identify Gobert -- tested negative earlier Wednesday for flu, strep throat and an upper respiratory infection. That player's symptoms diminished as the day went along, but the decision was made to test for COVID-19 anyway. That test came back with a preliminary positive result.

"The individual is currently in the care of health officials in Oklahoma City," the Jazz said, adding that updates would come as appropriate.

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News Network
April 27,2020

Mumbai, Apr 27: The pressure to replace iconic Mahendra Singh Dhoni behind the stumps was "immense" due to high expectations from fans says K L Rahul, who has been doing the wicket-keeping duty for India in the limited overs format for some time now.

Dhoni quit Test cricket in 2014 and has not played for India in the limited overs format since last year's ODI World Cup in England.

Rahul kept the wickets in the limited overs series against Australia in January this year and also during the team's tour to New Zealand.

"I was nervous when I was doing it for India because of the crowd pressure. If you fumble, people feel that you cannot replace MS Dhoni. The pressure of replacing a legendary wicket-keeper like MSD was immense as it involved people accepting someone else behind the stumps," Rahul told Star Sports on its show 'Cricket Connected'.

Rahul, who has played 32 ODIs and 42 T20Is, said keeping the wickets is not alien to him since he dons the gloves during the Indian Premier League (IPL) and also when he plays for his Ranji side Karnataka.

"People who follow cricket know that I haven't been away from wicket-keeping for too long as I donned the gloves in the IPL and every time I played for Karnataka," the 28-year-old said.

"I am always in touch with wicket-keeping but am also somebody who is more than willing to take up the role if the team needs me to," he stressed.

Dhoni's career is a matter of intense speculation. Many former players feel that it won't be easy for Dhoni to make it to the national squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup, scheduled to be held in Australia. 

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News Network
June 27,2020

Jun 27: India's Test batting mainstay Cheteshwar Pujara cannot describe in words the influence that Rahul Dravid has had on his life but says he will always remain grateful to him for teaching the importance of switching off from cricket.

Often compared to Dravid, who was considered the 'wall' of Indian cricket, Pujara said he is thankful to Dravid for teaching him how to keep personal and professional lives separate.

"He helped me understand the importance of switching off from cricket. I had the same thought, more or less, but when I spoke to him, it gave me a lot of clarity about it and I was sure of what I needed to do," he told ESPNcricinfo.

"I also saw in county cricket how they keep personal and professional lives separate. I value that advice a lot. Many people consider me to be focused. Yes, I am focused, But I also know when to switch off. There is life beyond cricket."

In his illustrious international career, Dravid amassed 13288 runs in 164 Tests and 10889 runs in 344 ODIs. He also captained India in 79 ODIs, winning 42 of them, which includes the world record of 14 successive wins while chasing.

"I cannot say in one line what Rahul bhai means to me. He has always been an inspiration, and will remain one," Pujara said.

His mental fortitude and batting technique is often compared to Dravid but Pujara said "despite my enchantment with him" he never tried to "copy him."

"There is a similarity in our games, but that's not because of my fascination with him. That came mainly through my experiences with Saurashtra, where I learned that scoring a hundred alone isn't enough, you have to carry your team," he said.

"That is how I learned responsibility - it is about helping my team to raise a big total, and for that I ought to attach importance to my wicket. I learned that from my junior cricket days with Saurashtra, which was a weaker team in domestic cricket."

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