Vettel reigns supreme in India, grabs historic 4th world title

October 28, 2013

Vettel_reignsGreater Noida, Oct 28: Greater Noida: Taking a giant step towards becoming a modern-time great, Sebastian Vettel cruised into the history books by winning his fourth consecutive Formula One world title as he conquered the Indian Grand Prix for the third time in a row, here on Sunday.

Changing his tyres strategy after only two laps on softs from pole position, Vettel switched to mediums and drove sensationally to grab the lead after joining the race in the 17 place, yet again showing that he was uncatchable in his RB09.

Red Bull looked set for a one and two but Mark Webber`s race ended due to gearbox problem in lap 40. His team ordered him to stop the car. However, Red Bull still won the constructors? title. So it was double delight for Red Bull.

Vettel bowed on the Buddh International circuit after completing the victory and then jumped on his car, celebrating his historic win, which he took ahead of Mercedes Nico Rosberg, who was 29.8 seconds behind.

Joining them on the podium was Lotus` Romain Grosjean, who had sensational race as he worked his way to third position after starting 17 on the grid.

Vettel needed to finish only fifth to become youngest quadruple champion. With this win, he took his points tally to 322. Only Ferrai`s Fernando Alonso could have kept the championship alive but he could not get a single point by finishing a distant 11th.

Ever since the Formula One world arrived in India, Vettel has dominated everything from dominating practice sessions to winning all three Poles and races.

Only two drivers before Vettel have won four straight titles -- Juan Manuel Fangio from Argentina and German great Michael Schumacher. Frenchman Alain Prost is another driver who has won four titles but he did not win those in a row and Vettel is now youngest quadruple champion at the age 26.

It was Vettel`s sixth win in a row and the affable German now has the record of nine consecutive wins in sight with three races to go in the season.

Felipe Massa was fourth, followed by McLaren drivers Sergio Perez and Lewis Hamilton. Kimi Raikonnen, who was in podium contention till the last 10 laps, faded to seventh, followed by home team Sahara Force India`s Paul di Resta and Sutil. Daniel Ricciardo took the last available point from Indian Grand Prix, which is missing on the calendar in 2014.

It was a great result for home team as they enjoyed their first double points finish since the British Grand prix to consolidate their sixth position. The team earned six points to take the tally to 68, which is 23 ahead of Sauber, who failed to earn a point.

In lap 29, Vettel got ahead of the pack when Webber pitted and just after one lap he was comfortably ahead by 11 seconds. Vettel was uncatchable after that as he build a 25-second lead over Kimi Raikkonen.

Earlier, Massa made a great start by getting past both the Mercedes cars to get behind Vettel. Fernando Alonso, who needed a strong race to keep the championship alive, clipped Jenson Button, breaking his Ferrari`s nose.

Vettel too pitted early for changing tyres from soft to mediums and now Massa was leading the race, followed by Rosberg and his Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton. Webber soon was to his original fourth after making a move on Kimi Raikkonen in lap six.

Vettel who joined 17th, worked his way up to fourthth by lap 12 as he passed Force India`s Adrian Sutil and Lotus` Romain Grosjean but the gap with the race leader Webber was more than 12 seconds.

Sutil was holding on to his fifth strongly, behind Daniel Ricciardo and ahead of Massa but the German had not pitted by then.

Vettel was going fast and fast and passed Sergio Perez in lap 21 to be behind Webber, who was to take his first pit stop. It was business as usual as Vettel took lead in lap 29.

Behind him, Raikkenon comfortably passed Sutil to take third in lap 37 and the Force India driver was the only one who had not pitted as yet. Sutil finally went to pitlane, opted for soft tyres and joined ninth, just ahead of teammate Paul di Resta.

The last five laps,, saw an exciting battle among Kimi Raikkonen, Lewis Hamilton and Perez.

Italian Alberto Ascari had established the astonishing nine-win record in 1952-53.

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News Network
February 13,2020

Feb 13: Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna were buried in a private funeral service in Southern California last week, multiple outlets reported late Tuesday.

Citing Kobe Bryant's death certificate, Los Angeles Fox affiliate KTTV reported the remains of the former Lakers star and his daughter were transferred to Pacific View Memorial Park and Mortuary in Corona del Mar. Kobe and Brianna were laid to rest in a private ceremony there last Friday.

According to KTTV, the death certificate cited Kobe's cause of death as "blunt trauma" sustained in a "commercial helicopter crash." It also said his death was "rapid."

Corona del Mar is a community within Newport Beach, where the Bryant family lives.

Kobe, 41, and Gianna, 13, were among nine people killed when the helicopter they were in crashed on a hillside in Calabasas, Calif., northwest of Los Angeles, on Jan. 26. Orange Coast College baseball coach John Altobelli, 56; his wife, Keri; and their daughter Alyssa, 14 -- who played on the same club basketball team as Gianna Bryant -- also were killed. Christina Mauser, a 38-year-old who was the top assistant coach of the Mamba girls basketball team, was also killed in the accident, as were Sarah Chester, 45; her daughter Payton Chester, 13; and pilot Ara Zobayan, 50.

A public memorial service for the Bryants will be held Feb. 24 at Staples Center, beginning at 10 a.m. PT.

While the date -- 2/24 -- conveniently falls between two Lakers' home games, it still could have been chosen symbolically. Gianna -- one Kobe and Vanessa' four daughters -- wore No. 2 on her basketball jersey while Kobe was No. 24 for part of his 20-year-tenure with the Lakers, and his retired jerseys -- he also wore No. 8 -- hang at Staples Center.

The Los Angeles Times reported that "entry is expected to be severely restricted" at the venue despite Staples Center's capacity of about 20,000.

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News Network
January 23,2020

Jan 23: Quinton de Kock has been named as the new captain of the South Africa One-Day International side, taking over from Faf du Plessis, who is dropped altogether from the three-match series against England next month.

Du Plessis led South Africa in their disastrous 2019 World Cup campaign and has hinted at international retirement from all formats following the Twenty20 global finals in Australia later this year.

"We all know the quality of the player that Quinton de Kock has grown to become," CSA director of cricket Graeme Smith said in a statement on Tuesday.

"Over the years we have watched him grow in confidence and become one of the top ODI wicket-keeper batsmen in the world. He has a unique outlook and manner in which he goes about his business and is tactically very street smart."

De Kock leads a 15-man squad with five uncapped players in seamers Lutho Sipamla and Sisanda Magala, left-arm orthodox spinner all-rounder Bjorn Fortuin, opening batsman Janneman Malan and wicketkeeper-batsman Kyle Verreynne.

Magala, leg-spinner Tabraiz Shamsi, seamer Lungi Ngidi and hard-hitting opening batsman Jon Jon Smuts must pass fitness tests before they can join the squad.

Fast bowler Kagiso Rabada will be rested for the series, while allrounders Chris Morris and Dwaine Pretorius have also not been able to force their way in.

"The road towards the 2023 Cricket World Cup starts now and we want players doing well in our domestic structures to see the rewards of the hard work that they have put in," CSA Independent Selector Linda Zondi added.

The first ODI will be staged in Cape Town on Feb.4th, with the second in Durban three days later and the final match of the series to be held in Johannesburg on Feb.9th.

Squad: Quinton de Kock (captain), Reeza Hendricks, Temba Bavuma, Rassie van der Dussen, David Miller, Jon Jon Smuts, Andile Phehlukwayo, Lutho Sipamla, Lungi Ngidi, Tabraiz Shamsi, Sisanda Magala, Bjorn Fortuin, Beuran Hendricks, Janneman Malan, Kyle Verreynne.

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News Network
January 10,2020

Srinagar, Jan 10: Real Kashmir FC made a strong comeback in the second half to play out a 1-1 draw against former champions Punjab FC in their home I-League match here on Friday.

The 'Snow Leopards' equalised in the 62nd minute through Gnohere Krizo in front of a partisan crowd of 8,500 spectators after Makan Chothe had given Punjab FC the lead in the 21st minute at the TRC ground.

After Thursday's draw, Punjab FC is placed third on the table with 10 points from seven games. Real Kashmir FC remained at eighth with six points from five matches. This was Real Kashmir's third home match on the trot.

The match was a story of two halves as the first belonged to the visitors who enjoyed a 62 per cent possession of the ball, whereas the second belonged to the home side.

Both the teams were looking to gain an early advantage and Punjab FC took the lead after 21 minutes.

Confusion inside the Real Kashmir box because of a long ball from Punjab opened up an opportunity for Chothe and he made no mistake as he smashed the ball at the back of the net.

As the fans cheered on, Real Kashmir created a flurry of chances, but none of the home side players could find the back of the net. Punjab was able to hold on to their slender lead heading into the tunnel.

The second half resumed with Real Kashmir pressing high up the field and pressurising Punjab.

In the 56th minute, Real Kashmir playmaker Kallum Higginbotham cut through two defenders on the left side of the box and the ball fell to Mason Robertson, whose shot was too weak to trouble the Punjab goalkeeper.

Soon after, it was Danish Farooq who tried a curler from a distance but his shot did not have enough bend to trouble the Punjab goalkeeper. The home team's effort finally paid off in the 62nd minute.

A miscalculated header by Danilo Augusto fell at the feet of Gnohere Krizo, who was one-on-one with the keeper. He made no mistake in striking the ball into the opponent's goal to score the equaliser.

Real Kashmir was in their groove now, and Kallum came in from the right with a beautiful low cross across the face of the goal but Mason could not get a touch as the chance went begging.

The duo of Kallum and Mason were proving difficult for Punjab to deal with. In the 82nd minute, a beautiful long ball by Kallum found the head of a towering Mason, but the effort went just over the crossbar.

Within a few moments, Punjab again had another nervous moment as Chesterpoul Lyngdoh's cross from the right side hit the arm of Thoiba Singh but the referee turned down an appeal for penalty.

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