Saina Nehwal regains Number 4 spot in World Rankings..!

NEW DELHI: Riding on her semifinal finish at the Japan Open Super Series, Saina Nehwal on Thursday improved a rung to be placed fourth in the latest world badminton ranking.

While the 21-year-old Saina was stunned by Germany's Juliane Schenk in the last-four stage in Japan, she could not advance beyond the quarterfinals of the World Badminton Championship and China Masters.

Commonwealth Games bronze medallist P Kashyap and Ajay Jayaram, who had a decent quarterfinal finish at the world championship, also surged one place ahead in the ranking to be placed 22nd and 24th respectively.

Jwala Gutta and V Diju, who reached the semifinals of China Masters, zoomed six places to 29th place, while Jwala and Ashwini Ponnappa were in 16th position, improving two places in the latest ranking.

Hamilton's F1 date with India a smash hit!

Formula 1 sensation Lewis Hamilton has kept his date with Bangalore.

The 2008 world champion is in India to promote his team McLaren Mercedes just a month ahead of the inaugural Indian Grand Prix. Hamilton entertained his fans as he zipped through some ear shattering laps and performed donuts and wheel spins. Hamilton and his teammate Jenson Button will participate in the Indian Grand Prix that’s scheduled for October 30.

Hamilton spoke to Sandeep Shrikanth and said he was blown away at the amount of interest that people have for Formula 1 and he was overwhelmed by the fan following in India.

He hopes that Formula 1 coming here is going to bring tourism here, it’s going to bring some money into the country and it’s going to bring people from around the world all focusing on India for one particular weekend in the year which is quite an important one for a lot of people from the West. Hopefully, a lot of the partners and sponsors that we have here will do more events, which will have a knock-on effect where we can create more jobs, hope we can try to improve the economy.

Us Open Champ Djokovic Pulls Out of China Open

Top-ranked Novak DjokovIc has pulled out of the China Open because of a back injury.

Tournament organizers said the defending champion withdrew because the latest medical checks show the injury he sustained while winning the U.S. Open has not yet healed.

The tournament in Beijing starts on Monday. It is not yet clear whether the 24-year-old Serb will also skip the Shanghai Masters that starts in two weeks.

Djokovic has said the partial rupture of a back muscle that forced him to quit his Davis Cup semifinal match against Argentina’s Juan martin del patro is not serious, but requires rest.

KKR's First Win in CLT T20

Kolkata Knight Riders 171 for 1 (Kallis 64*, Gambhir 55*) beat Royal Challengers Bangalore 169 for 9 (Vettori 44, Bhatkal 25) by nine wickets

Kolkata Knight Riders bounced back to inflict a comprehensive defeat on Royal Challengers Bangalore and keep their own hopes alive in the Champions League while making survival difficult for their opponents. A delightful cameo from the home captain, Daniel Vettori, seemed to have set up a close encounter, but the Knight Riders dominated the chase, reminding the Royal Challengers top order of what they should have done with the bat on a good pitch.Brad Haddin, replacing Shakib Al Hasan, did full justice to his role by delivering a flier at the start while Kallis anchored the reply with support from Gautam GamBhir.

The Knight Riders were left angered and frustrated by Vettori's crafty batting at the death in the Royal Challengers' innings, but didn't let that affect them in the chase. A spate of misfields and fumbles drew ire from Gambhir, but the batting was calm and clinical in its approach. Haddin gave the initial push by stepping up in the second over to smack the left-arm seamer S Aravind, who's won a call-up to the India squad for the ODIs against England, for three consecutive fours as the bowler struggled with his line.

Haddin's approach came with risks but it wasn't mindless aggression. He used his feet well against spin, charging out to J Syed Mohammad and dispatching him over long-on, and waiting patiently for Vettori to slip in a bad ball - and he did - before punishing it past point. He was unforgiving against a clutter of length deliveries from a struggling Aravind, carving them for sixes over midwicket and the bowler's head, interspersed by a slog for a four. When he fell with the score on 62 in the eighth over, the platform had been laid.

The rest of the innings seemed meticulously planned. Kallis ceded the floor to Gambhi after launching a six over long-on early in the innings, and the Knight Riders captain played his role superbly. The Royal Challengers had faltered in the field in their previous defeat, and a half-chance that went down was perhaps the one big opportunity they had of a comeback. Saurabh Tiwary failed to latch on to a catch from Gambhir at the long-off boundary, lost his balance and crashed into his coach in the dugout. Gambhir was on 2 then.

As the field spread out, plenty of singles were on offer and the pair rotated the strike comfortably, the required rate in control all through. The timely bursts were provided by Gambhir, who hammered Syed to the straight boundary and past point and clipped an off-the-mark Dirk Nannes past short fine leg. The Royal Challengers didn't help their cause by doling out extra runs, either by way of overthrows or wides. Nannes was singled out for punishment in the final surge, Kallis reaching his fifty, albeit with a streaky bottom edge, while Gambhir smashed him for two massive sixes over long-on and square leg. That over, the 16th, fetched 24, the win was completed shortly after.

A spirited performance from the Knight Riders bowlers had given them the advantage for 14 overs of the hosts' innings, the early assault from Chris Gayle being the only highlight with the bat until then. Kallis' stirring reply after being hit for six - a yorker that knocked out Gayle's leg stump - backed up by Brett Lee's extra bounce that dislodged Virat Kohli, made up for the early damage.

The Royal Challengers didn't make use of their line-up's depth, losing wickets after their batsmen got partnerships going, holing out needlessly while an uncharacteristically quiet Tilakaratne Dilshan was stumped smartly by Haddin. With his sly shuffles to the off and the use of those powerful wrists, Vettori, kept company by Syed and Raju Bhatkal, sparked a recovery that left the hosts with the momentum at the end of the innings. It would not be with them for long.

After the game, Gautam Gambhir was fined $3000 while the rest of the the Knight Riders were fined $1500 per player for being two overs behind the required over rate. The penalty for a slow over rate is $1500 per over for the captain and $750 per over for each of the other players in the starting XI.

Formula one in Indian Track--- Redbull gears Up..!

New Delhi: Red Bull Racing, the leader in both the drivers' and the constructors' championships in the 2011 Formula One season, on Friday gave a thumbs up to India as a new venue in the F1 calender and said their drivers are getting acquainted to the new track by using the simulator.

The England based team is gearing up for F1 action in India as they prepare for a car show -- Speed Street -- at Rajpath on Saturday.

The technicians on Friday assembled the car, to be driven by Red Bull supported racer Daniel Ricciardo, in full media glare as the team aimed to give India 'a taste of F1'.

Anthony Ward, Red Bull's Brand Head, said he has seen the track and was impressed with what he saw at the Buddh International Circuit in Greater Noida.

"I was there in March and it was impressive with the most advanced facilities. I think they (organisers) are on track.

It will be ready in time and we are looking forward to the race in India," Ward told reporters.

"The technicians, engineers and drivers are coming to India for the first time, so all are excited," he said, adding he has "not seen so many cameras" in any other country in the build up to an F1 race.

Asked how Red Bull drivers -- reigning drivers champion Vettel and Mark Webber -- are preparing, Ward said they are getting an idea about the track via simulator.

"It's a new track and it is crucial for the drivers to know the turns before the race. So they have already started using the simulator to get familiar with the track," he said.

"It's a challenge to adjust to the climatic conditions, time, temperature and humidity but F1 needs to go global."

Talking about tomorrow's event, Ward said the fans in India will get a good idea about the speed and thrill of F1 when the Red Bull car will run on Rajpath.

"We are expecting about 100,000 people there. People do not know much about F1 that's why we travel to world to show what F1 is all about. It's an old chasis and not the current racing car as we are not allowed to run it (other than in races) but it will go up to 200-250kms...good speed to show," he said.

Vettel is leading the chart with 309 points, just one point away from sealing the championship for the second consecutive time.

Red Bull are leading the constructors' championship with 491 points, followed by McLaren (353).

Ward said the constructors' championship could be decided at the Indian Grand Prix.

"Vettel is just one point away from championship but I think the constructors' championship winner may emerge in India," he said.

New Coach For Pakistan Cricket Team??

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) hasn’t received much of a response from well-known foreign coaches for the post of national head coach,  as the deadline to apply for the job expired on Monday.

The current security situation in the country is being cited as the reason why no big names, as far as coaching skills is concerned, have applied for the job.  Pakistani daily ‘Dawn’ reported that PCB now plans to contact the world’s well-known coaches, after Waqar Younis stepped down following the recently-concluded Zimbabwe tour.

“A decision in this regard will be taken in the next meeting of the four-member PCB committee constituted to select the coach. The committee will meet in Karachi on Sept 29 to discuss the qualification of the candidates before taking any further decision in this regard,” 

Chennai super Kings Defeats Cape Cobras in CLT 20-20 league

A timely cameo by all-rounder Dwanye Bravo (46 not out off 25 balls) helped the Chennai Super Kings register a four-wicket win against the Nashua Cape Cobras, yesterday.

Jean-Paul Duminy’s spell of four wickets for 20 runs went waste as the Cobras couldn’t do much to outwit the Super Kings.

In a thrilling finish, Bravo’s blitzkreig innings  took the Super Kings past the target of 145, with just two balls to spare.

Batting first, the Cobras could score 145 for seven.  Bravo, Doug Bollinger and Albie Morkel took two wickets each.

Chasing 146 runs to win, the Super Kings, lost wickets at regular intervals, and were in dire straits,  before Bravo delivered the winning blows as the hosts reached 146 for seven in the final over.

The Chennai Super Kings, with this win, have two points, the same as the Cobras and New South Wales, while Mumbai Indians are at the top of the table with four points from two victories.

Canaries hit by Vaughan blow

Norwich manager Paul Lambert has confirmed striker James Vaughan will be out for several months following a scan on his knee injury.

The 23-year-old hobbled off after coming on as a second-half substitute during the Canaries' 2-1 defeat of Sunderland on Monday night.

Tests were carried out on Vaughan, who moved to Carrow Road from Everton in the summer, which confirmed the injury blow.

Indian Team For first two ODI's against England..!

Offspinner Harbhajan Singh has been left out of India's squad for the first two ODIs against England on October 14 and 17. Karnataka medium-pacer S Aravind and Punjab legspinner Rahul Sharma have received their maiden international call-ups.

Fast bowler, Varun Aaron who was part of the ODI squad in England but did not play, retained his place in the 15-man team. Batsmen Ajinkya Rahane and Manoj Tiwary are the other replacements sent to England who kept their spots.

Fast bowler Umesh Yadav, who was not part of the India set-up since the 2010-11 Test series in South Africa, also made a comeback.

The squad is missing Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Zaheer Khan, Yuvraj Singh, Rohit Sharma, Munaf Patel and Ishant Sharma due to injuries sustained on the recent tour of England. Fast bowler Ashish Nehra, who had declared himself fit after breaking his hand during the World Cup, and allrounder Yusuf Pathan, who was part of the World Cup squad, were not selected.

India's squad contained five batsmen - Gautam Gambhir, Ajinkya Rahane, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina and Manoj Tiwary - two wicketkeeper batsmen - MS Dhoni and Parthiv Patel - and one allrounder in Ravindra Jadeja. The bowling attack comprised five seamers - Varun Aaron, Umesh Yadav, Vinay Kumar, S Aravind and Praveen Kumar - and two spinners in R Ashwin and Rahul Sharma.

Harbhajan's axeing came after his disappointing performance during the Test series in England, where he took only two wickets in 69.4 overs at an average of 143.50 and economy-rate of 4.11. He suffered a stomach injury during the second Test and was ruled out of the last two matches and the limited-overs series that followed. India lost the Test series 0-4 and the ODI series 0-3 in England.

Aravind had a strong 2010-11 domestic season; he was the second-highest wicket-taker for Karnataka with 26 scalps and also the second-highest wicket-taker for South Zone in the Duleep Trophy with 10 wickets. He followed that up with an impressive performance for Royal Challengers Bangalore in IPL 2011 to push his claims for national recognition. Rahul Sharma also caught notice in the IPL, where he picked up 16 wickets in 14 games for the under-performing Pune Warriors, at the eye-popping economy-rate of 5.46.

This selection meeting in Chennai was the first since the BCCI replaced Yashpal Sharma with Mohinder Amarnath as the North Zone representative on the panel.