Sunday, May 31, 2009

French Open 2009: Nadal loses to Soderling

Robin Soderling has done what no-one else has ever managed here at Roland Garros. It's the end of an era. Defending and four time champion and World No. 1 Rafael Nadal was finally defeated at the Roland Garros after reigning supreme for four long years. The 23rd seeded Robin Soderling was the man who made history when he swept past the defending champ in four sets. The score read 6-2,6-7,6-4,7-6 . This is a second consecutive defeat for Nadal in clay court tournament this year. He was beaten by Federer in Madrid just before the French Open. With Nadal's defeat, Roger Federer has a serious chance of winning the grand slam that has eluded him thus far and close the gap on Nadal in the ATP Champions race.

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Saturday, May 30, 2009

Cricket : Mangoose Bat set to revolutionise world cricket

The revolution in the cricket world continues. First it was the invention of the T20 format and then the idea of test cricket during night, pink balls and now the latest to be added to the bandwagon in the Mangoose Bat. This bat has been made essentially for the Twenty 20 cricket. The founders of this bat claim that it generates 20% more power and 15% more bat speed than the conventional cricket bat. Former Australian batsman Stuart Law, appearing for Derbyshire became the first player to use a Mangoose bat in a cricket match when he used it in a county Twenty20 match against Durham. Law called on for the Mangoose bat after he had made 30 off 20 balls and he added a further 10 runs off the 5 balls he faced with Mangoose bat. As you can see in the above picture of the Mangoose bat, the handle is longer than a normal bat and the founders claim this has a larger "Sweet spot" as they say in cricket than the normal bat. The MCC found that it met all requirements under law six of regulations regarding the make-up of a bat but they are yet to arrive on a decision as they need to maintain the balance between bat and ball. A company spokesman said there was "every chance" the bat, with a starting price of 159 pounds, could make an appearance at the Twenty20 World Cup as negotiations were under way with other international players. Stuart Law has been contracted by its founders to test the bat.

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Kobe Bryant sends L.A Lakers back to NBA finals

Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers are in the NBA finals for the second straight year and record 30th time overall. LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers will need to win two more games to join them. Otherwise, it will be Dwight Howard and the Orlando Magic on the league's biggest stage. Bryant and the Lakers dispatched Carmelo Anthony and the pesky Denver Nuggets with a 119-92 victory in Game 6 of the Western Conference finals Friday night in Denver. A 27-point victory over what had been the toughest and grittiest of opponents for five Western Conference Finals games was quite an emphatic way for L.A. to get back to the NBA Finals for the 30th time in franchise history. "We saved our best game for last here, or maybe we caught our opponent a little bit off stride," said Lakers coach Phil Jackson, who gets a shot at his record 10th title. Bryant had 35 points and 10 assists and got plenty of scoring help from Trevor Ariza, Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom as the Lakers shot 57.3 percent from the field to avoid having to play a Game 7 back at the Staples Center. Now the men in yellow will be trying to go a step further than what they did last year and capture their 15th title. Way to go Kobe........

Click here to view the Trophy Presentation
Trophy Presentation - Watch

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F1 : Teams to participate in 2010


he threat made by a number of Formula One teams to quit the sport appears to have receded after all existing entrants made the deadline to submit entries for the 2010 world championship.

All nine members of the Formula One Teams' Association (FOTA) submitted a block entry on Friday, albeit under conditions dictated as a compromise is sought with the FIA over the insistence of the latter's president, Max Mosley, on a £40 million budget cap from next year.

Williams broke ranks and entered the championship earlier in the week - a move which brought about their temporary suspension from FOTA.

A statement read: "FOTA confirms all its members' long-term commitment to be involved in the FIA Formula One World Championship and has unanimously agreed further and significant actions to substantially reduce the costs of competing in the championship in the next three years, creating a mechanism that will preserve the technological competition and the sporting challenge and, at the same time, facilitate the entry in the F1 Championship for new teams.

"These measures are in line with what has already been decided in 2009 within FOTA, achieving important saving on engines and gearboxes."

"The FOTA teams have entered the 2010 championship on the basis that:

"1) The Concorde Agreement (the commercial protocol existing between teams, the FIA and the sport's commercial rights controller Bernie Ecclestone) is signed by all parties before 12th June 2009, after which all FOTA teams will commit to competing in Formula One until 2012.

"The renewal of the Concorde Agreement will provide security for the future of the sport by binding all parties in a formal relationship that will ensure stability via sound governance.

"2) The basis of the 2010 regulations will be the current 2009 regulations, amended in accordance with proposals that FOTA has submitted to the FIA."

The statement added: "All FOTA teams' entries for the 2010 FIA Formula One world championship have been submitted today on the understanding that (a) all FOTA teams will be permitted to compete during the 2010 Formula One season on an identical regulatory basis and (b) that they may only be accepted as a whole.

"All FOTA teams now look forward with optimism to collaborating proactively and productively with the FIA, with a view to establishing a solid foundation on which the future of a healthy and successful Formula One can be built, providing lasting stability and sound governance."

Now it appears that all the teams including Ferrari are set to participate in the 2010 edition and well beyond 2012. This news comes as a relief for the the F1 fans all around the world.

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Saturday, May 23, 2009

IPL 2009 Finals: Bangalore to take on Deccan Chargers.

This must have been the least expected finals match up of the IPL 2009. When people were talking about teams like Chennai and Delhi, team Bangalore lead by Anil Kumble silently made a comeback into the tournament with some great performances. And it was after Kumble took over the captaincy from Pietersen, the turnaround started. Deccan on the other hand started this season in whirlwind fashion winning the first four matches but suffered some setbacks and eventually made it to the last four. And in the semis, Gilly destroyed Delhi single handedly. There was nothing much one could do about his innings, something that was even accepted by Delhi captain Sehwag. Not many would have given Deccan or Bangalore a chance this year to get to the top four. But having pulled off amazing turnarounds and tasted difficult periods earlier in the tournament, both teams have undoubtedly deserved to get where they are today. And in the finals, if Gilly does a repeat of the semis, Bangalore would have no chance but if he is taken out early it can be anyones game.

Form guide (completed matches, most recent first)

Royal Challengers Bangalore: WWWWW
Deccan Chargers: WLLWL

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Manchester United Players of the year 2008-09 awards videos


Nemanja Vidic was named Player of the Year by United fans and his team-mates at the Reds' end-of-season awards night at Old Trafford on Sunday. Just 24 hours after Sir Alex and his men were crowned Barclays Premier League champions for a third successive year, the Reds were clearly still in partying mood. The squad turned out in style for a star-studded event in Old Trafford's Manchester Suite. Vidic collected the Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year accolade, voted for by fans on ManUtd.com, and the Players' Player trophy to a well-deserved standing ovation.
Cristiano Ronaldo, who cleaned up with all three main awards at last year's event, claimed the Goal of the Season gong for his stunning strike against FC Porto in the Champions League quarter-final second leg.
Federico Macheda, who scpred two vitals goals against Aston Villa and Sunderland, was named Jimmy Murphy Academy Player of the Year.

Player of the Year Awards 2008/09

Nemanja Vidic - Players' Player of the Year, Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year 2008/09

Cristiano Ronaldo - Goal of the Season (FC Porto 0-1 United, 15 April 2009)

James Chester - Denzil Haroun Reserve Player of the Year 2008/09

Kiko Macheda - Jimmy Murphy Academy Player of the Year 2008/09

Click here to get the video
Video - Download

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Sunday, May 17, 2009

EPL: Manchester United - Champions of 2008-09

It certainly was not an evening of magical football from the Champions but they did what they were sent out to do, seal the title before Liverpool played on Sunday. And they did just that after they held on for a scoreless draw against a inspired Arsenal side who were smarting from their thrashing given by United at the Emirates in the Champions League. Carlos Tevez who was subbed after the hour mark gave quite a long farewell before he left the pitch and it looked like a goodbye and thank you from the little Argentinian. And at the end of the 90 minutes, Manchester United were crowned the champions of England once again and it was the 11th title under Sir Alex and 18th in all, catching Liverpool's record. This is United's 4th title this season and a chance of adding Champions League to it remains as they take on Barcelona in the finals on May 27th. I hope we win Champions league and create history. Rock on Red Devils!!!!!.

Click here for presentation videos:

RAPIDSHARE || MEDIAFIRE - Presentation, celebrations, interviews.

Rapidshare: Part1 / Part2 / Part3 / Part4 / Part5 / Part6 / Part7

MediaFire Folder

Mediafire folder
or
Part 1 http://www.mediafire.com/?mwmz22yzlwz
Part 2 http://www.mediafire.com/?iwzzk3c0wqn
Part 3 http://www.mediafire.com/?qh4qzqhxtwe
Part 4 http://www.mediafire.com/?j5wynmyyqmd
Part 5 http://www.mediafire.com/?gfmzjdex2od

Enjoyyy......

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Friday, May 15, 2009

Tevez tit-for-tat touches a nerve

Sir Alex Ferguson bucked his customary trend of keeping transfer issues in-house on Wednesday when he was moved to insist Manchester United will do everything in their power to keep hold of Carlos Tevez.

The Old Trafford boss has when pressed played a straight bat on the future of the Argentina international but came out fighting in the face of more fans' cries to "sign him up" in the aftermatch of Tevez's equaliser at the JJB Stadium which set the Premier League leaders on their way to a stirring 2-1 comeback win against Wigan.

The sticking point is the £22m that would be needed to turn Tevez's existing two-year loan into a permanent agreement – a fee Old Trafford officials are reluctant to match.

The impasse comes amid claims and counter-claims from both sides of the fence and at a time when United need just one more point to secure a third successive and record-equalling 18th domestic title.

Tevez's representative, Kia Joorabchian, has fanned the flames by insisting his client has not received a formal offer and that he is he now willing to talk to a growing list of potential suitors, including fierecest rivals Liverpool, neighbours Manchester City and Real Madrid.

Ferguson fought tooth and nail to deny former defender Gabriel Heinze a transfer down the East Lancs Road in 2007, but even his powers of persuasion could be tested this time around because Tevez is not contracted to a club but by companies that own his economic rights.

Ferguson has described as "far-fetched" reports that United want the 25-year-old to break his contract with Joorabchian, although his assertion on Wednesday that the fans "love a trier" was hardly gushing praise.

"There was a meeting with (chief executive) David Gill on Wednesday, that is a clear fact," he added.

"They discussed the avenue under which Carlos could stay with Manchester United. End of story.

"I realise you (the media) speak to his agent but I do not wish to discuss the matter any further."

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