Tuesday, April 16, 2013

DECCAN HERALD 17

In brief
French Open gets $4 million boost
The French Opens total prize money for 2013 has been increased by more than three million euros to 22 million euros ($28.77 million), organisers said on Monday, reportsd Reuters from Paris. The winners of the men's and women's singles titles will each earn 1.5 million euros, up 250,000 euros from last year. In comparison, US Open prize money will reach $33.6 million this year and rise to $50 million by 2017, while Wimbledon prize money was more than 16 million pounds ($24.61 million) in 2012.

Interview Mushtaq Ahmed

Spinners need to be nurtured

Former Pak ace enjoying his role as a coach with Delhi Daredevils
By G Unnikrishnan BANGALORE: In a Pakistan team brimming with fast bowling talent, Mushtaq Ahmed provided variety with his bubbly leg-spin in the 90s. Since his retirement from all forms of cricket in 2008, Ahmed now works as spin bowling coach of England and Delhi Daredevils.

Need to work on bowling at the death

BANGALORE: The Royal Challengers Bangalore bowling unit, under the stewardship of R Vinay Kumar, has punched above its weight on a few occasions in the sixth edition of the Indian Premier League, anchoring the teams victories.

Wolff to sell stake in Williams

Former Williams Executive Director Toto Wolff will sell his 16 percent stake in the Formula One team now that he has moved to rivals Mercedes, but only when he finds the right buyer, reports Reuters from Manama.

Hingis to coach Pavlyuchenkova

Rising Russian womens tennis star Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova on Monday announced that five-time Grand Slam champion Martina Hingis will be coaching her, reports Agencies from Moscow. Now Im starting my collaboration with Martina Hingis and we are going to try all the clay court series, the 21-year-old said.

In Bangalore for their match against Delhi Daredevils, the 42-year old spoke to Deccan Herald on a variety of issues. Excerpts: On coaching Daredevils: Its a great experience. It feels great working with Daredevils. Its my first year with DD. As far as coaching DD is concerned, I grew up in this part of the world. I know the system, I know the culture, and that helps me. On coaching in England: Its bit like when you go to play in England. You need to adjust to different set ups and you need to develop as a coach. You need to develop your man management skills. As a coach you need to know whats the right time to speak to players and need to know whether a player is in the right mindset to listen to your words.
On whether spin is on the decline after the retirements of a few legends: I think

WATCH OUT! Daredevils spin bowling coach Mushtaq Ahmed (left) with captain Mahela Jayawardene in Bangalore. DH PHOTO

ment so that some years down the line it will produce goods. Spinners are like that, and they will take some time to make an impact consistently.
On coaching two class spinners like Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar: Swanny

On their impact in the forthcoming Ashes: They will play

aspects like how to use feet while playing spin.

On playing along with Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis: I was very lucky to

Force India to get warning

Adrian Sutil and Paul di Resta will be reprimanded by Force India for their opening lap collision at the Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix, reports IANS from Shanghai. Both Sutil and di Resta blamed each other for the incident, without which the Scot could have finished the race higher than eighth. Sutil had to retire after he was assaulted by Saubers Esteban Gutierrez on Lap 4. Deputy team principal Robert Fernley said he will be talking to his drivers and analysing the footage of the incident.

teams are starting to look for spinners again after that great era. The importance of spin hasnt diminished. If you look around, there are some good young spinners around in many teams. Those teams winning Tests and one-dayers consistently have one or two good spinners with them. Spinners need a lot of support from an early age. Its like you are growing a plant in your garden. It wont give you flowers or fruits from the first day itself. It needs careful treat-

knows his game very well. Hes very smart. The good thing about him is that you just need to let him know a few things, and he will be working on it for hours. Monty is a terrific learner. He spends a lot of time learning field positions, the nature of the pitch, and what pace he has to bowl on a particular pitch. Hes a coachs delight as he is always willing to learn.

a huge role in the Ashes. The pitches will get dry in summer and they will have huge roles then. They proved their ability on dry pitches in India last year, and if our batsmen can get some runs on the board then they will be all the more effective.
On his influence on Kevin Pietersen: Its a great experi-

play with Wasim and Waqar. You didnt have to bowl too many overs because they used to get the batsmen out quickly. I have seen the opposition batting at 180 for one and then they were bowled out for 220 all out. It was fun.
On what made Akram special: Wasim was a complete

wit batsmen, but Wasim had that bouncer years ago. He had two kind of bouncers quick one and the slower one and batsmen were never really comfortable playing the pull against him.
On what made Waqar special: He relied more on pace

ence to work with a player like KP, a pure match-winner. Great players are always good listeners, and KP is one of them. KP has the mental strength and desire to survive in different conditions. We worked hard on it for nearly two years, and some technical

natural. He picked up all aspects of pace bowling, like reading the batsmen, using the crease and angles and developing new variations. These days bowlers are trying to bowl slow bouncers to out-

and he was skiddy. He had a round-arm action, something like Malinga, but not so much. He could bowl in-swinging yorker and out-swinging yorker at high pace. The low trajectory coming from a side-on action made him a tricky opponent. And he was a great exponent of reverse swing and when it was happening he was lethal.
DH News Service

Vinays excellent final over against Mumbai Indians in their opening match of the tournament offers a brilliant example of that. But on a couple of occasions they also have shown a distinct weakness while bowling in the death overs. Against Sunrisers Hyderabad, Vinay had managed to bowl another superb last over while defending just six runs, forcing the match into the Super Over. But he couldnt repeat that heroics in the one-over Eliminator, getting clobbered by Cameron White for two sixes that eventually turned the tide against Royal Challengers. The death overs issue reared its ugly head again against the Super Kings at Chepauk. The Bangalore bowlers had, in fact, done well to keep Chennais target down to 16 runs off the last over despite Mahendra Singh Dhonis pyrotechniques. However, Rudra Pratap Singh conceded a four and six to Ravindra Jadeja in successive balls that narrowed the margin and his no-ball off the last ball sealed the match in favour of Super Kings. Ravi Rampaul, who made an impressive debut for Royal Challengers against Super Kings with a three-wicket haul, admitted its an area that they needed to work on in the coming matches. We have definitely been having some problems in the death overs. Any bowler has to come and deliver at the death. The execution was not all that well. So, it is something that we need to work on. Once we get DH News Service

that right all our performances will be lifted, said the Windies pacer. Rampaul, who came in for Muttiah Muralitharan in the match against Chennai, also said he would like to bowl at the death, should he get a chance. I am comfortable bowling at all times of the innings. Whatever the captain and the bowler decide, the execution is the key. There are a lot of games coming up and so there are lot of opportunities, he said. Rampaul hoped the change of venue would bring better luck for Royal Challengers bowlers. My past experience in Bangalore shows it is a good wicket for bowlers. Again, its all about how you execute your plans, he said. Vinay also admitted that bowling at the death was a tough art. Death bowling is very difficult actually. When you are up against big hitters like Cameron White and MS Dhoni, it is like six times out of ten the result will go the other way," added the Karnataka skipper. The biggest blow Royal Challengers suffered coming into this edition of the IPL was the absence of Zaheer Khan, who hasnt played a match after the Ranji Trophy game against Gujarat in January. A calf injury has forced him to warm the benches since then. The Royal Challengers have missed a canny bowler, whose variations and ability to bowl yorkers at death could have made a difference in those crunch situations. The injury to Zaheer has also robbed them of someone who can guide other bowlers. However, Rampaul said even while sitting out Zaheer has been passing on lot of tips to the bowlers. We speak to him a lot and it has been a good experience for us.

Football Spanish League

Ronaldo double powers Real Madrid past Bilbao

MADRID, REUTERS: Cristiano Ronaldo proved too powerful for Athletic Bilbao as he scored with a fizzing free kick and a towering header in Real Madrid's bruising 3-0 victory at San Mames in La Liga on Sunday.

Winning Trooper for feature event

DELHI RACE CARD
Winning Trooper, to be ridden by K Narender, is tipped to land the spoils in the Lala Bansidhar Gupta Memorial Million over 1600 metres, the feature event of the races to be held here on Tuesday. 1. Amazing Fighter Plate (Div II) (rated 20-46, Cl IV) -- 1200M, 3.00 pm: 1. Al Sahail 59 Chand Mohd 6; 2. Master Gold 57 TS Jodha 3; 3. Sadajit 56 Ranjeet S 5; 4. Seven Eight Six 56 J Chinoy 8; 5. Diviance Star 54.5 Hashim Ali 4; 6. Huge Price 54 Pradeep Kumar 7; 7. God Willing 53 P Sharma 1; 8. Real Smashing 50.5 R Saini 2. Master Gold 1; Seven Eight Six 2. 2. Amazing Fighter Plate (Div I) (rated 2046, Cl IV) -- 1200M, 3.30 pm: 1. Naiktarin 59.5 Sandeep R 8; 2. Vinnie 58.5 Mohit Singh 1; 3. Firecracker 56 TS Jodha 6; 4. King Chalange 56 G Shekhawat 9; 5. Comprehensive 55 P Sharma 7; 6. Master Desire 54 Pradeep Kumar 5; 7. Wolverine 53 S Sunil 2; 8. Reservoir Tip 52.5 Sunny Kumar 3; 9. Rawsom 50 K Narender 4. Comprehensive 1; Naiktarin 2. 3. Silver Fortress Plate (rated 40-66, Cl III) -- 1100M, 4.00 pm: 1. Ice On The Moon 59 Jai Parkash 10; 2. Amazing Master 58.5 Ranjeet S 3; 3. Dazzle 58.5 Ramandeep 9; 4. Nizbati Queen 56 S Amjad Khan 1; 5. Morning Devotion 55 Bhanu Pratap 5; 6. Green Seals 54 Chand Mohd 6; 7. Happygolucky 54 Bipin Kumar 7; 8. Master Chenna 54 Hashim Ali 2; 9. Ashwa Parinda 53 V Jaiswal 11; 10. Gala 52.5 Dhanu Singh 4; 11. Amity 50.5 Suresh Kumar 8. Gala 1; Morning Devotion 2. 4. Novice Plate (rated 60-86, Cl II) -1400M, 4.30 pm: 1. Kiana 59 P Sharma 6; 2. Four By Four 56.5 Sandeep R 2; 3. Pretty Girl 56.5 Jai Parkash 1; 4. Alabaster 56 Shadab K 9; 5. Master Messi 55 Suresh Kumar 7; 6. Queens Touch 55 Sameer K 3; 7. Kohinoor Beauty 54 Irfan Ali 5; 8. Awesome 53.5 S Sunil 8; 9. Royal Crest 51.5 TS Jodha 4. Four By Four 1; Queens Touch 2. 5. Lala Bansidhar Gupta Memorial Million (terms) -- 1600M, 5.00 pm: 1. Winning Trooper 57 K Narender 8; 2. Attitude 53.5 P Sharma 4; 3. Black N Pink 53.5 NS Parmar 3; 4. Super Select 53.5 Ashhad Asbar 2; 5. Master Fighter 52 Irfan Ali 5; 6. Master Quest 52 Hashim Ali 1; 7. Lambada 50.5 Shadab K 7; 8. Miss Serena 50.5 TS Jodha 9; 9. Shinning Silk 50.5 R Saini. Winning Trooper 1; Miss Serena 2. 6. Posen Plate (rated 1-26, Cl V) -- 1400M, 5.30 pm: 1. Fuel 61.5 R Saini 3; 2. Smokey Grey 59.5 Sandeep R 9; 3. Princess Laurels 59 Dhanu Singh 13; 4. Uno Uno Uno 59 P Sharma 1; 5. Amazing Resslor 58 Ranjeet S 2; 6. Incredible Man 57 Chand Mohd 7; 7. Mega Joy 53 Mohit Singh 12; 8. The Dukes 52.5 Sunny Kumar 5; 9. Midnight Special 51.5 Sameer Khan 6; 10. King Cha Cha 50.5 Nitin Singh 4; 11. Wind 50.5 R Parvesh 11; 12. Gods Majesty 49 S Sunil 10; 13. Sultan Ayubi 49 Riazuddin 8. Smokey 1; The Dukes 2. Days best: Comprehensive. Jackpot: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. Mini-jackpot: 3, 4, 5, 6. Treble: 4, 5, 6.

Isner, Robredo emerge champs

HOUSTON, AGENCIES: American John Isner won the US men's clay court championship in Houston with a 6-3, 7-5 win over top seeded Spaniard Nicolas Almagro on Sunday. For fifth seeded Isner, the runner-up in Houston last year, the title is his sixth on the ATP Tour but his first on clay and his performance drew the praise of his opponent. "He did a really good job today (Sunday). He played aggressive," said Almagro, who like Isner was playing in his first final of 2013. "He served like normal, but today (Sunday) was tough for me. I want to congratulate him,

Losing start for rusty Karnataka

An off-colour Karnataka suffered a 71-76 loss at the hands of Punjab in the opening game of the Ramu Memorial basketball tournament in Mumbai on Monday, reports PTI. Amritpal Singh had a game-high 25 points for Punjab, while Arvind shot down 24 points for Karnataka only to see his effort go in vain. Sanjay Raj (12) and Srinivas Naik (13) too contributed for Karnataka.
Results: Men: Punjab: 76 (Amritpal Singh 25, Harvinder Preeet Singh 12, Ranbir Singh 11) bt Karnataka: 71 (Arvind 24, Srinivas Uppar 13, Sanjay Raj 12); Indian Overseas Bank (IOB): 72 (K Hareesh 19, R Vineeth 12, Mihir Pandy 12, V Prashann 10) bt Indian Air Force: 65 (S Narender 27, K Pravin 16).

because he's a really good player and a good person and I think he did a good job this week, he added. World number 23 Isner broke the 12thranked Spaniard three times to secure the win 81 minutes. Isner finished with seven aces to Almagro's five Robredo clinches title In Casablanca (Morocco), Tommy Robredo of Spain beat Kevin Anderson of South Africa 7-6 (8-6), 4-6 and 6-3 to win the Grand Prix Hassan II tournament. This is the first title for Robredo, ranked 72nd, since winning on outdoor clay in Santia-

Raqib shines in IBBC win

Raqib collected 15 points as Indiranagar Basketball Club (IBBC) defeated Merchants, Davangere 37-26 in the boys section of the State Youth under-16 basketball championship on Monday.
Results: Boys: Shimoga Youths: 25 (Madhu 11) bt Young Nationals, Mysore: 4. BCBC: 34 (Agniv 17) bt Greens, Davangere: 20 (Mesmer Savio 11). VNSC: 37 (Sourabh 14) bt Sports School, Vidyanagar: 17 (Avinash 7). Blore Sporting: 30 (Adeesh 8) bt Sahakarnagar BC: 9. IBBC: 37 (Raqib 15) bt Merchants, Davangere: 26 (Suman 13). Halasur SU: 65 (Chanakya 16, Dhepmesh 13) bt Rovers, Dharwad: 16. Beagles BC: 39 (Erash 10, Deviprasad 10) bt PPC: 7. Appaiah BC: 34 (Siddha 8) bt S Blues: 22 (John 10). Bharath SU: 33 (Jithin 13) bt Durgans, Chitradurga: 15. Girls: Mounts Club: 34 (Lopamudra 14, Aksa 10) bt YMMA: 6. Appaiah BC: 29 (Sniggdha 18) bt IBBC: 23 (Varshini 6). Beagles BC: 34 (Shwetha 16) bt Rajmahal BC: 26 (Karuna 12). Merchants, Davangere: 27 (Shama 14) bt VNSC: 22 (Thanusha 16). Vimanapura SC: 32 (Sneha 10) bt JSC: 26 (Megha 10). DYSS, Mandya: 29 (Bhandavya 14) bt Halasur SU: 8.

The Portugal forward took his league tally for the season to 31 goals, netting in his eighth successive game in all competitions, and set up Gonzalo Higuain for Real's third. Coach Jose Mourinho has said Real's title defence is effectively over but fielded a near full-strength side at San Mames as they moved on to 68 points, 13 short of leaders Barcelona with seven games left to play. A weakened Barcelona side had earlier cruised to a 3-0 win at struggling Real Zaragoza thanks to two Cristian Tello goals. Ronaldo stroked a free kick over the wall and into the top corner after only two minutes in Bilbao, but it sparked a strong response from the hosts who forced Diego Lopez into two fingertip saves before halftime. Angel Di Maria had hit the bar in the first half and the temperature was rising as tackles flew in thick and fast. Ronaldo was at the centre of much of the attention and reacted by outjumping his marker to thump Xabi Alonso's free kick past Gorka Iraizoz in the 68th minute. Higuain was played into the space in the area by Ronaldo soon after, and the Argentine settled the match with low shot into the far corner. Barca rested a host of players

go, Chile, two years ago. Anderson ranked second in the league and 29 globally, reached the Grand Prix Hassan II final against third-seeded Martin Klizan of Slovakia and was aiming for his third career title on Sunday. The Grand Prix Hassan II, inaugurated in 1986, is entirely funded by Moroccos King Mohammed VI. Its total prize is $540,000. Casablanca is the only ATP World Tour stop on the African continent. Two Moroccans have won the title in their home country: Hicham Arazi in 1997 and Younes El Aynaoui in 2002.

ON A ROLL Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates with Sergio Ramos after scoring against Athletic Bilbao in the Spanish football league on Sunday. AFP

in Zaragoza including Lionel Messi, Andres Iniesta and Gerard Pique. Making the most of their opportunities were Barca youth academy products Tello and Thiago Alcantara. Thiago ran the length of the pitch on a counter-attack and fired in off the far post after a one-two with Alexis Sanchez in the 20th minute. The Spanish international then laid on

the second for Tello. His through ball put the pacy left winger clear to lift his shot over Roberto just before halftime, and Tello sped past his marker to squeeze the third inside the far post in the 53rd minute. Radamel Falcao scored twice as Atletico Madrid swept aside visiting Granada 5-0 to keep the pressure on secondplaced Real.

City sport
CRICKET: Indian Premier League,
RCB vs Delhi Daredevils, Chinnaswamy Stadium, 8.00 pm. HOCKEY: KSHA National League Championship, KSHA stadium; 4.30 pm and 6.00 pm. FOOTBALL: I League II Div, Bangalore Football Stadium, 2.00 pm.

Two fans shot dead in Brazil violence

RIO DE JANEIRO, IANS: Two Brazilian football fans were shot dead as violence rocked an official test event for a 2014 World Cup stadium. According to local judge Maria Jose Bentes, more than 200 people were arrested in the northeastern city of Fortaleza over a series of incidents

in the vicinity of the Castelao Stadium on Sunday. Military police said the fatal shootings occurred during a confrontation between rival fans before the Ceara-Fortaleza match, which officially opened the venue. Two Ceara supporters were shot in the head and died at the

scene, within four kilometres of the stadium. One of the victims was identified as 30-yearold Glauber de Souza Damesceno. A Fortaleza supporter has been arrested for suspected double homicide. In a separate incident also before the match, a homemade

grenade was let off at the citys Lagoa bus terminal by members of the Uniformed Fortaleza Fan Club. The bomb was inside a snooker ball and contained several steel nails, a policeman told local media. Fortunately nobody was hurt.