The Star Online: Sports
The Star Online: Sports |
- Cricket: Dwayne Bravo leads Windies at Champions Trophy
- Boxing: Klitschko sees off Pianeta to claim 60th win
- Snooker: O'Sullivan sinks Trump to reach final
| Cricket: Dwayne Bravo leads Windies at Champions Trophy Posted: 04 May 2013 06:34 PM PDT ST. JOHN'S, Antigua and Barbuda: All-rounder Dwayne Bravo was Saturday named as West Indies captain for next month's Champions Trophy, replacing Darren Sammy who stays in charge of the Test and Twenty20 squads. Bravo, who took over from Sammy for the three-match whitewash of Zimbabwe in the Caribbean this year, leads a 15-man squad for the June 6-23 tournament in England. "Our results in Tests and T20s have been showing consistent improvement and Sammy deserves every kudos for the work he has done in leading and moulding the team in these formats," said Clyde Butts, chairman of the selection panel. "However our ODI results have not been as strong and we believe that it is best that we freshen the leadership of the team in this format. "Dwayne Bravo is an experienced, seasoned and senior cricketer who has demonstrated leadership qualities." Bravo, 29, made his ODI debit in 2004 and has played 137 matches, scoring 2,311 runs and taking 160 wickets. His top score is 112 not out while 6-43 represents his best bowling return. Bravo said he was honoured to be appointed West Indies captain. "To be named captain of the West Indies is one of the highest honours and I am truly humbled to have been appointed to this most prestigious position." Sammy congratulated Bravo and said he will give the new captain his full support. "I congratulate Dwayne Bravo and give him my full support as he leads the ODI team and he can be assured of my unwavering commitment to the team and our plans to be champions of One Day cricket," Sammy said. Kieran Powell was not considered for selection due to a finger injury. West Indies are in Group B at the Champions Trophy along with India, South Africa and Pakistan. West Indies squad: Dwayne Bravo (capt), Denesh Ramdin (wkt), Tino Best, Darren Bravo, Johnson Charles, Chris Gayle, Jason Holder, Sunil Narine, Kieron Pollard, Ravi Rampaul, Kemar Roach, Darren Sammy, Marlon Samuels, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Devon Smith. - AFP |
| Boxing: Klitschko sees off Pianeta to claim 60th win Posted: 04 May 2013 06:18 PM PDT BERLIN: World heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko defended his WBA, WBO, IBF and IBO belts on Saturday as he out-classed challenger Francesco Pianeta with a sixth-round knock-out to register the 60th win of his career. Although German-Italian Pianeta, who survived testicular cancer three years ago, came into the fight undefeated in his 29 previous fights, he was outclassed by the 37-year-old champion in Mannheim, south-west Germany. "I want to thank my opponent, there are a lot of challengers who talk a lot, but he got in the ring and fought bravely," said Klitschko. His comments were a thinly-veiled dig at David Haye who has constantly tried to lure Klitschko back in the ring, despite the British fighter's points defeat to the Ukrainian in Hamburg in July 2011. After Pianeta fought on, despite first hitting the canvas in the fourth round, the champion paid further tribute to the challenger's courage. "After the battle he has had against cancer he deserves respect," said Klitschko. "He tried everything to hit me, if he had landed one his big punches, I wouldn't have got up." Pianeta made an ambitious start with one huge right-hand coming over the top of Klitschko's guard but failing to connect, while the champion responded with two heavy jabs which found their target. Klitschko relied on his jab in the opening three rounds as the challenger landed several heavy shots, but a big right from the Ukrainian put Pianenta on the floor in the fourth round. From then on, the challenger was struggling to stay in the fight and although he showed plenty of heart by fighting on, he was down again in the fifth, but managed to survive the referee's count. With his co-ordination clearly compromised, it was only a matter of time before the fight was brought to an end. With his trainer ready to throw in the towel, Pianeta did not come up again after hitting the canvas after 2mins 52 seconds of the sixth round after a brutal left-right combination floored him for the last time. "I'm ok, just very disappointed and sad," added Pianeta after receiving treatment in the ring. Victory gave Klitschko the 51st knock-out of his career, but the last of his three defeats came nearly a decade ago. For his next fight, Klitschko has been ordered by the World Boxing Association to face Russia's Alexander Povetkin in Moscow on August 31. Russian promoter Vladimir Hryunov won the purse bid to stage that bout with a staggering $23.33 million bid last week. The Ukrainian is entitled to 75 percent of that figure, which would give him a career-high $17,250,000 purse. Povetkin is the 'regular' WBA champion and Klitschko the governing bodies' 'super' champion - an honour bestowed on him when he added the WBA belt to his three others with his points win over Haye in 2011. Now Klitschko and Povetkin are obliged to fight in order to leave just a single WBA belt-holder. The two former Olympic champions were due to clash twice before but Povetkin pulled out in 2008 because of injury and then backed out a second time in 2010. - AFP |
| Snooker: O'Sullivan sinks Trump to reach final Posted: 04 May 2013 06:15 PM PDT SHEFFIELD, United Kingdom: Ronnie O'Sullivan booked his place in the World Championship final for the fifth time as the defending champion cruised to a 17-11 victory over Judd Trump in the semi-finals on Saturday. O'Sullivan will take on fellow Englishman Barry Hawkins in the final after the latest in a long line of dominant displays at the Crucible Theatre in the northern English city of Sheffield. The four-time champion held a 14-10 overnight lead and he never looked likely to surrender that advantage as he clinched the three frames needed to progress to the final. After almost a year out of snooker, reaching another Crucible final must ranks among O'Sullivan's finest achievements. But the English star has already claimed this will be his last appearance at the World Championship due to a lack of passion for the game and that would be a relief to his rivals, who have once again failed to step up to his level. However, despite an apparently comfortable victory margin, O'Sullivan said he had had to endure several moments of unease. "It doesn't seem like you're being pushed, but there are times out there where you're that close to cracking," he said. "Then something will happen and you'll pull ahead and that'll give you belief and confidence, but in every match there has been a point where I've felt, 'This could be slipping, this could be cracking.'" Trump had talked up his chances of defeating the reigning champion prior to the match, but O'Sullivan said he sympathised with the 23-year-old. "Obviously I've been in that position myself and you tell yourself you're not scared of someone," O'Sullivan said. "But when you get out there and the pressure mounts, you then realise why someone like Stephen Hendry or John Higgins (is hard to beat). There's no hiding place out there. "It's all right going in there with lots and lots of confidence and saying these things. Against some people it might knock them off their game, but there's always going to be players around, no matter what sport you're in, who choose to ignore that and use it as motivation." Trump was 50-39 ahead in the opening frame of the session but missed a red to a corner pocket and O'Sullivan rifled in a 41 break. O'Sullivan pinched the next frame after winning a tactical battle and finishing off with a crowd-pleasing 33. Trump crashed in a 77 break to give himself the slightest hope, but the reprieve was all too brief as O'Sullivan produced breaks of 31 and 33 in the following frame. Hawkins defeated English compatriot Ricky Walden 17-14 to book his place in the final. - AFP |
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