Smile4u Blog

India did the near impossible at the Premadasa Stadium on Sunday, handing Sri Lanka only its 18th defeat in 67 ODIs at this venue and securing a 2-1 lead in the five-match series.India did it in partnerships. Man-of-the-Match M.S. Dhoni’s 80-ball 76 (8×4) and his alliances of 54 with Suresh Raina (53), and 67 with Rohit Sharma helped India score 237 for nine in 50 overs after winning the toss.Praveen Kumar and Zaheer Khan resumed their contract from Dambulla, reducing Sri Lanka’s reply to 40 for four: not nearly the point of no return — Mahela Jayawardene’s brave and brilliant 94 (111b, 6×4, 1×6) was far too good to be counted as merely raging against the dying of the light — but close enough.

written by samchin \\ tags: captain

“Through these Games, the world learned more about China, and China learned more about the world. Athletes from 204 countries came to these dazzling venues and had us in awe with their talent. New stars were born. Stars from past Games amazed us again. We shared their joys and their tears, and we marvelled at their ability. We will long remember the achievements we witnessed here,” said Rogge in his address.

“One World, One Dream. The world today is in need of mutual understanding, inclusiveness, cooperation and harmonious development. The Beijing Olympic Games is a testimony of the fact that the world has its trust rested upon China. Owing to the Games, people have been united as one Olympic family, regardless of their nationalities, ethnic origins and cultural backgrounds. The IOC president passed it on to the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, which will host the next Games in 2012.

written by samchin \\ tags: An emotional climax

Michael Fred Phelps (born June 30, 1985) is an American swimmer and 14-time Olympic Gold medalist (the most by any Olympian), who currently holds seven world records in swimming.

He holds the record for the most gold medals won at a single Olympics; a total of eight, surpassing Mark Spitz. Overall, Phelps has won 16 Olympic medals: six gold and two bronze at Athens in 2004, and eight gold at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. In winning these medals, he has twice equalled Soviet gymnast Alexander Dityatin’s record of eight medals (of any type) at a single Olympics (Dityanin: Moscow 1980; Phelps: Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008), and ranks second in total career Olympic medals, after Soviet gymnast Larissa Latynina, who won a total of 18 medals (nine gold) spanning three Olympic Games.

Phelps’ international titles, along with his various world records, have resulted in him being awarded the World Swimmer of the Year Award in 2003, 2004, 2006, and 2007 and American Swimmer of the Year Award in 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, and 2007. Phelps has won a total of 48 career medals thus far: 40 gold, six silvers and two bronze. This includes all of the Championships in which he has competed: The Olympics, the World Championships, and the Pan Pacific Championships.

written by samchin \\ tags: Gold Medalist

History has been created. Indian sportspreson Abhinav Bindra has won a gold at Beijing Olympics for the Men’s 10m Air Rifle final after shooting a total of 700.5. He has thus become the first Indian individual gold medallist ever at the Olympics. He scored 596 (joint fourth) in the qualifying round and out-scored all other shooters in the finals with a round of 104.5.

written by samchin \\ tags: Jai Hind

Beijing held its formal opening ceremony today for the 2008 Summer Olympics.
The ceremony, held in the National Stadium known as the Bird’s Nest, was
attended by thousands, and watched by millions more on television. Below
are some highlights of the nearly 4-hour performance.

The Olympic rings are illuminated during the Opening Ceremony for the 2008

Percussionists hit their Fou drums at the start of the opening ceremony of

Fireworks explode over the National Stadium during the Opening Ceremony

Drummers perform during the Opening Ceremony for the 2008 Beijing Summer

A dancer performs during the Opening Ceremony for the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics at the National Stadium on August 8, 2008 in Beijing, China. (Jeff Gross/Getty Images)

written by samchin \\ tags: colourful eve

There was no cake and confetti on view. Yet it was a birthday celebration of a different kind as Sanath Jayasuriya, who turned 39 on Monday, unleashed the party spirit in the only manner he knows — with a blistering hundred!

Jayasuriya’s 130 along with Kumar Sangakkara’s 121 and Muttiah Muralitharan’s five-wicket haul guided Sri Lanka to a 158-run victory over Bangladesh in a STAR Cricket Asia Cup semifinal league match at the National Stadium here on Monday.

Sri Lanka scored 332 for eight in 50 overs and snuffed out Bangladesh for 174 in 38.3 overs. Sri Lanka, with six points in its kitty and just one match to play in the semifinal league, is assured of its final berth while Bangladesh is out of the race.

The Bangladesh innings lacked direction with Raqibul Hassan’s 52 and Nazimuddin’s 47 being lone pockets of resistance.

Powerful shots

Earlier, Man of the Match Jayasuriya’s 26th ODI hundred, an exposition of powerful shots backed by a sense of occasion, set a fast tempo after Mahela Jayawardene opted to bat. Jayasuriya’s ton (130, 88b, 16×4, 6×6) was amplified by his opening partner Sangakkara (121, 128b, 16×4, 1×6), who helped himself to his tenth century and third in this tournament.

Jayasuriya cut the first delivery for four off Mortaza and a run feast was laid out. The Matara marauder briefly lost his voice in the second over, a maiden, bowled by Shahadat. The next maiden was bowled by Farhad in the 15th over and they were brief let-me-catch-my-breath moments for Jayasuriya and Sangakkara.

The partnership that yielded 201 runs from 169 deliveries.

Jayasuriya reached his hundred in 55 deliveries, the sixth fastest in ODIs and interestingly the fifth fastest off just 48 balls also belongs to the Sri Lankan. Jayasuriya, after repeatedly finding the fence, found Tamim near the deep cover fence while trying to drill Alok Kapali over the off-side.

Sangakkara, however, continued the good work and his alliance with Jayasuriya ensured that the Sri Lankans had enough in the tank to tide past the meagre 71-run contribution by the next six batsmen.

The tournament after a break on Tuesday will resume with India’s game against Pakistan on Wednesday.

written by samchin

His two stints as India’s Test captain have been anything but memorable, and the over-riding image of Sachin Tendulkar is that of being one of the greatest batsmen of all time but not a very strong leader. However, he looked forward to his latest assignment as captain of the Mumbai Indians with undisguised eagerness. Unfortunately, he had to miss the first half of the tournament because of injury, but even from the sidelines he could be seen urging his teammates on.

When he finally took charge, Mumbai Indians did not seem to have a realistic chance of making the semifinals, having lost four and won three. But Tendulkar has always been a source of guidance and inspiration, and soon his team was challenging strongly for a place in the last four enjoying a run of six straight victories.

However, a limp ending to the campaign saw them just lose out to Delhi Daredevils. Tendulkar’s problem was that the bowlers with the exception of Shaun Pollock were profligate while the batting was over dependent on Sanath Jayasuriya. The ban on Harbhajan Singh meant that Mumbai Indians were always going to be a quality bowler short and most of the batsmen including the highly rated Robin Uthappa and Tendulkar himself found the going tough.

written by samchin \\ tags: Add new tag

written by samchin

He has spoken unambiguously about his ambition of captaining the country in the future, and his leadership of Kings XI Punjab in the IPL clearly showed that Yuvraj Singh is a leadership material.

The team was not listed as one of the favourites for the title at the start of the tournament, but in steering it to the semifinals Yuvraj did his reputation, as a future leader, no harm at all. In fact with a 10-4 record in the preliminary stage, his team finished second to Rajasthan Royals and scored a meritorious win over the ultimate champions in the final league match. Yuvraj was not helped by the fact that several top players like Brett Lee, Simon Katich, Ramnaresh Sarwan and Luke Pomersbach were available only for a few games, or that Mahela Jayawardene just could not get among the runs.

But he got the best of the players under his command, goading them to perform better than their potential would allow. As only to be expected, he led admirably from the front scoring 299 runs at an impressive strike rate of 162.50. One particularly liked the way he handled his basic four-man attack - Irfan Pathan, Sreesanth, VRV Singh and Piyush Chawla – while also making adroit use of his change bowlers including himself.

written by samchin

MS DHONI (Chennai Super Kings): Not for nothing is he known as `Captain Cool.’ This trait of Dhoni of keeping his emotions under control even under extreme pressure, has stood him in good stead as evidenced by two notable recent triumphs - the Twenty20 World Cup and the CB Series `Down Under.’ And further proof was provided in the IPL as he, against all expectations, led Chennai Super Kings to the final and came within a whisker of winning the trophy.

Dhoni remained one of the most intuitive captains and came out with innovative ideas like: having Muttiah Muralitharan open the bowling in the semifinal against the favourites Kings XI Punjab. He has a flair for leadership, and Dhoni understands that in limited overs cricket you can`t wait for things to happen, you have to make things happen.His captaincy was full of surprising touches; but overall, he was pragmatic and his handling of intricate situations and the men under his command was exemplary. His bowling changes and field placements were imaginative. The players responded spontaneously to his charismatic personality and the result was that: Chennai Super Kings performed well above their level, thanks to his inspiring leadership.Be proud our team has one of the world best captain….

written by samchin