Sachin Tendulkar immortal at 200

Even before he took guard at Gwalior, Sachin Tendulkar's place in the pantheon of cricketing gods was assured. He had already amassed both the highest number of runs and the maximum tons in Tests and one-dayers alike.

If devout worshippers had any reason to quibble, it was that there was no one record-shattering innings - Brian Lara has the highest Test score of 400 and Saeed Anwar and the little-known Charles Coventry shared the ODI record of 194.

Just 147 balls later, Tendulkar set the record straight in emphatic fashion. A staggering 2,961 matches and almost 39 years after the first ODI was played - and remember, many ODIs in the early years featured innings of 60 overs each, which gave batsmen more scoring opportunities - the Little Legend finally became the first cricketer to score 200 in a one-dayer, propelled by a record 25 fours in one knock.

The landmark 200 came in the final over of the innings, though Sachin crossed the previous record of 194 in the 46th over; in the interim, several lustily-hit fours and sixes by M S Dhoni were accompanied by groans from millions of spectators desperate to see Sachin on strike.

The big moment, though, finally arrived, crowning what is fast turning into one of Sachin's most productive periods with the bat. The last 12 months have seen him score 10 international hundreds: six in Tests - including four centuries in his last four Tests - and four in ODIs.

Three of those 4 ODI tons - Wednesday's 200, the unforgettable 175 against Australia last November and the brilliant 163 in New Zealand last March - are among his four highest ODI scores. Only his previous highest score of 186, against the Kiwis, falls outside this golden patch.

Some years ago, as Sachin struggled with injury and a dip in form, some commentators had the temerity to suggest that Ricky Ponting would eventually overhaul his records.

Over the past 12 months, though, Sachin has once again opened up a yawning gap between himself and all his contemporaries, and ensured that if at all any comparisons have to be made, they should be with another Australian - Don Bradman, who was famously reminded of himself when watching Sachin bat.

True, no one comes close to the Don's amazing average of 99.94, or his phenomenal 29 centuries from just 52 Tests. But the fact that Sachin is breaking records barely two months shy of his 37th birthday testifies both to remarkable longevity and an insatiable appetite.

Indeed, there are no speed limits on Sachin Tendulkar's road to excellence. After two decades of basking in the glory of his sporting pre-eminence on the world stage, India is now privileged to witness the second coming of the most complete and prolific batsman of this age. Even the back-breaking expectations of a billion unrealistic fans, it seems, are a pittance compared to the soaring aspirations of the man himself.

Over the last year, Sachin has taken his skills to a whole new level of consistency. The body, close to breakdown in the mid-2000s, has been chiselled to accessorize this new-found garb of perfection. Back in 1998, he had scored 12 international tons, 9 in ODIs and 3 in Tests. This purple patch has turned back the clock.

In the last 12 months, he has been the only player to score six hundreds in 10 Tests, at an average of 78.3. In 20 ODIs, a format in which his records are set in stone, he has notched up 1158 runs at 72.37, with 4 hundreds.

How about a Test triple, Sachin?

In Gwalior, Tendulkar strutted on his stage like a man possessed, ran between the wickets like a 20-year-old and reaffirmed his relevance in modern cricket's rapidly-changing dynamics.

When it finally came to pass, the unbeaten double ton almost seemed a scary inevitability. There were no cramps, no nerves, just steely intent to go on with a ruthlessly dominating display. Where have all the years gone?

Commentator Ravi Shastri repeatedly referred to him as a run machine, but that's only a half-Sach. Tendulkar isn't a mundane machine. Instead, he scripts his achievements with soul. This is a man for whom excellence is a habit, who is so devoted to his craft, so enthusiastic still, that with experience he has mastered the art of seamlessly binding talent, discipline and perspicacity, all without compromising on style, for maximum gain in a team cause. The end result is machine-like consistency.

Treasure this new, improved Tendulkar. He is, by far, still India's most valuable player, and will remain so till he decides to call it quits. But that's for later: after Gwalior, and given the form he is in, it's time to ask what's next. Maybe a 100 international hundreds, given that 93 are already in the bag?

* Highest run-getter in ODIs, with 17,598 runs from 442 matches. Jayasuriya (13,428) and Ponting (12,731) follow

* Most centuries in ODIs (46), followed by Ricky Ponting (29) and Sanath Jayasuriya (28)

* Since Feb 24, 2009 has scored 1,158 runs in 20 ODIs, with 4 tons, averaging 72.37. In the preceding 12 months, had scored 352 runs from 9 ODIs at an average of 44

* His double century is the first in 39 years of ODIs, including 60-overs-a-side matches

* Highest scorer in Tests, with 13,447 runs from 166 matches. Next best Lara (retired with 11,953) and Ponting (playing with 11,859)

* Most Test centuries (47), well ahead of Ponting (39) and Kallis (34) among active players, and retd Lara and Gavaskar (34 each)

* In 2010, has already scored 477 runs averaging 95.40. Only Hashim Amla (674) has scored more Test runs this year

* In his last 10 Tests, has scored 1,018 runs at an average of 78.3 and is the only one with 6 tons in the last 12 months. In the previous 10 Tests, he had 647 runs and averaged just 38.08

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Woods to step out of sex rehab soon

Tiger Woods will reportedly come out of a rehabilitation clinic and fly home with his wife Elin Nordegren by the end of this week.

The shamed golfer was purportedly being treated for sex addiction at the rehab in Mississippi following the scandal linking him to as many as 19 mistresses.

The World No.1 was said to have nearly finished the programme at the 40,000-dollar a-course Pine Grove centre after confessing he cheated on his wife, reports the New York Post.

The couple was apparently planning to leave the facility and head out to spend some time together.

"Tiger and Elin want to be alone out of public when he leaves the clinic. He should be out by the weekend. They are giving their marriage another try," a source told RadarOnline.

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Vijender becomes world No. 1 boxer in 75kg category

Olympic and World Championship bronze medallist Vijender Singh has achieved yet another first for Indian boxing by becoming the world's top-ranked pugilist in the middle weight (75kg) category.

The 23-year-old Bhiwani boxer, who won India's maiden World Championships medal in Milan earlier this month, has 200 points and is ranked higher than the reigning champion Abbos Atoev of Uzbekistan.

Atoev, to whom Vijender lost in the World Championship semi-finals, is third in the list with 2100 points and Olympic silver medallist Emilio Correa Bayeux (2500) of Cuba occupies the second spot in the International Boxing Association's (AIBA) list updated after the Milan event.

"I am obviously elated at being ranked the highest in the world. It's a fantastic feeling and would motivate me to do better in future events," Vijender, who broke India's Olympic jinx with his bronze in the Beijing Olympics, said.

Among the other Indians, former world youth champion Thokchom Nanao Singh has slipped three places to eighth with 1400 points in the light fly weight (48kg) category.

Nanao, a silver medallist in this year's Asian Championships in China, lost in the second round of the World Championships.

Olympian Akhil Kumar, whose World Championships campaign was cut short in the first round itself due to a wrist injury, has gone down a rung to 10th in feather weight (57kg) category with 1050 points.

Fellow Olympian Jitender Kumar (54kg) also lost some ground because of his first-round exit in Milan as he dropped a place to 14th with 838 points.

Suranjoy Singh was 17th in the fly weight (51kg) category rankings.

World Championship quarter-finalist Dinesh Kumar held on to his sixth spot with 1550 points in the light weight (81kg) category.

Paes, Bhupathi to clash in US Open doubles final

Indian tennis ace Leander Paes kept himself in line of two Grand Slam titles after entering the final of the men's doubles event of the Paes US Open following an upset win over top seeds and local favourites Mike and Bob Bryan on Wednesday.

Third seeds Mahesh Bhupathi and Bahamian Mark Knowles also coasted to an easy straight set win over fifth-seed Belarussian-Israeli duo of Max Mirnyi and Andy Ram to enter the finals of US Open mixed doubles.

The Indo-Bahamian pair got the better of Belarussian-Israeli duo 6-4, 6-2 to set up title clash with fourth-seed India's Leander Paes and Czech Lukas Dlouhy.

Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi will now fight it out for the US Open men's doubles title. Paes and his partner Cara Black have already reached the final of the mixed doubles event.

Paes and his Czech partner Lukas Dlouhy, seeded fourth, overwhelmed the Bryan brothers 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (8-6) in one hour and 51 minutes in the semi-final at the Flushing Meadows.

The match had a sensational climax as Paes and Dlouhy had plenty of match points in the tie-breaker of the third and final set but Bryan brothers made a spirited comeback and saved five match points.

However, Paes and Dlouhy held their nerves and finally converted their sixth match point to clinch the issue.

It was Bryan brothers who got the first chance of a break but Paes and Dlouhy not only saved them but also converted the opportunities that came their way in the opening set.

The first set was tied 2-2 when on Paes' serve, the Americans earned two break points but the Indo-Czech combination played well to ward off the threat and held their serve.

In the next game, Paes and Dlouhy converted their second break point chance as Mike made a forehand error. Dlouhy served out the next game at love to take a 5-3 lead.

The next two games went with serve and the fourth seeds comfortably took the set to go one up.

The second set started on an ominous note for Paes and Dlouhy but they could not convert the early chance.

Dlouhy misfired an overhead volley to hand their rivals a break in the fourth game and it was enough for the Bryan brothers to claw their way back into the match.

Mike held his serve in the next game to consolidate the lead, making it 4-1. The next four games went with serve and the Americans stretched the match to the decisive third set.

The final set began with a marathon 16-point game but Dlouhy managed to hold serve after five deuces and in the process saved two break points.

The next chance of service break came in the seventh game when Paes and Dlouhy were down 0-40 on the serve of the Indian. The fourth seeds held their nerves and saved four break points in that game, making it a brilliant contest.

Bob served the 10th game to save the match and Paes hit a stunning backhand winner to earn their first match point. Bob served extremely well and made it 5-5.

No pair was willing to concede even an inch and it all boiled down to the tie-breaker.

It was a dream tie-breaker for Paes and Dlouhy as they created a 5-0 lead but Bryan brothers played exceptional tennis and saved four match points to make it 6-6.

The partisan crowd cheered for the American duo but Paes hit a backhand volley between the brothers to seal a final berth.

Sania tosses Coin to clinch ITF tourney

Competing in only her second Challenger event, Indian tennis ace Sania Mirza clinched the $50,000 ITF title in Lexington, USA after an upset win over top seed Julie Coin.
The Indian, who was seeded second in the event, defeated France’s Coin 7-6 (5), 6-4 on Sunday. The last time Sania competed in a Challenger event was way back in 2003.
This was Sania’s 13th ITF singles title and the first after the WTA Hyderabad Open in 2005.
She also has eight WTA doubles titles — the Hyderabad Open (2004), Bangalore, Kolkata (both 2006), New Haven, Stanford, Cincinnati and Fes (all in 2007) and Ponte Verda Beach (2009) — to her credit.
She has also clinched four ITF doubles titles. It has been a good year for Sania so far. The Hyderabadi has won first Grand Slam title of any kind when she partnered Mahesh Bhupathi to lift the Australian Open mixed doubles trophy. The feat also made her the first Indian woman ever to win a Grand Slam title and the third Indian overall, after Bhupathi and Leander Paes.
There was good news for the 22-year-old on Monday. She rose three places to 80th in this week’s WTA singles rankings. However, she dropped 10 spots to 49th in the WTA doubles list. In the ATP rankings, Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi held on to their sixth and eighth spots respectively in doubles list.
Meanwhile, Somdev Devvarman and Prakash Amritraj are one step away from making the singles’ main draw of the $630,500 ATP LA Open after advancing to the third and final round of the qualifying event in Los Angeles.
The second seeded Somdev beat his Slovakian opponent 6-1, 7-6 (1) while unseeded Prakash defeated Germany’s Frank Moser 7-6 (6), 6-1 in his second round. Somdev will next take on American sixth seed Alex Bogomolov Jr. Prakash will take on fifth seed American Ryan Sweeting.

Saina Facilated by Chandrababu Nayudu

Telugu Desam president N. Chandrababu Naidu presents a shawl and a bouquet to badminton player Saina Nehwal when she called on him on Friday at his party office. Saina became the first Indian player to win a Super Series Badminton tournament last week.

Saina Nehwal claims Indonesian Open

Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal on Sunday scripted history by becoming the first Indian to win a Super Series tournament after she clinched the Indonesian Open title with a stunning victory over the higher ranked Chinese Lin Wang in Jakarta.

Saina clinched her maiden Super Series title beating Wang 12-21, 21-18, 21-9 in a thriller that lasted 49 minutes.

In the men’s singles, World’s No. 1 Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia defeated Indonesian ace Taufik Hidayat 21-9, 21-14.
Best ever

Saina’s triumph is the best ever performance by any Indian woman and on par with All England Championship titles won by Prakash Padukone and her current coach Pullela Gopichand.

In the final, World No. 8 Saina came from behind to outsmart World No. 3 Wang and avenge her last week’s Singapore Open Super Series loss to her.

Saina took time to get into the groove as she struggled to gauge the gameplan of Wang in the first game. Wang opened a 9-4 lead and rode on her smashes and better net play to pocket the first game.

But the Indian ace rallied her way back in the second game. Saina levelled the score at 5-5 and then moved together with her Chinese rival till 17-17 before surging ahead to pocket the second game 21-18.

In the decider, Saina was at her attacking best and displayed better nerves in crucial moments.

After moving neck and neck till 7-7, Saina engaged her rival in soft dribble and net play to widen the gap to 15-9 before reeling off six straight points to seal her victory.
Bonanza

Hailing Saina’s victory as an important milestone in Indian badminton, Badminton Association of India announced a cash prize of Rs. 2 lakh as recognition of her feat.

“It is a big moment in Indian badminton. We are proud of her achievement. We are announcing a cash reward of Rs. 2 lakh as an acknowledgment of Saina’s hard work and achievement,” BAI president V.K. Verma said.

The results (finals): Women: Saina Nehwal (Ind) bt Lin Wang (Chn) 12-21, 21-18, 21-9. Doubles: Eei Hui Chin & Pei Tty Wong (Mas) bt Shu Cheng & Yunlie Zhao (Chn) 21-16, 21-16.

Men: Lee Chong Wei (Mas) bt Taufik Hidayat (Ina) 21-9, 21-14.

Mixed doubles: Bo Zheng & Jin Ma (Chn) bt Yong Dae Lee & Hyo Jung Lee (Kor) 21-17, 8-21, 21-16.