LIONEL MESSI - RECOGNITION FOR MESSIDONA

Hello Football Fans,

Lionel Messi the guy who runs through any defence with the football tied to his bootlaces has been officially recognized as the "European ClubFootballer of the Year" and "European Club Forward of the Year".

When he won the Club Forward he was rated as better than Cristiano Ronaldo and Samuel Eto'o. Not an easy victory.

When he won the Club Footballer he was rated as better than Edwin van der Sar, John Terry and Xavi Hernandez. Once again tough competition.

The dimunitive forward has been mesmerizing the football world with his skills and humble attitude.

He is a real hero and an example to follow. His association with FC Barcelona is also worth reading.

Best wishes and many more recognitions,

Manoj

FORMULA 1 - FORCE INDIA

Hello F1 lovers,

I always had a gut feeling that whatever the talent Adrian Sutil has it will be the foxy Giancarlo Fisichella, the man with the rugged Italian looks and brains to match who will get Force india the first break through.

What a day, if a pole position was not enough he has gladdened our hearts with a podium finish as well.

Yesterday when the news flash stated that he was on pole position it was difficult to believe and I had to restrain myself from jumping off my seat at the dinner I was having with few serious Bankers without any interest in Motor Sports.

The progress of the team has been stupendous and in all my earlier posts I have always noted how Fisichella would manage a better position after starting way behind in the grid.

Today he started first and maybe for the first time in 2009 ended at a position lower than his place on the starting grid.

Anyway I hope this is the breakthrough they have been looking for and we will surely have many more opportunities to celebrate.

The King of Good Times has once again proved that he has to be the best in the world.

Well done Vijay Mallaya. He is India's pride in many ways.

Best wishes for the future races,

Manoj

PS: I hope the rumors of Fisi moving to Ferrari are false.

BERLINO ANTICS - XIIth ATHLETICS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

HELLO,

BY NOW EVERYBODY KNOWS ABOUT BERLINO.

HERE ARE SOME PICS.

BERLINO - THE BREAK DANCER

BOLT FIRST - BERLINO SECOND

NO IT'S BERLINO FIRST - BOLT SECOND

GERMAN BEAR HUG - STEFFI NERIUS

ROBERT HARTING - DISCUS THROW

PICKS UP THE CHAMP- ANITA WLODARCZYK - HAMMER AWAY

HURDLES ON THE WAY - MELANIE WALKER

4x100 or 5x100. BOLT'S FAVORITE IN BLUE AND GREEN

WELL DONE BERLINO

YELENA ISENBAYEVA IS BACK

Hello,

Thank God she is back.

Yelena who had departed in tears after the miserable no jump in Berlin is back with a bang.

At Zurich, Weltklasse meeting on 28th August, she won the competition with a jump of 4.81metres and then as if to prove something to herself she raised the bar to 5.06 meters and cleared it for her 27th world record.

If there is a superwoman in Polevaulting she is. I for one would have stopped watching women polevaulting if Yelana had not come back.

Congratulations and thank you for coming back. Pole vault would never be as glamorous in your absence.

Best wishes,

Manoj

FORCE INDIA - FORMULA 1 - A CASE OF SO NEAR YET SO FAR

HELLO,

As usual a case of so near yet so far. Adrian Sutil finishes at 10th place and the old canny warhorse Giancarlo Fisichella finished 12th. Just outside the points you can say.

But now the aim for points looks feasible.

This finish is considered encouraging as it was achieved without the advantage of retiring cars. The fact that Adrian was right behind Mark Webber and just 13 seconds adrift the Brawn of Jenson Button speaks volumes about the improvement in the car.

Adrian was sixth fastest on Friday morning and again in the afternoon.
He was fastest when Saturday morning’s session. While the top teams tend to run heavier fuel loads in that session, it was clear that the update was working well.

He said “I think it was a strong race, and I’m really happy with it. I have done a few other races which were similar and maybe even had a better position in the end. But here almost nobody retired. And it was a dry race, and normally we’re strong in the wet races."

Attention now turns to Spa, one of Adrian’s favourite tracks and a place where he has shown well with much less competitive cars than he currently has. He’s looking forward to it.

So now on to 30th August. All Force India fans look forward to it.

Hoping to see the zero against Force India to make it's exit.

Best wishes,

Manoj

ASHES 2009

Can't bat, can't bowl ... can throw. Andrew Flintoff's pain-filled body has weakened his main weapons but his right arm is one of the few major parts that hasn't been operated on and it was his bullet of a direct hit that shot the game back England's way.
With Ricky Ponting out of the way, half the battle was won and although Mr. Cricket did put in his best effort it was too late.
Lest we forget, the other turning moment was the run out of the man in form Michael Clark run out by an exceptional piece of response by Andrew Strauss.
So is it the end of Ricky Ponting's baggy green.
If yes, then it is an end of a glorious career, a career where Aussies have risen to the level of invincibles, given the world the joy of watching the best in the game. It is not surprising therefore that this slip begins with the exit of Hayden and Gilchrist, who had it in them to scare the living daylights of any opponent.

12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics

Hello,
The IAAF World Championships closed today. After nine days of glorious events we had to bid goodbye to 'Berlino', who became a favorite with the crowd and the athletes.

I am sure everyone has thoroughly enjoyed the spectacle. The final day highlights were as below.

Kenenisa Bekele of Ethiopia won the 5000 metres. His second top finish for the championship. It was a slow race and Lagat of USA was always on his shoulder, going ahead of him on the final stretch for a moment but finally the experience of Bekele won the day. So now he the Olympic and World champion.

Drama in Women 1500 meters

Gelete Burka of Ethiopia was leading with 200 metres to run when Natalia Rodriguez, the spaniard, shoved her down on the track as she tried to push her way through the inside. She did manage to get through and was strongest in the straight. Defending champion Maryam Yusuf Jamal of Bahrain was behind her and just managed to hold off Dobriskey.

Later it transpired that not only had Rodriguez shoved Burka, she had also stepped out of the tracks. Her disqualification meant that Jamal had successfully defended her title, by just one hundredth of a second from Dobriskey, with Shannon Rowberry of the USA third. Brave Burka, who had tried to run differently, leading from the start was left to rue her lot.

Men’s Javelin Throw - Norway continue to hold sway

With a mighty throw of 89.59 metres on his second attempt in the Javelin Throw, Andreas Thorkildsen achieved something that even the great Jan Zelezny never did. The Norwegian became Olympic, World and European champion concurrently.

4x400 meters relays

Sanya Richards, Allyson Felix get their second gold in the championship with a comfortable victory in the womens relay and LaShawn Merritt and Kerron Clement getting their second gold in the Mens event. The men also scored an easy victory.

The win in the relays firmly put USA on the top of the medals tally.

The 13th IAAF championship will be held in Seoul, South Korea.

Happy racing till then,

Manoj

Australian heroes - Samuels Dani & Steven Hooker - Althletics at world championships

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Samuels Dani - Twenty-one-year-old Dani Samuels has become Australia's first gold medallist of the 12th IAAF world championships and the youngest world discus champion in history with a new personal best performance in Berlin.
Samuels recorded a best throw of 65.44m to claim Australia’s first ever female world title in the field, a massive 2.49m ahead of the career best 62.95m (Brisbane, 1/03/08) she took into the championships.
Sitting in 10th position after two rounds, Samuels needed to pull out a big throw with her third attempt to avoid elimination from the competition. Soaking up the pressure, she threw an impressive 62.71m to move into third place and secure herself another three throws.
Confidence growing, the 21-year-old let her fourth attempt fly, producing a personal best throw of 64.76m and moving up into second position.
Improving again with her fifth throw Samuels further extended her personal best with a massive throw of 65.44m to take the competition lead and held on throughout the final round to take out the gold medal.
In taking out the championship Samuels, a five-time national champion, became the youngest ever winner of the women's discus throw at a world titles, surpassing German Martina Opitz who claimed gold in 1983 at 22 years of age.
The result also launches the 2005 world youth and 2006 world junior champion to No. 3 on the Australian all-time list behind Daniela Costian (68.72m) and Lisa-Marie Vizaniari (65.86m).

Needless to add the WR at 76.80 m by Gabriele Reinsch of Germany set in 1988 was some distance away.

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Steven Hooker - Steve Hooker won a remarkable gold medal in the men's pole vault final at the world athletics championships in Berlin .
Hooker, who suffered a thigh injury less than a week before the championships began. The 27-year-old had a painkilling injection prior to the final after the injury had flared up during qualifying on Thursday when he cleared 5.65m with his only attempt.

Today he gambled by sitting out the early heights and only came in at 5.85 metres, which he failed to clear. Relying on his talent he opted to raise the bar and nailed 5.90m at his first attempt, which was enough to add the world title to the Olympic gold medal he won in Beijing last year.
Romain Mesnil of France took silver with 5.85m and his countryman Renaud Lavillenie won the bronze with 5.80m.

Steven Hooker had earlier cleared 6.06m in an indoor competition at Boston in February 2009. His best outdoors was 5.90m in 2009. He had cleared 6.00m outdoors in 2008.

The WR (outdoor) is 6.14m by Sergei Bubka of Ukraine.

Two gold medals and one bronze in long jump is a good performance for Australia.

Well done Aussies,

Manoj

Hammer throw - Anita Wlodarczyk - first women world record at IAAF Berlin

Hello,

Anita Wlodarczyk of Poland set a new World record in the Hammer Throw, throwing 77.96m at Berlin's Olympic Stadium at the 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics.

The 24-year-old Pole broke the previous record of 77.80m set by Russian Tatyana Lysenko of Russia in 2006.

Her World record, is only the third of the World Championships. The other two as you know belongs to you - know -who.

Congratulations to Anita,

Manoj

Usain Bolt - When words are not required- pictures tell the story

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USAIN BOLT - USAIN BOLT - USAIN BOLT

200 METERS

19.19 SECS

USAIN BOLT - USAIN BOLT - USAIN BOLT

The Drugs and Games - Sheri-Ann Brooks & Others

Hello,

The drug scandal featuring the five Jamaican athletes refuses to lie low.

Women’s 4x100m relay runner Sheri-Ann Brooks, Yohan Blake, Marvin Anderson (both men’s 4x100m relay), Lansford Spence and Allodin Fothergill (men’s 4x400m) tested positive for the stimulant methylhexanamine at the end of June.

While Brooks was cleared because “of an irregularity in testing her B sample” the four others were absolved because of a disagreement over the exact status of methylhexanamine, which is not on the prohibited list.

After the athletes were cleared JADCO appealed this decision and sent the dossier to the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and to the IAAF.

It is now learnt that the Jamaican Sports body has withdrawn the named athletes from the ongoing world championship.

Once again for Jamaican sports and world sports we pray that they come clean.

Immediately afterwards a rumour that a 100 metre runner had tested positive. IAAF has rubbished it but if something ontoward happens I am sure people will start doubting the talent of Usain Bolt and Shelly Ann and that will be a sad day.

Best regards,

Manoj

Gender Bender- Caster Semenya

Hello,

South African Caster Semenya powered to a 1minute 55.45seconds win -- the world's best this year -- shortly after the athletics governing body announced her gender was to be verified.

The South African's physique and powerful style have sparked speculation in recent months that she may not be entirely female. Semenya has come form nowhere this year to stamp herself upon the sport. She grabbed attention with a time of 1:56.72 last month, the quickest time in the world this year.

Similar allegations have dogged a series of athletes throughout the years, including Maria Mutola, the Mozambican 800m legend who won Olympic gold in Sydney and also triumphed at three World Championships. Another memorable case of gender confusion is Stella Walsh, the Polish sprinter who won a silver medal at the 1936 Olympics in the very same stadium . Walsh was a commanding figure who also won Olympic gold in Los Angeles in 1932 but when doctors examined her after her death in 1988 it was revealed that she had "ambiguous genitalia'' and was more male than female.

Days after her 1:56 time, it was widely reported/speculated that Semenya was born a hermaphrodite (having both male and female reproductive organs), and that she was cleared by testing done by Athletics South Africa (ASA). Both reports are unconfirmed and South Africans have now come out in large numbers in support of their sports star.

At present we don't know whether Semenya is "entirely female" (to quote from reports on the IAAF ruling).

We must wait before delivering judgment, because it's unfair on her to condemn her based on rumor. Meanwhile Caster Semenya is in a dreadful situation, and the medals may change if the test proves it conclusively that she is not completely 'female'. Time will tell.

But please, let's wait before "reaching a verdict"

Best wishes to Caster,

Manoj

END OF AN ERA - POLE VAULT - YELENA ISINBAYEVA

TWICE IN A ROW.

YELENA HAS NEVER LOST TWICE IN A ROW FOR AS LONG AS ANYONE CAN REMEMBER. HER LOSSES ARE DIFFICULT TO REMEMBER.

A NO JUMP - NO WAY.

AFTER THE LOSS IN LONDON GP, THE EXPECTATIONS WAS THAT SHE WILL COME BACK STRONGLY.

BEFORE THE EVENT SHE PROMISED "I HAVE A SURPRISE."

NO ONE EXPECTED IT TO BE WHAT IT WAS. IT WAS A NO JUMP. TWO FOULS AT 4.70 AND ONE AT 4.80.

SERGI BUBKA WHO WAS WATCHING FROM THE STANDS COULD NOT CONTROL HIS EMOTIONS AS SHE FOULED THE SECOND JUMP. AS IF HE KNEW WHAT WAS COMING.

SO IS IT THE END OF AN ERA.

YELENA ISINBAYEVA, WHO HAS GIVEN US SO MANY WORLD RECORDS, MOST OF THE TIMES ENDING UP COMPETING WITH HERSELF AND PERFORMING FOR THE CROWD - CAN SHE DO IT AGAIN.

MAYBE THIS IS THE END OF AN ERA.

MANOJ

SHELLY ANN FRASER - ANOTHER JAMAICAN RUM

Hello,

Yesterday we saw Usain Bolt do his antics at the start of his final race and break the world record.

Today we have Shelly Ann Fraser do something similar. She smiled coyly into the camera at the start and then blasted her opponents over the 100 metres in 10.73 secs.

Well I tell you it is Jamaican Ru(m)n.

They did one better on the men as the silver medal went to Kerron Stewart. (Asafa Powell won the bronze in the men's event)

They failed to repeat the 1-2-3 of the Beijing Olympics but Jamaica is there. No denying it.

Good luck to the rest.

Manoj

USAIN BOLT - USAIN BOLT - USAIN BOLT

HELLO,

USAIN BOLT-USAIN BOLT-USAIN BOLT

USAIN BOLT-USAIN BOLT-USAIN BOLT

9.58

AND STILL MUCH LEFT IN THE TANK.

JUST A FEW DAYS AGO THE SCIENTISTS HAD ANALYZED HIS ABILITY TO RUN FAST AND THEIR CALCULATIONS HAD SHOWN THAT THE FASTEST HE COULD GO WAS 9.65.

HE HAS MADE THEM LOOK FOOLISH. AT 9.58 WHEN HE CROSSED THE LINE HE HAD TIME TO LOOK BEHIND AND THE TIME.

USAIN BOLT-USAIN BOLT-USAIN BOLT

LET US CELEBRATE THE HUMAN CAPABILITIES. LET US CELEBRATE THIS WONDERFUL ACHIEVEMENT BY GOD'S BEAUTIFUL GIFT TO THE SPORTING WORLD.

USAIN BOLT-USAIN BOLT-USAIN BOLT

GOD LOVES HIM, WE LOVE HIM,

MANOJ

Mary Kom - Here she comes

Hello readers,

The good news is that Women Boxing (three weight categories) have been included in the 2012 Olympic games.

While our dear Mary Kom is a someone you can always bet on the other girls are equally good.

So now has the time finally come when India will go beyond the 1 gold medal tally.

Best wishes to our athletes, sportspersons and players.
Manoj

He is not coming back - Formula 1

Hello F1 fans,

Michael Schumacher calls off his comeback. The fans who had already dusted and dry cleaned their Dekra hats are disappointed. But age and injury finally did catch up. Schumacher said that neck pain stemming from a motorcycle accident in February had forced him to call off his Formula1 comeback.

Luca Badoer, Ferrari’s 38-year-old test driver, will step in for the injured Felipe Massa at the European Grand Prix later this month.

For Ferrari fans, this is a bittersweet conclusion to the Schumacher comeback.
I’m sure Schumacher comeback would have ended like the one of Louis Armstrong, somewhere on the points but not at the top, it would have juiced up eager fans watching the seven-time world champion battle the new generation of drivers, like Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel.

Badoer, the choice now, has always been a Ferrari fan favorite. As the team’s primary test driver for the last 10 years (after a racing career in backmarker cars), Badoer has had a hand in developing every car for Ferrari since 1999, including five championship-winning cars for Schumacher.

Best wishes,
Manoj

ASHES 2009

Hello,

The Australian cricket team have the stuff that justifies their status as true champions of the game. Just when the obituaries are ready to be published they rise pheonix like and grab world attention with another ruthless display of excellent cricket.

England may well say that they missed the services of Andrew Flintoff and it may actually be true in the final analysis as he did show some heart when playing in the previous tests.

The magic with Australia is that even if they are missing players/ players are out of form you have someone who will raise their hand and get counted.

They said Michael Johnson is struggling and see what he has done.

They said that the test spot of Peter Siddle was doubtful and just look at the way he silenced the critics.

They said that they need an opening pair and Shane Watson puts up his hand.

Besides, what a series Marcus North is having.

He deservedly won the man of the match, but if I had adjudicated I would have given it to Peter Siddle who broke the heart and spirit of the Englishmen on the first day and made it easier for the Australian Batsmen.

So now the series is level at 1-1 and Australia who won by an innings and 80 runs. As they say the momentum is now with Australia as they move into the final test at Oval.

Let us hope for the return of Andrew Flintoff who has already declared his retirement from test cricket. England will hope that his return into the side will make it a more even contest.

Best wishes,

Manoj