 | London Olympics: US leads gold medal race, China left behind
04 August 2012
|
| 
London: United States for the first time in London Olympics 2012 have climbed over China in gold medals race to attain the first position. Wins for China in badminton and trampolining were outdone by an American gold rush in the pool.
The six-day leaders, who also ruled the roost at Beijing 2008, were just one gold behind the United States — 20 to 21 — but with athletics, a rich mine for American medals, only just under way.
China will look to their divers, badminton players and table tennis stars to maintain their flow of medals.
On Friday, world champions Zhang Nan and Zhao Yunlei, who are romantically involved, won the badminton mixed doubles 21-11, 21-17 against team-mates Xu Chen and Ma Jin.
It began what China hope will be a sweep of all five badminton titles — a bid which was rocked when top seeds Yu Yang and Wang Xiaoli were among eight players kicked out of the women’s doubles for playing to lose.
Men’s champion Lin Dan set up a dream final with great rival Lee Chong Wei, who is recovering fast from a serious ankle injury, in what will help organisers move on from the ‘throwing’ scandal.
Malaysia’s Lee downed fourth seed Chen Long 21-13, 21-14, and Lin beat South Korea’s Lee Hyun-Il 21-12, 21-10 to set up a rematch of the 2008 final — and last year’s gripping world title match, won by Lin at Wembley Arena.
“I was not the favourite to win this match,” said top seed Lee, who has battled back to fitness with intense rehab and stem-cell treatment.
“This is not Lee Chong Wei at his best. But I was determined to prove a lot of people wrong.”
China stayed on course for the unprecedented feat of winning all eight diving titles when Wu Minxia, seeking a record-equalling sixth Olympic medal, led the preliminary round of the women’s 3m springboard.
Dong Dong won the men’s trampoline, usurping the title of Chinese team-mate Lu Chunlong, who is also world champion in the discipline and took bronze.
On Saturday, the last evening of pool action, China can bet the house on a gold medal for world champion and world record-holder Sun Yang in the 1500m. Sun, with the 400m title in the bag, topped qualifying with 14min 43.25sec.
It will help counter a flood of US titles in the pool including wins for Michael Phelps, Missy Franklin, and 15-year-old Katie Ledecky on Friday. | | See Also in Sports News
|
|  It is always special to have India as the opposition: Hafeez
21 May 2013
KARACHI: Pakistan’s Twenty20 captain, Mohammad Hafeez, is eagerly anticipating Pakistan’s clash with India at next month’s ICC Champions Trophy in England and is optimistic about his team’s chances in the tournament.
Pakistan are set to play India on June 15 at Edgbaston in one of the most awaited fixtures of the ICC event.
“It is always special to have India as the opposition. We are looking forward to that match but we will play every match in the tournament with passion.
“There is no ... Full Story |  Mourinho to leave Real at end of the season
21 May 2013
MADRID: Jose Mourinho will leave Real Madrid at the end of the season after a turbulent three-year spell in charge of the Spanish giants, club president Florentino Perez confirmed Monday.
“After the conversations we have had with our coach Jose Mourinho we have arrived at an agreement to end our working relationship at the end of this season,” Perez told a press conference.Full Story |  Sree a small fry, big fish involved: Police
21 May 2013
KOCHI : Even while Mumbai and Delhi police departments are betting big on their catch of bookies including IPL cricketers in IPL spot-fixing scandal, top police officials of Kerala Police are of the opinion that the cricketers like Sreesanth might be small players and many big shots are involved in the betting in which crores of money is being circulated.
"Sreesanth is just a small fry. Many other people are involved in it. Let's see how the probe is turning out to be," the police officer said ... Full Story | |
|
|
|
