Spa Francorchamps is one of the best driving circuits of the Formula one calendar, with enough room for overtaking at almost all points of the racing track, it makes for a fantastic race. And for the last three years, it was one man who had ruled the Belgian Grand Prix- Kimi Raikkonen. He had won with Mclaren in 2005 and 2006 and won last here with Ferrari as he went on to become World champion. Kimi had a string of poor results and critics had begun doubting whether he had the desire left in him to go for the drivers championship or had Massa become Ferrari’s top driver. Kimi started the race in 4th place, but if there were any doubts of his racing form, they were all swept aside as Kimi took the lead in the first lap itself. On the first corner of the race Kimi overtook Heiki Kovalainen, and went on to clinch the race lead after going past both Massa and Hamilton by the end of the first lap. The Finnish driver led the race for the next 42 laps. But as faith would have it, crashed out in the closing stages of the lap. Hamilton was at Raikkonen’s tail before the heaven gods played havoc and poured in the last few laps of the race. Even the weather stations of the respective teams that are situated at the top of the nearby mountains, were of no avail as all the teams were not ready for this challenge. With the drives having no option but to stay on dry weather tyres, driving on the circuit become really tough. The track begun to get wet and it was left to race leader Raikkonen to look for dry spots and maneuver his car through the circuit. At this point Lewis began putting pressure on Kimi and with the tyres not finding grip on the wet track. What followed was two really determined drivers going wheel to wheel for the race lead. With the track conditions really wet, both drivers slid of the circuit but coming back to join the battle. It was here that Lewis cut through a chicane to have an unfair advantage over Kimi. After the chicane it was lewis leading but backed off thinking that the stewards would give him an instant penalty. The next moment, Raikonnen had crashed and it was now a race left for Hamilton to lose. He crawled on to the finish line amidst treacherous conditions for drivers. Massa too made it to the finish line in the second place.
But the real drama began after the race was over, when the race stewards decided to give Hamilton a twenty five second penalty for having missed the chicane while trying to overtake Raikkonen on the penultimate lap of the race. Thus after the penalty, Massa was declared the winner with Nick Heidfeld coming second and Hamilton making it to the third spot. Though Hamilton didn’t win the race, he maintained his lead over closest rival Massa by two points. As for Raikkonen, his dreams of retaining the drivers championship may not be fulfilled as he crashed out after having driven a stunner of the race and lead the Belgian Grand prix for forty one of the forty four laps. At the end of the Belgian Grand prix, it is Hamilton who still maintains his lead of two points over Felipe Massa whereas Raikkonen has fallen to the fourth position in the drivers championship. With just five races to go in the season, the race for the winner of the Drivers champion will go right down to the wire.
Nadal seeded 2 at the Beijing Olympics overcame the challenge of Gonzales by beating him in straight sets 6-3, 7-6 and 6-3. He had a stiff opponent in the form of Gonsales who notched up nine aces through the course of the game, but Nadals’s powerful forehands down the baseline were a treat to watch for the hundreds who had gathered to watch the finals match and Nadal didn’t disappoint any of them. It had been a great year for Nadal after he had begun at auspicious note by winning his favourite French Open beating Roger Federer in the final. But the shot in the arm came from the Wimbledon victory when Nadal went on to beat his swiss rival in a humdinger of a match stretching into 5 sets and two days. This was the first Wimbledon triumph for Nadal after having lost the last two consecutive finals in London to Roger Federer.
For more than two years, Nadal had been ranked two and was in hot pursuit of the Swiss prodigy. But this year had been a special one for Nadal as he won two major Grand slams on clay as well as grass. The Beijing triumph will surely sky rocket the confidence of the Spaniard for the Olympics comes only once every four years. And it is a special moment to be winning gold for your country. A feeling that transcends all other Grand Slam wins. The Olympics would also turn out to be a confidence booster for the Spaniard as he sets out to play the US Open starting in a few days time after the Beijing Olympics.
Tennis lovers who were waiting to see their dream Olympic final of Nadal vs Federer had their hopes dashed once Federer was knocked out of the tournament at the hands of James Blake of the United States of America. Federer had lost out on the number 1 ranking and this seems to have psychologically affected his performance at Beijing Though the swiss made up for it by winning the doubles gold at the Beijing Olympics.
As Rafael Nadal is set to take up the Number ranking in tennis after being second for a record time, this will be the dawn of a new chapter in tennis. The Federer Nadal rivalry is something that all tennis lovers have cherished over the years but it waits to be see whether Federer has it in him to bounce back at the US open this year. For now this has entirely been Nadals year as he has gone from strength to strength and his Olympics Gold medal win will surely set the ball rolling for the No. 1 ranked tennis player in the World.
Emmanuel Adebayor continued his rich vein of form in the league, as he score twice in an emphatic 3-0 away win for the Gunners. Eduardo scored a stunning goal in between the Adebayor goals. Manchester City never looked like troubling the visitors, and Sven Goran Eriksson had very little positives to pick up from a game in which his side was clearly the second best.
The double strike took Adebayor’s goal tally of the season to 21. After a thoroughly professional display in which Arsenal displayed their trademark style of football, full of deft passes and pace, all Arsene Wenger had to do was wait and watch the Manchester United match.
Before the match, United had dominated over the spurs for six years. The red devils had scored goals in abundance against the north London club; nine in the last season. Just last Sunday, they won 3-1 at Old Trafford in the FA Cup fourth round match. But the Spurs would have nothing of history, and decided that they would more than just make up the numbers.
Throughout the entire game, it was clear, and surprising, that the home team looked the better of the two. Dimitar Berbatov opened the scoring in the 20th minute, albeit a little luckily, but there was no denying the fact that the Spurs deserved the lead. United never really came close to scoring , despite a spirited second half performance. Tottenham, in the meantime, caused loads of concern with the pace of Aaron Lennon and Steed Malbranque, coupled with the clinical touches of Berbatov and Tom Huddlestone.
Sir Alex Ferguson grew more and more desperate as time wore on, and made several tactical changes; one involving playing Rooney as a winger. But at the end of 90 minutes, the scoreline still read 1-0. It was only in the 93rd minute that Carlos Tevez grabbed an equalizer, and with it, a solitary point for United. But the draw meant that United slipped to second spot in the standings.
So, it now seems that the Spurs have done a huge favour to the Gunners, something the Blues could not replicate for the Red Devils. With a two point advantage, Arsenal will be hoping that their winning streak continues till the end of the season. Man U however, will have other plans, and they have enough quality to bounce back emphatically from defeat. The title race is on between two Champion teams, and both know that a draw at this stage is as good as defeat. Who will eventually be crowned champions? Time will tell. Sit back and enjoy the action.
The Indians have decided to choose youth over experience by leaving out Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly from the squad. Yuvraj Singh struggled in the two tests that he played, and Zaheer Khan and R P Singh are out due to injury. Also, the remainder of the team comprises of players who hardly have any experience playing in Australia, as was on show in the T20 match. Mahender Singh Dhoni has got his way as far as the team selection goes, and now it is up to the team to deliver.
What complicates the situation is that, by unceremoniously dumping the “seniors” from the squad, the inexperienced Dhoni seems to have shot himself in the foot. Whatever happens in the series, the selection panel cannot be blamed too much, as it was Dhoni’s vociferousness that got him his team. Even Anil Kumble didn’t seem too happy with what had transpired in the meeting when the team was decided. Dhoni has gone for broke; some may say he has decided to put his entire team through a test of fire.
Another factor that tilts the scales against Dhoni at the moment is that the third team in the tri series is Sri Lanka. The last time India played the same series, they were joined by Zimbabwe, which had meant that they were more or less assured of a spot in the best of three finals. This time, considering the force Australia are at home, and the force Sri Lanka have become under the astute captaincy of Jayawardene, things will not be so easy.
So in a nutshell, a road of thorns lies ahead for Dhoni. It may be asking too much from a young wicketkeeper to shoulder the responsibilities of the entire team. But considering the fact that there really is no one else in the team capable enough to do that, he might well have to go through with it. Maybe, just maybe, he might be sending out silent prayers to the Almighty, hoping that Yuvraj Singh hits a purple patch, or virtually each and every one of his decisions go fully according to plan. Things have gone according to his caprices till date anyway.
If the Indians manage to bag the series, or even put up a good enough fight, then the entire country will laud Mahender Singh Dhoni’s attitude, courage, premonition, call it what you may. But a performance along the lines of what was on view this Friday, and he would experience the “hero to zero” free-fall first hand. The bells have not yet begun to toll for the seniors in the Indian side, who will be watching the matches live from the comforts of their homes.
The rise of Serbia as a tennis power has been phenomenal. Just in the past year and a half, players like Ana Ivanovic, Jelena Jankovic and Novak Djokovic have emerged out of the blue and taken the tennis world by storm. So meteoric has been the ascent of Djokovic , that he was repeatedly being touted as the man capable of beating Federer, more capable than Rafael Nadal even. In the Australian Open semi finals, he did exactly that. By beating Roger Federer in straight sets, he not only proved to the world that the reign of the Swiss may be coming to an end, but also emerged as the No.1 contender for the top spot. Only one man stands between him and his first Grand Slam title: an unseeded young Frenchman.
If Djokovic’s emergence has had the pundits stand up and take notice, that of Jo-Wilfred Tsonga has had them stare in disbelief. People have egged, cheered and applauded him as he has waylaid one big name after another. His energy, determination and fearlessness has seen him pack off Mikail Youzhny and Rafael Nadal in straight sets, and shockingly enter the finals of the first Grand Slam of the year.
So it all boils down to Sunday. Will the emerging giant stamp his authority on the hard courts of the Rod Laver Arena? Or will he fall to the Giant Killer who has been living a dream? Will it be the smooth and powerful Serb with his big serves? Or will it be the exuberant, indefatigable Frenchman with nothing to lose? Time will have all the answers.
The teams had tied 1-1 at Wembley after 90 minutes before going straight to the shootout.
Van Der Sar saved penalties from Claudio Pizarro, Frank Lampard and Shaun Wright-Phillips. Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech failed to get near any of the United shots from Rio Ferdinand, Michael Carrick and Wayne Rooney. “I was 5-2 down in penalty shootouts in my career so this makes it 5-3,” Van Der Sar said. “We deserved it. We played the better football, we had more chances than them.”
This is the record 16th time United has either won or shared the English season opener between the league champions and FA Cup holders, which does not count in the Premier League standings. Before the introduction of shootouts in 1993, teams held the title for six months each after draws.
Ryan Giggs had put United in the lead in the 35th minute before Florent Malouda made it 1-1 in the 45th.
The regular season starts next week. The same two teams played in the FA Cup final three months ago, with Chelsea winning 1-0 at the rebuilt Wembley Stadium.
“It’s a little revenge for the cup final and it’s a good start for the league for us,” Van Der Sar said.
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