Jamaica to open ‘Usain Bolt’ sports school
Kingstone: The Jamaica government is working on a project to open a sports school, named “Usain Bolt”, in a stadium located in the Jamaican star’s birth town. The school aims to honour the national athlete and to give a greater use to the sports complex built in 2007 in Trelawny Parish, Jamaica’s Sports Minister Natalie Neita-Headley told Cuban news agency Prensa Latina on Friday. The project is a priority for the Jamaican government and 220,000 U.S. dollars have been set aside to kick-start the project, according to Neita-Headley. Jamaican authorities expect many international athletes to endorse the new sports complex’s work and to support the training of new Jamaican athletes, Xinhua reported. The announcement about the new sports complex was made after Jamaica’s Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller created a bipartisan committee to define Bolt’s recognition and the recognition of other medal winners in International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) Beijing 2015 World Championships. Jamaica came in second in the final ranking with seven gold medals, two silver and three bronze. (IANS)
Yuki reaches final of Shanghai Challenger
Shanghai: Yuki Bhambri is in line to win his second Challenger level singles title of the season as he advanced to the summit clash after his opponent withdrew due to a lower back problem, here on Saturday. Fourth seed Yuki was leading 6-3 3-0 in the semifinal when Russian qualifier Daniil Medvedev decided to withdraw from the contest. It will be the fourth final of the season for Yuki, who won the Karshi Challenger and ended runner-up in Delhi and Samarkand. “I had to play defensive. He is a big guy and pretty hard. So the plan was to stay with him and wait for him to make errors,” Yuki said after his match. He is now up against local favourite Di Wu, who is ranked 247, compared to 145 of the 23-year-old Indian. (PTI)
Heath Streak to coach Bangla A during their tour of India A
Dhaka: Bangladesh senior team’s bowling coach Heath Streak will be in charge of the A team led by Mominul Haque that will be reaching India on Sunday embarking on a two-week tour of India. Bangladesh A team will play a three-match List A series with India A along with two first-class matches against the home team as well as Ranji Trophy champions Karnataka. It has been learnt that Streak has been entrusted with the duty as 14 of the 15-member squad have already played international cricket. Some of the notable names include senior team regulars like Soumya Sarkar, Rubel Hussain to name a few. (PTI)
Maxwell slams ‘senseless’ boundary-catch rule change
London: Australian swashbuckling all-rounder Glenn Maxwell has slammed the amended rule that deemed his spectacular catch during the fourth ODI against England as legal at Headingley. Maxwell caught a jaw-dropping catch to dismiss Liam Plunkett after parrying the ball on the edge of the boundary, then jumping to regather the ball in mid-air. However, the 26-year-old believes the fielder needed to ground his foot back inside the rope before securing the ball as the old rules dictated. Subsequently, the rule was amended in order to reward athleticism in the outfield. “I don’t think it makes a whole lot of sense,” Maxwell was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo. “I think you should have to get back into the boundary. I think if you look at the basketball rule. You have to jump from inside to throw it back in, you can’t jump up in the air and catch it on the way back in. “You’ve got to make sure your feet have landed inside the court and I think it should be the same in cricket. “But while we’re taking catches on our side it doesn’t really bother me, but I know if I was a batsman I’d be pretty upset if that was the dismissal. You’ve just go to play the rules you’re given.”England won the match by three wickets in the penultimate over to set up the series decider at Manchester’s Old Trafford on Sunday. (ANI)
Mayweather’s swansong fight receives lukewarm reception
Johannesburg: American boxer Floyd Mayweather’s purported finale bout appears to be heading towards a box-office flop as hundreds of tickets are reportedly still available less than 24 hours before his fight against challenger Andre Berto on Saturday. This is viewed as a big setback for the unbeaten boxer as it has apparently failed to generate similar public interest, which was seen during the feverish build-up to May’s showdown with Manny Pacquiao. Mayweather was accused of picking an easy fight against Berto, who is rated by many pundits as a massive underdog, Sport24 reported. The 38-year-old will equal former world heavyweight champion Rocky Marciano’s record of 49-0 if he succeeds at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. (ANI)
I am not a dictator, says United coach Van Gaal
Manchester: Manchester United Football Club head coach Louis van Gaal insisted he is not a dictator and revealed that he has changed his methods to adapt to the needs of his squad. Media reported that senior players, including Wayne Rooney and Michael Carrick, appealed to van Gaal to change some of his methods around the training ground, but the United coach suggested that he has regular communication with players. “Believe me, it is like that. I am not a dictator, I am a communicator. All the players are communicating with me. They are coming to my office,” van Gaal was quoted as saying by goal.com on Friday. The Dutchman did admit that Rooney and Carrick had spoken to him regarding dressing room morale, and the 64-year-old confessed that it had been “alarming”. “It’s a positive thing that the players are coming to me and not only Carrick or Rooney, other players. It was Carrick and Rooney (who approached him) and that was alarming for me because they are the captains,” he said. The former Bayern Munich and Barcelona manager revealed he had adapted to fit the needs of the United players. “I have changed the way that I (draw up) the game plan to them. Now I ask in advance and they can say what they want. Most of the strategy is always the same because they like the way we have done,” van Gaal said. (IANS)
