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PAGE 12 www.thehimalayantimes.com Sports • TIME OUT Proteas arrive Reuters AS Nancy’s Joel Sami (right) and PSG’s Zlatan Ibrahimovic fight for the ball during their French Ligue 1 match in Nancy on Saturday. SYDNEY: South Africa arrived on Sunday for a three-Test cricket tour of Australia hoping to maintain their No 1 ranking by beating the home side for the second consecutive time Down Under. Pace bowler Dale Steyn said the Proteas are confident coming into the series. South Africa are two places and four points ahead of the Australians in the ICC Test rankings after securing top spot from England with a series win in England earlier this year. The first Test begins in Brisbane on November 9, followed by matches in Adelaide (Nov 22-26) and Perth (Nov 30-Dec 4). — AP Wilson suffers injury LONDON: Stoke City have confirmed defender Marc Wilson suffered a broken leg during their 0-0 Premier League draw with Sunderland on Saturday. The Ireland international was taken to hospital after falling awkwardly early in the second half. “Marc will be out for a while, but we are not sure at this stage for how long,” manager Tony Pulis said on Sunday. — Reuters Del Piero strikes SYDNEY: Former Juventus great Alessandro Del Piero celebrated his 800th career match with a 58thminute penalty before Brett Emerton added the winner 12 minutes later as Sydney FC beat the Perth Glory 2-1 in Australia’s A-League on Sunday. Travis Dodd had given the Glory a 1-0 lead in the 18th minute at the former Olympic Stadium. The win evened Sydney’s record at 2-2 on the season. Del Piero signed a two-year contract with Sydney in September. — AP Benfica beat Vicente LISBON: Lima scored one and set up another to guide Benfica to a 3-0 win at Gil Vicente on Saturday, provisionally lifting the team three points ahead of FC Porto at the top of the Portuguese standings. Brazilian striker Lima grabbed Benfica the early lead with a headed goal just two minutes in. Lima then passed for Benfica left back Luisinho to double the margin in the 27th, and Andres Gomes capped the victory in first-half added time. Porto can remain level with Benfica with a victory at Estoril.— AP Begiristain appointed MANCHESTER: Manchester City have named former Barcelona technical director Txiki Begiristain as director of football in a restructuring aimed at making the Premier League champions world leaders in recruiting and developing players. The former Spain international, who held a similar position at Barca for seven years until 2010, will support City manager Roberto Mancini in first team recruitment and operations. City also announced that football administrator Brian Marwood will become managing director of the City Football Academy when it is ready for 2013-14 season. — Reuters Cruyff to break policy MEXICO CITY: Guadalajara consultant Johan Cruyff is prepared to break with the club’s tradition of only signing players with Mexican heritage in order to strengthen the team for next year. The Dutch great, employed in February by Guadalajara owner Jorge Vergara to lift the underachieving Chivas, said on Saturday they would open the doors to foreign-born players who had become naturalised citizens. The Mexican first division has many South Americans, some of whom have taken out Mexican nationality and in some cases played for their adopted country. — Reuters Associated Press Barcelona, October 28 Lionel Messi scored twice to help Spanish leader Barcelona roll to a 5-0 win at Rayo Vallecano on Saturday, as coach Tito Vilanova established the best start for a first-year coach in the 113-year history of the Catalan club. Cesc Fabregas set up David Villa’s 20th-minute opener to put Barcelona on their way. Messi then scored his 16th and 17th goals in all competitions this season in a second half that also saw Xavi Hernandez and Fabregas find the net. “This was our best game of the season,” Fabregas said. Messi’s two strikes, the first an unstoppable blast from the edge of the box, the second a showcase of fancy footwork to undo the defense, took his league leading tally to 13 goals, four more than Atletico’s Radamel Falcao and Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo. Messi has 73 goals for club and country in 2012, leaving him two shy of matching Brazil great Pele’s milestone of 75 in 1958. “Scoring two more goals isn’t important, the important thing is that we have another win and we believe we can keep this up,” said Messi, who on Monday will receive the Golden Shoe award for Europe’s top scorer last season with 73 goals. Barcelona’s eighth win in their first nine games kept them unbeaten and lifted them three points ahead of Atletico before their match against last-place Osasuna on Sunday. The no-nonsense victory also kept up Barcelona’s pressure on Real Madrid by opening an 11-point gap ahead of the defending champion’s tough test at Mallorca. Barcelona needed an extratime winner to beat Celtic in the Champions League midweek and had to score five times to edge out Deportivo La Coruna last weekend. But after weathering Rayo’s energized start, Vilanova’s team eased to a victory which kept them perfect through five away outings in league play. “We played a serious game at the back and we go away satisfied because it is important to have kept a clean sheet,” said Vilanova, whose defense had been suspect this season. “It isn’t easy to win 25 of 27 possible points, but we deserve them. We always fight to the finish.” THE HIMALAYAN TIMES, MONDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2012 Messi scores twice in Barca’s rout of Rayo Barcelona’s Lionel Messi celebrates his goal against Rayo Vallecano during their Spanish League match in Madrid on Saturday. Tevez gives City a hard-fought victory over Swansea Associated Press Manchester, October 28 Carlos Tevez kept champion Manchester City in touch with English Premier League leader Chelsea by settling a dour clash with Swansea with his first goal in eight appearances on Saturday. City escaped with a 1-0 victory despite another performance that will raise more questions over the side’s lack of dynamism this season after they lost at Ajax in the Champions League during the week. City’s second clean sheet of the season came after goalkeeper Joe Hart saved twice from Michu before Tevez broke the deadlock in the 62nd minute with a stunning strike from 25 yards. “It wasn’t a great performance but the manager said at halftime to stay calm and we’d get a goal,” City midfielder Gareth Barry said. “Carlos came up with the goods.” The game ran to 12 minutes of injury time after lengthy stoppages for injuries to Swansea goalkeeper Michel Vorm and Swansea defender Micah Richards. City are a point behind Chelsea while Swansea are 10th. Following criticism of his defensive formations after the midweek loss to Ajax, City manager Roberto Mancini dropped Joleon Lescott and played Matija Nastasic in a flat back four. The two teams effectively cancelled each other out in a first half that saw little goalmouth action. One of Swansea’s early attacks saw Angel Rangel go down under a challenge from Barry but referee Martin Atkinson booked him for diving. As the game settled in to a slow tempo, Tevez tried to make something happen for City but his low cross was gathered by Vorm. Swansea exploited some uncertainty between Vincent Kompany and Nastasic in the City defense as Rangel crossed from the Reuters Manchester City's Carlos Tevez celebrates after scoring against Swansea City during their English Premier League match at The Etihad Stadium in Manchester on Saturday. byline but Richards came across to cut off Michu. City could have benefited from an error when Vorm gifted possession to Sergio Aguero but Tevez was unable to take up the attack. Michu did put the ball into the net with a fine finish but was well offside as he received the ball. Hart showed he was as alert as ever when Michu raced clear in the closing stages of the first half with a well-timed run, blocking the Spaniard. The halftime whistle led to boos from some City fans after their side’s uninspired display but the team looked a different proposition immediately after the break. Mancini sent on Mario Balotelli for the ineffective Aleksandar Kolarov and within two minutes the Italy striker had a shot blocked. Aguero also tried to find his range but fired wide. Balotelli had a great opportunity as he latched onto a fine pass from Samir Nasri and took the ball round Vorm, but the goalkeeper did just enough to force him wide and the chance passed. Swansea pieced together a fine move which led to Jonathan de Guzman crossing for Michu, who powered a header straight at Hart. Richards sliced a clearance to give Ki Sung-yeung a followup chance but Kompany blocked. City made the most of that reprieve and took the lead just after the hour as Tevez took a pass from Clichy in his stride and hit a swerving 25-yard effort past Vorm. Swansea’s woes were compounded by an injury to Vorm, who appeared to hurt himself stretching for Tevez’s shot. He was unable to continue and left the field on a stretcher. Despite taking the lead, City was still sluggish and De Guzman attempted to catch them out with a long-range effort but missed the target. Yaya Toure tried to create something for the hosts after combining with Tevez but his cross avoided everyone. City’s injury blow came when Richards, who missed the first two months of the season through injury, went down in agony holding his knee before being carried off. That led to a lengthy, nervy and very long period of injury time but City managed to hold out. Reuters Rome, October 28 AC Milan’s Stephan El Shaarawy marked his 20th birthday with a secondhalf goal in a 1-0 win over Genoa in Serie A on Saturday while strugglers Siena and Palermo scrapped out a 0-0 draw. Milan’s victory, which puts them on 10 points from nine games, eases the pressure on manager Massimiliano Allegri despite a poor display that even Brazil forward Alexandre Pato, in his first start for eight months, could not light up. Despite the win Milan are still languishing in mid-table a massive 12 points behind leaders Juventus. Genoa could have taken the lead after 15 minutes when Cristian Zapata gifted the ball to Luca Antonelli. He crossed to Ciro Immobile, who was too late to slot home but almost scored anyway after Marco Amelia punched the ball into the striker’s face only to see it rebound wide. The closest Milan came to a goal in a dull first half was after 37 minutes when Reuters Vilanova had his doubters after being tapped to replace Pep Guardiola this summer following the most successful run in the club’s history. But Guardiola’s former assistant is exceeding expectations with a better debut than even his mentor managed in 2008 with El Shaarawy goal sees Milan defeat Genoa El Shaarawy collected an overhit corner and flashed the ball across the six-yard box, only to see his teammates rooted to the spot. Milan started the second half brighter and could have scored almost straight after the restart when Pato’s raid down the right flank ended with another teasing cross flying across Sebastian Frey’s goal and no-one on hand to put it in the net. Allegri’s team finally broke the deadlock with 15 minutes left after Ignazio Abate finished some good work on the right by rolling a cross in front of Frey’s goal that this time El Shaarawy tapped home. The Italy forward did not celebrate his goal as a mark of respect for his former club. Earlier, Siena and Palermo produced an uneventful goalless draw that showed why they were the bottom two in the table. The first clear chance did not come until two minutes into the second half when Siena substitute Francesco Valiani whipped in an inviting cross that Emanuele Calaio headed wide. seven wins, a draw and a loss. Sergio Busquets and Adriano played well in yet another makeshift combination in the centre of Barcelona’s defense with Carles Puyol and Gerard Pique injured and Javier Mascherano suspended. Despite their rival’s intimidating pedigree, Rayo took the initiative early on at Vallecas Stadium in Madrid. Rayo earned three corner kicks in the first 10 minutes while disrupting Barcelona’s passing attack. But one pass by Fabregas, who assisted on three goals in last weekend’s wild 5-4 win at Deportivo, to meet Villa’s run inside from the left for the striker to slot home was all it took to turn the tables for good. Messi decided the match shortly after halftime. Pedro played wide for back Martin Montoya to send in a cross that the Argentina forward controlled before ripping the ball beyond the goalkeeper with a vicious left-footed strike. Jemez was sent off in the 76th apparently for complaining about the refereeing. Malaga remained third— four points behind Atletico — after drawing 0-0 at Espanyol, while Salva Sevilla’s early goal gave Real Betis a 1-0 home win over Valencia. Betis’ victory lifted them provisionally into fourth place, trailing Malaga by two points. Real and Sevilla are both two points behind Betis heading into their games. Celta Vigo, meanwhile, held on with 10 men for nearly 40 minutes to earn a 1-1 draw with Deportivo in a regional Galicia derby in northwestern. AC Milan’s Stephan El Shaarawy (right) vies for the ball with Genoa’s Mario Sampirisi during their Italian Serie A match at the San Siro Stadium in Milan on Saturday. Dortmund, Schalke win Associated Press Berlin, October 28 Reuters Borussia Dortmund won 2-0 at Freiburg to get their Bundesliga title defense back on track in difficult conditions on Saturday. Heavy snowfall hampered both teams in a hard-fought game. Neven Subotic scored in the 54th minute and Mario Goetze made the game safe for Dortmund with seven minutes remaining. Jefferson Farfan’s 77thminute strike was enough for Schalke to complete a perfect week with a 1-0 win at home over Nuremberg. Schalke won the Ruhr derby against Dortmund last weekend and then 2-0 at Arsenal in the Champions League midweek. Wolfsburg beat Fortuna Duesseldorf 4-1 away to end their seven-game run without a win in interim coach Lorenz-Guenther Koestner’s first game in charge. Elsewhere, Mainz beat Hoffenheim 3-0 thanks to an Adam Szalai hat-trick, and Greuther Fuerth drew 1-1 at home with Werder Bremen. Dortmund’s first away win of the season leaves them nine points behind Bayern Munich.
THE HIMALAYAN TIMES, MONDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2012 • TIME OUT Indian cricketer Harbhajan Singh arrives in the paddock before the start of the Indian Grand Prix in Greater Noida on Sunday. Ecclestone hopeful GREATER NOIDA: Formula One chief Bernie Ecclestone has raised the hopes for a return of the French Grand Prix to the schedule, possibly as soon as next year as a replacement for the cancelled New Jersey event. The French GP has been off the calendar since 2008, but officials of both the Magny Cours and Paul Ricard circuits are making bids for its return. The New Jersey cancellation has left a three-week gap in the 2013 schedule, and on his 82nd birthday on Sunday, Ecclestone told Autosport: “if they are ready we can slot it in the calendar.” — AP Vorm out injured LONDON: Swansea City’s Dutch international goalkeeper Michel Vorm could be out for six weeks after injuring his groin in the 1-0 defeat at Premier League champions Manchester City on Saturday. Vorm was hurt while trying to save Carlos Tevez’s winning goal in the second half and was taken off on a stretcher after a lengthy stoppage. Vorm impressed last season for Swansea after signing from FC Utrecht, playing a big part in his side’s survival on their return to the top flight. He was replaced on Saturday by Gerhard Tremmel. — Reuters Vettel wins India GP, Peter Hanson of Sweden kisses the trophy after winning the BMW Masters in Shanghai, China on Sunday. extends lead Reuters only here. I am sure we will do Greater Noida, October 28 it.” Kimi Raikkonen hung on to third place in the overall stand- Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel ings with seventh place for Lo- won the Indian Grand Prix tus but he is now 67 points off (GP) today and stretched his the lead and just six ahead of Formula One championship Webber. McLaren’s Lewis lead over Ferrari’s Fernando Hamilton and Jenson Button Alonso, who was a battling sec- finished fourth and fifth reond, to 13 points with three spectively, with the latter deny- races remaining. ing Vettel the fastest lap but The victory from pole posi- with his title hopes now mathetion was the world champion’s matically over for another year. fourth in a row — the first time Brazilian Felipe Massa was he has done that in a single sea- sixth for Ferrari, ahead of 2007 son — and maintained his champion Raikkonen, with dominance in India after win- Germany’s Nico Hulkenberg ning last year’s inaugural race eighth for Force India in the at the hazy Buddh Internation- team’s home race. Frenchman al Circuit from pole. Romain Grosjean finished The 25-year-old German ninth for Lotus and Brazilian now has 240 points to 227 for Bruno Senna grabbed the final Alonso, who started in fifth point for Williams. place, and his surge towards a Seven times champion third title in a row is beginning Michael Schumacher, probably to look unstoppable despite the the biggest Formula One name Spaniard’s best efforts. His fifth in a country more focused on win of the season was the 26th cricket, collided with Toro of his career. Rosso’s Jean-Eric Vergne at the “A very special grand prix. I start and pitted with a punc- don’t know what it is about this tured rear right. circuit but I really like the flow That sent the 43-year-old of it,” said Vettel, who has now German to the back of the field led every single lap for three on his last race appearance in successive races — a feat last India. To compound his prob- managed by the late triple lems, he was lapped by Vettel champion Ayrton Senna in after eight laps and was then 1989. “This was another good under investigation for ignor- step for us but there’s still a long ing blue warning flags. To his way to go.” credit, Schumacher battled on Australian Mark Webber fin- until finally retiring three laps ished third for Red Bull, com- from the end. plaining of a loss of KERS boost Mexican Sergio Perez retired after 45 of the 60 laps and being in the pits after also suffering a passed by Alonso three laps lat- puncture when his Sauber er. “It is not easy at the moment clipped the front of Toro Rosso’s to fight the Red Bull but we will Australian Daniel Ricciardo never give up,” said the as they were leaving the pits Spaniard. “Well done to Red together on lap 20. India’s Bull and Sebastian but we want sole driver Narain Karthikeyan to be happy and enjoy it in finished 21st for Spanish Brazil (the last race). It is not stragglers HRT. Hanson holds off McIlroy in Shanghai Reuters Shanghai, October 28 Sweden’s Peter Hanson capitalised on the early errors of playing partner Rory McIlroy to hold on for a one-shot victory over the world No 1 at the BMW Masters on today. Overnight leader Hanson posted a final round 67 for a 21-under-par total on the Lake Malaren course to capture his second European Tour success in three events and move behind Briton McIlroy at the top of the Race to Dubai standings. The 35-year-old, who won the Dutch Open in September, stretched his advantage at the start of the day from one shot to four when his 23-year-old Ryder Cup-winning teammate recorded back-to-back bogeys from the fourth hole. Double major winner McIlroy regrouped to birdie four of his next eight holes before highlighting his round with a 25-foot eagle putt at the par-five 15th, moments before Hanson walked off with a birdie. Despite a final-hole bogey, Hanson held on to capture a sixth European Tour win while the $1.66 million first prize cheque is easily the biggest of his career. “It’s fantastic to win the BMW Masters and to go head-to-head with the world number one is always nice, but to come out on top, it feels great,” Hanson said. “It’s kind of weird because when you have that AP / RSS kind of lead you’re playing a bit safe and I couldn’t really step it up towards the end, hit the shots and get it up close to the pin. So it’s lucky we didn’t have to play another two or three holes. This is by far my biggest win so it feels great as we had so many guys in the world’s top 10 here... this trophy is very, very special to me.” Despite picking up a cheque for $779,000, McIlroy looked disappointed to be settling for a ninth second place finish on the European Tour. “I didn’t get the best of starts but it started coming together over the back nine... I was aiming to make him work for it,” McIlroy said. “It would have been nice to hole that (birdie) putt on • LO<strong>CA</strong>L BRIEFS Nepal play against China on Monday KATHMANDU: Already out of the ACC Women’s Twenty20 Asia Cup race, Nepal will take on hosts China in the Group ‘B’ match at the Guanggong International Cricket Stadium in Guangzhou on Monday. Both the teams will be playing for pride after losing their previous two matches. After going down by 20 runs against Sri Lanka on Thursday, Nepal lost to Bangladesh by nine wickets on Friday. Bangladesh (six) and Sri Lanka (four) have already made it to the last four from the group. — HNS Manita strikes gold KATHMANDU: Nepali taekwondo player Manita Shahi claimed the women’s senior Lightweight category gold medal in the ninth International Friendship Taekwondo Championships and Cultural Festival in Portland, USA on Saturday. The 10th South Asian Games gold medallist and 15th Asian Games bronze medal-winning player from Nepal Police Club defeated local player Doma 10-7 in the final. Both the players were tied on six points after the first two rounds and Manita scored four points giving away just one to her opponent to record a comprehensive victory. —HNS the last to have him think a little bit but it wasn’t to be,” added McIlroy. “He played well and deserved his win. To go out there with the lead and play the way he did and shoot 67 is very impressive, so he was always going to be tough to beat.” McIlroy is not contesting next week’s $7 million WGC- HSBC Champions event at Shenzen and a Hanson victory there would put the Swede ahead of the Briton on the European Tour order of merit. English Ryder Cup teammates Luke Donald (17-under) and Ian Poulter (16-under) ensured the top four spots were secured by players who helped Europe register a stunning fightback victory over the US at Medinah last month. www.thehimalayantimes.com SPORTS Red Bull’s Formula One driver Sebastian Vettel of Germany celebrates on podium after winning the Indian Grand Prix at the Buddh International Circuit in Greater Noida, on the outskirts of New Delhi, on Sunday. Associated Press Valencia, October 28 Top-seeded David Ferrer reached the Valencia Open final for a fourth time after defeating Ivan Dodig of Croatia 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-1 on Saturday. Ferrer will face Alexandr Dolgopolov in final after the Ukrainian used his big serve to ease past Jurgen Melzer of Austria 6-4, 6-2 in the other semi-final match. After the fifth-ranked Ferrer controlled the opening set, the local favourite showed some strain from finishing his doubles with partner Juan Carlos Ferrero after midnight Friday. Dodig rallied to save two break points and force a second-set tiebreaker, where he converted a third set point by forcing the Spaniard into netting his volley. Ferrer grabbed a 3-1 advantage in the decisive set after Dodig double-faulted. He then hit a running approach shot to break Dodig again before serving out the win in 2 hours, 42 minutes. Dolgopolov hit nine aces and broke Melzer twice in each set en route to victory. The 21st-ranked Dolgopolov will now play his fourth career final in search of his second title of the season after winning at Washington. Ferrer played another doubles later Saturday following the match between Melzer and Dolgopolov. Ferrer has a chance to add the tournament at the City of Arts and Sciences to his five titles this season. He won here on the indoor hard-courts in 2008 and 2010 after losing the final in 2005 when the tournament was played on clay. Ferrero, a former No 1 and Valencia native, will retire after this event. Swiss Indoors BASEL: Roger Federer and Juan Martin del Potro advanced to the Swiss Indoors final on Saturday, setting up a rematch of their epic semi-final at the London Olympics. Top-ranked Federer brushed aside Paul-Henri Mathieu of France 7-5, 6-4 in the semi-finals, after Del Potro eased to a 6-2, 6-2 win over third-seeded Frenchman Richard Gasquet. Federer has beaten Del Potro all six times they have met this season, though was pushed to his limits on Centre PAGE 13 Ferrer ousts Dodig to reach Valencia final Reuters Court at Wimbledon in August. Federer won 19-17 in the decisive third set. Del Potro let a two-set lead slip in their quarter-finals at Roland Garros, and took the first set at the Olympics before losing the second on a tiebreaker. Federer, chasing his sixth title in seven years at his hometown event, fired 10 aces and never allowed Mathieu a break point chance. Excellent anticipation at the net put Federer into position to hit a volleyed winner to create two set points in the first. He clinched with a forehand winner. Federer moved his opponent around the court in the final game before putting away an overhead to earn match point, and sealed victory when Mathieu netted a two-handed backhand.
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