>numbercruncher

Bangalore,Monday, August 3, 2009

www.dnaindia.com

epaper.dnaindia.com 15

AMOUNT MANCHESTER CITY WILL

PAY per week to Carlos Tevez.The Argentine was signed for £25 million from United£150,000

AKRAM SURPRISEDWasim Akram said he was surprised byIrfan Pathan’s omission from India’s 30-member probables’ list for the ChampionsTrophy to be held in South Africa in Sep-tember. “I have no doubt that Irfan is aquality bowler and will come back to theIndia squad soon. He should not havebeen dropped from the (Champions Tro-phy) probables list,” the former Pakistanfast bowler said. “Had I been a selector, Iwould have included Irfan in the team.”

‘MISBAH SHOULD BE AXED’The split in Pakistan cricket team is wideopen once again, as captain Younus Khanhas said that vice-captain Misbah-ul-Haqshould not remain in the squad. “Thevice-captain should not remain in theteam but it is hard to drop him,” The Dai-ly Times quoted Khan, as saying. Misbah,who has been going through a bad patchwith the bat in the recent past, wasdropped from the second one day interna-tional against Sri Lanka.

BANGLA PLAYERS HAILEDCricketing minnows Bangladesh on Sun-day celebrated the team’s victorious tourof the West Indies, with the governmenthailing the players as national heroes. Af-ter winning both Test matches, they alsowon all three ODIs. “They are our goldenboys and they have made us proud,”sports minister Ahad Ali said. “We hope...they would score wins against all the ma-jor teams. There will be no going back forour cricket.”

RAHUL PLAYS STRAIGHTfigurethis

sharpsingles

World men’sbadminton rankings

Lee Chong Wei(MAS)

66200Jin Chen(CHN)

64755.18Peter Gade Hoeg(DEN)

62560Taufik Hidayat(INA)

60744.58Lin Dan(CHN)

58912.04Sony Dwi Kuncoro(INA)

50670.49Joachim Persson(DEN)

50086.67Park Sung Hwan(KOR)

43310Tien Minh Nguyen(VIE)

41991.75Boonsak Ponsana(THA)

Paul, you beat Michael Phelps in the 200mfreestyle and the credit went to the swim-suit — Arena X Glide. What’s your reac-tion?

To beat Michael Phelps was an amazingfeeling. I must confess that the X-Glidehelped me. But it was not only about thesuit. I mean, during the Olympics I had towear a suit in which I didn’t feel comfort-able at all. But that was past, I trained re-ally hard for the Worlds and finally found asuit which suited me and has paid off well.Do you think hi-tech swimsuits turn aver-age swimmers into great swimmers?

No. You have to train very hard over theyears to become a good swimmer. The suitmakes you faster but things like technique,turns, start and stamina don’t come withthe suits.The fact that so many world records arebeing rewritten suddenly, doesn’t it indi-

cate that the suits have something to dowith it?

Definitely the suits are a big help. Buton the other hand swimming is gettingmore professional. The training is gettingbetter, techniques are improving and thereare many other factors too. It’s not only thesuits that are improving!Are you fine with FINA’s ban on the newsuits?

I don’t think it’s a prob-lem to me. I would be fineand I think in Jammerswe are going back to the original swim-ming.Do you think Phelps would have beatenyou had you been wearing a different suit,let’s say... the Speedo LZR?

No chance. I was in good shape in the200m freestyle final. But you never know.Do you think the records made at this

Worlds would remain unbeaten for a longtime with the ban in place?

I think so. It will be interesting to seewhat FINA is doing with the records.Was it intimidating to swim in a lane nextto Phelps?

I tried to swim my own race. Phelps isthe best swimmer of all time but then I did-n’t think about that during the race.Seeing Phelps at Olympics, did you even

think of beating him at theWorlds?

No. In Beijing he was insuch a great shape, he looked invincible. Iwatched him from close quarters whenhe got his eighth gold medal. That wasamazing.Do you think achieving WR at the worldsgives you an edge in 2012 Olympics?

No I don’t think so. London Olympicsis still three years away. We will see what

happens in this time.Phelps’s coach said that he would not wantMichael to swim until the suits are banned.Do you support him?

I think he is right. This is definitely pil-ing up huge pressure on FINA. So they bet-ter deal with this situation fast.Have you spoken to your equipment man-ufacturers about the issue?

Arena and I are feeling fine about thenew changes in 2010 and we are lookingforward to the next competitions.Do you think the charm of World Champi-onships has lost due to the controversy?

Not what from what I have seen. Thepeople in Italia are great and they are hav-ing a lot of fun watching swimming. It isa great atmosphere.Last question, if not Arena X-Glide, whatswimsuit would you fall back to?

Arena Revolution.

SUITABLE BOY

84771.06

Dev S Sukumar. Bangalore

When Parupalli Kashyap takes tothe court for the World BadmintonChampionships beginning August10, he will epitomise the ability ofthe human spirit to go beyond thelimitations of the body. Five yearsago, he was a scrawny, sickly kidwith severe breathing problems.

Today Kashyap is world No.33,and one of those who will shoulderthe responsibility of India’s chal-lenge in the premier event.

“It used to be very, very bad,”says Kashyap of his childhoodyears in Bangalore, which is noto-rious for its pollen and other al-lergens. “I used to be sick at everytournament. I had to keep takingantibiotics and I would feel ill allthe time.”

Kashyap had first enrolled withMohd Arif ’s camp in Hyderabad asan 11-year-old and then PadukoneAcademy in Bangalore. His fatherhad a transferable job and the fam-ily kept moving between cities.

It was only a few months afterhis family moved back to Hyder-abad in May 2004 that the real na-ture of his condition became ap-parent — he was diagnosed as anasthmatic after a series of tests.

Having changed his medication,he transformed dramatically.From the short, scrawny kid he grew into a well-muscledteenager whose game took on theattacking contours of his currentcoach in Hyderabad, PullelaGopichand.

From 2005 onwards it has beena steady rise for Kashyap. “Before

2005, nobody told me my conditionwas asthma,” he says. “But onceit was diagnosed and I started theright medication, I grew quickly instrength. I could eat well and I gothealthy. I’m still asthmatic and Itake medication once a day, but I’mfine otherwise.”

Although he had an indifferent2008 affected by knee injury, hisperformance shot up this year.Having reached the final of the na-tional championships in February,he went on to reach the finals atthree international tournaments— the Smiling Fish Internationalat Thailand in May, the SpanishOpen, and the French Open inJune, apart from a creditable quar-

terfinal place at the Asian Cham-pionships.

The asthma doesn’t hamper himmuch on court, although he has toaccommodate some extra en-durance work.

“Basically, asthmatics have tokeep on working on endurance.You can’t build it up and stop work-ing on it for a while, like the oth-ers. My endurance goes down if Idon’t work on it. So I do enduranceworkouts even during tourna-ments, when other players don’t.”

He can take some solace fromthe fact that one of the greatestplayers ever, Morten Frost, wasasthmatic and used to carry an in-haler on court. Perhaps those whoovercome the troubles posed by thecondition grow into tougher spec-imens mentally.

“You tend to be more stubborn,”says TR Balachandran, formercoach at the Padukone Academy,an asthmatic himself. “It’s like be-ing strangled by a powerful man.Having known the pits of breathdeprivation, a long match does notfaze you at all.”

Impossible

is nothingParupalli

Kashyap, onwhom India’s

hopes rest,overcame

severe asthmato become a

world beater inbadminton

Basically, asthmaticshave to keep on

working on endurance. Youcan’t build it up and stopworking on it for a while,like the others. Myendurance goes down if Idon’t work on it.”

Nasty coincidenceFor world No.13 mixed doubles pair RobertBlair (Eng) and Imogen Bankier (Sco), fateplayed a nasty trick on both at the sametime. Bankier suffered a knee problem inlate July that ruled her out of the Worlds —and she called her partner to inform him.Blair, at the same time, was trying to reachher to say that he wouldn’t be going as well— for he had an acute tendon tear. Talk ofcoincidence.

Perfect warm-upWorld No.1 Lee Chong Wei was decimatedin the Beijing Olympics final by old rivalLin Dan but he will have a ‘Mini Olympics’gold to show off. The rather strangely-named event was held in Kuala Lumpurand was actually a Malaysian champi-onship. Chong Wei defeated Hafiz Hashimin the final last week and claimed it wasthe perfect warm-up for the Worlds, a titlehe has never won.

Indian tacticMixed doubles pair Jwala Gutta and V Dijuare the first Indian doubles pair to be seed-ed for a World Championships. The worldNo.8 pair have a bye in the first round, butface Nathan Robertson/Jenny Wallwork inthe second round. Robertson is a formerworld champion but with a different part-ner (Gail Emms). “We will have to targetJenny,” said Jwala. “But Nathan is cleverand won’t allow us to attack her.”

SHU

TTLE

SER

VIC

E

Paul Biedermann, who handed Michael Phelps his first loss since 2005, tells Gautam Sheth that though the Arena X-Glide helped him, it’s a little unfair to credit his feat only on the hi-tech swimsuit

hardtalk

Hackett urges banon hi-tech suits Australia’s Grant Hacketthas urged the world’s bestswimmers to join MichaelPhelps in boycotting inter-national meets until theswimsuit controversy isresolved. Hackett, whoretired after last year’sBeijing Olympics, said itwas time for all swimmersto take a stand against theworld’s governing bodyFINA over their decision topermit the use of perform-ance-enhancing suits. “Forhim (Phelps) to declare thathe’s unwilling to competeat further internationalmeets until this swimsuitcontroversy is over justspeaks volumes,” Hackettwrote in Sydney’s SundayTelegraph. FINA has prom-ised to ban performance-enhancing suits from nextyear but their decision toallow them at the currentworld championships inRome has been widely crit-icised after 39 worldrecords fell in the firstseven days of competition.

Steve Keating. Michigan

Tiger Woods carried a one-shot lead intothe final round of the Buick Open as theworld No.1 shifted into top gear on Sat-urday firing a seven-under 65.

After an erratic opening round 71 lefthim eight shots off the pace and sparkedtalk of missing consecutive cuts for thefirst time in his professional career,Woods hit back to top the leaderboardon 17-under 199, one shot clear of fal-tering American Michael Letzig.

Woods triggered a wild roar that

rumbled across the Warwick Hills lay-out when he rolled in a 34-foot birdie onthe par three 17th to join Letzig at thetop of the leaderboard.

It looked to be the way the third roundwould end until Letzig stumbled anddouble-bogeyed at the 18th for a four-un-der 68, gifting Woods a one-stroke lead.

Australian John Senden, who held atwo-shot lead overnight,struggled to a one-under71 to leave him two backgoing into final round.

It will be the 50th time Woods has tak-en a lead into the final round. He hasgone on to win the title 46 of the previ-ous 49 times.

“I had put myself so far back and it’snot like a US Open where you can makeit up (here) in one round,” Woods said.“It’s going to take two or three rounds...

I’m right there at the end of the cham-pionship.”

Woods, who went birdie, birdie, eagle,birdie, birdie to open his second roundon Friday for the best five hole start toa round in his career, began Saturdayfour off the pace and made another red-hot start.

He reeled off three consecutivebirdies from the secondand one more at the sev-enth, though the 33-year-

old American dropped his only shot ofthe day at the eighth.

He was bogey free the rest of the waynotching birdies at 12, 13, 16 and 17 dur-ing a scrappy back nine.

“I got it going, hit some good shots,made three (birdies) in a row there,”said Woods, who is closing in on histhird Buick Open title.

“Overall, I hit a good front nine butthe back nine was scratchy. I hit somebad shots... but I scored.

“The whole idea of the game is putthe ball in the hole.”

The pressure on Sunday will be all onLetzig, who is making his 50th PGATour start while Woods will be biddingfor his 69th PGA title and fourth of theseason.

It marks the second time this year thetwo have been paired together in a finalround. Woods won the Memorial aftershooting a 65 while Letzig wilted to a75.

“I probably won’t be as nervous,” saidLetzig. “That was the first time I playedwith him last time and it’s somethingyou try to prepare yourself for sinceyou’re a little kid. You always want toplay with Tiger Woods.” —REUTERS

PUMPED UP: Tiger Woods celebratesafter putting a birdie on the 17thgreen on Saturday —REUTERS

Woods closes in on third Buick titleWorld No.1 carriesone-shot lead going intofinal round; Letzig facesthe heat

ontrack

Tancock breaks 50mbackstroke record

Britain's LLiiaamm TTaannccoocckkbroke his own world recordset in the semifinals to takegold in the men's 50 metresbackstroke at the worldchampionships on Sunday.Tancock swam 24.04 sec-onds with Japan's JunyaKoga second and SouthAfrica's Gerhard Zandbergthird. Meanwhile, Russia'sYuliya Efimova won thewomen's 50m breaststrokeworld title in a world recordtime of 30.09sec. Efimovabroke the previous record of30.23 set by CanadianAmanda Reason on July 8 inMontreal. AmericanRebecca Soni was secondfollowed by AustralianSarah Katsoulis.

02Bangalore Main Edition-pg15-0.qxd 08/02/2009 10:29 PM Page 1