Terry to leave Chelsea at the end of season
LONDON Long-serving Chelsea defender John Terry will leave Stamford Bridge at the end of the season, the English Premier League club said on Monday.
The 36-year-old former England international played more than 700 games for Chelsea and has been their most successful captain.
“John has given us more than two decades of dedicated and exceptional service,” Chelsea said in a statement.
“In that time he has displayed the utmost pride at wearing the Chelsea shirt.”
Terry made the third-highest number of appearances for Chelsea, captained them a record 578 times and scored 66 goals.
US-BASED NRI IN U-17 WORLD CUP SQUAD MUMBAI Around seven months after the All Indian Football Federation (AIFF) conceptualised its overseas scouting programme, it has finally found success in the form of Namit Deshpande, a US-based NRI.
Deshpande, like many other NRI youngsters, had sent his video to the AIFF through its dedicated portal for the NRI audience but did not expect to get a call straightaway.
“I was excited when I came to know that a window for NRI players exists wherein they could present their talent and play for India, that too in a FIFA World Cup! I sent my playing video to the AIFF without wasting much time and I received a response soon,” he said. Deshpande, who has a valid Indian passport, had taken part in the trials under U-17 head coach Luis Norton De Matos in Goa. MORGAN QUITS AS
EAST BENGAL COACH KOLKATA: After four successive defeats ended hopes of a maiden I-League, Trevor Morgan stepped down as East Bengal coach on Monday evening.
Morgan, appointed, late last season with a deal that extended into this term, said he wished to be relieved of his responsibilities with immediate effect.
He won the Kolkata league last year extending East Bengal’s hold on that competition for seven unprecendeted years.
East Bengal have said a new coach would be announced soon and it is possible that Armando Colaco will take charge.
Karim Bencherifa and Ashley Westwood too are in the running, sources at the club said.
AMANPREET WINS
FOUR STAGES ON DAY 2 DIRANG VALLEY Former Indian national rally champion Amanpreet Ahulawalia asserted his supremacy over the JK Tyre Arunachal Festival of Speed here on Sunday, winning four out of the five special stages on the second day to stay on course to take the overall championship. NEW DELHI Every kid in Spain who picks up a tennis racquet nurtures one dream -- winning the French Open. Arantxa Sánchez was no different when she started out as a four-year-old. “It was my toy, my doll in a way,” she says, describing the journey.
In her first visit to India -- as a guest at the Rendez-Vous A Roland-Garros tennis tournament to be played in New Delhi on April 18-19 -- Sánchez would be sharing her expertise with the eight boys and girls who are taking part in the national finals. The winners of the event will get a chance to travel to France and play in the Junior French Open wild card tournament.
The former world No 1, who won four singles (three French Open), six women’s doubles and four mixed doubles Grand Slam titles and four Olympic medals is defined not by the silverware but by Steffi Graf.
The 45-year-old “happily-retired, mother of two” opens up to Hindustan Times about the game, the tennis future of India and her career, including her rivalry with Graf.
Excerpts:
It was just great to be in the final to start with. Being the first Spanish woman to be in the final, and that too against Steffi Graf who was unbeatable at the time, was a big achievement and was celebrated back home. The feeling was that I will be run over by Steffi. They were wrong. I knew I had a chance and I had nothing to lose.
Things started off really tight... and I ended up winning the first set 7-5 and the French crowd got behind me as I was the underdog. Steffi won the second set 6-3 and raced to match-point, 5-4 up, in the third. She then stepped off the court for some reason and returned, and I held my serve, 5-5. Then I broke her serve and suddenly I was serving for the title, on the verge of beating the great Steffi Graf.
I was nervous and shivering but managed to hold things together and play my best. When I heard “Game, Set and Match Arantxa Sánchez”, I just collapsed, crying like a baby and rolling all over the court. I ran to the net to shake hands with Steffi, covered all over with clay. But that was the magic moment. I still get goosebumps when I talk
about it. We have played many, many matches. Steffi always used to bring out the best in me. I was runner-up at Grand Slams eight times, out of which five times I lost to her.
The matches were always close. One classic match was the 1995 Wimbledon final where we were 5-5 in third set and had a 32 Success in singles is something that won’t happen overnight.
There should be a programme in India to nurture young players and take them up through the junior ranks in a systematic way and then open them up to the senior and professional circuits.
Tennis as a sport is very expensive too. Young players need private sponsor support and the national federation should also provide funds and organise tournaments for them. Success in singles is possible for India, just that you need more
I know Leander more than Bhupathi. We were good friends while on tour. He, on many occasions, asked me to play mixed doubles with him. But I was with my regular partner Todd Woodbridge (of Australia) at the time, and we were winning. So I didn’t want to change.
And then I retired so I couldn’t play with Leander and he still reminds me that whenever we meet.