Bolt’s signed shoe from Beijing Worlds goes for `12 lakh
NEW DELHI: A signed running shoe belonging to Usain Bolt was sold for 16,000 euros (`12lakh) in an internet auction.
After 30 bids, the final amount doubled the initial expectations of the online auction house Catawiki that had valued the sports-themed lot at around 8,000 euro (`6lakh), reports Efe.
The signed shoe belongs to a pair used by Bolt during the 2015 World Championship in Beijing during the 100m sprint, where he finished ahead of Justin Gatlin of the United States.
Apart from his gold in the 100m race, he won a further two golds in the 200m race and the 4A—100m relay.
He was one of the stars of the recent Rio de Janeiro Olympics after winning the same three races and becoming the first athlete to earn three golds in the three track and field events at three Olympics in a row.
SERENA, KERBER QUALIFY FOR TOUR FINALS LONDON: Serena Williams and Angelique Kerber, battling it out for the world number one ranking, are the first two women to qualify for the season-ending WTA Tour Finals in Singapore, the WTA said on Monday.
World number one Williams, who leads Kerber by 190 points, has won the title five times but missed last year’s event through injury.
Kerber, who won her first grand slam title at the Australian Open in January and who reached the final at Wimbledon, will be making her fourth appearance in the Oct. 23-30 event. MUMBAI: The Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board has launched an investigation after only 22 overs could be played over five days in the fourth and final test between West Indies and India at the Queen’s Park Oval due to a soggy outfield.
The lack of action meant India won the four-test series 2-0 but surrendered top spot in the ICC rankings to Pakistan, less than a week after taking over the number one position from Australia. Rain halted play on the first day of the test after West Indies had reached 62 for two wickets and no further play was possible over the next four days despite periods of sunshine.
“As hosts, the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board and QPCC (Queen’s Park Cricket Club) regret that limited play was possible in the 4th Test Match between WI and India at the Queen’s Park Oval,” TTCB President Azim Bassarath said. “We have jointly launched an investigation to determine what occurred with a view to remedying the situation so that this does not occur in the future.” AZIM BASSARATH, TTCB President The sight of a sun-drenched stadium unfit for play due to intermittent showers is a sad commentary on the West Indies Cricket Board’s unprofessional attitude. Their inability to get the ground ready for the match, not having proper facilities to dry a soggy, wet outfield in time for the show to begin, should draw condemnation from the Indian Board and the ICC.
This callous indifference will cost India the number one slot in Test rankings and push a mercurial Pakistan, for the first time in their history, to top the rankings.
Given the almost mysterious manner in which these rankings are decided, with stronger performances seemingly not getting the weightage they deserve, they may not amount to much. Yet there is a prestige and recognition attached to them, especially as they come from official channels.
India will feel miffed and cheated at being deprived of this honour, but if a wider poll is conducted, there will be many who would say Pakistan deserves to be called the best Test side in the world.
When, in 2009, the Sri Lankans were subjected to a terror attack in Lahore, Pakistan got completely isolated from the cricketing world. No team has ever since played there and Pakistan had to shift its base to UAE, which it now calls its home for playing purposes. For seven years now, Pakistan has been deprived of any international cricket and it is unimaginable to think any other nation would have survived this long in exile.
It is a tribute to the talent, grit and resilience of its players and their passion for the game, that match-fixing bans, lack of finances and the machinations of its board have not dampened their spirits.
They have played the game with the same zeal and abandon, especially Test cricket, for which they have won over their most rabid critics over the years. Who can forget Wahab Riaz’s terrifying spell in the world cup against Australia that literally symbolizes Pakistan’s strength as a team to be always feared. Their performance in England, where it drew the series 2-2, will stand out as one of its most heartening and courageous displays, coming as it did in the backdrop of their humiliation in the same country in 2010.
Lord’s, the venue of those “fixed” no balls and subsequent punishment of Mohammad Amir, Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif, had left the team in disgrace. Six years later, the same venue was witness to a historic win and an unusual form of celebration from the Pakistani team that left England, for reasons best known to them, smarting with anger.
The cool, calm and unflappable Misbah Ul-Haq, at the age of 42, not only had the stamina to score a century but also do push-ups in celebration of that matchwinning effort. Once the victory was achieved, the entire team, in the presence of a near full house, repeated what their captain had done. It was a thanksgiving gesture for those armymen who had helped them improve their fitness in a boot camp held in Pakistan before the tour.
Alistair Cook probably took this harmless gesture as a deliberate act of needling his team. But all Pakistan was doing was signaling their return as a team which had earned their self-respect and dignity with that victory.
India, which is playing most of its Test cricket at home this year, will get its chance to snatch the number one slot from Pakistan. For now, let us be gracious enough to acknowledge that it serves cricket well to have a strong, vibrant Pakistan side.
We have jointly launched an investigation to determine what occurred with a view to remedying the situation so that this does not occur in the future