Despite damaged sled, Shiva qualifies for WC
NEW DELHI: Luge exponent Shiva Keshavan recorded his personal best time of 50.654 sec in the Nations Cup at Lillehammer, Norway to finish a creditable 15th on Friday and qualify for the World Cup to be held on Sunday.
This despite the Indian having this punishment will be a good thing for him to change in the future,” Pellegrini told a news conference on Friday.
“Big teams and important squads cannot just rely on one player. It is a very important miss for both teams but they have other players to replace him.”
SANS CR7, MADRID FACE MOYES’ BOYS
MADRID: David Moyes will face the biggest test of his brief spell in charge of Real Sociedad when the Basques visit Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu on Saturday.
However, the trip for Moyes’s men isn’t quite as daunting as it could have been with three-time World Player of the Year Cristiano Ronaldo banned for kicking out at Cordoba defender Edimar during Madrid’s 2-1 win last weekend.
Upsets have been a feature of Sociedad’s season as they have beaten Atletico Madrid and Barcelona as well as Real under three different coaches. suffered a dangerous crash during the official training in which the runners of his sled were completely shattered even as he was clocking clocked 120 kmph.
It was pure luck that Shiva escaped unhurt, but he found himself grappling with a unique problem for the second time in his career — he was left with no sled for Friday’s race.
The last time the Indian faced a similar problem was before the 2010 Olympic Games, when five lawyers donated `1 lakh each to pay for his new sled.
Even as Shiva was contemplating returning to India, his competitors from Norway, in a wonderful gesture, gave him the necessary spare parts, and he was able to compete.
Speaking on phone from Norway, Shiva brushed aside the accident, saying, “I never give up. I have improved my performance a lot this year thanks to my coach Duncan Kennedy. I am sure the best is yet to come.” Shiva’s challenge before the World Cup on Sunday would be to adapt to the spare parts provided by the Norwegians as quickly as possible.