Rosberg takes pole
Barcelona: Mercedes will start the Spanish Grand Prix from the front row after Nico Rosberg posted the fastest qualifying time ahead of teammate lewis Hamilton on Saturday. Hamilton had the fastest times in the first two qualifying sessions, but Rosberg just edged him out to take pole position in 1 minute, 20.718 seconds to take his second consecutive pole.
“The race is very long and to win it’s not good enough to start from pole — you still have to have the fastest race car,” said Rosberg, who finished ninth in Bahrain after taking pole. “I’m a little bit more confident for tomorrow, but the race is going to be a completely different thing.” Three-time defending champion Sebastian Vettel will start from third spot for Red Bull ahead of Kimi Raikkonen’s lotus. “I’m quite happy to be honest because yesterday and this morning I wasn’t really happy. We improved the car and things calmed down,” Vettel said. “It’s a tough challenge and the tires don’t last as well as we would like.” The degradation of the Pirelli tires has been an issue all season, and drivers are still largely unhappy at how quickly they wear out.Ferrari has yet to secure a pole position this season, and it proved to be another frustrating afternoon after fast practice times in the morning. Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa will start from fifth and sixth, respectively. Jenson Button’s misery continued as he failed to make the cut for the third session. The Briton will start back in 14th place with teammate Sergio Perez in ninth spot.
Randhir, Malhotra still adamant
New Delhi: With four days to go for the crucial meeting between Indian officials and the International Olympic Committee, efforts to persuade acting IOA President VK Malhotra and IOC member in India Randhir Singh to reconsider their decision to pull out have not borne fruit with both insisting on staying away. Malhotra and Randhir had decided to boycott the meeting came a day after the IOC agreed to include Hockey India General Secretary Narinder Batra and Jharkhand Olympic Association R K Anand in the IOA delegation for the meeting, in addition to the four-member list submitted earlier.
Serena-Sharapova in Madrid final
Madrid: The world’s two top female players, Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova, will battle it out for the number one ranking when they meet in the Madrid Open final tomorrow after both came through today’s semi-finals in straight sets. Current number one Williams sealed her place in the final in the Spanish capital for the second consecutive year as she overcame seventh seed Sara Errani 7-5, 6-2. Meanwhile, Sharapova will compete in her first Madrid final after beating Serbian Ana Ivanovic 6-4, 6-3.
All-Egypt squash final
Mumbai: Fourth seed Mazen Hesham Ga Sabry will meet second seed Mohd Ali Anwar Reda in an all-Egyptian final of the $ 15,000 CCI PSA Squash Challenger at the Cricket Club of India here. In a pulsating second semi-final today, Reda, conqueror of Indian hope Mahesh Mangaonkar in the quarters, got the better of his compatriot Omar Abdel Meguid in a tough five - game encounter that lasted 95 minutes. Earlier, fourth seed Sabry toppled top seed Alan Clyne of Scotland in four games in the first semi-final that lasted five minutes short of one hour.
Paddlers head to Paris
New Delhi: On a high after the best-ever medal haul at the Commonwealth Table Tennis Championships here, nine Indian paddlers — five men and four women — will be leaving on Saturday for the World Championships in Paris starting on Monday. Men’s team will be led by Achantha Sharath Kamal while Mouma Das, who grabbed a silver and three bronze medals in the just concluded championships, will spearhead the women’s challenge. Reigning women’s national champion K Shamini will also be a part of the squad for the event starting May 13, after she was declared fit.
Bresnan and Swann get Eng recall
london: Graeme Swann and Tim Bresnan were both recalled by England in a 12-man squad announced today for next week’s first Test against New Zealand at lord’s following their respective recoveries from elbow surgery. Off-spinner Swann and seamer Bresnan both last played Test cricket in the series-clinching win over India in Nagpur in December and missed the recent drawn three-Test series in New Zealand. However, Nottinghamshire’s Swann and Yorkshire’s Bresnan have both since proved their fitness playing county cricket this season.
Pune finish 2nd in I-league
Pune: Strikers James Moga and Boima Karpeh struck a goal each as Pune FC posted a comfortable 2-0 win over Pailan Arrows to clinch the second position and their best-ever finish in the I-league, here on Saturday. Moga scored in the 39th minute while Karpeh found the net in the 65t minute to help Pune earn their 16th win of the season. The points tally was the highest ever achieved by Pune who took their total to an all-time best 52 points from 26 games. Currently Pune are level on points with champions Churchill Brothers.
United SC beat ONGC in I-league
Kolkata: I-league top scorer Ranty Martins struck twice as United SC drubbed ONGC 3-1 to end their campaign with a fourth place finish at the Kalyani Stadium on Saturday. The Nigerian striker, who topped the scoring chart with 26 goals, converted a 29th minute spot kick and went on to pump in one more at the break. New Zealand recruit Kayne Vincent’s header in the 57th minute sealed the issue for the purple brigade while lalmuanpuia reduced the margin with a freekick in the 70th minute for ONGC. United SC finished with a tally 44 points behind third-placed East Bengal while ONGC remained on 31 points.
Domingo plans to build on success
Johannesburg: Russell Domingo, who was on Saturday appointed as South Africa’s next head coach, said he planned to build on the structures put in place by incumbent Gary Kirsten. “I know what David Moyes is feeling,” said Domingo, comparing the challenge of taking over from a successful coach as being similar to Moyes’ appointment to succeed Alex Ferguson as Manchester United manager,” he said. ~ PNS/Agencies