10th DEC 2011: CLASH OF THE TITANS

It's the 10^th of December and we have two spectacular events coming.

First, we will have El Classico, yes once again Real Madrid and Barcelona will face each other at the Bernabue, Madrid. Barcelona has been the better of the two teams if we look at the previous head to head record. But no one should underestimate Real Madrid as their recent form shows that they have a near perfect record in all competitions and of course who can be stupid enough to underestimate Jose Mourinho.

My prediction is that it will be a spectacular match but this time Real will win. . . . . .

The second counter is between Amir Khan and Lamont Petrerson. Amir Khan will be defending his IBF and WBO Welter weight championship belts against the American. Amir Khan is the favourite to win the bout but Peterson should not be underrated that much, he has a very good record of 29-1 with 15 knockouts, has only lost to Tim Bradley and also has drawn a match to Victor Ortiz, so this shows that he should not be taken as an easy opponent.

On the other hand Amir Khan also has a very impressive record of 26-1 with 18 KO’s and is improving his technique match by match. Khan’s main focus is on getting a match against Tim Bradley or Floyd Mayweather Jr. Let’s see what Peterson will do control the outrageous pace of Khan.

My prediction is that it will be a tough fight tougher than it is expected but Amir will certainly have the upper hand over his opponent. Lets see what happens. . . . . .

So check your local timings sports fans, so that you don’t miss either of the event. . . . . . . .

F1: WEBBER WINS THE LAST ROUND

The Aussie broke his duck by winning the Brazilian Grand Prix. It was the 7^th career victory for the Aussie. He also clinched the 3rd place from Fernando Alonso in the driver’s championship standings.

As expected, Sebastian Vettel started from pole and got off to a flying start and managed to open a comfortable gap to the second placed Mark Webber in the early laps of the race but he was asked to be cautious because of a gear box problem. On lap 40 Vettel gave the lead to Webber and focused on nursing his car to reach the chequred flag. He came home in 2^nd place with a comfortable gap of 10 sec’s. The final podium place went to Mclaren’s Jenson Button, Button once again drove a fantastic race, he was overtaken by Fernando Alonso in the 11^th lap but then he drove a solid race and took the position back which he lost earlier in the 62^nd lap by overtaking Alonso. Alonso despite having all the Ferrari team behind him just managed to take 4^th place while his teammate who was celebrating his 100^th race and 10 years with Ferrari took 5^th position. He also entertained his home crowd by making some smoking donuts after the end of the race. Adrian Sutil drove an excellent race and got 6^th position ahead of Mercedes’s Nico Rosberg. Di Rest came 8^th as Force India collected some valuable points in Brazil. Kamui Kobayashi and Vtaly Petrov finished in 9^th and 10^th position respectively.

Micheal Schumacher for the first time this season was not able to entertain us in the opening lap. And even lost a position, he got it back but while passing Bruno Senna at turn 1 they collided and Micheal suffered a puncture as a result. Bruno was given a drive through penalty but Micheal’s race was destroyed. Lewis Hamilton’s poor form or perhaps his real form continued as he retired from the race in the 47^th lap due to a gear box problem. He was in 5^th place at the time of retirement.

This concluded the 2011 Formula 1 season. The championships were already decided so there was little to be decided. I will conduct an analysis of each team and each driver in a short time so till then bye bye and drive safely everyone. . . . . . . . . . . . .

BOXING: A CHINK IN MANNY’S ARMOR

The fight between Manny Pacquio and Juan Manuel Marquez was a thriller. It was the third bout between them the first one was a draw, Manny won the second one( the decision was controversial according to some experts) and guess what happened in the third one, Manny won it again in a more controversial manner. Controversy once again loomed in Vegas, people had hardly forgotten the controversial punch of Floyd Mayweateher Jr which knocked Victor Ortiz out in the 8^th round and here comes another one.

Manny Pacquiao the WBO Welterweight champion, the world’s best pound for pound boxer entered the MGM Grand Garden Arena with high hopes of beating his opponent as the experts and everyone else thought the same too but his opponent Mexican Juan Manuel Marquez really worked hard and really exploited Manny’s weaknesses. As there was a lot of talking about Pacquiao vs Mayweather, so their different styles were also discussed many times. Pacquiao likes to attack whereas Floyd likes counter punching. So a lot of people where rating Floyd Mayweather favorite over Manny Pacquiao. And we all know that Freddie Roach the trainer of Manny Pacquiao and Amir Khan also admitted that counter punching is their weakness and they will have to work on it. So happened in this match. Marquez also likes counter punching and forced Manny to come in the play and was very successful with his strategy.

It was an amazing fight, an incredible contest between the two contestants, until the final round. When the round ended Marquez raised his hands and believed that he had won it so did many others, on the other side Manny was quite and went to his corner praying for the victory. Surprisingly the decision from the judges came 114-114, 115-113, and 116-112 in favor of Manny. This really was a surprise for everyone. A lot of people criticized the decision. The Ring a prestigious magazine in boxing world rated the fight 115-113 in favor of Marquez. Another and the most notable criticism came from Manny’s own Sparring partner and the WBF and IBF Light Welter Weight Champion Amir Khan who said that he felt that Marquez won it by one or two rounds so did his trainer Freddie Roach. Amir Khan later said that its time that Manny should consider retirement and leave the sport on a high note. Some Filipino channels showed footage that Marquez stepped at Manny's feet 6 times which they referred as cheating but in my opinion I don’t think it matters too much.

So all the credit goes to the 38 year old Mexican he fought really well but this time again luck was not on his side. I will agree with the statement issued by Amir Khan that Manny should think seriously about his career, should really think that whether or not will he be able to fight Floyd or not. Marquez officially lost the match but won the hearts of many fans.

F1: VETTEL TRIUMPHS IN THE INAUGRAL INDIAN GP

Sebastian Vettel, the 2011 World Champion won the inaugural Indian GP in a comfortable fashion.

As the race started, the German started to move away from its rivals. The track conditions were a little tricky for the drivers to maintain their tyres as the surface was new and there was not that much rubber on it but gradually the conditions improved as it got rubbered in that is why we observed so many fastest laps in the race. Jenson Button made a flying start and overtook Alonso and Webber in the start and maintained his second position right till the end. Alonso came third; he overtook Webber in the second round of pit stops in the lap 39. Webber finished 4^th and was on the tail of Alonso when he crossed the chequred line. Then were the two Mercedes’ in fifth and sixth place and guess who was in front!!!! Not a surprise Of course we are talking about Sunday so it should be Michael Schumacher. Michael drove a brilliant race, he started from the back of the grid (12 position, row 6) and overtook 3 cars in the opening lap and maintained his status of being the aggressive starter. Later on he managed his tyres way better than Nico and managed to run 5 laps more than his teammate Nico Rosberg to overtake him. Schumacher credited his strategy after the race and said the he deliberately didn’t used the KERS in the first two corners of the first lap so that he can use that in straight and it worked out (oh boy! do he think differently)

Further down was the problem guy, yes I’m talking about the sports most overrated drive Lewis Hamilton he came home seventh despite colliding with None Other Than Felipe Massa. It was the sixth time they’ve touched their cars. Tough on the previous five occasions I held Lewis fully responsible for the mistakes and there was nothing Massa could have done about it but this time it was because of the mistakes of both the drivers. Massa was on the cleaner side (the racing line) and Hamilton tried to get his car in at turn, as Massa turned his car the Mclaren’s front wheel touched Massa’s rear wheel due to which both the drivers had to make an early pit stop . Later, Massa was handed a drive through penalty which was very harsh. For me it was a racing incident and Massa alone was not responsible for it Lewis was also at fault but how often do we see stewards favoring Lewis. Later Massa hitted the kerb hard once again in the same fashion he did on Saturday and damaged his front suspension and retired from the race. Later on Massa along with Stefano Domenacalli expressed that he was surprised because of the steward’s decision. Mark Webber also said that he thought that it was a 50-50 incident in his opinion and the steward’s should be a little lenient.

Jaime Alguersuari came eight, Adrian Sutil came ninth and Sergio Perez tenth and all helped their teams earn important 4, 2, 1 points respectively. All the three top finishers paid respect to Dan Wheldone and Marco Simoncelli for whom one minute silence was also observed.

Next Formula 1 will move to Abu Dhabi for the day night race experience the championship is over but let’s see who will finish second in the standings after the last two rounds, till then drive safely and bye. . . . . .

CRICKET: PAKISTAN WINS TEST SERIES IN UAE

Pakistan extended their impressive run in test matches as they won the series against Sri Lanka. The home side playing in the United Arab Emirates looked in total control over the tourists from the very first match. In the first match Pakistan out played the Lankans but due to their bad fielding habits in the second innings lost the control of it and the match ended in a draw. The highlight of this match was the double centuries by Taufiq Umer and Kumar Sangakkara, both made 236 &211 respectively, while Junaid Khan and Umer Gul picked 6 wickets a piece.

In the second test match Pakistan once again looked in control when they bowled the tourists out for 239 and piled up huge total of 403, Azhar Ali made a century while the middle order also played its part in piling up the runs. Pakistan once again was able to trap the tourist’s cheaply in the second innings for 257. Pakistan was giving a target of 96 runs which was achieved easily with the loss of a single wicket. Mohammad Hafeez made an unbeaten 59 runs while Saeed Ajmal picked up 8 wickets in the match and was awarded an of the match.

In the third match Sri Lankans looked to be in quiet control, they made 413 runs in the first innings curtsey of Sangakkara and Dilshan’s strong innings. Both made 144 and 92 respectively. Pakistan in reply fell 73 runs short of the target and made 340. Younis made 122 while the skipper Misbah ul Haq play a very important and sensible innings of 89. Welegedara picked 5 wickets. On the final day of the test match we observed an unusual rain in the Middle East and the Sri Lankan’s declared their second innings for a total of 181. Pakistan was given a target of 254 runs in 57 overs. Pakistan just made 81 and lost 4 wickets in reply and the match ended in a draw and Pakistan ended in a draw.

Credit goes to the Pakistani team and especially to Misbah ul Haq, the skipper lead the team in a fantastic way and played important innings in the matches too. Saeed Ajmal and Kumara Sangakkara were both awarded Player’s of the series for their terrific performances throughout the tournament.

The One day series will start from 11^th November, let’s see what happens in the one day series. Pakistan will have the services of former captain Shahid Afridi and Abdul Razzak, the two experienced players, we will have to wait and see what will happen till then bye bye. . . . . . . . . . .

RIP MARCO SIMONCELLI. . . . . . .

A bizarre incident took place at this sunday's Moto GP in Sepang, Malaysia when the race was called off because of the incident which proved fatal for the young Italian Gresini Honda rider Marco Simoncelli. The incident happened at the second lap when Marco lost the control of his bike while trying to make a move on the bike ahead him and collided with Colin Edwards and Valentino Rossi. Both the riders ran almost ran over him, it was so hard that Marco's helmet came off his head too. Sadly at 4:56pm local time it was announced that the Italian rider died because of severe head, neck and chest injuries. Colin Edwards also suffered with a dislocated shoulder.

Being a big motorsports fan and then looking at the safety standards of MotoGP I must say that they are very unsatisfactory, and eventhough with all those advancements teh sport is still a very risky one and most importantly there is nothing you can do about it because it the nature of the sport, the two wheel racing is far dangerous then four wheel sport. here I must also give credit to FIA for making Formula 1 very safe in recent years we have seen so many horrifying accidents of Kubica, Ralf Schumacher, Webber etc to one even got a bruise, ever since the death of Seena they have concentrated on safety alot which is proving itself now. Now after a second fatal crash in two weeks ( the first one of Dan Wheldon, the Indycar racer who died last sunday at Las Vegas) the FIA must seriously think on safety issues specially regarding the two wheel racing series.

Anyways, Marco Simoncelli will always be remembered as a tough rider, he was a very quick qualifier and also got two podiums this year the second was in his last race when he came home second, But the way he left us that don't make any sense. . . . . . .

F1: Belgian Grand Prix Updates

Let’s have a look at what’s happening in the F1 world as the teams are at one of the most spectacular track of the season the Spa fancorchamps

Just as Friday rain is expected in the qualifying session.

Micheal Schumacher will be celebrating his 20^th anniversary

Nick Heidfeld has been dropped out of the team for two race and Bruno Senna will fill his place. The Brazilian who is the nephew of the Ex F1 legend Ayrton Senna is getting his second chance in F1 circuit. Meanwhile Nick Hieldfeld has launched legal proceedings against the Renault team claiming that he has a main driver contract with the team.

My verdict: Although I’m not a big fan of Nick as he’s not a delivering any strong performance since years ( I don’t remember any of his appreciable performance since 2006) and should feel very lucky to be in the Formula One circuit but still the Renault team should have taken him in confidence regarding this matter. Let’s see what happens).

Mclaren is hoping for a better qualifying session as the track has two long starights and the Mercedes engines are regarded the best as far as top speed is concerned. I think, stage is set for a Mclaren victory but lets see which driver comes on top this time.