SCARLET SCARF

A famous saying goes ‘Rules are meant to be broken’ this implies equally to the ‘Records’ as they are also meant to be broken in some time or later. Aces (and un-returnable serves) are especially important in men's tennis, and are becoming ever more important in women's tennis, too. Accuracy and placement choice, more than sheer power are the tools for delivering an ace. And whatever your style of service action speed comes from getting the racket to travel faster as it makes impact with the ball. You do need to be strong to do it, but it's not about having big arm muscles. Flexibility is what is really important. In the Aegon Classic Championship at Birmingham, history knocked at the door of German tennis star Sabine Lisicki when she hit 27 aces in a match against Belinda Bencic. This was a new WTA record made by Lisicki. Before her Serena Williams of US and Kaia Kanepi of Estonia hold the record of 24 aces. She made the record by hitting 16 aces in the first s...

England won the third ODI against New Zealand by seven wickets. The young and energetic English team gave a spectacular overall performance to clinch this victory and level the series 2-2. The last ODI will be played this Saturday on 2o June at Chester-le-Street. After winning the toss in the third ODI at Nottingham, New Zealand, boldly took the decision to bat first. The exceptional batting by Kane Williamson who scored 90 runs were a thrill to watch for the fans in the stadium. This 90 runs were inclusive of 12 splendid four’s and one six. Openers Martin Guptill and skipper Brendon McCullum gave a good opening partnership. Brendon McCullum, who scored 35 runs, lost his wicket to Mark Wood and got caught behind by wicketkeeper Jos Buttler. Later Kane Williamson gave a treat of beautiful batting performance, but was 10 runs short for his century when bowler Willey took his wicket. The 50’s and 40’s of Ross Taylor, Grant Elliot and the explosive batting by Mitchell Santner...

When he was awarded Allan Border medal in January 2015, for his prolific performance of scoring 1,756 runs in 22 matches at an average of 67.54 matches which included eight 50s and seven 100s, Australian Cricket was aware of a rising star amidst them. He also won the Australian Player of the year award the very same time.   Steve Smith is currently ranked as the youngest cricketer just after India’s Sachin Tendulkar to be ranked as number one in the latest ICC test rankings. India’s hero Virat Kohli although saw a drop in his ranking as he stands now at no. 11. Australia’s Michael Clarke was once on the first position in the year 2012. Steve Smith who is just 26 years old celebrated his birthday on 2 June. This climb at the top of the ladder comes to him after Australia registers a 277 runs win over West Indies and clinched the trophy and series by 2-0. During his play Steve was unfortunate to complete his maiden double century by an agonising one run at Kingston. Steven...

His flamboyant play and quick-foot as wicket-keeper will be missed henceforth by all the ‘Sanga’ fans as Kumar Sangakkara has taken a final call on his international career. Kumar Snagakkara, Sri Lanka’s top batsman cum wicket-keeper is likely to retire after the first test which will be played against India in the midst of the August 2015.  Currently Sri Lanka will be playing a home series against neighbouring country Pakistan. The three tests and two ODIs will be played with Pakistan, the first test beginning from 17 June to 21 st June 2015.   It seems that Sangakkara has informed the board that he will play the two tests against Pakistan and One test against India which will mark the end of his international career. After exiting from international career Sangakkara is supposed to play for county side Surrey. Kumar had a fantastic international career which had the virtue of leading the Sri Lankan cricket team as a captain. As father of Kavith and...

While playing the 114 th edition of the French Open, Rafael Nadal probably didn’t expect that he won’t conquer the 10 th title successively. There was a rally of criticism built on him over and over again. His injuries and loss of form feared his early knock-out on his favourite court of clay. In the midst of all the infamous speculations Rafael lost to world no. 1 Novak Djokovic in a tough battle. He exited from Rolland Garros, but his words at the post-match presentat ion gave a new hope to all his fans and showed his invincible attitude towards his Tennis!   Rafael Nadal didn’t lose the hope. He participated in the Stuggart Open and to everyone’s surprise he won the finals. This was his second grass court title after July 2010.  All the ‘Rafa’ (as he is fondly called) fans bowed to his win and all the criticism were shut right there. This is just a baby step for Rafael Nadal as he trains and prepares for the upcoming Wimbledon Grand Slam on 29 th June 2015 onwards...

Athletics is the king of all games. This doesn’t mean that other sports are underdogs or less. The track and field events of the athletics bring out the best of the season’s runners, discus thrower, Pole-vault, steeplechase run and many other events that give you goose bumps while you watch. Recently, the Asian Athletics Championship of 2015 took place in Wuhan, China. Apart from all the medal winners of India, these two athletes from India among the squad have made our country proud. Vikas Gowda won the discus throw event with the Gold medal and Tintu Lukka has won the Gold medal in the 800m finals at the Asian Athletics Championship in Wuhan, China.  Vikas cleared 62. O3 metres of discus throw to bag his second consecutive gold at the Asian Championships. For Tinku, this Gold medal has a special importance as this is her first international Gold medal. Vikas Gowda is from Mysore (Karnataka) who did his schooling in the US. His father Shive coached the 1988 India...

India finished with five medals on the final day of Asian Athletic Championship in Wuhan, China. India secured four gold medals, five silver medals and four bronze in the championship. The first place was hauled by China with 15 Gold, 13 Silver, 13 bronze whereas the second position was acquired by Qatar with 7 Gold, 2 Silver, 1 Bronze. This is believed to be India’s best finish after the 2007 Asian Athletic Championship where India finished second (Amman, Jordan). Tintu Luka   National record holder Tintu Luka performed her season best i.e. 2:01.53s to win the gold in the women’s 800m final at the Wuhan Sports Centre. This medal has a special importance in her life, as it is her very first gold medal in an international event. This victory had now qualified her for the Beijing World Championship in August. Tintu Luka is yet to qualify for Rio Olympics of 2016. Vikas Gowda In men’s 800m, Jinson Johnson bagged the silver medal. He achieved this, with a time of 1:49:69...