Louis van Gaal in for a shock, says Brendan Rodgers

LONDON: Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers has warned his new Manchester United counterpart Louis van Gaal that the competitiveness of the Premier League will be like nothing he has experienced before.

Van Gaal has won titles in Holland, Spain and Germany and has made an impressive start to his United career, leading them to victory over Liverpool in the final of the International Champions Cup pre-season tournament.

But for all the 62-year-old's achievements, which include Champions League success with Ajax in 1995, Rodgers thinks that he will be in for a shock when the Premier League kicks off on August 16.

"I think what he'll find is the competition in this league will be different to any other league that he's worked in," Rodgers said, as reported by several British newspapers on Wednesday.

"In a lot of the other leagues, there are one or two teams and those are the teams that are expected to win. This is a league where the top team plays the bottom team and on any given day you can lose.

"You don't get that a lot in the other leagues. I think the competition will probably take him by (surprise), and that's from foreign managers I have spoken to over the years."

Rodgers also spoke of his admiration for the Dutchman, who steered the Netherlands to the semifinals of the World Cup in Brazil.

"I'm obviously an admirer of his work and his career," the Northern Irishman added. "He's a very experienced manager and a very good manager who has worked at some big clubs.

"When you come through as a coach, you look at the guys who have a vision and a philosophy, and he was obviously one of those guys."

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Had I been banned, this medal wouldn't have come: Jwala

Jwala Gutta is happy and proud about her win at the Commonwealth Games held at Glasgow. The women's doubles team of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa, who won gold at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, had to settle for silver in Glasgow.

But Jwala maintains she is both "happy" and "proud" because she proved a point to all her detractors, who recommended imposing a life ban on her for allegedly trying to stop her teammates from playing a match at the Indian Badminton League in October last year.

Proving her critics wrong wasn't really easy, but Jwala says she is happy to have made a statement.

"In spite of whatever transpired, all that I went through, I am happy that I made a statement and I am here to stay. No one can stop me.

"Getting a medal is not a small feat, irrespective of what colour it is. I have two consecutive medals at the CWG and it makes me feel proud. I hope my family and friends too share this pride with me. I want to thank everybody who stood by me and believed in me. I am grateful," said the shuttler, adding, "We won the gold last time, at Glasgow, we still managed to reach the finals and I am proud of that."

"We could have won the gold for sure, but it's part of the game. We got to learn a lot from all the players and our opponents," she says.

Talking about the finals, Jwala says, "We were very close and we did want to win gold. But it's okay. We have won three medals already this year. It's been a good year."

Despite the win, one can't help but wonder that had the life ban been imposed on Jwala, there would have been no medal from the women's doubles team at the CWG. "I am tired of answering people. But yes, if I had been banned, this silver medal wouldn't have come. And that's a reality."

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Had I been banned, this medal wouldn't have come: Jwala

Jwala Gutta is happy and proud about her win at the Commonwealth Games held at Glasgow. The women's doubles team of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa, who won gold at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, had to settle for silver in Glasgow.

But Jwala maintains she is both "happy" and "proud" because she proved a point to all her detractors, who recommended imposing a life ban on her for allegedly trying to stop her teammates from playing a match at the Indian Badminton League in October last year.

Proving her critics wrong wasn't really easy, but Jwala says she is happy to have made a statement.

"In spite of whatever transpired, all that I went through, I am happy that I made a statement and I am here to stay. No one can stop me.

"Getting a medal is not a small feat, irrespective of what colour it is. I have two consecutive medals at the CWG and it makes me feel proud. I hope my family and friends too share this pride with me. I want to thank everybody who stood by me and believed in me. I am grateful," said the shuttler, adding, "We won the gold last time, at Glasgow, we still managed to reach the finals and I am proud of that."

"We could have won the gold for sure, but it's part of the game. We got to learn a lot from all the players and our opponents," she says.

Talking about the finals, Jwala says, "We were very close and we did want to win gold. But it's okay. We have won three medals already this year. It's been a good year."

Despite the win, one can't help but wonder that had the life ban been imposed on Jwala, there would have been no medal from the women's doubles team at the CWG. "I am tired of answering people. But yes, if I had been banned, this silver medal wouldn't have come. And that's a reality."

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Ecclestone hails capitalism after bribery trial deal

BERLIN: Formula One tycoon Bernie Ecclestone on Wednesday rejected criticism of his $100-million payment to end his trial in Germany on bribery charges and praised the capitalist system.

A day after the court case in Munich was spectacularly halted, the British billionaire told the German press that he could not "understand" people saying he had bought a dismissal.

"To me it looks as if the judges, in their opinion, didn't really have another choice," the 83-year-old told mass circulation Bild daily, in comments published in German.

He also expressed regret over the high sum he agreed to pay to end the four-month trial under an accord struck with prosecutors and accepted by the tribunal.

"It's certainly a bit unfortunate to pay so much money. But it's more unfortunate not to have the money.

"But actually I find this capitalist system good," he told Bild in an interview in London, just hours after the court's decision on Tuesday.

The $100-million (75-million-euro) accord is believed to be the largest of its kind in German history.

Ecclestone went on trial in April on charges of paying a $44-million bribe to a Bavarian state bank executive for help in maintaining his four-decade grip on F1.

He also told Bild it had not been "funny" having to travel to Munich for two or three days a week since April for the court proceedings but he was now fully back at F1.

"But I want to say one thing, I've fallen in love a bit with Munich and its people," he added, saying he would like to return soon.

"Perhaps even for Oktoberfest," he said, referring to the legendary beer festival in the Bavarian city that begins next month.

German media commentators on Wednesday were highly critical of the trial's outcome, with Bild saying "It's a mockery! Where's the justice in this?"

The Munich-based Sueddeutsche Zeitung referred to "cash-till justice" and said the Ecclestone outcome was a "peak in the still young history of the commercialisation of criminal proceedings".

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Better facilities could have earned gold: Sushila Devi

NEW DELHI: Commonwealth Games silver winner judoka Sushila Devi feels India could have won a gold at the multi-sport event had the facilities been proper but hoped her feat will bring a change in judo scene in the country.

"We have enough talent and enough capabilities in our country as far as Judo is concerned. But lack of facilities has always kept us behind others," she said.

"Actually Judo is not such a popular sport in this country. So the government does not sanction enough money, I hope the scene will change now," added the 2010 Commonwealth Championships gold medallist.

Sushila showed tremendous determination en route to the final round by knocking out her rivals on Ippon verdicts.

The judoka began her campaign by thrashing M Medza Effa of Cameroon in just one minute 41 seconds before knocking out A Meyer of Australia in similar fashion in the quarterfinals and went on to the semi finals to knock down C Rayner, also of Australia, in an Ippon verdict in the third minute.

However, she could not repeat the same in the final and Scotland's Kimberly Renicks thrashed her in the third minute of the final round with an Ippon verdict.

Sushila stressed on the need to participate in more international events and increase the number of national competitions for improving performance.

"You know, perfection comes with practice. We should be sent for more international events so that we can raise our standards. On the other hand, emphasis should also be given on more national events to bring in young talents," said the 18-year-old.

The Manipur girl also shared how her uncle had been her inspiration from early childhood.

"I always had an attraction for Judo, but it is my uncle for whom I am here. He is a Judo player himself and got me into this game when I was a child. He has trained me in early days and made me ready," she said.

Sushila, along with Navjot Chana, are the first Indian judokas to have bagged medals in any senior international event and this fact also seems to make her uncle L Dinit Singh even more proud who is a part of BSF's 60kg Judo team.

When asked about her preparations for the upcoming Asian Games, a hopeful Sushila said, "I am positive about the games. I am putting in my best efforts, and I am optimistic about not repeating the same mistakes and ensuring a gold."

Sushila also won a gold in under 52kg at the 2011 Asian Youth and Junior Judo Championships in Beirut.

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Silver medal was well-deserved, Sardar Singh says

NEW DELHI: India might have failed to break their Commonwealth Games title jinx for the second consecutive time but captain Sardar Singh has a lot of positives to take from the event and said the silver medal was a "well-deserved" achievement for the past masters of the game.

Sardar said the young side can be "proud of their achievement" in the just-concluded Glasgow Games despite losing 0-4 to world champions Australia in the final.

"It was disappointment to miss out on the gold time but we are satisfied with what we have achieved. The boys can be proud of their achievement," Sardar said.

"The silver medal was well-deserved because we lost against a side which is the best in the world and are currently well ahead of us.

"Even though we couldn't match them in the final as we expected but we gave them a tough fight in the group stage. We lost 2-4 in the group stage and that speaks volumes about our improvement," the ace midfielder said.

Even though the two teams were class apart, it was an ideal opportunity for the eight-time Olympic champions India to avenge their 0-8 thrashing at the hands of mighty Australia in the 2010 edition of the Games in New Delhi.

But it was not to be as Australia produced a clinical performance and scored two goals in each half to secure their fifth consecutive Commonwealth Games title since the introduction of hockey in the quadrennial event in 1998.

But irrespective of the final result, Sardar feels they grew as a team during the Glasgow Games and exuded confidence of sealing a direct berth in the 2016 Rio Olympics by winning the upcoming Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea.

"We grew as a team during the tournament which was important. We more or less achieved our goal that we set before leaving for Glasgow. We wanted to beat Australia once during the course of the tournament but we failed," he said.

"We have definitely improved as a team which was visible in our performance but we need some more time to come at par with top teams like Australia.

"Our's is a young team and all the boys have performed exceptionally well in the Commonwealth Games. I think in the next one-and-half, 2 years we will be in a position to compete with teams like Australia, Germany and Netherlands," he said.

"The Commonwealth Games gave us good preparation ahead of the Asian Games. We are now confident of winning the gold medal in the Asian Games and qualify directly for the Rio Olympics."

Sardar said India will be a "force to reckon with" in 2016 Olympics.

"The way our training is going and the way we are improving, I think we can be a serious contender at Rio Olympics," he said.

Even though the skipper was not satisfied with his showing in the Glasgow Games, he had words of appreciation for some of his teammates.

"I had a mixed bag from the tournament. Being the captain, I am not pleased with my overall performance. But it was a very good tournament for some players like young Nikkin Thimmaiah, Akashdeep Singh, seniors like Gurbaj Singh, Gurvinder Singh Chandi," he said.

"Unlike the World Cup, our penalty corner conversion rate was also very good here and the credit goes to Rupinder Pal Singh and V R Raghunath," Sardar said.

The skipper said they have a lot of work to do before the Asian Games to be held from September 19 to October 4.

"There are definitely grey areas where we need to work upon. We need to more consistent. We need to do away with our habit of giving away soft balls," Sardar signed off.

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Silver medal was well-deserved, Sardar Singh says

NEW DELHI: India might have failed to break their Commonwealth Games title jinx for the second consecutive time but captain Sardar Singh has a lot of positives to take from the event and said the silver medal was a "well-deserved" achievement for the past masters of the game.

Sardar said the young side can be "proud of their achievement" in the just-concluded Glasgow Games despite losing 0-4 to world champions Australia in the final.

"It was disappointment to miss out on the gold time but we are satisfied with what we have achieved. The boys can be proud of their achievement," Sardar said.

"The silver medal was well-deserved because we lost against a side which is the best in the world and are currently well ahead of us.

"Even though we couldn't match them in the final as we expected but we gave them a tough fight in the group stage. We lost 2-4 in the group stage and that speaks volumes about our improvement," the ace midfielder said.

Even though the two teams were class apart, it was an ideal opportunity for the eight-time Olympic champions India to avenge their 0-8 thrashing at the hands of mighty Australia in the 2010 edition of the Games in New Delhi.

But it was not to be as Australia produced a clinical performance and scored two goals in each half to secure their fifth consecutive Commonwealth Games title since the introduction of hockey in the quadrennial event in 1998.

But irrespective of the final result, Sardar feels they grew as a team during the Glasgow Games and exuded confidence of sealing a direct berth in the 2016 Rio Olympics by winning the upcoming Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea.

"We grew as a team during the tournament which was important. We more or less achieved our goal that we set before leaving for Glasgow. We wanted to beat Australia once during the course of the tournament but we failed," he said.

"We have definitely improved as a team which was visible in our performance but we need some more time to come at par with top teams like Australia.

"Our's is a young team and all the boys have performed exceptionally well in the Commonwealth Games. I think in the next one-and-half, 2 years we will be in a position to compete with teams like Australia, Germany and Netherlands," he said.

"The Commonwealth Games gave us good preparation ahead of the Asian Games. We are now confident of winning the gold medal in the Asian Games and qualify directly for the Rio Olympics."

Sardar said India will be a "force to reckon with" in 2016 Olympics.

"The way our training is going and the way we are improving, I think we can be a serious contender at Rio Olympics," he said.

Even though the skipper was not satisfied with his showing in the Glasgow Games, he had words of appreciation for some of his teammates.

"I had a mixed bag from the tournament. Being the captain, I am not pleased with my overall performance. But it was a very good tournament for some players like young Nikkin Thimmaiah, Akashdeep Singh, seniors like Gurbaj Singh, Gurvinder Singh Chandi," he said.

"Unlike the World Cup, our penalty corner conversion rate was also very good here and the credit goes to Rupinder Pal Singh and V R Raghunath," Sardar said.

The skipper said they have a lot of work to do before the Asian Games to be held from September 19 to October 4.

"There are definitely grey areas where we need to work upon. We need to more consistent. We need to do away with our habit of giving away soft balls," Sardar signed off.

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Sushil Kumar most searched on Google during CWG

NEW DELHI: The Indian athletes' brilliant performance in the Commonwealth Games created quite a buzz online as well with gold-winning wrestler Sushil Kumar being the most searched on Google.

As the curtain went down on the 20th Commonwealth Games, India notched up 64 medals.

Ranking fifth in the tally after England, Australia, Canada and Scotland, the Indian medal tally stood at 15 Gold, 30 Silver and 19 Bronze medals.

Sushil remained the most searched athlete as the Indian wrestling squad put forward some spectacular performances scooping 13 medals, including five gold medals.

Badminton remained the most searched sporting discipline as Parupalli Kashyap became the first Indian man to win a badminton gold at the Games in 32 years.

It was a historic win as he clinched the gold for India and generated a lot of buzz online. Boxing and Wrestling stood second and third respectively among the highly searched disciplines during the games.

Other Indian athletes, who were widely searched online included Vijender Singh (Boxing), Yogeshwar Dutt (Wrestling), and Vikas Gowda (Athletics) and Parupalli Kashyap (Badminton).

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Spain's Xavi Hernandez quits international football

Xavi Hernandez announces international retirement (AFP) -

MADRID: Spain midfielder Xavi Hernandez announced on Tuesday the end of a dazzling international football career crowned by La Roja's 2010 World Cup triumph and two European Championships.

"I have decided to leave the national team. I think my time there has finished," the 34-year-old Barcelona player told a news conference.

"It has been a wonderful, fantastic period for me. It has been an honour," said Xavi, who played a decisive role in Spain's triumphs at the World Cup in South Africa in 2010, at Euro 2008 and at Euro 2012.

"We have managed to achieve many successes in the past six or eight years and now I am just another fan of the Spain team," he said.

Xavi said he would stay with Barcelona, however, after being persuaded to ditch plans to leave the club.

The player revealed that he had planned to leave the national side after Spain's Euro 2012 triumph in Ukraine, but coach Vicente del Bosque convinced him to stay.

"He insisted I stay for Brazil and Brazil was disappointing for everyone collectively and for me also individually," he said.

"The fact that I did not take part in the decisive game against Chile was a personal disappointment," said Xavi of the match that Spain lost 2-0 in Rio de Janeiro in June, ensuring their exit from the World Cup in the group stage.

Xavi only played in the first game of Spain's World Cup campaign in Brazil, a humiliating 5-1 loss to the Netherlands, an unfortunate end to his 133rd game for his country.

Spain's coaching staff agreed that his time with the national side "has finished", he said.

Xavi said he had considered leaving Barcelona, too, after a disappointing 2013-14 season in which the club won no major titles.

"I ended the season a bit disappointed. I had two major collective and personal disappointments, perhaps the worst of my career on a personal level," he said.

"I found myself on the bench for the last game of the league season, which had not happened to me in recent years in the national team either, and I decided to tell the club that the best thing would be to say that it is over now," Xavi said.

But Barcelona's new coach Luis Enrique and sporting director Andoni Zubizarreta, "convinced me I can still be competitive and useful to the club," he added.

"I will give everything to carry on being important and useful to Barcelona. I hope people understand my decision.

"I had major personal disappointments and I thought my time with the club was over," said the player, who had been the subject of end-of-season Spanish press reports speculating that he could go to the United States or Qatar.

"I don't know what the next season will bring but I have a good feeling," Xavi said, noting that he has two years still to go on his Barcelona contract.

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Tests show Nadal recovery from wrist injury on track

MADRID: Rafael Nadal's recovery from a wrist injury that ruled him out of two US Open tune-up events is on track, the Spanish tennis federation (RFET) said on Tuesday after the world number two underwent tests.

Nadal sustained the injury during practice late last month and the 28-year-old Majorcan left-hander has been training with a cast on his right wrist.

He was forced to withdraw from this week's Rogers Cup in Toronto and next week's Cincinnati Open, putting in doubt his title defence at the year's final grand slam at Flushing Meadows in New York starting at the end of this month.

"Following a scan and clinical evaluation, his progress is on track, although he will still have tests from time to time," the RFET said on their website (www.rfet.es).

Nadal on Monday posted a picture of himself working on court with his uncle and coach Toni in which a black wrist support was clearly visible.

"Making the most of these days to continue training, always with desire and optimism," Nadal wrote.

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