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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2016 SPORTS The predicament of being Ajinkya Rahane NEW DELHI: With a “no-vacancy” sign An industrious accumulator in a line- Twenty20, he is somebody who has one to seventh position in the batting plastered on India’s top order and his up teeming with swashbuckling power- done really well when he is opening the order. utility in the middle questioned by his hitters, Rahane can only hope for a mid- batting. With India deciding to preserve Kohli own captain, Ajinkya Rahane suddenly dle order slot but Dhoni, forthright as “If you look at the team we have got for bigger things, Rahane batted at num- finds his consistency with the bat means ever, has virtually dismissed the possibil- for the Twenty20 World Cup, you find it ber three in this month’s home T20 very little. ity. Dhoni insists Rahane, as evident from difficult to find a place for him.” An auto- series against Sri Lanka and will almost The 27-year-old Mumbai batsman has his consistent performance in the Indian matic selection in the test team, Rahane invariably make way when the test skip- forced his way into the final 15 for next Premier League (IPL) Twenty20 competi- has a strike rate of 114 in T20 per returns for the upcoming Asia Cup. month’s World Twenty20 on home soil tion, is at his best as an opener and lacks Internationals and is among the rare This is despite Rahane finishing last but is unlikely to play a major role in the the muscle power to excel as a lower- batsmen who can score freely and still year’s IPL as the second highest run- hosts’ bid for a second 20-over World order slogger. not offend the purists with his shot-mak- scorer, behind only Australia opener title under Mahendra Singh Dhoni. “When both the openers perform ing. David Warner. The left-right combination of Shikhar well, it makes life slightly difficult for the Almost an anachronism in an exuber- Dhoni rates Rahane among the top Dhawan and Rohit Sharma have locked skipper,” the India captain told reporters ant group that wears its heart on its three Indian batsmen in IPL but is up the opening slots, followed by bat- on Tuesday. “Rahane, at the end of the sleeve, the soft-spoken Rahane notched against tinkering with a well-settled bat- ting mainstay Virat Kohli and limited day, is a fantastic player but you also up six half-centuries in his last 10 one- ting lineup for the March 8-April tourna- overs specialist Suresh Raina. have to consider the fact that in day international knocks, floating from ment. —Reuters Ajinkya Rahane Olympian Ten defends title at Four Continents TAIPEI: Olympic medallist Denis Ten will Continents champions Meagan Duhamel face tough competition as the headline act and Eric Radford of Canada are defending at the Four Continents figure skating cham- their title. pionships in Taipei this week, as he seeks to Among the medal contenders are World defend his crown. silver medallists Sui Wenjing and Han Cong Ten is looking to scoop his second Four of China-their compatriots Yu Xiaoyu and Continents title after winning in Seoul last Jin Yang will also vie for the title, with year. American champions Tarah Kayne and The skater from Kazakhstan, who took Daniel O’Shea also hopeful. an Olympic bronze at Sochi in 2014, will In the ice dance event, defending cham- face three-time World Champion Patrick pions Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje of Chan of Canada and 2015 Skate America Canada are eyeing their third title and champion Max Aaron of the United States. come in confident after taking the ISU Current ISU Grand Prix Final bronze Grand Prix final earlier this season. medallist Shoma Uno of Japan and defend- Other top competitors include newly ing Four Continents bronze medallist Yan crowned US champions Maia Shibutani and Han of China will also line up for the men’s Alex Shibutani, and 2015 World and Four title. Continents silver medallists Madison Chock The women’s event is also wide open and Evan Bates, also from the United States. after defending champion Polina Edmunds More than 90 skaters representing 15 of the US withdrew due to injury. Last ISU members from around the world are year’s runner-up Satoko Miyahara of Japan- competing at the event, which runs from a reigning world silver medallist-will head- Thursday to Sunday at Taiwan’s Taipei line the field. Arena. “It’s my third time competing at the Four “We hope to promote skating in Taiwan Continents. I have two silver medals so I by hosting the competition. With the want the first place. I practise very hard so I world’s top skaters coming (to Taiwan), want to do my best at this competition,” local audiences can enjoy top quality per- she told AFP. formances without having to fly abroad Miyahara will face fellow Japanese while local skaters can have the opportuni- skater Rika Hongo and 2014 Four ties to learn from them,” said Eddy Wu, sec- Continents champion Kanako Murakami, as retary-general of Chinese Taipei Skating well as ISU Grand Prix finalist Gracie Gold of Union. Tsao Chih-i and Amy Lin will repre- the US. sent Taiwan in the men’s and women’s Juan Martin del Potro In the pairs, reigning World and Four events, respectively. — AFP Del Potro makes winning Willett keen to maintain momentum in Malaysia return at Delray Beach Open KUALA LUMPUR: England’s Danny Willett nice to have last week off to recover and DELRAY BEACH: Juan Martin del seeks further fuel for his rapid rise in world recharge the batteries,” he said. Potro thrust his arms into the air, golf at this week’s inaugural Maybank The $3 million tournament at the Royal blew a kiss skyward and began toss- Championship Malaysia, where he heads a Selangor Golf Club, co-sanctioned by the ing his sweat-soaked wristbands field including past Major champions Louis European and Asian Tours who are in ongo- into the crowd. This was one sweet Oosthuizen and Martin Kaymer. ing talks over a proposed merger into a victory for the Argentine. Del Potro Willett arrives in Kuala Lumpur on a tide mega-tour, is the successor to the longtime beat American Denis Kudla 6-1, 6-4 of momentum following a win two weeks Malaysian Open, which has been discontin- in the first round of the Delray Beach ago in the Dubai Desert Classic and a hand- ued due to a sponsorship shift. Open on Tuesday in his first ATP ful of other top-10 finishes in recent Both Oosthuizen, now the world num- match in 11 months following a left months. ber 21, and Kaymer, who is ranked 36, will wrist injury. The 28-year-old has soared from 47th a be trying to bounce back after missing the Del Potro’s win was a relief to year ago to world number 13 and is the cut in windy conditions in Dubai. tournament organizers after their top two seeds each had a quick exit. highest-ranked player in a Malaysian field “I struggled with my ball flight (in Dubai) Kevin Anderson, the No. 1 seed and that also features top-50 players Thongchai and when it’s windy that’s the last thing 2012 champion, was forced to retire Jaidee and Kiradech Aphibarnrat of you want to happen,” said Oosthuizen, of from his match against Austin Thailand, and Englishmen Chris Wood and South Africa. Krajicek due to a right shoulder Matthew Fitzpatrick. The early-year appearance in Malaysia injury. Hours later, second-seeded Willett showed his championship mettle typically offers a special challenge for Bernard Tomic of Australia lost to by clinching a one-shot victory in Dubai Western golfers due to the humid condi- American Rajeev Ram, 7-6 (3), 6-1. with a tricky 15-foot putt on the final hole. tions and jet lag, and Oosthuizen said The 27-year-old del Potro played It was his fourth career win and lifted Tuesday he was “struggling to stay awake”. just four matches last year and 10 in But he added that it may be “a good him from 19th in the world rankings to 2014. He has faced four surgeries - within striking distance of the top 10. omen”, noting that he ended up winning one on his right wrist and three on Willett admitted he is still acclimating to his the Malaysian Open in 2012 after rushing in his left - since defeating Roger new status and that “expectations are obvi- following a playoff at the US Masters Federer in the 2009 US Open final. ously high after how well I’ve been playing against eventual champion Bubba Watson. Once ranked in the top 10, del recently.” Willett, Germany’s Kaymer, and others Potro is down to No. 1,041. Against “Winning does take a lot out of you, from Europe also are keen to burnish their Kudla, he was surprisingly consis- physically and mentally,” he said. But he Ryder Cup credentials in the presence of tent, losing just 10 points on his added that a week off at home in England European captain Darren Clarke of serve in the match - five of them on had left him refreshed. Northern Ireland, who also will be compet- double faults. Rather than pound his ing in Malaysia. once potent two-handed backhand, ‘RUNNING ON ADRENALINE’ The $3 million Maybank Championship del Potro employed a new-found “When you’re running on adrenalin, you Malaysia has a winner’s purse of $500,000 one-handed slice shot.