Sports: The week that will be (1st Oct- 7th Oct)
October. The month of the cliched “Wake me up when September ends” jokes. The month of the Oktoberfest for the Germans and Thanksgiving for the Canadians.
For us sports fans, it’s just another calender month which is but a small part in the year long carnival that we are a part of. The first week of October promises to be as action packed and as exciting as any as we have loads of cricket, football,F1 and tennis action coming up.
Cricket:
|
Date/Time |
Teams |
Type |
Venue |
|
01 Oct, Monday, 15:30 |
New Zealand vs West Indies |
T20 |
Pallekele, Sri Lanka |
|
01 Oct, Monday, 19:30 |
Sri Lanka vs England |
T20 |
Pallekele, Sri Lanka |
The ICC World T20 continues with it’s Super8 action as hosts Sri Lanka take on England at Kandy and West Indies lock horns with New Zealand, with all the 4 teams having a realistic chance of making it to the Semi finals. New Zealand will go into the match knowing they need a huge win and will need England to lose. This would mean Sri Lanka will go through and the other 3 teams would be tied at 2 points each and the Net Run Rate would come into play.
West Indies, with a win already, would be better placed knowing that even a narrow victory is sufficient to guarantee a semi final berth. Defending champions England’s hope of progressing are hanging by a thread as they face the hosts Sri Lanka who are still unbeaten in the tournament. England are in a do or die situation here and will face elimination if they fail to win. England are on the back of an impressive victory against New Zealand but it will be a tough task against Sri Lanka who have grown stronger as the tournament has progressed.
|
Date/Time |
Teams |
Type |
Venue |
|
02 Oct, Tuesday, 15:30 |
Australia vs Pakistan |
T20 |
Colombo, Sri Lanka |
|
02 Oct, Tuesday, 19:30 |
India vs South Africa |
T20 |
Colombo, Sri Lanka |
The other group is no less devoid of fun as here too there is a slim possibility for any of the four teams. Australia will face Pakistan knowing that it will take a lot of permutations and combinations for them to go out after looking dominant in the tournament so far. Shane Watson has performed with bat and ball and will be their trump card once again. Pakistan must lift themselves up after the demoralizing defeat at the hands of arch-rivals India. India, on the other hand, are on a high and will look to inflict defeat on the already down South Africa, reeling from defeats at the hands of Australia and Pakistan. The fact that South Africa have a point to prove could prove dangerous for India. All in all, it is a must win game for all the teams perhaps barring Australia.
|
Date/Time |
Teams |
Type |
Venue |
|
04 Oct, Thursday, 19:00 |
TBC |
T20 |
Colombo, Sri Lanka |
|
05 Oct, Friday, 19:00 |
TBC |
T20 |
Colombo, Sri Lanka |
|
07 Oct, Sunday, 19:00 |
TBC |
T20 |
Colombo, Sri Lanka |
The teams for the semifinals will be decided by Tuesday giving them virtually no time to prepare against their opponents as the semi finals take place on Thursday and Friday with the winners meeting in the Big Final on Sunday. We wonder if the “no reserve day” in case of a washout for the semifinals and finals might play spoilsport.
Football:
The UEFA Champions League is back with it’s thrills and spills before it takes a three week long break.
Danish club FC Nordsjælland take on reigning champions Chelsea as they look to make an impression in their first stint in the Champions League. It’s a David vs Goliath match up on paper since Chelsea have grown even stronger than last season with their big money signings in Oscar and Hazard. Chelsea should be able to get out of it without breaking a sweat.
FC Barcelona travel to Lisbon this week for what may turn out to be the hardest game in their Champions League group. Benfica have ex-Barca forward Nolito, who will be desperate to do well against his former club. Both teams are top of their respective domestic leagues after having finished second last season. The Catalan club will be on a high after coming back from two goals behind to beat 10 man Sevilla at the weekend. The Portuguese club will look up to veteran midfielder Pablo Aimar and prolific Paraguayan forward Oscar Cardozo amongst others to halt Barcelona’s brilliant start to the season.
Manchester United make the long trip to Transylvania on Tuesday night to take on Romanian Champions CFR Cluj on in their Group H clash. The Red Devils will need to bounce back from the disappointing defensive performance against Tottenham on the weekend but will take heart from the attacking intent they showed in the second half. Wayne Rooney’s return to form and his seemingly good link up play with Robin Van Persie looks encouraging. Cluj made a good start by beating Braga on Matchday one but lie in 5th, 6 points off the top in their domestic league.
Tuesday, October 2, 2012
| Time | Home | Away | Stage | Venue | |
| 1:15 AM IST | FC Nordsjælland | v | Chelsea | Group E | Farum Park |
| 1:15 AM IST | Juventus | v | Shakhtar Donetsk | Group E | Juventus Stadium |
| 1:15 AM IST | BATE Borisov | v | Bayern Munich | Group F | Borisov Gradski Stadium |
| 1:15 AM IST | Valencia | v | Lille | Group F | Mestalla |
| 10:30 PM IST | Spartak Moscow | v | Celtic | Group G | Luzhniki Stadium |
| 1:15 AM IST | Benfica | v | Barcelona | Group G | Estadio da Luz |
| 1:15 AM IST | CFR Cluj-Napoca | v | Manchester United | Group H | Dr. Constantin Radulescu Stadium |
| 1:15 AM IST | Galatasaray | v | Braga | Group H | Turk Telekom Arena |
Arsenal welcome Greek champions Olympiakos as they try to shrug off the weekend’s disappointed Derby defeat at the hands of Chelsea. Arsenal have looked solid this season but there have been question marks on who would take up the goal-scoring mantle after Robin van Persie’s exit. Giroud scored against Coventry City in the League Cup but he’ll need to get firing along with the others if Arsenal are to go far in the Champions League this season. In the Greek Super League, Olympiakos are top with maximum points after three games and will look to have a better outing than the one against Schalke on Match Day 1. These two teams played last year in the group stage of UEFA Champions League and at home Arsenal won 2-1 losing 1-3 at Athens.
AFC Ajax will be hoping for a case of third time lucky when Group D rivals Real Madrid CF come to the Amsterdam Arena for an encounter between two clubs with 13 European Cups between them. In each of the last two seasons, nine-time winners Madrid have beaten the Dutch title holders home and away in the group stage – with an aggregate score of 12-0 – to consign them to third place and an early exit. Real Madrid have have been inconsistent in the La Liga and have seen Barcelona soar to the top as internal conflict have seen them stay out of the top 4. They will be riding high on Portuguese forward Cristiano Ronaldo’s hat trick and subsequent rout of Deportivo La Coruna.
The English Champions Manchester City will host German Champions on Wednesday in an attempt to get a result to secure a passage into the knockout stages of the Champions in league in Group D, also being referred to as this year’s Group of Death. City are unbeaten in 15 matches in European competition at Eastlands and look to extend that run. Dortmund have struggled away from home this season and Tevez and co will look to capitalise on it. Dortmund have a dismal record in England as they have lost their last three games in England. City will look to tighten their defence up after throwing away a lead and conceding twice in the last ten minutes on Matchday 1 against Real Madrid.
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
| Time | Home | Away | Stage | Venue | |
| 1:15 AM IST | Dynamo Kiev | v | Dinamo Zagreb | Group A | NSC Olimpiyskiy |
| 1:15 AM IST | FC Porto | v | Paris Saint-Germain | Group A | Estadio do Dragao |
| 1:15 AM IST | Arsenal | v | Olympiakos | Group B | Emirates Stadium |
| 1:15 AM IST | Schalke 04 | v | Montpellier | Group B | Veltins Arena |
| 10:30 IST | Zenit St Petersburg | v | AC Milan | Group C | Petrovski Stadium |
| 1:15 AM IST | Anderlecht | v | Málaga | Group C | Constant Vanden Stock Stadium |
| 1:15 AM IST | Ajax Amsterdam | v | Real Madrid | Group D | Amsterdam ArenA |
| 1:15 AM IST | Manchester City | v | Borussia Dortmund | Group D | Etihad Stadium |
The Premier League fixtures return at the weekend with relatively straightforward clashes for all the big teams. Chelsea welcome struggling Norwich, Manchester City will have their fortress and their unbeaten run to guard against a similarly undefeated Sunderland while Arsenal visit newly promoted West Ham.
Liverpool will look to stay in the form which helped them destroy Norwich 5-2 and Manchester United will look to win against Newcastle to sustain a strong title challenge after the disappointment at Tottenham.
| Saturday October 6 – Day 7 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 Oct, 7:15 IST | Manchester City v Sunderland | Etihad Stadium, Manchester | ||
| 6 Oct, 9:30 IST | Wigan Athletic v Everton | DW Stadium, Wigan | ||
| 6 Oct, 9:30 IST | Chelsea v Norwich City | Stamford Bridge, London | ||
| 6 Oct, 9:30 IST | Swansea City v Reading | The Liberty Stadium, Swansea | ||
| 6 Oct, 9:30 IST | West Bromwich Albion v Queens Park Rangers | The Hawthorns, West Bromwich | ||
| 6 Oct, 11:00 IST | West Ham United v Arsenal | Upton Park, London | ||
| Sunday October 7 – Day 7 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 Oct, 10:00 IST | Southampton v Fulham | St. Mary’s Stadium, Southampton | ||
| 7 Oct, 9:30 IST | Liverpool v Stoke City | Anfield, Liverpool | ||
| 7 Oct, 9:30 IST | Tottenham Hotspur v Aston Villa | White Hart Lane, London | ||
| 7 Oct, 10:30 IST | Newcastle United v Manchester United | Sports Direct Arena, Newcastle | ||
F1
The Japanese Grand Prix takes place on 7th October as F1 prepares for a busy final leg of the season. The Suzuka Circuit hosts the 28th World Championship edition of the race. It’s a big race for Lewis Hamilton as he hopes to avoid another DNF. Mclaren are the team to beat having been ahead in the last 5 races. Red Bull impressed in Silverstone and with a similar circuit here, they should do well. Fernando Alonso and his Ferrari should also be there and thereabouts.
Tennis:
| Date | Tournament | Country | Competition | Surface | |
| 01/10 – 07/10 | Beijing |  China |
ATP 250 Series (ATP World Tour) | Hard | |
| 01/10 – 07/10 | Tokyo |  Japan |
ATP 500 Series (ATP World Tour) | Hard | |
| 01/10 – 07/10 | Beijing | China |
Premier (WTA Tour) | Hard | |
The China Open for Men and Women and the Japan Open for Men is set to get underway. 2011 champion Andy Murray heads the field at the Japan Open but will face competition from Gael Monfils, Stanislas Wawrinka, Janko Tipsarevic and Radek Stepanek.
Looking to rebound from his disappointing loss at the US Open, former two-time winner Novak Djokovic will be looking at nothing less than a win. Looking to stop him will be David Ferrer, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Marin Cilic. Other notable contenders being Richard Gasquet and Alexandr Dolgopolov.
World No. 1 Victoria Azarenka will lead the way in a draw that features nine of the top 10 players in the world. With both Williams sisters pulling out, the draw is wide open for Maria Sharapova, Daniela Hantuchova, Viktoria Azarenka,Petra Kvitova and Ana Ivanovic to shine. Jelena Jankovic and Marion Bartoli are the other contenders.