Gulshan Grover finds villainous roles challenging

Grover is thankful to baddie roles, which helped him attain a name and fame in Bollywood. PHOTO: FILE

MUMBAI: Actor Gulshan Grover, the undisputed ‘Bad man’ of Bollywood, has lived up to his title numerous times on the screen. He even played villain in the video of the song Sohni Lagdi by our very own Sajjad Ali. The star, whose upcoming role as a villain is in the film Leader, feels that an individual has to be a fantastic actor to play an antagonist.

The actor is thankful to baddie roles, which helped him in attaining a name and fame in filmdom. “I’m very happy and grateful to the filmmakers and audience. I have been playing villain on the screen for so many years [and they accepted me],” he said.

But Grover has not limited himself to villainous roles. “I have also played good characters such as the one I played in I am Kalam, for which I won numerous awards. But having played villain has brought me name, fame and stardom and I love it,” the actor said at the first look launch of Leader.

In his over three-decade-long career, the 58 year old has gained commercial acclaim for his performances as a villain in films, including Ram Lakhan, Lajja, Hera Pheri, 16 Decemberand most recently, Bullett Raja.

Explaining why he enjoys playing the bad guy on screen, Grover said, “An actor loves to play characters that are challenging. I think playing a villain is extremely challenging and requires [an actor to be great].”

In the upcoming political drama, Leader, the actor will be seen as a corrupt politician. The film has been produced by megastar Amitabh Bachchan’s personal make-up artist Deepak Sawant, and written and directed by Abhishek Chadha. It features Big B and his wife Jaya Bachchan in key roles. 

Li makes it to second round in Madrid

Next up for Li Na is a meeting with countrywoman Jie Zheng in round two of the Madrid Open. PHOTO: REUTERS

MADRID: Australian Open champion Li Na avoided a repeat of her shock first round exit at the Madrid Open last year with a 6-1, 7-6 (9/7) win over Belgian Kirsten Flipkens on Monday.

The world number two raced through the opening set, but was forced to save two set points in the second before closing out the match in a tie-break.

“I knew it would never be an easy match and even when I won the first set, she was really fighting a lot in the second,” said the Chinese star.

“We are from the same country; we know each other well so I’m sure it will be tough.”

Third seed Agnieszka Radwanska also sealed her place in the last-32 with a 7-6 (7/3), 6-2 win over Australian Open semi-finalist Eugenie Bouchard.

The Canadian put up a strong fight in a tightly contested opening set, but Radwanska’s variety of shot-making allowed her to comfortably take the tie-break.

“Of course I think the tiebreak was the biggest key in that match,” admitted Radwanska.

“I made a couple good shots in the tiebreak and managed to win that. I think that gave me more confidence in the second set and it was a little bit easier.”

The Pole took complete control in the second with an early double break and served the match out to set up a second round clash with Russia’s Svetlana Kuznetsova.

Australian Open finalist Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia became the first seed to fall on Monday, as she was comprehensively beaten 6-3, 6-0 by 2011 US Open champion Sam Stosur of Australia.

Nishikori, Isner, Tsonga advance

It was smooth sailing for the seeds on the men’s side as Kei Nishikori, John Isner and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga all secured their passage into round two.

Japan’s Nishikori kept his recent fine form going after winning the Barcelona Open last week with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Croatian Ivan Dodig to set up a meeting with Spaniard Guillermo Garcia-Lopez in the second round.

Ninth seed Isner was characteristically solid on serve as the American wasn’t broken in his 7-6, (10/8), 6-4 win over Russia’s Teymuraz Gabashvili.

Tsonga faced a stiffer test against fellow Frenchman Edouard Roger-Vasselin, but also came through in three sets 6-3, 4-6, 6-3.

Nadal named adopted son of Madrid

The city of Madrid declared world number one Rafael Nadal as its adopted son on Monday in honour of his trophy-laden tennis career.

“Today is a very special day for me” said Nadal at a ceremony at Madrid city hall which voted unanimously to give him the honour last year.

“I believe in respect for my opponents, humility, discipline, hard work and enthusiasm. That is how I understand not only sports but life as well.”

Spanish La Liga: ‘We are still in a privileged position’

Real Madrid's French forward Karim Benzema (C) vies with Valencia's French midfielder Sofiane Feghouli during the Spanish league football match Real Madrid CF vs Valencia CF at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid on May 4, 2014. PHOTO: AFP

MADRID: Atletico Madrid captain Gabi stayed positive despite his side squandering a chance to all but wrap up their first La Liga title since 1996 when they slumped to a surprise 2-0 defeat by Levante on Sunday that trimmed their lead at the top to three points.

“I am proud of the team, we tried every way we could and their best player was their goalkeeper,” said Gabi in an interview with Spanish television.

“We can’t make a drama out of it because we are still in the privileged position of having our destiny in our own hands. If we win our two remaining games we are champions.”

Meanwhile, Real Madrid failed to take full advantage of Atletico’s loss and Barcelona’s 2-2 home draw against Getafe on Saturday when they needed a brilliant Cristiano Ronaldo volley in added time to rescue a point in a 2-2 home draw with Valencia.

Victory for Atletico at Valencia-based Levante would have meant they needed only a win at home to Malaga next weekend to secure top spot and render their final match at Barca the following week irrelevant.

However, an own goal from Filipe Luis in the seventh minute and a neat finish from David Barral 21 minutes from time meant Atletico will almost certainly need to beat the champions as well to secure their first title since 1996.

With two matches left, Atletico lead on 88 points, three ahead of second-placed Barca. Real, on 83 points in third, have a game in hand at Real Valladolid on Wednesday when a win would lift them
above Barca.

Indian Premier League: Tambe hat-trick seals stunning win for Rajasthan

Pravin Tambe was the architect of the win for Rajasthan with a stunning spell of leg-spin bowling. PHOTO: BCCI

KARACHI: Rajasthan Royals recorded one of the most remarkable comebacks in T20 cricket to defeat a stunned Kolkata by 10 runs in their Indian Premier League (IPL) match played in Ahmedabad, India.

Chasing a target of 161 runs, Kolkata were in complete control at the end of 14 overs. The opening pair of Robin Uthappa (65) and Gautam Gambhir (54) had added 121 runs when Gambhir fell to trigger a sensational collapse.

Six wickets fell for the addition of only two runs as spinner Pravin Tambe ran through the middle order, accounting for Manish Pandey, Yusuf Pathan and Ryan ten Doeschate off successive deliveries in the 15th over of the innings.

Shakib al Hasan (21) tried hard to bring his team back in contention after the shocking spell but failed to lead them past the target as Kolkata ended 10 runs short.

Earlier, Rajasthan posted a fighting total of 160 courtesy an all-round batting performance by their top order. Karun Nair was the main contributor, scoring 44 off only 35 balls while Sanju Samson scored 37 runs.

Tambe was declared the man of the match for his outstanding bowling spell.

Kohli hails De Villiers’ contribution for Bangalore

Royal Challengers Bangalore captain Virat Kohli hailed foreign recruit AB de Villier’s superb knock against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Sunday, that helped his team secure a thrilling four-wicket win.

The South African tore into teammate – arguably the best fast-bowler in contemporary cricket – Dale Styen in the penultimate over of the match to seal victory. The hosts needed 28 off the last two overs and De Villiers scored 24 of those in the 19th over bowled by Steyn.

“He [De Villiers] is the best player in the world by far,” said Kohli. “He has shown it every now and then, and he has shown it again today [Sunday] why he is rated number one in the world in any format.”

The right-hander hit three sixes including an astonishing lap sweep that went into the top-tier at the fine-leg boundary to spell doom for the fast bowler.

New Zealand to declare match-fixing a crime

McCully said that while some elements of match-fixing would have been covered by existing crimes such as fraud, they were not designed to deal specifically with sports. PHOTO: FILE

WELLINGTON: New Zealand said on Monday it will make match-fixing a specific crime for the first time to ensure sport remains corruption-free as the country prepares to co-host next year’s Cricket World Cup.

Sports Minister Murray McCully said that in recent years, some sporting codes had been targeted by international criminal syndicates “seeking to gain unfair advantage to profit from sports betting”.

“These activities compromise athletes and tarnish sport,” he said, announcing the creation of a new crime of match-fixing, with a maximum penalty of seven years behind bars.

McCully said that while some elements of match-fixing would have been covered by existing crimes such as fraud, they were not designed to deal specifically with sports.

He believed the new crimes would give greater certainty to sports bodies combating match-fixing, but stressed the move was preventative and there was no evidence of a problem in New Zealand.

Smith in action: Visitors inflict eight-wicket crushing defeat on Delhi

Opener Dwayne Smith kept up Chennai Super Kings’ near-perfect winning streak with an inspiring 79 runs off 51 deliveries. PHOTO: FILE

Opener Dwayne Smith kept up Chennai Super Kings’ near-perfect winning streak with an inspiring 79 runs off 51 deliveries, enabling his team to secure a massive eight-wicket win over Delhi Daredevils late Monday in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL).

Adding to the West Indies all-rounder’s contribution was Brendon McCullum (32), Suresh Raina (47) and captain MS Dhoni’s small but timely knock of 12 off five as the visitors wrapped up their victory at 181 runs for two with two balls to spare at the Feroz Shah Kotla ground in Delhi.

“The rain helped us, their [Delhi’s] bowlers found it tough,” said Dhoni.

Earlier, Delhi were asked to bat first and they managed to accumulate a decent total of 178 runs for the loss of five wickets, courtesy Dinesh Karthik’s half-century and steady knocks by Quinton de Kock (24), Murali Vijay (35), JP Duminy (28) and Kedar Jadhav (29).

Holmes seals Quail Hollow victory

ADMIRABLE RECOVERY: Holmes had surgery late in 2011 to correct structural defects in the cerebellum, the part of the brain that controls balance. PHOTO: AFP

CHARLOTTE: JB Holmes survived two late bogeys to win the US PGA Tour Wells Fargo Championship on Sunday, his first title since he underwent brain surgery in 2011.

The American fired a final-round 71 on the par-72 Quail Hollow course for a 14-under total of 274 and a one-stroke victory over Jim Furyk.

Furyk stormed into contention with a seven-under 65, but overnight leader Holmes’s effort – capped by a three-footer for bogey at the last – was good enough for a third career title.

His previous two came at Phoenix in 2006 and 2008, but since then he had been slowed by health troubles.

He began 2014 playing on a medical exemption, but had won enough money by April to secure his spot on tour for the remainder of the year.

“It feels great,” said Holmes. “It’s been a long journey for me. I’ve had some ups and downs, so it’s a great feeling to be out here and get one done.

“I felt good going all day. I played well and hit the driver well. It was a good day for me.”

American Martin Flores carded a final-round 72 for sole possession of third place on 276. Jason Bohn carded a 70 for 277.

US Open champion Justin Rose of England carded a 71 for fifth place on 278.

Phil Mickelson, who won the most recent of his five major titles at the British Open last year, had charged into contention on Saturday with a nine-under par 63.

But the US star slumped to a four-over 76 that included three bogeys and one double-bogey to fall into a tie for 11th on 281.