Nike to run first new Tiger ad since sex scandal: Report

WASHINGTON: Disgraced golf superstar Tiger Woods will debut in his first new television ad since embarrassing revelations about extra-marital affairs emerged, The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.

The paper's website said an advertisement for Nike - airing on the eve of Woods's much-anticipated return to competitive golf after a five-month layoff - would feature a voice recording of the golfer's late father appearing to talk about the golfer's personal woes.

"I want to find out what your thinking was; I want to find out what your feelings are. Did you learn anything," the paper reported a voice-over as saying.

Woods has admitted an adultery scandal that has seen more than a dozen women claim sexual relationships with the married father of two, destroying the squeaky-clean image that made Woods the world's first billion-dollar sportsman.

Nike reportedly paid Woods around 40 million dollars a year.

Sponsors had sought to distance themselves from the troubled star as sordid details of his person life emerged.

But as Woods embarks on his comeback this week - teeing off at Augusta National Golf Club for the Masters - his star-appeal could be too much for firms to shun.

Play begins on Thursday, with Tiger facing 95 rivals trying to deny the world's number one golfer a 15th major title.

The ad is to air on the Golf Channel and ESPN later on Wednesday, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Nike and ESPN both refused to comment.

Robben sends 10-man United crashing out of Champions League

MANCHESTER: Bayern Munich staged a stunning fightback to send 10-man Manchester United crashing out of the Champions League as Arjen Robben's late strike in the German side's 3-2 defeat earned a 4-4 aggregate draw which put them through to the semi-finals on away goals.

Louis van Gaal's side, who led 2-1 from last week's quarter-final first leg, looked dead and buried as Darron Gibson's strike and two fine finishes from Nani put United 4-2 ahead on aggregate before half-time at Old Trafford on Wednesday.

But Ivica Olic reduced the deficit just before the break and United defender Rafael da Silva gifted van Gaal's team a significant break when he foolishly earned a second yellow card early in the second half.

Bayern went for the kill and former Chelsea winger Robben's brilliant finish was enough to secure a semi-final showdown with French club Lyon and end United's bid for a third successive final appearance.

After losing the lead in the Premier League to Chelsea at the weekend, United are now in danger of ending the season with just the League Cup to show for their efforts.

With Dimitar Berbatov's lacklustre performance against Chelsea still fresh in the memory, perhaps it was no surprise that Ferguson was willing to risk Wayne Rooney as United tried to overturn a first leg deficit for only the second time in seven attempts in the Champions League.

While United had their star man back from an ankle injury, it was Republic of Ireland international Gibson who gave United a dream start in the third minute.

Rafael started the move by streaking away from Franck Ribery before picking out Rooney. The England forward laid off a perfect first-time pass into Gibson's path and, as the Bayern defenders backed off, the youngster lashed a fierce strike past flast-footed Bayern goalkeeper Hans-Jorg Butt for his first ever Champions League goal.

Bayern had barely recovered from that sucker-punch when they were hit by another blow as Nani doubled United's lead.

In the seventh minute, United winger Antonio Valencia teased Holger Badstuber on the right edge of the Bayern penalty area before whipping over a low cross to Nani, who timed his run perfectly and deceived Butt with a superb back-heeled flick into the far corner.

United were dominant at that stage but Bayern wasted a chance to get back in the match when Thomas Muller's pass released Olic, only for the Bayern striker to take a poor touch and allow Edwin van der Sar to save.

Ferguson's side looked to have wrapped up the tie four minutes before half-time as Valencia surged away from two Bayern defenders before crossing into the penalty area for Nani to dispatch a sublime first time finish past Butt.

Yet Olic gave Bayern a lifeline in the 43rd minute when he met Muller's header with a fine finish that beat van der Sar from a tight angle.

United were looking surprisingly shaky and Ferguson's team still hadn't steadied their nerves after half-time.

There was no immediate danger when Ribery pulled clear of Rafael just inside the United half, but the young right-back, who had already been cautioned for dissent, showed his inexperience as he tugged at the France winger, earning a red card from Italian referee Nicola Rizzoli for his second booking.

Ferguson responded by sending on John O'Shea for Rooney to plug the gap in United's defence, but Bayern went close as Ribery's stinging volley forced van der Sar to parry with his fists.

Substitute Mario Gomez went close with a glancing header that skimmed over the crossbar and the pressure finally told as Robben broke United's hearts in the 74th minute.

Robben was unmarked on the edge of the penalty area as he met a corner with a magnificent volley past van der Sar to leave England without a Champions League semi-finalist for the first time since 2003.

Clueless Deccan Chargers take on Challengers

BANGALORE: It’s not exactly do-or-die for Deccan Chargers as they take on Royal Challengers Bangalore for the first time in IPL 3, simply because even if they do manage to peg back the hosts at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, they could still end up dead as far as progress in the tournament is concerned.

A minimum of four wins out of the five remaining games is what the Chargers require to even have a semblance of a chance of making it to the semis and while it may be an unpalatable fact for the defending champions, most of it has been their own doing (or should it be undoing).

They have lost from winning positions, snatching defeat from the jaws of victory on more than one occasion, made unnecessary changes to their line-up, as in dropping the highly successful Chaminda Vaas, who doesn’t just have 8 wickets to show from five games but also an economy rate of 6.66 (the devil at play?).

Incidentally, the Sri Lankan left-arm seamers replacement, West Indian Kemer Roach has gone for 10 an over, while the man who later displaced Roach, Aussie Ryan Harris has been taken for 9.25.

Captains though have their reasons and a lot of them don’t like to be questioned but then they will have to answer someone or the other, won’t they? As far as RCB are concerned, they would rather have Adam Gilchrist continue to sideline Vaas.

For, it is only when they have to got off to good starts - in terms of quick runs and not losing wickets - have RCB ruled, be it home or away. Vaas, until he was in the side, invariably picked up early wickets.

RCB, too, have had to make some tough calls. Spoilt for choice in the foreign players’ category, they had to leave out someone like Dale Steyn from their line-up for their last game, while also having to do with a makeshift wicketkeeper in the hard-hitting Robin Uthappa for a few games now.

On the hard surface here, they may be left with no choice but to bring back Steyn but then they will have to leave out one among Jacques Kallis, Cameron White, Kevin Pietersen and Ross Taylor.

All we can do is wish Anil Kumble luck here for each one of the above foursome can win a match on his own with the bat. That should actually mean that Kumble would be better served simply drawing lots at least for the latter three, leaving Kallis the all-rounder and the holder of the Orange Cap in the thick of things.

Whatever the combination, RCB, who have lost only one home match thus far and need to win three more in all to safely qualify for the semis, will be heavily backed by a vociferous crowd, which can act as an extra player.

Switch to Adam Gilchrist for whom nothing has gone right in this tournament personally.

None of his big guns, be it Andrew Symonds, Herschelle Gibbs or Rohit Sharma, who all but did it in Monday night’s thriller against Rajasthan Royals, have realized their potential as yet and this has hurt the team and left them in the seventh position in the table, just one rung above the position they finished in the inaugural year. Looked at it that way, things can only get better from here.

Rajasthan Royals restrict Kings XI Punjab to 153/6

NEW DELHI: Aditya Dole and Siddharth Trivedi took 2 wickets each and Kings XI Punjab hit no boundaries in the last five overs as they were restricted to 153/6 by Rajasthan Royals in their IPL clash at Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur on Wednesday.

Scorecard

Ravi Bopara was run out after a misunderstanding with Irfan Pathan as Rajasthan gained upper hand over Punjab.

Bopara's dismissal came after Aditya Dole dismissed Yuvraj Singh and Mahela Jayawardene in one over to reduce Punjab to 109/4.

Yuvraj hit 3 sixes and a four in his 16-ball 28 before edging a Dole delivery onto his stumps. Two deliveries later, Dole induced an edge off Jayawardene's bat that was snapped up by Rajasthan captain Shane Warne at wide slip. To have a slip in the 12th over when Punjab were going at a run rate of ten says a lot about Warne's captaincy.

Jayawardene hit a six and 6 fours in his 33-ball 44 and added 56 runs with Yuvraj for the third wicket.

Jayawardene and Yuvraj put up a 50-run stand off 29 balls to take Kings XI Punjab to 103/2 in 11 overs.

The Jayawardene-Yuvraj stand came after Siddharth Trivedi had Kumar Sangakkara (9) caught by Yusuf Pathan in the covers to reduce Kings XI Punjab to 52/2.

Sangakkara's dismissal came after Shane Watson had Manvinder Bisla caught by Faiz Fazal at square leg to give Rajasthan Royals the first breakthrough.

This was after Punjab captain Sangakkara won the toss and elected to bat.

Punjab have dropped Shalabh Srivastava and brought in S Sreesanth and Rajasthan have replaced Morne Morkel with Adam Voges.

Teams:

Rajasthan Royals: Shane Warne (Capt.), Michael Lumb, Naman Ojha, Faiz Fazal, Shane Watson, Yusuf Pathan, Adam Voges, Abhishek Jhunjhunwala, Abhishek Raut, Aditya Dole, Siddharth Trivedi.

Kings XI Punjab: Kumar Sangakkara (Capt.), Manvinder Bisla, Mahela Jayawardene, Yuvraj Singh, Ravi Bopara, Irfan Pathan, Piyush Chawla, S Sreesanth, Ramesh Powar, Juan Theron, Bipul Sharma.

Tiger Woods begins the long climb back on and off the course

AUGUSTA: Tiger Woods took his first steps down the road to redemption on Monday at the Masters, answering questions from reporters and playing his first public round of golf in nearly five months.

Ending a layoff in the wake of a sex scandal that tore apart his life and shut down his career, golf's number one player humbled himself over missing his son's first birthday and denied ever taking performance-enhancing drugs.

For the first time in a very long while, Woods said he simply went out on Monday and played golf and had fun doing so, giving him renewed vigor to end his five-month competitive drought in Thursday's first round of the Masters.

"I'm looking forward to the first tee and teeing off. I haven't looked forward to that first shot in a long time," Woods said.

Woods laughed with playing partner Fred Couples and joked with spectators that were generally supportive during a practice round early Monday, as the star clearly enjoyed his return after hiding a secret sex life for years.

"You're living a life where you are lying all the time," Woods explained. "I wasn't having any fun. Now I have stopped all that and it's fun again."

But the 14-time major champion said his dream of breaking the all-time record 18 majors won by Jack Nicklaus paled in comparison when he remembered how much he had hurt his family.

"The fact I won golf tournaments is irrelevant," Woods said of his success while leading a double life. "Winning golf tournaments is unimportant compared to all the damage I've done."

But that doesn't mean Woods is any less committed to trying to win a fifth Masters crown this weekend.

"Nothing has changed," Woods said. "I'm going to try to go out there and win this week.

"The fact I haven't played at all is a bit disconcerting."

Woods evaded the question when asked details of how he kept secret his cheating on wife Elin, who will not be attending the Masters.

"I hurt so many people close to me. I lied to myself," Woods said. "It's pretty brutal. I take full responsibility for what I have done."

That included missing son Charlie's first birthday to complete 45 days of treatment for a condition he would not specify, reportedly sex addiction.

"I missed my son's first birthday. That hurts a lot. I can't go back to where I was," Woods said. "That was very bad, that day. That was something I regret and probably will for the rest of my life."

Woods said he is not addicted to any medication and has never taken human growth hormone or any other illegal drugs, a reference to his role as a possible witness in an inquiry to a Canadian doctor linked to possible doping.

And he thanked his fans for an "incredible reception" on Monday, admitting having failed to appreciate their support in the past as he looked to bounce back from the scandal.

"So many kids have looked up to me, and so many fans have supported me over the years and I just want to say thank you to them," he said.

"Especially going through all of this, over the past few months, it really put things into perspective for me, and into how much I have appreciated or actually underappreciated the fans in the game of golf."

Chennai seek revenge against mighty Mumbai

CHENNAI: Their semifinal hopes reignited after the win over Rajasthan Royals, Chennai Super Kings will have revenge on mind against table-toppers Mumbai Indians when the two sides take on each other on Tuesday.

Mumbai Indians are virtually assured of a semifinal berth and Sachin Tendulkar's men would, therefore, be looking to consolidate their position at the top of points table on Tuesday.

Chennai, on the other hand, need to win three more ties from the remaining five league encounters to have hopes of reaching the semifinals.

Tendulkar's consistent batting has ensured Mumbai's win in eight out of nine matches so far, their only loss coming against Royal Challengers Bangalore.

Mumbai's morale is high and team's confidence can be judged from the fact that they are yet to give a chance to big-hitters like Sri Lankan legend Sanath Jayasuriya and South African Jean-Paul Duminy.

Chennai, meanwhile, have been boosted by the arrival of Australian imports Mike Hussey and Doug Bollinger. While Hussey has lent depth to their batting, Bollinger's pace has added zing to their bowling.

But to rope in Hussey in the side, skipper MS Dhoni faces the tough choice of having to drop either Matthew Hayden or Albie Morkel.

Dhoni's own form would be a cause of concern for him. He hasn't quite lived up to the expectations and was dismissed for a duck against Rajasthan in the last match.

There is also a question mark over his fitness, which has only compunded Dhoni's troubles.

Whereas, Mumbai have a clear edge as their top order batsmen have been doing well. Incidentally, Tendulkar considers Chepauk as one of his favourite venues in the world and going by his form, he is likely to enthrall his fans on Tuesday.

Tendulkar led from the front in the two teams' first meeting this year in Mumbai with an elegant 72 that guided Mumbai to a deserving win.

Chennai seek revenge against mighty Mumbai

CHENNAI: Their semifinal hopes reignited after the win over Rajasthan Royals, Chennai Super Kings will have revenge on mind against table-toppers Mumbai Indians when the two sides take on each other on Tuesday.

Mumbai Indians are virtually assured of a semifinal berth and Sachin Tendulkar's men would, therefore, be looking to consolidate their position at the top of points table on Tuesday.

Chennai, on the other hand, need to win three more ties from the remaining five league encounters to have hopes of reaching the semifinals.

Tendulkar's consistent batting has ensured Mumbai's win in eight out of nine matches so far, their only loss coming against Royal Challengers Bangalore.

Mumbai's morale is high and team's confidence can be judged from the fact that they are yet to give a chance to big-hitters like Sri Lankan legend Sanath Jayasuriya and South African Jean-Paul Duminy.

Chennai, meanwhile, have been boosted by the arrival of Australian imports Mike Hussey and Doug Bollinger. While Hussey has lent depth to their batting, Bollinger's pace has added zing to their bowling.

But to rope in Hussey in the side, skipper MS Dhoni faces the tough choice of having to drop either Matthew Hayden or Albie Morkel.

Dhoni's own form would be a cause of concern for him. He hasn't quite lived up to the expectations and was dismissed for a duck against Rajasthan in the last match.

There is also a question mark over his fitness, which has only compunded Dhoni's troubles.

Whereas, Mumbai have a clear edge as their top order batsmen have been doing well. Incidentally, Tendulkar considers Chepauk as one of his favourite venues in the world and going by his form, he is likely to enthrall his fans on Tuesday.

Tendulkar led from the front in the two teams' first meeting this year in Mumbai with an elegant 72 that guided Mumbai to a deserving win.