2010 Formula 1 world champion decider at Yas Marina circuit in Abu Dhabi

What a cracking finale it will turn out to be in just a little less than 5 hours from the time I am writing this post, after the yesterday’s qualifying session at Yas Marina circuit.Theoretically all the top 4 driver’s  has a chance to become the champion but I will put this as any one of them can lose it easily.

The table bellow will show you how tight the championship race can be as the current standings.

Pos	Driver	Nationality	Team	Points
1	Fernando Alonso	Spanish	Ferrari	246
2	Mark Webber	Australian	RBR-Renault	238
3	Sebastian Vettel	German	RBR-Renault	231
4	Lewis Hamilton	British	McLaren-Mercedes	222

Sebastian Vettel scripted it perfectly at yesterday’s qualifying session by securing the pole position while his team mate Mark Webber had a worst qualifying which he managed only the 5th place in the grid.Lewis Hamilton and current championship leader Fernando Alonso secured the 2nd and 3rd place respectively.

Unless something dramatic happen the stage has been set perfectly for the Fernando Alonso to take his 3rd championship title.

There will be lot of pressure on him and he can be a hero or a zero in a matter of milliseconds.And there are so many permutations on who going to be the champion by judging the current standings.Believe me, I don’t even thinking about those combinations right now.

I can’t wait to see the start of the race and first turn of the circuit where drivers at front rows will be itching to go pass each other and take the advantage.

Since I am a Ferrari fan, my money is on two times championed Fernando Alonso but you never know, I will keep my fingers crossed.

First ever series win in Australia

What a performance by the the Sri Lankan cricket team down under making history to win the first ever series beating Aussies(Current number 1 ranked team in the world by ICC and see the full rankings) in their own backyard.It was a real professional effort by the team and they fully deserve that win with the brand of cricket they are playing at the moment.This performance will augurs well for them in 2011 cricket world cup which is going to be held in sub continent.

This performance reminds me that,we were doing well in down under in 1995/96 tour to Australia and went onto win the world cup in 1996 which also held in sub continent.I don’t know this is a coincident or not but believe me, history repeats itself.

All kick started with the Twenty 20 win at Perth where rest of the world thought will be an impossible task for Lankans to cope with purely because of the bouncier conditions.Against the all critics they won that game convincingly.In my opinion that really did make them believing, they have a real good opportunity to beat Australians in their own backyard.

Then came back to Melbourne for the 1st ODI and pull off a miracle to comeback from 8 wickets down for just 107 runs and chased down 240 to win the game by one wicket which is one of the greatest come back of ODI’s history by Lankans.In doing so Angelo Mathews and Lasith Malinga beat the 27 years old world record for the 9th wicket partnership held by Kapil Dev and Syed Kirmani.

And then in the 2nd ODI at Sydney they script another convincing win, hence the first ever series win in down under.This was too an all round performance by the Sri Lankans and Aussies were really down and out.

Now I am looking forward to the tomorrows game at Brisbane which is a dead rubber as far as the series is concern but Lankans have a real good chance to make it a clean sweep which is not an easy task by any means against the Aussies in Australia.I am wondering how many teams have done that before.

Wishing you all the best to you Sri Lankans to achieve that feat too.

GO Lankans GO.

Pool table in action

It has been a long time that I managed to play a game.Today I tried to play a game for a much needed relax.Take my word, it is indeed take some doing to play a perfect game.You need lot of patience as well as skill.Today , I realized that you need to practice continuously in order to keep your shape in the game and handling the cue is not going to be an easy task if you lose the rhythm.Practice make perfect is the order of the day.This is applicable in any where whether you are doing office work or any other work.And finally it will give you more pleasure specially when you are playing on a table which is built on my own.

French Open 4th Round match - Rafael Nadal Vs Robin Soderling

What a match it turning out to be.I am watching World no. 1 taking on Swede(23 seeded) on Star Sports.I am sure no one has bet against Nadal for this match.To date he has won 32 straight matches in Roland Garros in doing so won four French open titles consecutively(2005-2008).

At the time of writing this entry Nadal was 2 sets to 1 down (6-2,6-7,6-4)against the Swede and 2 all in 4th set and Nadal to serve.This could well be go down to the fifth set if Nadal do manage to win this set and if that happens it will be the first time Nadal has played a five setter in Roland Garros.That shows you how tougher customer the world no. 1.

It will take some doing against the Swede who is so powerful in serve as well as ground stokes.His display of ground strokes is amazing to watch and normally I have seen such serenity only from Nadal himself.Nadal has done that to so many opponents here in Roland Garros.But today its his turn to face the music from Swede.

But still Nadal is hanging out there with Swede.Now 4 all in 4th set and Nadal to serve.Absolutely fantastic game to watch.

Now the 4th set is in the tiebreaker and things not looking good for Nadal, 2-0 down with Swede serivng.2-1 Nadal to serve.Breath taking stuff out there.

Now the score is 6-1 in the tiebreaker and the 4 times defending champion is about to bow out from the 2009 French Open.Oh my god , Swede has done it.He has defeated the king of clay Rafeal Nadal who has never been beaten here in Roland Garros.What a major upset in French open 2009.Well played Swede.

Match statistics

Australian Grand Prix - 2009

I am just watching the Race Day program on Star Sports and 20 minutes to start the race.What a qualification we had yesterday and no F1 giants (Ferraries,McLeraens,Williams, etc) in the front row of the grid.

• P1 – Jenson Button from team Brawn GP ( Honda old team last year)
• P2 – Rubens Barrichello from team Brawn GP
• P3 – Sebastian Vettel from team Red Bull

Who would have thought that the old Honda team mates will be in the front row of the grid today.This is the old Honda package with a Mercedes engine in it.Honda will be kicking them selves if they do manage to win this opening race of the season after this performance by the new team Brawn GP.What a start to the new kid on the block.

Oh my god , power goes off, will I be able to watch the much waited start of the season.

Power is back :) hoorey. How dejected I was.

About to start the race, five red lights are illuminated and off they go and hence the race started.

Wonderful start by the Jenson Button and poor start by the team mate though.

3 laps to go and started the drama.Jenson Button is the race leader and 3 rd placed Robert Kubica tried to over take Sebastian Vettel and paid the ultimate prize , both crashed into each other and both hit the side wall after damaged to the left front suspension.Safety car was deployed and Sebastian Vettel tried desperately to drive the car through to the pit lane by 3 wheels but to no avail.

All these drama fell very well into Rubens Barichello’s hand who was in 4th place before this drama, he finished the race 2nd after his team mate Jenson.

What a start to the new team Brawn GP, and Team Principal Ross Brawn is the man who behind this team and pulled off this stunning performance which finished 1st and 2nd by a rookie team in his first appearance after 1954 French Grand Prix.

What a start to the F1 season and what a race to watch on live and I don't have words to explain the entertainment I got today.

Who says F1 is boring after this start to the season.Now the question is can the team Brawn continue in the same vein.From what I witness today they will really be a great threat to other front runners.Will keep my fingers crossed on this.

Formula 1 – 2009 season

I am really looking forward to seen the F1 2009 season with all the changes to the rules and regulations which starts on this Friday with the practice sessions at Albert Park in Melbourne.See this preview. This year, most of the teams have done so many technical changes to their package.

One of the new features included into this year was the KERS(Kinetic Energy Recovery Systems).

This year it is going to have only 17 races and the Yas Marina Circuit being the new comer will host the final race of the season.

Visit Formula 1 official web site for more information those who are curious about what’s all about this sport.

Title winner for 2008 edition of Formula 1

The penultimate race , 2008 FORMULA 1 SINOPEC CHINESE GRAND PRIX will begin on this Sunday (19th Oct).And every F1 fans will keen to watch this race as McLaren's Lewis Hamilton can clinch the title on his second appearance after debut last year.He almost made history last year by being the first ever rookie driver to win the title, but he failed to do so.Will he be able to keep that away from his mind and do it on this Sunday.

With the current standings only 3 drivers have the chance to fight for the title, namely

1. Lewis Hamilton - 84 points -Team McLaren
2. Felipe Massa - 79 points -Team Ferrari
3. Robert Kubica - 72 points -Team BMW Sauber

Sadly for me, after my favourite Ferrari's driver Michael Schumacher, Kimi Raikkonen is out of the championship contenders with 63 points so far.

There are so many permutations for the title contender and all above mentioned drivers have a chance to become the champion.
But there is very little window of oppertunity for Robert Kubica to become the champion given the condition of the car (BMW Sauber) he has.

Lewis can do it on this sunday if he keeps his cool head.But should not by any means be under estimate the red Scarlet of Felipe.He will do every bit to become the champion.

It is interesting to read into the comments made by Renaults's Fernando Alonso who has a rivalry between Lewis Hamilton who was the teams mate last year in McLarens.

During this week end it is interesting to watch the start of the race and the turn 1 of the cercuit.We might see the safty car deployed very early stage of the race.

I am really looking forward to watch this race on this Sunday on Star Sports.

I would love to see Lewis pull it off this time even though I am a Ferrari fan.