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Hewitt wins epic, Russians falter
Sania was nursing injury during Australian Open
Batra vows to take IHF battle to court
Shiv Sena threatens to disrupt Indo-Pak cricket matches
Rogers, Taibu script
Zimbabwe win
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Thorpe,
Flintoff revive England Elliott, Sangakarra engineer World XI win
Anand draws with Kramnik
Collage Group stun
Indian Airlines
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Hewitt wins epic, Russians falter
Melbourne, January 24 Hewitt, carrying the expectations of the host nation, had been in deep trouble when the tricky left-hander strung together nine successive games to set up a two-sets-to-one lead before clawing his way back to win 7-5 3-6 1-6 7-6 6-2 in one of his greatest comebacks. ''I was a hurting a little out there but I told myself just to hang in there,'' Hewitt said. The 18-year-old Nadal has been tipped as a future grand slam champion after helping Spain win last year's Davis Cup and Hewitt was not about to disagree. ''This guy's gonna be around for a while,'' Hewitt said. ''He's got a great attitude for tennis. He's hungry and he's good for the game.'' The Russians seemed to have the women's tournament at their mercy after seven different players marched into the round of 16 but only two survived to the quarter-finals after the shock defeats of Anastasia Myskina and Elena Dementieva on Monday. Myskina, last season's French Open champion and WTA player of the Year, fell 6-4 6-2 to Nathalie Dechy after Dementieva, a finalist in two of the last three grand slams, was upset by Patty Schnyder 6-7 7-6 6-2. ''It was just a bad day today,'' Myskina said. ''It wasn't a Russian day.'' The remaining Russians, Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova and U.S. Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova, meet on Tuesday for a place in the semi-finals. Russia did at least have something to celebrate on Monday when Nikolay Davydenko beat Argentine Guillermo Canas 6-3 6-4 6-3 to join compatriot Marat Safin in the last eight of the men's draw. Two more Argentines, Guillermo Coria and David Nalbandian, were due to play in the Monday night match with the winner to play Hewitt. Davydenko, the 26th seed, plays world number two Andy Roddick in the quarters after the American blasted Germany's Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-3 7-6 6-1. The big-hitting Roddick was never in any serious trouble against Kohlschreiber, but said it was his least convincing performance of the tournament. ''I just felt like I was fighting it a little bit more than I had in the first three rounds,'' Roddick said. ''The good thing is I don't feel like I had my best day and we're sitting here talking about a three-set win.'' Another American, Lindsay Davenport, also made it through safely on Monday, thrashing Croatia's Karolina Sprem 6-2 6-2. The world number one will play either Venus Williams or Alicia Molik in the next round but unlike Roddick she was pleased with her progress. ''I'm in the quarter-finals, a great round to be in, and my game's improving. That's a great sign,'' Davenport said. Both Myskina and Dementieva said they only had themselves to blame for their shock losses. Myskina made 45 unforced errors in her loss to Dechy only to be outdone by Dementieva who committed 61 unforced errors. ''I can't really say that she won the match, but I can say that I lost it,'' a dejected Myskina said. Dechy, through to her first grand slam quarter-final at her 37th attempt, disagreed with the Russian's verdict: ''I'm in the next round and she's not. I think I won the match.'' Twelfth seed Schnyder, a surprise semi-finalist in Melbourne a year ago, proved too consistent for Dementieva, who struggled to hold her serve and was troubled by a blister on her toe. Dementieva won the first set but the momentum shifted when she failed to serve out the second set after leading 4-0. ''I had some bad luck today,'' Dementieva said. ''She started too well and I think I just lost my rhythm.'' Home hope Alicia Molik scored the biggest win of her life today as she upset former world number one Venus Williams 7-5 7-6 to reach the quarter-finals of the Australian Open. The 10th seed, bidding to become the first Australian woman to win the title since Chris O’Neil in 1978, outslugged eighth-seeded Williams to move into the last eight of a grand slam event for the first time. Molik began the match with an ace and after trading breaks, a backhand over the baseline from Williams handed the 23-year-old a second break and the opening set. The second set went with serve but Molik played a superb tiebreak, winning it 7-3 to set up a clash with top seed and world number one Lindsay Davenport for a place in the semi-finals.
— Reuters |
Sania was nursing injury during Australian Open
Mumbai, January 24 “I twisted my ankle while practising even before I reached Melbourne but as I had got a wild card for the Australian Open, I decided to take part at any cost. Now I am glad that I took the right decision,” Sania Mirza said here today. “I used to take painkillers before every match and that helped me a lot. I did not feel the pain during matches and the injury did not hamper my movements on the court,” she added. “In fact, I had to skip the Thailand Open (WTA circuit tournament) this week because I did not want to aggravate my ankle injury. I want to be fully fit to play the WTA event in Hyderabad from February 5. I am hoping to do well in front of my home crowd,” the 18-year-old Hyderabadi said. When asked about her future plans, Sania said, “I will have to work out on my physical fitness and I will be doing that in Hyderabad itself. After that, I will be attending the Bob Brett Tennis Clinic in Italy. “I will also play in a couple of WTA tournaments before the French Open, though I will decide about these tournaments later. My immediate goal is to break into the top 50 in the world before the end of this year,” she added.
—PTI |
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Batra vows to take IHF battle to court
New Delhi, January 24 "You cannot continue in office for more than two terms", he argued. "I am going to go to court", Mr Batra threatened. According to government guidelines, "no office-bearer will have more than two terms or maximum of eight years in office" which has not been "followed" by the IHF. Releasing his correspondence with the IHF here today, Mr Batra said this was "one of the most crucial and serious issues" which he would be raising in the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the IHF, to be held in Hyderabad on January 30. Mr Gill, however, refused to react to "hearsay", adding that the guideline issue was "between the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) and the government". "I cannot react to what Mr Batra has said unless I have a full transcript of his statement", Mr Gill said. Mr Batra said there was no transparency in the functioning of the IHF as it was being run in an arbitrary and high-handed manner. "We are violating the constitution", he said, adding that "this should have woken up the Ministry", but the ministry seems to be hardly bothered. He said according to the government guidelines, IHF should have held the annual national championships for specified age-groups at the senior, junior and sub-junior levels regularly, but the senior nationals have not been held for the past few years. "It has been consistently observed that in the last couple of years, there is no adherence to the requirements of our constitution and also the requirements of the Government of India towards grant and continuation of recognition of the IHF by the Ministry of Sports", Mr Batra wrote in his missive to the IHF. The senior vice-president, who represents Jammu and Kashmir, said he was determined to end the dictatorial attitude of the IHF bosses. "Dictatorship won't work", he asserted. Mr Batra claimed that around 25 top hockey officials, including four "very senior" office-bearers of the ruling IHF, were supporting him in his bid to effect a change in the federation though they were "afraid" to come out in the open. Mr Batra accused the IHF of not honouring its commitment towards paying incentives to the players and the players were hired and fired at the whim and fancy of the IHF bosses. He said around Rs 32.60 lakh was to be paid to the players till 2004 as accumulated incentives announced by the IHF during various periods, from 2000 to 2004. He also questioned the IHF wisdom of keeping senior and talented players like Prabhjot Singh, Deepak Thakur, Dhanraj Pillay and Baljit Singh Dhillon out of the team. "In the past five years, so many boys have come and gone, without any player getting a proper look-in", Mr Batra lashed out. He said the players were "afraid to speak their mind out". Mr Batra said he was determined to bring in changes in the IHF in the Hyderabad AGM though he alleged that a bid was being made to deny him representation from his parent association Jammu and Kashmir in the AGM, which, he was confident "will not succeed". "I don't care who wins, but Gill and Jyothikumarn must go as they have ruined hockey", Mr Batra said emphatically. "New people and new ideas are needed", he averred. He advised Mr Gill, a supercop, to "concentrate on his field of specialisation" as he has failed to deliver in hockey administration. Mr Batra said though he has been sent copies of the minutes of the Hyderabad AGM and an incomplete balance sheet, he has not been given a satisfactory answer to the points he has raised on the issue of income and expenses. Mr Batra wanted to know how the IHF "proposes to pay the liabilities of Rs 1.98 crore (which does not include Rs 80 lakh incurred as medical expenses) when we have a deficit of Rs 1.37 crore, and our liabilities have gone up by Rs 22 lakh and deficit by Rs 14 lakh this year?". (It may be recalled that when Jugraj Singh was severely injured, he was treated at the Batra Hospital, owned by the Batras in South Delhi). Mr Batra has also sought "expenditure report" on foreign tours "as desired in our constitution, and I insist on copies of all these expense report". Mr Batra has gone wrong when he refers to the IHF as the "All India Hockey Federation", though he claims to have "no doubt" in his mind that all those who are sincerely concerned with the "diminishing glory of hockey in India share the same sense of anguish and concern in this regard", as he is. |
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Shiv Sena threatens to disrupt Indo-Pak cricket matches
New Delhi, January 24 Shiv Sena Delhi unit president Jaibhagwan Goyal said his outfit would continue to protest against the cricketing ties between India and Pakistan as long as Islamabad failed to ‘’completely normalise its ties’’ with New Delhi. Mr Goyal said Shiv Sainiks would stage a sit-in at Jantar Mantar on February 1 to demand that Dr Manmohan Singh announce the cancellation of the matches between the two countries, beginning next month. Holding that its threat and capacity to disrupt the matches should not be brushed
aside, Mr Goyal said Shiv Sainiks had dug up the Ferozeshah Kotla pitch in 1999, resulting in the cancellation of the match there. “Shiv Sainiks can go to any extreme at the behest of their leader Bal Thackeray. The entire world, including the Pakistan Cricket Board, knows our capacity,” Mr Goyal said. He said if Pakistan was really keen to play cricket matches against India, its government must ensure an immediate end to the ‘’bloody incursions within our country.’’ Mr Goyal said the February 1 agitation would witness the participation of Shiv Sainiks from Punjab, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Uttaranchal. “We will make a strong appeal to the Prime Minister to cancel the matches. Unless Pakistan puts a clamp on its terrorist activities, the matches will not be allowed to be played in India,” he warned.
— UNI |
Rogers, Taibu script Zimbabwe win
Chittagong, January 24 Rogers also accounted for the run out of a well-set Bangladesh captain Habibul Bashar (44) when Bangladesh were a comfortable 130 for 2, and then claimed two important scalps with his off-spin bowling. Bashar’s dismissal ended a threatening 90-run stand for the third wicket with opener Nafis Iqbal (58) while the twin-strike by Rogers left Bangladesh reeling at 164 for 6 after 40 overs with a difficult 74 to get in the remaining 10 overs. Rogers dismissed all-rounders Manjural Islam Rana (16) and Khaled Mahmud (one) to cap a fine day. Earlier, after electing to bat, Zimbabwe were boosted by half-centuries from Rogers and skipper Tatenda Taibu (64 not out). Left-handed Rogers put Zimbabwe on solid ground after the first-ball run out of Stuart Matsikenyeri. He hit a flurry of boundaries against paceman Tapash Baisya, who went for 25 in his first three overs. The 22-year-old hit nine fours off 85 balls in his third one-day half-century in eight matches. Rogers’ previous two fifties also came against Bangladesh last year. Scoreboard Zimbabwe Matsikenyeri run out 0 Rogers c and b Ebrahim c Haque jnr Masakadza st Mashud Taylor c Mortaza b Saleh 31 Taibu not out 64 Chigumbura not out 30 Extras: Total: (5 wkts, Fall of wickets: 1-0 2-86 3-90 4-99 5-153 Bowling:
Mashrafe Mortaza 9-1-41-0, Tapash Baisya 6-0-33-0, Khaled Mahmud 8-0-35-1, Manjural Islam Rana 9-0-46-0, Enamul Haque jnr 10-0-37-2, Rajin Saleh 8-0-39-1. Bangladesh Saleh c sub b Mpofu 6 Iqbal lbw Hondo 58 Ahmed c Taibu Bashar run out 44
Ashraful c Taylor
b Utseya 13 Rana c Masakadza Mahmud c and b Rogers 1 Mashud run out 23 Mortaza b Mpofu 17 Baisya c Taibu b Hondo 3 Haque jnr not out 0 Extras: Total: (all out, Fall of wickets: 1-13 2-40 3-130 4-130 5-160 6-161 7-165 8-192 9-205. Bowling:
Panyangara 8-0-22-1, Mpofu 5.1-0-19-2, Hondo 10-0-52-2, Rogers 10-0-55-2, Matsikenyeri 4-0-17-0, Utseya 10-1-37-1.
— AFP, Reuters |
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Thorpe, Flintoff revive England Centurion, January 24 England, leading the series 2-1, spent the morning making the game safe before going on the attack as they reached 329 for six at tea in reply to South Africa’s 247. Thorpe scored 86 and all-rounder Flintoff 77, the pair surviving the morning session before hitting out as they put on 141 for the fifth wicket. Wicketkeeper Geraint Jones followed suit, reaching 44 not out with Ashley Giles on 25 in an unbroken seventh-wicket stand of 72. England, 29 for three yesterday, resumed on 114 for four and still vulnerable, though more than half of the first three days had been lost to rain and bad light. Thorpe and Flintoff bided their time through penetrative first spells by fast bowlers Makhaya Ntini and Shaun Pollock. Aggressive first-change bowler Andre Nel failed to make a significant impression and left-arm spinner Nicky Boje was brought into the attack in the 12th over of the day. Soon South African captain Graeme Smith brought himself on at the other end to bowl his part-time off-spin. Boje and Smith bowled in tandem for 14 overs and Smith had several confident leg-before appeals for Thorpe’s wicket turned down by umpire Steve Bucknor. Aided by an increasingly flat pitch, Thorpe and Flintoff were able to keep gathering runs inconspicuously and complete a wicketless first session, in which they scored 85 runs in 39 overs. Of the 236 balls bowled before lunch, only 36 produced scoring shots. Thorpe and Flintoff batted with far more aggression after lunch, hammering 56 runs off 59 balls, before the stand was ended by an inswinging yorker from Nel that bowled Thorpe. Thorpe was at the crease for 341 minutes, facing 269 balls and hitting 11 fours. Scoreboard South Africa (1st innings): 247 England (1st innings): Trescothick run out 20 Strauss c Boucher b Nel 44 Key c Boucher b Pollock 1 Vaughan c Rudolph b Pollock 0 Thorpe b Nel 86 Flintoff c Boucher b Hall 77 G. Jones batting 44 Giles batting 25 Extras: (b-1, lb-21, w-7, nb-3) 32 Total: (6 wkts, 111 overs) 329 Fall of wickets: 1-27, 2-29, 3-29, 4-114, 5-255, 6-257. Bowling: Pollock 21-11-30-2, Ntini 26-7-91-0, Nel 23-4-63-2, Hall 12-0-48-1, Boje 19-7-59-0, Kallis 2-0-5-0, Smith 8-2-11-0. — Reuters, AP
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Elliott, Sangakarra engineer World XI win
Wellington, January 24 Elliott scored 57 at the top of the order and Sangakarra a swift 51 through the middle of the innings as the world team reached 257 for 7 in reply to New Zealand’s 256 for 9. Unbeaten innings of 37 by Australian Andy Bichel and 23 from 12 balls by Sri Lanka’s Chaminda Vaas carried the World XI past New Zealand’s total with two overs remaining. The win tied the three-match series at 1-1 after New Zealand’s nine-wicket win in the opening match on Saturday. Earlier, opener Nathan Astle scored 109 from 124 balls to provide the strength of New Zealand’s innings as the home side batted first after World XI captain Shane Warne won the toss. Astle’s opening partner, New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming, scored a century in the opening match but made only 14 today before falling when New Zealand was 25 for 1. Astle took over and batted through most of the innings, reaching his half century, from 57 balls and his century, in 160 minutes from 113 balls, with nine fours and a six. He was dismissed when New Zealand were 214 for 7 in the 45th over. Matthew Sinclair made 30, Craig McMillan 33 and Daniel Vettori an unbeaten 26 from 21 balls in the only other substantial contributions to New Zealand’s total. Bichel took 3 for 56 and South African Lance Klusener 2 for 33. Scoreboard New Zealand: Fleming c and b Vaas 14 Astle c Rhodes b Bichel 109 Sinclair c Sangakkara Cairns c Warne b Klusener 9 Marshall c Vaas McMillan c and McCullum c Sangakkara Vettori not out 26 Wilson c Klusener Mills run out 8 Tuffey not out 0 Extras
(lb-2 w-7 nb-1) 10 Total (for nine wickets, Fall of wickets: 1-14 2-107 3-135 4-148 5-202 6-205 7-214 8-233 9-252. Bowling:
Bichel 10-1-56-3, Vaas 5-0-35-1, Klusener 7-1-35-2 (w-2 nb-1), Jayasuriya 10-0-38-1 (w-2), Warne 10-0-44-0 (w-3), Muralitharan 8-0-46-1 World XI Elliott c Sinclair b Astle 57 Knight c McCullum Jayasuriya c Marshall Hick lbw b Vettori 24 Sangakkara c Marshall Rhodes run out 16 Klusener c and b Wilson 4 Bichel not out 37 Vaas not out 22 Extras
(lb-9 w-3 nb-1) 13 Total (for seven wickets, 47.5 overs) 257 Fall of wickets:
1-65 2-74 3-111 4-122 5-167 6-172 7-222 Bowling: Tuffey 8.5-0-65-1 (w-2), Mills 8-1-47-1, Cairns 7-0-31-1 (nb-1), Astle 10-0-45-1 (w-1), Vettori 5-0-24-1, Wilson 8-0-27-1, McMillan 1-0-10-0. —
AP, Reuters |
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Woods ends long title drought
San Diego, January 24 Ultimately, Woods almost made the biggest blunder of all. It was his first stroke-play victory since the American Express Championship in October 2003. Woods only won the Match Play Championship last year. "This golf course is so difficult, anything could happen," Woods said. Almost everything did. Lehman went toe-to-toe with Woods over the final six holes and hit better shots on most of them. But he caught a plugged lie in the bunker on No. 17 to make bogey and fall one shot behind. Needing a birdie at the 18th to have any chance, Lehman hit a fat wedge that barely got over the water, and he wound up making bogey. Woods finished at 16-under 272 and earned $ 864,000, putting him atop the PGA Tour money list for the first time since Vijay Singh won at Disney in October 2003. "He whipped the field playing lousy," Lehman said. "I give him a lot of credit." It was his largest final-round comeback - three shots - since he rallied from five shots behind at Pebble Beach five years ago. But this time, Woods had to rely on everyone around him. Donald had gone 37 holes without a bogey and was in control of the tournament until he hit a 6-iron over the 14th green and into the hazard for a double bogey. One shot behind, he pulled his tee shot into the hazard on No. 17 and had to scramble for bogey. He shot 73. Howell hit a perfect shot and suffered the cruelest fate on the South course at Torrey Pines. His sand wedge from 95 yards on No. 18 hit the bottom of the pin and part of the cup, then ricocheted back and into the pond. Howell took off his cap and stared in disbelief. "I knew I hit the shot perfect," Howell said. "And then to hit the hole and go into the water, I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Obviously, it's a crazy game." He took a penalty drop, spun a wedge off the green and chipped in for bogey to shoot 72. Had the shot gone in, there would have been a playoff. Lehman was trying to win for the first time in five years, and become the first active Ryder Cup captain to win on the PGA Tour since Jack Nicklaus at the 1986 Masters. But he hit his worst shots over the final two holes, and had to settle for his fifth straight top-10 finish. Lehman has failed to win his last seven tournaments when he had at least a share of the 54-hole lead. Woods had to scramble for par on the 14th, 15th and 16th holes just to keep pace with Lehman. Then with a chance to build a two-shot lead on the 17th, he missed a 6-foot birdie putt. When it was finally over, he had his 41st career victory and ended an 0-for-21 streak in stroke-play events. Bernhard Langer, the European captain last year at Oakland Hills, closed with a 72 and finished fifth.
— AP |
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Anand draws with Kramnik
Wijk Aan Zee, January 24 After a relatively indifferent start to his campaign, Anand cruised to victories over Ruslan Ponomoriov, Alexander Morozevich and Lazaro Bruzon to join the leaders but chose to play it safe against Kramnik ahead of today’s second rest day of this category-19 event being played under Classical time control. With five rounds remaining, Anand is in joint second place along with Hungarian Peter Leko and Brit Michael Adams with five points from the possible eight while Bulgarian Veselin Topalov shot in to sole lead with a finely crafted victory over Bruzon of Cuba. He has 5.5 points. Russians Alexander Grischuk and Kramnik are next in line on 4.5 points while Bruzon, Ponomariov of Ukraine and Commonwealth Champion Nigel Short of England are on a 50 per cent score with 4 points each in their kitty. Anand went for a safety-first approach against the Sicilian Sveshnikov that had already given him jitters in the second round of the tournament against Leko. Having lost against Leko in the same opening, Anand was simply cautious and that was probably the reason why the Indian ace could not establish any real advantage. The only twist in the game was when the Russian sacrificed a piece and then regained it almost immediately with a checkmate threat. The players arrived at a level Queen and rooks endgame where the peace was signed after 27 moves at Kramnik’s behest.
— PTI |
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Collage Group stun
Indian Airlines
New Delhi, January 24 Scores: Collage Group: 169 for 9 in 33 overs (Pankaj Joshi 42, Suhale Rauf 38, Sanjay Gill 25, Sandeep Rana 20, Ajit Chandela 3 for 27, Deepak Joon 2 for 24, Subhash Choudhary 2 for 29). Indian Airlines: 150 for 8 in 33 overs (Sachin Rana 31 n o, Doda Ganesh 24 n o, Vijay Dahiya 23, J Arun Kumar 23, Amardeep 2 for 25, Saurabh Saxena 2 for 27, Farman Ahmed 2 for 31). |
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