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Nadal, Henman shown the door
Sania revels in her anonymity
Bhupathi partners Mary Pierce in mixed doubles
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Players fail to turn up for hockey camp
Fruitful day for Indians
Johl, Ghei and Ashok tied fifth Almasi wins title, Sasikiran finishes third
Dhindsa on Commonwealth
Games committees
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Nadal, Henman shown the door London, June 23 The 30-year-old Briton, four-time losing semifinalist, was beaten 3-6, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 8-6 by Russian Dmitry Tursunov on Centre Court to end his increasingly forlorn hope of becoming Great Britain’s first men’s champion since 1936. Nadal’s claycourt expertise counted for little on a slick Court One against Gilles Muller, the world number 69, who only won his first-round match after opponent Felix Mantilla retired injured. Slipping and sliding on the unfamiliar grass, the flamboyant 19-year-old succumbed 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4. Henman had to recover from two sets down to win his first-round match, an indication that he was nowhere near peak form for his biggest tournament of the year. Young pretender Richard Gasquet tore through to the third round. He would face Nadal’s conqueror Muller in the third round. Nineteen-year-old Frenchman Gasquet continued his impressive Wimbledon debut with a 7-6, 7-6, 6-7, 6-2 victory over qualifier Gilles Elseneer of Belgium. On the women’s side, defending champion Maria Sharapova showed no mercy, demolishing upstart Sesil Karatantcheva 6-0, 6-1 in the second round. In suffocating heat on Court One, the second seed initially struggled to keep her powerful game inside the white lines, but once she found her range, the result was a foregone conclusion. The 18-year-old Russian was taken to three deuces in an opening game littered with flashing winners and wayward missiles, but the occasion quickly engulfed 15-year-old Karatantcheva. The biggest cheers of the match arrived when the Bulgarian finally got on the scoreboard in the 10th game, but it was delaying the inevitable as Sharapova scorched through. Squeezed on to an intimate showcourt at the All-England Club, twice champion Venus Williams swung from sticky to sublime before booking her place in the third round of the grasscourt Grand Slam with a 7-5, 6-3 win over Nicole Pratt. With the crowd, family camps, coaches and linesman all but encroaching on the claustrophobic Court Two, Venus had hardly any space on which to stamp her powerful character. She suffered as a result at first, Pratt racing into an early 3-0 lead in their match. The Australian’s support group were no less vocal than that of Venus. But the Australian’s level of support and determination were never matched by her ability to repel the thunderbolts Venus was capable of sending down. Venus started to connect and pulled herself back into the set to serve at 4-4. Another lapse in concentration saw her fall love-40 behind on her serve and Pratt’s camp, mouths cupped, out of their seats, hollered once more. But Venus snapped back into it. She held and three games later, broke her feisty Australian opponent again to nick the first set 7-5 after 53 minutes. The sun bore down and the Court Two crowd sought refuge under makeshift hats. The heat was stifling but, as Pratt wilted, Venus went from strength to strength. She did not hang about. She broke for 4-2 with a sally of heavy groundstrokes. Three games later, she racked up her first match point. Pratt saved it with a spicy crosscourt forehand. A second followed, which Venus netted, but on her third, she walloped a forehand winner before skipping off the court. France’s number 16 seed Nathalie Dechy sent Great Britain’s last woman player scuttling out of Wimbledon when she trounced wildcard Jane O’Donoghue 6-2, 6-1 in the second round. Spain’s 1994 champion Conchita Martinez showed she was still going strong at 33 with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Kristina Brandi of Puerto Rico. Eleni Daniilidou of Greece, the first-round conqueror of French Open champion Justine Henin-Hardenne, made light work of American Laura Granville, winning 6-2, 6-0. Other results: Men’s singles: Max Mirnyi (Belarus) b Olivier Rochus (Belgium) 7-6(4), 6-2, 7-6(3); Jiri Novak (Czech Republic) b Fabrice Santoro (France) 6-1, 4-6, 7-6(4), 6-3; Igor Andreev (Russia) b Davide Sanguinetti (Italy) 6-4, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3. Women’s singles:
Nadia Petrova (Russia) b Severine Beltrame (France) 6-1, 6-2; Flavia Pennetta (Italy) b Gisela Dulko (Argentina) 6-2, 6-4; Katarina Srebotnik (Slovenia) b Yoon Jeong Cho (South Korea) 7-5, 6-4; Jill Craybas (United States) b Marion Bartoli (France) 6-1, 6-4; Daniela Hantuchova (Slovakia) b Shahar Peer (Israel) 6-2, 2-6, 6-3; Cara Black (Zimbabwe) b Virginie Razzano (France) 6-4, 7-6(5); Alyona Bondarenko (Ukraine) b Tatiana Panova (Russia) 6-3, 2-6, 6-3.
— Reuters |
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Sania revels in her anonymity
London, June 23 She became the first Indian woman player ever to make it through to the second round of the world’s most famous tennis tournament with a dogged victory over Japan’s Akiko Morigami. Then the feisty 18-year-old made US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova fight every inch of the way before finally succumbing in a scrappy three-set thriller yesterday. In the past five months, Mirza has become a sporting idol in India, where she has to have security guards protecting her wherever she goes. “I would prefer to stay at home rather than go out for coffee with friends,” she said. “When I am sitting there, I know everyone is looking. I would rather not have a security guard look at me 12 hours a day.” “The amount of fame and adulation that I get in India is immense and I enjoy every moment of it. But sometimes it is a little too much.” “Every step I take here I enjoy. I just walk over here instead of going in the car. I cannot do that in India.” At home, she suddenly had to face the full glare of celebrity after becoming the first Indian woman to reach the third round of a grand slam at the Australian Open in January. Then her one billion compatriots really sat up and took notice when she became the first woman from the subcontinent to win a WTA title — and she did it in her hometown. Mirza is fiercely proud of being a role model because Indian women have never matched the success of male players like Vijay Amritraj and Leander Paes. “I just hope more people can now believe that women can do it in India,” she said. “We have had a lot of men playing but not too many women. Some women didn’t have the proper facilities, some probably get married early and some just don’t have the financial support.”
— Reuters |
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Bhupathi partners Mary Pierce in mixed doubles
London, June 23 The Sania-Simon pair will take on Gaston Eltis (Argentina) and Lisa McShea (Australia) in their first round match. Last year, Simon reached the quarterfinal stage in the men’s double event. Sania and her Russian partner Anna Chakvetadze crashed out in the first round of ladies’ doubles event losing 2-6, 1-6 to Alina Jidkova of Russia and Tatiana Perebiynis of Ukraine. In singles, Sania upstaged higher ranked Japanese Akiko Morigami in the first round before meeting fifth seed and US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova and despite a spirited struggle the Indian lost 4-6, 7-6 (7-4), 4-6. Bhupathi, who reached the second round in men’s doubles event with Todd Woodbridge, will be seen playing with reigning French Open runner-up Mary Pierce in the mixed doubles. The Bhupathi-Pierce pair plays the British duo of David Sherwood and Elena Baltacha in the first round.
—UNI |
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Brazil manage draw, enter semis
Frankfurt, June 23 Brazil hung on for 2-2 against Asian champion Japan, putting the five-time World Cup champion into Saturday’s semifinal against Group A winner Germany. This will be a rematch of the 2002 World Cup final, won 2-0 by Brazil. Oguro Masashi’s 88th-minute goal allowed Japan to draw. Robinho gave Brazil a lead after 10 minutes, and Shunsuke Nakamura equalised in the 27th. Five minutes later, Ronaldinho put Brazil up 2-1. Greece, the European champion, lost two of three games and failed to score in this eight-team, two-week warmup for next year’s World Cup in Germany. The Mexico-Greece game promised to be overshadowed when FIFA, the world governing body, said it would have a statement after the match about Mexico defenders Salvador Carmona and Aaron Galindo. The two were dismissed from the team without explanation on Tuesday by Mexico coach Ricardo Lavolpe. He would only say they had broken team rules. Mexico’s scoreless draw was lackluster. Mexico looked little like the team that beat Brazil 1-0 on Sunday. Greece may have had its best chance in the seventh minute when Mexico ‘keeper Oswaldo Sanchez deflected Zissis Vryzas’ shot off the crossbar, and then scrambled to stop a rebound. Mexico had an excellent chance in the 68th when Gerardo Torrado, who had just come on as a substitute, was stopped with a point-blank save by Greek ‘keeper Antonis Nikopolidis. Mexico had five shots on goal to four for Greece, and 12 shots overall to nine. Japan convinced the doubters with the draw against Brazil. Barely three minutes into the game, Akira Kaji beat ‘keeper Marcos, only for the goal to be dismissed for offside. TV replays suggested the call was incorrect. From a Brazilian breakaway in the 10th minute, Ronaldinho carried the ball 50m before sliding it to Robinho who fired left-footed under ‘keeper Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi. Nakamura produced a stunning equaliser in the 27th with a 25m shot. But Brazil regained the lead five minutes later when Ronaldinho took a pass from Robinho and scored from 10 m. Japan made it 2-2 with two minutes to go when a free kick from Nakamura hit the post and, although Marcos partly blocked the rebound from Oguro, the ball went in. Japan almost snatched the winner moments later, but Marcos saved a shot by Oguro.
—AP |
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Players fail to turn up for hockey camp
Patiala, June 23 Today being the reporting day for the players, turned out to be rather disastrous for the IHF as against expectations none of the 30-odd players selected for the camp arrived at the venue. However, IHF sources disclosed that most of the players were on their way to Patiala and full fledged activity will start only from tomorrow. Approval for the camp had been granted by the Executive Director (teams wing), Sports Authority of India (SAI), and consequently airconditioned accommodation had been provided for players and officials at the Dhyan Chand hostel. The camp, which is being held in preparation for the eight-nation mini World Cup to be held at Amstelveen in August, was to be held at Chandigarh’s Sector 42 stadium but lack of accommodation there meant that the IHF had to shift it to the NIS. What has added to the worries of the coaches is the fact that the astro-turf at the institute is not fit to hold the camp. Over the past several years the turf has undergone a lot of wear and tear. Hockey experts opine that since the turf has patches at the top of both the striking circles, practice of penalty corners, the achilles heel of Indian hockey for long, may turn out to be a dangerous affair. According to senior NIS coaches, the ball can obruptly lift dangerously due to the uneven bounce resulting in injuries to players. The turf, which was laid in 1996, has a story attached to it which surfaces every time a national camp is held at the institute. In 2002, former chief coach of the NIS and chief coach of the Indian women’s hockey squad, Mr G.S, Bhangu, had sent a proposal to the SAI asking it to lay at least two turfs at the institute and had cited various reasons for this proposal. In his letter, Mr Bhangu had said a Centre of Excellence for hockey was being run at the NIS with a lot of success and since diploma students were also practicing on the same turf, there was a need for two new turfs. He had also added that since various national camps, in both the men’s and women’s categories, were
regularly being held at the NIS, the SAI should make immediate arrangements to
lay these turfs. However, four years down the line bureaucratic wranglings within the SAI had ensured that things moved at a snail’s pace with the result that the old turf continues to shoulder the burden. Sources reveal that the cost of laying down two new turfs came to around nearly Rs 6 crore and it was but natural that a lot of red tap crept in which ultimately sent Mr Bhangu’s proposal down the drain. Keeping in view SAI’s disinterest in laying a new turf, the Indian Women’s Hockey Federation (IWHF) was quick to take off the NIS from the list of venues for holding national camps. Earlier, when the turf played true and even, the NIS was the favourite venue for the IWHF to organise camps. The camps for senior Indian women’s team for the 1998 Kuala Lumpur Commonwealth Games, 1998 Bangkok Asian Games, 2002 Manchester Commonwealth Games and the 2002 Busan Asiad were held at the NIS. However, on the flip side, some experts say that the patchwork on the turf may not be much of a problem for coach Rajinder Singh as he has already gone on record as saying that the focus in the brief 21-day camp will concentrate more on physical conditioning rather than on having full fledged sessions. |
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London, Jun 23 Dinesh Mongia claimed a wicket giving away just 19 runs from four overs before blasting a 28-ball 39 to guide Leicestershire to a five wicket over Notthinghampshire at Grace Road. At Rose Bowl, Irfan Pathan wrecked Hampshire’s middle-order with three for 16 off four overs as Middlesex, making 210 for six batting first, restricted their opponents to 192 for seven to win the match by 18 runs. Harbhajan Singh remained wicketless in Surrey’s match against Kent at Backenham but the off-spinner’s miserly spell of 4-0-22-0 trouble the batsmen as they managed just 140 for 8 in 20 overs. Surrey reached the target in just 16 overs losing three wickets with the Indian not required to bat at all. Ganguly’s Glamorgan defeated Somerset at Sophia Gardens with the Indian skipper making 10 with the bat as an opener after giving away 30 runs for his one wicket from three overs his gentle medium pace.
— PTI |
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Johl, Ghei and Ashok tied fifth
Bandar Seri Begawan, June 23 Amandeep Johl had just one blot on his card with the bogey on par-3 seventh and his birdies were on the second, third and three in a row from 13th to 15th. Gaurav Ghei had three birdies each on the front and back nines, and one bogey each on either side to end up at four-under 67. His birdies came on the second, ninth, 12th and then a hat-trick of birdies from 14th to 16th. He dropped a shot on the seventh and on the closing hole. Ashok Kumar had just one blemish on a fairly good day, when bogeyed the eighth. His five birdies came on the second, fourth, 12th, 15th and 18th. Firoze Ali, who had not had much success on Asian Tour this year, began well with a two-under 69 with four birdies and two bogeys, one of them on the last hole. He birdied the first, second, 12th and 17th and dropped a shot each on 14th and 18th. Digvijay Singh had an eventful day with five birdies and four bogeys for his one-under 60, while Harmeet Kahlon and Uttam Singh Mundy played par rounds of 71 each. Kahlon had a double on the 12th after a great start as was three-under after 10. Then he dropped a shot on 11th, double bogeyed the 12th and again bogeyed the 14th. He recovered to birdie the 15th. Shiv Kapur made a second rally after starting from the 10th tee. With four bogeys and one birdie in his first nine hole, he was three-over at the turn. But with three birdies on third, fifth and sixth, he made up before bogeying the eighth to end up at one-over 72 in tied 70th place. — PTI
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Almasi wins title, Sasikiran finishes third
Paks (Hungary), June 23 Hungarian Zoltan Almasi emerged as the winner of the category-15 double round-robin event after taking a quick draw with compatriot Peter Acs while Viktor Korchnoi of Switzerland drew with top seed Emil Sutovsky of Israel in the other game of the last round. Almasi finished with an impressive tally of 6.5 points out of a possible 10 while Korchnoi, after a flying start, finished with an overall tally of 6, half a point more than Sasikiran. Berkes was a deserving fourth on 5 points while Sutovsky and Acs tied for the last spot on 3.5 points apiece. The Indian, however, could draw some consolation from the fact that he finished with 2.5 points out of 3 in the last three games after a dismal start, that saw him losing one and drawing six games in first seven rounds.
— PTI
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Dhindsa on Commonwealth
Games committees
Chandigarh, June 23 |
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