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Sharapova, Davenport in semis
ICC may appoint arbiter for Ganguly
Sourav’s knock goes in vain
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Argentina start favourites
Top hockey stars join camp
Haryana drub Karnataka 15-0
Paddlers advance
Daniel Chopra qualifies for British Open
Chetan Anand in main draw of Singapore Open
Navdeep Singh shows promise
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Sharapova, Davenport in semis
London, June 28 After four rounds of gentle sparring, the 18-year-old Russian was given a real battle early on by compatriot Nadia Petrova before emerging victorious 7-6, 6-3. Five years older than Sharapova, Petrova showed scant regard for the world number two’s reputation as she matched her opponent blow for blow in the first 12 games. Sharapova found her best tennis of the match in the tie-breaker. Shrieking louder with every swiping forehand, she moved into a 6-4 lead. Petrova refused to blink and saved both set points, but when Sharapova earned another set point, she hammered an unstoppable forehand past the eighth seed. Sharapova hurtled into a 3-0 lead in the second set and although Petrova never let her out of sight, she was dealt a cruel blow when trailing 5-3. Facing a break point, Sharapova got lucky with a forehand, that rolled off the tape and dropped dead. Another netcord gave her match point and Petrova obliged by wafting a forehand long. “It was a tough match. It sends shivers down my body to be in the semifinals again,” Sharapova said. While the second seed huffed and puffed and bristled with intensity, Amelie Mauresmo was a study in graceful athleticism, bounding past Russian Anastasia Myskina 6-4, 6-3. Mauresmo pulverised a drained Myskina in 69 blistering minutes to reach the Wimbledon semifinals for the third time. Mauresmo walked on to a sun-drenched Centre Court having won five of her previous six meetings against Myskina and today, her tactic was evident from the start — to make the Russian run. The Frenchwoman, who had dropped just 15 games in her first four matches, sped into a 4-1 lead in the opening set by dominating proceedings at the net and forcing the Russian to chase everything. Mauresmo, a semifinalist on her last two visits to the All-England Club, also engaged Myskina in lengthy rallies and just had to bide her time before her 23-year-old opponent produced the inevitable error. Although Myskina broke Mauresmo in the seventh game, she immediately relinquished the advantage. On the half hour mark, Myskina surrendered the set by dumping a forehand into the net. The pair traded breaks again in the second set. But Mauresmo always looked more powerful than last year’s French Open champion and wrapped up the contest when Myskina looped a backhand return long. The battle-weary Myskina, who had saved match points in the two previous rounds, was no match for Mauresmo’s mesmeric all-court game, losing for the sixth time in seven meetings. “I really wanted to be aggressive in this match and that was what I did from the first point,” said Frenchwoman Mauresmo. A pounding serve, the fast grass and a fragile opponent made all the difference to Venus Williams in her 6-0, 7-6 defeat of Mary Pierce in the quarterfinals. After the 21-minute first set, it looked as though the twice former champion’s progress into the last four would be a mere formality. Williams made mincemeat of the Canada-born Frenchwoman. Top seed Lindsay Davenport fired her way past US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova 7-6, 6-3 to reach the semifinals. Davenport looked set to claim the first set with ease after breaking Kuznetsova, but the Russian fifth seed broke back. The 29-year-old Davenport won the tie-breaker and after breaking her opponent early in the second set, her victory never looked in doubt. In men’s action, Sebastien Grosjean of France edged past Russian Dmitry Tursunov 4-6, 7-6, 3-6, 6-3, 6-1 to reach the quarterfinals yesterday. Twice champion Roger Federer of Switzerland defeated Spaniard Juan Carlos Ferrero 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 in a fourth-round match. Fernando Gonzalez became the first Chilean to reach the last eight at Wimbledon since 1985 with his 7-6, 7-6, 6-3 victory over Russian Mikhail Youzhny.
— Reuters Paes-Zimonjic in quarterfinals
London, June 28 The fifth-seeded pair defeated Karol Beck of Slovakia and Jaroslav Levinsky of the Czech Republic 7-5, 6-3, 6-4 to move into the last eight. The domination of the pair was so profound that their opponents could not get a single break point in the first two sets. Beck and Levinsky managed to break the fifth seeds in the fourth game of the third set, but the pair struck back immediately by getting even in the next game and broke again in the seventh game to go 4-3 up. Indian juniors had a bad day as Sanam Singh and Vivek Shokeen bowed out in the second round. Asian junior champion Sanam went down cheaply to Antal Van Der Duim of the Netherlands 6-2, 6-3 while Shokeen lost to 17th seed Thiemo De Bakker 5-7, 6-4, 1-6. Sanam teamed up with Jeevan Nedunchezhiya to beat Sho Aida of Japan and Jiri Kosler of the Czech Republic 6-3, 6-4 to move into the second round of the boys’ doubles.
— PTI Sania loses in mixed doubles
London, June 28 Pitted against seventh-seeded Czech-Slovak pair of Leos Friedl and Janette Husarova on court seven, there was no semblance of a fight as the Sania-Simon pair capitulated rather meekly. The Leos-Janette pair won the match 6-2, 6-4.
— UNI |
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ICC may appoint arbiter for Ganguly
Kolkata, June 28 Sourav Ganguly got a lifeline after Jagmohan Dalmiya’s robust deliberations at the ICC executive board’s meeting last night forced the board to give in. Sources close to the ICC said Dalmiya’s fight paid rich dividends with the arbiter for the case being appointed in the next two days. The sources said, “As soon as the issue of lifting the ban on Sourav Ganguly was picked up by Dalmiya, there was a protest from a sizable quarter, including ICC President Ehsan Mani, ICC CEO Malcom Speed and ICC lawyer Oorvashi Naidu.” “However, Mr Dalmiya fought hard and convinced colleagues in the executive board that there was merit in reopening the case. Finally it was unanimously decided that the matter would be reopened and sent for arbitration under an independent arbiter,” the sources said. Meanwhile, Ganguly’s counsel Ushanath Banerjee said, “It is like a quasi-judicial body that will now hear both the parties.” While the captain might be asked to be physically present for the hearing, nothing had been decided as yet. But, whatever decision would be given by the arbiter would be final and binding and no further appeal would be entertained.
— UNI |
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Sourav’s knock goes in vain
London, June 28 Earlier, powered by a surge towards the later part of their innings, Somerset amassed a mammoth 212 for three in the stipulated 20 overs and Glamorgan were set a record Twenty20 Cup run chase which proved an improbable task. After Somerset opted to bat, Glamorgan bowlers did well to restrict them to 79 for two after 10 overs but James Hildreth (71 off 37 balls), Keith Parsons (57 not out off 28) and Ian Blackwell — with three sixes for his cameo 22 not out off just nine deliveries — went berserk to take the total to 212. Sourav tried in vain to stop the run riot and his only over cost his side 16 runs. Beginning the chase, Glamorgan never looked capable of reaching the total and lost their top half with the score reading 79. Batting one down, Sourav Ganguly was in his familiar form and looked quite comfortable in this truncated version of the game as he unleashed an array of shots, including couple of sixes and three hits to the fence. Once Blackwell — who had a wonderful day with the ball as well claiming four wickets — trapped Sourav leg before, Glamorgan could not recover and their innings folded for 123 runs in 17.4 overs.
— UNI |
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Argentina start favourites
Frankfurt, June 28 Adriano, who scored twice in Brazil’s 3-2 semifinal win over hosts Germany on Saturday, limped out of yesterday’s training with an ankle injury but the team doctor said he should be fit. Brazil, the five-time World Cup winners, and Argentina, twice former world champions, will be playing their 40th competitive match — and their fourth in Europe. Argentina should be clear favourites after beating Brazil 3-1 in a World Cup qualifier as recently as June 8 but Brazil beat Argentina a year ago to win the Copa America, albeit with a penalty shoot-out victory in the final. If Brazil win tomorrow they will become only the second country after France to hold three senior FIFA titles at the same time: the World Cup, their continental crown and the Confederations Cup. France achieved that feat in 2001. Jose Pekerman’s Argentina team looked exhausted as they beat Mexico 6-5 on penalties in the second semifinal in Hanover on Sunday, after a gruelling match ended 1-1 after extra time. Brazil had enjoyed a relatively straightforward win over Germany 24 hours earlier in Nuremberg and the mauling they received in that last meeting in Argentina will be a powerful incentive. “The final will be a great source of motivation,” Ronaldinho said. “It will be a great game against a great team.” “We want to end the season on a high note by winning this title. You forget about how tired you are when it’s a final. We’ll shrug it off.’’ Brazil coach Carlos Alberto Parreira will be keen to prove that his ultra-attacking formation can be effective against top class opposition. He will be asking for one final sacrifice from his four regular forwards, Ronaldinho, Kaka, Robinho and Adriano, if the latter is fit. “He was taken off as a precaution,’’ doctor Jose Luiz Runco said of a player who also scored a great goal in Brazil’s opening 3-0 win over Greece. ‘’I don’t believe he’s doubtful for tomorrow. “We’ll use ice on the left ankle and he should be able to resume training today.’’ Pekerman will be forced into one change, with Javier Saviola suspended after picking up a red card in the semifinal. Carlos Tevez should return in his place. The coach can recall centre-back Walter Samuel after he was suspended for the semifinal, but Gabriel Milito performed well enough in his absence and could keep his place. Most of the previous games between Brazil and Argentina have come in friendly internationals, World Cup qualifiers and the Copa America. They have met four times in the World Cup, three of them in Europe. Brazil beat Argentina 2-1 in Hanover when the World Cup was held in West Germany in 1974. The Brazilians won again in Barcelona in 1982, an explosive 3-1 success that is remembered for a red card shown to Diego Maradona. Argentina gained revenge in 1990 when they beat Brazil 1-0 in the round of 16. Brazil and Argentina are the two most successful teams in FIFA competition history. Brazil boast a total of 16 titles, including a record five World Cups, while Argentina have eight, including two World Cups. Brazil are also looking to become the second country after France to win the competition twice after their victory in the inaugural competition in 1997. Argentina won the forerunner, the FIFA International Championship in 1992. Germany and Mexico, the two beaten semifinalists, meet in the third-place match in Leipzig earlier tomorrow.
— Reuters |
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Top hockey stars join camp
Patiala, June 28 To add to Rajinder's joys, a senior IHF office bearer disclosed that midfielders Arjun Halappa and Bimal Lakra, both of whom were earlier dropped from the camp, would be joining shortly. At present, both these players are doing duty with the Indian Airlines team in a tournament being played at Muscat. There is no word about another Indian Airlines player, striker Sandeep Michael, who alongwith Halappa and Lakra, did not figure in the list of probables announced by the IHF for the Patiala camp. Rajinder tried to play it safe and neither confirmed nor denied the development of the return of both Halappa and Lakra, whose omission from the original list had led to a lot of hue and cry. Eighteen out of the 24 probables announced by the IHF have joined the conditioning camp which is being held in preparation for the eight-nation mini- World cup slated to be held at Amstelveen in August. Those who are yet to join the proceedings here are goalkeeper Devesh Chauhan, Len Aiyappa, Bharat
Chettri, Raghunath, Viren Rasquinha and Inderjeet Singh Chadha, the last two of whom are busy playing in the Bangalore league, and
Muthuselvan. Despite the fact that Rajinder Singh was made the coach at the Azlan Shah cup, he still remains an unknown quantity. The Punjab and Sind Bank (PSB) coach may have led his club team to dizzying heights in the domestic circuit but here he has his task cut out as he has to ensure that the team attains a certain level of fitness before the all important Amstelveen tournament. Rajinder Singh, who played in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, discounted rumours that ace defender Dilip Tirkey had joined the camp despite being injured. Rumours about the Indian captain's fitness surfaced when he took part in the Azlan Shah tournament despite not being fully fit, a fact which was conceded to by the Rajinder himself. Rajinder is keeping an eagle's eye on some key players, including Deepak Thakur, who stunned hockey followers by pumping in a brilliant hat trick during the 2001 junior World cup final. Since then the form of the Patiala-based Centre of Excellence player, a trainee of SAI coach
I.S. Gill, has swung like a pendulum between mediocre and excellent. However, Deepak is trying hard to try to recapture that very form that pitchforked him into the senior team. Among other players who are shaping up well during training sessions are Rajpal Singh and Prabhjot Singh. |
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Haryana drub Karnataka 15-0
New Delhi, June 28 With the monsoon clouds providing a perfect shield on an otherwise steamy morning, the Haryana girls went on the offensive from the outset and started raining goals on the Karnataka citadel, without giving any breather to their rivals. The first half produced nine goals and the second half six as Haryana displayed their scoring prowess in no uncertain manner. But their ability to convert penalty corners came under a cloud as they could convert only three of the 14 they earned. The Haryana goal tally could have hit the two dozen mark, had they not muffed a few virtual sitters. Forward Jasjeet, who scored the second and the ninth goal, muffed four easy chances while Sarvjeet squandered three golden opportunities. The highlight of the match was the precision scoring of winger Kanu Priya, who slotted home four goals, including the last three goals to record the first hat-trick of the tournament. Haryana’s goal-hunt began in the very first minute when Sandeep Kaur blasted in off their first penalty corner. The other goal-getters were captain Simarjeet, Joydeep Kaur, who scored off a stroke, and Harjinder. Though the Karnataka team let in so many goals, they matched the Haryana girls in stick work and speed. Haryana, boasting of a number of internationals, weaved their way past the rival defence to score at will. Though they had a tendency to hold on to the ball longer than necessary, and wasted many scoring opportunities, Haryana were unstoppable as the half line and attackers played with understanding to knot up the Karnataka defence. Despite the huge margin of victory, Haryana coach Baldev Singh was not happy with the final verdict as he felt that the girls should have made full use of the chances, instead of frittering away goals offered on a platter. In other matches, All-India Universities trounced
Chhattisgarh 6-0 in Group B while Uttar Pradesh went down to Orissa 0-4 in Group A. The university girls, who earned 17 penalty corners, could convert only a few with captain Rajnesh Mudgil slotting home four goals and Sarvejeet accounted for two. |
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Paddlers advance
New Delhi, June 28 In the junior boy’s section, India ‘B’ thrashed New Caledonia ‘B’ 3-0 while India ‘A’ defeated Kiribati by similar margin. India ‘B’ will now take on Korea Republic ‘A’ while India ‘A’ will meet Korea Republic ‘B’ for a place in
the last four. In the junior girls section, India ‘A’ demolished Kiribati 3-0 while India ‘B’ dashed the hopes of Fiji ‘A’ by identical margin, according to information received here today. India ‘A’ will face Korea Republic ‘B’ while India ‘B’ will face off with New Zealand ‘A’ in the quarterfinals. Results: India ‘A’ beat Kiribati 3-0: Aniket Koparkar bt Nooa Takooa 11-6, 11-3, 11-7; Soumyajit Sarkar bt Choy Freddy 11-6, 11-9, 12-10; Koparkar/Devesh Karia
beat Takooa/Freddy 11-6, 11-4, 11-5. Girls: India ‘A’ beat Kiribati 3-0: Neha Aggarwal bt Atea Tetabo 11-8, 11-5, 11-4; J Swarna bt Semila Tetau 11-4, 11-5, 11-3; K
Shamini/ Swarna bt Tetabo/Tetau 11-5, 11-3, 11-5. India ‘B’ beat Fiji ‘A’ 3-0: Madurika Patkar bt Shriti Jeet 11-1, 11-4, 11-1; Pallabi Kundu bt Victoria Muller 11-2, 11-4, 11-7; Ashlesha Bodas/Salankara Mahalanobish bt Jeet/Muller 11-4, 11-4, 11-9.
— PTI |
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Daniel Chopra qualifies for British Open
New Delhi, June 28 Chopra, who plays on the US PGA Tour, shot rounds of 68 and 69 to grab one of the 14 spots available at the qualifier. Another Indian, Arjun Atwal, however, failed in his mission, after a first round 75. This will be 32-year-old Chopra’s first appearance at the British Open. Chopra, a former Asian Tour regular, played at the 2004 US Open and, in his very first appearance at a major, made the cut and finished tied 24th. Bolstering the Asian Tour’s challenge in the British Open, were Simon Dyson, who came through the qualifiers in Europe, and Thailand’s Thammanoon Srirot who grabbed a spot by finishing tied fourth at the Mizuno Open. The top-four finishers at the Mizuno Open, who are otherwise not qualified for British Open, were given tickets to the year’s third major. Thammanoon shot a superb final round display of six-under-par 66 to seal his berth. The Thai, who featured in the winning Asian team at the Visa Dynasty Cup against Japan in April, carded rounds of 72, 70, 71 and 66 for a nine-under-par total, just one stroke behind Chris Campbell who won in a three-way play-off.
— PTI |
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Chetan Anand in main draw of Singapore Open
New Delhi, June 28 Anand, ranked 97th, thrashed Chen 15-5, 15-2 in just 23 minutes to set up a first round clash with Sho Sasaki of Japan in the event at the Singapore Indoor Stadium. However, Trupti Murgunde in women’s singles and men’s doubles pair of V. Diju and Jaseel Ismail failed to make the grade as they lost in the qualifying round. Murgunde went down to Chinese Taipei’s Chia-Hain Huang 9-11, 7-11 while Diju and Tamail went down to Noriyaso Hirate and Hajime Komiyama 10-15, 7-15. National champion Anup Sridhar, Abhinn Shyam Gupta and Nikhil Kanetkar, along with women’s national championship Aparna Popat, would begin their campaign tomorrow. While Sridhar would take on
qualifier Tien Minh Nguyen of Vietnam, Gupta would face top seed and World No. 1 Lin Dan of China in the opening round, Kanitkar would begin his campaign against Peter Mikkelson of Denmark. Popat would take on Simone Prutsch of Austria in the opening round. Sanave Thomas and Rupesh Kumar would face World No. 3 Lars Paaske and Jonas Rasmussen of Denmark in the men’s doubles first round while Shruti Kurian and Jwala Gutts would meet eight-seeded Eei Khu Chin and Pel Tty Hong of Malaysia.
— PTI |
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Navdeep Singh shows promise
New Delhi, June 28 The national junior under-18 champion, who has the highest ITF world ranking of 63 among the Indian juniors, has been honing his skills at the All-India Tennis Association-run National Tennis Academy at Gurgaon under T. Chandrasekhar and Gajendra Singh, as well as at Bob Brett’s Tennis Academy in Italy and Mike Walker’s Tennis Academy in Britain. The 19-year-old dashing Sikh boy, who is based in New Delhi and Dubai, said the stints with Bob Brett, the former coach of Boris Becker and Goran Ivanisevic, gave him lot of confidence as the famed coach gave him the correct advise of how to improve his game, like taking care of his fitness and making his forehand more effective. A hard court exponent, Navdeep said Leander Paes was very impressed with his display during last year’s US open boys singles matches. He hopes of getting into the Indian Davis team in a couple of years. Navdeep, who represented India in four world ranking tournaments in Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines and Japan last year, had won both the singles and doubles titles in the ITF World Ranking Championships held at Chandigarh in February last year. |
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