New York, September 10
Kim Clijsters and Mary Pierce rode their sizzling summer form into the final of the US Open with three-set triumphs over battling Russian opponents Maria Sharapova and Elena Dementieva.

Sharapova yesterday went down swinging against Belgium’s Clijsters, who needed six match points to put away the top-seeded Russian 6-2, 6-7 (4-7), 6-3.

Pierce rallied from a lacklustre first set to deny Dementieva a second straight trip to the title match at Flushing Meadows by winning 3-6, 6-2, 6-2.

Clijsters, the fourth seed, earned a shot at her first Grand Slam title after coming up empty in four previous major finals.

She also would have a shot at an astonishing $ 2.2 million payday, thanks to her triumphs in three of four US hardcourt tournaments linked together by the US Tennis Association as the US Open Series.

As winner of the series, Clijsters would claim double the Open prize money of $ 1.1 million if she would lift the trophy.

But Sharapova made her work for the opportunity, denying Clijsters five match points to force the tie-breaker in a gritty second-set effort.

Serving to save the match at 5-6, Sharapova fell behind 0-40, handing Clijsters triple match point with a double fault.

Sharapova saved the first by punctuating a punishing rally with a drop-shot winner and launched a backhand cross-court winner on the next.

An unreturnable serve brought the game to deuce and then Clijsters gave herself another chance with a forehand winner. Another winning serve kept Sharapova in it and then a double fault gave Clijsters one more match point, on which Sharapova came up with an ace.

Clijsters gave herself a 4-0 cushion with two breaks before Sharapova held her serve. No sooner had Sharapova retrieved one of the breaks to make it 2-4, Clijsters broke to serve for the match at 5-2.

The 12th-seeded Frenchwoman outgunned Dementieva in a battle of heavy hitters, but not before a lengthy injury timeout between the first and second sets.

Dementieva dominated the opening frame, pounding her groundstrokes and showing none of the weakness on her serve, that had so often proved her undoing.

Then came Pierce’s consecutive timeouts for treatment on two different ailments, a tight lower back and a sore right thigh that was a hangover from a previous match.

Dementieva said the break, which totalled 12 minutes in the end, was a piece of gamesmanship from the 30-year-old veteran, but in the end, she said it was not a deciding factor in the match.

As Dementieva declined — she dropped her serve to trail 4-1 with three straight errors — Pierce went in for the kill.

Showing why she was enjoying a resurgence after battles with injuries, fitness and sheer motivation, Pierce hit with the same confidence that saw her sweep aside world number 3 Amelie Mauresmo in the quarterfinals and avenge her French Open final defeat by Justine Henin-Hardenne in the fourth round. — AFP

Mumbai, September 10
US Open mixed doubles champion Mahesh Bhupathi wants Sania Mirza to improve her serves and mobility, besides seeking to see her attack the net more, even as he predicted that the Indian teen sensation would break into the top 10 in the world.

“She has surprised all of us. We all expected her to break into the top 100, but she has exceeded all expectations. I expect her to peak in three years,” Bhupathi said here today on his return after clinching the US Open mixed doubles crown with Slovak partner Daniela Huntuchova.

“She has to stay healthy and she will surprise all of us even more. She has the ability to break into the top 10,” Bhupathi said.

Asked what she needed to improve on, Bhupathi said, “Her serves and mobility. I will like to see her attack the net more. She has to work on her fitness too.”

Bhupathi praised the work put in by Sania’s travelling coach John Farrington and said the talented Hyderabadi girl, whose glorious run in the US Open women’s singles ended at the pre-quarterfinal stage, would take a call on the coach at the end of this year.

“We (Globosport) let her take her own decisions. John has done a pretty good job. She will take a decision (whether to continue the arrangement with Farrington) at the end of the year,” Bhupathi said.

The doubles specialist was in the city to announce the commercial tie-up of suburban Andheri’s “The Club” with the “Mahesh Bhupathi Tennis Academy”, based in Bangalore.

Bhupathi came out in support of Mumbai-born young tennis player Harsh Mankad, who had criticised his omission from the four-man Indian squad to take on Sweden in the Davis Cup playoff tie in Delhi from September 23 to 25.

Mankad has been chosen as the reserve behind team members Leander Paes (captain), Bhupathi and singles players Prakash Amritraj and Rohah Bopanna.

“I think Harsh has good reason to make a noise. He has had a good year and his ranking is also high. We do have five or six top guys (to play in the Davis Cup).”

“But as captain, Leander (Paes) can make a change and include him in the team if he feels Harsh is good,” Bhupathi said.

“But I cannot comment as my input is not taken in team selection,” he added.

About the tie, Bhupathi said India were obviously the underdogs, but weather conditions might play a part.

“We are the underdogs. But the heat and humidity factors have to be taken into consideration. The pressure is on the Swedes,” he said.

About his triumph in the US Open mixed doubles event with Daniela, that fetched him his ninth Grand Slam crown (all in doubles, including four in men’s), Bhupathi said it was never easy.

“We were down a match point in our first-round match and were lucky to come out of that. Later on, we played well, though we had a tough draw. And towards the end we played quality tennis,” he elaborated. —PTI 

Mumbai, September 10
The Bombay Hockey Association (BHA), housed in the Mahindra Stadium and in existence since 1934, has been served a notice by the government to vacate its premises by Monday morning following the expiry of the lease period.

The notice was served by the Youth and Cultural Affairs Ministry of the Maharashtra Government after the lease, which was handed out to the BHA two years ago, was not renewed.

Confirming that the BHA had been served a notice to vacate the premises, BHA Secretary Kehar Singh said they would fight the order tooth and nail and move court.

Kehar Singh also alleged that the eviction order had come in the wake of the BHA’s refusal to give away a part of its structure in its northern part, lying adjacent to Wankhede Stadium of the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA), to the latter for expansion of stands to accommodate more cricket spectators.

“We have said no to the MCA’s request. We are the oldest sports body in Mumbai and hockey is our national game. We will resist the attempts to throw us out,” Kehar Singh said.

“It was a clever ploy by them to serve a notice on us dated September 8 on September 9, knowing that the courts would be closed today and tomorrow. But we will approach the court and fight it out,” he said.

“We have been writing to the authorities concerned to extend our lease over the last two years, but they have failed to respond. The government cannot remove a slum-dweller who has put up his shack three days earlier. How can they do it to us,” fumed Kehar Singh.

Incidentally, the stadium houses the only artificial turf for hockey in the megapolis and an all-India under-18 talent search tournament is set to start next week at the venue.

A visiting British army team is scheduled to play at the Mahindra Stadium on September 16 against a BHA selection and a question mark hangs over these matches in the wake of the developments.

The BHA is one of the affiliates of the Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) and its former Secretary, Kishen Lal Passi, was a former secretary of the IHF.

Passi was instrumental in conducting the 1982 World Cup, ironically, at the adjacent Wankhede Stadium when relations between the two sports bodies were more cordial.

The MCA is now headed by Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar while the BHA is headed by Dilbagh Singh Bakshi.

To make matters harder for the hockey association is the internal wranglings within its managing committee members.

A few managing committee members, all former hockey players, have raised questions recently about its functioning through a legal notice served on the Company Law Board to look into the issue as the BHA has been registered under the Companies Act, 1956. — PTI

London, September 10
Openers Justin Langer and Matthew Hayden scored centuries in the deciding fifth Ashes Test but Australia's hopes of ramming home their advantage were hit by the weather today.

The world champions, replying to England's first innings of 373 and needing to win at The Oval to level the series at 2-2 and retain the Ashes, took their score from 112 without loss to 277 for two, still 96 behind.

Repeated downpours followed by bad light reduced the day to just 45.4 of the scheduled 98 overs.

Hayden was on 110 not out at the close with Damien Martyn on nine.

Langer and Hayden underlined their reputation as one of the great test opening partnerships with a 185-run stand, surpassing their previous best of 58 in the series.

It was the sixth time the two had scored centuries in the same test, an unrivalled feat.

Justin Langer, having cut strike bowler Steve Harmison for two boundaries to get past 7,000 Test runs during a wayward over, then inside-edged the ball via his thigh onto his stumps to end his 142-ball knock. It was his 22nd Test century and fourth against England.

Matthew Hayden was on 70 not out. Langer, who resumed on 75 out of an overnight total of 112, was given two lives yesterday and both he and Hayden lived dangerously after play got under way half an hour late.

Matthew Hoggard thought he had got Langer lbw with the first ball of the day, but the batsman was given the benefit of the doubt. Hayden got a reprieve against the same bowler as the ball swung in the gloomy conditions.

The pitch, placid on the opening two days, had livened up and Andrew Flintoff, steaming in, did not concede a run until his 23rd ball.

Hayden kept his focus, even when another 30 minutes were lost to the rain. He eventually nudged Flintoff away to reach the 21st half century of his career. An aggressive strokeplayer, he could rarely have batted more cautiously, getting to the mark from his 137th delivery.

Australia scored 45 runs in 14 overs during the morning session. Scoreboard

England (1st innings) 373

Australia (1st innings)

Langer b Harmison 105

Hayden not out 110

Ponting c Strauss b Flintoff 35

Martyn not out 9

Extras (b-4, lb-6, w-2, nb-6) 18

Total (2 wkt, 78.4 overs) 277

Bowling: Harmison 20-2-75-1, Hoggard 14-1-53-0, Flintoff 19.4-7-48-1, Giles 21-0-74-0, Collingwood 4-0-17-0. —Reuters

Mutare, September 10
India batted on and on and made the final day’s play of the warm-up game against Zimbabwe Board XI a meaningless exercise here today.

India, resuming at 365 for 2, stretched their innings till 572 for 9 before they applied the closure at tea. It gave the tourists a lead of 278 runs.

In their second innings, Zimbabwe Board were 96 for one.

Initially the exercise was intended to give Sourav Ganguly a chance for a hit in the middle as Rahul Dravid retired at his overnight score of 102 not out.

But it became a bit of a farce after Ganguly made two and pulled out from the middle complaining of strain in his right forearm.

The Indian captain then returned at 477 for 6 and progressed to 45 with ease before his lift in the deep was gratefully accepted.

Scoreboard

Zimbabwe Board XI (Ist Innings) 294 for 9 dec

Indians (Ist Innings)

Sehwag b Cremer 123

Gambhir lbw Ireland 126

Dravid not out 108

Laxman b Ireland 28

Ganguly c Duffin b

Dabengwa 46

Kaif c Coventry b

Mwayenga 4

Yuvraj b W Mwayenga 1

Kaarthick c Ebrahimm b

Cremer 40

Kumble c and b Cremer 61

Zaheer c and b Cremer 2

Balaji not out 17

Extras (b-8, lb-4, nb-3, w-1) 16

Mutare, September 10
Mohammad Kaif will be one of the top six batsmen to represent India in the forthcoming two Tests against Zimbabwe here. Only on this occasion, he does not want to go out in a hurry.

Kaif has so far turned up in seven Tests, but between his first and the latest, India have played no less than 53 games in over five years. His seven Tests too have been spread over three blocks. But now it can all change.

On the face of it, Kaif is just filling in for Sachin Tendulkar in the middle order in Zimbabwe, but he did the same in Sri Lanka in 2001, where three Tests came his way. It was the same against Australia last season, when again three more Tests were logged on to his career. This time, he looks more than just an errand boy.

Kaif now is demanding reappraisal from everyone. He has improved as a batsman and he is proving to be a great finisher. But for Rahul Dravid, not many in the Indian Test line-up possess these two virtues.

That Kaif has improved was obvious in the recent tri-series. He made a patient 65 against Zimbabwe and then had a century and a near-hundred against New Zealand.

Coming at number three, he batted till the final overs and gave credence to what Ajay Jadeja, a batsman of similar nuances, had always held about him.

“He probably may not be as talented as somebody like Yuvraj Singh, but once set, he carries on till the end,” gushed Jadeja.

Indian captain Sourav Ganguly termed him the find of the tri-series.

This has been obvious, but what Kaif has now shown is a revelation. He has begun to drive down the ground.

No longer is the reliance on just tucking the ball round the corner, nudging it through the slips and an occasional heave to mid-wicket. Now there are sumptuous drives through the off-cordon and a few of his shots through mid-on have been breath-taking.

“He is now feeling more confident in the weight transfer of his body position. There is more reliance on his front foot and thus, he is backing himself to reach the ball and drive it down the ground,” said Ian Frazer, biomechanic expert and a member of the support staff, who at the moment, seemed to be holding a mirror to the techniques of frontline bowlers and batsmen.

Kaif agrees: “As a batsman, you do not want to give bowlers the feeling that they have worked you out. You do not want them to work on your weaknesses. You want to be ready for all situations. If possible, you must look to put them under tactical siege.”

A regular in one-dayers, Kaif has been a talent unfulfilled. He may have had sporadic chances, but his 294 runs at 24.50 has not been a good report card for promotion. But now two things are simultaneously working in his favour.

India’s top order is not as fool-proof as it once was and then, he seems to be a batsman who has now come of age. — PTI

Shimla, September 10
It has been a golfing field known more for its picturesque settings than sports activity and it will hardly be surprising that the focus during the week-long celebrations to mark the centenary of the Naldehra golf course will be on boosting tourism.

The local golf club, which manages the nine-hole course, will organise a series of events from October 7 as part of the celebrations, but the basic objective of the celebrations will be to promote tourism. The state plans to capitalise on its growing popularity of the sport and take advantage of its elite character to attract high-end tourists.

Surrounded by spectacular cedars, the undulating but carefully manicured glade still retains the scenic grandeur and tranquillity, which fascinated the Viceroy, Lord Curzon (1899-1904), no end. Located at an altitude of 6700 feets, one of the oldest golf courses in the country has been a living monument to the British legacy.

The Viceroy took time off to frequent the spot to take respite from the tumultuous affairs of the state. He would abandon the majestic Viceregal Lodge, the seat of the Viceroy, and camp in the woods of Naldehra for weeks together. His romance with the place led to the development of a nine-hole golf course in 1905. Lord Curzon suggested the layout of what was acclaimed to be the world’s highest golf course at that time.

Tournaments involving the British Army and civilian teams became a regular feature once the golf course was laid out. Even after Independence, its elite status was maintained, with Dr Y.S. Parmar, the first Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh, Mr B.C. Chakravorty, Mr R.K.S. Gandhi and Mr Surendra Nath, all Governors, landing up frequently to enjoy golf. It continues to attract Army Generals, senior bureaucrats and politicians.

The par-68 course has nine holes with a yardage 2149 in the first round. In the repeat nine, there are four additional greens and different tees, which increase the yardage of the second round to 2370.

The club organised the Shimla-Lahore Friendship Golf Tournament last year as a precursor to the centenary celebrations. A host of other activities are being planned to make it a tourism-promotion event. The state Tourism Department, the Tourism Development Corporation and other departments concerned will be involved in the mega-celebrations and the club will take care of the sports events.

The celebrations will begin with a open tournament for local golfers on the opening day. It will followed by an all-India open meet for amateur golfers on October 9. Eighteen top golf clubs will participate in the inter-club championship, to be held on October 11. A veterans’ tournament for men and women will be organised on October 13 and the annual Koti Cup Championship will be held on October 15. International golfers will be seen in action during an inter-Embassy meet on October 16.

Brig B.S. Kanwar, captain of the club, said invitations had been sent to various clubs in the country while international golfers were being invited through the Embassies. He said golf had been improved a lot since the Shimla-Lahore friendship event and two new greens had been created. The celebrations were being held after the monsoon as the entire hill ranges, more importantly, the sprawling undulating golf course, would be lush green after the monsoon. Ensuring greenery in such a terrain was not easy.

New Delhi, September 10
The first World Cricketer-Golfers’ Championship for Test-playing nations will be organised at the Karnataka Golf Association flood-lit course in Bangalore from November 24 to 27. Kapil Dev said at a media briefing here today that all 10 Test-playing countries, including hosts India, had confirmed their participation. All players would be former international cricketers with a single-digit handicap. There would be one international team represented by four of the greatest cricketers.

India would be represented by Kapil Dev, Ajay Jadeja and Roger Binny, Pakistan by Wasim Akram, Zaheer Abbas, Aamir Sohail and Waqar Younis, West Indies by Desmond Haynes and two other players, South Africa by Barry Richards, Clive Rice, Pat Symcox and Gary Kirsten, New Zealand by Dipak Patel, Simon Doull, Mark Richardson and Trevor Franklin, Zimbabwe by Craig Evans, Alistair Campbell, Dirk Viljoen and Raymond Price, Australia by Dean Jones, Allan Border, Jeff Thomson and Mark Waugh and England by Graeme Hick, Robin Smith, Gladstone Small, Steve Rhodes and Ian Salisbury. Bangladesh and Sri Lanka were yet to intimate the names of their players. 

Singapore, September 10
Jyoti Randhawa fought back brilliantly in fading light with three birdies in the last four holes for a tied second place before rain brought an early end to the third day of the Singapore Open at the Serapong Golf Course in Santosa.

Randhawa was lying 12th, but many above him were among the 15 players yet to finish after a heavy downpour made the ground soggy and the rough even more difficult to tackle.

None of the 10 players still par or under for the tournament had finished, including Arjun Singh, who was one-over for 16 holes in the third round and two-over for the tournament, lying in 10th position. — PTI