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murray makes merry
Pawar hints Eden may host Ind-Eng match
India to shine at WC: Smith
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North Zone in control against West
Windies can reach WC semis, says Gibson
IHF league in trouble
Australia aspire for 1st Asian title
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Melbourne, January 28 After a slow start, Murray won 4-6, 7-6 (7/2), 6-1, 7-6 (7/2) to advance to his second straight Australian final, as he aims to go one better than last year's straight-sets loss to Roger Federer. Sunday's title match will be the British fifth seed's third Grand Slam final overall as he seeks to breakthrough for his first major trophy against the Serbian world number three. "In the first Slam final I played against Federer (2008 US Open), I didn't know what was going on, it went so quick. And last year was better than before, and I hope this one going to be better than last year," Murray said. "Experience-wise Novak and I are similar, he won here three years ago, we're good friends, we practise a lot together so there won't be any secrets with our games, but it's going to be a brutal match I think." Murray is bidding to become the first British man to win a Grand Slam since Fred Perry in 1936. Perry was also the last British player to win the Australian Open, in 1934. Last year Murray was the first British man since John Lloyd in 1977 to play in an Australian Open final. "He's an unbelievable athlete, he's an unbelievable competitor, he works so hard, he's in great shape and I was expecting an unbelievably tough match and I got it," Murray said of Ferrer. "It was great that I managed to come through but he's such a tough player to play against. "He was dictating all the points at the start and in the second set I started to go for my shots a bit more and it paid off." Murray extended his current winning streak to nine matches and dropped only his second set of the tournament against the tenacious Ferrer. Ferrer was playing in his second Grand Slam semi-final after taking advantage of an injured Rafael Nadal to win their quarter-final in straight sets. Ferrer made Murray work for every point and kept him on court for 3hr 46min, leaving the Scot heading straight for an ice bath to recover for the final. The Spaniard's extraordinary fitness levels gave him the edge in a physical first set full of long, lung-busting rallies. Ferrer was broken in the seventh game but broke straight back and broke the Scot again to take the opening set in 46 draining minutes. Dulko, Pennetta win doubles title
Top-seeded Gisela Dulko and Flavia Pennetta rallied from a set and 4-1 down to beat Victoria Azarenka and Maria Kirilenko 2-6, 7-5, 6-1 in the Australian Open women's doubles today, winning their first major as a team. "We were like in shock ... a set and 4-1 down," Dulko said. "In the changeover, we were like looking each other and saying, 'C'mon, we play less than an hour. We cannot finish the match playing less than an hour in the final.' "We just tried to go for it, didn't try to wait for them, tried to play more aggressive. Because I think until this moment we couldn't find a good way to play, to win the match. So we just keep fighting and trying." That was evident in the third set when Dulko and Pennetta, who hold the No. 1 and No. 2 rankings among doubles players, were already up a break at 3-1 when they broke again when Kirilenko netted a backhand. They held in their next service game, then broke Azaranka and Kirilenko again to close out the match. This was a first Grand Slam title for the Dulko-Pennetta combination, who made it to the quarterfinals at all the Grand Slams last year and the Wimbledon semifinals. Dulko and Pennetta won seven doubles titles last year, including a 17-match winning streak. "Last year was a great year, this year we are starting really good," Pennetta said. Azarenka and Kirilenko were playing their first Grand Slam tournament together. Azarenka, of Belarus, formerly was a two-time Grand Slam finalist, including last year at Melbourne Park with Shahar Peer. Kirilenko's best previous doubles result was a semifinal at last year's Australian Open with Agnieszka Radwanksa.
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Pawar hints Eden may host Ind-Eng match
Pawar confirmed that BCCI President Shashank Manohar wrote a letter to him requesting to give another deadline of February 7 to complete work at the Eden Gardens and said he has asked ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat to initiate talks with England and other member countries whether they agree to it. He said the ICC will take a decision only after January 30 whether the match will be held in Bangalore or in Kolkata as scheduled earlier. "I have asked the CEO Haroon Lorgat to submit a report on January 30 after talks with ICC member countries, especially England, whether they agree to give more time till February 7 to complete work at the Eden Gardens," Pawar said at the sidelines of a function at the Indian Institute of Pulses Research here. "We will take a decision after January 30 whether the India-England World Cup will be held in Bangalore or it will be held in Kolkata," said Pawar, who is also Union Agriculture Minister. Pawar said that an ICC Committee had doubts over the readiness of Eden Gardens on time to host the February 27 match and that was the reason why the decision to strip the stadium of the tie was taken. "An ICC team had inspected all the World Cup venues. This team had found that a stadium each in Mumbai (Wankhede) and Sri Lanka would be ready on time. But it had doubts over the readiness of Eden Gardens to host the February 27 match. So the ICC Committee took the decision to take the match away from Kolkata," he said. Cricket Association of Bengal president Jagmohan Dalmiya yesterday appealed to the ICC through the Indian Cricket Board to extend the deadline for completion of work at Eden Gardens till February 7. PTI
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India to shine at WC: Smith
Cape Town, January 28 "I think for us we need to versatile, I think India will come in as favourites, but personally I think there are five or six teams that could win this World Cup which is probably going to make it a very exciting one," he added. The World Cup will take place between February and early April, with the first match to be played on February 19 with co-hosts India and Bangladesh facing off at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Dhaka. ANI |
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Duleep Trophy
Vadodara, January 28 At stumps on day three, North were comfortably placed at 191 for three in their second innings, leading by 259 runs, with Mithun Manhas batting on 48 and Yashpal Singh unbeaten on eight. Earlier, resuming at 176 for five, West faced an uphill task to avoid the follow-on, but overnight batsman, Jadeja saved the home team team from humiliation with his gritty knock. Jadeja played a sensible knock and held on to his ground even as wickets kept tumbling at the other end. Resuming the day, another overnight batsman Pinal Shah, could only add six runs to his personal score before throwing away his wicket to become the first casualty of the day. Jaidev Unadkat (13) and Bhargav Bhatt (18) failed to sustain for long but the duo shared brief but crucial partnerships with Jadeja before falling victims to leg-spinner Mishra. However Jadeja, who resumed on 62, held on to his nerves and went on to complete his century. He also found an able company in Murtuja Vahora (43) and together the pair consolidated the West innings. From 261 for eight, the duo took West to 392 for nine before Vahora's innings was cut short by Delhi medium pacer Narwal, who then accounted for last man Samad Fallah to complete his five-wicket haul, leaving Jadeja not out on 170 at the other end. North Zone got off a solid start in their second essay with openers Sarul Kanwar (53) and Shikhar Dawan (53) scoring half-centuries each. With a healthy lead of 259 runs, North are expected to go all out for a victory tomorrow. South close in on win
Hyderabad: Abhinav Mukund (164) and Amit Verma (148) struck hundreds as South Zone inched towards an outright win over Central Zone at the end of third day's play in the semi-final of the Duleep Trophy cricket tournament here today. Needing an improbable 770 runs to win, Central Zone were precariously placed at 73 for two in their second innings at stumps on the penultimate day of the four-day match. Mohnish Mishra (30 not out) and wicket-keeper Naman Ojha (33 not out) were holding fort for Central after the visitors lost opener Aakash Chopra and skipper Hrishikesh Kanitkar to Sreenath Aravind (2/15) in successive deliveries. Earlier, resuming their second innings at the overnight score of 132 for two, first innings centurion Mukund and Verma notched up contrasting hundreds while CM Gautam made a 79-ball 78 to propel South to 504 for seven declared in their second innings. The Central bowlers hardly bothered both the overnight South batsmen Mukund and Verma as they played fluently to share a 236-run stand for the third wicket. While Mukund's 164-run innings came off 216 balls.
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Windies can reach WC semis, says Gibson
Bridgetown, January 28 "I think we have a team that can win the World Cup. We'll go there with the expectation of doing very well, and putting ourselves in a position that we can reach the semi-finals, which is a very realistic possibility," Sport24 quoted Gibson, as saying. "We would love to win and we will try to win. The aim is to reach the semi-finals and put ourselves in a position to capitalize from there," he added. Gibson also believes that their three-match ODI series in Sri Lanka from Monday will be a crucial opportunity for his team to get used to the sub-continents' conditions ahead of the World Cup. "It is a good opportunity to put some of the plans in place that we are going to take into the World Cup. When we went for the Test series, we did really well as a team and we made progress. We also had a chance to get used to the conditions," Gibson said. "Now we are heading back to Sri Lanka for these three ODIs, and we will be looking to put in place the plans that we will be taking into the World Cup," he added. ANI
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IHF league in trouble
New Delhi, January 28 The IHF does not have the recognition of the Government as the Sports Ministry has pitched for Hockey India as the official federation to control the game in the country, and that has only complicated matters for the IHF. FIH president Leandro Negre made it clear that the international federation would not support the IHF League, and the PHF threatened to ban any player taking part in the league. Negre, in a communication from Lausanne, said the FIH had been approached "by certain individuals who are interested in setting up an alternative professional league, and we are in discussion with our partner Hockey India regarding this initiative". He said the Hockey India representatives were in Lausanne last weeek to outline the proposal and this information will be presented to the FIH Executive Board at its meeting in March. The FIH also clarified that it did not recognise the WSH (World Series Hockey) planned by IHF as its matches "may conflict with the major FIH events which may compromise an athlete's participation in their national team programme". The FIH warned that any player and any national association that participates in the WSH may render that player and the NA ineligible to participate in any FIH Tournament, including Olympic qualifying tournaments and the Olympic Games. He said the FIH-HI proposed league will carry the endorsement of both the bodies. The Pakistan Hockey Federation, supporting the FIH stand, asser ed that the "PHF and its affiliated units and players will not participate in the WSH. Strict action will be taken (against those) who violate these directions." The Premier Hockey Development claimed that it had entered into an agreement with the IHF regarding the WSH and "the IHF has granted to PHD, among other rights, exclusive and unfettered right during the term (as defined in the Sanction Agreement) to use IHF's name and logo in the promotion and broadcast of the league throughout the world". Therefore, the PHD was against IHF's association with Nimbus for the world league.
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Australia aspire for 1st Asian title
Doha, January 28 Australia have won four and drawn one of their five games and scored 13 goals while conceding only one. "It's great to win something and this is something that realistically we can win," says defender Luke Wilkshire. "We have made the final in only our second attempt so we have come a long way. It's a little bit different to the World Cup but maybe it would be a bit bigger." Wilkshire was in the team when the Socceroos made it into the last 16 at the 2006 World Cup, which ranks as the team's top football achievement so far. While the margin of victory against Uzbekistan has put the limelight on Australia's attack, it's the team's defense the best in the tournament that's also made a major contribution. AP
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Melbourne, January 28
A day after International Cricket Council stripped Kolkata of the India-England World Cup tie on February 27, its president Sharad Pawar today hinted that Eden Gardens may still host the match if the member countries agree to it.
Vadodara, January 28
Doha, January 28
Kanpur, January 28
London: