London, July 4
German Sabine Lisicki held her nerve to beat Polish fourth seed Agnieszka Radwanska 6-4 2-6 9-7 in a gripping semi-final on Thursday and reach her first Wimbledon final. She will face Marion Bartoli, who packed off Kirsten Flipkens 6-1, 6-2 in the other semifinal, in the summit clash on Saturday.

The 23rd seed Lisicki, who knocked out defending champion Serena Williams in the fourth round, proved too strong for her Polish opponent who was runner-up at the All England Club last year. "It was unbelievable, the last few games were so exciting," Lisicki said. "Agnieszka played so well, it was a battle and I'm so happy to have won it."

Lisicki wrapped up the first set in 33 minutes and, brimming with confidence, broke again in the opening game of the second. The match then turned on its head, however, as Lisicki's concentration faltered and Radwanska started to get a read on the German's serve.

She immediately broke back and moved 3-1 ahead and although the German kept going for her shots and was rewarded with another break in the next game, Radwanska had the momentum and took the set. Lisicki's serve, which had been such a weapon in the first set, was in disarray. She was broken for the fifth successive time at the start of the third set and trailed 3-0.

The German suddenly rediscovered her form, fighting back to level at 3-3 and breaking again to lead 5-4. She served for the match, but in keeping with what had gone before, she faltered and was broken. Within the pressure-cooker atmosphere of Centre Court both players diced with danger.

London, July 4
Leander Paes and Rohan Bopanna lost their respective men’s doubles semi-final matches at the Wimbledon here Thursday.

Bopanna and French partner Edouard Roger-Vasselin lost a five-set battle to top seeds Bob and Mike Bryan of the US on the lone grass court major. The 14th seeds lost 7-6(4), 4-6, 3-6, 7-5, 3-6 in two hours and 48 minutes on Court No.1.

Meanwhile, fourth seeded Paes with Czech partner Radek Stepanek also lost a five-setter to Croat-Brazilian pairing Ivan Dodig and Marcelo Melo. The 12th seeds won 3-6, 6-4, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 in two hours, 55 minutes.

Eighth seeded Canadian-French pair Daniel Nestor and Kristina Mladenovic upset second seeds Horia Tecau of Romania and Sania Mirza 7-6(5), 7-6(5). Sania Mirza equalled her best performance here in mixed doubles. Her previous best was the last eight stage in 2011.— Agencies

London, July 4
India has second highest number of tennis fans: Facebook study New Delhi, Jul 4 (PTI) With action at Wimbledon in London going on in full swing, a Facebook study today revealed that after United States of America, India is the country where the second highest number of tennis fans is located.

India also appears on the third spot in the list of countries talking most about Wimbledon.

The data showcases an analysis of all conversations occurring from the start of the event from June 24 to July 1 when the qualifiers concluded.

Over 11.6 million total global interactions were analysed that includes mentions, likes and comments.

Rafael Nadal, who was stunned in the opening round by unranked Steve Darcis, has emerged as the most talked about men's players in Wimbledon, followed by Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic.

Maria Sharapova has become the most talked about women's players with Serena Williams at the second place.

Port of Spain, July 4
Their campaign in tatters after two consecutive defeats, India need to regroup quickly as they go into a must-win match against hosts West Indies in the cricket tri-series here tomorrow.

The Champions Trophy winners have suddenly looked vulnerable as the young Indian players found it tough to come to terms with the challenging conditions.

As if the two-paced Caribbean wickets were not enough to trouble the Indians, injury to charismatic skipper MS Dhoni has made the job tougher for them. Tomorrow's contest comes as a huge challenge and test for the leadership quality of Virat Kohli, who is being considered as a future captain of the country. Kohli's tactics during the big-defeat against Sri Lanka did not work and it will be interesting to see how he leads the young pack in the match against the West Indies, in which defeat would virtually ensure their elimination.

West Indies are best placed so far with nine points, courtesy two wins from as many matches while Sri Lanka are second with five points. Both the teams have managed to win a bonus point.

A victory tomorrow will keep India alive in the competition. Their defeat would send the hosts into the final and from there, India's chances to qualify for the final will depend on a lot of ifs and buts.

First and foremost, India would need a favour from the West Indies that the hosts beat Sri Lanka in their final league match on Sunday; then India will have to beat the Asian neighbours on Tuesday in a certain number of overs to make it to the summit clash. India's victory tomorrow will keep the tournament open as all three teams will have a chance to book a place in the title clash.

Considering the grim situation, India need stroke-maker Shikhar Dhawan to yet again provide a solid opening along with Rohit Sharma, who is the only one so far from the side to score a half-century. In the first two matches, their partnership has not gone beyond five overs. It's crucial that the two batsmen click as India thrives on good starts.

The players are in form and they need to apply better acording to conditions. The bowlers struggled to find length against Sri Lanka and repeat of the same will be suicidal against the big-hitting Caribbean players.

Chris Gayle is always a big threat and his opening partner Johnson Charles has also given a good account of himself. Kieron Pollard in the middle and Darren Sammy in the lower order are also capable of taking the game away from the opposition on their day. India may leave out Shami Ahmed and bring back Bhuvaneshwar Kumar.

It is also unlikely that Ambati Rayudu will get his debut match in the crucial game. For West Indies, captain Dwayne Bravo is likely to come back to side, having missed the India match due to a groin strain. — PTI

Squads
India: Virat Kohli (captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Dinesh Karthik, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Umesh Uadav, Ishant Sharma, Bhuvaneshwar Kumar, Ambati Rayudu, Murali Vijay, Shami Ahmed and R Vinay Kumar.

wEST iNDIES: Dwayne Bravo (captain), Tino Best, Darren Bravo, Johnson Charles, Chris Gayle, Jason Holderm, Sunil Narine, Kieron Pollard, Denesh Ramdin, Kemar Roach, Darren Sammy, Marlon Samuels, and Devon Smith.

Karachi, July 4
The Pakistan cricket team masseur was sent back from the ICC Champions Trophy after being accused of sexually harassing a female worker at the London hotel, where the players stayed during the event, a source has claimed.

According to details the masseur Malang Ali was sent back with the excuse that his wife was ill in Pakistan.

“The hotel management informed the Pakistani team officials that one of their female workers had lodged a complaint with them that she was sexually harassed by the masseur of the team,” one source claimed.

“The team management than conducted a inquiry and found out that the allegations against Malang had substance and it was decided to send him back home immediately to avoid any legal complications and another embarrassing situation for Pakistan cricket,” the source said.

The source said Malang after returning home was queried by PCB and removed from the job. But PCB's media manager Nadeem Sarwar said that an inquiry had been conducted against the masseur on the issue and he had been transferred from the board.

Interestingly, some five years back when the ICC Youth World Cup was held in Malaysia the same masseur had been accused of stealing cash and valuables from a player’s room.

“The irony was that even through the team management reported him to the Board on the basis of CCTV footage in the team hotel, Malang after a period of suspension was again back working with the national team because of his close ties with some players who have backed him to be with the team for a while now,” the source said. — PTI

Montpellier, July 4
German rider Andre Greipel won Thursday’s sixth stage of the Tour de France in a sprint finish and Daryl Impey became the first South African to wear the race leader’s yellow jersey.

In baking hot temperatures, Greipel surged ahead some 500 meters from the line and held off a strong challenge from Peter Sagan and Marcel Kittel. “It was a very nervous stage today," Greipel said. We knew we could take it in the sprint and we were ready for that.” Mark Cavendish was caught in a crash close to the end of the stage and wasted a lot of energy pedaling hard to rejoin the main pack. He finished fourth, the day after winning his 24th career Tour stage to close the gap on archrival Sagan in the contest for the sprinter's green jersey.

London, July 4
Oxford University's Indian origin student Samridh Agarwal cracked a magnificent triple-century against Cambridge in a first-class match at the FP Fenner's ground in Cambridge.

Skipper Samridh cracked an unbeaten 313 and became the first ever cricketer to score a triple century in an University match and also eclipsed the previous record of 247 set by another Indian origin player Salil Oberoi.

It might be interesting to note that before Oberoi, the University record for the highest individual score was held by Iftikar Ali Khan Pataudi — father of the legendary Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi. Due to Samridh's efforts, Oxford managed a mammoth 550 for seven declared and then bowled out Cambridge for 119 in their first innings. Following on, Cambridge are 179 for five in their second essay.

The 22-year-old Agra born Samridh, who is better known as 'Sam', is in his final year of his graduation in Material Sciences at the Oxford University. Sam faced 312 deliveries and smashed 41 fours and three sixes in en route his record-breaking knock. — PTI

Pune, July 4
Ace discus thrower Vikas Gowda clinched the first gold for India as host team won three medals on the second day to make their presence felt in the 20th Asian Athletics Championships, here today.

Gowda, who turns 30 tomorrow, threw a creditable 64.90 meters in his fourth attempt to win his first gold of the Championships in his fifth appearance. With this win, Gowda has booked a berth for next month’s World Championships in Moscow.

M R Poovamma won a silver in women’s 400 meters race while unheralded Ratiram Saini bagged a bronze in men’s 10,000 meters race as India swelled their medal tally to five (one gold, one silver and three bronze). After two days, China leads the medal tally with five gold, two silver and one bronze while India are in fourth position. Bahrain and Saudi Arabia are second and third respectively with two gold medals each.

Spurred by the cheering crowd, Gowda, after trailing to silver winner Mohammad Samimi of Iran (61.93m) till the third round, came up with a winning throw in the fourth attempt. Ahmed Mohammed Dheeb of Qatar won the bronze medal.

India had hopes of winning gold in the women’s 400m but Poovamma, running on a big stage for the first time, finished second in 53.37 seconds. China’s Zhao Yanmin (52.49 seconds) won the gold while Taslakian Gretta (53.43 seconds) of Lebanon got the bronze. — PTI

Nurburgring, July 4
Just days after claiming his second win of the season in last weekend`s tumultuous British Grand Prix, Nico Rosberg aims this weekend to complete a perfect set of three `home` wins when he leads the Mercedes team into the German Grand Prix.

After Monaco, where he grew up and lives, and Silverstone, a circuit that is barely 15 kilometres from his outfit`s Brackley base, the Nurburgring represents the track of his motherland, and he believes that with the momentum he has generated, he has a great chance of claiming another win.

"We are fast and setting the pace and we are growing into the role of being favourites for the races now," said Rosberg. "That is a fantastic feeling and for me, personally, it would be so good, so fantastic, if I can win again to complete a hat-trick of three wins on my home circuits."

Mercedes have managed to build momentum based on the speed that has brought them five pole and two wins of the eight events so far.— PTI

BRIEFLY

Gambhir likely for Zimbabwe tour
Mumbai: Indian selectors will deliberate if injured skipper MS Dhoni along with some other seniors should be rested when they pick squad on Friday for the upcoming five-match ODI series in Zimbabwe.The selectors may recall Gautam Gambhir, also named among the reserves, to lend some more experience to the team, especially if Dhoni is unavailable. Left-handed Gambhir lost his place in the team due to his recent poor form with the bat. But with Murali Vijay being sidelined after Rohit Sharma’s promotion, a case could be made for Gambhir’s recall.

Zol anchors India win
Darwin: Skipper Vijay Zol continued his fine form as his century helped India colts thrash New Zealand by a whopping margin of 165 runs to register their third victory in an U-19 Tri-series match being held here on Thursday. The left-hander and senior-most player in the side, Zol smashed 128 off 131 balls to power India to 276 for six in 50 overs and then bowlers produced a fine effort to skittle out New Zealand for 111 in 42 overs. The victory has all but sealed India`s place in the final of the tournament. After an early dismissal of opener Ankush Bains (5), Zol in company of Mumbai youngster Akhil Herwadkar (55, 73 balls, 6x4) added 105 runs for the second wicket to steady the innings. During his knock, the stylish Maharashtra left-hander Zol hit 16 boundaries and a big six. Brief Scores: India U-19 276/6 in 50 overs (Vijay Zol 128, Akhil Herwadkar 55, Kurtley Watson 2/32); New Zealand 111 all out in 42 overs (Ken McClure 41, Kuldeep Yadav 3/22, Chama Milind 2/16, Abhimanyu Lamba 2/21). India U-19 won by 165 runs.

AIFF set for centralised players registration
New Delhi: With professionalism being the buzzword, the AIFF is planning to implement a centralised player registration system that will help the apex body crack down on age-fudging besides providing all the footballers the security of insurance.The IDs of the players registered with their respective states as well as the All India Football Federation will be managed by a software company of international repute.Players will be asked to submit registration fees and the amount will be subject to "category of players" and "within their affordable limits”. — PTI

India win kabaddi gold at Asian Indoor Games
New Delhi: India swept the men’s and women’s kabaddi gold medals beating Iran in both the finals to maintain their domination in the sport in the 4th Asian Indoor Games at Incheon (South Korea) today. India’s medal tally has gone up to five, including two gold, two silver and one bronze medals. India have now won the kabaddi gold in all the four editions of the Asian Indoor Games.The men’s snooker team of Kamal Chawla, Brijesh Damani and Aditya Snehal Mehta took the silver. Harbans Kaur won the silver medal in women’s 60 kg Muay Thai.

Manoj, two others in Asian Championships quarters
New Delhi: Commonwealth Games gold-medallist Manoj Kumar continued his fine form to enter the quarterfinals along with two others as Indian boxers rounded off an all-win day at the Asian Championships in Amman, Jordan. Manoj (64kg) boxer, who beat Sri Lankan Mohamed Dilshanwas will be joined by Mandeep Jangra (69kg) and Sukhdeep Singh (75kg) in the last-eight stage, who overcame Lebanese Antar Khodor and South Korean Kim Dachwan respectively.

Confed Cup win takes Brazil back into FIFA top 10
Lausanne: Five-times world champions Brazil leapt back into the top 10 of the FIFA rankings after winning the Confederations Cup last month. Brazil, who had plummeted to a record low 22nd and spent exactly one year outside the top 10, jumped to ninth after winning all five of their matches at the tournament. Spain stayed top, despite losing 3-0 to Brazil in the Confederations Cup final, while Germany remained second and Colombia climbed to third. India moved-up a place to 146 with178 points in their kitty.

Man United appoints Giggs as player-coach
Manchester: Midfielder Ryan Giggs has been appointed player-coach at Manchester United, the English champions said on Thursday. Giggs, 39, signed a one-year extension to his playing contract in March and will combine his new duties with being a member of the first-team squad. — Agencies

Nobbs should perform or be shown door: Pargat
New Delhi: Pargat Singh says it is high time the under-performing Australian is given the "marching orders". "If he is performing he should stay back, but if not the authorities shouldn't hesitate to give him the marching orders. He should be relieved of his duties immediately if he is not performing," Pargat said in an interview. — PTI