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Russian run continues
French Open Diary |
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Morale-boosting wins for Germany, Czech
Republic
Ronaldo’s magic sinks
Argentina
PCB rules out Shoaib for Asia Cup
Lifting camp shifted
to Belarus
Butta emerges sole leader
Ankita wins battle of sisters
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Paris, June 3 Myskina will play compatriot Elena Dementieva, the ninth seed who beat Argentina's Paola Suarez 6-0, 7-5 in the other semifinal. Neither Myskina nor Dementieva had previously reached a Grand Slam final. The last Russian woman to reach a Grand Slam final was Olga Morozova in 1974 at Roland Garros and Wimbledon. Seventh seed Capriati, winner of three Grand Slam titles, was a strong favourite but the American found herself outpaced and outwitted in the 61 minutes of an unexpectedly one-sided semfinal. In the 107-year history of Roland Garros there has never been a Russian winner in the women's singles with only two of the country's players making it to the final before this year. Olga Morozova lost to Chris Evert in 1974 while Natasha Zvereva was humiliated 6-0, 6-0 by Steffi Graf in 1988. Defeat for Suarez, best known for her world No 1 doubles partnership with Virginia Ruano Pascual, also put a dampener on Argentina's efforts at these championships which have seen three of their players make the semifinals of the men's singles. The 22-year-old, ninth-seeded Dementieva, playing in her second Grand Slam semifinal after making the last four of the US Open in 2000, had knocked out home favourite Amelie Mauresmo in the quarterfinal and she was soon on top today. She breezed through the first set in just 27 minutes. Bhupathi-Mirnyi crash out New Delhi: Mahesh Bhupathi's dream of adding one more Grand Slam title to his kitty was shattered on Thursday when he and Max Mirnyi of Belarus crashed out of the men's doubles event of the French Open in Paris. The third-seeded Indo-Belarus pair lost their semifinal tie against unseeded Belgian pair of Xavier Malisse and Oliver Rochus 6-7 (1/7), 6-4, 2-6. Bhupathi has won the French Open doubles' title twice before in 1999 and 2001 with Leander Paes. But their was good news in the boy's doubles event as Tushar Liberhan and Divij Sharan stormed into the semifinals by defeating Phillip Simmonds of the USA and South African Fritz Wolmarans in straight sets. The Indian duo were at the top of their game from the word go and had no trouble in packing off their unseeded rivals 6-4, 6-2 to reach the last four at the Roland Garros. They will now take on seventh seeds, Alex Kuznetsov of the USA and Mihail Zverev of Germany, who made it to the semifinals when third-seeded French pair of Gael Monfils and Josselin Ouanna retired after losing the first set 2-6. In the second round, Liberhan and Sharan had upset second-seeded Korean pair of Woong-Sun Jun and Sun-Yong Jr. Kim 6-3, 7-6 (7/5).
— Reuters, PTI |
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French Open Diary
John McEnroe still knows how to entertain a crowd. On the Suzanne Lenglen show court at the French Open, McEnroe combined superb tennis with classic temper tantrums - all after his match ended on
Wednesday.
McEnroe and his Legends’ doubles partner, Jakob Hlasek, forfeited the second match of a round robin after Hlasek hurt his right calf muscle seven minutes into the match. Opponents Andre Chesnokov and Thierry Champion were leading 2-0. That’s when the fun started. Champion took the court opposite McEnroe and the injured Hlasek watched from the sidelines. With the umpire gone, Chesnokov climbed the chair and began calling shots in Champion’s favour. “Shut up!” McEnroe muttered to a fan who yelled words of encouragement when he hit a shot into the net. Between challenging line calls and serving up several aces, McEnroe proved he understood, above all else, that the show must go on. Against the odds: Tim Henman was not supposed to get this far at Roland
Garros. Just ask Britain’s biggest bookmaker. William Hill says Henman started the tournament with odds of him winning the title at 100-1. Now that he’s in the semifinals, the odds are
8-1. Henman is the first British player to reach the French Open semifinals since the Open era began in 1968. His success in Paris has raised expectations for Wimbledon, where he’s a four-time semifinalist. Hill says Henman is 7-2 to win Wimbledon this year, the best pre-tournament odds he has ever
had. Henman is a 7-2 favorite to win BBC television’s Sports Personality of the Year award in December. Family affair: Michaella Krajicek advanced to the quarterfinals in the girls’ tournament at Roland Garros with a 4-6, 7-5, 6-1 win over Violette
Huck. Krajicek (15) is the sister of 1996 Wimbledon champion Richard
Krajicek, the big-serving Dutchman who retired last year. He reached the quarterfinals in nine Grand Slams, including the semifinals at the French Open in 1993. Title threat: Martina Navratilova moved a step closer to her 32nd Grand Slam doubles title on Wednesday The No. 5-seeded team of Navratilova and Lisa Raymond won 7-6 (5), 6-3 against No. 4 Nadia Petrova and Meghann Shaughnessy to reach the semifinals. A stinging forehand at Petrova’s feet by the 47-year-old Navratilova won the first set. She broke Petrova’s serve to give the No.5 seeds a 4-2 lead in the
second. Navratilova, the French Open singles champion in 1982 and 1984, received warm applause from center court fans and pumped her fist as she walked off. — AP |
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Morale-boosting wins for Germany, Czech Republic
London, June 3 Both Switzerland and Bulgaria also have qualified for the European Championship, which starts on June 12 in Portugal. In other friendlies, Turkey beat South Korea 1-0 in a rematch of the 2002 World Cup third-place match, Ireland topped Jamaica 1-0 and the USA blanked Honduras 4-0. Also, it was: Grenada 2, St. Lucia 0; and St. Kitts and Nevis 0, Northern Ireland 2. In Basel, Switzerland, three-time European champions Germany never looked in danger of losing their 38-year unbeaten record against the Alpine nation. Miroslav Klose set up the first goal by taking advantage of a poor defensive header from Bernt Haas in the 62nd minute and feeding Kuranyi for a close-range shot. Brdaric, who replaced Klose, almost doubled the lead but Switzerland goalkeeper Joerg Stiel tipped his shot around the post. Kuranyi scored his second of the game — and fourth for Germany — with a fine header from an Arne Friedrich cross in the 85th. Switzerland thought they had pulled back a consolation goal through Bruno Berner in the 88th, but it was ruled offside. The Germans will face the Czech Republic, Latvia and the Netherlands in Group D at the Euro 2004 finals. Switzerland are in group B with defending champions France, England and Croatia. In April, Germany were crushed by Romania 1-5. The Czechs lost to Japan 0-1. In Prague, the Czech Republic, the hosts got second-half goals from Liverpool striker Milan Baros, Monaco midfielder Jaroslav Plasil and Dortmund playmaker Tomas Rosicky to win their first match of the year. Bulgaria got a consolation goal from Milen Petkov at Sparta stadium. The Czech Republic coach Karel Bruckner fielded a line-up that’s likely to start in Portugal, with Golden Ball winner Pavel Nedved of Juventus in the midfield and Dortmund’s Jan Koller up front. “Something was positive, something was negative,” Bruckner said. “The attacking was good but in the defence ... that’s where we had problems.” At the Euro 2004 finals, Bulgaria will meet Italy, Sweden and Denmark in group C. In London, Graham Barrett celebrated his first start with the only goal as Ireland edged Jamaica 1-0. — AP |
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Ronaldo’s magic sinks Argentina
Belo Horizonte (Brazil), June
3 Ronaldo stroked home his second in the 68th minute after being tripped by Javier Mascherano and completed his treble deep into injury time after falling over goalkeeper Pablo Cavallero’s clumsy dive for the ball. Juan Pablo Sorin pulled one back in the 80th minute as Brazil went top of the South American qualifying group and Argentina slipped to second after losing their unbeaten record. Brazil have 12 points from six games and Argentina 11. The top four teams qualify for the 2006 finals in Germany and the fifth plays off against the winners of the Oceania group. Argentina’s players surrounded Colombian referee Oscar Ruiz to protest at the end but Brazil coach Carlos Alberto Parreira said there was nothing to argue about. ‘’The goals were all normal, they were all penalties, and Ronaldo is still the player who makes the difference,’’ he told reporters. Ronaldo, three times voted FIFA’s World Player of the Year, had barely touched the ball when he burst into the penalty area in the 17th minute and was felled by Heinze’s late, sliding tackle. The striker took the penalty himself and sent his kick low to Cavallero’s left only for it to be disallowed because his team-mates were inside the area. For the retake, Ronaldo converted an almost identical effort. —
Reuters |
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IOC Vice-President Kim gets jail term
Seoul, June 3 Kim (73), says he will appeal the ruling by a Seoul district criminal court. But he now faces the likelihood of becoming the highest-ranking IOC member to be expelled. He narrowly escaped expulsion after the Salt Lake City bid scandal five years ago. One of the most powerful officials in international sports, Kim was instrumental in Seoul’s hosting of the 1988 Olympics and persuaded the IOC to adopt taekwondo, Korea’s ancient martial art, as a formal medal event for the 2000 Olympics. An IOC member since 1986 and an influential power broker, Kim unsuccessfully challenged Jacques Rogge for the IOC’s top job in 2001. A three-judge panel convicted Kim of embezzling 3.3 billion won ($2.8 million) from the World Taekwondo Federation, the World Taekwondo Headquarters — which issues taekwondo credentials — and other sports organisations he controlled. Kim was also ordered to pay 788 million won ($679,000) in fines as compensation for illicit funds he collected from sports officials seeking his favour. Prosecutors had earlier sought a seven-year jail term against Kim. Judge Kim Byong-woon said Kim infuriated the court by sending letters to IOC members defaming the South Korean judiciary system. —
AP |
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Saggers, rain halt NZ progress
London, June 3 The Kent bowler, playing in his second Test, bowled New Zealand opener Mark Richardson for 13 after New Zealand had looked comfortable despite the overcast conditions. Saggers was called into the squad yesterday and took the place of Simon Jones, who was ruled out of the Test today with a foot injury. Play started two hours late after persistent rain at the Leeds venue and although weather forecasts predicted the clouds would move on, the players were forced from the field after 17 overs by heavy rain. Michael Papps was 20 not out and Stephen Fleming, who recovered from an ear infection to play, was two not out. Papps, in the side in place of the injured Craig McMillan, was dropped by Mark Butcher in the slips on 15, although television replays showed the ball would only just have carried. England captain Michael Vaughan won the toss and elected to field. His wife is due to give birth during the Test and New Zealand have said they will allow England to play a substitute fielder if Vaughan dashes off to witness the birth. — Reuters
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PCB rules out Shoaib for Asia Cup
Karachi, June 3 The Asia Cup is being revived in Sri Lanka from July 16 by the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) after a gap of four years. Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and two qualifiers Hong Kong and the UAE have confirmed they will play.
Akhtar (28) who has been playing in England for Durham, has been carrying the injury since Pakistan lost the third and final Test to India in Rawalpindi in April. But he was in good form in a
one-dayer against Derbyshire on Monday when he returned to action after missing Durham’s previous two
games. Akhtar took four for 15 in nine overs, helping dismiss the visitors for 82 on the way to an easy seven-wicket success.
Bari said other Pakistan players appearing in county cricket had all been advised to report for a training camp from June 20 in Lahore. —
Reuters |
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Lifting camp shifted
to Belarus
Bangalore, June 3 With the ministry giving green signal for shifting the camp for promising lifters, WFI secretary Balbir Singh Bhatia arrived here yesterday to make necessary arrangements for the departure of the lifters to Belarus. Olympic bronze meadallist Karnam Malleswari, Kunjarani Devi, Sanamacha Chanu and Pratima Kumari will leave for Belarus shortly. “If visas and tickets are received, the camp may be shifted in a couple of days”, Bhatia told UNI. The four lifters were being trained under foreign coach Leonid Taranenko and chief coach Pal Singh Sandhu at the Sports Authority of India (SAI), Southern Centre on the outskirts of the city since May 21. The WFI is already in touch with the Belarus Ministry of Sports and weightlifting federation there. Besides four lifters, the WFI might send two more to Belarus after June 25. —
UNI |
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Butta emerges sole leader
New Delhi, June 3 Seventeen-year-old Akshay Butta returned 27 putts and hit 16 greens in regulation for a career-best round. His round included birdies on the third, fourth and fifth before making the turn. Another birdie on the 14th paced him at six-under. Fatehbir Dhaliwal led in Category ‘B’ (13-14 years) by three strokes for a total of nine-over 225. In Category ‘C’ (11-12 years), overnight joint leader Ajay took sole lead at 244. Dhaliwal’s outward journey included bogeys on the first and seventh with a birdie on the second and a double bogey on the fifth, placing him at three-over on the 10th tee. Viraat Bhadwar opened up an astounding 19-stroke lead in Category ‘D’ at 17-over 161 for boys in the age group of 10 and below. |
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Ankita wins battle of sisters
New Delhi, June 3 Ankita, who kept herself afloat by dipping into ther reserve energy after losing the first set in the tie-breaker, roared back in the second and third to post a 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-1 victory, to set-up a semifinal clash against qualifier Karishma Patel. Karishma, maintaining her giant-killing feat, stunned third-seeded Sonal Phadke 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 while Rushmi Chakravarti, the top seed, posted the easiest victory of the day when she crushed Yi Chen of Chinese Taipei 6-0, 6-1. Rushmi will play against sixth-seeded Liza Pereira in the semifinal. |
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London, June 3
Ronaldo wrote another chapter in his extraordinary career when he won and converted a hat-trick of penalties to give Brazil a 3-1 victory over Argentina in a World Cup qualifier. 
