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Hewitt no match for champion Federer
What happened to Americans?
Australia maul USA
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Indians pin hopes on in-form Ganguly
Hayden topples Tendulkar
Zaheer, Joginder for Irani Trophy
Unbeaten ton by Reetinder
Junior Asian
basketball from today
Jaco prevails over Ashutosh
IAF Palam lift football title
Kartar wins gold for ninth time
Roller
hockey team announced
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Hewitt no match for champion Federer
New York, September 13 The world number one was close to perfection as he raced through the first set in 18 minutes, and although Hewitt forced a tiebreak in the second, Federer stormed through the third to become the first man in the Open era to win his first four grand slam finals. The Australian Open and Wimbledon champion, who seems destined to rewrite the tennis record books, is also the first player since Sweden's Mats Wilander in 1988 to win three grand slams in the same year. ''I still can't believe what I've done this year, to win three grand slams out of four is so great and to win the US Open is incredible,'' said Federer after collecting the $ 1 million first prize yesterday. ''It's always very important to play really well in the finals, the matches that count the most. To win the first set 6-0 was a perfect start,'' he told reporters. In his first US Open final, Federer, 23, was simply breathtaking as he lost only five points on his way to the opener against a player who had cruised through to the final without dropping a set. The match seemed to be running away from Australian fourth seed Hewitt in record time as he lost his opening serve of the second set, but he finally registered on the scoreboard after 30 minutes of one-way traffic. Suddenly, sensing the match might not be a lost cause, the 2001 champion reached 30-40 on Federer's serve in the sixth game, but could only shake his head as his opponent produced three flashing aces. Hewitt was hanging on by his fingernails in the next game when he saved three break points, battling back from 0-40 down to stay in the set. Federer showed he was human after all with a few misplaced groundstrokes and a drop in his first serve accuracy midway through the second set. He was lucky to survive a break point at 3-2 when Hewitt ran him all over the court only to see his attempted backhand winner flick the tape and land in the tram lines. But the Australian's efforts were rewarded in a 13-minute 10th game when he saved three set points before snatching back a break to level at 5-5 when Federer missed a backhand. With Federer showing signs of pressure for the first time in the match, the tiebreak became the pivotal moment of a glorious afternoon at Flushing Meadows. Like a true champion he raised his game at the right moment, easing into a 6-3 lead before Hewitt dumped a sliced backhand into the bottom of the net. From that moment on the final was little more than an exhibition as Hewitt, for once, ran out of fight. Federer produced his full repertoire of shot-making as he accelerated into a 5-0 lead and collapsed to the court in joy when another forehand winner completed the fourth grand slam title of his career. ''It's disappointing but in the first set I didn't have any real opportunities to get my teeth into the match,'' said Hewitt, who had won his two previous grand slam finals. ''But I'd like to congratulate Roger. It's an incredible effort what he's done this year, to win three grand slams with the depth there is in the men's game. Federer, who also lifted the 2003 Wimbledon crown, has won four out of the last six grand slam tournaments, the best performance since Pete Sampras won four of five between 1993-94.
— Reuters |
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What happened to Americans?
New York, September 13 For the first time since 1988, no US competitor made it to the final of either singles event. More worryingly, also for the first time since 1988, no American has won any of the four Grand Slams. So where have Andy Roddick and Andre
Agassi, the Williams sisters, Lindsay Davenport and Jennifer Capriati been? Of those six, only
Roddick, who went out in the quarterfinals here, could definitely be said to be at the top of his game. The world no 2 reached the final at Wimbledon and has won four other titles in 2004. But with time running out for
Agassi, Roddick looks to be furrowing a lone path in the men's game. Agassi continues to defy his 34 years. His quarterfinal match with eventual champion Roger Federer contained probably the highest quality tennis of the entire fortnight. But the eight-times Grand Slam winner can only keep going at the top for so long. Davenport and Capriati are both 28 and are unlikely to be around for too much longer. Serena Williams and sister Venus have not won a Grand Slam in 14 months. Both have question marks surrounding their motivation after injuries and also the tragic death of their elder sister Yetunde last year. Though Agassi and Roddick reached the quarterfinals, the underlying fact is that they were the only two American men to even get as far as the third round. And although Davenport and Capriati made it to the
semifinals, only four US women reached the last 16. What happened to the young Americans? The talented James Blake missed the event though injury while Mardy Fish and Taylor Dent went out in round two. The situation is so bad that Vince
Spadea, at the age of 30, is often talked about in terms of the future. In the juniors, Jessica Kirkland reached the girls' final but she was the only American to reach the last 16, while only three US competitors made the last 16 in the boys' singles. US Davis Cup captain Patrick McEnroe believes Fish has the ability to step up and join Roddick near the top. ''I believe in
Mardy,'' McEnroe told reporters during the event. ''I legitimately think he's a top 10 player. ''I feel he has still just scratched the surface of what he is capable of doing. I like the type of talent and firepower he brings. He just needs to work harder from now on.'' Despite the lack of depth in US tennis, Agassi believes the sport is safe in the hands of players like
Roddick. ''It's about having the desire to look at the sport through the lens of many different needs,'' he said. ''Andy's been great at that.”
— Reuters |
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Australia maul USA
Southampton, September 13 After bowling out the USA, playing an international tournament for the first time, for a paltry 65 in 24 overs with Michael Kasprowicz and Jason Gillespie taking four wickets each, the world champions romped home in just 7.5 overs to record one of the fastest wins in the history of the game. The Aussies overtook New Zealand in the net run rate to ensure that even if the last league match between the trans-Tasman rivals was washed out on Thursday, it would not affect their chances of moving to the semifinals from the group. Adam Gilchirst (24 not out) hit spinner Rashid Zia for a six over mid wicket to bring up the win after Australia lost Matthew Hayden (23) at the total of 41. Skipper Ricky Ponting remained unbeaten on eight. The US total was also the lowest in the history of the Champions Trophy. The previous low stood in the name of Bangladesh, who had made 77 against New Zealand in 2002 in Sri Lanka. Australia, needing a quick win, got off to a fine start under overcast conditions at Rose Bowl after Ponting put the USA in to bat. Brett Lee's toe-crashing delivery uprooted Howard Johnson in the second ball of the day to leave the USA at one for one. The minnows suffered another setback just six balls later with Damien Martyn sending Leon Romero back to the pavilion with a fine piece of fielding. Though Australia could not take any other wicket till the introduction of Kasprowicz in the 11th over, the strike bowlers — Lee and Glenn McGrath — did enough to soften up the Americans. Kasprowicz, who is in the middle of a fine year, got into the act quite soon, removing the next four batsmen in his first three overs as the USA had lost six of their top batsmen by the 15th over. Then it was the turn of Gillespie to take the spoils as he ran through the lower order to finish with four for 15 from six overs. Kasprowicz returned with four for 14, which took his wickets tally in 2004 to 22 from nine matches, including two five-wicket hauls. Scoreboard USA Alexander c Gilchrist M. Johnson b Lee 0 Romero run out 1 Massiah c Lehmann Staple lbw b Kasprowicz 4 Reid lbw b Kasprowicz 2 Zia lbw b Gillespie 1 Ali c Gilchrist b Gillespie 1 Javed not out 2 Blake lbw b Gillespie 0 H. Johnson b Gillespie 9 Extras
(lb-2 w-7 nb-5) 14 Total (all out, 24 overs) 65 Fall of wickets:
1-1, 2-2, 3-32, 4-38, 5-46, 6-46, 7-49, 8-53, 9-53 Bowling: Lee 5-0-21-1, McGrath 6-1-13-0, Kasprowicz 7-1-14-4, Gillespie 6-1-15-4. Australia Gilchrist not out 24 Hayden c M. Johnson Ponting not out 8 Extras
(lb-1 w-7 nb-3) 11 Total (1 wkt, 7.5 overs) 66 Fall of wicket:
1-41 Bowling: H.Johnson 3-0-26-1, Reid 3-0-26-0, Blake 1-0-7-0, R.Zia 0.5-0-6-0.
— PTI |
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Indians pin hopes on in-form Ganguly
Birmingham, September 13 It augurs well for a team which is missing Sachin Tendulkar at the top and is worried on the count of two of its young guns, Virender Sehwag and Yuvraj Singh. Ganguly is biding his time at the start of an innings, giving himself enough time to settle down and then accelerating with some audacious strokes in the end. If he can pull off one more such innings in the Champions Trophy match on Sunday against arch rivals Pakistan, India will make it to the semi-finals of what is billed as the mini World Cup. "I am not looking to rush up things, if I stay long enough at the crease, I usually finish with a better strike rate in the end," said Ganguly. Pakistan too is viewing Ganguly as a key scalp and his counterpart Inzamam-ul Haq lost no opportunity in stressing upon the fact. "India has some outstanding batsmen and I have always admired Ganguly, along with Sachin (Tendulkar)," said Inzamam. It might look too far fetched at this stage but if everything falls in place, India could be contesting the semi-finals against possibly South Africa at Rose Bowl next Wednesday. Among the Proteas, Ganguly has another admirer in Shaun Pollock who feels the Indian has a "freak" sense of timing. "He is audacious and has a freak sense of timing. I remember the sixes he hit against us in one of the series in South Africa," said Pollock. Ganguly's career is replete with instances where his good scores come in a clutch, starting with his back-to-back hundreds in his first two Tests and Indians are counting on more of it on Sunday. It would help him and India immensely if batsmen such as Virender Sehwag and VVS Laxman were to pick the threads from the other end and not force him to go on an overdrive in the early part of the innings. His present approach of a sedate start might have been dictated by the total he feels are defendable in these conditions. India, even without Tendulkar and a few out-of-form batsmen, are perfectly capable of raising such totals on the board and that too on slow pitches without resorting to urgent strokeplay. "Australia have got to be favourites but after them I fancy India," said South Africa's 'White Lightning' Alan Donald.
— PTI |
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Dalmiya’s master stroke
It was a master stroke by all accounts. By nominating
Mr Jagmohan Dalmiya, the outgoing President of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), as the parton-in-chief of the board till the next World Cup in 2007, the board members have ensured that the clout the Kolkata-based businessman enjoys in the world of cricket continues. Mr Dalmiya is scheduled to demit the office of BCCI President on September 29.
Although, Mr Dalmiya's powers as patron-in-chief have not been defined, it is expected that he will be empowered to represent the BCCI at all meetings of the International Cricket Council (ICC) as also the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) of which he is the current President. His exact powers and role will be decided at the annual general body meeting of the board on September 29 when the new team of office-bearers will be elected. The constitution of the BCCI does have a provision of appointing a patron-in-chief. But for the past 70 years of the board's existence nobody thought of either occupying the office or of nominating anybody to the office. It was only this year that Mr Dalmiya, who has been playing a prominent role in the functioning of the board for nearly 20 years, and his camp-followers thought that the time was ripe to 'nominate' somebody to the office of parton-in-chief. With Mr Dalmiya's elevation to the office of parton-in-chief, the way has more or less been cleared for the election of Mr Ranbir Singh Mahendra, secretary of the Haryana Cricket Association(HCA), to the office of BCCI President at the next annual general body meeting of the board, scheduled to be held at Kolkata on September 29. Mr Ranbir Singh Mahendra also has a long association with the board. He was secretary of the board from 1985-86 till 1989-90 when Mr Dalmiya took over from him. Earlier, he was the joint secretary of the board. He is currently the Vice-President of the board from North Zone and, by all accounts, enjoys the support of the majority group in the board. At the Chennai meeting of the BCCI on Sunday, Mr Ranbir Singh Mahendra was one of the closest advisers of Mr Dalmiya when the issue of a Bhopal court order came up for discussion. Mr Dalmiya and Mr Ranbir Singh share a close rapport and if elected to the top post of the BCCI, the HCA secretary should have no difficulty in working in close liaison with the new patron-in-chief. |
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Contempt petition against Dalmiya Bhopal, September 13
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Hayden topples Tendulkar
New Delhi, September 13 Tendulkar, with 537 runs in 15 innings at an average of 35.8 and a strike rate of 77, was ousted from his position by Hayden, who has made 597 runs in 14 innings, at an average of 42.64 and a strike rate of 73. Kumar Sangakarra is third with 78 points, closely followed by Andrew Symonds (76 points), Ricky Ponting (75 points), Shoaib Malik (74 points) and Jacques Kallis (73 points). Inzamam-ul-Haq (71 points), Andrew Flintoff (70) and Sanath Jayasuriya (68) complete the ladder. Chaminda Vass tops the ODI bowling honours, followed by Jason Gillespie from Australia (144 points). Spin wizard Muttiah Muralitharan (141) follows at the third place. Michael Kasprowicz and Nuwan Zoysa of Lanka are ranked fourth and fifth respectively. Irfan Pathan (126) has slipped to the sixth position, while Shoaib Akhtar, Stephen Harmison (England), Jacob Oram (New Zealand) and Mohammed Sami (Pakistan) occupy other positions. Australia top in ODI team with 97 points while Sri Lanka have taken the second position with 80 points. New Zealand (76), India (58), England (54), Pakistan (53), South Africa (46), West Indies (32) occupy the minor slots. In the Test batting order, the first three positions have been taken up by Brian Lara (137), Jacques Kallis (126) and Rahul Dravid (125) while Virender Sehwag is seventh at 112 points. |
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Zaheer, Joginder for Irani Trophy
Chennai, September 13 The squad was picked by the national selection committee under the chairmanship of Syed Kirmani after more than two-hour long deliberations, Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) President S.K. Nair told newspersons. He said Zaheer Khan and Akash Chopra were chosen to test their ‘match fitness’ as both had submitted medical report of having recovered from injuries. Mr Nair said the board President’s XI team to take on Australia in the opening match of the home series at Hyderabad would be announced during the course of the week. Mr Nair, however, parried questions on the contempt of court petition against the nomination of BCCI President Jagmohan Dalmiya as the Patron-in-Chief at a special general body meeting of the board here yesterday. He said Laxmipathi Balaji, who had to return home due to abdominal pain from England, would require at least four weeks to recover. “We are hoping that he would be fit for the Tests against Australia,’’ he said. The Rest of India team members: Dinesh Mongia (Punjab-captain), S. Sriram (Tamil Nadu-vice captain), Akash Chopra, Gautam Gambir (Delhi), Dhiraj Yadav (Maharashtra), A.T. Rayudu (Hyderabad), Parthiv Patel (Gujarat), Murali Kartik (Railways), Shiv Sundar Pal (Bengal), Zaheer Khan (Baroda), Y.A. Golwalkar (MP), Y. Venugopal Rao (Andhra), Joginder Sharma (Haryana) and Sidarth Trivedi (Gujarat).
— UNI |
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Unbeaten ton by Reetinder
Patiala, September 13 Opting to bat after winning the toss, the hosts began in style with Binwant Behgal and Ravinder Mehra notching up 97 for the opening wicket. Once Binwant got out, Reetinder Sodhi played havoc with the visitors plan of restricting the hosts to a reasonable total. Sodhi, who had scored 94 in the previous match against Minor Districts, played a mature innings to put Patiala in the drivers seat even as skipper Pankaj Dharmani and Amit Kakria chipped in with useful knocks of 35 and 44. Brief scores: Patiala: (1st innings):
326 for 5 (Reetinder Sodhi 117 n.o, Ravinder Mehra 62, Amit Kakria 45 n.o, Binwant Behgal 44, P. Dharmani 35, Manpreet Singh 1 for 46, Amanpreet Singh 1 for 16, Varun Khanna 2 for 112). LUDHIANA:
Riding high over fine batting performance by Salil Kaushal (81), skipper Ankur Kakkar (73) and Ashish Vinayak (67 n.o), Ludhiana posted 320 for 9 against Jalandhar in the Punjab State Inter-District Katoch Shield Tournament being organised by the Punjab Cricket Association at the Satish Chander Dhawan Government College for Boys ground here on Monday. Ludhiana, batting first, found themselves struggling at 161 for 6. Then came the fruitful partnership of 115 runs for the seventh wicket between Ashish Vinayak and Salil Kaushal which gave
respectability to the total. Skipper Ankur Kakkar’s explosive innings of 73 runs came off 102 deliveries with the help of ten fours and one six. For the visitors, Sumit Kalia was the pick of the bowlers claiming six wickets for 112 runs. Brief scores: Ludhiana (Ist innings):
320 for 9 in 95 overs (Ankur Kakkar 73, Gaurav Marwaha 22, Jasmeet 16, Sahil Kaushal 81, Ashish Vinayak 67 n.o; Gagandeep Singh Toor 20 and Luv Abhlish 12 n.o; Ishan Malhotra 1 for 21, Vikramjeet Singh 1 for 91, Sumit Kalia 6 for 112 and Samrat Sharma 1 for 29). Amritsar: With the help of incisive spell by off-spinner Charanjit Singh, Amritsar bundled out Minor Districts Zone B at paltry 154 in 74 overs at Gandhi grounds. For the visitors, Sumit was the highest scorer with 80 runs. He stuck 11 fours. Only two other players Vinay (21) and Akhilesh (16) could reach double fingures. For the hosts, S.P. Singh claimed two wickets while Jatinder Singh and Baljit Singh scalped one wicket each.
Amritsar were 59 runs at the loss of two wickets off 21 overs at close.
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Junior Asian
basketball from today
Bangalore, September 13 Karnataka Olympic Association chairman and tournament organising secretary K. Govindaraj told reporters here that due to non-completion of the wooden surface at Sree Kanteereva Indoor Stadium, the championship would be staged at the Rajiv Gandhi Sports Complex. The 16 participating nations have been divided into four groups with hosts India being drawn in Group “D” and reigning champions China in Group “A”.
— PTI |
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Jaco prevails over Ashutosh
New Delhi, September 13 On a day when only three singles matches were played, seventh-seeded Toshiaki Sakai of Japan sent wild card Vivek Shokeen of India packing, albeit after a tough fight, at 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 wile Hu-Tung Yu of Hong Kong defeated Kai Lung Chang of Taipei 6-3, 6-4. In the doubles matches, top-seeded Mustafa Ghouse and Vishal Uppal disposed of Sandeep Choudhary and Rahil Syed 7-5, 6-3 while Ajay Ramaswami and Sunil Kumar Sipaeya, the second seeds, defeated Chirs Kwon of the USA and Tai-Wei Liu of Taipei at 4-6, 6-2, 6-3. Fourth-seeded Ashutosh Singh and Gurmehar Singh whipped Arjan Viplav and Hu-Tung Yu 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 while Jaco Mathew and Vinod Sridhar, the third seeds, swamped Arindam Datta and Vishal Punna 6-4, 6-4. |
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IAF Palam lift football title
New Delhi, September 13 The holders took the lead in the second minute through Jayanto Das, who headed in. But the Palam Airmen roared back in the second half for the equaliser through Lalramzuava while Vanlalzawnchuaha converted a penalty kick a minute before the long whistle. |
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Kartar wins gold for ninth time
Chandigarh, September 13 Kartar Singh beat Alfridas of Lithuania within 53 seconds in the first bout, Memgoverdis of Russia in the quarterfinals and Duckdav of Hungry in the semifinals. In the final bout he beat Badzrslatan of Latvia by a fall within three minutes. Earlier he had won the gold in the Masters World Wrestling Championships in 1992 at Coli (Columbia), in 1993 at Toronto (Canada), in 1997 at Martigny (Switzerland), in 1998 at Bourdoux (France), in 2000 at Germany, in 2001 at Martigny (Switzerland), in 2002 at Tehran (Iran) and in 2003 at Budapest (Hungry). Keeping in view his performance he has been declared the best wrestler. |
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Roller hockey
team announced Chandigarh, September 13 The team will leave on September 16. The team: Chandita Kamboj (Haryana), Jasmine, Shakun and Monisha Dhillon (Chandigarh), Rekha and Samriti Bhushan (Punjab), Anusha and Simrita Sawhney (Delhi) K Navya and T Anusha (Andhra Pradesh).
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