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Sania creates history, enters third round
Serena, Mauresmo sail through
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Pak beat West Indies, Shoaib limps off Brisbane, January 19 Opener Kamran Akmal scored 124 and captain Inzamam-ul-Haq added 62 as Pakistan overcame the loss of fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar to beat the West Indies by six wickets in a tri-series cricket match today.  Shoaib tears
hamstring
Indian captain Sourav Ganguly attends a Press
conference organised by the ICC in New Delhi on Wednesday. — PTI photo
Sehwag North Zone captain
Punjab win Cooch Behar trophy
Anand draws again, Kramnik wins
Dempo win
Sunil, Ramaswami advance
Karate federation misusing SGFI authority
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Sania creates history, enters third round
Melbourne, January 19 It was a red letter day in Indian tennis as Sania, who entered the draw with a wild card, fashioned a stunning 6-2, 6-1 upset win over 84th-ranked Petra Mandula of Hungary in the second round to set a new benchmark for her compatriots. The best performance by an Indian woman on the grand slam so far had been a second round appearance, by Nirupama Sanjeev who achieved the feat in the 1998 edition of the Australian Open. In fact, this was the first time any Indian had progressed this far in a grand slam since Leander Paes made it to the round of 32 at the US Open in 1998. “I am very surprised and really excited,” said Sania who swept the last 10 games as she blew away the 27-year-old Mandula, who had once risen to world number 30, in just 50 minutes. “It was a no-pressure match for me. I was confident, but I did not think it was going to be that easy,” she said. Sania would now face the American seventh seed and the 2003 champion Serena in the third round. “I am really looking forward to find out how hard she hits the ball,” she said on the face-off against the title favourite. The win also gave Sania 66 WTA points and would move her inside the top 130 in the world. The 18-year-old Hyderabad girl put up a refined performance, unlike in the first round, when she made a lot of unforced errors. Sania still seemed to feel the nerves as she struggled with her first serves, which averaged only 40 per cent. But whenever she got her first serve right, she had a high success rate of 80 per cent. It was ‘steady and wait for the error’ game by the Indian teenager. She made no attempts to rush to the net and committed only 13 unforced errors, compared to 43 she had against Australian Cindy Watson in the first round on Monday. Mandula, on the other hand, imploded under a flurry of mistakes, including six doubles faults. There were 40 unforced errors from the Hungarian, which, in a way, helped Sania steady her nerves in the first set. Sania forced 11 break points and converted five of them. She earned her first break in the fourth and although she dropped serve on the next game, she bounced back with her second break in the sixth to wrap up the first set. The Indian played a more controlled game in the second set, where she uncorked breaks in the second and sixth to seal the match.
— PTI |
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Pressure will be on Serena: Sania
Teen tennis sensation Sania Mirza today said she fancied her chances against top American Serena Williams whom she runs into in the third round of the Australian open Grand Slam on Friday.
"Well, she won in 48 minutes today and gave away three games ... I won in 50 minutes and also gave away three games. So who knows," Sania said after recording a historic win to become only the first Indian woman to reach the third round of a Grand Slam. The 18-year-old Hyderabadi walloped 84th ranked Petra Mandula of Hungary 6-2 6-1 in 50 minutes in the second round. The best-ever performance by an Indian woman hitherto had been the second round appearance of Nirupama Sanjeev at the same Grand Slam in 1998. Sania, ranked 166, said the clash with world number seven Serena was "the biggest match of her life" and that if she enjoyed herself on the court she would learn a few things along the way. "It is the biggest match of my life and I think it is hard to plan too much for it. I am just going to go out there, enjoy playing on a show court," she said in an interview to PTI. "I feel in matches like this, what is most important is that you focus on yourself, put in 200 per cent and play the match of your life," Sania said. "I feel if I can do that I can beat anyone and I should not worry about who is on the other side (of the net)." Sania said although she carried the expectations of a billion people, the pressure would be more on Serena since she was expected to win. "The way I see it, I have nothing to lose. Whatever I do on court, I will learn something that will help me in the future. "On the other hand, Serena will be playing a wild card in front of millions of people watching across the world, someone who she is expected to beat easily. The way I see it, all the pressure is on her." Sania also said she cherished winning the Wimbledon girls doubles title more than the second round win today. "Obviously it is wonderful to do well at your first Grand Slam but I am not here to make up the numbers, I am here to win events," she said. "So I would rate my win in the junior doubles in Wimbledon in 2003 higher than this. "The (doubles) win at the Hyderabad Open last year was very satisfying too. This day is right up there but I would not say it is the happiest day. Maybe, if I beat Serena..."
— PTI NEW DELHI: The All-India Tennis Association (AITA) on Wednesday hailed Sania Mirza’s stupendous winning streak at the Australian Open as a much-needed boost to Indian tennis. “It is a historic win and a big boost to the players who are waiting in the wings,” AITA secretary general Anil Khanna said here. The AITA would felicitate the 18-year-old sensation on February 12 in Hyderabad, Khanna added. “This is a result of the internationalisation of the Indian circuit in 1998. To raise the level of Indian tennis to a still higher notch, we have to hold $ 50,000 and $ 75,000 events in India,” he said. — PTI
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Serena, Mauresmo sail through
Melbourne, January 19 The seventh-seeded Williams didn't concede a point on her own serve in the second set until the last game when, serving for the match, she made two unforced errors. She recovered, set up match point with curling forehand winner and sealed the match in 48 minutes with an ace, her sixth. Williams, who won the 2003 Australian title to complete a personal Grand Slam of four consecutive majors but missed last year's tournament with a knee problem, had 38 winners and only 18 unforced errors. She yelled "No!" at herself for blowing two breakpoint chances in the fifth game, then responded with a Randriantefy, of Madagascar and ranked 67th, could do nothing but watch former top-ranked Williams in the last six games. She didn't get a look at a breakpoint in the second set and didn't convert either of her two in the first. Williams will play 18-year-old Sania Mirza of India, a 6-2, 6-1 winner over Hungarian Petra Mandula. Mirza, playing in her first major, is the first Indian woman to make the third round of a Grand Slam. Second-ranked Amelie Mauresmo overcame poor serving in the first set and rallied to beat Dinara Safina 2-6, 6-1, 6-0. Mauresmo, ranked No. 1 last September before slipping behind Lindsay Davenport, was broken in her first two service games. Safina, the younger sister of Marat Safin, raced to a 4-0 lead en route to clinching the first set. Mauresmo had an early break in the second set but lost her own serve again to lead only 2-1. But that was her last slip, as she took the final 10 games from the 18-year-old Safina. Russian Nadia Petrova was given a real scare by 15-year-old Australian wildcard Sophie Ferguson before taking her place in the third round of the Australian Open today with a 4-6 6-0 6-1 win. Vera Zvonareva was the highest-ranked women to lose, as the ninth-seeded player from Russia was beaten 6-3, 6-3 by compatriot Vera Douchevina. Zvonareva struggled with her serve, dropping five service games and producing 11 double-faults. American Amy Frazier, seeded 21st, defeated Denisa Chladkova 6-1, 3-6, 6-2. In other women's matches, Evgenia Linetskaya was a 6-0, 6-2 winner over Martina Sucha; and Li Na beat 28th-seeded Shinobu Asagoe 6-3, 6-4. On the men's side, French Open champion Gaston Gaudio overcame Olympic silver medallist Mardy Fish 2-6, 6-4, 7-5, 7-6 (7/4) and Belgium's Olivier Rochus had a 6-1, 6-3, 6-3 win over Gael Monfils, an 18-year-old Frenchman who won three of the four junior majors last season.
— Reuters |
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Bhupathi-Woodbridge win
Melbourne, January 19 The third seeded Indo-Australian Pair saved three break points on their way to a 7-5 7-5 win over home challengers Chris Guccione and Nathan Healey in the first round.
Bhupathi and Woodbridge converted two of the six break points that came their way and handled the crucial points better to emerge winners. They next face Russian duo Igor Andreev and Nicolay
Davydenko. — PTI |
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Kuznetsova feels she was
wronged
Melbourne, January 19 For 40 minutes, the reigning US Open champion pounded tennis balls past Marion Bartoli of France, ripping 31 winners and seven aces in a 6-2, 6-0 second-round victory. The fifth-seeded Russian then signed autographs for a few minutes, even inking the arm of a man who dangled it over the railing from the stands. As she started walking off, it all started coming back - the anger and frustration over the disclosure by Belgian regional sports minister Claude Eerdekens that she tested positive for the stimulant ephedrine at a charity exhibition match in Belgium a week before Christmas. While the common ingredient in cold medicine is on the banned list during competition, it's not off-limits during the offseason. Kuznetsova and tennis officials have criticised Eerdekens, who was unapologetic and said he did tennis a favour by striking a blow for transparency in the fight against doping. "I'm not afraid ... because I didn't do nothing wrong," Kuznetsova told reporters after her match. She didn't rule out a lawsuit, making it clear she feels she was wronged. "I feel that he shouldn't do this because I think it's worse for him than for me," she said. "It's a bit dirty. Tomorrow, I wake up and I say something bad about somebody, I will feel terrible. Definitely, he has to pay for it." Kuznetsova, who earlier announced she passed 11 drug tests last year, said she had a fever when she arrived for the exhibition tournament last month but didn't want to drop out. "I just felt sick. And I went to the doctor. That is usual for everybody," Kuznetsova said. "And he gave me medicine, and I was taking it." She said she listed the medicine when she went for a drug test. The next she heard about the test, she said, was from the media, asking about Eerdekens' statement on the positive result. Kuznetsova said she still has yet to hear anything from Belgian officials and that the WTA, the ITF and the Russian Federation have not been contacted either. "All I know is from the press," she said. Kuznetsova showed no sign of the off-court drama against Bartoli. She dictated play from the start, breaking the Frenchwoman in the first game with a clean backhand winner down the line. Her only scare came as she nearly did the splits while trying to chase down a Bartoli forehand crosscourt on her first match point. She followed with her seventh ace to finish the victory.
— AP |
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Pak beat West Indies,
Shoaib limps off
Brisbane, January 19 Akhtar’s injury problems on this Australian tour continued when he broke down with a hamstring pull. Akhtar had an MRI scan, which showed a slight tear in his left hamstring, placing him in doubt for Pakistan’s next match against Australia at Sydney on Sunday. The West Indies made 273-5 after Akhtar lasted just 25 minutes and Pakistan notched 274-4 in reply. The 9 am start, which resulted in a moist pitch and humid conditions, was expected to suit the fast bowler. But Akhtar had only 17 legitimate deliveries, mixed in with five wides, before limping off and failing to return as the West Indies set Pakistan a challenging run chase in overcast conditions. Akhtar, plagued by right hamstring problems, missed some sessions of Pakistan’s three-Test series against Australia — all losses — and also did not play in two warm-up matches before the tri-series began. Opener Chris Gayle (82 off 99 balls) and skipper Brian Lara (39 off 30) provided quick runs, while Ramnaresh Sarwan (76 off 90) was the mainstay of the West Indies innings.
— AP BRISBANE: Pakistan were hoping for a swift recovery for paceman Shoaib Akhtar after scans revealed a tear in his left hamstring, which could rule him out for the remainder of the tri-series international cricket competition.
Shoaib managed to bowl just 2.5 overs during Pakistan’s six-wicket win over the West Indies here on Wednesday before he had to leave the field.
Captain Inzamam-ul-Haq said there was no need to send for any reinforcements and that Shoaib could be playing again within one or two weeks.
“The doctor says he will hopefully be playing after one week and that is when we will get him (back),” he said.
A two-week stint would all but rule him out of the series until the best-of-three-match final series, should Pakistan reach the playoffs against either Australia or the West Indies.
— AFP
Scoreboard West Indies: Gayle c Malik b Razzaq 82 Hinds c Butt b Hafeez 28 Sarwan c Naved b Mahmood 76 Lara c Hafeez b Naved 39 Powell c Akmal b Naved 0 Chanderpaul not out 25 Extras:
(9lb, 9w, 5 nb) 23 Total: (5 wickets) 273 Fall of wickets: 1-86, 2-149, 3-209, 4-211, 5-273. Bowling:
Akhtar 2.5-0-7-0, Naved 10-0-55-2, Mahmood 9.1-1-57-1, Afridi 10-0-39-0, Hafeez 10-0-54-1, Razzaq 7-0-43-1, Butt 1-0-10-0. Pakistan: Butt b Dillon 10 Akmal c Lara b Bradshaw 124 Hafeez c Gayle b Dillon 2 Malik c Browne b Bradshaw 60 Inzamam not out 62 Youhana not out 9 Extras: (1lb, 3w, 3nb) 7 Total: (4wickets, 47 overs) 274 Fall of wickets: 1-28, 2-36, 3-159, 4-239. Bowling: Collins 10-0-50-0, Bradshaw 10-1-49-2, Dillon 10-1-46-2, Samuels 9-0-72-0, Sarwan 5-0-31-0, Hinds 3-0-25-0.
— AP |
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New Delhi, January 19 The ICC’s first ever official players ranking would complement its existing Test and one-day international team championships and the three concepts would be sponsored by consumer giants LG Electronics. “Since the introduction of the ICC Test championship in May, 2001, it has been our ambition to complement this with an ongoing championship table for one-day international cricket and official player rankings,” ICC chief executive officer Malcolm Speed told reporters here today. The trophies for the Test and ODI championships, a mace and a shield named after the sponsors, were also unveiled on the occasion. Indian captain Sourav Ganguly and former skippers Sunil Gavaskar and Krishnamachari
Srikanth were also present. Ganguly agreed that turnaround knocks by the likes of Mohammad Kaif in a one-dayer might not be properly reflected in the player rankings, but said what mattered to him most was the team rankings. “Cricket is a team game, and of the three rankings brought out by the ICC, it is the team rankings that should be more important,” he said. “The performance of an individual will be added to the team. Rankings is not a worry when you go into a match. The players have lot of others things in the mind,” he said. Speed also said the teams for the 2007 World Cup would be seeded, based on their rankings in July this year. When pointed out that it could be an interesting scenario when the best player at the end of the year had a personal
sponsorship deal with the rivals of the title sponsors, LG head of marketing Salil Kapoor said, “I am sure there will be a way out.” Gavaskar exhorted the Indian captain to wrest back the Test championship mace, which would be sent back to Australia, the current title holders. “In Indian mythology, the mace is used by Bhim. I am sure there are enough Bhims in the Indian team. I urge them to wrest back the mace from the Australians,” he said.
— PTI |
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Sehwag North Zone captain
New Delhi, January 19 The team: Virender Sehwag (Capt), Gautam Gambhir, Ashish Nehra, Amit Bhandari, Ajay Jadeja, Mithun Manhas (Delhi), Dinesh Mongia (V Capt), Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh, Gagandeep Singh (Punjab), Ajay Ratra (WK), Joginder Sharma (Haryana), Sangram Singh, Vishal Bhatia, M S Bisla. Stand byes: D Mahajan (J and K), R Sodhi, Ravneet Ricky (Punjab), Yashpal Singh, S V Ghag (Services) and Gaurav Vashisht (Haryana).
— UNI
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Punjab win Cooch Behar trophy
Visakhapatnam, January 19 Hyderabad, replying to Punjab’s first innings score of 492, were all out for 329 and the visitors were 96 for 5 at draw of stumps. Overnight not out batsman R.I. Vishwanath was out without adding a single run to his 107 as spinner Sumit Sharma claimed seven for 72 to wreck the Hyderabad innings. Skipper Amol Shinde’s patient 75 could not prevent Punjab from taking the first innings lead as wickets were tumbling at the other end at frequent intervals. Shinde added 57 runs for the seventh wicket with M.P. Arjun (20), but the team fell short by a huge 163 runs to concede the first innings lead. Punjab were 96 for 5 at close, with Uday Kaul (24) and Rupeet Inder Singh (27) at the crease. For Hyderabad, Amol Shinde claimed 3 for 32 while Pragyan Ojah took 2 for 22. Brief scores: Punjab 492 and 96 for 5 (Uday Kaul 24 not out, Rupeet Inder Singh 27 not out, Amol Shinde 3 for 32, Pragyan Ojah 2 for 22) bt Hyderabad 329 (D.B. Ravi Teja 62, R.I. Viswanath 107, Amol Shinde 75, M.P. Arjun 20, Sumit Sharma 7 for 72). |
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Anand draws again, Kramnik wins
Wijk Aan Zee, January 19 Playing with white pieces, Anand opted for a Ruy Lopez opening by moving ‘e4’ in the fourth round against Svidler yesterday. The game did not reach great heights till the middle-game. However, after exchanging a few pieces at this stage, Svidler brought his bishop to Bxf2, giving a check to his opponent. This was thwarted by the Indian chess wizard. The Russian, playing aggressively now, moved Nxe4 to check Anand, but his rook on e-file took care of the threats that were to come. It was a long game, where both players refused to give up, but settled for a draw when a result in either’s favour seemed impossible. The Brain Games Champion Vladimir Kramnik gave a fine display of tactical chess and crushed his opponent Ivan Sokolovin in just 30 moves in another Ruy Lopez game of the day. In another interesting game, Englishman Nigel Short defeated Alexander
Morozevich. In this Petroff Defence game, Morozevich, still looking for points, was given no chance by the Commonwealth Champion Short, who turned the heat on him and defeated him. Another Englishman, Michael Adams, put a brake on Veselin Topolov’s winning streak.
Topolov, who won two and drew one out of his three games with one draw, could not withstand Adams attacks on his king and finding no way out, decided to
surrender. Loek Van Wely of the host country and Judit Polgar played a long and tiring game. They played aggressively from the beginning, exchanging pieces, and by the 10th move, both had sacrificed their queens, followed by Judith’s check to Wely’s king. Both continued in the same vein, but agreed for a draw when a result seem
improbable. Ruslan Ponomariov drew with Peter Leko in another game and Alexander Grischuk drew with Cuban L.
Bruzon. In Group C, India’s Parimarjan Negi drew with Leon Pliester of Holland.
— UNI |
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Dempo win
Margo, January 19 |
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New Delhi, January 19 Sixth seed Sunil Kumar, overpowered compatriot Vivek Shokeen in straight sets. Sunil won the first set easily, but Shooken put up a stout resistance in the second set before going down in the second set in a tie-breaker. Sunil won 6-1, 7-6 (9). Ajay Ramaswami humbled Davis cupper Vishal Uppal 6-1, 6-3 in a one-sided contest Sunil would face top seed David Sherwood while Ramaswami would take on second seed Simon Greul in the quarterfinals. Unseeded Murad Inoyatov (Uzbekistan) dealt another blow to India as he knocked out eighth seed Vijay Kanan. The Uzbek dominated the proceedings and held his nerves at crucial moments to beat the fancied Indian 6-2, 7-6 (4). David Sherwood (Britain) outpaced spirited Tamil Nadu teenager Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan to book his berth in the last eight. Sherwood was given a tough fight by Jeevan in the first set but the Briton completely dominated the second to win the match 7-5,6-1. Simon Greul, also of Britain, tamed Arun Rajagopalan in a tie which virtually turned out to be a no-contest. Greul lost three games in the match which he won 6-1, 6-3. Completing the last eight line-up were Lester Cook (USA), Dekel Valtzer (Israel) and Denis Istomin (Uzbekistan). Cook upset fourth seed Norikazu Sugiyama of Japan. The American demolished his rival with a powerful game and conceded only one game in the match, which he won 6-0, 6-1. Seventh seed Dekel Valtzer overpowered spirited Indian Vinod
Sridhar in three sets. In the doubles, India suffered a jolt as the second seeded pair of Vijay Kanan and Sunil Kumar were knocked out by Uzbekistan’s Denis Istomin and Murad Inoyatov 4-6, 4-6. However, top seeded pair of Harsh Mankad and Ajay Ramaswami scored an easy 6-3, 6-2 win over British pair of Micheal Ouvarov and David Sherwood. Divij Sharan and Vivek Shokeen ousted fourth seeded pair of Sergei Krotiouk and Vinod Sridhar 7-5, 7-6 (4).
— UNI |
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Karate federation misusing SGFI authority
Chandigarh, January 19 Sportspersons who take part in various national and other recognised tournaments are given 75 per cent concession by the Indian Railways. But in a strange case, the NKFI headed by Mr Prem Puri and
Secretary General Sensei Raju Thapa has issued rail travel concession certificates, otherwise meant to be issued by the SGFI. By doing so, the federation has been misusing the authority of School Games Federation of India. In a letter addressed to various heads of railway divisions certifying its status, the federation has sent letters signed by Thapa. Dated January 1,2005 , the letter reads ‘A railway concession order for the journey (to and back) may kindly be issued as admissible SGFI-NSG (Rly/C-1/96. no 1 of annexure no rule 40` ot IRCA coaching tariff no.8 part 1’. The above body has also stated in its letterhead that it is an affiliated unit of the SGFI. When asked, a senior Northern Railway officer at Ambala said before issuing any concession to any sportspersons or any group, the signatures of the federation are verified and if any such a case comes to their knowledge they will order a probe. Mr Ravinder Talwar, Senior vice-president of the SGFI, said the NKFI was not a recognised body of World Karate Federation and the nefarious activities of this body should be highlighted.
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Sania Mirza created history as she became the first Indian woman to enter the third round of a grand slam tennis event and set up a dream clash with former world number one Serena Williams at the Australian Open here today.
