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Davenport, Myskina stumble through
Drugs story over, says Dementieva
Hondo
shapes Zimbabwe win
Mohali to host Indo-Pak Test
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Aussies to turn to heavy hitters
Brisbane, January 20 World champions Australia, seeking a third straight win and a place in the finals of the tri-nations competition, will turn to their heavy hitters when they meet West Indies tomorrow.
Tsunami charity tie at Kolkata
Dynamos trounce Delhi Dazzlers
AIFF serves show-cause notice to Bhowmik
Services win men’s team trial gold
Sunil moves into semis
Gujarat take lead
22 selected for cross-country championship
Fransa hold East Bengal
Mahilpur boys post 3-2 victory
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Davenport, Myskina stumble through
Melbourne, January 20 But eighth seed Venus Williams had no trouble disposing of Chinese amateur Peng Shuai 6-3 6-1. Williams, who lost to sister Serena in the 2003 Melbourne final, dropped her opening service game but cruised after that. A slow-starting Davenport, the 2000 Australian champion, dropped the first set in her match against Czech Michaela Pastikova but recovered to win 2-6, 6-2, 6-2 to keep up her record of reaching the third round each year she has played in Melbourne since 1993. ''I just wasn't ready to be at my best at the very beginning, and it definitely cost me against someone who came out playing very well, very aggressive and kind of caught me on my back foot,'' Davenport said. An erratic Myskina, the third seed, had trouble finding her range and rhythm as she struggled past unseeded Tzipora Obziler of Israel for an unconvincing 6-4 6-2 win. The men's draw also had its share of trouble, with grumpy 18th seed and Olympic gold medallist Nicolas Massu of Chile pulling out with an ankle injury as unseeded German Philipp Kohlschreiber led their match 6-0 2-0. Exciting Spanish teenager Rafael Nadal then upset 15th seed Mikhail Youzhny, saving a match point before beating the Russian 6-1, 4-6, 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 in a 217-minute epic on Rod Laver Arena centre court. Fourteenth seed Sebastien Grosjean soon joined Youzhny at the exit after squandering a two-set lead against fellow Frenchman Jean-Rene Lisnard. Grosjean, a semi-finalist in Melbourne in 2001, was beaten 1-6 4-6 6-3 6-4 6-3 in his first match against unseeded Lisnard. Lleyton Hewitt staged a mighty comeback to beat American James Blake 4-6 7-6 6-0 6-3 in the second round. The former world number one was staring down the barrel after losing the opening set and going behind early in the second. Blake had two breaks, served for the second set at 6-5 and had a set point in the tiebreak but the fiery Australian survived each challenge to win the set and square the match. With his confidence soaring and Blake hampered by a bleeding hand, Hewitt raced away with the final two sets to set up a third round clash with Juan Ignacio Chela after the Argentine beat Gregory Carraz of France in straight sets. Seventh seed Tim Henman continued his unassuming, dismissing Romanian Victor Hanescu 7-5 6-1 6-4 to reach the third round. The Briton, who has never been beyond the fourth round at Melbourne Park, served 10 aces and broke Hanescu on five occasions, wrapping up victory in one hour, 53 minutes. After winning a tight first set, Henman cruised through the second and one break, in the ninth game of the third set, was enough to see him through to the third round. He will now meet 26th seed Nikolay Davydenko of Russia, with Argentine Guillermo Canas, who beat him in the last 16 in 2004, again a possible opponent in the fourth round. World number one Davenport admitted she hadn't been at her best against Pastikova, who was playing in her first grand slam event after 13 failed attempts to qualify. ''I tried to buckle down after I lost the first set and concentrate more in the short term than in the long term,'' the American said. The tactic worked as Davenport grabbed an early break of Pastikova's serve in the second set and never looked back. Myskina was similarly slow out of the blocks against 114th-ranked Obziler, whose career was interrupted by two years' service in the Israeli army. Obziler took a 3-1 lead and the pair traded five service breaks between them in an untidy first set on Vodafone Arena but Myskina said she never felt in any real danger. ''Even though I was down 3-1, I still was confident that I can win the match,'' she Myskina, who was beaten in the first round of the Sydney International last week. She opened up a 4-0 lead in the second set but even then still had trouble closing out the match. Myskina held two match points on Obziler's serve in the seventh game of the second set but gave up both with unforced errors. Myskina will meet American Lisa Raymond in the third round after the 25th seed thrashed Czech Klara Koukalova 6-0 6-1. The 23-year-old right-hander became the sixth Russian to make the third round, continuing her compatriots' phenomenal success from 2004, when they won three of the four grand slam titles. Myskina has been troubled recently by a shoulder injury but did not blame it for her erratic performance. ''The shoulder's been bothering me for already a couple of years, so it's nothing new really,'' said Myskina, who will be looking for a marked improvement if she is to reach the Melbourne quarter-finals for the third successive year. Likeable Barbara Schett bowed out of tennis after she was beaten 6-4 6-0 by 26th seed Daniela Hantuchova in the second round. The teary Austrian said she was quitting because she was not enjoying the game any more. ''(I was) not very emotional until she had match point. Then suddenly I had tears in my eyes,'' said Schett, nicknamed ''Babsi''.
— Reuters |
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Sania ready for dream match
Melbourne, January 20 “I am not very much worried, I will play my natural game and see what happens. I am not thinking too much about it,” Sania said. While playing the former world number one was like a “dream come true”, Sania insisted that there was no pressure on her. “Playing Serena was a dream which has come true. I have watched her play on television countless times. But there is no pressure on me. I have come here with no major expectations,” she said. “Winning two rounds has been great, I am excited. This has been my attitude and though I cannot write off tomorrow’s match like any other match, I am not very much worried. In fact, I am looking forward to it,” she said. HYDERABAD: The lucky mascot of Indian women’s tennis, Sania Mirza, is confident of putting up a better performance against Serena Williams in their third round match. Speaking from Melbourne, a confident Sania said, “I know she hits harder. I am not afraid of her. I am eagerly waiting for the match. I will put up a better show tomorrow”. “I have nothing to lose in the match against Serena, who is ranked seventh. Playing a top-ranked woman is more important than winning or losing,” she added. The two wins in the Australian Open fetched her 66 points. With this, she might move up to the 130th rank. This is not the first time that Sania is in the news for having achieved something big. A couple of years ago, she was the country’s top junior tennis player. Ever since she won the Wimbledon girls doubles title partnering Alisa Kleybanova by beating Ketherina Bohmova and Micheala Crajicek 3-6, 6-2, 6-3, she became the darling of Indian tennis lovers.
— PTI, UNI |
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Hondo shapes Zimbabwe win
Dhaka, January 20 Earlier, Zimbabwe overcame a poor start to post a competitive total as middle-order batsmen Brendan Taylor (58) and Hamilton Masakadza (54) slammed half-centuries. Bangladesh, who had never chased more than 237 to win a one-dayer, were well-placed at 119-2 in the 27th over before losing their way under lights. They were in deep trouble when they lost their next four wickets in the space of 24 runs. Mohammad Ashraful (42), Rajin Saleh (40) and Bashar (39) were the main contributors, but Bangladesh were always behind the asking rate as they needed 53 to win with three wickets in hand in the last five overs. Khaled Mahmud scored a 30-ball 34 and tail-ender Tapash Baisya an unbeaten 33 off 26 deliveries in the closing overs, but they could only reduce the margin of defeat. — AFP
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Drugs story over, says Dementieva
Melbourne, January 20 The minister, Claude
Eerdekens, eventually named another Russian, US Open champion Svetlana
Kuznetsova, as the culprit, though she was cleared by the Women’s Tennis Association because ephedrine, the drug concerned, was not on the banned list when taken out of competition. However, Dementieva and Dechy both vented their anger at being implicated. But though she reiterated that she would not be talking to
Kuznetsova, Dementieva said she had moved on. “The story is over for me now,” she said. “It was very difficult for me in the last few days, but I am relieved it is over. I was involved in something that I had nothing to do with, but it is in the past,” she said.
— Reuters |
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President’s XI match at DharamsalaMohali to host Indo-Pak Test
Mumbai, January 20 During the tour, Pakistan would play Tests at Mohali, Ahmedabad and Bangalore and one-dayers at Kochi, Visakhapatnam, Kanpur, Jamshedpur and Delhi. The visitors would also play a three-day practice match against Board President’s XI at Dharmasala in Himachal Pradesh, BCCI secretary S.K. Nair told newspersons after the meeting of the programme and fixtures committee, chaired by Kamal Morarka. Answering questions, he said the dates would be finalised in the next couple of days after getting security clearance from the Union Government for the tour. The tour was likely to conclude on April 10 or 11, he added. The Pakistan board had sought a one-day practice encounter before the limited-overs matches and the venue and date would be finalised in consultation with boards of the two countries, Nair added. Mr Nair said logistics of travel would also have to be considered while finalising the dates. He, however, indicated that the dates had been broadly finalised and would have to be approved by boards of the two countries. The visitors were likely to come on February 24 or 25. On Ahemedabad, Morarka said it was okay. However, security would be ensured for the visitors at all venues. On Delhi as venue, he said the Delhi Cricket Association had informed the board that the stadium, under renovation, would be ready to host the one-dayer. As works were underway, it was not considered for the Test. About Mumbai as a venue, Morarka said it was infructuous as it was not in the list under the rotation system. Nair said all members of the committee attended the meeting and decision was taken on the rotation basis. — UNI
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Aussies to turn to heavy hitters
Brisbane, January 20 The West Indies face a daunting task in securing their first win as the Australians welcome back the powerful opening combination of Matthew Hayden -- who was rested for the first two matches -- and Adam Gilchrist, who missed one match with a knee injury. They are also contemplating bumping out-of-form but renowned one-day slogger Andrew Symonds up the order at Brisbane's Gabba ground in an attempt to make the most of his power-hitting. The Australians have a wealth of talent to call on, with Michael Clarke -- the fill-in opener for Hayden in the last two matches -- dropping back to the middle order after impressive innings of 66 and 97. The boost in strike power won't just be limited to the batting, with pace bowler Jason Gillespie shrugging off a calf strain and cleared to play. Selectors must also decide whether to use all-rounder Shane Watson in place of the in-form spinner Brad Hogg in a four-pronged pace attack. For the West Indies, winless after matches against Australia and Pakistan, the situation is far bleaker. All-rounder Chris Gayle further aggravated shoulder tendonitis during their six-wicket loss to Pakistan yesterday and may not bowl again on tour. Without him, captain Brian Lara was forced to rely more upon part-timers Marlon Samuels, Ramnaresh Sarwan and Wavell Hinds who went for a total of 128 runs from 17 overs. Lara admitted his side was struggling to find the right balance without Gayle. Rising all-rounder Dwayne Bravo, a surprise omission yesterday, is likely to return to bolster the attack. Symonds enters the day-nighter desperate for runs after scoring four ducks from his last five innings for Australia, dating back to September. He has been in electrifying domestic one-day form during that time but is still no certainty to play ahead of Simon Katich and Darren Lehmann. Captain Ricky Ponting said Symonds was often on "a hiding to nothing" while trying to score quick runs late in the innings. Ponting had a lengthy chat with Symonds at training today and said he felt he was ready to return to the form which had earned him 1,525 runs at 54.46 from the 2003 World Cup until the start of the current season. "I've watched him closely at training the last couple of days and he's striking the ball nicely," Ponting said.
— AFP |
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Tsunami charity tie at Kolkata
Kolkata, January 20 The decision was taken after government accorded tax exemption to the fundraiser, a pre-condition for hosting the match, he said.
— PTI
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Dynamos trounce Delhi Dazzlers
Hyderabad, January 20 Delhi Dazzlers, who suffered the absence of two star players, an indisposed Anwar Khan and Prem Kumar, gave a tough fight and dominated the first session, but failed to get their act together at the all-important end. The honours were even after the first quarter, but towards the end of the second, Chandigarh Dynamos increased the tempo and their midfield did a wonderful job to keep the rival forwards at bay. In the 30th minute, skipper and Olympian Sukhbir Singh Gill gave a minus pass from the goal line and Ravi Pal Singh found the target without fuss to score past Delhi goalkeeper Jasbir Singh. Then, the hardworking Rajpal Singh weaved his magic and made the best use of the free hit, just outside the circle, after a move from the right flank, to make it 2-0 in the 32nd minute. Immediately, he struck once again with an opportunistic goal. Despite three defenders between him and the goal, Rajpal deflected, from handshaking distance, after the first shot taken by Ravi Pal Singh rebounded off goalkeeper Jasbir Singh and moved towards the outer post. An alert Rajpal was not the one to miss the chance and he just lunged ahead to put his stick 3-0. Chandigarh Dynamos’ centrehalf, Baldev Singh, a senior player who was well over 40 years, was the man who not only guided the attack, but put brakes to the raids of Delhi Dazzlers.
— UNI |
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AIFF serves show-cause notice to Bhowmik
Kolkata, January 20 AIFF secretary Alberto Colaco said today that a letter to this effect had been sent to the IFA and the IFA, in turn had last night forwarded it to the club concerned. “As a procedure, we always inform the state association and ask it to take action. So though Mr Bhowmik is in Goa now, the letter has been sent to the IFA and he will be communicated about it through his club,” he said. The AIFF, in a written letter, sought a clarification from the coach for his sudden outburst against the body, the IFA and match commissioner Milan Dutta before the lung-opener of the ninth NFL featuring East Bengal and Mohun Bagan on January 12. Bhowmik appeared agitated before the start of the match when he had some exchange of words with Dutta. At the end of the day’s play, Bhowmik raised his voice against the delay in the commencement of the match, when the players were made to stand in the tunnel for about 30 minutes. It was learnt that he had also threatened to withdraw his team after being denied entry on the pitch while the inauguration ceremony was in progress. The AIFF found the behaviour violating the playing conditions of the NFL and served a show-cause notice on him last night, giving him 15 days from January 18 to respond to the letter and clarify why punitive action should not be taken against the coach. On getting a reply, the matter would be sent to the AIFF disciplinary committee for hearing. Talking to reporters after the match, Bhowmik had raised concerns about the delay in start of the match. As a former footballer and a professional who was also one of the most successful coaches in the country, Bhowmik’s contention was that if the players stood and waited to get on to the field for almost half an hour in the tunnel, the pressure of the big match and the tension building inside them sapped them of a lot of their energy. As a result, their body did not work as actively as it should and that was the reason why the match between East Bengal and Mohun Bagan did not scale great heights, he contended. However, certain officials in the AIFF did not disagree totally with Bhowmik. The fact was that the players had to wait in the tunnel as the officials did not have the permission to send the players on the field while Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was inaugurating the ceremony. Incidentally, Bhowmik had earlier been hauled up by the IFA for running his mouth against the state body and awarded a suspended suspension for six months.
— UNI |
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Services win men’s team trial gold
Pune, January 20 The SSCB men secured one more gold when the quartet of Zorawar Singh, Asgar Hassan, Sandeep Kumar and Raju Funde powered their way to glory by winning the 72-km team time trial event, clocking an hour, 39 minutes, 48:999 seconds, to get the better of Punjab Police and Railway Sports Promotion Board, who had to be content with silver and bronze, respectively. The Punjab Police team, comprising Sarabjit Singh, Pravjit Singh, Pavitar Singh and Kamaljit Singh, finished in a time of 1:41:49:29 while the Railway quartet of Ramdhan Choudhry, C.H. Sai Krishna, Rameshwarlal Jat and Maghe Ram clocked 1:42:16:01. SSCB captured a gold in the men’s 36-km individual time trial event yesterday. Hosts Maharashtra pocketed two silver medals on the second day of the five-day event, being hosted by the Maharashtra Cycling Association near here. Maharashtra, who dominated the opening day’s proceedings, winning a gold, two silver and two bronze, went on to add two more silver as their women won a silver in the 30-km team time trial and added one more through promising youngster Rahul Borde. Borde, though, was disappointed as he was gunning for gold. He took the silver in the boys’ under-16 5-km individual time trial, taking the team tally to one gold, four silver and two bronze.
— UNI |
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Sunil moves into semis
New Delhi, January 20 Chandigarh-based sixth seed Sunil gave a superb display of controlled and percentage tennis to prevent the semi finals becoming an all-foreign affair. Sunil would take on giant-killer Uzbek Denis Istomin in one semifinal while the other semi final would be between second seed Simon Greul (Britan) and American Lester Cook. Sunil played attacking game from the start and dominated the court. His rival fumbled with serves and returns and tended to lose concentration at crucial moments. The Indian kept the pressure from the start and emerged an easy 6-3, 6-4 winner. Sunil’s compatriot Ajay Ramaswami did not have the same type of luck. He battled it out against Simon Greul in the first set, but losing that, he threw in the towel in the second. Greul held his nerves in the first set, but in the second, he outpaced the Indian and emerged a 7-5, 6-1 winner. Lester Cook ended seventh seed Israeli Dekel Valtzer’s victory run with some gritty display. Cook survived first-set hiccups to win it in tie-breaker, but then overpowered the Israeli in the second to win the match 7-6(3), 6-1.
— UNI |
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Gujarat take lead
Rohtak, January 20 After winning the toss and electing to field, Gujarat dismissed Madhya Pradesh for a paltry 130 in 193 minutes of play. Mudit Srivastava (22), Madhav Saxena (21) and Paras Jain (23) put up some resistance against Gujarat bowlers. Parth Parikh took three wickets for 14 runs and Divyesh and Shivang Patel took two wickets each for 18 and 17 runs, respectively. After starting disastrously, Gujarat fought back through left-arm opener Jatin Patel (46 runs off 93 balls, 144 mts. 7x4s) to gain the first innings lead. At draw of stumps, Gujarat were 134 for 7 in 39 overs. Ismail Mitchala and Vishal Mehta were batting on 13 and 7, respectively. Brief scores: Madhya Pradesh (Ist innings): 130 (Mudit Srivastava 22, Sagar 19, Madhav Saxena 21, Paras Jain 22, Ankit Parashar 18, Parath Parikh 3 for 14; Gujarat (Ist innings): 134 for 7 (Jatin Patel 46, Rajdeep Darbar 15, Ismile Mitchala batting 13, Vishal Mehta batting 7, Mayank Jagdale 3 for 49, Paras Jain 2 for 39). |
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22 selected for cross-country championship
Patiala, January 20 The teams: 12 km (men) — Narinder Singh, Parveen Kumar, Ajay Kumar, Jaswinder Singh, Prem Singh, Krishan Lal; 4 km (boys) — Lakhwinder Singh, Amandeep Singh, Parveen Kumar, Gurdeep Singh, Prince Singh, Ramanjit Singh; 8 km (u-20 years) — Gurdev Singh, Makhan Singh, Jatinder Singh, Chetan Sharma, Sonu, Sukhpreet Singh; 6 km girls (u-20 years) — Lalita, Amarjit Kaur,
Nishu, Preeti.
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Fransa hold East Bengal
Margao, January 20 Fransa made two changes, bringing in two foreigners — Ghanian Benjamin Owusuansah and Nigerian Joseph Ogor — to give more teeth to their attack and both did not let their team down as they kept the rival defence under pressure, particularly in the second half. It was East Bengal goalkeeper Rajat Ghosh Dastidar who brought off two brilliant saves off Sebastiao Endro to deny Fransa a victory. Bhaichung Bhutia, who was mostly kept quiet by man of the match Louis Aniweta, managed to elude his marker once, but failed to net the ball. Fransa now have four points from two matches while East Bengal, who have drawn both their matches, have two points.
— PTI |
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Mahilpur boys post 3-2 victory
Chandigarh, January 20 Khalsa S.S. School Buddon defeated GSS School, Mahilpur, by 2-0, while S N College Banga defeated DAV College Hoshiarpur by 3-0. Mr H.S. Bains welcome the chief guest and also announced that club shall organise the coaching camp for U-14 boys of the Mahilpur area to give boost to the young players at nursery level. |
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Canada for ice hockey tourney Schett retires WBC title
bout Asian squash
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