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Serena rallies to win Australian Open
Dynamos thrash Bengal Tigers
IHF AGM at Hyderabad today
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PCB initiates major overhaul
Bangladesh win by 58
runs
Kaif steers Central Zone to 5-wicket victory
South Zone win by 13 runs
Stage set for National Adventure Festival
Mohun Bagan beat Churchill
Leading juniors for ITF tennis
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Serena rallies to win Australian Open
Melbourne, January 29 Williams, who had saved three match points in the semi-finals to win through to the final, shrugged off a back injury and fought from one set down to defeat fellow American Davenport 2-6, 6-3, 6-0 in 1hr 29min at the Rod Laver Arena. Seventh seed Williams admitted she had been in trouble after wrenching her back as she stretched for a shot early in the first set of a match played under cover at a rain-lashed Melbourne Park. “She was just killing me in the first set,” said Williams after clinching her seventh career Grand Slam crown. “But I just said to myself ‘I’m not going to lose, I’m not going to lose.’ “When my back went, I thought ‘Oh no, this is not happening’. But they manipulated it and it went back in and it felt fine after that.” It completed a difficult road back for the 23-year-old American, who had not won a Grand Slam title since her victory at Wimbledon in 2003 and had seen her ranking plunge during 18 months plagued by injuries and personal tragedy. Davenport, who had delayed retirement at the end of last year after convincing herself that she could still challenge for major titles, paid tribute to her opponent’s fighting spirit. “I have to congratulate Serena. She’s had a tough couple of years and she’s come back like the great champion she is,” said the 28-year-old. “Everyone should applaud her for coming through after what she’s gone through.” Williams had looked to be heading for defeat as a confident Davenport raced away with the first set, breaking her opponent twice to forge a 4-1 lead. Williams, whose mobility was clearly hindered, needed a medical time-out for treatment but it wasn’t enough to prevent Davenport from closing out the set. Yet, the match turned against Davenport in the fifth game of the second set after the opening four games had gone with serve. Williams fought back from 15-40 down to level and then staved off four more break points to hold for a crucial 3-2 lead. Williams admitted that holding serve in the fifth game had been vital. “I was thinking to myself when she had all had those break points, ‘I’m not losing this game.’ I didn’t care if my arm fell off because I had to serve so much, I just wasn’t going to lose that game,” Williams said. Though both players held serve comfortably in the sixth and seventh games, the momentum had clearly swung Williams way and a disastrous service game from Davenport handed her opponent the initiative in the eighth. Leading 40-0, Davenport’s composure deserted her and she allowed Williams to force deuce. A loose forehand gave Williams break point on advantage and a jittery Davenport then double-faulted to find herself 3-5 down. That was all the encouragement Williams needed, and she served out the set to love, levelling the match with her eighth ace of the tie. Scenting blood, Williams then went in for the kill in the third set as Davenport’s game disintegrated. She snatched breaks in the first, third and fifth games and then earned two match points with her 12th ace of the match. Davenport sent a backhand long to hand the title to Williams. Fatigue led to loss, says Davenport
A jaded Lindsay Davenport admitted that fatigue had played a major part as her hopes of a first grand slam title in five years were dashed by fellow American Serena Williams. Having reached the women’s doubles final with Corina Morariu and played back-to-back three-set matches to make the singles final, Davenport had spent more than 15-and-a-half hours on court in the run-up to her meeting with Williams. Despite winning the first set today, her efforts told as the contest wore on as Williams, who’d struggled early in the match with a back injury, roared back to win her seventh grand slam singles title. “It was definitely physically, really getting down there for sure,’’ the world number one said. “But I’m sure (the mental aspect) played some part in it, too. “I think more than anything, just especially this last week, (I spent) a lot of hours on the court, just a lot of close, long matches. My body’s definitely a little bit worn down. I think at the end, I was just overall a little bit fatigued.’’ Having struggled to get past Australian 10th seed Alicia Molik and Nathalie Dechy, the French 19th seed, in the quarter-finals and semi-finals, Davenport lifted her game as she stormed the first set against an ailing Williams. But midway through the second set, the 28-year-old Davenport suddenly faded and did not win another game as Williams romped to victory. “I felt like I was playing well and in control pretty much of the match, moving the ball around well,’’ Davenport said. “Then I just had that horrible lapse at 4-3 where I think I was serving up 40-love. I made a few quick errors and right there kind of opened the door for her. She just kept going through it.’’ The American rejected claims she had thrown the match away. “I think she’s a great frontrunner. Once she took the lead, she kept playing better and better,’’ Davenport added. When she lost to eventual champion Maria Sharapova of Russia in the semi-finals at Wimbledon last year, Davenport looked likely to retire at the end of the year, but a golden summer convinced her she could still compete at the top level.
— AFP, Reuters |
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Black-Ullyett clinch title
Melbourne, January 29 Having broken for 3-2 in the second set, Ullyett held his nerve to serve out for victory, taking the title on their fifth match point. “I’d like to dedicate this victory to my father (Robert), and to Wayne’s father (Donald),” Ullyett said. “I lost my father in October and Wayne lost his four years ago on the same day.” “He used to get me out of bed from the age of five. He always gave me a big push. I know Wayne’s dad was the same. Without them, we’d maybe not have pursued tennis. “It’s just a pity that he wasn’t here to see us win another one.” After breaking once to win the first set, the fifth seeds repeated the feat in fifth game of the second set before forcing two match points on Mike Bryan’s serve at 5-3. The Americans saved both but at 5-4, Ullyett moved to 40-0 on his serve and the Zimbabwean pair thought they’d won the title when a return was initially called out, only for the umpire to overrule it good. But though the Bryans then saved a fourth match point, Black and Ullyett finally clinched victory at the fifth time of asking. “That last game... I was celebrating and then had to do it all over again,” Ullyett said. “The first (grand slam, the 2001 US Open) was great, I think. But this one, we’ve backed it up with another one, feels really good to me.” Black, the reigning Wimbledon mixed doubles champion with sister Cara, said their rivalry with the Bryan twins was good for the game. “It’s fun playing them,” he said. We’ve got to be at our best to play them. I think maybe they have to be as well. We just have some great battles. They’re definitely great for the game of doubles. Definitely the last couple of years, I think they’ve actually taken doubles up a notch or two and everybody’s had to try and catch them a little bit. “They bring so much energy to the court and if we can just rival that energy with them, it makes for great encounters. So hopefully we’ll be having a lot of bashes with them over the years.”
— Reuters |
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Dynamos thrash Bengal Tigers
Hyderabad, January 29 With one more match to go, Chandigarh maintained a clean sheet winning all their seven matches so far to cull 21 points. They will take on Delhi Dazzlers, who are on 18 points, in their last match tomorrow. Chandigarh are now strong favourites to take the title as even a win tomorrow may not be enough for Delhi since the Dynamos are sitting pretty with a much better goal average. In another match today, Imphal Rangers defeated Lucknow Nawabs 4-3 in extra time — the first match in Tier II that went beyond the regulation 70 minutes. For Chandigarh, Jugraj Singh (20th, 33rd), Navdeep Singh (27th, 36th, 50th), Rajpal Singh (51st and 56th), Sardar Singh (42nd) and Harbhajan Singh (64th) sounded the board to help the side thrash Bengal, who are yet to earn a point. Jugraj was at his best and converted the two penalty corners that came Chandigarh’s way while the rest were field goals exposing the weak defence of the Bengal team. Bengal were no match to the leaders who scored at will and dictated terms from the very first quarter. The Imphal Rangers vs Lucknow Nawabs match saw both sides locked 3-3 in regulation time as the match slipped into the extra time. The all-important goal was scored by Gopal Singh in the 83 minute. N.Chittaranjan put Imphal Rangers in the lead in the very first minute of the match while Tomba Singh made the scoreline 2-0 in the 32nd minute. But Arshad Khan struck for Nawabs in the 43rd minute and Kamlesh equalised the score 2-2 in the 45th minute. Mohammed Kalim then gave Nawabs the lead in the 55th minute although Sumesh Kanta equalised in the 69th minute.
— PTI |
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IHF AGM at Hyderabad today
Hyderabad, January 29 Although most of the members strongly advocate the revival of the Rangaswamy Cup for the National Championship, they differ on the system to be adopted. With 46 teams, the size of the National Hockey Championship is perhaps the biggest in any discipline in India. Without a long term sponsor, the states have found it difficult to organise such a big event. As a result, for the last four years, no state has come forward to host the national championship. In the 1999 edition held at Hyderabad, 57 teams took part. In 2001, there were eight groups with five teams each. Later, the annual national championship itself was ‘’abandoned’’ as there were no hosts.
— UNI |
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PCB initiates major overhaul
Islamabad, January 29 The major overhaul, which comes with days to go for the all-important tour of India, saw former Test cricketer Salim Altaf being appointed as Director, Cricket Operations, by PCB Chairman Shaharyar Khan, who had been entrusted with revamping the board by President Pervez Musharraf recently. Altaf will be in charge of all cricketing issues and represent PCB at ICC and ACC Meetings. He will also discharge duties as the Secretary of the body, a PCB press statement said. Retired diplomat Abbas Zaidi, who currently occupies the post of media adviser, has been appointed Director of Board Operations. Zaidi would be in charge of all non-cricketing matters, including administration, finance, marketing and media. An ad hoc committee, comprising Imtiaz Ahmed, Naseem Ashraf, Mueen Afzal, Ali Raza and Saleem Altaf, has also been put in place. The committee would meet once a month but if required, it would convene at a short notice to consider specific issues. The first meeting of the committee will be held by mid-February. The appointments have been approved by General Musharraf, who is also the Patron-in-Chief of the board, the statement said. —
PTI |
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Bangladesh win by 58
runs
Dhaka, January 29 Earlier, opener Nafis Iqbal and former captain Khaled Mashud struck fine half-centuries as Bangladesh scored 247-9. Iqbal (56) and Mashud (51) came up with timely knocks at the Bangabandhu National Stadium. Electing to bat, Bangladesh established the basis for a competitive total thanks to Iqbal, who slammed his second half-century of the series and added a useful 71 for the second wicket with Aftab Ahmed (44). The 20-year-old, who had scored 58 in the second one-dayer at Chittagong earlier this week, struck six fours and a six during his 76-ball innings before he was caught by Stuart Matsikenyeri at long-on off spinner Prosper Utseya. Mashud later took control of the proceedings with a well-paced 62-ball knock, containing a six add two fours. Mashud, who got to his sixth one-day fifty with a six off spinner Brendan Taylor, fell off the next ball as he tried another big shot and was caught by Utseya at long-on. Taylor also bagged the wickets of all-rounders Mohammad Rafique (1) and Khaled Mahmud (0) to finish with 3-54. Scoreboard Bangladesh Saleh c Hondo b Mpofu 2 Iqbal c Matsikenyeri b Utseya 56 Ahmed run out 44 Bashar st Taibu b Hondo 16 Ashraful c Matsikenyerib Mpofu 35 Mashud c Utseya b
Taylor 51 Murtaza c Matsikenyeri Rafique lbw Taylor 1 Mahmud b Taylor 0 Islam Rana not out 15 Hossain not out 6 Extras:
(b-1, lb-1, w-9, nb-2) 13 Total (9 wkts, 50 overs) 247 FoW:
1-14, 2-85, 3-123, 4-132, 5-196, 6-217, 7-226, 8-226, 9-227. Bowling:
Panyangara 8-1-36-1, Mpofu 8-0-39-2, Hondo 7-0-40-1, Rogers 10-0-40-0, Taylor 7-0-54-3, Utseya 10-0-36-1. Zimbabwe Matsikenyeri b Rana 50 Rogers lbw Rafique 49 Ebrahim c Mahmud b Rana 0 Masakadza b Mortaza 33 Taylor c and b Rana 1 Taibu lbw b Rana 0 Chigumbura b Rafique 7 Panyangara lbw b Rafique 5 Utseya c and b Rafique 6 Hondo run out 17 Mpofu not out 2 Extras
(lb-9, w-5, nb-5) 19 Total (all out in 47.2 overs) 189 FoW:
1-102, 2-105, 3-114, 4-117, 5-117, 6-133, 7-146, 8-158, 9-169. Bowling:
Mortaza 9-0-39-1, Hossain 6-0-28-0, Rana 10-0-36-4, Mahmud 4-0-21-0, Rafique 10-0-33-4, Saleh 8.2-1-23-0.
— AFP, AP |
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Kaif steers Central Zone to 5-wicket victory
Pune, January 29 Put into bat, North Zone made 276 for the loss of six wickets in 50 overs. In reply, Central Zone began on a cautious note putting on 46 runs for the opening wicket before gradually increasing the pace to overhaul the former’s total with nine balls to spare. It was solely due to the performance of Kaif that Central Zone was able to overhaul North’s total despite the latter fielding big names like Virender Sehwag, Ajay Jadeja, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Dinesh Mongia, Harbhajan Singh and Ashish Nehra. Scoreboard North Zone Gambhir c
Oza Sehwag c Oza b Yadav 51 Yuvraj c&b RP Singh 6 Mongia not out 90 Jadeja lbw Yadav 0 Manhas c
Oza Harbhajan c Gupta Raatra not out 0 Extra: (1b-12 nb-1 w-14) 27 Total:
(6 wkts, 50 overs) 276 Fall of wickets: 1-9, 2-71, 3-73, 4-73, 5-263, 6-273. Bowling:
Rudhra Pratap Singh 10-0-56-4, Harvinder Singh 10-1-61-0, JP Yadav 10-2-22-2, Murli Karthik 10-0-48-0, Sanjay
Bangar 4-0-35-0, Abbas Ali 3-0-22-0, Praveen Gupta 3-0-20-0. Central
Zone Pagnis lbw Gagandeep 9 Ojha lbw Harbhajan 59 Kaif not out 131 Ali run out 14 Raina lbw Sehwag
3 Bangar c Harbhajan JP Yadav not out 1 Extras: (8-lb, 2-nb, 2-w) 12 Total: (5 wkts, 48.3 overs) 277 Fall of wickets: 1-46, 2-122, 3-145, 4-159, 5-273. Bowling:
Nehra 8-0-60-0, Bhandari 7-0-50-1, Gagandeep 9.3-1-58-1, Harbhajan 10-0-34-1, Mongia 10-1-39-0, Sehwag 4-0-28-1.
— PTI, UNI |
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South Zone win by 13 runs
Ahmedabad, January 29 After South Zone put up a challenging 280 for nine, East Zone came close but did not quite make as they were all out for 267 in 49.4 overs. Rowland gave a lightning start to South Zone by scoring 104, studded with seven hits to the fence and one six before he was bowled by Ranade Bose. The other opener Dinesh Kaarthick managed only 29 runs before being caught by Sanjib Sanyal off Deepak Mangaraj. VVS Laxman was sent back to the pavilion after scoring just five runs. The loss of Laxman was however compensated when S Sriram scored 69 runs with six boundaries in 90 minutes. Venugopal Rao made 27 runs. East Zone began its innings on a disastrous note losing its opener SS Das for nil, while the other opener MS Dhoni was sent back to the pavilion after making a single run. Sanjib Sanyal scored 60 runs with three sixes while Niranjan Behere made 73 with two sixes. Rohan Gavaskar chipped in with 49. For South Zone, Vishnuvardhan took four wickets while Jesuraj took three wickets. — PTI |
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Stage set for National Adventure Festival
Chandigarh, January 29 The participants will be divided into different groups and sent for various adventure activities. Trekking, rock climbing and snow skiing will be held at Narkanda and Solang Nalah near Manali, river rafting in the Ganges near Shiv Puri in Garhwal and kayaking and canoeing at Pong Dam in Himachal Pardesh. Before the competition, participants would participate a conditioning trek from Kalka to Kasauli on February. Mr Ram Niwas, general secretary National Adventure Club (I), disclosed that insurance cover for each participant had been increased to Rs 2 lakh from the earlier amount of Rs 1 lakh earlier. ‘‘First-timers will be encouraged to participate. The idea is to inculcate spirit of adventure in the people’’. Mrs Meenaxi Anand Chaudhary, Secretary to Government of India, Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports, New Delhi, will be the Chief Guest at the closing ceremony on February 8. The National Adventure Club (I) confers two awards — “Bharat Gaurav” and “Adamaya Sahas” — on outstanding sportspersons for their exemplary work in the field of adventure sports at the national and international levels. The awards carry a cash award of Rs 11000 and Rs 5500, respectively, a citation and a plaque. The prizes would be given on the concluding day of the festival. The National Adventure Club (I) is a national body which has been organising the mega event for a over a decade. The club organizes the adventure activities is collaboration with celebrated mountaineers like Santosh Yadav and Directorate of Mountaineering & Allied Sports, Manali and Regional Water Sports Centre, Pong Dam. The club has also been sending expeditions to various peaks in the great Himalayas and one of its teams has successfully scaled the Banderpoonch and Kedardome peaks in the Himalayas. It also organises river-rafting camps in different rivers like Bharampura, Teesta, Zanskar, Beas, Ganges, Alanknanda, Indus and some rivers in Nepal. The Club organised a motor cycle expedition from Chandigarh to Khardungla (Leh) in which two members of the club — Rakesh Kumar and Neeraj Chaudhary — set a world record by covering the distance in 47 hours 43 minutes. |
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JCT score comfortable
win
Ludhiana, January 29 Salgaocar Club took the field without star striker Remus who was down with fever. They fielded Micky Fernandes who too did not disappoint. He along with captain, Bello Rasaq, weaved some good moves and threatened the hosts’ territory time and again. However, they failed to avail the chances which came their way. The visitors forced two corners midway through the first half but again, they could not capitalise on these chances. On the other hand, with a few minutes to go for the breather, JCT’s Julius Trabor Akpele missed a sitter. Baldeep Singh gave a parallel pass to Julius on the goal mouth, who failed to contact the ball. After the first barren half, JCT players adopted offensive approach and their tactics bore fruit in the 54th minute. Baldeep Singh collected the ball from the half line, kicked it off towards Hardeep Singh who, with the header, placed it into the net, much to the chagrin of Goa custodian, Juje Siddi. Elated at the success, JCT Mills boys went allout and they found their acts together. They earned two long corners in quick succession but on both occasions, Ram Paul’s angular shots went wide off the target. In the 74th minute, in a counter attack, Sukhjinder Singh, in a solo effort, managed to pierce through Goans’ defence and scored a superb goal to increase the lead 2-0. With four minutes to go for the long hooter, Salgaocar Club players stromed into the JCT’s striking circle where their forward, Samson Singh was wrongly tackled by JCT’s midfilder K V Dhanesh. The refree awarded a penalty to the Goans. Bernard Pires made no mistake and reduced the margin 2-1. This followed two subsitutions by the home team. Hardeep Gill and Baldeep Singh were replaced by Jaswinder Singh and Surjeet Singh
respectively. Just a minute before the long whistle, Manjeet Singh’s sizzler was well saved by Goa’s goalkeeper but failed to grab the ball. The ball negotiated off his hands towards Surjeet Singh who lobbed it over goalee’s head to enhance the lead 3-0 and helped his side to wrap up the issue. JCT’s Sukhjinder Singh was named the best player of the match. The home team , now will take on Vasco Sports Club of Goa, here on
February 2. |
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Mohun Bagan beat Churchill
Margao, January 29
With this win, Bagan have collected seven points from four matches while Churchill, who suffered their third defeat, have one point from four matches.
Defender Eduardo Chacon of Bagan was declared the man of the match. — PTI |
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Leading juniors for ITF tennis
New Delhi, January 29 The singles winners will pocket 100 points while the doubles winners will gain 75 points. There are even points to be had for those who finish lower in the order. The tournament director, Col Amarbir Singh, said leading juniors like Vivek Shokeen, Jitin Bishnoi, Sumit Prakash, Rohan Gide, Kinshuk Sharma, S Punam Reddy, Madura Ranganathan, Sanaa Bhambri, Sandhya Nagraj and Shivika Burman would participate in the tournament. A number of junior players from Great Britain, Hong Kong, Uzbekistan, Indonesia, Lebanon, Romania, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Russia and Hong Kong will also be vying for top honours. AITA executive vice-president Anil Khanna said the AITA would utilise the tournament as a selection event to shortlist the best players for India campaigns. |
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