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Russian eves march on, Safin
Bhupathi loses in men’s doubles
Australia taste victory at last
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Pathan, Harbhajan fail to fire
No further action against Symonds
Germany start favourites
PM’s help sought to ‘clean up’ IHF
Indian archery team in final
Satinder to officiate
in Junior World Cup
FCI enter soccer final
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Russian eves march on, Safin crashes out London, June 24 Anastasia Myskina came back from 1-5 down in the deciding set — having blown three match points in the second — to eke out victory over Serbian 17th seed Jelena Jankovic 6-0, 5-7, 10-8. Ninth seed Myskina set up a fourth round match with Elena Dementieva, the compatriot she beat to win the French Open last year. Sixth seed Dementieva progressed with a 7-5, 6-1 defeat of American Mashona Washington. Fifth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova, who defeated India’s Sania Mirza in the second round, overcame 27th seed Nicole Vaidisova of the Czech Republic 7-5, 6-7(5), 6-2. Yet another Russian, No. 13 seed Elena Likhovtseva, also advanced to the pre-quarterfinal with a victory over No. 22 seed Silvia Farina Elia of Italy. Likhovtseva won 5-7, 6-4, 6-4. She will take on number three seed Amelie Mauresmo of France for a place in the quarterfinal. Mauresmo, twice a semifinalist at Wimbledon, sailed into the last 16 with an effortless 6-0, 6-2 victory over American Shenay Perry. Mauresmo, who has conceded only 11 games in the first three rounds of Wimbledon-2005, looked razor-sharp in the first set against Perry, who won just one point on her own serve and battled to control the ball in windy conditions. Mauresmo raced to a 2-0 lead in the second set but then had trouble maintaining her focus, failing to convert eight break points. However, she was still far too strong for the American, ranked 159 in the world. In another third round match, Magdalena Maleeva of Bulgaria beat Antonella Serra Zanetti of Italy 6-3, 6-2. Twice former champion Serena Williams recovered from a miserable start yesterday to defeat Italian Mara Santangelo 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 and take her place in the third round. In the men’s section, Marat Safin’s new-found love affair with grass came to a tempestuous end in the third round as he was beaten 6-4, 7-6, 6-3 by Spain’s Feliciano Lopez. Safin’s volatile temper erupted 24 minutes into the match after he missed two break points and smashed a ball out of court one in frustration. The fifth seed’s effort earned him a code violation from Argentine umpire Damian Steiner and his torment was further compounded by the brilliance of Lopez. After moving into a two-set lead, Lopez broke the Russian to love in the sixth game of the third and completed formalities in one hour 48 minutes with his 14th ace. Lleyton Hewitt, the 2002 champion, edged out unseeded American Justin Gimelstob 7-6, 6-4, 7-5 in an entertaining Centre Court tussle. Andy Roddick finished off Daniele Bracciali 7-5, 6-3, 6-7, 4-6, 6-3 to reach the third round in a match spanning two days. Roddick had led the Italian by two sets to one when poor light forced the pair off court last evening. Runner-up last year and second seed, Roddick will face Russia’s Igor Andreev tomorrow. Fernando Gonzalez upset lofty 11th seed Joachim Johansson of Sweden, winning 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 and putting the Chilean 21st seed on course for a quarterfinal showdown with world number one Roger Federer. Earlier, Andrew Murray shook off a stomach upset and 14th seed Radek Stepanek yesterday, cruising to a 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 second round victory. The 18-year-old Scottish wildcard is now the last home player standing after four-time semifinalist Tim Henman’s shock five-set defeat by Russia’s Dmitry Tursonov. — Reuters
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Bhupathi loses in men’s doubles
London, June 24 The Indo-Australian pair went down to the unseeded pair of Stephen Huss of Australia and Wesley Moodie of South Africa 3-6, 6-7 (3/7), 3-6 late last night. In the opening round, they had defeated the American pair of Graydon Oliver and Jared Palmer 6-4, 6-2, 6-7 (5/7), 6-3. Bhupathi is also taking part in the mixed doubles event and would partner France’s Mary Pierce.
— PTI |
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Australia taste victory at last
Chester-le-Street, June 24 Australia’s victory last night owed much to returning players Andrew Symonds and Brett Lee. Symonds top scored with 73 in Australia’s 266 for five after a two-game ban imposed by Australia officials for being out late on Friday saw him miss Saturday’s shock five-wicket defeat against Bangladesh in Cardiff and Sunday’s three-wicket loss against England in Bristol. Then fast bowler Lee, making his tournament bow after a right shoulder injury, sparked a collapse that saw England slump to six for three. Last-wicket pair Darren Gough (a career-best 46 not out) and Stephen Harmison (11 not out) batted out the overs with a stand of 50 as England finished on 209 for nine. After Marcus Trescothick, deputising as England captain for the injured Michael Vaughan won the toss and fielded, Symonds put on 142 for the fourth wicket with Damien Martyn, 68 not out. When England batted, Lee — who finished with two for 27 — immediately settled into a probing line and length. Neither Trescothick or fellow left-hander Andrew Strauss looked comfortable and Strauss played on to Lee for three. Trescothick, meanwhile had struggled to get bat on ball at all and, when he did, flat-footedly edged a McGrath delivery angled across him to wicket-keeper Adam Gilchrist for a 15-ball nought. Two balls later Paul Collingwood, returning to his Durham home ground 48 hours after becoming only the second man to score a century and take five wickets in the same one-day international, the 168-run win over Bangladesh at Trent Bridge, played on to a full McGrath delivery for nought. England had lost three wickets for two runs in six balls, McGrath on his way to two for 31. Scoreboard
Australia Gilchrist c Jones b Tremlett 18 Hayden c Jones b Flintoff 39 Ponting c Giles b Harmison 27 Martyn not out 68 Symonds run out 73 Hussey c Collingwood
b Flintoff 5 Watson not out 11 Extras (lb-12, w-7, nb-6) 25 Total
(5 wkts, 50 overs) 266 Fall of wickets: 1-44, 2-95, 3-96, 4-238, 5-247. Bowling:
Gough 10-0-41-0 Tremlett 9-0-53-1 (1nb, 1w), Harmison 9-2-44-1 Flintoff 10-0-55-2, Giles 9-1-44-0, Collingwood 3-0-17-0. England Trescothick c Gilchrist
b McGrath 0 Strauss b Lee 3 Solanki c Ponting b Hogg 34 Collingwood b McGrath 0 Flintoff c Gillespie b Hogg 44 Pietersen c Hussey b Symonds 19 Jones c Hayden b Watson 23 Giles c Symonds b Lee 4 Tremlett c Hussey b Gillespie 8 Gough not out 46 Harmison not out 11 Extras
(lb-8, w-5, nb-4) 17 Total (9 wkts, 50 overs) 209 Fall of wickets:
1-4, 2-6, 3-6, 4-85, 5-94, 6-123, 7-133, 8-145, 9-159. Bowling:
Lee 10-2-27-2, McGrath 10-1-31-2, Gillespie 9-0-36-1, Watson 8-0-51-1, Hogg 6-0-19-2, Symonds 7-0-37-1.
— AFP |
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Pathan, Harbhajan fail to fire
London, June 24 Opting to bat first, Harbhajan’s Surrey reached 200 for three in the stipulated 20 overs. In replay, the Middlesex innings fell 23 runs shy of the rivals’ total. After Pathan removed opener and in-form James Benning (8), who was caught by Paul Weeks, Ali Brown (64) and Dominic Thornely (67) slammed well-paced half centuries and put on 76 runs for the third wicket as Surrey reached 200-3. Pathan’s figure read 4-0-31-1. As Middlesex began the chase, Murtagh castled opener Ed Smith and then ran through the middle order to script a comprehensive Surrey win. Tim Murtagh’s six-wicket haul — first in the Twenty20 Cup — tilted the game in his team’s favour even though the spin trio of Harbhajan, Nayan Doshi and Ian Salisbury could not make much of a difference. Nayan — son of former Indian left-arm spinner Dilip Doshi — was the only spinner to get a wicket when he had dangerous looking Scott Styris caught by Thornley for a brisk 35-ball 40. Harbhajan went wicketless and his figures read 4-0-29-0. Batting down the order, Pathan was out for a duck on the first
ball. — UNI |
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No further action against Symonds
Melbourne, June 24 In response to media reports here that Symonds faced further repercussions over his boozy night out in Cardiff, Cricket Australia chairman Bob Merriman said the majority of CA directors wanted no further action taken against Symonds. The 30-year-old all-rounder, man of the match in Australia’s 57-run one-day win over England in Durham yesterday, was banned for two games and fined for a drinking binge the night before Australia’s shock loss to Bangladesh in Cardiff last weekend. There were media reports that some CA officials were concerned that Symonds may have breached the conditions of his lucrative playing contract. But Merriman, in London for International Cricket Council meetings, issued a statement which said there would be no further action against Symonds.
— AFP |
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Germany start favourites
Nuremberg, June 24 Ballack, the heartbeat of the German team then as now, was suspended in Yokohama on June 30, 2002, as Ronaldo scored twice in Brazil’s 2-0 win over Germany to give Brazil their fifth World Cup win. The odds are stacking up in favour of a German victory when the sides resume hostilities in historic Nuremberg with a place in the final against Mexico or Argentina at stake. Ronaldinho, Robinho, Kaka and Adriano have shown flashes of brilliance but all four forwards are starting to wilt. Ronaldo, excused the competition after he asked for an extended holiday, is really starting to be missed. Germany have had an extra day’s rest, having clinched first place in Group A with a 2-2 draw against Argentina on Tuesday, and they will be buoyed by the support of a 42,000 capacity crowd at the Frankenstadion. “Some of our good players are exhausted,” Parreira recognised after his side had only just managed to hold on for a 2-2 draw with Japan and make it into the semifinals behind Mexico. “We have to have a good think about the line-up for the match.” “Germany rested good players for their last game, they’ve had an extra day to rest and the match is very important to them as the host nation.” Germany have not beaten a top-class team for 13 internationals since October, 2000, and coach Juergen Klinsmann would love to end that annoying streak. It is clear that Germany are moving in the right direction under Klinsmann, who has nurtured young players such as Robert Huth and Per Mertesacker in defence, Bastian Schweinsteiger in midfield and Lukas Podolski in attack.
— Reuters |
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PM’s help sought to ‘clean up’ IHF
New Delhi, June 24 In an 11-page letter to Dr Manmohan Singh, Olympians Pargat Singh, Balbir Singh, Ashok Kumar, Tarsem Singh and M.K. Kaushik and former national player Gurdeep Singh have alleged that the functioning of the Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) over the past decade had resulted in a decline of the game in the country. “It is really sad to state that the people at the helm of affairs of the Indian Hockey Federation, who are continuing to occupy those positions for more than one decade without a change, are working in a manner to subserve their personal motives and desires. They neither possess nor have they manifested in any manner any sincere desire either in the interest of hockey or to promote the interest of the players,” they said. “Facilities, training and equipment which are given to the hockey players for playing international matches are completely dependent upon the whims and fancies of such pesons holding the positions in the Indian Hockey Federation. The same is the fate with regard to the selection of coaches and of the managers...” they alleged. The ‘mismanagement’ of the Indian Hockey Federation and its total disregard for the interest of the players were the main reasons for the continuing dismal performance of the Indian team in most of the tournaments, they said. Pointing out that mostly politicians and bureaucrats were at the helm of affairs in most of the national sports federations and they were clinging to their offices for long, they recalled after much deliberation with the national sports federations, Indian Olympic Association and the All-India Sports Council, the government had formulated a guideline in 1975 that barred office bearers of those federations to continue in their offices for more than two terms of four years each. Similarly, representation of prominent sportspersons in the federations had also been recognised and it was decided to have atleast 25 per cent of such representations in the federations. However, this aspect had been “consciously lost sight of” and “not been given its due regard” in the national sports federations, they rued. Taking a dig at the IHF, the former players alleged the federation was using the available funds only “for the benefits of the office-bearers’ and drew the Prime Minister’s attention to “...irregularities of the accounts in almost every auditor’s report.’’ Attaching copies of the auditors’ reports with the letter, the playes cited “huge and significant” financial irregularities by the IHF top brass and sought Finance Minister P. Chidambaram’s intervention to look into the matter. They requested Dr Manmohan Singh to issue appropriate instructions for immediate compliance by all the national sports federations, including the IHF. “People who are occupying the positions for more than eight years in violation of the government rules should immediately be asked to quit. In the event of their disobedience, they should be thrown out,” they added. — UNI
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Low-key start to hockey camp
Patiala, June 24 The players who have joined the camp are goalkeeper Rajpal Singh and Deepak Thakur (both IOC), Gagan Ajit Singh and Kanwalpreet Singh (Punjab Police), Gurtej Singh (Chandigarh), Ranjit Singh (Punjab) and Harpal Singh (Namdharis). Coach Rajinder Singh, physical conditioning expert Sampat and goalkeeping coach Romeo James have also reported at the institute. The other players, who have to come from far-off places, are expected to join the camp tomorrow morning. Some IOC players, too, may reach late as they are engaged in a league tournament being played at Bangalore. Gagan Ajit and Kanwalpreet have joined the camp following the IHF’s decision to lift the ban on the two players. The cynosure of all eyes today was Ranjit Singh. The Jalandhar-based player missed the bus for the Junior World Cup but was included in the camp for the seniors. |
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Indian archery team in final
New Delhi, June 24 The Indian team, comprising Tarundeep Rai, Goutam Singh Sardar and National champion Jayant Talukdar, defeated Poland 246-233 in the semifinal to set up a clash with world champions Korea on Sunday. The Indians earlier got the better of Germany 252-241 and then defeated the USA 255-236 in the quarterfinals, according to information received here. Korea defeated Ukraine 252-244 in the other semifinals. The Indian women’s team, however, could not repeat the feat of their male counterparts as they went down to world champions Korea 233-244 in the semifinal. The team, comprising Dola Banerjee, Reena Kumari and Chekrovolu Swuro, had defeated Georgia (230-225) and Italy (233-229) to reach the last four. They will now play Russia for the bronze medal on Sunday.
— PTI
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Satinder to officiate
in Junior World Cup
Patiala, June 24 Satinder, who is working as an officer with the State Bank of India, has already officiated in World Cups for juniors as well as seniors, besides the Athens Olympics. The FIH has categorised him as a grade-1 umpire and he is the only one from the subcontinent to have achieved this distinction. |
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FCI enter soccer final
New Delhi, June 24 Raj Kumar scored the winner in the 59th minute. DTC will take on Urban Development Ministry in the second semifinal tomorrow. |
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