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Roger Federer does it again
Bhupathi-Pierce win mixed doubles crown
BCCI moves ICC over Ganguly’s ban
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Ganguly to join cricket camp
Irfan Pathan in perfect shape for coming season
Alonso first, Narain last
Indian juniors crash to defeat
Rlys snuff out UP’s title hopes
Western Air Command athletes on top
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London, July 3 The 23-year-old, who was superb throughout, not only secured his 21st consecutive victory in a final but also extended his winning streak on grass to 36 matches. “I really did play my best, it was easier than the second time,” said Federer, who collapsed in tears after sealing victory in 101 dazzling minutes. “I came here with huge expectations ... Sampras was one of my favourite players of all time, and Borg, to be in that group is very special. I hope it's not going to stop at three.”
Second seed Roddick was unable to put Federer under any sustained pressure and finished runner-up to his Wimbledon nemesis for the second year in a row. “I’m in the mood for a beer right now,” said the 22-year-old. “I put in the work and wanted it so badly but this guy is the best for a reason. He is such a complete player ... maybe I’ll just punch him or something, I don’t know.” The top seed captured his fifth Grand Slam crown to maintain his perfect record in major finals and make amends for semifinal losses this year at the Australian Open and the French Open. Only one point went against the serve in the opening five games of the match as both players quickly found their range on an overcast Centre Court. It was not until the sixth game that Federer threatened his opponent’s thundering delivery, a majestic backhand pass giving him a break point that Roddick saved with a volley. Sensing his moment, however, he carved out another opportunity with a wristy forehand winner and this time Roddick cracked. Federer accelerated through the first set, clinching another break at 5-2 with a mishit backhand that landed plumb on the line. A shell-shocked Roddick was desperate for a foothold and it arrived at 1-1 in the second set when a flashing forehand had too much pace for Federer who dropped a volley into the net. The American fought off a break point in the next game to move ahead 3-1 as the final sparked into life. Federer simply went up a gear, however, pressurising Roddick into errors with the sheer variety of his groundstrokes coupled with his telepathic court coverage. The 23-year-old broke back when Roddick punched a backhand long and the alarm bells were ringing loudly for the American at 4-5 when his trusty serve was needed to fend off two set points. Roddick, whose only two defeats in his last 34 grasscourt matches have come against Federer, hung on grimly to force a tiebreak, but that proved a one-sided affair as the Swiss fired off winners all over the court to take it 7-2. A 25-minute delay for light rain gave Roddick the opportunity to re-group and come up with a game plan. When play resumed he briefly looked capable of extending the contest but it was not enough to halt Federer’s serene progress. In the sixth game, Federer played the kind of return game that marks him out above every other player in the world. Racing across the court, he curled a delicious forehand down the line to punish a weak Roddick volley, won an exchange at the net and secured a decisive break with a dipping backhand that angled across the flailing American. It was all too much for a drained-looking Roddick, who last year at least managed to wrestle a set off the champion. He went through the motions of holding his next two service games before Federer put him out of his misery with an unreturnable first serve on his first match point.
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Bhupathi-Pierce win mixed doubles crown
London, July 3 The Indo-French pair, playing their second consecutive match of the day, dominated the final which they won in 54 minutes. They forced an early break in the first set before winning it in 28 minutes. The second set also followed a similar pattern as Bhupathi and Pierce overpowered their opponents making full use of their rich experience. Earlier today, Bhupathi-Pierce hammered the third-seeded duo of Jonas Bjorkman (Sweden) and Lisa Raymond (USA) 7-5, 6-1 in the semifinal, while Hanley and Perebiynis defeated fourth seeds Kevin Ullyett (Zimbabwe) and Liezel Huber (South Africa) 6-3, 6-4 to reach the final. In the semifinal, it was a close fight in the first set, with both pairs trying hard to gain an upper hand, but the Bhupathi-Pierce pair’s serve proved to be the big difference. The Indo-French pair was also better at converting the break points. They managed to win four out of the seven chances they got and it reflected in the second set. Bhupathi and Pierce decimated the Swede-US duo 6-1 in the second set. Bjorkman-Raymond committed more unforced errors, which helped their rivals and their serve again let them down. Bhupathi and Pierce won 60 points against the 47 won by their seeded rivals. It was also a sweet revenge for Bhupathi as his doubles mate Todd Woodbridge, pairing with Samantha Stosur, had lost to Bjorkman-Raymond. Black-Huber
claim title Africans Cara Black and Liezel Huber were crowned Wimbledon women’s doubles champions today after demolishing a makeshift pairing of Svetlana Kuznetsova and Amelie Mauresmo 6-2, 6-1 in the final. Contesting their second Grand Slam final in six weeks after finishing runners-up at Roland Garros, the second seeds produced an immaculate performance with Black especially in impressive form. The Zimbabwean, who won the title last year with Australian Rennae Stubbs, was once again formidable, dominating from the net and seeing off everything that came her way. Despite Kuznetsova and Mauresmo’s singles pedigree, they were together no match for Black and her partner Huber, who became the first South African woman to win the Wimbledon doubles crown. Russian Kuznetsova only decided to team up with Frenchwoman Mauresmo when her regular partner, Australian Alicia Molik, withdrew two weeks before the start of the championships because of an ear infection. Earlier, Martina Navratilova failed in her attempt to add to her record 20 Wimbledon titles yesterday after losing in the semifinals of the women’s and mixed doubles. Navratilova shared the record of 20 wins with fellow American Billie Jean King, who won her final title playing with Navratilova in 1979, and had been hoping take sole charge of the title of most successful woman in Wimbledon history. Thirty-two years after her Wimbledon debut, the 48-year-old Navratilova was paired with Germany’s Anna-Lena Groenefeld in the women’s doubles, but they were beaten 6-4, 6-4 by Svetlana Kuznetsova and Amelie Mauresmo. Navratilova had little time to dwell on the disappointment, having to pick up her spirits and ageing limbs for a mixed doubles match with compatriot Mike Bryan. Despite the Americans winning the first set 6-3, Kevin Ullyett and Liezel Huber fought back to take the second 6-4 before grinding out a 9-7 victory in the decisive third set to end Navratilova’s hopes.
— Agencies |
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BCCI moves ICC over Ganguly’s ban
Kolkata, July 3 The letter, signed by board president Ranbir Singh Mahendra, was addressed to ICC chief Ehsan Mani. Mahendra confirmed that the missive had been sent, but refused to disclose the contents. The letter was the latest move by the BCCI in its two-month standoff with the ICC over the ban handed out to Ganguly by match referee Chris Broad for the Indian team’s slow over rate in the Ahmedabad one-dayer against Pakistan on April 12. It was learnt that the missive stated that the dispute was affecting the game of cricket and as such, needed to be resolved as soon as possible. The letter said the BCCI was seeking arbitration as per discussion in the ICC during the cricket world body’s annual conclave last week.
— PTI |
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Ganguly to join cricket camp
BANGALORE: Indian cricket captain Sourav Ganguly will take a break from his English county stint with Glamorgan and join the team’s conditioning camp here later this month.
Ganguly is expected to join his team-mates on July 13 following coach Greg Chappell’s insistence that the captain be present during his first camp with the Indian team. Ganguly’s arrival will coincide with the start of the cricket camp, the third and final leg of the near month-long training programme at the National Cricket Academy here.
— PTI
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Irfan Pathan in perfect shape for coming season
London, July 3 Pathan said he more or less met the objective with which he set out for England after an indifferent series against Pakistan at home. “I wanted to go with a relaxed frame of mind. I did not want to pressurise myself with undue self expectations and to that extent, I largely succeeded. I also wanted to claim complete match fitness,” Pathan, who wanted to continue in similar vein in the next season, said over telephone. Pathan’s goal to relax was a well-founded one. He took to the new format of the game in the Twenty20 Cup like a duck to water and had impressively pushed Middlesex close to a berth in the quarterfinals. “I head the averages with 12 wickets from six games, which is not bad if you consider only four overs a match are allotted to a bowler and 400 runs in 40 overs is a regular occurrence,” he said.
— PTI |
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Alonso first, Narain last
Magny-Cours (France), July 3 The Spaniard’s fifth victory in 10 races was his most crushing of the season and stretched his overall lead to 24 points after McLaren’s Kimi Raikkonen, his closest rival, finished second. The French carmaker celebrated a first home win as a constructor for 22 years. The 23-year-old lapped all but two cars to end a Schumacher family stranglehold on the race as the first winner in five years from outside the German family. Ferrari’s seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher, who had started the day hoping to become the first driver to win the same grand prix eight times, was third. Briton Jenson Button was fourth, finally collecting BAR’s first points of the season, with Italian Jarno Trulli fifth for Toyota. Both Button and Trulli benefited from Italian Giancarlo Fisichella’s misfortune, Alonso’s Italian team-mate stalling his Renault on the third and final pit stop after challenging Schumacher for third place. Fisichella was sixth, ahead of Toyota’s Ralf Schumacher. Canadian Jacques Villeneuve, who finished eighth, took the final point for Sauber. The Indian rookie driver, who went into the race trying to make use of his track familiarity, finished last, four laps behind Alonso. Karthikeyan qualified as the best among the four rookie drivers yesterday. He ended two places behind his team-mate Tiago Monteiro of Portugal. Alonso now had 69 points to Raikkonen’s 45, with Schumacher having 40. Renault stayed ahead in the constructors’ standings with 89 points to McLaren’s 71. Alonso made a clean start from pole position and ran in isolation for lap after lap as Trulli, holding on to second place from the front row, held up the rest of the field. With 15 laps gone, the Spaniard was 21 seconds clear and with a big enough buffer to pit comfortably five laps later and rejoin in the lead. The McLarens had by then been unleashed, with Trulli pitting with Schumacher at the end of lap 18 and the German coming out ahead of the Italian. Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya closed to within eight seconds of Alonso before pitting and allowing team-mate Raikkonen, who had started 13th with a heavier fuel load, to take over in second place. Montoya eventually retired after 48 of the 70 laps with a suspected hydraulic problem.
— Reuters, PTI |
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Indian juniors crash to defeat
Rotterdam, July 3 Looking a shadow of the team that beat the Netherlands 4-1 last night, the Indians paid the price for highly individualistic play and glaring defensive errors that the crafty Spaniards exploited to the hilt. Skipper David Alegre did the star turn for Spain, whose performance in the preliminary league barely did justice to their No.1 ranking in the championship. Alegre first converted a fourth minute penalty stroke that followed a stick-check offence by Dhananjay Mahadik to put Spain ahead 1-0. Past the 45th minute, Alegre capped a right-wing counter-attack with a stunning reverse hit to the boards. In between, Sergio Enrique picked up a rebound from a penalty corner in the 28th for the second goal. Later, Juan Lainz flicked home a pass from Hector Martinez, who had broken through from the right, past a jittery Sandeep Singh in the 57th minute. It was India’s first defeat in four matches after having come through the preliminary league with an unbeaten record. But against Spain, the Indians hardly put a foot right as they seemed to play from memory. India’s deep defence left far too many gaps due to poor marking while there was little coordination between the half-backs and the forwards, almost all of whom were guilty of playing an individual game. In the event, India were as much responsible for their heavy loss as Spain’s one-touch game that saw them outflank the rivals with a series of long and accurate passes. Spain thus avenged their 2-3 loss to India in last month’s four-nation tournament at Bilbao. Germany beat Pakistan
Four-time champion Germany virtually booked a semifinal spot as they scored once in each half to overpower strong contenders Pakistan 2-0, while Malaysia staged a superb comeback to hold another former champion Australia to 3-3 draw. Germany, who led 1-0 at the breather, now have nine points after their convincing win this afternoon in addition to the six carried forward from the previous round. Pakistan remain on three points earned from their first round matches. The European team, which had some close matches in the first round, decided to go on the offensive from the start. They controlled the midfield and their defence was strong enough to repel Pakistani attacks. The winners took the lead in the 26th minute when Thilo Stralkowski cut into the striking circle to beat Pakistan goalkeeper Nasir Ahmed. Pakistan had their chances with crosses into the German striking circle but their strikers, especially captain Shakeel Abbasi couldn’t connect. In the second half, even though Pakistan had more of a say, Germany scored their second goal in the 55th minute when German captain Sebastian Draguhn blasted in a penalty corner. Meanwhile, helped by a brilliant hat-trick by Mohd Rejab Zulkifli, Malaysia held 1997 champions Australia to a thrilling 3-3 draw. Malaysia led the former world champions 2-1 before falling back 1-3 and then coming back to draw level at 3-3. The Asian nation got a penalty corner in the last minute but their specialist Mohd Rejab Zulkifli couldn’t stop cleanly. Malaysia scored goals in the fifth, 42nd and 63rd minutes while Australia scored through Colin Hennessey (28th), Mark Knowles (59th) and Thomas Cleghorn (61st). —
PTI, UNI |
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Zhang Ning, Hidayat emerge champions
Singapore, July 3 Despite Chen’s defeat, China enjoyed a successful finals day at the penultimate event before August’s world championships, taking three of the five titles on offer. Indonesia won the other two. Building on a stirring semifinal victory over world number one Lin Dan, the eighth-seeded Olympic champion bullied Chen into submission after a tentative opening to the contest, highlighted by delicate drop shots at the net. In the women’s singles, defending champion and world number two Zhang Ning battled past Chinese compatriot Zhou Mi 11-5, 11-7 to secure her fourth title in five years. In the mixed doubles, Olympic gold medallists and second-seeded Zhang Jun and Gao Ling rallied from a game behind to overcome Thai pair Sudket Prapakamol and Saralee Thungthongkam 10-15, 15-7, 15-5. In the all-Chinese women’s doubles final, seventh-seeded Zhang Dan and Zhang Yawen upset their higher-ranked compatriots Gao Ling and Huang Sui 15-13, 15-10. In the men’s doubles, fourth-seeded Sigit Budiarto and Candra Wijaya of Indonesia rallied to beat Danish pair Mathias Boe and Carsten Morgensen 8-15, 15-8, 15-7. The world championships will be held at Anaheim in California from August 15 to 21.
— Reuters |
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Furyk, Curtis share three-shot lead
Toronto, July 3 After starting the day one shot off the pace, 2003 US Open champion Furyk was back on top with a four-under 67 to finish on 12-under 201 alongside Curtis, the 2003 British Open champion, who shot a flawless round of five-under 66. Also moving into contention behind third round charges were world numbers one and two Tiger Woods and Vijay Singh. For Furyk, it marked the second time in as many weeks that he went parked on top of the leaderboard, but for Curtis, who had missed 12 of 14 cuts this season, it was an unfamiliar position. Furyk, who led the Barclays Classic from the start until he was overhauled by Padraig Harrington in the final five holes last week, had been a fixture among the leaders for the last two events, having set the pace in five of seven rounds. “It is nice to be in this position,” said Furyk, who had seven top 10 finishes this season, including three in second position. Curtis, who had won just $ 22,425 this season, had struck a rich vein of form ahead of this year’s British Open. “Today, it just seemed I did not get into too much trouble,” he said. “I am just focusing on each shot, it takes my mind off what I have been doing.” Woods, a three-time winner of the Western Open, eagled the par five 15th to return a four-under 67 and move within five shots of the lead at seven-under 206. “Overall, I guess I have got a shot going into tomorrow,” Woods said. “Hopefully, the guys do not run away from it. If I can put three, four more birdies up there, I should be all right.” Lurking one shot further back was Vijay Singh, who carded seven birdies before a bogey on the 16th gave him a six-under 65 to leave the Fijian six off the pace at six-under 207.
— Reuters |
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Rlys snuff out UP’s title hopes
New Delhi, July 3 Railways notched up their fourth straight victory to ensure a berth in the semifinals without bothering about the outcome about their last two league matches against Karnataka and Haryana. Uttar Pradesh would now fight for a place among the last four to qualify for the Federation Cup and the National Games as Haryana were virtually assured of the second semifinal berth from Pool A. In other matches, Kerala held Karnataka to a 1-1 draw in Pool A while Mumbai inflicted a 2-0 defeat on Delhi in Pool B. This was Mumbai’s third straight victory to reserve a berth in the semifinals from the six-team pool. Delhi, who suffered their first defeat, still had a chance of qualifying for the semifinals. Paulina Surin scored Mumbai’s first goal in the 18th minute while Binita Toppo hit home from a penalty corner to add the second goal six minutes later. The second half was keenly fought, but both Mumbai and Delhi failed to convert their scoring chances. The match between Kerala and Karnataka was fought on an even pace, with Kerala forging ahead three minutes after resumption through Soumya M. Sheelavathy equalised for Karnataka a minute later. This was the first point for both Kerala and Karnataka, having lost their previous matches to drop out of the title race. |
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Western Air Command athletes on top
Jalandhar, July 3 In 400 m, Corporal Prajesh of Western Air Command won the gold while Aircraftsman Sudhir P. of South Western Air Command and Aircraftsman B.K. Singh of Central Air Command bagged the silver and bronze, respectively. Corporal Arbind of Western Air Command stood first in discus throw, followed by Aircraftsman Bhushan of Western Air Command and Junior Warrant Officer H.S. Rupal of South Western Air Command, who bagged second and third positions respectively. In long jump, Aircraftsman B.P. Singh of Eastern Air Command secured the top position while Field Officer Prabeen of Western Air Command and Junior Warrant Officer Sajeevan of Training Command bagged silver and bronze medals, respectively. In 4 x 100 metres relay, Western Air Command won the gold, followed by Training Command and South Western Air Command, who won silver and bronze, respectively. In 5000 metres run, Aircraftsman R.K.Sharma of Training Command bagged the gold medal, followed by Corporal Vijay of Western Air Command (silver) and Aircraftsman Amit Kumar of Eastern Air Command (bronze). Western Air Command’s Field Officer Prabeen Kumar won the gold in triple jump while Aircraftsman Prakashan of South Western Air Command and Corporal Prajeesh of Eastern Air Command won the silver and bronze medals, respectively. |
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