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Ray Mali is ICC acting chief
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Guardian hits back at Vaughan
Flintoff clears air with Vaughan
Arjuna Award
Woolmer Case
Kenya may host next Afro-Asia Cup
Team for England tour on June 12
Ghei invited for Japan tour
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Paris, June 7 Jelena Jankovic and Ivanovic had dazzled their opponents over the past fortnight and had been hoping to set up a historic all-Serbian Grand Slam final at Roland Garros. After Ivanovic kept up her part of the deal with a ruthless 6-2, 6-1 destruction of Maria Sharapova, Henin played dream wrecker when she ended Jankovic’s run with an almost equally rampant 6-2, 6-2 performance. For the second time in three years, only seven games in total were dropped in the two semis, leaving the losers shell-shocked and despondent. “Justine was just too good,” Jankovic said courtside with a shrug of her shoulders. The Belgian charged into her third successive showpiece match in the French capital and is now only two sets away from emulating Monica Seles’s hat-trick of titles achieved in 1992. Ominously for Ivanovic, she will have to find a way to break the iron will of a woman who has now pocketed 33 consecutive sets at the claycourt grand slam. Sharapova has never felt comfortable on the slowest of all tennis surfaces and likened her movement on red dirt to “a cow on ice”. On Thursday it took Ivanovic 65 brutal minutes to send the Russian skidding out of the tournament. The world number two had contested the last two Grand Slam finals, emerging victorious at the U.S. Open last September. Yet she had never reached a claycourt final in her career and her luck was not about to change. Sharapova had hoped that her big-match experience would give her an edge in her ninth major semi. Ivanovic was in her first. Ivanovic wasted little time in soaking up the atmosphere on the Philippe Chatrier arena and it was not long before the match started to slip away from an error-prone Sharapova. Ivanovic made her intentions clear by firing a thunderbolt ace to start off the match. Before Sharapova knew what had hit her, the double faults were flying off her racket and she was staring into an abyss as Ivanovic steamed ahead 5-1. The Russian pulled one of the breaks back in the seventh game after Ivanovic wildly flayed the ball long to draw gasps from the crowd. It proved to be one of the few bad judgments the seventh seed made all day. Yet another Sharapova double fault gifted her opponent the set and with the Russian shanking one forehand mistake after another, Ivanovic grabbed six games
in a row. Such was her command over the match, Ivanovic also chose to over-rule a linesperson herself to allow Sharapova to narrow the second set to 5-1. But that was as far as her generosity stretched and her fifth ace sealed her a place in Saturday’s final and dragged a cheering crowd to their feet. She became the first athlete representing Serbia to reach a Grand Slam final.
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Dubai, June 7 Mali will assume the role of acting president with immediate effect and in so doing he steps down as president of CSA, also with immediate effect. “Mali will be the acting president for about 13 months until the ICC’s annual conference of 2008,” an ICC statement said here. Cricket South Africa nominated Mali after the ICC Board had asked it to make a nomination in line with a recommendation made by the ICC’s Governance Review Committee (GRC) in Cape Town on June 1. Mali will exercise all the powers and duties of the president while in office and his taking the role does not prejudice his chances of being appointed ICC president in the future. ICC chief executive Malcolm Speed said: “I was delighted when the ICC Board approved the GRC’s recommendation that Cricket South Africa should nominate the acting president. “I am equally delighted that Ray Mali has been not only nominated but has also accepted that nomination and I congratulate him unreservedly on his appointment. Mali will succeed 57-year-old Sonn, who died on May 27 in Cape Town after developing complications from a minor colon surgery. “As the new head of our global game, he is a worthy successor to his compatriot Percy Sonn... I look forward to working closely with Ray during the coming year in what is an exciting time for cricket, including as it does the ICC Twenty20 World Championship in South Africa,” Speed said. Mali, in his reaction, said he was fully prepared to commit himself to cricket and to take the ICC strategic plan forward. “I take this assignment as an honour and a big challenge. I feel lucky to be taking over at a time when the game is in such good shape. It is also a privilege to succeed Percy, somebody who was a good friend and a person who worked so hard for the betterment of this great game. “I am fully prepared to commit myself to cricket and to take the ICC strategic plan forward during my time in office,” he added. — PTI
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Paris, June 7 Novak Djokovic, rated as a future world number one by double defending champion Nadal, takes on the Spaniard who has won all of his 19 career matches at Roland Garros. In the other semifinal, Federer, who needs a French Open crown to complete a career Grand Slam, faces Nikolay Davydenko, the low-profile but high-achieving Russian who he’s defeated in all of their eight career meetings. Nadal has been in imperious form at the 2007 tournament where he has yet to drop a set and hopes to emulate Bjorn Borg’s 1978-1980 mark of winning three consecutive French Opens. But he won’t underestimate the sixth-seeded Djokovic - at 20, he is a year younger than the world number two - after the Serb defeated him in the Miami Masters final in March. “He is playing very good tennis.. He’s very young and has improved a lot,” said Nadal who reached the semifinals with a 6-4, 6-3, 6-0 win over close friend and 1998 champion Carlos Moya. “He has unbelievable potential and can be a future world number one. He’s a great player and he wins many matches from difficult positions. He has a great serve and he’s young and they are great advantages.” Despite his defeat on the hardcourt of Miami, Nadal has beaten the Serb twice on clay - in the quarterfinals here in 2006, when Djokovic was forced to quit with a back injury, and in Rome this year in straight sets. Djokovic, only the second Serbian man to reach a Grand Slam semifinal after Slobodan Zivojinovic, who made the last four at the 1985 Australian Open and 1986 Wimbledon, insists he has nothing to lose tomorrow. “I don’t see myself yet as a Grand Slam winner,” he said after his 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 quarterfinal win over Igor Andreev. At least, Djokovic shouldn’t have any problems with his footwork. Log onto his personal website and rather than dry career statistics you are more likely to find videos of him dancing with girlfriend Jelena or performing his own version of 1960s pop standard Proud Mary. In stark contrast, Davydenko has built a steady career in the shadows of the men’s game but will have to step up against Federer if he is to break his run of eight defeats in eight matches with the world number one. Included in that dispiriting list is a defeat in Hamburg in 2005 in the pair’s only meeting on clay as well as losses at the US Open in 2006 and the Australian Open in January. Federer, with four Wimbledon, three Australian and three US Open titles among his 48-trophy collection, would become only the third man in history to hold all four Grand Slams at the same time if he triumphs in Sunday’s final. But the Swiss is determined not to be distracted by talk of records and landmarks. “I don’t want to think about records, especially at Roland Garros. I have a tough match against Davydenko, he’s made real headway over the years.” — AFP
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London, June 7 It contradicted his assertion that his remarks about a team-mate were blown out of proportion. Although Vaughan insisted that he, rather than all-rounder Andrew Flintoff, had played a major role in the team’s failure to reach the World Cup semifinals, The Guardian had quoted him as saying that an incident involving “Freddie” Flintoff’s drinking exploits had damaged team morale. He was quoted as saying, “You have to be honest: the ‘Fredalo’ incident did affect the team. It did affect morale,” referring to Flintoff being found on a pedalo, or paddleboat, at 4 am in the morning after their opening group match defeat against New Zealand in St Lucia. Vaughan had insisted yesterday that he never used the word “Fredalo”, as he wouldn’t want to single out an individual for an incident which saw six players in all disciplined for late-night drinking, though an audio file on The Guardian’s website seemed to prove otherwise. In it, the England batsman is heard to say: “We had a great preparation week and then unfortunately incidents happened which did affect the team. You’ve got to be honest, it affected the morale, it affected the spirit.” The Guardian journalist said, “Was it ... ?” to which Vaughan replied: “Fredalo. It’s bound to affect team spirit. From then on suddenly you’ve got players I’d like to see go out and enjoy themselves, but no one would dare go out after that and you don’t feel you can create a spirit.” Vaughan had earlier denied that he had used the word “Fredalo” while speaking at Old Trafford where the third Test against West Indies started today, adding that he still had a good relationship with Flintoff. As has been the case all series, England will be without Flintoff, who would have been appearing in front of his home crowd, but underwent his third bout of surgery in as many years on his troublesome left ankle last week. — AFP
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Flintoff clears air with Vaughan
London, June 7 The pair met for lunch yesterday to discuss the story in Tuesday’s Guardian, which quoted Vaughan as saying Flintoff’s behaviour in the West Indies when he had to be rescued from a capsized pedalo, had upset team spirit for the World Cup. “As far as we’re concerned it’s finished. Myself and Michael have known each other for a long time and we’ve got a great friendship, and something like this—a bit of a storm in a tea cup—isn’t going to affect that,” Flintoff told Sky Sports. “I’m looking forward to getting back on the field and playing under him as quickly as I can.” Vaughan said on Wednesday that the newspaper had misquoted him by reporting he had called the World Cup antics the ‘Fredalo incident’. The Guardian said it had the quotes on tape and stood by its story.
— Reuters
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Manchester, June 7 Both teams enjoyed good periods as England, after winning the toss, reached 112 for one at lunch. West Indies, recovering from their record Test defeat at Leeds, hit back with four wickets in the afternoon session when England managed just 55 runs. Bell’s effort of 77 not out from 150 balls ensured England recovered from 166 for five to a relatively competitive total on a pitch that is offering some pace and bounce to the quicker bowlers. England, 1-0 up in the four-match series after drawing at Lord's and winning at Headingley, are seeking to claim a series-clinching victory before next week's fourth test in Durham. Alastair Cook (60) and captain Michael Vaughan (41) appeared to be taking England towards a dominant position after the loss of Andrew Strauss in the third over for six. Strauss is now without a half-century in 14 test innings. Vaughan showed no signs of distraction despite being embroiled in controversy over a newspaper interview this week and seemed to relish the adversity. He received a polite, if not a raucous, reception from the Lancashire crowd after criticising team mate and local favourite Andrew Flintoff in The Guardian newspaper on Tuesday. West Indies hit back hard after lunch when Corey Collymore bowled Vaughan with a ball that nipped back off the seam to make it 117 for two and that became 132 for four when Kevin Pietersen and Cook fell without a run being added. Pietersen, after scoring 109 and 226 in the first two tests, was caught on the square leg boundary by Dwayne Bravo while hooking medium-pacer Collymore. Cook then failed to keep a square cut down and was well caught in the gully by Bravo off debutant seamer Darren Sammy, who claimed the first wicket by a player from St. Lucia. England slumped to 166 for five when Paul Collingwood was lbw to Jerome Taylor, who had also removed Strauss in the same fashion. West Indies prospered from a continued patient approach of accurate bowling, exemplified by Collymore's miserly second spell of two for nine from six overs. The wicket of Matt Prior, caught hooking for 40, in the final hour evened the contest. Recalled fast bowler Fidel Edwards went without reward for much of the day but bowled Liam Plunkett with the new ball in his penultimate over for a deserved wicket. Scoreboard
England Strauss lbw Taylor 6 Cook c Bravo b Sammy 60 Vaughan b Collymore 41 Pietersen c Bravo b Collymore 9 Collingwood lbw Taylor 10 Bell not out 77 Prior c Morton b Bravo 40 Plunkett b Edwards 13 Harmison not out 2 Extras (b-10, lb-6, w-5, nb-16) 37 Total (7 wkts, 86 overs) 296 Fall of wickets: 1-13, 2-117, 3-132, 4-132, 5-166, 6-264, 7-285. Bowling: Taylor 15-1-52-2, Edwards 15-2-75-1, Collymore 20-5-44-2, Bravo 19-4-76-1, Sammy 17-7-32-1.
— Reuters
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Arjuna Award
New Delhi, June 7 IWF secretary Balbir Singh Bhatia said Geeta was unfortunate to miss the award last year but he was hopeful that the lifter would prove second time lucky. “Geeta has been regularly winning medals abroad and that’s why we had recommended her name last year too. But weightlifting, as a whole, had a highly forgettable time last year due to doping cases and she was punished for others’ crime,” Bhatia told PTI. The quartet of B. Prameelavalli, Shailaja Pujari, Edwin Raju and Tejinder Singh tested positive last year, which saw India being banned for the second time within seven months of coming out of a one-year suspension period. Meanwhile, the Athletics Federation of India has recommended discus thrower Krishna Poonia and middle-distance runners Chitra K. Soman and Satti Geetha for the Arjuna Awards. All three won medals at last year’s Doha Asian Games with Chitra and Geetha featuring in the gold medal winning quartet in the 4x400m relay, along with Pinki Paramanik and Manjit Kaur. Poonia claimed the bronze medal in her event. Chitra was also part of the team that won the silver medal in the 4x400m relay at the Melbourne Commonwealth Games. She also holds the national record of three minutes, 26.89 seconds set at the 2004 Athens Olympics along with Manjit, Rajwinder Kaur and K.M. Beenamol. Ace archer Jayanta Talukdar has also been recommended for the award this year. Talukdar had a fine run last year as he rose to No. 1 in ranking in the World Cup and later finished a creditable fourth in the competition. In the first leg of the World Cup in Porec, Croatia, he had clinched the gold medal. “Talukdar was the only name nominated this year by us,” a source in the Archery Association of India told PTI today. — PTI
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Woolmer Case
Kingston, June 7 Commissioner Lucius Thomas said the police would address the matter “within days”. “We are in receipt of new material and a press conference will be called shortly on the Woolmer issue,” Thomas told reporters. Thomas offered no comment to claims in a British newspaper that a pathologist attached to London’s Scotland Yard had submitted in her report that Woolmer had died of natural causes. The Daily Mail report also said the Jamaican Police would call a press conference soon to state that Woolmer had not been murdered. It was the first time in weeks that Thomas had commented on the Woolmer case, as the matter is usually dealt with by the case’s lead investigator, deputy commissioner Mark Shields. The force’s director of communications Karl Angell told Reuters on Sunday that the police had no intention of calling a press conference to announce that Woolmer had died of natural causes.
— Reuters
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Kenya may host next Afro-Asia Cup
Bangalore, June 7 “The third edition of the Afro-Asia Cup will be held next June in Africa and the likely venue is Kenya where the facilities and weather would be ideal,” said ACC chief executive Syed Ashraful Haq. Huq said he was satisfied with the way things had progressed in the ongoing edition of the tournament despite the absence of some top players from African and Asian squads. “We are very satisfied with the way the teams have responded as well as with the crowd response,” he said when asked whether the pullout by leading stars like Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar from the Asian team affected the tournament. “Sachin and Rahul were absent when the tournament was held in 2005 also. Kumar Sangakkara and Muttiah Muralitharan were not available to play for Sri Lanka at Abu Dhabi against Pakistan because of their county commitments. “Do you think this Asian team is weak?” he queried. “This tournament is being held for the purpose of developing unity through cricket. Where else can you see Mohammad Asif taking a wicket and being hugged by Sourav Ganguly and Yuvraj Singh. Cricket is not only for making dollars and cents,” he said. “We want Asia and Africa to be together for all purposes,” he added. Huq agreed that November or December would have been the ideal months to conduct the tournament but pointed out the packed international calendar of various countries under the ICC’s FTP for the event not being held during these months.” — PTI
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Team for England tour on June 12
Bangalore, June 7 “The selection committee will meet in Delhi at 5.30 p.m. on June 12 after the meeting of the working committee to choose the team for England and Ireland tour,” BCCI secretary Niranjan Shah said. “The selected players would be asked to assemble in Bangalore by the afternoon of June 13 for the cricket camp which will run till June 16,” Shah said. The cricket camp will follow the fitness-specific camp for batsmen which will be held at the National Cricket Academy here from June 9-12. — PTI
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Tokyo, June 7 The tournament, considered the “Players Championship” in Japan, will be played from June 28-July 1 over the West Course at Shishido Hills Country Club. The prestigious event has on offer a prize purse of about $1.25 million. Ghei has had a great season so far with the Pine Valley Beijing Open victory in April and two further top-10 finishes, and he has risen to seventh on the UBS Order of Merit. He is well on track to register his best season on the Asian Tour with more than $210,000 in earnings so far. The decision by UBS, one of the world’s leading financial organisations, to invite Ghei comes as part of the bank’s pan-regional approach to sponsoring golf in Asia Pacific, a portfolio that along with the Japan event also includes the UBS Hong Kong Open and the Asian Tour’s UBS Order of Merit. “We are excited about having Gaurav at our championship and believe he will be a great addition to our strong international field,” said Andy Yamanaka, Senior Director of Competitions, Japan Golf Tour. Also expected to be in the field will be Frankie Minoza from the Philippines and Thailand’s Prayad Marksaeng, both of whom are exempt players on the Japan Golf Tour, bringing to three the number of the UBS Order of Merit’s top-10 players competing at Shishido Hills. — PTI
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