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Bartoli,
Venus enter final
Matkowski’s serve did us in
India-Sussex tie begins today
Twenty20 probables |
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Anderson fined for confronting Morton
Tri-series unlikely
Zidane, Materazzi to play together
Indian flies solo across Bering Sea
Baroda team for Aussie meet
Long-term sports policy soon for Punjab
Parallel swimming body floated in J&K
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Bartoli, Venus enter final
London, July 6 The 22-year-old Frenchwoman, seeded 18th, produced a dazzling display to hit back from a torrid first set and book a showdown with three-time champion Venus Williams tomorrow. There was no hint of what was to come when Henin raced through the first set in 22 minutes. Bartoli began to gain in confidence in the second set, saved two break points at 5-5, then went on a sensational run of seven successive games to leave Henin shellshocked. Henin, 25, stopped the rot at 0-5 but Bartoli showed no nerves as she served out to love for the biggest win of her career. Venus walloped and screamed her way into her sixth Wimbledon final with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Serbian teenager Ana Ivanovic. She took immediate control with a double break to go 4-0 up in the first set and then dominated her 19-year-old opponent with aggressive play at the net, powerful serves and deep groundstrokes. As in her quarterfinal, Ivanovic saved three match points but in the next game hit out to allow Venus to claim her place in the final.
In the men’s section, French Open champion Rafael Nadal beat Czech Tomas Berdych 7-6, 6-4, 6-2 today to reach the last four at Wimbledon for the second successive year. Four-time champion Roger Federer woke up after a sleepy spell to overcome Juan Carlos Ferrero 7-6, 3-6, 6-1, 6-3 and reach the semifinals. The world number one will take on France’s Richard Gasquet, who rallied from two sets down to upset third seed Andy Roddick of the USA 4-6, 4-6, 7-6, 7-6, 8-6. In the semis tomorrow, Nadal will face fourth seed Serbian Novak Djokovic, who won a thrilling five-set quarterfinal against 10th seed Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus 7-6, 7-6, 6-7, 4-6, 7-5. Baghdatis produced a remarkable comeback after losing the first two sets on tiebreakers and then trailing 3-0 in the third. Djokovic looked exhausted in the fifth but stayed neck and neck with his Cypriot opponent and made the vital breakthrough at 5-5. He then summoned all his energy to serve out the match and set up a reprise of his French Open semifinal against Spanish second seed Nadal. The Spaniard’s passage through his quarterfinal on Centre Court was easier than anticipated and ended his negative record against Berdych, who had led their head-to-heads 3-2. Nadal had to fend off two break points in the first game as the players had trouble adjusting to the blustery wind. He then broke Berdych’s serve in the second, only for the tall Czech, seeded seventh, to break back immediately. Nadal, who had come from two five-set victories including a rain-hit third-round match that spanned three days, turned on the power as soon as the first set went into a tiebreak, going 5-0 up before clinching it 7-1 after 58 minutes. The Spaniard, showing the sort of grasscourt tennis that helped him recover from two sets down in yesterday’s fourth-round win over Russian Mikhail Youzhny, was in almost total control from then on. Berdych fended off the first match point on his serve but netted the third in the following game to hand Nadal victory in just over two hours. Meanwhile, Federer, whose last match was a week ago, extended his record of successive Grand Slam semifinal appearances to 13. Bjorkman fined for flare-up
Jonas Bjorkman has been fined $1,500 for unsportsmanlike behaviour for an outburst during Thursday’s fourth-round defeat by Tomas Berdych. The 35-year-old former semifinalist hurled abuse and branded umpire James Keothavong “absolutely useless” after the official overruled a line call when the Swede held a break point in the third set of his four-set loss.
— Agencies
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Mixed luck for Paes
London, July 6 In the mixed doubles fourth round, the Indo-US duo will meet 12th seeded Todd Perry of Australia and Chia-Jung Chuang of Chinese Taipei. Eighth seeded Paes and Shaughnessy took just 35 minutes to demolish their unseeded opponents. In the men’s doubles, the fifth seeded Indo-Czech pair bounced back from a first set loss in a tie-break but Santoro and Zimonjic proved a tough nut to crack and won the near three-hour battle 7-6, 6-7, 6-4, 6-3. Little separated the two teams but Frenchman Santoro and Zimonjic of Serbia, who paired with Paes a couple of seasons ago, had a better breakpoint conversion percentage, winning four out of seven against two out of four by their rivals. The winners also played the crucial points better as they won a total of 142 points while the Paes and Damm, the reigning US Open champions won 129. After Sania Mirza and Mahesh Bhupathi's exit from the prestigious Grand Slam event, Paes remains the only Indian in the fray.
— UNI, PTI
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Matkowski’s serve did us in
We lost the mixed doubles second round against a pretty good pair of Matkowski and Cara Black. We started off badly with Mahesh losing his serve in the very first game but we struck back immediately to break the big-serving Matkowski to level the scores. I got broken once in each set and despite coming close to breaking the thunderbolt serve of Matkowski again on quite a few occasions, we never did manage the elusive break. Incidentally, Matkowski was serving consistently around the 140-mph mark and despite that, we missed a handful of breakpoints on his serve, which was disappointing. He arguably has one of the biggest serves in the game, and though Cara does not serve anything as hard as him, she stuck to her task well. The curtain thus comes down on my 2007 Wimbledon campaign, and looking back, as in everything else in life, there were some positives and some disappointments. Leander Paes continues to be alive in the doubles and mixed doubles to keep the Indian interest going. Amazingly, he won his mixed doubles yesterday by a 6-0, 6-0 margin, and that is a convincing win for sure! I watched Nadal playing against Youzhny for a while from the players’ lounge, and he came through with his second consecutive five-set victory in the last two rounds. I cannot think of any other tennis player who is a better athlete than him, and when a match involving him goes to five sets, we can definitely guess who the winner of the match is going to be! Roger Federer has had a forced break from the action, thanks to the walkover that he got from the injured Haas. Any other player in his place could be expected to have re-starting problems in a similar situation, but then, Federer is Federer! One of his great strengths has always been his ability to switch off once he comes out of the court and use all his positive energy in his next competitive encounter. Wimbledon has been his domain, and he continues to be the hot favourite to win the men's title again. I'm now looking forward to spending a few days at home to quickly recharge my batteries after spending two months on the circuit. I will be back in USA for the hard court season shortly, but for now I need a break!! — PMG
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Hove, July 6 The two teams, however, will keep one eye on the quirky weather as it has been raining regularly here for the last few days. With hardly any cricket played for about a week since their series win against South Africa, the Indians will be looking forward to field their best combination in the two warm-up games leading up to the first Test at the Lord's on July 19. Accordingly, Test regulars Anil Kumble, VVS Laxman and Wasim Jaffer are almost certain to make the cut for the final eleven. Among the batsmen, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and Dinesh Karthik will try to get rid of the rust and be in top shape ahead of the Test series. The Indian top order did well to get some runs under the belt against a decent South African attack in the Future Cup series and would be keen on continuing with that impressive form. In the bowling department, S. Sreesanth has fully recovered from a bout of flu, that ruled him out of the one-day series in Ireland, and he will be sharing the new ball with Zaheer Khan. Captain Rahul Dravid will also be interested to see new pace inclusion Ranadeb Bose perform in a match situation. With the presence of Pakistan players Mushtaq Ahmed, Saqlain Mushtaq and Rana Naved-ul-Hasan in the rival ranks, the Indians can certainly expect a bit more spice added to the contest. Led by the 37-year old Chris Adams, who played five Tests for England, Sussex has banked on the guiles of Mushtaq to break the title jinx in 2003 before winning it again last year. In each season, Mushtaq finished with 103 and 102 wickets, respectively. Sussex has been well served by former Zimbabwe batsman Murray Goodwin and Richard Montogerie, both of whom have been in fine form. The 34-year old Goodwin played 17 Tests for Zimbabwe before moving to Australia - where he grew up - in 2000. Michael Yardy, Andy Hodd and Carl Hopkinson are the others in the line-up that also includes two allrounders in Luke Wright and Robin Martin-Jenkins. They also have current England Test and ODI wicketkeeper Matt Prior. Chris Liddle, Jason Lewry and James Kirtley form a decent pace attack for the hosts. — PTI
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Twenty20 probables
Mumbai, July 6 Sehwag lost his spot in the one-day team after the Bangladesh tour while Harbhajan is out of the side in both forms of the game and has been replaced by Ramesh Powar after the World Cup. Sehwag has tried to regain his touch in a local tournament in Delhi while Harbhajan has preferred the English country cricket route to parade his wares and reclaim his wicket-taking abilities. Both these players have not found a berth in the Test squad for England as well as the preceding one-day offshore ties in Ireland and Scotland. Among others likely to get the nod, subject to fitness, is young Uttar Pradesh batsman Suresh Raina, who has not played for more than four months because of a knee injury and has started physical training under the supervision of BCCI-appointed doctor's physiotherapist son. Selection panel chief Dilip Vengsarkar indicated to PTI that players coming back from injuries, such as Raina, needed to "prove their fitness" and cited competitions like the Buchi Babu tournament in Chennai as vehicles to do so. Also in the running are left-arm pacer Irfan Pathan and the injury-prone Munaf Patel. Both these Baroda players were in the bowlers' and batsmen's fitness-oriented camps in Mysore and Bangalore respectively last month. A majority of campers, barring some like Anil Kumble who has retired from ODIs and Test specialist V V S Laxman, are expected to find favour with the selectors who could be looking at the utility value of various players in the shortest form of the game. The BCCI conducted the inaugural Twenty20 national tournament for the Mushtaq Ali Trophy which was won by Tamil Nadu who beat Punjab in the final in April, and some of the notable performers in the event could get a look-in. Power-hitters like Baroda's Yousuf Pathan, who can also bowl off-spin, and Karnataka's B Akhil - a handy lower order bat who bowls medium pace - are some of those who caught the eye in the tournament and may be picked in the preliminary list. The list has to be pruned to 15 on or before August 11, a month before the Twenty20 World Championship commences in South Africa. The selectors will also pick the India 'A' squad for its twin tour of Zimbabwe and Kenya starting later this month. — PTI
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Anderson fined for confronting Morton
London, July 6 Anderson was found guilty of a Level 2 offence by Emirates Elite Panel ICC Match Referee Mike Procter in a hearing after play concluded in Birmingham on Wednesday. The player was found to have breached clause 2.4 of the ICC Code of Conduct which relates to ''inappropriate and deliberate physical contact between players in the course of play.'' Anderson was found guilty of twice nudging against batsman Runako Morton during the West Indies' player's brief stay at the crease. Then, after Morton was dismissed, Anderson was found to have run towards the departing player to start a further confrontation, this time a verbal one. Explaining his decision, Proctor said: ''I have no problem with players being aggressive on the field because our game is all about passion and commitment. ''But, at the same time, they have to recognise they are role models watched by people all over the world. Procter found Morton not guilty of a Level 2 offence, clause 2.8 of the Code which relates to offensive language or gestures.
— UNI
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Melbourne, July 6 While India and Sri Lanka have agreed to play the traditional limited-overs tournament this summer, negotiations are continuing with New Zealand and South Africa for 2008-09, local media reported on Friday. As of now, New Zealand and South Africa are pencilled in for five one-day matches each against the Aussies in two separate series and it would be the first time since the World Series Cricket settlement in 1979-80 that a triangular one-day series is not played in Australia. — PTI
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Jyoti lies tied second, Jeev ninth
Kildare (Ireland), July 6 Compatriot Jeev Milkha Singh also had a fine day with a three-under 67, that had just one bogey. He was tied for ninth spot. However, Shiv Kapur, the third Indian in the fray, struggled with a nine-over 79 that set him way back in the field. Randhawa is already enjoying his best ever season on the European Tour where he already has six top-10 finishes, including a second. His first round performance at the rain-hit K Club has given him another opportunity for a breakthrough win. Dutchman Maarten Lafeber shot a six-under 64 to lead the field. He had skipped the practice round after playing a two-round Open qualifier earlier. Randhawa was tied with three others - Niclas Fasth of Sweden, winner of the recent BMW International Open, Frenchman Grigory Havret and England's Robert Rock. The Indian, who also played a 36-hole British Open qualifier at Sunningdale but failed to make it to Carnoustie, also chose to skip the practice round to get some rest. It paid dividends, as he made good use of the shortened holes and preferred lies to card a fine score. Randhawa started sedately on the 10th and parred the first six holes, before finding birdies on 15th and 17th. On the second stretch, he birdied the sixth and eagled the par-five seventh before finishing with two more pars. Last week, Randhawa was seventh at the Open de France and this season his best has been a second place finish at the Open de Espana. Atwal tied 49th
Highland Heights (Ohio): Three birdies on the last six holes helped Arjun Atwal recover from a bogey-bogey start and return a one-under 70 card for tied 49th position after the opening round of the Legend Financial Group Classic here. However, Atwal will have to dig in deep in order to make the cut as he was lying just above the relegation zone in the $575,000 tourney being played at Stonewater Golf Club here. The Kolkata pro, who had finished a poor tied 70 at the Buick Open last week, was off to a shaky start and dropped two strokes on the first two holes.
— PTI, UNI
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Zidane, Materazzi to play together
Durban, July 6 Organisers have invited the legendary French playmaker and Italian defender, who were involved in the infamous head -butt incident which marred Zidane's last game as a professional footballer. The game, scheduled for July 18 in Cape Town, will also be used as a platform to promote FIFA's anti-racism policy, said South African businessman Tokyo Sexwale, who is one of the organisers. "Zidane and Materazzi will be joined by Brazilian legend, Pele, who retired 30 years ago," Sexwale added. The Rest of the World's XI versus African XI match has been named "90 Minutes for Mandela" and the proceeds from the game will be donated to the Nelson Mandela Fund. — PTI
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Indian flies solo across Bering Sea
New Delhi, July 6 The 38-year-old service man, who landed at Nome in Alaska, USA, early this morning, is on a round-the-world expedition in a microlight airplane along with his co-pilot Wg Cdr Anil Kumar to commemorate IAF’s platinum jubilee. The expedition was flagged off on June 1 from the Hindan Air Base near Delhi and is aimed at creating a world record in circumnavigating the globe in the shortest possible time of 64 days. Current record stands at 99 days. However, extremely poor weather over China and in Russia meant that the expedition has already lost about 12 days. But the duo is hopeful that they will be able to recover some lost days in the remaining sections and be able to complete the expedition well in time for it to be a new world record. In North America, the expedition will head to Anchorage tomorrow, and then on to Canada, Greenland, Iceland, Denmark, UK, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Iran, Oman and India.
— PTI
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New Delhi, July 6 The team has been training hard for the tournament for the past two months with financial support from Ashok Piramal Group, which is keen on involvement in promotion of football in the country. All-India Football Federation president Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi had also reportedly taken personal interest in supporting the team. The Providence sub-junior team had participated in the Manchester United-Nike National Club Championship in January this year in Mumbai and had given an impressive performance, beating Pondicherry Football Academy 7-0. — UNI
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Long-term sports policy soon for Punjab
Sangrur, July 6 In reply to a question here today, Punjab sports minister Gulzar Singh Ranike said the state government would chalk out a long-term sports policy soon. The president of the Punjab Olympic Association, Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, has been authorised to do the needful, he added. Ranike was at the War Heroes Stadium here in connection with a function organised to distribute sports equipment among sports officials from three districts - Sangrur, Mansa and Patiala. He gave equipment worth about Rs 30 lakh - Sangrur (Rs 17 lakh), Patiala (Rs 11.20 lakh) and Mansa (Rs 1.43 lakh). Pargat Singh, director, sports, Punjab, was also present. Ranike said sports equipment in the entire state would be upgraded to achieve better results at national and international levels. He said equipment worth Rs 1.75 crore was being distributed in various districts of the state. Addressing the sportspersons, the minister stated that the state government had also drawn up a plan to set up stadiums in three to five acres for a cluster of five villages throughout the state.
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Parallel swimming body floated in J&K
Jammu, July 6 The newly formed body’s president Kapil Gupta alleged at a press conference here that JKSWA executive members had demanded Rs 5,000 each from some players of the state team for participation at the National Games. Gupta claimed that Pinki, a swimmer, was included in the state’s nine-member junior team for the national meet at Bhopal without holding her trials. The Swimming Association of Jammu and Kashmir, which is comprised of 16 members, also announced that the 1st Amar Shaheed Shally Singh District Championship would be held here from July 25.
— TNS
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We lost the mixed doubles second round against a pretty good pair of Matkowski and Cara Black. We started off badly with Mahesh losing his serve in the very first game but we struck back immediately to break the big-serving Matkowski to level the scores.
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