The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	Venus sees off Jankovic New York, September 6 Twice champion Venus Williams overcame early jitters to beat nemesis Jelena Jankovic 4-6 6-1 7-6 and secure a clash with world number one Justine Henin in the US Open semi-finals. Williams won the decisive tie-break 7-4 to snap a three-match losing streak against the third-seeded Jankovic yesterday after a trio of Russians, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Anna Chakvetadze and Nikolay Davydenko, had booked their places in the last four. Kuznetsova, the 2004 champion, ended the inspired run of Agnes Szavay to set up a semi-final against Chakvetadze. Williams lost the opening game of the match against Jankovic and looked short of rhythm with 18 unforced errors in the first set. She recovered brilliantly in the second, however, and both players went through the decider without a service break. Jankovic was gracious in defeat. Kuznetsova never lost her serve and needed only 67 minutes to oust Szavay, an 18-year-old Hungarian, 6-1 6-4 on the stadium court. Sixth-seeded Chakvetadze, 20, advanced to the last four of a grand slam for the first time by overwhelming Israeli 18th seed Shahar Peer 6-4 6-1. On the men's side, fourth seed Davydenko continued his stroll through the draw with a 6-3 6-3 6-4 quarter-final victory over Haas. Three-time defending champion Roger Federer outslugged former winner Andy Roddick 7-6 7-6 6-2 in a near-flawless display of power tennis to reach the US semi-finals. Federer won the first 7-5 and the second 7-4 against the man he beat in last year's final yesterday. Davydenko broke Haas's serve eight times and fired 42 winners to oust the German in the US Open quarters for the second year in a row. — Reuters
	No plans to retire from ODIs: Sachin London, September 6 Sachin Tendulkar today categorically dismissed speculation about his retirement from one-day cricket, saying he was "batting brilliantly" at the moment and even the thought of quitting had not crossed his mind. The 34-year-old Tendulkar said that he was enjoying the game very much and hoped to continue playing as long as he could. "I am batting brilliantly at the moment. Even the thought of retirement has not crossed my mind," Tendulkar told PTI. "I am still enjoying the game very much and want to play for as long as I can. Cricket means a lot to me," he said. Tendulkar has hit a purple patch with scores of 99, 93, 99, 94 on the ongoing tour of United Kingdom to silence some of his critics who had not only questioned his form but also advised him to retire. Tendulkar's clarification finally put an end to the speculation about his possible retirement from the shorter version of the game, which possibly stemmed from his recent interview to a leading British newspaper. In the interview to 'The Times', the champion batsman had admitted for the first time that his long recovery time after one-day matches was creating an "obstacle" for him. "It does take its toll on the body. When you are 22 or 23, you recover a lot more quickly. But at 34, it's not so easy," he was quoted as saying by the paper. Tendulkar, however, has recently opted out of the upcoming twenty20 World Championship in South Africa. Earlier, skipper Rahul Dravid set at rest speculation about it by telling a press conference at the end of the thrilling sixth cricket one-dayer against England that the reports were "completely false". The reports also prompted BCCI Chief Administrative Officer Ratnakar Shetty to get in touch with the player and the official said "I've spoken to him and he said the reports have no substance. It's media speculation." — PTI
	Dravid, Collingwood hail Uthappa London, September 6 Robin Uthappa may not be a permanent fixture in Team India's batting order but thanks to his match-winning knock in the sixth ODI yesterday, he at least has won a couple of admirers in rival captains Rahul Dravid and Paul Collingwood. Uthappa played a blinder under pressure, walking in when India needed 83 runs off 58 balls and went on to hit two boundaries off the last over to snatch a sensational win for India to level the series 3-3. Naturally, Dravid was all praise for the youngster. "We were struggling but Robin finished it off for us. Any time you chase 300-plus is always going to be a test but the young boy set up a brilliant victory for us," he said. Uthappa was unbeaten after a 33-ball blitzkrieg of 47 and showed nerves of steel even after the exit of India's last recognised batsmen, Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Collingwood admitted it was Uthappa's knock that took the match away from England. — PTI
	Bagan scrape into quarters Anil Datt Ludhiana, September 6 Holders Mohun Bagan survived a scare before romping home 2-1 against ONGC, Delhi, in the second match of the 29th Hero Cup Federation Cup football tournament at Guru Nanak Dev Stadium here today. The issued was resolved via a tie-breaker as the two sides were tied one-all at the end of the regular period. The match began on a fast pace with both the sides making repeated forays into each other's territory. ONGC defenders foiled several attacks but finally caved in the face of relentless assaults by the defending champion. In the 29th minute of the first session, Lalkamal Bhowmick managed to pierce through the ONGC defence. He burst down the left, cut inside and cracked the ball into the goalpost where custodian was unable to stop it properly and Gulidum Rongmoi rolled the ball in own goal. ONGC neutralised the lead in the 81st minute through Amit Mondal. In a solo effort, he unleashed a left footer resulting in the equaliser. In the extra time, Mohun Bagan's Jose Baretto secored the much-needed goal (108th minute) which saw the defending champions to advance into the quarter finals. Viva ground Air India 2-1 Trailing by one goal, Viva of Kerala fought back valiantly to pip Air India 2-1 and advanced into the last eight stage in the first match of the Federation Cup at Guru Nanak Dev Stadium today. For Air India, it was an upset as they finished at the seventh place in the last edition of the national football league, but here lost to an outfit, which qualified from division B league. After making some concerted raids into their rivals’ territory, Air India went into the lead in the 15th minute of the first half when their captain Samson Singh weaved a fine move from midfield and rolled the ball towards Sanju Pradhan, whose rasping grounder landed into the goal keeper Puroshothaman, who failed to hold on it and the ball went in (1-0). Viva, Kerala, scored the equaliser in the 41st minute through Bimal Birua. Santa Singh sneaked his way into the striking box and made an attempt at the goal, however, the ball slipped out of Air India custodian Dhanchandra Singh, and Bimal latched onto the rebound to restore parity (1-1). In the 67th minute, James Singh of Viva scored a spectacular goal to put his side ahead. Upset at the reverse, Air India men went all out but nothing seemed to go right for them as they muffed two scoring chances. Paresh Shivalkar and Samson Singh missed sitters in the 70th and 76th minute resulting in Air India’s exit. Friday's fixtures: Dempo vs Chirag United at 4 pm; and Salgoacar vs Churchill Borthers at 7 pm.
	Dalbir scores hat-trick Srinagar, September 6 Delhi was off to a brilliant start in the under-19 football competition, outplaying Vishva Bharti 11-0 in the 53rd National School Games here today. Deepak (5), Manooj (4) and Nithu (2) scored for the winners, who led 5-0 at the half time. Earlier, Om Prakash scored the first hat trick of the championship, helping Madhya Pradesh overcome IPS 3-0. Dalbir of Punjab scored the second hat trick to trounce KVS 6-0 and the state won their second tie against Orissa 3-0. Andhra Pradesh held a tie with Gujarat, scoring one goal each, just to loose their other game to Uttar Pradesh 0-2. Kerala overcame Chhattisgarh 4-0 and Bihar 2-0, Tripura outclassed Uttrakhand 2-1, Maharashtra overcome Jharkhand 1-0, Rajasthan defeated Himachal Pradesh 3-0, Chandigarh upset Goa by 1-0, Uttarakhand defeated NVS 5-0. — PTI
	Indian eves go down to China Hong Kong, September 6 India’s winning streak came to screeching halt today as they were outplayed 2-4 by tournament favourites China in a highly charged Pool A encounter played at the Kings Park hockey ground here. With this win, fancied China emerged as the pole position holder in Pool A, while India finished in the second spot. For China, the victory did not come easy as underdogs India played to their own strength and slowed the game down particularly in the first half. This tactic tended to unsettle China as the Indians matched the favourites for stickwork and hockey skills that brought two goals in India’s favour in the first half. As expected, China used their pace and power to great effect from the outset and opened the scoring in the 4th minute with a field goal scored by Li Hong Xia following a goalmouth melee. India neutralised the lead in the 7th minute after Surinder Kaur broke down the left hand side and beat the China defence with superb stickwork to put the ball on Jasjeet Kaur’s stick, who made no mistake with her shot. India’s best passage of play in the game then followed as the pace slowed to their liking. The Indian crowd watching the game almost went ballistic when Saba Anjum netted India’s second goal from an open play after Surinder Kaur made yet another rundown the left to make the score 2-1 in their favour. But the Chinese continued to do what they do best, use their superior pace and power only to get the reward in the 33rd minute when Tang Chun Ling converted a penalty corner to level the scores at at the half time break. However, after the resumption of play, a tiring Indian side were no match to their higher-ranked opponent as China powered their way to take the lead in the 47th minute through a penalty corner conversion from Zhou Wan Feng. Tang Chun then scored her second goal to seal a well deserved 4-2 win for China. India now take on the formidable Koreans in Saturday’s first semifinal, while China are up against Japan. — UNI
	Infrastructure ‘impresses’ ICC referee Kulwinder Sandhu Tribune News Service Dharamsala, September 6 International Cricket Council (ICC) match referee Allan Hurst, who was on a two-day tour here to inspect the Dharamsala cricket stadium for conducting international one-day matches, was impressed with ground part and other infrastructural facilities available in the stadium, claimed Anurag Thakur, president of the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA). Talking to the mediapersons after the departure of the ICC match referee this afternoon, Thakur said that he was confidant that Allan Hurst would recommend to the ICC for granting approval to conduct ODI matches here. Admitting that the approach roads of the cricket stadium were in a deplorable condition, he said that the district administration and the state government had adopted a negative approach to develop the local infrastructural facilities for cricket stadium for the reasons best known to them. "Money is not the problem. We can spend from our own funds to repair the roads but it is the responsibility of the state government to provide basic infrastructural facility to the state's lone cricket stadium that has come up to the level of holding ODI matches", he said. He said that the HPCA had also placed orders of purchasing six new pitch covers, ground drying equipments and other requirements at a cost of Rs. 60 lakh. He said that Allan Hurst had conveyed that Dharamsala was having good facilities of hotels, airport, besides dressing rooms, pavilion and sitting arrangements.
	Mamta, Joginder appointed DSPs Tribune News Service Chandigarh, September 6 In a bid to encourage sports and sportsperson, the Haryana government today appointed Mamta Kharab and Joginder Sharma as Deputy Superintendent of Police. At a function organised jointly by the Haryana Police and the Sports and Youth Affairs Department to hand over them the appointment letters, Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda announced major incentives to the sportspersons of the state exhibiting outstanding performance in any international sports event. Any hockey player who would score a goal in an international event would be given a cash incentive of Rs 10,000 per goal. Similarly, a cricketer scoring a century in international match would get Rs 1 lakh. For taking a wicket, the player would get Rs 25,000, he announced. The Chief Minister also announced promotion of two sportspersons of Haryana Police - Ramesh Kumar and Shamsher Singh - from sub-inspector to inspector. He disclosed the state government had taken several steps to promote sports in the State. These included the increase in the diet money of players from Rs 50 to Rs 100, approval to construct an ultra modern sports stadium over an area of 83 acres of land in Rohtak, construction of a multipurpose hall and setting up of an Astroturf in the Moti Lal Nehru Sports School at Rai at a cost of Rs 2.40 crore and Rs 3.45 crore, respectively, construction of 152 sports stadia at a cost of Rs 73 crore in the villages of the State and increasing the sports nurseries from 20 to 34. The winners of sports events held at Doha and Melbourne were given cash prize of Rs 1.83 crore, he added.