 |
|
|
King sealed Dada’s fate
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Vengsarkar defends team selection
Bhupathi’s claims: AITA orders probe
Caring too much about image led to defeat: Warne
Davis, Fed Cup squads
A level series will do us good: Laxman
Perth won’t happen again, says Hayden
|
|
Australian Open
Melbourne, January 22 Henin had not lost a match since Wimbledon 2007 - a run of 32 matches - but was brought to her knees under the night sky by a rampant Maria Sharapova 6-4, 6-0. It was the first time the Belgian had lost a set 6-0 since 2002. American powerhouse Serena had earlier relinquished her title with little more than a whimper when she was jettisoned 6-3, 6-4 by Serbia's "wounded animal" Jelena Jankovic. Her misery was compounded when she lost in the women's doubles paired with sister Venus. Rafael Nadal continued his assault on the first grand slam of the season with a muscular win over Finn Jarkko Nieminen. With Serena already defeated, Henin took to the court a strong favourite to win the title she bagged in 2004. Her fifth-seeded foe was in ebullient mood, however, smashing 30 winners as she took a tight first set and ripped through the second to line up a semifinal against Jankovic. Runner-up to Serena in Melbourne last year, Sharapova had lost six of her eight meetings with Henin but the results record counted for nothing. Herself a former world number one, Sharapova ran amok and left Henin wondering what might have been. Three-times Australian Open champion Serena was out-fought and out-thought on Rod Laver Arena, beaten 6-3, 6-4 to leave her title defence in tatters. Soon afterwards she, along with sister Venus, was out of the women's doubles too following a 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 quarterfinal defeat by China's Yan Zi and Zheng Jie. For Jankovic, who is recovering from surgery and plagued by niggling injuries, the 99-minute victory was sweet revenge for last year's fourth-round defeat at Melbourne Park. Serena is known to be one of the most fearsome fighters in sport, but under clear blue skies she was impotent. Her shots lacked punch, her serve lacked bite and her tactics unravelled. Spanish powerhouse Nadal simply wore down Nieminen for his 7-5, 6-3, 6-1 victory and a place in the Australian Open semifinals for the first time. The three-times French Open champion saved two set points before winning the first set and gradually turned the screw. Unseeded Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga beat 14th seed Mikhail Youzhny 7-5, 6-0, 7-6 in the quarterfinals. Bhupathi-Sania in semis
An upset second round win followed by a walkover in the quarterfinals ensured Mahesh Bhupathi and Sania Mirza a berth in the last four of the mixed doubles event at the Australian Open here today. The unseeded Indian team quelled the challenge of Simon Aspelin and Lisa Raymond, seeded second in the event, 6-3, 2-6, 10-7 before benefitting from a walkover given by seventh seeded Czechs Martin Damm and Kveta Peschke.
— Agencies
|
|
Adelaide, January 22 King, who keeps a tab on the fitness of Indian team, apparently believed that Ganguly's lower half could give him trouble before long and this went a long way in sealing the fate of the pugnacious left-hander. The selectors - Dilip Vengsarkar and Co. - including Ranjib Biswal and Venkatapathy Raju on the present tour - were keen to have Ganguly retained as late as on the second day of the Perth Test last week. They even toyed with the idea of recalling Rahul Dravid, basing their argument that Rohit Sharma and Robin Uthappa had not done much of note in the domestic circuit lately. Dhoni though had different ideas and informed the selectors that it did not serve much purpose to include a player who could break down at some stage of the one-day tour. The argument against Ganguly also included the points that he was not of much use either in the outfield or infield and his fitness really became an issue after 40 overs. Vengsarkar, it is learnt, made a pointed reference about the runs which Ganguly still provides to the team. It met with the counter that the young Indian one-day captain did not believe the pitches in Australia would really be all that quick. More so since his lads had shown themselves to be quite capable of holding their ground on the overtly helpful pitch of Kingsmead, Durban, during the Twenty20 World Cup last September. The logic of a Twenty20 game being different from a proper one-day match did not quite pass the mustard. Vengsarkar, finding himself at a loss, apparently asked for a rethink on the fourth day of the Perth Test. This time Dhoni was accompanied in the teleconference by his deputy Yuvraj Singh. Yuvraj, apparently did not disagree that Ganguly was still useful for the runs he makes at the crease but he felt the fielding ability of the Bengal left-hander was a major issue. It, therefore, became a foregone conclusion that Ganguly would not be needed in the one-day series. It became the task of Biswal to break the news to Ganguly. Biswal initially told India's Test captain Anil Kumble about the impending move. The latter on his part nudged Biswal to break the news to Ganguly. The word from the Indian dressing room suggested that Ganguly's fitness was an issue even during the one-day series against Pakistan at home. It did not become a fully blown issue because of the tremendous form Ganguly exhibited at home, striking a double hundred, a century and a near one to top 500 runs against Pakistan last year. Apparently, Ganguly was conscious of being nudged out of the team and had spoken to selectors about at least affording him a big one-day series in Australia.
— PTI
|
|
|
Vengsarkar defends team selection
Pune, January 22 "We have to look ahead. What is the point in picking up some players whose career would last just a couple of years?" Vengsarkar told reporters last night. "I may or may not be the selector tomorrow. But we have to build up Team India with a futuristic projection and we have opted for the best blend of players in the current tour," Vengsarkar said. He refrained from making any comment on the exclusion of Saurav Ganguly on queries from reporters. Vengsarkar noted that India's ICC ranking had improved from No 7 to No 2 since the present team of selectors had taken over.
— PTI
|
|
|
Bhupathi’s claims: AITA orders probe
New Delhi, January 22 AITA secretary-general Anil Khanna said here today that AITA president Yashwant Sinha had asked an inquiry to be conducted to get at the bottom of Bhupathi's revelation and find out whether there was any truth in it. He said the report of the inquiry committee would be submitted to the International Tennis Federation (ITF) so as to ensure that the country's name was not sullied. "It is necessary for India as a nation to protect its image and integrity among tennis playing nations of the world. We do not want to bring tennis into any betting/match-fixing racket as had happened to cricket," Khanna added. But he said the AITA was perplexed at the timing of Bhupathi's charge as after keeping quiet for nearly 12 years, he had stirred a hornet's nest. He said Bhupathi had not made mention of this alleged incident neither to then non-playing captain Jaideep Mukherjea nor to the AITA. Mukherjea had also expressed his surprise at Bhupathi's revelation, though Khanna said he had not yet spoken to Bhupathi about it. "But we are determined to find out the truth as the AITA and the ATP were very much seized of the matter". Khanna said the inquiry committee will cover a wide canvas in its probe, including talking to former and current Davis Cup captains and players, coaches and other members of the team, to unravel the truth whether any impropriety had ever taken place, or continued to take place, in Davis Cup matches. "As far as the AITA is concerned, the game is clean and the Indian teams have always played the Davis Cup ties fairly and squarely", Khanna pointed out. But he admitted that Mahesh's bombshell had caused considerable embarrassment to the AITA as "it has attracted international publicity". He disclosed that the ITF was once approached by a legal betting company on the Internet to sponsor events like the Davis Cup, but the board of directors of the ITF, in its meeting in Madrid in November 2007 had rejected the proposal as tennis did not want "to be seen as associated with such activity".
|
|
|
Caring too much about image led to defeat: Warne
Melbourne, January 22 Warne said the main weapon for Australia was their aggressive body language on the field and by being careful of their conduct after the Sydney fiasco, they found it difficult to curb the Indians. "There have been some suggestions that Australia lost their edge and were too concerned about their image going into Perth. Sport is about passion and attitude and knowing yourself. Australia play best when they get in the face of the opposition and are very aggressive," Warne wrote in his column for 'The Daily Telegraph'. "Maybe they were not as aggressive in their body language in Perth as they normally are, but I think that was the nature of this Test, in which they were behind for most of the game," he said. Warne appreciated India's effort to stop Australia from getting to their 17th consecutive Test win. The former Aussie spinner hailed Indian captain Anil Kumble's feat of capturing 600 Test wickets, saying the Indian leggie was a true champion. "Congratulations to Kumble on joining the 600 wickets club. He is one of the most competitive opposition players I have ever played against, a true champion and a credit to the game and his family." "He is very strong mentally. There were times when everyone wrote him off, but to his credit he stayed true to himself and stuck to his style," Warne wrote. About the fourth and final Test in Adelaide, Warne predicted that while India would include Harbhajan Singh, Australia will rely on chinaman bowler Brad Hogg. "The Australia Day Test match in Adelaide is going to be a cracker and I'm sure the players will be looking forward to playing on a great pitch, and runs are going to flow. "India's two spinners will play, so even better, and Australia will recall Hogg. The toss is crucial in this Test, as we saw last year against England. It starts to get tough from late on day four. If India win the toss and their batting line-up fires, what a contest it will be. "If Australia win the toss and bat well, India will be under pressure, because they have to win to level the series," he said.
— PTI
|
|
|
Davis, Fed Cup squads
Bhupathi has been included in the five-member Indian Davis Cup team for the tie against Uzbekistan, to be played at the grasscourt of the R.K. Khanna stadium in New Delhi from February 8 to 10.
Leander Paes, who suffered a torn ligament in the doubles match of the Australian Open, has been named as the non-playing captain, though Anil Khanna indicated that the final four players for the tie would be named only one hour before the toss, and Leander will definitely take the court if he was fit. The other members of the squad are: Prakash Amritraj, Rohan Bopanna and Somdev Varman. National hard court champion Ashutosh Singh and national grass court winner Vishnu Vardhan will also join the team. Former Davis Cupper Nandan Bal will be the coach while Vece Paes will be the team doctor. Khanna also confirmed the selection of the Indian Fed Cup team for the week-long tie to be held in Bangkok from January 28. The only change in the team is that Shikha Oberoi has replaced injured Tara Iyer. The team: Enrico Piperno (captain), Sania Mirza, Shikha Oberoi, Sunitha Rao and Isha
Lakhani.
|
|
|
A level series will do us good: Laxman
Melbourne, January 22 ''We came here hoping to win the series. That was the most important thing. We can't do that now, unfortunately, but we can level it in Adelaide,'' Laxman was quoted as saying by 'The Age'. ''Adelaide is a very important game for us. To win twice in Australia and level the series would be very good for Indian cricket,'' he added. The middle order batsman hit a crucial 79 in the second innings at Perth, which denied the hosts a record 17th consecutive Test victory, for the second time in history after 2000-01, when Steve Waugh's men were beaten in Kolkata. Laxman also appreciated R P Singh with whom he set a partnership of 51-runs in the second innings. ''The partnership with RP Singh was really important. The way he played the quicks, especially Brett Lee, was excellent, and it was a really important part of the victory. He played a major role,'' he said. Laxman was left out of the ODI squad for the next month's triangular one-day series here and he will return home next week.
— UNI
|
|
|
Perth won’t happen again, says Hayden
Adelaide, January 22 Hayden suffered a hamstring tendon strain in the second innings of the second Test against India at Sydney in which he scored match-winning century. But the opener has regained fitness and is raring to go in the last Test at Adelaide Oval that starts on January 24. He had an hour-long net session with national coach Tim Nielsen at Adelaide Oval and said ''I am in. It is as simple as that. I have already done fitness tests this week.'' Hayden has scored 307 runs at 76.75 in the current series against India claimed that he is fit enough to represent his side at Adelaide. ''I feel comfortable where I am at with my hamstring and I have prepared like I would for any Test. ''Right now I am ready to go. I am in pretty good shape. Even at the WACA on the last day I was up around 85 per cent (fit),'' he said. The batsman also warned India to be better prepared for the fourth Test saying that the Perth's performance will not be repeated. ''Our challenge is to bat like we know we can, and that means doing nothing different, the same things we do day in, day out leading into every Test.'' The left-handed batsman also dismissed former India captain Sourav Ganguly's claims that said the Australia's reign is over and India is the team that will replace it at the top.
— UNI
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Mailbag | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
Australian Open
But Maria makes merry
Adelaide, January 22
Melbourne, January 22
