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Paes, Bhupathi patch up
Sarwan leads spirited West Indies fightback
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Force India eyeing maiden points
I am better bowler now: Tanvir
Asif innocent till proved otherwise: PCB
Asif claims he has been implicated
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New Delhi, June 3 AITA Secretary General Anil Khanna flew down to Paris, where Paes and Bhupathi are participating in the French Open, to meet the duo and settle their differences. The meeting took place last night and Paes and Bhupathi have finally agreed to play together before the Olympics in a couple of tournaments besides preparing themselves in a week-long training camp. "Leander and Mahesh being true patriots and professionals have agreed to put in their best effort by pairing up for Beijing Olympics to win a medal for the country," Khanna said in a statement today. "In a meeting held in Paris on June 2 with me, Leander and Mahesh have set up a preparation programme for the Olympics," he added. The veteran duo will team up for the Ordina Open (grass court) in Shertongenbosch, Holland a week before the Wimbledon. They will then once again pair up a couple of weeks after the Wimbledon in the ATP hard court tournament to be held in Indianapolis. "Just before going to Beijing and after Cincinnati, Lee and Hesh will get together for a few days training programme with Leander's coach Rick Leach and Mahesh's coach Scott Davidoff and a trainer," Khanna stated elaborating on the duo's preparations. "Both players will reach Beijing for the opening ceremony and will have a training session in Beijing for a few days before the tennis competition begins in Beijing," he added. The compromise has been reached after both players engaged in a fresh round of war of words a couple of weeks ago with Bhupathi saying that he did not wish to team up with Paes. Bhupathi alleged that Paes was not cooperating in the preparations for the Olympics and said it would be better to pair up with Rohan Bopanna in such a scenario. Paes, however, maintained that he and Bhupathi could still make a successful team at the Olympics and their best shot at a medal was together, not against each other. — PTI
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Sarwan leads spirited West Indies fightback North Sound, Antigua, June 3 West Indies, set 372 to win, had struggled to 95 for three at lunch with Australia sensing victory but Sarwan and fellow Guyanese batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul batted throughout the second session to take the total to 161 for three at tea. Sarwan brought up his century from 181 balls with a four off a full toss from Stuart MacGill just before tea. Chanderpaul was unbeaten on 31 with the partnership producing a patient 77 runs from 32.5 overs. Australia captain Ricky Ponting opted to declare his team’s second innings at the overnight total of 244 for six to give his bowlers the full three seasons to try to bowl out the hosts. Brett Lee, who took five wickets for five runs in a superb spell of swing bowling on Monday, got the early breakthrough with just four runs on the board as Devon Smith chopped a rising delivery to Mike Hussey at gulley. The other West Indies opener, Xavier Marshall, was caught behind off Stuart Clark for five as the hosts slumped to 19 for two. Sarwan and Runako Morton steadied the innings before Lee returned for a second spell and trapped Morton lbw for 14 with his first ball. Chanderpaul, who scored an unbeaten 107 in the first innings, joined Sarwan before lunch and the pair batted with few scares until tea, although Sarwan survived an appeal to the third umpire for a stumping off MacGill. Scoreboard Australia (1st Innings): dec for 7: 479 West Indies (1st Innings): (overnight 255 for four) D Smith c Symonds b Johnson 16 Marshall lbw b Clarke 53 Sarwan c Clarke b MacGill 65 Morton c Katich b Clarke 2 Chanderpaul not out 107 Bravo c Haddin b Lee 45 Ramdin lbw b Lee 0 Sammy lbw b Lee 0 J. Taylor b Lee 20 D. Powell lbw b Lee 0 Edwards c Haddin b Johnson 0 Extras (b-17, lb-13, w-2, nb-12): 44 Total (all out, 107 overs): 352 Fall of wickets: 1-55, 2-103, 3-105, 4-182, 5-314, 6-314, 7-318, 8-341, 9-341 Bowling: Lee 21-7-59-5; Johnson 24-5-72-2; Clark 14-0-39-0; MacGill 21-1-107-1; Clarke 15-7-20-2; Symonds 12-3-25-0. Australia (2nd Innings): Jaques c Ramdin b Taylor 76 Hussey c Ramdin b Bravo 40 Ponting lbw b Taylor 38 M. Clarke run out 10 Symonds batting 43 Haddin lbw b Edwards 7 Lee c Ramdin b Edwards 4 Extras (b-8, lb-6, w-3, nb-9): 26 Total (6 wkts, 61.5 overs): 244 dec Fall of wickets: 1-74, 2-163, 3-178, 4-186, 5-222, 6-244 Bowling: Powell 13-3-47-0; Edwards 7.5-1-28-2; Taylor 12-0-33-2; Sammy 12-1-45-0; Bravo 14-1-59-1; Sarwan 3-0-18-0. West Indies (2nd Innings): D. Smith c Hussey b Lee 0 X. Marshall c Haddin b Clark 5 R. Sarwan not out 101 R. Morton lbw Lee 14 S. Chanderpaul not out 31 Extras (lb-3 nb-7) 10 Total (for three wickets, 61 overs) 161 Fall of wickets: 1-4 2-19 3-84 Bowling: B. Lee 12-5-18-2 (2nb), S. Clark 13-6-18-1(1nb), M. Clarke 4-1-16-0, M. Johnson 13-2-47-0, S. MacGill 13-2-45-0 (4nb), M. Hussey 6-2-14-0. — Reuters
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French Open
Paris, June 3 The second seed, who extended his unbeaten run at Roland Garros since his debut in 2005 to 26 matches, will face world number three Novak Djokovic for a place in the final. Nadal set a record for the fewest games conceded en route to a men’s semifinal at Roland Garros and was presented with a birthday cake after leaving the court
but had probably had enough after devouring Almagro. In another match Novak Djokovic did not let sentimentality or gathering storm clouds blur his focus as he eked out a 7-5, 7-6, 7-5 win over childhood friend Ernests Gulbis to reach the semifinals, on Tuesday. However, the Serbian’s greater experience on the big stage allowed him to win the points that mattered on another grey and drizzly day at Roland Garros and he ended the world number 80’s challenge with a thunderbolt service winner. World number two Ana Ivanovic stormed into the semifinals with a 6-3, 6-2 crushing of Swiss 10th seed Patty Schnyder on Tuesday. The 20-year-old Serb will have to get past third-seeded compatriot Jelena Jankovic if she is to play her second consecutive final at Roland Garros. Jelena Jankovic repelled Spanish qualifier Carla Suarez Navarro 6-3, 6-2 to reach the semifinals. The third seed has endured a rash of aches and pains over the past week and did not want to prolong her stay on Suzanne Lenglen Court longer than necessary. Svetlana Kuznetsova raced into the quarterfinals with a quickfire 6-2, 6-3 win over Belarussian Victoria Azarenka. The Russian fourth seed, the favourite to reach Saturday’s final from the top half of the draw following the exit of world number one Maria Sharapova, was leading 6-2, 2-2 when fading light halted play yesterday. Upon resumption, she dropped only one more game and clinched victory by drilling a forehand winner. Mahesh Bhupathi and Jie Zheng today stretched their French Open mixed doubles campaign to the semifinals after beating wild card pair of Virginie Razzano and Rogier Wassen in straight sets here today. The unseeded Indo-Chinese combination beat the French-Dutch pair 6-2 6-4 in a quarterfinal clash, which lasted just 52 minutes.
— Agencies
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Italian captain Cannavaro ruled out
Cannavaro - who will hold a press conference today - suffered the injury during a training session at their Austrian base, just hours after Italy arrived in the country. He underwent scans at a hospital in Modling, 15 km south of Vienna, after colliding with Giorgio Chiellini during the practice match and was subsequently transferred to another hospital in Vienna. Cannavaro underwent an MRI scan, after which the doctor Franz Maria Kainberger, who was interviewed by Ansa, said the centre-back had suffered a double sprain of his ankle and that an operation might be needed. The centre-back left the hospital during the evening and went back to Italy’s hotel in Baden to rejoin his team-mates. Cannavaro, who led Italy to the World Cup title in 2006, had been prone on the ground for around 20 minutes and carried off on a stretcher. He has been replaced by Fiorentina’s 26-year-old defensive rock Alessandro Gamberini. Gamberini, who has been capped twice, was outstanding for ‘The Viola’ this season as they grabbed the fourth and last place for next season’s Champions League - fending off AC Milan - and reached the UEFA Cup semi-finals. Cannavaro’s absence is a serious blow to Italy, who are in the ‘Group of Death’ with 2006 World Cup finalists France, Holland and dark horses Romania. In 2006, when he captained Italy to World Cup glory in Germany, he was the star of their team and later that year won the World Player of the Year award. Cannavaro, who is from Naples, started his career at Napoli before moving on to Parma, where he made his name as one of his country’s finest centre-backs despite his small stature. — AFP
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Force India eyeing maiden points
Montreal, June 3 Sutil established himself as a virtuoso wet weather driver in Monte Carlo and looked destined for a stunning fourth-place finish before Kimi Raikkonen's unruly Ferrari wrecked his hopes. Five points and a career-best finish slipped through his fingers but Sutil walked away with all the accolades, stealing the thunder from most of his illustrious peers. Fisichella can also take heart from the fact that Montreal has always been his happy hunting ground with four podium finishes for the Roman in as many years, from 1997 to 2000, besides two fourth-place finishes. And if heavens open up on Sunday for a bout of shower or two, scoring the first points for the newest kid on the Formula One block is not out of bounds, reckons team principal Colin Kolles. "Canada, like Monaco, could be a good race for us with all teams developing special aero and mechanical packages that will only be used in this one race. With safety car periods and rain also a possibility you could see some surprises too," Kolles said. |
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I am better bowler now: Tanvir
Karachi, June 3 Tanvir and teammate wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal had to catch a flight from Mumbai to Delhi to return home but missed the flight. The flights to Pakistan are booked for the next two days but we are trying to find seats out of here as soon as possible, Tanvir told a television channel from India. Tanvir, who finished with 22 wickets in 10 matches in the IPL, said he had thoroughly enjoyed his time in the league playing for champions Rajasthan Royals and learnt a lot. Tanvir hit the winning run off the final ball to seal the win for the Royals over Chennai Super Kings. “I enjoyed every match of the tournament and before the league I had set a target of taking most wickets in the league for myself. I am happy I achieved it,” he said. “It is a great feeling to be the leading wicket taker in the IPL where the best players and bowlers featured, he said. “I believe in setting myself personal targets before every series or tournament. I went into each match of the IPL with the idea of taking wickets because this event has shown that even in Twenty20 cricket wickets are the best method of keeping the opposition under pressure, containment comes later.” Tanvir said he had learnt a lot from his captain Shane Warne and praised him a lot. “Warne is a great captain he taught me how to cope with pressure and he boosted my confidence a lot. I think there is no doubt I have become a better bowler now. Tanvir said he had struck up friendships with lot of players in his team. The IPL allowed one the unique opportunity to play with and share the dressing room with players of different backgrounds and cultures it was a great learning experience. Tanvir said he had tried not to take any pressure in the final against Chennai and play it as any other match. “But a final is a final and when I went out to bat I was nervous. I have learnt a lot bowling against the worlds best batsmen and it has been a great learning experience for me in the IPL.” — PTI
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Asif innocent till proved otherwise: PCB
Karachi, June 3 Shafqat Naghmi, the PCB Chief Operating Officer, told a press conference in Lahore that he was hopeful that the matter would be resolved soon and the whole affair would prove a big mistake. "Asif has not been chargesheeted as yet for possessing any drugs or banned substances. The substance found with him has been sent for laboratory tests after which the situation will become clearer," he said. Asked why there was a delay in getting the results of the tests, Naghmi said he couldn't answer this as the Dubai authorities were supervising things. But he confirmed that he had spoken to Asif, who was detained on Sunday while returning to Pakistan after playing in the Indian Premier League. "We are hopeful he will return home and if that happens, that itself would be an indication that he is innocent. So there would be no question of taking any disciplinary action against him." "But if he is chargesheeted then I am afraid he then has to face a case under the laws of the United Arab Emirates," Naghmi said. The PCB official said the board had sent one of its top official to Dubai and also hired a leading legal firm, Angel and Afridi, to manage the case. Naghmi, despite being asked repeatedly what substance was found with Asif by Dubai authorities, said he had no idea about this. When a reporter asked him why the board had selected Asif in the Pakistan squad for the tri-series in Bangladesh on Monday when he was already under detention since Sunday, Naghmi said till he was charged the board considered the pacer innocent. The United Arab Emirates has one of the most stringent drugs codes in the world, where possession of even minute amounts of banned substances can lead to a minimum imprisonment of four years. Asif appears to be in big trouble as there is also a zero tolerance policy in the UAE for drug use even if the amount of the alleged hashish in Asif's wallet was microscopic. The drug laws are so strict that even if one is tested positive for drug use, even without the charge of possession, the minimum four-year sentence applies.
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Asif claims he has been implicated The Mohammad Asif detention case took a new turn with the pacer, accused of and detained for drug possession, claiming he had been implicated following his brawl with some officials at the Dubai airport. 'Express' television channel claimed to have spoken to Asif who is under detention at the Dubai airport at the moment in which he told them that he had reached Dubai from Mumbai on Sunday a bit tipsy. Asif claimed he was a bit drunk and got into an argument with airport officials which led to a brawl and he slapped one of them. The channel said the pacer had told them that the authorities recovered a small quantity of "Shilajit", an ayurvedic medicine for boosting strength, in his wallet and charged him with possession of opium. — PTI
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After months of squabbling, Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi have finally agreed to put their personal differences aside and team up for the Beijing Olympics following a fresh round of peace talks brokered by the All-India Tennis Association.
Captain Ramnaresh Sarwan scored a timely century to lead a spirited
French Open
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Rome, June 3
Inter Milan’s new coach, Jose Mourinho, poses during a photo call in Appiano Gentile, about 40 km from Milan, on Tuesday. Mourinho has signed a three-year contract with the Italian club. — AFP
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