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Nadal destroys
Federer
Injured Frei out of the fray |
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Portugal carve out 2-0 win
Pak beat B’desh
Sania in second round of DFS Classic
Jeev wins Austrian Open by one stroke
Santosh Trophy: Punjab beat J&K 1-0
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Nadal destroys
Federer
Paris, June 8 The Spaniard was at his relentless best as he tore Federer apart in one hour 48 minutes to deny the Swiss a career grand slam and equal Bjorn Borg's feat of four consecutive titles at Roland Garros. “I played a perfect match,” said Nadal, who was presented with the trophy by Borg. “I'm sorry for that final but you played well,” he told Federer. “I want to thank Roger for his attitude on the court.” Federer, beaten in the final by Nadal in the two previous years, had promised to attack but made too many errors early on as Nadal ripped through the first set. The Swiss raised himself in the second set and had a break point at 3-3 but Nadal slammed the door shut and crushed a hapless Federer in the third to clinch the title without losing a set, leaving Federer stuck on 12 grand-slam titles. “I would have hoped to do better than four games but Rafael is very, very strong,” Federer told the crowd. “He dominated this tournament like maybe no one before except Borg, so congratulations Rafa. It was still a good week. Losing in a final is never easy but I will try again next year.” Nadal broke the world number one three times as he raced through the first set in 32 minutes. Federer, chasing the only grand-slam title to elude him, began shakily and three forehand errors gave second seed Nadal the break in the first game. The Spaniard saved two break points in the next game and though Federer saved two more break points in his next service game, he was broken to love two games later as Nadal surged ahead 4-1. Top seed Federer tried to get to the net whenever he could but Nadal passed him at will and broke for a third time to take the set as Federer put a forehand volley long. The Swiss looked shell-shocked and when he dropped his serve to trail 2-0 in the second set, he had won just 16 points in the entire match. His response, though, was immediate and he broke back in the next game with his best all-round tennis of the match. Becoming more aggressive and serving-and-volleying at times, Federer saved a break point to level at 2-2, then forced a break point at 3-3, only to net a backhand as Nadal held on. That proved to be the turning point of the set and Nadal rifled a backhand down the line to break in the next game and served out for a two-set lead. Though Federer saved two break points in the opening game of the third set, Nadal snatched the break on his third chance when Federer netted a forehand. Nadal repeated the feat twice and served out to take the title when Federer’s forehand went long. It was the first time that Federer had lost a set to love since the first round of the Queen’s Club tournament in London in 1999, against Zimbabwean Byron Black. It was also the shortest French Open men’s final in terms of games played since 1977 and the quickest final, at 108 minutes, since 1980. — Reuters
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Switzerland, June 8 Coming into the tournament on home soil as Switzerland’s newly-crowned all-time top scorer, Frei seemed finally ready to bring his impressive finishing skills to a wider audience. Knowledgeable European soccer fans were already well aware of the slightly-built forward’s formidable strike rate in Switzerland’s top division, and most recently with his present club Borussia Dortmund. — Reuters
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Geneva, June 8 ''Playing like that we can win the European (Championship). We scored twice, had two balls on the posts and one on the bar,'' Ronaldo told reporters. Ronaldo had two chances in the first half - a close range effort that was blocked and a free kick which Turkey goalkeeper Volkan Demirel just managed to turn onto the post. In the second half his low shot from the left was well saved. Widely tipped to be the player of the tournament, Ronaldo came to Switzerland in the middle of a tug of war between his club Manchester United and Real Madrid for his future services and doubts about his concentration on the job in hand. In Portugal coach Luiz Felipe Scolari he has, however, a no-nonsense manager who becomes the team's number 12 player so influential is he from the touchline. ''I asked Nuno Gomes to give Ronaldo the captain's armband so he'd feel more motivated and that's exactly what happened,'' Scolari told the post-match news conference of the central striker's replacement by Nani in the 69th minute. Portugal could have been forgiven at that stage for flagging after an hour's effort to break down the resilient Turkish team and finally take the lead through central defender Pepe. Instead, Ronaldo, moving further forward, played a captain's game for the final 20 minutes by leading from the front in Nuno Gomes's position. ''The idea was to give him a boost, increase his will so he could overcome his tiredness, make another dribble, make another pass, (maybe) make another goal,'' said Scolari, who praised the physical fitness and commitment of his team. — Reuters
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Penalty proves enough for Croatia Vienna, June 8 Croatia were well worth their win against a team placed 92nd in FIFA’s world rankings and set the pace before group rivals Germany and Poland met in Klagenfurt later on Sunday. Austria have been widely tipped to lose all three games in their first appearance at a European Championship. Though they were keen enough, their disjointed efforts betrayed a lack of competitive action and they only came alive in the last 20 minutes. Croatia, noisily backed by around 20,000 of their fans in the team’s red and white chequered shirts, arrived at the tournament full of confidence after seeing off England from their qualifying group. The decisive moment came minutes after their supporters had taken their seats after the anthems. Ivica Olic was chasing a hopeful ball towards the byline when he was clumsily brought down by Rene Aufhauser and Modric converted the spot kick. Croatia coach Slaven Bilic said: “We are happy to collect three points from the opening match which is always tough. I am not entirely happy with the performance in the second half, but we were very good in the opening period and should have led by a bigger margin at halftime. Although we were on the back foot after the interval, we had several promising breaks.” Summing up, he said: “We are delighted because we got the start we wanted and it will give us a lot of confidence. I have to congratulate my players for the effort." Austria defender Martin Stranzl said: “It’s not really that bitter of a defeat. We played very well after the first 25 minutes... Unfortunately we weren't able to score. They got the penalty early and then there were two situations later where there could have been a handball called against them. But the referee didn't make the call. That’s football.” Modric’s goal immediately settled the Croatians, whose neat-passing midfielders began coolly knocking the ball around. Olic and Mladen Petric both went close to touching in a second after a dangerous low Darijo Srna free kick, before Petric, unmarked in the area, blasted wide after a deep cross from Vedran Corluka. Austria looked shell-shocked by the early setback and only late in the half did they build any sort of attacking pressure. — Reuters
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Italy, Holland have a lot to prove
"We're the reigning World Cup champions and we're expected to win this European Championship," Italy forward Alessandro Del Piero said. "But they're two different types of competitions. Two years ago, everything went perfectly and that's going to be tough to repeat. But we're here to try." It has been 20 years since the Netherlands won the European Championship for its only international trophy. Current coach Marco van Basten was the star of that tournament with five goals, yet he doesn't see any significance in his involvement again after two decades. Ruud van Nistelrooy is the current Netherlands striker of importance, and he is joined in attack by Real Madrid teammates Arjen Robben and Wesley Sneijder, with Hamburg's Rafael van der Vaart in support. Winger Arjen Robben will miss the Italy game after picking up a groin injury in training yesterday. Italy counters with high-scoring Luca Toni, the 1.93-meter striker who had 39 goals with Bayern Munich last season. How afraid is Netherlands goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar of Toni? "Very afraid," the Manchester United player said with a big laugh.
"He is the main striker and you have to think about him, but it is not only Luca Toni. They have got a lot more good players. It is a well-balanced team." Toni should be flanked by Antonio Di Natale and Mauro Camoranesi in Italy coach Roberto Donadoni's preferred 4-3-3 lineup, with Gennaro Gattuso and Andrea Pirlo joined by either Daniele De Rossi or Massimo Ambrosini in midfield. Di Natale scored twice in Italy's 3-1 win over Belgium in a friendly last week. The problems for both Italy and the Netherlands lie in defence.— AP
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Warne to lead Royals against Victoria
Melbourne, June 8 The $5 million tournament would pit the best two sides from the domestic T20 competitions of Australia, South Africa, England and India against each other. Australia will be represented by Victoria and Western Australia in the 10-day competition in September-October in either India or the United Arab Emirates. The inaugural Champions League is yet to witness its first ball but Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland is thinking of holding the cash-rich tournament on annual basis. Sutherland said Warne after conquering the IPL, would look to repeat the success at the international level. — PTI
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Nottingham, June 8 Sidebottom claimed four of the five wickets to fall on the fourth morning as England won with almost two days to spare. Scoreboard England first innings: 364 New Zealand first innings: 123 New Zealand second innings (following on, overnight 177-5) How c Cook b Sidebottom 19 Redmond c Ambrose b Broad 2 McCullum b Anderson 71 Taylor lbw b Broad 14 Flynn c Ambrose b Sidebottom 49 Hopkins c Ambrose b Sidebottom 12 Oram not out 50 Vettori c Pietersen b Sidebottom 1 Mills c Strauss b Sidebottom 2 O'Brien c C’wood b Sidebottom 4 Martin c C’wood b Anderson 0 Extras: b-3 lb-4, w-1 8 Total: (all out, 72.3 overs) 232 FoW: 1-21 2-33 3-58 4-152 5-169 6-197 7-205 8-221 9-225 10-232 Bowling: Sidebottom 24-7-67-6, Anderson 14.3-3-55-2, Broad 21-4-77-2, Panesar 11-4-21-0, Collingwood 2-1-5-0. Player of the match: James Anderson (England) — Reuters
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Decision on Asif likely today
Dubai, June 8 Asif today appeared before the court along with his lawyers and recommendations from the prosecutors were also heard before the proceedings were adjourned. Senior Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) official Nadeem Akram, rushed by the Board to bail out the pacer, told PTI that the court had heard the recommendations of the prosecutors who have forwarded the case to the Attorney General of Dubai. "The chief prosecutor cross-examined the witnesses who were instrumental in finding the banned substance from the bowler. The court case will resume tomorrow," Akram said, hoping that the final decision would come out tomorrow.— PTI |
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Pak beat B’desh
Dhaka, June 8 A flamboyant all round display by Shahid Afridi and paceman Wahab Riaz, who shared six wickets between them, made sure that Pakistan bundled out the Bangladesh batsman for 163. Bangladesh skipper Mohammad Ashraful was the only batsman who put up some resistance though he was not his usual attacking self and adopted a defensive approach. He remained unbeaten on 56 . Earlier, the Bangladesh bowlers, led by Abdur Razzak and Alok Kapali, who picked up three wickets each, had restricted Pakistan to 233 in a reduced 40-over match. Brief Score Pakistan: Salman Butt 70, Muhammad Yousuf 59. Total 233 all out. Bowling: Razzak 3 for 35, Kapali 3 for 49. Bangladesh: Mohammad Ashraful 56 (n.o.), Tamim 29. Total 163 for 8. Bowling: Riaz 3 for 22, Afridi 3 for 19. —
PTI
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Sania in second round of DFS Classic
Birmingham, June 8 Sania made a return to the competitive tennis after missing the entire clay court season, including the just concluded French Open in Paris, due to a wrist injury. The Indian has been seeded sixth in the Tier III grass court tournament, which is a build up event to the Wimbledon championships. Sania will meet the winner of Marina Erakovic vs Stephanie Dubois match in the second round. Ranked 32 in the WTA charts, Sania comes back to on-court action after a three-month injury lay off. The Hyderabadi girl had undergone a surgery on April 10 in Florida to repair a capsule tear on her right wrist. The cast was removed on May 5 and she underwent a rehabilitation programme under her personal physiotherapist Renuka Pinto. — PTI |
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Jeev wins Austrian Open by one stroke
Vienna, June 8 Singh claimed his third European Tour title in Nick Faldo fashion, copying the six-times major champion’s feat of 1987 when Faldo won the British Open at Muirfield by parring all 18 holes of the final round. Wakefield, Singh’s nearest challenger overnight, began the final round four off the lead in the tournament reduced to 54 holes because of Thursday’s washout. The Englishman kept the pressure on playing-partner Singh by birdieing three of the last four holes but came up a stroke shy of forcing a playoff. Earlier, Northern Irishman Graeme McDowell, who defeated Singh in a playoff for the Ballantines Championship in March, looked like being a threat to the Indian professional again. — Reuters |
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Santosh Trophy: Punjab beat J&K 1-0
Srinagar, June 8 Sukhwinder Singh’s 68th minute strike, which led to mob fury yesterday, clinched the tie in the visitors’ favour. With this win, the defending champions have kept their hopes alive to progress into the semifinals and their last league match against Kerala will be a do-or-die encounter for both teams. Punjab’s win has also ensured a semifinal berth for Services, which has won both the games in Group A. The Punjab vs J&K match was stopped yesterday after a section of the crowd, numbering around 200, crashed through the fencing and ran all over the pitch. This led to the players running towards the dressing room for safety and immediate stopping of the match. Trouble started following a clash between mediapersons and the tournament organisers, which blocked the view of the crowd when Punjab took 1-0 lead through a fabulous strike by Sukhwinder Singh in the 68th minute. WB win 4-1
Meanwhile, West Bengal today drubbed Karnataka 4-1 in the other quarterfinal at Bakshi Stadium here. Playing with a plan, both the teams started attacking each other and played aggressively from the word go. But after several attempts, West Bengal’s Manas Das scored a brilliant goal beating Karnataka’s defenders a minute before half time to put his side in lead. Gauranga Dutta, consolidated the lead for West Bengal and extended the lead by one more goal. Striker Syed Rahmin Nabi then made it 3-0. Vivak Kumar, however, was able to reduce the margin when he scored in the 80th minute for Karnataka. Tarif Ahmad made it 4-1 scoring a field goal beating the rival goalkeeper. —
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Baden (Austria), June 8