London, June 24
Sania Mirza battled through the pain barrier to reach the second round of Wimbledon with a scrappy 7-6, 3-6, 6-4 win over Colombia’s Catalina Castano on Tuesday.

The Indian number one, making a comeback after undergoing wrist surgery in April, needed a medical time out at 4-1 down in the second set to treat what appeared to be a stiff right shoulder.

Although the rub down could not save her from losing the second set, Mirza stood firm in the decider to wrap up victory after two hours, 16 minutes.

While Mirza lapped up the applause from the vocal Indian fans packed into court 11, Castano was left to reflect on yet another fleeting visit to the All England Club.

Mirza, seeded 32nd, will next face Spaniard Maria Martinez Sanchez as she attempts to reach the third round here for the first time.

Last year’s semifinalist Richard Gasquet comfortably moved into the second round at Wimbledon on Tuesday, beating American Mardy Fish 6-3, 6-4, 6-2.

The eighth-seeded Frenchman returned to Court One where he memorably defeated Andy Roddick in five thrilling quarterfinal sets last year and showed glimpses of the form that had led to his best grand slam finish.

Gasquet broke the 39th-ranked Fish, a finalist in Indian Wells this year, early in each set and was only fleetingly troubled by the American in one hour and 51 minutes.

He next faces compatriot and former semifinalist Sebastien Grosjean, who overcame Italian Potito Starace 6-2, 7-5, 6-1.

Defending women’s champion Venus Williams overcame a shaky start to reach the Wimbledon second round with a 7-6, 6-1 victory over British wildcard Naomi Cavaday on Tuesday.

The American was given a tougher than expected workout on Centre Court by the Englishwoman, world-ranked 197, who matched the seventh seed stroke for stroke in the opening set before wilting in the second.

From 40-0 up on her opening serve, Williams was distracted by an insect buzzing around her ankles. She fended it off with an irritated swat but, with her concentration interrupted, Cavaday reeled off five successive points to break.

Cavaday confidently held her first two service games as a clearly rattled Williams struggled to find her rhythm. Betraying no nerves, the left-handed Cavaday peppered the flanks with raking forehands and double-handed backhands that produced a torrent of clean winners.

Recovering her composure, Williams broke back at the second opportunity in the sixth game when Cavaday tamely netted.

No further breaks sent the opening set into a tiebreak.

Cavaday hit back from 4-2 down to level but a netted backhand handed Williams two set points and although Cavaday saved the first, the American took the set when her opponent again netted from a high-kicking second serve.

Williams raced through the second set in just 21 minutes as Cavaday's consistency unravelled, taking the match with a crisp forehand winner.

Results: Men’s singles 1st round: Andy Roddick (US) beat Eduardo Schwank (Argentina) 7-5, 6-4, 7-6 (0); Rafael Nadal (Spain) beat Andreas Beck (Germany) 6-4, 6-4, 7-6(0); Benjamin Becker (Germany) beat Nikolay Davydenko (Russia) 6-4, 6-4, 6-4; Paul-Henri Mathieu (France) beat Oscar Hernandez (Spain) 3-6, 6-2, 6-0, 6-2; Richard Gasquet (France) beat Mardy Fish (US) 6-3, 6-4, 6-2; Marin Cilic (Croatia) beat Edouard Roger-Vasselin (France) 6-4, 6-3, 7-6(4).

Women's singles 1st round: Lindsay Davenport (US) beat Renata Voracova (Czech Republic) 6-3, 5-7, 6-3; Francesca Schiavone (Italy) beat Tamira Paszek (Austria) 6-3, 5-7, 10-8; Maria Sharapova (Russia) beat Stephanie Foretz (France) 6-1, 6-4; Caroline Wozniacki (Denmark) beat Eva Hrdinova (Czech Republic) 6-2, 7-5; Ai Sugiyama (Japan) beat Yanina Wickmayer (Belgium) 6-4, 6-2; Flavia Pennetta (Italy) beat Julia Vakulenko (Ukraine) 6-3, 6-4.— Reuters

Basel, June 24
Turkey’s bid to beat Germany and reach the final of Euro 2008 is in danger of being wrecked by injuries and suspensions.

The Turkish team which faces Germany in the semifinal at St Jakob Park tomorrow will be very different from the one that beat Croatia on penalties in Friday’s quarterfinal in Vienna.

Turkey will definitely be without six players and possibly more depending on how they respond to treatment before kickoff.

“Of course having lots of injured players is hard but the players who fill their places will give their utmost,” forward Semih Senturk told a news conference on Monday.

Semih scored the last gasp extra-time equaliser in the win over Croatia and said their constant comebacks in the tournament boded well.

“I think it gives us more self-confidence. Germany will be more cautious because the winner gets to the final.”

Goalkeeper Volkan Demirel, who was red carded at the end of Turkey’s dramatic last-gasp 3-2 win over Czech Republic on June 15 is out, serving the second game of his two-match suspension for that offence.

Defender Emre Asik and attacking midfielders Tuncay Sanli and Arda Turan are also suspended after picking up two yellow cards each.

Forward Nihat Kahveci, who scored twice in the win over the Czechs, has flown back to Spain for an operation on the thigh he injured late in the Croatia game.

Emre Gungor is also out of the tournament through injury.

Defender Servet Cetin is very doubtful with a knee problem and Tumer Metin is just as unlikely to play because of a groin complaint.

Midfielder Emre Belozoglu, who has not played since damaging his hamstring in Turkey’s Group A opening loss to Portugal, is back in light training. A decision on the captain’s fitness will be made just before kickoff.

In total contrast, Germany’s preparations have gone smoothly.

Coach Joachim Loew will be back in the dugout after serving a one-match ban in the stands, and unlike Turkey coach Fatih Terim he has a full complement of fit players.

Loew, who has had two spells coaching in Turkey, faces the dilemma of whether to stick with a winning team — and a devastating new formation — or go back to first principles.

With Torsten Frings injured for the quarterfinal against Portugal, Loew took the bold decision to play a new 4-5-1 system with Simon Rolfes and Thomas Hitzlsperger as holding midfielders and Ballack free to get forward as much as he could.

“I've always considered 4-4-2 my favourite formation but we did well with 4-5-1 against Portugal,” Loew said at a news conference.

“We just have to find the right way to unlock the Turkish defence.” — Reuters

Start of play : 12.15 am

Karachi, June 24
India launch their campaign in the Asia Cup against minnows Hong Kong here tomorrow hoping to get into top form ahead of their crucial tie against arch-rival Pakistan on Thursday.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s men should not face much resistance from Hong Kong, but the Indians are in no mood to take their opponents lightly in what is likely to be a one-sided floodlit contest at the National Stadium.

The Indians will go into the game without the services of paceman Irfan Pathan who will be rested because of a side strain. But the Indians have enough bowling resources at their disposal to counter Hong Kong.

India coach Gary Kirsten warned his players not to get too complacent against their unfancied rivals.

“I am looking for some big contributions from my players in the match. We will take every opposition seriously as this is the Asia Cup and we will play proper cricket and will do the things we need to do,” Kirsten said.

The Indians, seeking to make amends after their defeat to Pakistan in the tri-series final in Bangladesh, have a track record in Pakistan in recent time. But captain Dhoni is not banking on statistics and is willing to start from a scratch all over again.

“We will start our script from scratch in this tournament. We are not going to take any team lightly,” Dhoni said.

“I am happy with the team combination. I feel it is a good opportunity for aspiring youngsters in such a big tournament. It is also a challenge for seasoned players to perform in it,” he said.

In batting department, Indian team has a considerable line-up with the two left handers Yuvraj Singh and Gautam Gambhir in fine nick, having played some brilliant innings during the tri-nation series in Bangladesh.

Dhoni, however, indicated that he would come up in the batting order to keep the momentum during the middle overs of the innings.

“I will definitely try to bat up the order depending on what kind of start we get. We will float our batsmen depending on the number of overs left in the game,” he said.

Asia Cup 2008 Today’s matches India v Hong Kong  3.30 pm Sri Lanka v B’desh  3.30 pm

The Hong Kong coach Aftab Habib, however, insisted his team which has a combination of senior and juniors, would not go down without a fight against their strong opponents.

“We have this advantage that most of the guys are from Pakistan and have cricket in their blood. We know the Indians are a very strong outfit but we will go out there and just do our best,” Habib, a former England cricketer, said.

“India has some world class batsmen but we have some good senior players and spinners in the side and if the pitch does do a little bit, it would be interesting,” he added.

Batsmen like Ashish Gadhia and James Atkinson can well change the calculation of the Indians if taken lightly. — PTI

Lahore, June 24
A restrained hundred from skipper Mohammad Ashraful helped Bangladesh to a 96-run win over the United Arab Emirates in their Asia Cup one-day match at the Gaddafi stadium on Tuesday.

Ashraful's second one-day century (109) allowed Bangladesh to post 300 for eight. They then bowled out UAE for 204 runs with 26 balls to spare.

The UAE innings was given some substance by Arshad Ali (41 from 79 balls), and Khurrum Khan, who struck 78 from 81 balls. — Reuters

Scoreboard

Bangladesh

T. Iqbal run out 40

Nazimuddin c Arshad

b Zahid 2

Ashraful run out 109

R. Hasan c Amjad b Zahid 83

A. Kapali c & b K. Khan 1

Mortaza c Khan b Shah 3

Mahmudullah not out 8

Rahim st Amjad b K. Khan 16

D. Mahmud run out 20

Extras (lb-2, w-16) 18

Total (8 wkts, 50 overs) 300

Fall of wickets: 1-12, 2-107, 3-248, 4-250, 5-252, 6-257, 7-278, 8-300

Bowling: Z. Shah 10-0-49-3, F. Alhashmi 5-1-21-0, A. Javed 2-0-24-0, M. Tauqir 3-0-6-0, E. Silva 7-0-33-0, S. Ali 3-0-13-0, K. Khan 10-0-78-2, Arshad Ali 10-0-74-0.

United Arab Emirates

A Javed c T Iqbal b Mortaza 10

Arshad Ali c R Hasan

b Mahmudullah 41

Batuwitarachchi lbw S Hossain 0

Amjad Ali c Kapali b Razzak 19

Saqib Ali c S Hossain

b Mahmudullah 10

Khurram c R Hasan b Razzak 78

V Shetty b Razzak 7

Tauqir c M Rahim b Mahmud 18

Silva c & b Kapali 7

Zahid Shah not out 5

Alhashmi b Kapali 0

Extras (lb-1, w-8) 9

Total (all out, 45.4 overs) 204

Fall of wickets: 1-15, 2-16, 3-48, 4-70, 5-117, 6-134, 7-181, 8-198, 9-198, 10-204

Bowling: Mortaza 7-1-47-1, S Hossain 4.5-0-24-1, Abdur Razzak 10-2-20-3, Dolar Mahmud 6.1-0-47-1, Mahmudullah 10-0-38-2, Alok Kapali 7.4-0-27-2

Player of the match: Mohammad Ashraful.

Lahore, June 24
Pakistan recovered from a middle-order collapse to coast to a 155-run victory win over Hong Kong in their Asia Cup match at Karachi’s National Stadium on Tuesday.

Pakistan recovered from 161 for seven to reach 288 for nine and then bowled out Hong Kong for 133 in 37.2 overs to start their campaign in the six-nation event on a winning note.

Sohail Tanvir, who scored 59 with the bat, took two wickets as did Shahid Afridi and Rao Iftikhar.

Earlier, 20-year-old left-arm spinner Nadeem Ahmed sent jitters through the Pakistan team finishing after taking 4-51. — Reuters

Scoreboard

Pakistan

Butt c Atkinson b Haider 0

S. Malik b Butt b I. Ahmed 35

Younis st Atkinson b N. Ahmed 67

Yousuf c Haider b N. Ahmed 28

Misbah lbw N. Ahmed 2

Fawad Alam not out 63

Afridi c & b N. Ahmed 4

Sarfraz Ahmed run out 7

Tanvir c sub b Abbas 59

Gul c A. Ahmed b I. Ahmed 8

Iftikhar Anjum not out 3

Extras (lb-2, w-10) 12

Total (9 wkts, 50 overs) 288

Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-67, 3-121, 4-135, 5-140, 6-150, 7-161, 8-261, 9-283

Bowling: Haider 7-0-51-1, I. Ahmed 10-0-59-2, Z. Abbas 6-0-56-1, N. Ahmed 9-1-51-4, N. Amar 10-0-35-0, M. Dar 8-1-34-0.

Hong Kong

Tabarak Dar lbw Afridi 24

Skhawat Ali c M Amjad b Tanvir 8

Irfan Ahmed b Anjum 0

KH Butt b Anjum 4

Kruger b Sohail Tanvir 0

Zain Abbas retired hurt 26

JJ Atkinson b Afridi 18

Munir Dar run out 14

Najeeb Amar lbw Younis 21

N Ahmed c Misbah b Fawad Alam 2

Afzaal Haider not out 0

Extras (b-1, lb-2, w-13) 16

Total (all out, 37.2 overs) 133

Fall of wickets: 1-28, 2-28, 3-32, 4-45, 5-76, 6-102, 7-126, 8-133, 9-133

Bowling: Gul 6-1-19-0, Tanvir 6-1-20-2, I. Anjum 6-1-18-2, Afridi 8-0-31-2, Malik 8-0-31-0, Fawad Alam 2.2-0-8-1, Younis 1-0-3-1.

Player of the match: Sohail Tanvir.

There is a lot more to the oft-repeated key moments of the glorious 1983 World Cup triumph that Kapil’s Devils achieved at the Lord’s on this day exactly 25 summers ago. A lot has been written and heard about the magical Kapil knock against Zimbabwe, his out-of-the-world running catch to dismiss destructive Viv Richards, the ‘banana in-swinger’of Balwinder Sandhu that castled dreaded West Indian opener Gordon Greenidge or the exploits of Mohinder Amarnath, enabling India to the path-breaking triumph.

There are certain performances equally heroic that have, however, never been talked about at all. Rightfully, a lot has been mentioned about the superb catch taken by Kapil to get rid of Richards. But the mention has hardly ever been made of seamer Madan Lal for it was he who volunteered to bowl to Richards, when the West Indian batsman was hitting the ball with ferocity and looked like ending the contest in a jiffy. It was Madan who showed the heart of a champion bowler. After being clobbered for a couple of fours, the seamer dug one short, inducing a false stroke that resulted in the catch to be taken by the skipper. Madan had earlier consumed equally dangerous Dasmond Haynes and then redoubtable Larry Gomes to complete a crucial three-wicket haul. Besides, he chipped in with some crucial runs batting down the order.

Similar was the case of middle order batsman Yashpal Sharma. The Ludhiana born batsman set the tone with superb 89 that paved the way for an unlikely 34-run Indian victory over the fancied West Indies at Old Trafford in a league match.

Yashpal was again in the thick of action scoring 61, the highest score from the side, as India shocked England in the semifinals. During the match, dashing Sandeep Patil was in blazing form notching up 32-ball 51 while Mohinder as superb with bat and ball (46 runs, 2 wickets) as India turned the tables on the previous edition’s runner-up.

Blessed with a keen eye and quick reflexes, Krish Srikkanth was at his devasting best in the final, the square cut he hit of Malcom Marshall while leaning on to his right knee was a breathtaking stroke. Facing the fearsome bowling attack comprising, other than Marshall, the likes of Andy Robers, Joel Garner and Michel Holding, Srikkanth made the bowling attack look ordinary with 57-ball 38.

Roger Binny was a deceptive bowler, besides a capable batsman. With his nagging line and length, Binny emerged the highest wicket taker in the tournament.

The presence of Sayeed Kirmani at No 7, who, besides being an accomplished wicketkeeper was no mug with the bat, was a big boost. It was his unbeaten stand of 126 runs with skipper Kapil Dev that went a long way in India saving their skin in the crucial contest against Zimbabwe.

There was Mohinder Amarnath, who would virtually lull the batsman into a stuper with the ‘jogging’ run-up before delivering the knockout punch. His all round performance ensuring two sucessive Man of the Match awards in the semifinals as well as the final. The performances such as these turned India from no-hopers to world champions. The underdogs, in the span of a fortnight, defeated the mighty West Indies not once, but twice. Surely, no triumph on the cricketing field by the country can never be loftier.