New York, September 5
Novak Djokovic and Andy Roddick put in a show-stopping performance at the U.S. Open on Thursday night but only the fired up Serbian was left standing to take an encore - albeit from a hostile Flushing Meadows crowd.

The world number three outgunned American Roddick 6-2 6-3 3-6 7-6 in a high-quality shootout to set up a tantalising semi-final with four-times champion Roger Federer but then felt the wrath of the crowd when he let his emotions spill over in a courtside interview.

Men’s singles  semifinal line-up Roger Federer vs  Novak Djokovic Rafael Nadal vs  Andy Murray

Annoyed by Roddick's suggestions that he might have been exaggerating hip, ankle, stomach and breathing problems during his five-set win in the previous round, Djokovic told the fans:

"Andy was saying that I have 16 injuries in the last match so obviously I don't, right?

"That's not nice anyhow to say in front of this crowd that I have 16 injuries and I am faking it.

"With the sellout crowd packed around the Arthur Ashe Stadium booing loudly, the Serb continued his outburst: "Like it or not, it's like that. They (the crowd) are already against me because they think I am faking everything, so sorry."

Roddick felt Djokovic had over-reacted to something that had been a joke.

"It was completely meant in jest," said the 2003 champion.

"I'm sorry he took it that way. I don't think I was over the line. It wasn't my intention and I'm sorry he felt that way. Maybe I did him a favour tonight."

After turning into public enemy number one, Djokovic will probably need a tight security escort when he turns up on Saturday for his last-four date with New York's adopted son Federer.

The Swiss spared himself a repeat of his "dogfight" five-set win over Russian Igor Andreev in the last 16 but his 7-6 6-4 7-6 win over 130th-ranked Luxembourg qualifier Gilles Muller was not exactly the kind of performance one would have expected from a man who extended his unbeaten run at Flushing Meadows to 32 matches.

Champion's performance or not, Federer hung in for two hours and 26 minutes to advance to a record 18th successive grand slam semi-final.

"I'm happy to keep the semi-final streak alive. That's a huge streak for such a long time," said the second seed, who was deposed as world number one two weeks ago by French Open and Wimbledon winner Rafael Nadal.

Nadal will take on Briton Andy Murray in the other semi-final.

Federer's win would also have done Muller, the lowest ranked man to reach the last eight since 1999, a favour as the 25-year-old had outstayed his welcome in his New York hotel.

In a year when organisers have been promoting their night-time programme under the banner "It's Showtime," Roddick entered the Arthur Ashe Stadium suitably dressed in an all-black outfit.

But it took just 62 blistering minutes for Djokovic to put the American in the shade as he romped through the first two sets by dropping only 13 points on serve.

As Djokovic out-served, out-ran and outwitted Roddick, the 26-year-old reacted by turning his racket into a mangled mess.

Just when it seemed as if Roddick would be in for a quick mauling, he came alive to break in the fourth game of the third and fired down four untouchable missiles to wrap up the set.

He kept up the intensity in the fourth, in the 10th game serving to level the contest at two-sets all. But from 30-15 up, he produced two successive double faults to gift Djokovic break point. The Serbian grabbed his chance with a delectable lob.

Sealing the match when Roddick banged a service return long, Djokovic let out an almighty roar before launching into his war of words which he later described as "impulsive".

Since the Serb is famed for mimicking he fellow professionals on court, Roddick added: "I figure if you're going to joke and imitate other people and do the whole deal, then you should take it." — Reuters

New York, September 5
At 35, Leander Paes may not be getting any younger but having added the US Open mixed doubles title to his cupboard, the Indian ace is just not interested in retirement talks.

Paes partnered Cara Black and the Indo-Zimbabwean scratch pair struck gold in their maiden Grand Slam by capturing the mixed doubles title last night, taming Britain's Jamie Murray and American Liezel Huber 7-6 (8/6), 6-4.

Savouring every moment of it, Paes said age was not an issue with him and he would go on as long as he enjoys it.

"It's fairly simple for me. If I wake up 31 days in a row in the morning and I feel like I don't enjoy this game, I'll stop on the 32nd day. That's always been the way for me," Paes said in the post-match interview.

The Indian ace said he woke up with a purpose and was happy to get his hand to the title, after missing it twice in the past.

"You know, it was in the back of my mind that I hadn't won this one. I've been in two finals here. I was match point up in one of them with Lisa Raymond many years ago, and today I woke up this morning with a purpose.

"I woke up really fired up, and when I came out to practice, I just said to Cara, you know..." Paes heaped praise on Cara and said they would continue playing together.

"We actually talked about it before we even started this week, that we're going to play together all of next year. For me, no matter what the result this week would have been, I would stick with Cara and play with her through the year," he said.

"Today, really, I think she won the match for us. At 4-6 in the tie-break, she made an unbelievable reflex volley to break the guy's serve at 5-6... I think at that stage, Cara really broke back and won that set for us. And to play with her is a treat, you know.

"I think that being our first week, we figured each other's games out. She knows she's got to do everything. I just have to sit and watch," Paes quipped.

"That's a lie," Cara, sitting besides, retorted.

Looking at the future, Paes said, "I've won the Australian twice. I've won Wimbledon twice. Never won the French. I've been in the finals there. That's the only Grand Slam I haven't won yet, and I hope Cara and myself can do that next year."

Cara too returned the compliment and said playing with Paes was a great experience.

"Leander was great. He was getting it back for me all the time, but we just got down that one break and that mini break in the tie-break, but - yeah, it was - it was all reaction, you know," she said. — PTI 

Johannesburg, September 5
South Africa will have to review its strategy in one-day cricket, coach Mickey Arthur said here in the wake of the ignominious 4-0 washout on the England tour despite winning a preceding Test series against the hosts.

Arthur said he and captain Graeme Smith will talk on the kind of cricket that they want to play and then decide who the right players are for that type of cricket.

Arthur made the comments in Afrikaans daily Beeld as the team headed back home Friday after being saved from a 5-0 defeat because of a cancelled final game in Cardiff that was rained out.

Commentators here have been alarmed by the South Africans' lacklustre performance in the series in England, after initially being lauded for their historic Test win.

"One wonders whether the Proteas have not been overestimated as a one-day team because they have only been playing against weaker teams since the World Cup," Altus Momberg wrote in Beeld.

"Home victories against New Zealand and the West Indies and an away win against Bangladesh do not mean much. And the team just played so-so in the series win over Pakistan.

"It is clear that Arthur realises that the current one-day team and tactics are not good enough."

Momberg's comments seemed to confirm views that the future of some of the older players in the one-day squad who had not performed well in England, including seasoned veteran all-rounder Jacques Kallis, may be in the balance.

Arthur and Smith developed a strategy two years ago in the wake of a disastrous defeat at the hands of archrivals Australia to build the Test team, which has shown dividends in England. They now want to do the same for the one-day team as they prepare for the 2011 World Cup on the subcontinent.

"We will have to get the right players," Arthur said, conceding that this would not be easy because there were issues at local level in South African cricket. "(But) if we have to prepare a few players for that, we will do it."

Arthur also plans to try to lure back some of the South African players who have opted to play in English county cricket after being sidelined at home due to race quotas. — IANS

Bangalore, September 5
Marcus North hit a brilliant half century as Australia 'A' fought back strongly in the second innings after being forced to follow on in the three-day game against India 'A' that ended in a draw here today.

After being bowled out for 116, adding just three runs to the overnight score of 113 for eight, the visitors raised their game several notches to come out with a far more creditable performance in the second outing.

M B Parmar took four for 37 and Piyush Chawla three for 39 to impress with the ball at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.

Simon Katich's team, which conceded a first innings lead of 168 runs, ended day three at 263 for seven in 81 overs with the top-scorer North hitting ten fours in his 149-ball knock of 88 that helped his side keep the home team at bay.

He was well-supported by Katich who made 56 with seven fours and one six while Phillip Hughes (43) and George Bailey (29) chipped in with useful contributions to deny India a win.

In fact, Hughes and Katich put on 88 runs for the opening wicket partnership.

Unlike in the first knock, the visiting batsmen played spin with far more confidence.

In the second innings, the home team's bowling hero was S Tyagi who bagged four wickets for 42 runs, while Parmar took two and S Badrinath one. — PTI 

Bangalore, September 5
Asserting his supremacy, Pankaj Advani today annexed the ONGC IBSF World Billiards Championship (point format) with a comprehensive six games to one victory over 
Geet Sethi.

The 23-year-old Bangalorean delighted the home crowd at Karnataka State Billiards Association Hall with a superlative display, winning 150-90, 151-0, 150-24, 150-0, 86-150, 150-72, 150-12.

After a below-par semifinal outing yesterday, Advani played with far more focus and swept the first four games in the morning session to gain a position of strength.

Though the veteran Sethi, with eight world billiards titles under his belt, won the first game in the next session, he could not get the momentum going, with his younger opponent dominating proceedings.

Advani said the "bad" semifinal had spurred him to come out with improved performance and it paid off.

"In sport, every day is a new day", he said after the match which promised to be an "epic" encounter before the start but turned out to be one-sided in the end.

He said every day throws up new challenges and it's different from the previous day.

Sethi said inclusion of billiards in the Asian Games inspired him to continue playing the game and expressed hope that it would figure in the Olympics as well. "I am still going strong, I still enjoy the game", he added.

Meanwhile, the time format of the ONGC IBSF World Billiards Championship gets underway here from tomorrow, with the final slated on September 10. — PTI

Bathinda, September 5
With Indian boxing at an all-time high, close to 350 pugilists will aim for national glory in what promises to be an electrifying senior men's championship in the backdrop of Vijender Singh, Akhil Kumar and Jitender Kumar's glorious Olympic performance in Beijing.

Vijender, the Olympic bronze winner in the middle weight category, Akhil (54kg) and Jitender (51kg) will, however, skip the meet as they recover from the aftermath of a euphoric but draining Olympics, landing a major blow to defending champions Railways' hopes of retaining the title.

Vijender, in fact, has ended his Railways stint by taking over as a DSP in Haryana Police. Akhil and Jitender, however, are yet to decide on whether to stay with Railways or take over as DSPs in Haryana Police.

The trio is expected to make an appearance at tomorrow's opening ceremony where they will be felicitated yet again for their Beijing performance.

"This year's Nationals are happening at a time when Indian boxing is on a high and that makes the atmosphere is charged up. Hopefully a lot of people will turn up to watch these guys who are our future hopes," said chief National coach Gurbax Singh Sandhu, who will be here throughout the tournament to spot fresh talent.

"Though I don't expect the standard of competition to go up dramatically but certainly the boys would be bubbling with energy after what Vijender, Akhil and Jitender did in Beijing," he added.

Inside the ring, it will be a familiar story of one-upmanship between Railways and Services.

For the Services, the men who matter will be Som Bahadur Pun, reigning national champion in the light welter weight category, and Sanjay Kolte, the light fly weight boxer who has been an Asian cadet champion and Doha Asian Games quarterfinalist.

Besides, Arjuna awardee Varghese Johnson, a bronze winner in the Doha Asian Games' super heavy weight category, would be keen to wipe out the disappointment of losing in the national quarterfinals last year.

For Railways, Dilbag Singh (69kg), the 'Best Boxer of last year's Nationals, is a strong medal contender. Olympian Diwakar Prasad, who was forced to miss the action last year due to typhoid, is also raring to prove his worth with a renewed vigour.

"It was a disappointing year and I have put it behind me. I am hopeful of doing well this year," Diwakar said.

Asian champions bronze medallist Manoj Kumar is a also a strong contender for the Railways in the light welter weight category but the absence of Akhil, Jitender and Vijender is bound to be felt in the Railways ranks.

"Not having Akhil, Jitu and Vijender is a handicap but we have tried our level best to make up for their absence, Let's see how it goes, we have put in our best efforts," said Railways coach Jaidev Bisht.

Elsewhere, Haryana boxer Sunil Kumar (51kg), a Commonwealth Champion, is another favourite.

Haryana, interestingly has sent out four teams to compete in the tournament and it was yet to be decided which of these four would actually represent the state in the event. — PTI 

Bathinda, September 5
Abhay Singh Chautala again took over the presidentship of the Indian Amateur Boxing Federation (IABF) for 2009-2012 in the elections, which were held here today. Chautala, who was already at the helm, was elected unopposed.

Representatives from 31 states and seven other departments today elected vice-presidents, associate vice-presidents, secretary-general, treasurer and joint secretaries. Tarlochan Singh, vice-president, Indian Olympics Associartion (IOA) was the observer for the elections.

After being elected, Chautala held a meeting in which he spoke at length about the achievements and mission of the IABF. “London Olympics is not the only mission of the federation. We want that wherever our players go, they must bring laurels to the nation.”

Chautala said that the game would be promoted through the league system. “I have planned to start leagues from the metro cities. Hopefully, the first league championship would be held in Chandigarh in November.”

Major industrial houses have been approached for financial help, he added.

Speaking about the budget for boxing as compared to cricket, he said, “Compared to cricket, it stands nowhere.

Regretting that the boxers could not win more medals at the Beijing Olympics, he said, “Despite their best efforts, they could not win. Akhil was suffering from fever and Jitender had a facial injury, which made him nervous. Otherwise, they were well trained,” Chautala said.

Replying to a query whether the weak finances stood in the way of their training, he said, “Abhinav Bindra, who grabbed gold in air rifle shooting may be well off, but even he was sponsored by the Laxmi Mittal Sports Trust for training. In the same way, our boys were also adopted by the trust. So, financial status was no bar in their training.”

“Everybody spoke how the Bhiwani boys shone in Beijing, but no one cared to ask about the route from Bhiwani to Beijing. The boxers were given training in various cities of the world for which the federation spent a lot,” he added.

Lashing out at the Central government, he said it had never played its desired role in the promotion of sports in the country. This time, the Central government had allocated Rs 700 crore which would be allocated to various games.

Taking the government to task, he said the IABF owed Rs 37 lakh to the Central government, which was yet to be received.

The office-bearers of IABF are as following:president: Abhay Singh Chautala vice-presidents: Asit Banerjee, AK Murthy, Khoibi Salam, Rajesh Bhandari, ID Nanavati, CK Jerath, BD Manmohan, Bhupinder Singh, Prem Varma Associate vice-resident: NS Khichi, GS Sarao, Rakesh Yadav, CP Teotia, Rohit Jain secretary general: Col. PK Muralidharan Raja Treasurers: KK Boro, LB Chhetri, Anil Bohidar, Rupak Debroy, R Gopu, M Nirwan, Jay Kowli, Asim Das, CB Raje, Jaipal Singh and HK Kalita.

New Delhi, September 5
Indian opener Virender Sehwag is all set to lead a strong Delhi squad for the clash against Pakistan's Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) in the third edition of the Mohammad Nissar Trophy, which gets underway on September 15 here at the Feroz Shah Kotla.

Sehwag, who missed the Sri Lanka series due to his ankle injury which India won 3-2, is keenly looking forward to play his part in the Nissar Trophy.

The event will witness the participation of first-class champions of Pakistan and India, with Uttar Pradesh and Mumbai being previous winners.

The 15-member squad of the Delhi team has seven players with international experience, including opener Gautam Gambhir and fast bowler Ishant Sharma.

In-form batsman Shikhar Dhawan, however, failed to add his name among the 15 players due to a fractured right thumb.

All-rounders Aditya Jain and Sumit Narwal, who were a part of the Delhi Ranji team in last year's Ranji final, were omitted from the squad.

Left-arm seamer Ashish Nehra, who was on a low for the last two years due to a crippling injury and didn't even get a game in the 2007-08 Ranji Trophy season, makes a comeback after recovering from his injury.

In the Indian Premier League (IPL), the pacer performed reasonably well taking 12 wickets in 14 his appearances at an average of 29 from the Mumbai Indians' side.

''I am not expecting to return to the scene with a five-for in my comeback match,'' Nehra told mediapersons.

Squad: Virender Sehwag (captain), Gautam Gambhir, Aakash Chopra, Mayank Tehlan, Mithun Manhas, Virat Kohli, Rajat Bhatia, Puneet Bisht (wk), Ishant Sharma, Pradeep Sangwan, Ashish Nehra, Chetanya Nanda, Amit Bhandari, Narender Singh, Gaurav Chhabra. — UNI 

Bathinda, September 5
“It was mind-blowing when they announced that I had won bronze in Beijing. The first thing that came to my mind was that I had made history, I can never forget this,” said Vijender Singh, who won a bronze medal in boxing at the Beijing Olympic, while speaking to The Tribune over phone from Chandigarh.

Vijender would arrive in Bathinda for the inugural function of the 55th Senior National Boxing Championship tomorrow. He along, with four other pugilists, who participated in Beijing 2008, would be the guest of honour at the championship.

Sharing his life and experience, Vijender gave credit to his friend Ram Singh and coaches, Jagdish Singh and Gurbax Singh Sandhu, for backing him through thick and thin. He mentioned that since 1999, he had been practising hard to earn name for himself in the sport.

Sharing his disappointments, he said, “I was inconsolable when I missed the chance to qualify for the US and Bangkok Games last year.”

But he immediately turned the topic, recounting his moment of joy in Beijing.

Vijender said he relished talking in Punjabi. Answering a query, he said, “I have visited more than 40 countries but the fun and freedom that I enjoy in Punjab and Haryana, is incomparable.”

“I want to give a message to the youth of India that they must take to sports as it keeps one fit, healthy and smart,” he said.

When asked about his plans to get married, he said in a lighter vein, “I have a long list of applicants but I will take three-four years as I have to achieve my objectives.”

Chief coach, Gurbax Singh Sandhu, who was here in the city, said, “It was the greatest day of my life when Vijender grabbed the medal. I had been waiting for this day for the past 30 years. He has fulfilled my dream.”

New Delhi, September 5
Defending champions Churchill Brothers triumphed against Sporting Clube De Goa 3-0 in penalty shootout in an all-Goa second semi-final of the 121st Osian's Durand Football Tournament at the Ambedkar Stadium here tonight. Churchill will meet Mahindra United in the title clash on Sunday.

The tall and athletic custodian Arindam Bhattacharya was the toast of Churchil's victory as he brought off two brilliant diving saves off Sporting's Bisheshor Singh and N Singh to put the title holders on the road to victory. And Churchill were also well-served in the shootout by their skipper Odafa Onyeka, Ogba Kalu Nnanna and Warun Deep who easily beat rival custodian Felix D'Souza to bulge the net.

When Micky Fernandes shot out the third kick, it was all over bar shouting for Sporting Clube De Goa with their resistance of over two hours ending in a whimper, rendering their last two shots redundant.

In a lackadaisical encounter, the regulation 90 minutes play and 30 minutes of extra time could not produce any goal as the Churchill strikers, particular skipper Odafa Onyeka, failed to cash in on the number of scoring chances they forced, some of them open. Sporting too made many forays into the Churchill territory, but the waywardness of the strikers and some fine goalkeeping by the custodians saw to it that the match was settled only through tie-breaker shootout.

BRIEFLY

Kolkata
Buchanan cautions Oz ahead of Indian tour: Former Australian coach John Buchanan has hinted that a tough challenge awaits the World Champions when they tour India for a four-Test series starting on October 9 and added that speedster Brett Lee will be the 'trump card' for the visitors. ''It's going to be a very tough series. Like any India-Australia series. We'll see a tight contest. We expect to see some good bowling from both the teams,'' said Buchanan, who is currently the coach of the Kolkata IPL team. ''But Lee, having known the sub-continent well, we'll have to have an effective bowler on these wickets,'' Buchanan who is on a two-day trip to scout budding talents for the Kolkata Knight Riders told mediapersons. The 55-year-old Australian added that a lot will depend on how the top order batsmen perform against the opposition bowlers and that could well decide the result of the matches. ''The real crux of the series will be how the top order negotiates the opposition bowlers. That will be crucial in determining the result of the match,'' Buchanan said. — UNI

Dubai
Dhoni retains top spot; India fifth: India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni retained his place at the top of the batting charts while his team continued at the fifth spot in the ICC ODI Championship table released on Friday. India had started the recently concluded Sri Lankan series at fourth place on 112 ratings points and finished the tournament in fifth place at 113 points. However, rain at Cardiff denied England to sweep the series and also the chance to move ahead of the second-placed Proteas in the rankings. Australia is still the clear leader of the table with 130 points. In the batting chart, Michael Hussey is up two places to second position ahead of the injured duo of Australian skipper Ricky Ponting and South African captain Graeme Smith. Hussey now sits just a single place behind number-one ODI batsman Mahendra Singh Dhoni. — UNI

Nalchik (Russia)
Humpy held by Trang: Grandmaster Koneru Humpy played out an easy draw with black against Hoang Thanh Trang of Hungary in the first game of the pre-quarter finals of the World Women's Chess Championship here. Coming in to the round of 16 following a rest after she received a bye in the second round, the top-rated Indian did not have to stress herself after an insipid show by Trang, who was apparently happy with the result. It was a Trompowsky opening by Trang that led to a level position soon after the opening and pieces got traded at regular intervals. The queens got off the board on move 17 and thereafter there was little doubt about the outcome of the game. Further exchanges ensued in quick time before the players reached a rook and pawns endgame. The peace was signed after 31 moves. The other Indian in fray, junior girls' world champion D Harika drew her third-round game with Lilit Mkrtchian of Armenia. — Agency

Sydney
Australia's Molik quits: Australia's Alicia Molik, winner of five WTA singles titles and an Olympic bronze medallist, has announced her retirement from tennis. Molik, one of the biggest servers in women's tennis, said she was quitting at the age of 27, after injuries and a debilitating inner ear infection that forced her off the court for almost a year. Although Molik recovered from the infection, she was never able to regain the peak form that saw her ranked number eight in the world in 2005, after a quarter final appearance at the Australian Open. Fairfax Newspapers reported today that recent leg and arm injuries convinced the tall right-hander that it was time to retire. "It's tiring and it's very draining but I guess it's a number of things culminating," said Molik from the state of South Australia. "I've spent a lot of time thinking. "I think I'm still young enough to focus my energies on something that I feel is again challenging." — AFP