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Fed survives, Jankovic falls
Marion Bartoli celebrates after beating Jelena Jankovic in Melbourne on Sunday. — Reuters
Symmo says sorry
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English players hold back contracts
Bhajji gets Padma Shri
South sail into semifinals
Sports policy soon, says Sukhbir
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The 25-year-old, whose split from domineering father Damir and subsequent struggle with severe depression and injuries was played out in front of the world's media, wiped tears from her eyes after her 7-5, 5-7, 8-6 win over Russian Alisa Kleybanova.
There were no good signs for Jankovic who was blown off court by French typhoon Marion Bartoli 6-1, 6-4. Jankovic's tough day was a jubilant one for Bartoli. “I knew I could beat Jelena on a good day, it was just a matter of executing,” she told reporters. Bartoli next plays Vera Zvonareva after the seventh seed beat her 10th-seeded fellow Russian Nadia Petrova 7-5, 6-4. Bartoli’s Gallic good fortune almost continued on centre court when France’s Alize Cornet was poised for victory over third seeded Russian Dinara Safina, but Cornet melted in the sun. She twice failed to serve out the match and squandered two match points in the 10th game as Safina turned up the heat to snatch victory. Safina will play Dokic in the quarter-finals on Tuesday. Men’s seventh seed Andy Roddick needed nobody to knock sense into him, with the American in superb form as he beat Tommy Robredo 7-5, 6-1, 6-3. Roddick, who has only conceded one set to Robredo in their 10 meetings, overwhelmed him again and his quarter-final opponent on Tuesday will be either defending champion Novak Djokovic or 2006 runner-up Marcos Baghdatis. Eighth seed Juan Martin del Potro clinched the first of the men’s quarter-final spots with a 5-7, 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 victory over Croatia's Marin Cilic. The Argentine will next play Federer. — Reuters Sania-Bhupathi in q-finals, Paes-Black advance
India had a fruitful day at the Australian Open as Sania Mirza and Mahesh Bhupathi stormed into the quarterfinals while top seeds Leander Paes and Zimbabwean Cara Black advanced to the second round of the mixed doubles here today. However, among juniors, only Yuki Bhambri found success, that too after a lot of hard work, while Ronak Manuja and Rushmi Teltumbde were knocked out in the first round. The unseeded Sania-Bhupathi pair thrashed the Australian duo of Anastasia Rodionova and Stephen Huss 6-1 6-2 in 54 minutes. The Indian players were ruthless and broke their rivals twice in each set and saved seven break points they faced in the match. The top seeded Paes-Black pair overcame a stiff challenge from Serbian duo of Anna-Lena Groenefeld and Nenad Zimonjic to carve out a 6-4 4-6 10-7 win in the first round. Both the pairs broke each other thrice but Paes-Black, the winners of the US Open last year, eventually prevailed in the deciding super-tie breaker to move to the next level. Meanwhile, in the boys event, top seed Yuki survived early scares to pull off the marathon opener against unseeded German Sanchez Delfin of Mexico 4-6 6-1 8-6. However, it was curtains for Ronak Manuja, who lost 6-7 (3) 6-1 11-13 to local Jordan Szabo. In the girls event, Rushmi Teltumbde also lost her first round match 2-6 4-6 to Nicha Lertpitaksinchai of Thailand. The other two Indian boys competing are Sudarwa Sitaram and Kaza Vinayak Sharma.
— PTI |
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Attack on McCullum
Melbourne, January 25 Symonds made the comments live on air on radio station network 'Triple M' on Friday while taking a swipe at the NSW for signing McCullum at the expense of a local player for the KFC Big Bash Twenty20 final against Victoria. "They're trying to use him (McCullum) as the out because he's a Kiwi. Yep, we love to hate them, but he's the lump of s..., sorry, lump of cow dirt, that people are thinking of," he had told the show hosts. Reports said Symonds, whose latest misadventure being the fourth such incident since last August, was out drinking at a pub prior to the six-minute radio interview but the apology through his management today, however, referred mainly to McCullum but not the drinking. "I wish to sincerely apologise to Brendon McCullum for my comments during the radio interview with Roy and HG on Friday afternoon," the statement read. "My intentions for this interview were light-hearted and my comments no way reflect the respect that I have for McCullum both on and off the field. "I understand how this has been received differently to the way in which I intended to express myself and for that I am extremely sorry. I wish Brendon nothing but success in his cricket and for the future." CA General Manager of public affairs Peter Young said Chief Executive Michael Brown would on Tuesday listen to the audio file of Symonds radio rant and decide if explanation should be sought from the all-rounder. "I've heard the interview. I've sent the audio file to Michael Brown. He will listen to the tape on Tuesday and determine if anything needs to be done," said Young. — PTI Decision on possible action tomorrow
Brisbane: Symonds must wait until Tuesday to learn the extent of possible disciplinary action resulting from his appearance with comedy duo Roy and HG on radio station Triple M on Friday. He is likely to deny his behaviour was inappropriate, reports the Sydney Morning Herald. CA's acting chief executive Michael Brown will listen to the interview today. He will want to know the reasons for Symonds' occasionally rambling speech as much as for its content. Brown will consult CA boss James Sutherland, who is on leave, before questioning Symonds. In Symonds' favour is the fact that the Roy and HG show is famously tongue-in-cheek, and the Test all rounder could be cut some slack for trying to match their mood. The audio file entered the public domain when Triple M posted it on its website yesterday. Asked if Symonds sounded intoxicated, CA spokesman Peter Brown said: "A lot of media have made that comment today. I'm not going to say anything that could interfere with the due process." Symonds' relationship with CA has been strained for the past 12 months. Suspended from the Australian team for going fishing instead of attending a team meeting last year, he was expected to be on his best behaviour in the final stages of his career. He is trying to recover from a knee injury and return to the Australian team.
— ANI |
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English players hold back contracts
London, January 25 England and Wales Cricket Board has cleared the way for its players to take part in this year's Indian Premier League by granting a 21-day window which paved the way for the England cricketers to sign their central contracts. But now it has come out that the players and the ECB still have issues to settle, and the IPL continues to offer a potentially damaging distraction as the team prepare for the opening Test in the West Indies, according to a report. Modi has said he wanted a two-year commitment from the players who are hoping to be bought in next month's auction. Sean Morris, chief executive of Professional Cricketers' Association, said the players wanted a commitment from the ECB which the Board cannot do because of clash of schedules. ECB, however, are in a difficult position to offer a commitment because the dates for the 2010 IPL have not been released. If the 2010 IPL is played in its usual slot in April-May it will clash with World Twenty20 in the Caribbean and England's home Test series against Bangladesh. "It is up to ECB and BCCI to organise fixtures going forward that leave a window for IPL so there is not a clash for 2010," Morris was quoted as saying by 'Telegraph Sport'. — PTI
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New Delhi, January 25 Besides Abhinav and Dhoni, off-spinner Harbhajan Singh, world billiards champion Pankaj Advani and former hockey player Balbir Singh Khullar were among Padma awardees. The 26-year-old Abhinav, who won gold in the men's 10-meter air rifle event at the Beijing Games, became the first-ever Indian to achieve the feat in 108-year history of India in Olympics. Abhinav, also the winner of Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna - the country's highest sporting honour way back in 2002, is among 30 others from all walks of life to win the Padma Bhushan. Dhoni and Harbhajan were honoured for their exploits at the highest level in the sport of cricket. Advani has won the world title in Billiards for three times besides being former snooker champion. Dhoni and Advani have also won the Khel Ratna in 2008 and 2006 respectively. Former hockey player Balbir Singh Khullar were among the 93 eminent personalities named for Padma Shri. — PTI
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Duleep Trophy
Bangalore, January 25 Resuming at overnight 345 for 6, South Zone were all out for 377 to set Central 381 for victory on the fourth and final day of the match at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. Central ended up with 255 for 9 in 67.4 overs with leg-spinner M Suresh taking six wickets and Robin Uthappa returning figures of 3 for 26. Central started well with openers Tanmay Srivastava (44) and Shivakant Shukla (31) adding 71 runs, but wrecker-in-chief Suresh collected three wickets in quick succession as South took control of proceedings. Suresh struck with his first ball to get rid of Srivastava before lunch and on resumption, dismissed Yere Goud and Shukla in quick succession. With the openers and Goud returning to the pavilion, Kaif and Parvinder Singh steadied the innings, but Suresh triggered another collapse and Central lost three wickets for 29 to find themselves reeling at 184 for 6. At tea, Central Zone, who had just a little over two sessions to chase 381, reached 207 for 6 with Piyush Chawla giving Kaif company. Chawla contributed a valuable 22 in a 48-run seventh-wicket partnership with Kaif to prolong the innings, and helped prevent his team from getting bundled out. Earlier, Central's Pankaj Singh finished with 5 for 90 as South lost their overnight centurion Dinesh Kaarthick without adding anything to his overnight score of 103. He edged Umesh Yadav to Naman Ojha, who rounded off a solid performance behind the stumps with six dismissals in the innings. Pankaj removed L Balaji and S Sreesanth off successive deliveries to wrap up the innings for 377 and claim his sixth five-wicket haul in first-class cricket. —PTI Scoreboard South Zone (1st innings): 329
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Sports policy soon, says Sukhbir
Chandigarh, January 25 “All the youth need is a constructive and positive outlet. Give them good playfields, ultramodern training facilities, promise good jobs to those who excel in national and international sports competitions, both in public as well as corporate sector. “It is as a part of this strategy that Punjab has taken the lead over other States in deciding to hold four-nation double leg hockey tournament at the Sector 42 Stadium in Chandigarh from January 31 to February 9. Next year this tournament will be held at different venues in Punjab as we endeavour to have the new astroturfs installed and the facilities at the present hockey complexes upgraded to meet international specifications,” says Sukhbir. “Neglect in the State led to a drain of our outstanding hockey players, who had to look outside for jobs with Indian Airlines, Railways, banks and other organisations. The endeavour of our government will be to get them back and make them play for Punjab. “We are committed to provide excellent infrastructure of international level for select sports. We shall soon come out with our sports policy that will decide the priority sports on which the State will concentrate and produce results. Once we are able to get our youth on the playfields, battle against drugs would be half won,” adds Sukhbir Badal. “Besides hockey, the Punjab Government has decided to organise a major World Cup kabaddi tournament where the prize money would be a whopping Rs 1 crore.” He said a new Astroturf would be laid at Talwandi Sabo besides replacing the old and worn out turf at Surjit Singh Randhawa Stadium in Jalandhar. All the hockey stadia will be flood lit.
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Melbourne, January 25
Melbourne, January 25
Swiss Federer dug himself out of deep trouble against Czech Tomas Berdych, prevailing 4-6, 6-7, 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 to keep alive his hopes of a record-equalling 14th grand slam crown. “I fought as hard as I could, tried to weather the storm... he pushed me to the limit,” the second seed smiled courtside afterwards.
Sukhbir Badal has offered to train the Indian hockey team for the 2010 World Cup to be held in New Delhi. He asked secretary sports, Paramjit Singh
Aujla, to make a formal offer by sending a letter to the ad hoc committee of the Indian Hockey Confederation.The only time India won hockey World Cup was in 1975 when the Punjab government had undertaken to train the team.