Melbourne, January 31
Yuki Bhambri scripted history by becoming the first Indian to clinch the Australian Open junior singles title with an emphatic straight-sets win over German Alexandros-Ferdinandos Georgoudas at the Melbourne Park here today.

Top seed Yuki swept aside the unseeded Georgousdas 6-3, 6-1 in 57 minutes to pocket his first Grand Slam singles title, becoming the fourth Indian to do so in the process.

The other Indians in the elite list are Ramanathan Krishnan (1954 Junior Wimbledon champion), his son Ramesh Krishnan (1970 Wimbledon and French Open junior champion) and Leander Paes (1990 Junior Wimbledon and Junior US Open champion).

The Delhi boy, who lost in the semifinals here last year, was at his dominant best from the start and seemed determined to lift the title this time.

He broke his German opponent in the fourth game of the opening set to go up 3-1 and then maintained his composure to seal it in 31 minutes.

Yuki didn’t look back and demolished Georgousdas 6-1 in just 26 minutes in the second set. Yuki’s dominance in the match was evident from the 29 winners he hit as compared to his opponent’s 21.

He also converted four out of the seven break points that he earned and didn’t give away a single break point to the German.

Asked how it felt to be the first Indian junior singles' title winner here, Yuki said he wasn't aware of the fact when he stepped into the court today. — PTI

Melbourne, January 31
Serena Williams thrashed Russia's Dinara Safina 6-0, 6-3 today to win the Australian Open title and reclaim the world number one ranking.

The American raced to victory in just 59 minutes to capture her fourth singles title at Melbourne Park, after her previous wins in 2003, 2005 and 2007, and her 10th Grand Slam overall.

Williams, who last claimed the top ranking in September after triumphing at the US Open, will replace Serbia's Jelena Jankovic as the world number one when the new standings are released on Monday.

“Dinara is going to a have a great future. She was hitting so hard all I could do was just go for broke against her,” Williams said in a courtside interview. “It was all I could do today.”

Bhupathi and Knowles broke the Bryans once again in the fifth game to wrap up the opener in just 27 minutes.

However, it all went downhill for them thereafter as Bryans roared back into the match. — Reuters/PTI

Chandigarh, January 31
A dominant India were off a convincing start at the four-nation Punjab Gold Cup Hockey Tournament easing past New Zealand 2-0 at the Sector 42 hockey stadium here today.

Skipper Sandeep Singh (18th minute) and Shivender Singh (61st minute) found the net paving the way for the win.

The Cup opener was a contest in which the hosts proved a superior side. Their defenders stuck to their task, while nippy forwards kept the rivals on their toes.

Scoring once in each half and without having stretched much by New Zealand, India romped home comfortably.

A foray near the hosts’ goalpost by the rivals forwards as early as the seventh minute which was shot wide was enough to energise the Indians.

From there on, the Indians put down their heads and applied themselves to the task in all seriousness.

Excelling deep down in the defence, Sandeep unleashed a measured scoop to the right of the rival flank, which was tapped by Indian forwards.

Deepak Thakur lurking near the rival goalpost failed to connect neatly. The ball richoted off his stick and struck him hard on his cheek.

The veteran forward lay writhing in pain and was taken out on a stretcher. India were awarded a penalty corner which the hosts failed to capitalise on.

Immediately thereafter, Thushar Khandekar, who replaced Deepak, made a run near the rival citadel, but timely interception by Hayward averted the danger.

There was jubilation in the Indian camp when an unflappable Sandeep neatly struck home off a Rajpal pass sent to Arjun Halappa from the second penalty corner.

Deepak, back on the field with a heavily bandaged jaw, wove a move resulting from a Sandeep scoop, worked his way to the rival defence and let go a rasping hit to the Indian forward lurking near the goalpost, who failed to connect it well. At the end of the first half the hosts were ahead by 1-0.

From New Zealand, skipper P Burrows spearheaded a couple of purposeful moves, but inadequate finish resulted in these being fizzled out, while D Couzins’ near the goalpost made a spirited defence thwarting a couple of Indian moves.

After a dull start to the second half when the ball was largely confined to the mid field, the game suddenly came to life as an impressive Shivender, in a near-perfect finish, shot home as India went 2-0 up.

Even after enjoying the healthy lead India did not allow to slacken the pace. Rather, a couple of more inspired moves were witnessed, which however, duo to lack of proper finish, proved ineffective. Sandeep was adjudged Man of the Match.

Chandigarh, January 31
The German team, it seemed, found it hard to cope with the winter chill of Northern India as they were beaten 2-0 in the second game of the four-nation Punjab Gold Cup hockey tournament here today.

The opening exchanges were placid and the two sides took time to get into their stride. The Dutch played with a heavy midfield and dominated possession through the match.

There was little to excite the crowd as the teams could do little inside the opposition 16-yard box.

The only chance of the first half fell to the Netherlands as Hertzberger shot at the goal from close range only to find the post.

The ball was in play but Evers failed to beat the Weinhold, and shot straight at his body. At the breather neither goal had been breached.

In the second half, the Dutch picked up the tempo. The relentless prodding paid for the Dutch as in the 41st minute, Judge, on receiving a pass from Hofman, inside the 16-yard box, beat Weinhold with a controlled lob to put his side in the lead.

But the misery was to pile on for the Germans as the Netherlands got a penalty corner in the 62nd minute and this time Hertzberger was there to add the finish with a thumping shot, low left into the goal, to make it 2-0.

Germany made some attempts in the dying moments, but were out of sorts. Hertzberger was yellow carded in the 70th minute for a challenge on Muller, but the advantage came too late for Germany and the Netherlands walked away with three points. Netherlands’ Judge was declared the Man of the Match.

Colombo, January 31
India fended off a spirited challenge by Sri Lanka to snatch a thrilling 15-run victory in the second one-dayer and take a 2-0 lead in the five-match series, here today.

After posting a competitive 256 for 9, the visitors quelled Sri Lankan late fightback to stop them at 241 with four balls to spare in a pulsating floodlit encounter.

Visiting fast bowler Ishant Sharma, who took three wickets in the first match, returned figures of four for 56 from his nine overs and Zaheer Khan, Praveen Kumar and Pragyan Ojha chipping in with a wicket apiece.

Thilina Kandamby's brilliant unbeaten 93 went in vain as Indians held on to their nerves in the tense final moments to romp home at the day-nighter. With today's win, India have notched up their seventh consecutive ODI victory.

Earleir, stylish middle order batsman Yuvraj Singh struck a matured half-century to guide India to a competitive 256 for nine wickets against Sri Lanka in the second one-dayer here today.

Yuvraj top-scored with 66 off 88 balls and stitched together a 85-run fourth wicket partnership with Suresh Raina (29) to stabilise the Indian innings after the first three wickets fell within 13 overs.

Virender Sehwag (42) was his usual aggressuve self at the top of the order but the Indians were hit hard by some dubious umpiring decisions, Tendulkar and Yuvraj being at the receiving end.

Spin wizard Muttiah Muralitharan Murali, who needs two wickets to become the highest-wickettaker in the ODIs, returned empty handed and Ajantha Mendis managed only two tail-enders.

Both Yuvraj and Sachin Tendulkar (6) were ruled leg before wicket though the television replays showed that they were distinctly unlucky.

Yuvraj was ruled leg before wicket when he got on the back foot to work a Nuwan Kalusekara delivery towards square leg.

The umpire failed to spot a big inside edge onto Yuvraj's pads and, though he took some time, ended up raising his finger to leave everyone surprised and Yuvraj distraught. Yuvraj smashed seven hits to the fence and a towering six during his stint in the middle.

The visitors suffered a big jolt early in the innings when Sachin Tendulkar got a dubious leg before decision, the second time in succession.

Thereafter, Sehwag and Gambhir went on rampage but were both removed before the 10th over.

Gambhir got off to a cracking start as Lanka skipper Mahela Jayawardene took out one of the slips but the Delhi batsman's stint was cut short by Ferveez Maharoof.

Sehwag followed his Delhi team mate as he tried to score a third run off a Thilan Thushara delivery in the 13th over. Sehwag hit a superb shot towards long-on.

Murali chased the ball from mid-on and relayed it to Sanath Jayasuriya whose accurate throw to the non-striker's end got the host rid of Sehwag.

The two teams will play their next match, another day-nighter, at the same venue on February 3.

Scoreboard

India:

Sehwag run out 42

Tendulkar lbw b Kulasekara 6

Gambhir c Sangakkara b Maharoof 27

Yuvraj lbw b Kulasekara 66

Raina c Kapugedera b Dilshan 29

Dhoni c Sangakkara b Maharoof 23

Y Pathan run out 21

Zaheer c Dilshan b Mendis 17

Praveen c Jayawardene b Mendis 15

Ojha not out 0

Extras: (lb-1, w-8, nb-1): 10

Total: (for 9 wkts in 50 overs): 256

Fall of wickets: 1-13, 2-62, 3-83, 4-168, 5-180, 6-219, 7-223, 8-256, 9-256.

Bowling: Nuwan Kulasekara 9-0-61-2; Thilan Thushara 8-0-59-0; Farveez Maharoof 10-0-40-2; Ajantha Mendis 10-0-44-2, Muttiah Muralitharan 10-1-32-0; Tillakaratne Dilshan 3-0-19-1.

Sri Lanka:

Dilshan c Sharma b Zaheer 8

Jayasuriya c Ojha b Ishant 17

Sangakkara c Tendulkar b Parveen 4

Jayawardene c Pathan b Ojha 52

Kandamby not out 93

Kapugedera c Dhoni b Ishant 31

Maharoof b Ishant 7

Thushara c Pathan b Ishant 7

Muralitharan run out 3

Kulasekara run out 1

Mendis run out 0

Extras (b 4, lb 4, w 10): 18

Total (all out; 49.2 overs): 241

Fall of wickets: 1-15, 2-33, 3-36, 4-136, 5-187, 6-206, 7-228, 8-236, 9-237, 10-241.

Bowling: Zaheer 10-0-56-1, Parveen 8.2-1-22-1, Ishant 10-1-57-4, Ojha 7-0-39-1, Y Pathan 5-0-21-0, Sehwag 5-0-19-0, Raina 4-0-19-0. — PTI

Rajkot, January 31
Robin Uthappa smashed a blistering century (160) to take South Zone on the verge of Duleep Trophy final on the penultimate day of their four-day semifinal match against North Zone at Madhavrao Scindia Cricket Ground here today.

Uthappa’s run-a-ball 160 helped his side end the third day on 319 for three from 63 overs which swelled the overall lead to 567.

Earlier, in reply to South’s 548 all out, North had folded up their first innings on 300 in 71.2 overs, giving their opponents a 248-run first innings lead.

Resuming at 172 for three, North Zone overnight batsmen Sunny Sohal and Uday Kaul raised some hopes by adding 85 runs for the fourth wicket before getting separated. Kaul made 40 with seven fours off 63 balls.

Sohal, who had kept one end intact, completed his fifty off 57 balls with five fours and two sixes but was unlucky not to complete his well-deserved hundred.

Midway through the first session, Minino Fernandes of Vasco broke through the JCT defence with a sudden burst of speed, gave a parallel pass to Agnelo Colaco who despatched the ball towards the goal where goalee Karanjit failed to hold on and the ball sneaked out of his hands that gave the visitors 1-0 lead.

In the second half JCT replaced Sakatar with Amandeep. The home side restored parity in the 62nd minute.

Baljit Sahni, in a solo effort, dodged past defenders, ran into the danger zone and sent a sizzler to the goalkeeper who dived but was beaten.

For his outstanding performance, Amandeep of JCT was the Man of the Match.

Chandigarh, January 31
Punjab wants to dodge past the problem of drugs through sports. And hockey has been its top of the list sport to wean the youth away from drugs and bring them back to the playfields.

Kabaddi will follow suit and then come other sports, including football, volleyball, basketball and some individual sports.

This is the plan new Sports Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal has drawn for the state.

And his faith in sports to fight drugs has been corroborated by the response his first venture - four-nation Gold Cup Hockey - has evoked.

Missing first Olympics in 80 years has been no damper for hardcore Punjabi hockey enthusiasts for their continuous love for once national sport was evident from the way they almost filled the massive Sector 42 Hockey Stadium before the inaugural match of the double-leg four-nation Punjab Gold Cup tournament here this evening.

Interestingly, the turnout today, the first-day of the 10-day tournament, was no less than on any day of two cricket Test matches the neighbouring Mohali hosted at the PCA Stadium in the recent weeks. All indications are that sports can still turn the tables.

Hockey cannot survive without government support. From a traditional poor man’s sport, it has now become the second costliest team sport in the world today.

A synthetic pitch is a mandatory requirement for any international game of hockey.

And to lay a pitch besides a huge piece of land, a regular tube well connection with proper drain system are the supplementary requirements.

The Sector 42 Stadium, that the Punjab government chose to hold its inaugural event in absence of a single hockey stadium of international specifications sin the State, has been nothing more than a compulsive choice.

The cash-rich Chandigarh Administration uses this huge sports complex more as an administrative complex than a sporting venue.

The change rooms, umpires and judges’ rooms in the main pavilion building of the stadium are now used as offices.

It is why, the organizers had to pitch in rooms on the other side of the stadium as change rooms for the teams. Electronic scoreboards do not work.

“Next year, we will hold the matches at six different venues in Punjab,” says Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir.

The Punjab Government has some of its new sports projects cleared by the centre.

These include new ultramodern hockey stadium at Talwandi Sabo, one of Takht cities of the Sikhs, and another such complex in Taran Tarn in the Majha belt.

Incidentally, Taran Tarn is the area to which Union Minister of State for Sports Manohar Singh Gill belongs.

The GNDU hockey complex and the Surjit Singh Hockey Stadium in Jalandhar would also be upgraded and provided floodlights and facilities meeting requirements of an international tournament.

Besides, a new six-a-side synthetic surface would also be laid at Sansarpur, once hockey nursery of the country.