 |
|
|
Punjab Gold Cup
Tobias rescues Germany
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Bhupathi-Sania claim maiden Grand Slam crown India's Mahesh Bhupathi and Sania Mirza celebrate winning the mixed doubles final match against Israel's Andy Ram and France's Nathalie Dechy at the Australian Open in Melbourne on Sunday. — Reuters
Cheers for Nadal, tears for Federer
Dhoni warns against complacency
Duleep Trophy semifinal
Pak not to host Champions Trophy
Hope floats for IPL matches in Jaipur
Kiwis pip Aussies in a thriller
|
|
Punjab Gold Cup
Chandigarh, February 1 Irrespective of the result, the Indians deserve credit for holding the European champions, who were off to a convincing start defeating Olympic champions Germany yesterday. In a match of changing fortunes, which saw suspense hanging till the very last, it was Holland who established an early domination. Their strikers were in the groove early on. A timely interception inside the striking circle by Sandeep Singh, clearing the ball to safety in the 10th minute of the game, meant that scoreboard remained blank. The Indians tried to regroup. An energetic Shivender Singh, who had a brilliant day, unfortunately, had the green card flashed by the umpire as he attempted to forge a move near the rival goalpost. Holland gained an early lead when Rob Reckers scored off a reverse-flick after the danger was sought to be averted by Sandeep Singh, who intercepted a sudden attack on the Indian citadel. The ball remained inside the scoring area and Reckers showed enough agility to sound the board. Stung by the reverse, the Indians mounted an offensive. Tushar Khandekar unleashed a powerful stroke which, however, hit the goalpost. Another move was foiled with timely clearance by the rival defenders. Indians looked a bit rusty and failed in tapping the ball on a couple of ocassions. A cool Laurance Docherty made it 2-0 for Holland off a penalty stroke. The Indian desperation to come back in the game bore fruit as a move by Prabhjot Singh resulted in nippy Shivender thudding one in the rival citadel as India opened their account. Veteran Prabhjot sent the week-end crowd into delirium when he, dodging past the rival defenders, struck home to draw level for India immediately thereafter. The Sunday holiday crowd had barely settled down when Tushar struck this time as India forged ahead by 3-2. India had a golden opportunity to consolidate the lead but it went abegging as skipper Sandeep Singh shot wide when a penalty corner was converted into a penalty stroke after the first half. Holland drew level (3-3) against the run of play, when skipper Timme Hoyng stroke home after they were awarded a penalty corner. Striker V S Vinay wasted no time again giving India lead when he scored off a Tushar pass near the goalpost. India tenaciously endeavoured hard to maintain the lead. But hard-working rival defenders forced a penalty corner towards the fag end of the match and Jan-Derikk again drew level for Holland. India 4 Holland 4 |
|
Tobias rescues Germany
Chandigarh, February 1 The game shot into action in the fourth minute as New Zealand scored off a penalty stroke. Stephenson’s thundering shot, struck flat and low, hit the back of the net putting the Black Sticks into the lead. The Kiwis kept up the domination and Germany were somewhat haggard, probably from the drubbing last night, and were unable to check the runs of the Kiwi forwards. In the 14th minute the Germans were awarded their second penalty corner and this time, after feigning a pass, Christoph Menke took a shot, but Pontifex’s evasive action meant the citadel was not breached. But the ball landed in the path of Muller, who fired another shot, but the Kiwi custodian was at his miserly best. At half time, the Kiwis went in with the lead. The teams started the second half with New Zealand dominating possession and making constant forays into the German 16-yard box. In the 43rd minute, in almost comical fashion, the German keeper gifted the Kiwis their second goal. Nicholas Wilson shot from outside the 16-yard box and Nicholas jumped to make way for the ball to go through. But Hilton outpaced his marker and dived to guide the ball into the goal. Gemany struck back immediately with Tobias’ thundering shot in the 47th minute off a penalty corner. Just four minutes before time it was Tobias again, again off a penalty corner, who brought his team level with a clean shot into the right corner of the goal, ensuring that his team had some smiles apart from a point to show. New Zealand’s goal keeper Kyle Pontifex was declared Man of the match. New Zealand 2 Germany 2 |
|
Bhupathi-Sania claim maiden Grand Slam crown
Melbourne, February 1 The Indian wild card pair proved too good for the Israeli-French duo, thrashing them 6-3 6-1 in 55 minutes. The win also gave Bhupathi his 11th Grand Slam title -- seventh in mixed doubles. This was also Bhupathi's second mixed doubles title here, following his 2006 triumph with Martina Hingis. For Sania, it was her maiden Grand Slam title. They also got richer by $ 1,34,460 (Australian). In the summit clash, Bhupathi was solid with his service and displayed great hands at the net throughout the match. Sania complemented him with powerful forehands. The Indians started the match on a confident note, breaking Ram in the opening game and then Bhupathi holding his serve to go 2-0 up. They, however, could not hold on to their lead for long as Mirza lost her serve in the fourth game to hand Ram-Dechy duo the opportunity to level the scores at 2-2. Bhupathi and Sania were soon in their elements, breaking Dechy and going 4-3 up. Subsequently, Sania held her serve and then rounded off the set with an immaculate forehand volley on Ram's serve. Despite the comforting lead, the Indians showed no mercy to Ram and Dechy in the second set and breezed their way to the title. The only moment when they looked under some sort of pressure was in the third game of the second set but Sania weathered Ram's full-blooded shots to held her serve. The Indians broke their opponents twice in the second set - first Dechy in the fourth game and then Ram in the sixth game - to go up 5-1. Sania then rounded off the encounter on her service game to pocket the title. — PTI
|
|
Cheers for Nadal, tears for Federer
Melbourne, February 1 “God, it’s killing me,” Federer sobbed during the presentation ceremony. “Rafa congrats, you played incredible, you deserve it man. (You) played another fantastic final.” Nadal offered a consoling word to his great rival after receiving the winner’s trophy and a cheque for $1.28 million from the only person to have twice completed the Grand Slam. “For me to receive this trophy from Rod Laver is a dream for me," Nadal said. "It was an amazing two weeks for me.” “Roger, sorry for today. I really know how you feel right now. It’s really tough (but) remember you are a great champion, one of the best in history and you have proved that.” Sunday’s final at Melbourne Park lived up to all expectations as the two best players of their generation slugged it out for almost 4-½ hours in a classic encounter packed with magical shotmaking and intense drama. The momentum swung back and forth throughout before Nadal struck the killer blow. — Reuters
|
|
Dhoni warns against complacency
Colombo, February 1 Dhoni did not feel the job was done yet despite his team enjoying a 2-0 lead and said he expects the same level of commitment from all the members of the team in the remaining three matches. "It was tough and we did not have such a game for a long time. We have to be careful as such wins often make us relaxed a bit. We should remember that the series is yet to be won. We want to win the series and for that each of us have to give 100 per cent," Dhoni said after his side's 15-run victory here yesterday. Although India is just a win away from pocketing the series, he said his team would have to make improvements in some departments of the game in the coming matches. "Today's game was a tough one during which we have committed some mistakes which we would like to rectify before going for the next match," he said. "We had couple of run outs. Besides, the bowlers should maintain line and length in the slog overs," he added. An unflappable Dhoni also admitted that he lost his cool when he found his bowlers clueless during the power plays in the middle of the Lankan innings. "I lost my cool especially when bowlers got confused with the power plays. I was not myself especially in the second power play," he said. Sri Lankan skipper Mahela Jayawardene conceded that India played better cricket and were the deserving winners. "They (Indians) played better cricket today. It was a good game. They deserve to win. We have also some positives to take. We fought back well. It was a bit too much for Kandamby to finish the match. Myself and Kapugedera should have been there," he said. "We gave way too many runs when we were in control. We have to minimise mistakes and raise our game in the remaining matches," Jayawardene added. — PTI
|
|
Duleep Trophy semifinal
Rajkot, February 1 South Zone scored a mammoth 548 runs in the first innings and then bundled out North Zone for 300 taking a huge lead of 248 runs but South Zone skipper S Badrinath did not ask North Zone to follow on and rather chose to bat again. In their second essay, South Zone declared at their overnight score of 319 and set a massive winning target of 568 runs for the rivals and took just 42.3 overs to thrash North on the final day. Only Shikhar Dhavan (61 runs, 100b, 9X4), Amit Mishra (46 runs, 74b, 6X4, 1X6) and skipper Akash Chopra (27 runs, 50b, 5X4) could reach double figures, while Virat Kohli and Rajat Bhatia did not bat because of injures. For South Zone, Laxmipathy Balaji and M Suresh shared three wicket each giving away 20 and 48 runs respectively. Scoreboard South Zone (Ist Innings): 548 North Zone (Ist Innings): 300 South Zone (IInd Innings): Dec for 3: 319 North Zone (IInd Innings): R Deewan C Pai B Balaji 00 S Dhavan C Karthik B Suresh 61 A Chopra C Karthik B Suresh 27 Sunny Sohal run out 00 Uday Kaul lbw R Ashwin 01 Amit Mishra C R Prem(sub) B Suresh 46 M Gony C Dravid B Balaji 01 V Malik C and B Balaji 04 P Awana Not Out 04 V Kohli Did not bat Rajat Bhatia did not bat Extras: (lb-9, nb-3): 12 Total: (For 8 wickets in 42.3 overs): 156 Fall of Wickets: 1-0, 2-70, 3-70, 4-72, 5-122, 6-123, 7-128, 8-156. Bowling: L Balaji 10-5-20-3, V Kumar 6-2-22-0, R Ashwin 13-2-49-1, S Babdekar 0.5-0-4-0, S Badrinath 1.1-0-4-0, M Suresh 11.3-1-48-3. — PTI
|
|
Pak not to host Champions Trophy
Perth, February 1 The new venue for the eight-team event would be decided by the ICC before its next scheduled meeting in April, the ICC said after the final day of its two-day Board meeting here. However, Pakistan would "retain the revenue due for hosting the tournament" which is scheduled to be held in September-October this year. Pakistan would be disappointed to have lost the chance to host the event which was first scheduled to be held in October last year but had to be postponed due to the volatile situation in the country. "The (ICC) Board accepted that, with several members expressing reservations about touring Pakistan, it would be prudent to relocate the event, scheduled for September-October, from that country," an ICC statement said. — PTI |
|
Hope floats for IPL matches in Jaipur
Jaipur, February 1 IPL chairman Lalit Modi also made a positive statement about the IPL matches, which till yesterday appeared bleak. But the mention of Jodhpur as venue by the CM made his intention clear. Ever since Gehlot has taken over as CM, there was speculation Jodhpur would become centre of cricketing interest. Besides Gehlot hailing from Jodhpur, the cricket stadium in that city is bigger and better than Jaipur. Speaking to mediapersons at a special tea party hoisted by him, Gehlot said he wasn’t personally against anyone, “However, as there were gross allegations of corruption, we are duty bound to inquire into it. We had made promise of investigation in our election manifesto also.” Lalit Modi, who also addressed media in the afternoon said even though he had received threats of arrest or injuries, he dared to come to the state as he won’t let his good work go down the drain. He said he had come to stay here and organise cricket as it was done in the past and had no issues with Gehlot government. “Cricket bodies across the nation work with different government. The Gehlot government has not done anything directly against me.”
|
|
Kiwis pip Aussies in a thriller Perth, February 1 Chasing a victory target of 182, New Zealand huffed and puffed before Ross Taylor propped them up. Needing five runs off the last over, the Kiwis levelled the score in the fifth ball before captain Daniel Vettori hit the winning run off the last delivery from Bracken. Earlier, after Australia captain Ricky Ponting had decided to bat first, Kiwi spearhead Kyle Mills and his bowling colleagues skittled out the hosts for 181 in 48.4 overs. — PTI Scoreboard
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
Chandigarh, February 1
Melbourne, February 1
Melbourne, February 1
