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Fed on course, Ana hobbles out
Roger Federer plays a shot against Robin Soderling on Monday. — AFP
West Indies level series in style
Shahbad girls do India proud
T20 Win: A ‘rich’ experience for
Pak players
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Sushil Kumar lifts gold
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Brazil rally to beat US in final
Dhruv Pandove Trophy
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Fed on course, Ana hobbles out
London, June 29
Federer will play Spanish seventh seed Fernando Verdasco or Ivo Karlovic, the Croatian 22nd seed, for a place in the semifinals.
Former French Open champion Ana Ivanovic hobbled out of the championships in tears on Monday after conceding her fourth-round match against defending champion Venus Williams. The 13th-seeded Serbian, who had been swept aside 6-1 in 30 minutes in the first set, called for the trainer in the first game of the second. While defending champion Williams sat impassively in her chair with a towel wrapped around her shoulders, Ivanovic was treated on the grass with the trainer flexing her left leg. Her thigh was then bandaged and after a 10-minute break and three Mexican waves from the spectators on Court One, the match resumed. Ivanovic served out the game but was struggling badly and signalled to the umpire that she was unable to carry on. “I felt a sharp pain in my inner thigh and I couldn’t stand,” Ivanovic told a news conference. “Over the past few days I have felt muscle tightness but that's normal after playing so much on grass.”
Williams, bidding to become the third woman in the open era after Martina Navratilova and Steffi Graf to win three women’s singles titles in a row, was slow to find her range after electing to serve in the opening game on Court One. She trailed 15-40 after Ivanovic successfully challenged a line call but struck back to hold serve and sweep through the set with a battery of thunderous ground strokes. “She (Ivanovic) didn’t have a lot of opportunities in that first set and not because she wasn’t playing well,” Williams said. “I think I was just on top of the ball.” Williams, who played with tape on her left leg above and below the knee, said she was doing everything possible to keep mobile. “This is Wimbledon, it doesn’t matter how much pain I'm in,” she said. “I’m going to keep playing.” Unseeded German Sabine Lisicki added Danish ninth seed Caroline Wozniacki to her list of Wimbledon scalps this year with a 6-4 6-4 victory in the fourth round on Monday. Lisicki, the world number 41 who accounted for French Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova in the third round, played with more consistency and poise to come through in an hour and 19 minutes on Court Four. — Reuters
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West Indies level series in style
Kingston, June 29 Earlier, electing to bat first, Dhoni waged a lonely battle as India succumbed to a batting collapse against a ferocious pace attack lead by West Indies pacer Ravi Rampaul. Rampaul produced a career best four-wicket haul and combined with Jerome Taylor to rip through the top-order before joining hands with Dwayne Bravo to polish the lower order. Chasing 189 to win, West Indies got off to a rollicking start with Gayle taking the Indian attack by the scruff of its neck and Morton playing initially the second fiddle. Gayle looked dangerous as he punished the bowlers at will. Ashish Nehra faced his wrath in the 8th over when he clobbered the left-handed pacer out of the park and followed it up with a couple of boundaries to amass 16 runs. Gayle also slog sweeped Harbhajan Singh for a six in the 15th over to bring up the hundred before his blitzkrieg innings was brought to an end by a stunning catch by Gautam Ghambir at long off in the next over. Sarwan then added 15 runs before being deceived by Rohit as Dhoni completed an easy stumping. However, Morton chugged along nicely and with Chanderpaul made sure there were no more hiccups as West Indies cruised to 192 for two. Earlier, Dhoni struck six boundaries and a couple of sixes in his innings and stitched together a record 101-run partnership for the ninth wicket with RP Singh to lead India’s recovery after they were reduced to 82 for eight in 22 overs. Dhoni’s decision to bat first backfired as India lost half their side inside 15 overs with three batsmen going for a duck. The visitors had a pathetic start losing Dinesh Karthik (4), Gautam Gambhir (0) and Rohit Sharma (0) - to be left tottering at eight for three in 1.4 overs. Playing his first match in the tournament, pacer Ravi Rampaul struck twice in his first over but it was his partner Jerome Taylor who drew first blood removing Karthik in the fifth ball of the innings. Karthik’s outside edge found Ramdin, while a lame poke at an outside delivery brought Gambhir’s demise. Rohit also followed suit when his edge flew to Ramdin, who popped it to Runako Morton at second slip. Yuvraj and Dhoni then steadied the ship to take India across the fifty in 11 overs. —
PTI Scoreboard Karthik c Ramdin b Taylor 4 (5) Gambhir c Ramdin b Rampaul 0 (2) Rohit c Morton b Rampaul 0 (2) Yuvraj c Ramdin b Taylor 35 (33) Dhoni b Taylor 95 (130)
Yusuf c Gayle b D Bravo 0 (9) Jadeja c Ramdin b Rampaul 7 (12) Harbhajan c Ramdin b D Bravo 7 (14) Praveen c Gayle b Rampaul 1 (5) RP Singh c Benn b D Bravo 23 (75) Nehra not out 0 (3) Extras: (lb 4, w 12) 16 West Indies Gayle c Gambhir b Rohit 64 (46) Morton not out 85 (102) Sarwan st Dhoni bRohit 15 (17) Chanderpaul not out 18 (41) Extras (lb 5, w 4, nb 1) 10 |
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Shahbad girls do India proud
Chandigarh/Shahbad, June 29 India, the only unbeaten team in the eight-nation event, beat Belgium 6-3 in the final after defeating the same rivals 5-3 in the earlier round robin league. Shahbad girls also bagged all the individual honours that India won in the tournament. Rani Rampal, the babe of the team, was not only adjudged the top scorer but also crowned as youngest player of the championship. Her senior and skipper Surinder Kaur got the player of the championship award. A mere coincidence as it may be that in April last year, when the Indian team left to play in the Olympic Qualifier at the same venue, it had seven Shahbad girls in it. Unfortunately, after defeats at hands of the Netherlands Antilles and Belgium in the preliminary league matches, India could not make it to the 2008 Beijing Olympic games. Now, Indians took a sweet revenge from the Belgians defeating them twice in the tournament. After silver in the 2006 Commonwealth games, India has taken two years to climb to the top of the podium in an international tournament. Those who follow Indian hockey closely must be aware of the Shah Rukh Khan’s film, “Chak de…” Initially, the film producer wanted to include Shahbad girls in his cast. But the girls and their coach, Baldev Singh, refused to be lured by the glamour of the Bollywood saying it would affect their training schedule. Some of the outstanding current players from Shahbad are Surinder Kaur, Suman Bala, Rajwinder Kaur, Gagandeep Kaur, Surinder Kaur, Jasjeet Kaur, Ritu Rani and Rani Devi Rampal and Joydeep kaur. Shahbad enjoys the distinction of the only town in the world that has produced 26 international players in less than 15 years. And true to traditions of Indian hockey, most of the women players come from lower middle and middle class families. Shahbad does not have industry and is basically inhabited by the people who migrated from Pakistan during the partition of India and Pakistan in 1947. It now, however, boasts of an astro-turf where Baldev and his girls train day in and out without a break. Compared to men’s hockey, India’s track record in women’s’ hockey is gradually becoming impressive. The only time Indian women played in Olympics was in Moscow in 1980 where the team, led by Rupa Saini, missed a bronze medal by a whisker. Incidentally, Rupa Saini is now the observer of the union ministry of sports for women’s hockey. “We can make it in women’s hockey,” says Baldev Singh, the coach credited with bringing this sleepy town on the international hockey arena. “I am confident that my girls, including Rani Rampal, the youngest at 15, and a centre forward on view in contemporary women’s hockey, would restore laurels that the men’s hockey team enjoyed for a number of years.” In fact, women’s team has been doing well. It won 1982 Asian Games in Delhi, gold in 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester and a silver in 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth games and bronze in Doha Asian games. But these recent laurels apart, neither the Shahbad girls nor their coach have been considered qualified enough to be conferred national sports awards like Arjuna and Dronacharya given in recognition of outstanding performance of players and coaches, respectively. |
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T20 Win: A ‘rich’ experience for
Pak players
Each member of the Pakistan cricket team that won the T 20 World Cup at Lord’s in England last week is richer by at least Rs 10 million as they continue to accumulate cash prizes from different sources. According to rough estimates some senior members like skipper Younus Khan and Shahid Afridi have reaped even higher amounts, crossing the 15 million mark. The Pakistani heroes are expected to share around Rs four to five million each; the total prize money the cup carried, apart from the cash awarded for winning each match, man of match awards, climbing up the ladder to the Super Eights and then onward to semifinals and the final. “Though actual amount of the title money is yet to be disbursed by the International Cricket Council (ICC), the team is likely to get around $9.75 million,” according to an official of the Pakistan Cricket Board. At home the largest amount of Rs 2.5 million rupees was announced for each player by the PCB at a reception hosted by Speaker of the National Assembly Fehmida Mirza. President Asif Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani announced a reward of Rs 10 million for each member of the team, besides special rewards for Younus and Afridi. Banks and other organisations, with which various players are affiliated also gave generous amounts to honour their players. Younus, Afridi and Umar Gul also received special boost in their service career.
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Brazil rally to beat US in final
Johannesburg, June 29 But it was all looking good for the Americans, playing in the men’s final of a FIFA tournament for the first time, in the first half when Clint Dempsey and Landon Donovan gave the team a 2-0 halftime lead. Brazil really did look like a beaten team in the first 45 minutes, creating little and being constantly stymied by the United States defense and goalkeeper Tim Howard. During that time, the American attack was stretching the nervous-looking Brazil defense, with Donovan working hard to give his team several scoring chances. Although that quality play managed to give the Americans a hefty lead, Brazil was not about to let yet another title slip by. Luis Fabiano started the comeback in the 46th minute. The striker collected a pass from Ramires before turning and shooting past defender Jay DeMerit for his fourth goal of the tournament. He added a tournament-leading fifth to equalize in the 74th, heading in a rebound after Kaka’s cross was kicked against the crossbar by Robinho. Lucio then delivered the decisive goal in the 84th, heading a corner from Elano past Howard. — AP
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Dhruv Pandove Trophy
Chandigarh, June 29 Brief Scores: Chandigarh: 434 for 8 in 95 overs (Manan Vohra 102, Naveen Dhiman 94, Rahul Kanojia 5/139, Amandeep Bawa 2/91). Amritsar: 257 all out in 94.2 overs (Gagandeep Singh 51, Mohit Handa 66, Anshul Tripathi 6/116, Rahul Chara 3/87). Muktsar: 167 all out in 52.5 overs (Harjit Singh 63, Harjot Singh 38, Baltej Singh 6/59 and Rahul Singla 2/36.) Ludhiana: 342 for 6 declared in 73 overs (Akhil Aggarwar 201*, Ashish Kumar 40; Harjot Singh 2/24 and Kashish 2/27.) Muktsar 2nd innings 102 all out (Mahavir 23, Abhinandan 23, Baltej 2/16, Jaskaran Singh Sidhu 5/12, Abhishek Talwar 2/10). Mohali: 361 for 8 in 95 overs (Sachin Sohal 133, Kanwar 106, Arjun Kumar 3/123, Gurpreet Singh 2 for 63). Ropar 345 all out in 93.5 overs (Price Pannu 105, Arjun Kumar 62, Manpreet Singh 55, Bhanu Pratap 3/65, Ankit Wadhawan 3/81, Sohrab Dhaliwal 2/76). Jalandhar: 384 for 9 in 95 overs (Abhishek Gupta 193, Rahul Vij 96, Robin Dhillon 3/63, Bhavish Goel 3/150). Patiala: 198 all out in 70.2 overs (Robin Dhillon 53, Jiwanjot 31, Yogesh 4/65, Robin Thapar 3/47).
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Second seed Roger Federer continued to scythe through the men's draw with a 6-4 7-6 7-6 fourth-round victory over Sweden's Robin Soderling on Monday.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s defiant 95 went in vain as India suffered a humiliating eight-wicket defeat at the hands of an inspired West Indies in the lopsided second cricket one-day international here on Sunday. After dismissing the visitors for a modest 188 in 48.2 overs, the Caribbean team rode on openers Chris Gayle (64) and Runako Morton (85) to overhaul the target in 34.1 overs and level the four match series 1-1.
Johannesburg, June 29
Second seed Roger Federer continued to scythe through the men's draw with a 6-4 7-6 7-6 fourth-round victory over Sweden's Robin Soderling on Monday. Federer beat Soderling in the French Open final earlier this month and the Swede had been expected to give the five-time champion his first test of the fortnight, but the Swiss maestro never looked flustered as he booked his quarter-final berth.
Federer took the opening set 6-4 courtesy of the only break of the match and wrapped up the second 7-5 in the tiebreak. He won the third, again 7-5 in the breaker, when the Swede guided a backhand return wide.
She said she would be seeing a doctor later in the day to find out exactly what the injury was. Ivanovic's decision to quit only anticipated the inevitable against a relentlessly aggressive Williams who will now play Polish 11th seed Agnieszka Radwanska for a place in the semifinals. 
NEW DELHI