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Kateryna ousts
hapless Ivanovic
World Boxing Championship |
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Manohar to deal with IMG issue
Wish to play as much as I can: Sodhi
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Kateryna ousts
hapless Ivanovic
New York, September 2 Sharapova showed no signs of the shoulder tear that forced her to have surgery in October and kept her off the tour for nearly 10 months. Former No. 1 Ana Ivanovic, seeded 11th, was bundled out in the first round by 52nd-ranked Kateryna Bondarenko of Ukraine 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7). Sania Mirza’s US Open singles campaign wilted in the second round with 10th seeded Italian Flavia Pennetta routing the Indian 6-0, 6-0 in a grossly lop-sided match here today. The Indian could watch only helplessly as Pennetta blew her away, completing the 50-minute whitewash without any fuss. Sania made as many as 28 unforced errors in the 12-game match, compared to just six winners, spread equally on both sets. In the first set, Sania was broken thrice while the Indian squandered the only break point that came her way. She made 16 unforced error in the 22-minute set, four times more than Pennetta. In the second set, Sania made 12 unforced errors, twice that of Pennetta. Only twice she had a chance to break the duck but Sania wasted the game points she had on the first and fifth games. Overall, Pennetta hit 20 winners, 13 in the second set alone. Pennetta was in red hot form against her Indian opponent who has been mostly playing ITF events prior to the Grand Slam. Andy Murray led fellow former finalist Novak Djokovic into the second round of the US Open as both seeds scored emphatic wins to stake a claim to the title held for five years by Roger Federer. Murray, newly crowned number two behind the 15-time Grand Slam champion Swiss, hammered out his fourth win over Latvia’s Ernests Gulbis 7-5, 6-3, 7-5 here on Tuesday. The fourth-seeded Serb won his first-round match against Croatian Ivan Ljubicic 6-3, 6-1, 6-3. Four other seeds followed the leaders with number seven Jo-Wilfried Tsonga ousting Chase Buchanan 6-0, 6-2, 6-1 and Fernando Verdasco stopping Benjamin Becker 7-5, 6-4, 7-5. Fernando Gonzalez won an all-Chilean encounter against Nicolas Massu 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 while 16th-seeded Croatian Marin Cilic beat Ryan Sweeting of the United States 7-6 (7-2), 6-4, 7-6 (7-4). Tsonga won 7-6, 7-6 (8-6), 6-4 over Italian Fabio Fognini. Other seeds spared the drama with number four Elena Dementieva beat Camille Pin 6-1, 6-2 Jelena Jankovic dispatched Italian Roberta Vinci 6-2, 6-3. Paes-Dlouhy in second round
Indian ace Leander Paes and his Czech partner Lukas Dlouhy pulled off a hard-fought win against Romanian pair of Victor Hanescu and Gabriel Trifu 7-6 (13/11), 7-6 (7/4) in a gruelling match that lasted for 1 hr 47 minutes. —Agencies |
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World Boxing Championship
New Delhi, September 2 The 22-year-old Indian, who created a flutter last year by making the quarterfinals of Beijing Olympics, was first warned for clinching his opponent in the opening minute of the eventful bout. The second warning came in the next round when he was penalised for “pushing and downing” Anvar. The third one, that led to his disaqualification, was given in the deciding round for a right upper cut. Jitender was trailing 7-17 when the referee disqualified him. “It’s heartbreaking. It’s difficult to keep your composure once you have been warned. I am very disappointed,” Jitender said. Anvar has been Jitender’s nemesis even in the fly weight (51kg) division and had beaten him in the quarterfinals of the inaugural President’s Cup last year in June. Like Jitender, Anvar is also a Beijing Olympics quarterfinalist and jumped a division to bantam weight this year almost around the same time the Indian made the change. He beat Jitender as recently as in May during a training-cum-competition event in Kazakhstan. With Jitender’s ouster, three Indians have exited the blue-ribbon event in the very first round. Earlier, Asian champion Suranjoy Singh (51kg) and Manoj Kumar (64kg) lost close bouts to bow out of the event. — PTI
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Manohar to deal with IMG issue
Mumbai, September 2 IMG received close to Rs 43 crore for the inaugural edition of the IPL, held in 2008 and is set to receive Rs 33 crore for this year’s IPL-II staged in South Africa. “BCCI Chief Shashank Manohar has been authorised to deal with the IMG issue and report to the Board at its AGM on September 24,” BCCI vice-president Rajiv Shukla told reporters after a meeting of the IPL governing council here. Former BCCI President Sharad Pawar wrote a letter to Manohar ahead of the meeting to make it clear that the contract with IMG was approved at all “appropriate levels” during his tenure as the Board president. Pawar also questioned the BCCI on its decision to “unilaterally” terminating IMG’s services for future IPLs while also warning that the board would invite a long-drawn legal war as well as harm their public image by such actions. Shukla, also a member of the IPL governing council, said that all the IPL franchises have submitted their bills to the IPL governing council. “All the franchises have submitted their expenses incurred in South Africa during the IPL-II to the governing council. The additional cost will be considered and suitably compensated,” he said The IPL-II was staged in South Africa as its dates coincided with the Lok Sabha elections. — PTI
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Wish to play as much as I can: Sodhi
Chandigarh, September 2 Q: It’s been a long time since you played wearing a BCCI logo. How does it feel to be back? A: It’s a nice feeling to be back among the players I have been with. To be sharing a dressing room with these guys again, has been a privilege and I have always looked forward to it. Q: So do you believe that a comeback to the Ranji team, or the national team is possible now? A: I haven’t been thinking about a lot of this. I just wish to play as much as I can right now and have as many games and tournaments under my belt. Q: And any developments on the IPL front? A: Nothing right now. It is a big opportunity and a great platform for all players though. Q: Looking back, which has been your most memorable innings? A: It has to be the double hundred against Delhi in Patiala. At your home town, it just has to be considered special. Q: How often do you go back to your U-15 and U-19 World Cup wins? A: Those were two momentous days. I still get goose bumps thinking about it. Some things in life just hang in there, some corner of your mind, and make it their own. Q: Among the current players, who are you closest to? A: Harbhajan and me have shared a great time together. He has been a great support, who has been with me through and through. Also Sachin Tendulkar. Well…..Sachin is…..just Sachin. Q: Who do you think is the hardest hitting batsman in world cricket right now? A: It has to be Yuvraj and Dhoni. Both are great players who make it look simple, at times ridiculously simple. Q: Is there a moment you feel you want to change in your career? A: I guess when I injured my back in 2002. I had two stress fractures in my back, and sat out for almost two years….it has healed now, but trust me, thinking about the way things could have been, it still hurts.
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‘Formula One to focus on India’
New Delhi, September 2 Asked specifically whether the F1 race in India would go on, Ecclestone said from London, “It’s been on for a long time. There’s never been any doubt. The contract has been signed long time back.” Ecclestone, the President and CEO of Formula One Management, said that the foundation stone for the project in Greater Noida would be laid at the end of October. “We are waiting for the circuit to be constructed. The foundation stone would be laid in late October. I will be in India to lay the foundation stone,” he said. Ecclestone made light of sports minister M S Gill's view that Formula One was not a sport. “Everybody is entitled to their views. That’s the good or the bad part of democracy. If the Sports Minister doesn’t think it’s a sport, I can’t do much about it. That’s his view. The rest of the world thinks it is a sport,” Ecclestone said. Motorsports administrators in the country have reacted sharply to the Sports Minister’s views against Formula One with Force India co-owner Vijay Mallya questioning the basis of Gill’s assessment for F1 being “expensive entertainment”. Gill had insisted that it was technology and not any sporting skill that determines the outcome of Formula One races. The 2011 Indian Grand Prix has run into rough weather after the Sports Ministry denied JPSK Sports, promoter of the event in India, approval to the remittance of USD 36.5 million to Formula One Administration in UK. On how he planned to make F1 popular in India, Ecclestone said he would try to meet people and see how it can be done when he visits the country in October. “Let’s see, when I come there in October. I would meet with people and see what is the best way to move forward,” Ecclestone said. Ecclestone, a former Formula One driver himself, was impressed with Force India's second-place finish at the Belgian Grand Prix last week. “Force India should have won actually. They were unlucky. It’s good to see Vijay’s (Mallya) team doing well. He has done a good job for Force India,” he said. — PTI
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BCCI Corporate
Cricket Mohali, September 2 The match started with Revenue losing Ameya and Hiken cheaply. Wickets kept tumbling till Avik and Velaskar stuck it out with a fifth wicket stand. Avik was restrained in his innings, and rightly so as he dictated the pace of the entire innings. His calmness soon ensured that what could have been a modest total, turned into a respectable one. But apart from Velaskar and a brief stint by Ankit Sharma, Avik landed very little support. In the end a flurry of wickets and some lusty hits by Avik ensured that the score was a healthy 255 for 8. Avik, though, added some more light to a shiny day, when he completed his ton with a towering six. The ton is the first of the tournament. The ITC reply was always going to be a tricky one. A steady 61 by Mohit and 51 by Parvinder kept up the fight, till the wind, literally became too strong for the sails to handle. Clouds looming and a run rate shooting up, not to forget some stunning catches and Ajinkya Joshi’s 4 for 54 meant that ITC cracked under the pressure. Babloo ended the match with 10 of two balls, but it was just too little, and definitely too late. Brief Scores: Indian
Revenue: 255 for 8 (Avik 110*, Amit 41; Abid 2 for 51, Bhavneshwar 1 for 42). ITC: 249 for 9 (Mohit 61, Parvinder 51; Ajinkya Joshi 4/54, Avik 2 for 37). India Cements
beat BSNL Bangalore: S Badrinath and Rahul Dravid hit sparkling half-centuries to guide Indian Cements to a 25-run victory over BSNL in a rain-delayed Group D match of the BCCI Corporate Cup here tonight. Put into bat, the Dravid-led India Cements posted 253 for five in 47 overs and then returned to restrict their opponents to 228 for nine to stay in contention for a semifinal berth. BSNL, who had lost to Air India Red yesterday, crashed out of contention with their second successive defeat. The telecom men faltered early in their chase and despite a fighting 51 from Anshul Kapoor and Joginder Sharma’s 30-ball 34, BSNL never really looked in chase. Earlier, Indian Cements also struggled to get going before Badrinath and Dravid rescued them and then Suresh Kumar came up with a 42-run cameo off 40 balls to raise the tally. —
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New York, September 2
After missing last year’s US Open with a shoulder injury, former champion Maria Sharapova returned to Flushing Meadows with an impressive 6-3, 6-0 victory over Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria. Several hours after her Russian compatriot Dinara Safina went perilously close to becoming the first No. 1-seeded woman to lose in the first round of the Open, 2006 champion Sharapova gave a much stronger performance yesterday.
Chandigarh, September 2
BCCI Corporate
Cricket
