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Safina, Serena roll on
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Mallya lets go Fisi Force
World Boxing Championship
PCB withdraws case against ICC
Bollywood queues up for IPL teams
Tata-IOC match abandoned
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Safina, Serena roll on
The Russian was aided by her unseeded opponent’s 43 unforced errors. In the third round the 23-year-old Safina will meet either Tathiana Garbin of Italy or Czech Petra Kvitova. Safina, seeking her first grand slam title, needed three sets to defeat Australian wildcard Olivia Rogowska in the opening round. In another match, Nadia Petrova beat Julie Coin 6-4, 7-6 (3) and Gisela Dulko beat Alona Bondarenko of Ukraine 6-4, 6-0. Elena Dementieva crashed out 5-7, 4-6, 3-6 by Melanie Oudin of U.S whereas Sorana Cirstea of Romania beat Stephanie Dubois 6-4, 5-7, 6-4. On Wednesday, five-time defending champion Roger Federer booked a third-round US Open date with former world number one Lleyton Hewitt while six-time Grand Slam winner Rafael Nadal cruised in his opener. World number one Federer, seeking his 16th career Grand Slam title, ousted Simon Greul 6-3, 7-5, 7-5 yesterday while Nadal’s bid to complete a career Slam began with a 6-2, 6-2, 6-3 victory over Frenchman Richard Gasquet. Greul provided a somewhat grueling test for Federer, who was forced to save two set points in the 10th game before the Swiss star held, broke in the 11th game and held again for the set. Federer netted a backhand to surrender a break in the second game of the second set and trailed 0-30 in the fourth game before roaring back, taking six of the last seven games to move on after one hour and 58 minutes. Federer’s US Open unbeaten streak stretched to 37 matches as he set up a rematch of his first US Open final triumph in 2004 against Australia’s Hewitt, who defeated Argentina’s Juan Ignacio Chela 6-3, 6-3, 6-4. Argentine sixth seed Juan Martin Del Potro advanced with a 6-3, 6-3, 6-1 victory over countryman Juan Monaco. The 20-year-old French Open semi-finalist will next face Austrian Jurgen Melzer. Marat Safin concluded his Grand Slam career with a 1-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 first-round loss to Melzer. The 29-year-old Russian, a two-time Grand Slam winner, will retire at year’s end. Safin, who won the 2000 US Open and 2005 Australian Open, might play again this year, he is happy the Slam farewell tour has finally run its course. Spain’s Juan Carlos Ferrero ousted France’s Fabrice Santoro 6-4, 6-3, 6-3. It was a men’s record 69th career Slam appearance and 45th in a row for Santoro, who will retire at the end of the season. Frenchmen Gilles Simon and Gael Monfils, the ninth and 13th seeds respectively, also advanced. Monfils beat countryman Jeremy Chardy 6-1, 6-4, 6-3. Simon downed Spain’s Daniel Gimeno-Traver 6-4, 7-6 (7/3), 6-3. Meanwhile, Australian Open winners Sania Mirza and Mahesh Bhupathi will play with different partners at the mixed doubles event of the US Open here. Sania will pair with Canada’s Daniel while Bhupathi has teamed up with Liezel Huber. Sania and Nestor are unseeded while Bhupathi-Huber are top seeds. Defending champions, India’s Leander Paes and Zimbabwe’s Cara Black are second seeds.
— Agencies
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Mallya lets go Fisi Force
Force India chairman Vijay Mallya said following extensive discussions over the past 24 hours, the outfit agreed to release Fisichella with “immediate effect” from his contract to join Ferrari for the remainder of 2009 season. “Giancarlo and his management team approached me yesterday with a proposal from Ferrari. For any Italian driver, a Ferrari race seat is a long-held dream and for Giancarlo it was no exception. No one should stand in his way.” “Furthermore the agreement will secure Giancarlo’s long-term future with Ferrari and it would be incorrect to jeopardise this, particularly when Giancarlo has made such a vital contribution to Force India,” he said. He said the team would soon name Fisichella’s replacement though test driver Tonio Liuzzi is tipped for the vacant slot. Since Fisichella finished second in Belgian Grand Prix, Formula One paddock was abuzz with reports of his move to Ferrari but both the driver and Mallya himself had denied the reports, calling them ‘media rumours’. Proud to have him: Ferrari ITALY: Welcoming Giancarlo Fisichella as their new recruit, Ferrari said it expects the former Force India driver to make his mark in the remaining five races of this season. Ferrari boss Stefano Domenicali said he expects
Fisichella, who finished second in Belgian Grand Prix, to contribute to the team. “We have chosen Fisichella because we can expect him to make a valuable contribution in this final part of the season,” said
Domenicali. “Giancarlo has shown, throughout his long career that he is fast and competitive and we are therefore proud to be able to run an Italian driver in our home race,” he added.
— PTI There were reports that Force India owed money to Ferrari for using their engine last season and Fisichella’s move would wipe out the debt but Mallya insisted there was no financial consideration involved. “We would like to stress that we have not accepted any financial settlement from Ferrari. This agreement has been made in good faith and for the good of Giancarlo and the sport in general. A competitive Italian driver in a Ferrari for Monza is a positive story for Formula One, which can only help raise the sport’s profile in these difficult times,” Mallya said. “We would like to thank Giancarlo for all his help over the past one and a half seasons and for delivering us our first World Championship points last weekend. He has been an integral part of the team and we owe him a great deal for his input behind the scenes and performance out on track. We wish him all the best for the future,” he added. Mallya also dismissed suggestions that Fisichella’s exit would weaken the outfit which tasted its first Formula One points in Belgium, courtesy Fisichella’s second place finish. “For Force India, this sport is a team effort and removing one part, even a major one, will not significantly affect our performance. We are now looking forward to a strong finish to the season,” he said.
— PTI |
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World Boxing Championship
The seventh seeded Akhil went down 2-16 to become the fourth Indian to make a first-round exit from the mega-event. However, late last night, Asian silver medallist Jai Bhagwan outpunched Venezuela’s Angel Rodrigues 10-4 to bring the first cheer in the Indian camp. Akhil, who had not competed in an international event since World Cup in December last year, found himself on the backfoot in the very first round, trailing 1-4. “I ended up hurting my right wrist in first few seconds of the bout and the pain was too much to bear thereafter. I just couldn’t land a punch after that,” Akhil said. “I would consult my physio Heath Matthews from the Mittal Champions Trust to know the extent of damage but hopefully it’s not too much and I would recover quickly,” added the 27-year-old, who was operated for the injury last year. Akhil could score just one more point against his rival’s 12 in the remaining two rounds to bow out. “A long hook that he landed in the first round hurt him so badly that he couldn't move his arm,” said national coach Gurbax Singh Sandhu.
— PTI |
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PCB withdraws case against ICC
Karachi, September 3 PCB’s legal adviser Tafazzul Rizvi said the board had also started the process of withdrawing the legal notice sent to the ICC against shifting of the World Cup matches out of Pakistan. “Under the settlement with the
ICC, we have to withdraw all our legal cases in 15 days and we are doing that,” Rizvi said. PCB chairman Ijaz Butt has claimed that the board would get around Rs 1,500 million from the ICC for dropping legal challenge and surrendering the hosting rights for its 14 World Cup matches. However, independent sources said the total amount that the PCB would get, including the mandatory hosting fees, is not more than Rs 1,100 million. The PCB has now also withdrawn itself from the World Cup central organising committee and declined to name any members to work in the World Cup secretariat. The PCB chairman has come under criticism after he opted for an out-of-court settlement, but Rizvi said this was the best possible solution for Pakistan in the existing circumstances. He also denied reports that the PCB could have earned more by going for a full-fledged case against the
ICC. The civil court had given a stay order against the shifting of World Cup secretariat to Mumbai. But sources said the PCB’s case had suffered a setback after Salman Butt, whom they had nominated and appointed as the managing director of the World Cup secretariat in Lahore, didn’t support the case in the court.
— PTI |
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Bollywood queues up for IPL teams
Salman Khan had earlier expressed intention to buy an IPL team. Today, actor Sanjay Dutt confirmed that he was looking for an opportunity to buy a team as well. Dutt met IPL commissioner Lalit Modi to discuss the modalities of participating in the auction. “I would like to buy an IPL team. I am considering the pros and cons now,” Dutt told reporters here today. The actor said he used to be an avid cricket player during his school days. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has announced that two more teams will be added to the Indian Premier League in January next. The board is likely to call for auctions for the new teams soon. Among those who have expressed desire to buy the new teams include industrialist Anil Ambani, who earlier lost out to elder brother Mukesh who bagged the Mumbai Indians team. According to the buzz in Bollywood, actor Ajay Devgan is also keen to bid for an IPL team. Production house K Sera Sera has also indicated that it would raise funds from the public to raise resources to bid for an IPL team. According to Modi, the two new cities to be featured in the IPL may be chosen from Ahmedabad, Nagpur, Kochi and Vishakhaptanam. They new teams will feature in the IPL Season 4, scheduled to be held in 2011. The present IPL franchises represent Mumbai, Kolkata, Delhi, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Chandigarh, Chennai and
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BCCI Corporate Cricket Mohali, September 3 Rain partly seemed to have raised Revenue’s hopes, but a sensational 152* (113) by Manvinder Bisla and an even more rampant 106* (61) by MS Dhoni meant that it was over before the cliché ‘fat lady sang.’ Air India Blue piled on 362 for 1 in a rain-hit 42 over a side match, too many for Revenue. What actually set the tone for Air India was the opening wicket stand of 162 runs between Chandan Madan and Manvinder Bisla. With the uncertainty about the weather playing heavy on their fortunes in the tournament, the two batted with a vengeance. The Revenue bowling was made to look even more gloomy by the graying sky. After a 90-minute rain break, the match resumed and so did the Air India onslaught. Chandan became more dominant and was tearing the bowling to shreds, before he played early to a slower delivery by Rakesh, only to be caught Shah. Soon out came the sun, and almost in a whimsical fashion, MS Dhoni walked out too. The Indian captain started with caution, but if anything it was the lull before the storm….! Bisla, who was working like an F1 engine on field, shifted gears and went into burst mode. He took singles, hit fours and towering sixes, to drive the point home….the favourites were making a statement. Dhoni too in his own casual, but extremely powerful manner ambushed the Revenue bowling and the runs kept going up, as the Revenue faces went down. In the end, 362 off 42 overs, was mammoth and a pretty big ask off the Revenue side. Brief scores: Air India Blue: 362 for 1 in 42 overs (Manvinder Bisla 152, Mahender Dhoni 106, Chandan Madan 74, Rakesh 1 for 60) Indian Revenue: 222 for 8 in 42 overs (Ameya Shrikhande 121, Ajinkya Joshi 33, Avik Chaudhary 24, Pankaj Singh 2/34, RP Singh 2/24, Harbhajan 1/31). In Bangalore, Suresh Raina smashed unbeaten 92 to power Air India Red to seven-wicket victory over India Cements in their last Group D match and booked a semifinal berth. Raina sent the India Cements bowlers for a leather hunt in his 107-ball innings which was studded with seven fours and two sixes at the Chinnaswamy Stadium here In Visakhapatnam, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation made it to the semifinals after their last Group B match against Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited was bandoned due to rain. At Dharamsala, Tata SC advanced to the semifinals after their crucial last Group C match against IndianOil Corporation (IOC) was washed out due to continuous downpour at the HPCA stadium.
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Tata-IOC match abandoned
Dharamshala, September 3 Ajit Agarkar-led Tata SC, by virtue of their win against All India Public Sector Sports Promotion Board (AIPSSPB) in the rain-truncated Group C opener on Tuesday, moved to the last four stage. They will face the toppers of Group A, either Indian Revenue or Air India Blue on Sunday at Mohali. Indian Oil desperately needed a win from today's match for a semifinal berth, especially after rain marred their opening encounter against AIPSSPB yesterday. In another match between Air India Blue and India Revenue at Mohali, the former scored 362 for 1 in their allotted 42
overs. — PTI |
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European Masters
Switzerland, September 3 However, Indian youngster Gaganjeet Bhullar, who broke through on the Asian Tour with a win in Indonesia in July, struggled home to a 73. “It was exciting. I made some bogeys but a lot of birdies but this being the first round, I’ll take it,” said Randhawa. “I putted decent which is something I haven’t been doing too well of late. If the shot-making comes around, hopefully I can do better.” He is fighting to keep his European card as he currently lies in 109th place on the rankings but the reigning Singha Thailand Open champion reckons he has found the flaw to his recent woes. “There has been a lack of concentration in the past few months on my part and today I concentrated a lot better ,” said Randhawa.
— PTI |
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European Masters
New York, September 3
New Delhi, September 3
New Delhi, September 3
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