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Federer, Oudin reach quarters
Paes, Bhupathi in semis
Lanka begin on winning note
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Air India Red win BCCI Corporate Trophy
Haryana scores over Punjab in sportsPrabhjot Singh
No plan to turn professional in snooker: Advani
Davis Cup call for Yuki
PGTI Players’ Championship
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New York, September 8 “Mentally I’m staying in there with them the whole time, and I’m not giving up at all,” the 17 year-old Oudin said after reaching her first major quarterfinal with a 1-6, 7-6, 6-3 victory over Russian Nadia Petrova. “So if they’re going to beat me, they’re going to beat me, because I’m not going to go anywhere.” After belting a forehand winner to close out the match, Oudin dropped her racket, raised her arms, and looked at the sky while nearly 24,000 at Arthur Ashe Stadium roared. On an unseasonably cool day at Flushing Meadows, the Russians concluded their worst grand slam performance in nearly a decade, while the U.S. men had their worst showing in New York since tennis turned professional in 1968. Federer, however, was his usual brilliant self, blitzing 14th-seeded Spaniard Tommy Robredo, who was sent off bewildered after being on the receiving end of a 7-5, 6-2, 6-2 wallop. “He was playing so good,” Robredo said of the five-times Open winner. “When he plays like this, it’s tough.” Fourth seed Novak Djokovic had an easy time bouncing 15th seed Czech Radek Stepanek 6-1, 6-3, 6-3 and then delighted the crowd at sold-out Ashe Stadium by impersonating John McEnroe’s on-court quirks and fiery temper. He then called McEnroe out of the broadcast booth to good naturedly play a few points. “It actually was quite funny and the crowd loved it,” said the Serb. “That was the most important thing. And Johnny, of course, made a small favour coming down. It wasn’t easy playing in jeans and suit and collared shirt, but it was a lot of fun.” Denmark’s Caroline Wozniacki managed the day’s biggest upset when she toppled former champion and number six seed Svetlana Kuznetsova 2-6, 7-6, 7-6 to reach her first grand slam quarterfinal. The ninth seed will face Oudin in the quarters and the 19-year-old has no illusions about who will receive the crowd’s backing. American John Isner’s 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 loss to 10th seed Fernando Verdasco marked the first time since 1968 that no American male advanced to the Open quarterfinals. “I didn’t really care,” the 24-year-old said Isner of his role carrying the U.S. hopes. “I didn’t really think too much of it. I wanted to keep it going.”The story of the Open so far is the diminutive Oudin, whose never-say-die style of play and bubbly demeanour has made her the darling of Flushing Meadows.
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Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi are heading towards a possible final showdown in both mixed as well as men’s doubles event of the US Open after winning their respective matches here. Bhupathi and his American partner Liezel Huber, top seed, cruised to the semifinals of the mixed doubles following their emphatic 6-4, 6-3 win over eighth seeds Bethanie Mattek of the US and Serbian Nenad Zimonjic. However, second seeds Paes and Cara Black of Zimbabwe had to face a stiff resistance from seventh seeded Australian-Swede combination of Rennae Stubbs and Robert Lindstedt before prevailing over them 7-5, 3-6, 10-6 in their mixed doubles quarterfinal at Flushing Meadows, last night. — Agencies
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Colombo, September 8 Sri Lanka earned a bonus point for their comprehensive win, which was sealed with 13.5 overs to spare. Malinga ended all Kiwi hopes when he took three wickets in six balls in the 19th over, tilting the match in favour of his team at R Premadasa stadium. Malinga’s hostile spell came at a stage when the Black Caps were already struggling to overcome the early jolts after being reduced to seven for three inside first five overs. Earlier, Samaraweera cracked his maiden one-day century and along with Anjello Mathews pulled Sri Lanka out of the pit with a 127-run partnership for the sixth wicket. The duo joined hands when the hosts were tottering at 69 for five at half-way mark. Samaraweera struck 10 boundaries in his 124-ball knock while Mathews helped himself with four boundaries during his 60-ball stay at the wicket. — PTI Sri Lanka Dilshan b Tuffey 4 Jayasuriya c Butler b Bond 7 Jayawardene c Taylor b Bond 0 Sangakkara c Oram b Butler 18 Samaraweera b Butler 104 Kandamby c Taylor b Vettori 15 Mathews b Bond 51 Kulasekara not out 6 Thushara not out 6 Extras (3-lb, 2-w) 5 Total: (seven wickets, 50 overs) 216 FoW: 1-4, 2-5, 3-22, 4-38, 5-69, 6-196, 7-204. Bowling: Tuffey 9-0-35-1, Bond 10-2-43-3, Butler 10-1-55-2, Oram 6-0-22-0, Vettori 8-0-31-1, McCullum 7-1-27-0. New Zealand McCullum b Malinga 14 Ryder lbw b Thushara 0 Guptill c Sangakkara b Kulasekara 3 Taylor lbw b Kulasekara 2 Elliot b Jayasuriya 41 Oram c Sangakkara b Malinga 4 McCullum b Malinga 0 Vettori lbw b Jayasuriya 10 Butler b Malinga 25 Tuffey run out 2 Bond not out 1 Extras (6-b, 1-lb, 10-w) 17 Total: (all out, 36.1 overs) 119 FoW: 1-2, 2-5, 3-7, 4-37, 5-41, 6-41, 7-76, 8-101, 9-116. Bowling: Kulasekara 6-1-18-2, Thushara 6-1-5-1, Mendis 7-1-14-0, Malinga 6.1-0-28-4, Mathews 5-0-19-0, Jayasuriya 6-0-28-2
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Air India Red win BCCI Corporate Trophy
Bangalore, September 8 Air India Red skipper Yuvraj emerged the wrecker-in-chief as he took three crucial wickets, which included the prized scalps of Kaif (32) and Mahendra Singh Dhoni (0) in consecutive balls. Reetinder Sodhi (11) was his third victim. Chasing 285 to win, Air India Blue lost opener Manvinder Bisla (10) in the fourth over. Kaif and Chandan Madan forged a 74-run partnership to reach 86 in 15 overs. Madan stood tall amid the ruins scoring a defiant 85 in 126 balls. However, he could not save his team from defeat. — PTI
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Haryana scores over Punjab in sportsPrabhjot Singh
Chandigarh, September 8 National squads leaving the shores of the country for participation in major international sporting events, including the ongoing World Boxing Championship, have more athletes from Haryana than Punjab these days. If Shahbad Markanda has come up as the new nursery of women hockey, it is Haryana that has been contributing mainly to the national wrestling and boxing squads. Of late, Punjab has ignored sports. Even those athletes who won glory for the state in the last two editions of the National Games are yet to be honoured. State’s prestigious Maharaja Ranjit Singh award conferred upon outstanding sportsmen and women of the state have been held in abeyance for three years now. Punjab sportsmen and women who won accolades in the last Asian Games, the Commonwealth Games and the 2008 Olympics are also yet to be felicitated. The only exception had been country’s first individual Olympic gold medal winner Abhinav Bindra. Haryana, on the other hand not only honoured its own sportsmen and women, including boxer Vijendar Singh, Jatinder Kumar and Akhil Kumar besides wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt, but also in a gesture of magnanimity felicitated shooter Abhinav Bindra, Delhi wrestler Sushil Kumar and Andhra’s badminton idol Saina Nehwal. Only last month, Haryana not only honoured those Shahbad hockey girls who helped India win the Challenger Cup in Russia but also their coach Baldev Singh and conferred state’s highest Bhim Award upon six sports personalities. So much so that Punjab has failed to organise its own state games since 1994 while Haryana, in spite of severe infighting over the control of the Haryana Olympic Association, had been holding its state games regularly and without a break. To give a big boost to sports, the Haryana Government has raised quota for outstanding sportspersons from three to five per cent in government jobs. As a sequel to this raise in reservation limit, it has recruited eight sportspersons as DSP, four as Inspectors and 13 as Sub-Inspectors. Compared to that, sportspersons recruited earlier in the Punjab Police are facing reversion in ranks. Haryana has also raised the award money for winners of Bhim Award from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 2 lakh besides raising the diet money for state players to Rs 150 a day against Rs 120 a day given by Punjab. Though Punjab has been making announcements about its new sports policy, Haryana has in place its new policy since the beginning of this year. And the number of Haryana sportspersons and sports officials, including coaches, getting national awards like Arjuna, Dronacharya and Dhyan Chand has been on the rise, while Punjab is losing out on that front, too. Plus Points
n
Haryana reserves 5 per cent jobs for sportsmen, while it’s 3 per cent in Punjab
n Diet allowance is Rs 150 per day in Haryana and Rs 120 in Punjab
n Haryana has announced its new sports policy
n 8 sportsmen have been recruited as DSPs in Haryana since 2008, but none in Punjab |
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No plan to turn professional in snooker: Advani
Bangalore, September 8 “I love billiards. It is very satisfying. I want to enjoy my game. I don’t want to play in England for nine months. My decision may disappoint those who want me to win professional snooker title too,” the 24-year-old local lad said. He pulled off a stunning 2030-1253 win over nine-time winner Mike Russell of Qatar in the finals in Leeds, UK on Sunday to clinch the coveted trophy. At Leeds, he was tested in all departments of the game as he was playing under different conditions, he said. “In this championship, I was tested in all departments and that’s what made this victory very special to me. First of all, we were playing in totally different conditions. In England conditions were quite different from rest of the world,” Advani said. “To beat Mike in England is really huge and satisfying. I don’t have any words to express my feelings. He was unbeaten for so many years and has been the defending champion in the same tournament at the same venue on the same table for the past two years,” he added. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday congratulated ace cueist Pankaj Advani for winning the World Professional Billiards Championships in Leeds, England. “On behalf of all the Indians, I congratulate Pankaj Advani on winning the World Professional Billiards Championship, the highest achievement in the game. Advani’s talent and determination epitomise the true spirit of sportsmanship,” the PM said in a statement here. Advani’s success would act as an inspiration for others, he added. — PTI
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Davis Cup call for Yuki
New Delhi, September 8 Somdev Devvarman, Rohan Bopanna, Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi are the other members of the squad, announced by All India Tennis Association (AITA). SP Misra will continue as the non-playing captain while Nandan Bal will be coach of the team for the away tie. If India wins the tie, it will enter the World Group after a gap of 11 years. India advanced to the play-off tie after Australia forfeited the final-round rubber to be held in Chennai on security grounds. “Bopanna has recovered from the injury, so we have retained him in the squad. Whether Yuki would make his debut will be decided by the captain only,” said one of the selectors.— PTI |
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Big-time golf returns to Chandigarh
Donald Banerjee
Chandigarh, September 8 Although Chandigarh was not on this year’s PGTI calendar, the swine flu threat at Pune forced the organisers to shift the venue at short notice. Thus Pune’s loss turned out to be Chandigarh’s gain. In the absence of Kapurthala’s Gaganjeet Bhullar, who is playing in the $5-lakh Macau Open Asian Tour event, the challenge is wide open with two-time under-10 Asian Tour performer Gaurav Ghei heading the list. Chandigarh’s challenge will be led by fifth ranked Harendra P Gupta, but Ranjit Singh, fresh from his runner-up performance in the Bangalore Open PGTI event in which he lost to Siddikur Rahman of Bangladesh, is in top shape. Other city golfers to look out for will be seasoned Harmeet Kahlon and big hitter Gurbaaz PS Mann. PGTI director Padamjit Sandhu said he was happy to be in Chandigarh and thanked the Chandigarh Golf Club for hosting the tournament at such a short notice. Golf club president Birinder Singh Gill said he was happy to be associated with the PGTI and said the greens were in top shape. Gaurav Ghei said the players were delighted to play on the Chandigarh greens.
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America’s newest heroine, Melanie Oudin,
continued her dream-like run at the U.S. Open with another shocking upset on Monday while steely top seed Roger Federer forged closer to his 16th grand slam crown.
Sri Lanka pulverised New Zealand by 97 runs while defending a modest total of 216 runs in the first cricket one-day international of the Compaq tri-series here today. Lasith Malinga wreaked ruin, taking four scalps after Thilan Samaraweera cracked his first one-day hundred to steer the hosts to 216 for seven.
