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Del Potro, Safina lose
Pargat pans ‘sports mafia’ Kalmadi
India in B’desh |
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Sunil Gavaskar
Writes...
Not interested in HI job: Kalmadi
Dream come true
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Del Potro, Safina lose
Melbourne, January 24 U.S. Open champion Juan Martin Del Potro and Svetlana Kuznetsova, the French Open champion. Both were able to finish their matches but their legs were heavy and their bodies weary. “I will go home and I will see the doctors there,” Del Potro said after his 5-7, 6-4, 7-5, 5-7, 6-3 loss to Croatia's Marin Cilic, an underrated player ranked 14th in the world. Kuznetsova was beaten 6-3 3-6 6-1 by her fellow-Russian Nadia Petrova, who is quickly building a reputation as the tournament's giantkiller after slaughtering Kim Clijsters in her previous match.
She is the only seeded player left in the bottom half of the women's draw but plays Justine Henin in the next round after the former world one beat her fellow-Belgian Yanina Wickmayer 7-6, 1-6, 6-3. Rafa Nadal and Andy Murray brought down a pair of giants to set up a tantalising quarter-final between two of the biggest names in men's tennis. Nadal defeated Ivo Karlovic, a 2.08 metres tall Croatian whose serves come down like thunderbolts 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 while Murray beat the 2.06 metres American John Isner 7-6, 6-3, 6-2. Kirilanko's next opponent is China's Zheng Jie, who defeated Ukraine's Alona Bondarenko 7-6 6-4 while Cilic will face either Andy Roddick or Fernando Gonzalez. —
Reuters Curtains for Sania
Sania Mirza's campaign at the Australian Open ended today after the Indian and her Spanish partner Virginia Ruano Pascual bowed out in the second round of the doubles event here today. The 10th-seeded Indo-Spanish pair lost 4-6 3-6 to seventh seeds Alisa Kleybanova of Russia and Francesca Schiavone of Italy. Sania had already crashed out of the singles event, losing 4-6 2-6 to 27th seed Aravani Rezai of France in the opening round. Meanwhile, India's challenge in the boys event also ended after Vaidik Munshaw went down against 13th seed Belgian Arthur De Greef 4-6 6-7(5) in the first round. However, Rishika Sunkara brought some smiles to Indian camp after defeating Miyu Kato of Japan 6-4 6-2 to enter the second round. —
PTI |
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Pargat pans ‘sports mafia’ Kalmadi
New Delhi, January 24 Earlier, Pargat made a stinging attack on Kalmadi, blaming him for postponing Hockey India election on purpose. “Kalmadi and his men got scared after he failed to get nomination from Maharashtra despite putting so much of pressure on the Maharashtra Hockey Association and that’s why they deferred the election,” Pargat alleged. “They cited the Rajasthan High Court order as the reasons but all they should have done was to submit an application to vacate the stay and go ahead with the election,” Pargat said. “It’s because of such sports mafia that players go to the extent of revolting against the federation,” he said. Referring to Hockey Punjab’s tussle with HI to get affiliation, Pargat said people close to Kalmadi tried to negotiate a deal with him. “I would call them Kalmadi’s lackeys who came to me and said in no unclear terms that Hockey Punjab would get affiliation as soon as we agree to support Kalmadi for the president’s post. I said we are just not interested in any sort of trade-off and they made me make round of their office for 10 days before eventually recognising us,” Pargat alleged. Blaming Kalmadi for the players’ revolt, Pargat said, “No player fancies a situation like a revolt but when you don’t get the parental touch from the federation, you have no other way. Kalmadi has messed up Indian hockey and is playing dirty games. People like him don’t even bother about the country’s image. Even if the World Cup is shifted out of the country, they would not bat an eyelid,” Pargat said. “I would say things were better even in the KPS Gill era,” he said. Pargat said Kalmadi was in fact using some of the former players as his ‘pawns’ and was playing games. “Under Kalmadi’s leadership, a huge mess has been created and even government letters had no effects.,” Pargat said. —
PTI |
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2nd Test: Day 1 Bowlers put India on top
Mirpur, January 24 Mahmudullah's was a sterling 156-ball knock studded with 13 fours. The last two wickets produced 78 crucial runs that lent some respectability to the home side's total. In reply, India milked 69 runs off the 13 overs they faced with Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir scoring at a brisk rate while staying put at stumps. India would return tomorrow to first wipe out the 164 run deficit and then push for a big total to bat the hosts out of the match and complete a 2-0 rout in the series. — PTI Scoreboard Bangladesh (1st innings) Iqbal b Zaheer 0 Kayes c Dhoni b Ishant 0 Siddique c Dhoni b Zaheer 7 Ashraful st Dhoni b Ojha 39 Raqibul c Dravid b Ishant 4 Shakib c Dhoni b Zaheer 34 Rahim lbw b Ishant 30 Mahmudullah not out 96 Shahadat st Dhoni b Ojha 8 Shafiul c Dravid b Ishant 9 Rubel b Harbhajan 4 Extras (lb 2) 2 Total (all out; 73.5 overs) 233 Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-4, 3-13, 4-44, 5-51, 6-106, 7-127, 8-155, 9-213. Bowling: Zaheer 19-3-62-3, Ishant 18-3-66-4, Ojha 16-1-49-2, Harbhajan 18.5-3-48-1, Yuvraj 2-0-6-0. India (1st innings) Gambhir batting 26 Sehwag batting 41 Extras (b 1, nb 1) 2 Total (0 wickets; 13 overs) 69 Bowling: Shafiul 2-0-13-0, Shahadat 3-0-10-0, Rubel 4-0-20-0, Shakib 3-0-15-0, Ashraful 1-0-10-0. |
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Sunil Gavaskar Writes...
Helped by some truly inept batting by Bangladesh, India overcame the disadvantage of losing the toss and restricted the home team to total that should not pose a big challenge to them. The manner in which Bangladesh's batsmen threw their wickets away was staggering to say the least and it brought into question their temperament once again. The shining exception were two batsmen who batted well in the Chittagong Test too.
Mushfiqur batted stubbornly once again and it was a lovely delivery from Ishant Sharma that trapped him in front of the stumps. The other shining light for Bangladesh was Mahmudullah who must be the best number 8 batsman in the world. That he and Mushfiqur continue to bat at number 7 and number 8 boggles the mind. Cricket is a form game and when a team has two batsmen who have just come fresh from a fine outing then it makes sense to send them in early so that they can translate that confidence into another performance. That did not happen and so Bangladesh found themselves in the situation that they did. They left out Sharyar Nafees but retained Raqibul which was baffling too. Raqibul looked ill at ease in the Chittagong Test and simply did not belong even in the first innings here. He would be better off batting in Mahmudullah’s place where he will not have to cope with the pressure of batting when early wickets have fallen. Coming in to bat when the top three batsmen are back in the pavilion has not helped and his body language when he comes in shows how nervous he is. Mohammad Ashraful has been Bangladesh’s blue-eyed boy for a long time and that is understandable for when he gets going he is a joy to watch but his approach in the three Test innings so far as well as in the earlier tri-nations brings his commitment or the lack of it to the fore. He got out to a horrendous shot and banging his bt on the pads after that is not going to help soothe the anger and disappointment that Bangladesh’s supporters would have felt. He has been an underachiever for all the talent he has and must have a serious look at his attitude if he wants to do justice to it. Shakib Al Hasan, the skipper, also was guilty of throwing his wicket away when he had done all the hard work and looked good for a big score. The team was not safe when he chased a wide one and was caught behind. Thankfully for Bangladesh there was Mahmudullah who was superb as he farmed the strike and added valuable runs to take Bangladesh to a score of some respectability. He played shots all round the ground but most impressively he played them to the right balls and did not try to play above his limitations. For India it was good to see Ishant Sharma regain his rhythm. He ran in well and bowled some quick deliveries and moved the ball both ways. Zaheer gets better every day and these two form a potent opening attack. Ojha was steady without looking dangerous and Harbhajan has had better days than the one he had. India are in the driver’s seat but they had plenty of help from their opponents to be there. —
PMG |
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Not interested in HI job: Kalmadi
Chandigarh, January 24 “Hockey India is an autonomous body. Being the President of the Indian Olympic Association, the umbrella organization, I am not supposed to interfere in the working of any autonomous organization like a National Sports Federation,” he told The Tribune over the telephone this evening. “My job is to intervene only when necessary and in the larger interest of Indian sports and sportspersons. I had intervened in the case of hockey players’ controversy only after it had gone beyond the control of ad hoc committee of Hockey India. I also intervened in case of Abhinav Bindra. I step in only in the larger interest of sports. But it is unfair to think that I want to capture any federation,” he said. Suresh Kalmadi was made the target by Hockey Punjab Secretary Pargat Singh for his alleged attempts to keep the basic nursery of Indian hockey out of the coming Hockey India elections. Pargat had accused the IOA chief for creating obstacles not only in delaying affiliation to the duly and legally unified Hockey Punjab but also meddling in the constitution of Electoral College for the Hockey India elections. Suresh Kalmadi, however, clarified that had he been interested in capturing Hockey India, he would have done it long ago. “If the affiliation of Hockey Punjab was delayed, it was because some of the documents were not submitted in time. Once the Punjab Deputy Chief Minister and President of Hockey Punjab Sukhbir Singh Badal and Pargat Singh came to Delhi and met me, the issue was resolved. “But I do not know why Pargat Singh thinks that way I am interested in the affairs of Hockey India,” lamented Suresh Kalmadi. Hockey India is an autonomous body and it should handle its affairs in its own way. IOA intervenes only when necessary added Suresh Kalmadi hoping that India would hold the 2010 World Cup successfully in the union capital. |
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Dream come true
Chandigarh, January 24 His coach Jasbir Singh Bajwa said, “Harjit is a very talented boy, with a very flexible body, which helps him in making acrobatic saves. He has never wavered off his aim and it is ultimately that single-minded focus, which has led to his selection. I am extremely proud of him and have very high hopes from him. This is just the beginning, and with more hard work, he will reach greater glory soon.” A student of B.A. Part-I at SGGS College, Chandigarh, Harjit is not resting on laurels and realises that he will have to work extremely hard to keep his place in the side. “I know that this is a big step for me, but I also know that I need to stay focused. I want to train harder than before to ensure that my dream of doing well at the international stage is fulfilled. As of now, I am just thinking about playing my part in winning Gold for India at the SAF Cup.” |
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The Australian Open claimed three high-profile victims on Sunday as the demands of the first grand slam of the year left players battling exhaustion and agonising pain. Dinara Safina suffered most.
Mahmudullah Riad's grit was not enough as India skittled out Bangladesh for a modest total and then got off to a flying start to take early control of the second and final cricket Test here today. The opening day belonged to India as Ishant Sharma (4/66) and Zaheer Khan (3/62) decimated the Bangladesh top and middle order to reduce the hosts to 127 for seven.
Mahmudullah, however, refused to throw in the towel and showed exemplary grit, even though he was stranded four runs away from his maiden Test century.
Chandigarh, January 24
