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The wall & crumbling masonry
Lanka beat England
Vettel edges Webber for European pole 1. Sebastian Vettel
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Saina enters Indonesian Open final
Sharapova surges into 4th round
Football lovers appeal
for JCT revival
Sasi wins, Negi loses in AAI Chess
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India’s tour of west indies
New Delhi, June 25 But this wall is made of solid stuff, grounded in the granite of determination and cemented with technique and won’t crack in a hurry. Indeed, it was this bastion that stood between India and the West Indies in the first Test in Kingston, Jamaica, as all the rest of the masonry came crumbling down around him. Invariably, when the team wins, the minus points get a little sidetracked. While India won fairly easily at the end, there wasn’t much of a difference between the two sides really, since both the top orders have a fair amount of cracks. The Indian team had gone to the West Indies fairly convinced that it would be a cakewalk. But losing two One-day Internationals after taking a 3-0 lead, and then being on tenterhooks about whether they’d win the Test or not, is hardly a cakewalk. In the Test line-up, the openers have struggled, while the middle-order has also found the going tough. Some of this can be attributed possibly to the inexperience of the players involved, but even the experienced ones, like V.V.S. Laxman and Mahendra Singh Dhoni, will need to get bat to ball much more effectively in the rest of the series. Dravid was looking good for his 40 in the first innings, but it was ultimately left to Suresh Raina and Harbhajan Singh to rescue the team’s cause. While plaudit are in place, the fact remains that if it takes the seventh wicket stand to get things going, there is something seriously amiss in the top and middle-order. Dravid was the wall literally in the second essay, and ultimately needed the help of Amit Mishra of all people to get India to a challenging position, with all the rest tottering and falling in a heap. To be honest, had the West Indies had some belief and one bowler more, most likely Kemar Roach, India would have struggled. Irrespective of what we think, it was a much closer game than the score suggests. Dhoni is also unhappy about the decisions going against his batsmen, castigating umpire Daryl Harper for making a mess of things. To that, all we can say is, saying no to the Decision Review System (DRS) is a double-edged weapon. But now that the BCCI has scornfully dropped that shield, don’t be surprised if the batsmen bleed once in a while.
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Bristol, June 25 In reply, Sri Lanka got the winning runs in 17.2 overs for the loss of just one wicket. Jayawardene and Sangakarra remained unbeaten with 72 and 43, respectively. When England batted ,Lasith Malinga and Sanath Jayasuriya were both on target and picked up two wickets each to restrict the home team. — Agencies Scoreboard England Lumb c Malinga b Lakmal 2 Kieswetter c Kandamby b Kulasekara 4 Pietersen b Jayasuriya 41 Morgan c Jayawardene b Malinga 47 Bopara b Jayasuriya 19 Patel run out 0 Wright c Perera b Lakmal 9 Woakes c Mathews b Malinga 7 Broad run out 0 Swann not out 0 Extras (b 3, w 3, nb 1) 7 Total: (9 wkts; 20 ovrs) 136 Bowling: Kulasekara 3-0-15-1, Lakmal 4-0-26-2, Malinga 4-0-15-2, Perera 2-0-35-0, Randiv 4-0-24-0, Jayasuriya 3-0-18-2. Sri Lanka Jayawardene not out 72 Jayasuriya c Pietersen b Dernbach 8 Sangakkara not out 43 Extras (lb 3, w 11) 14 Total: (1 wicket; 17.2 overs) 137 Bowling: Woakes 3-0-31-0, Dernbach 3-0-18-1, Broad 3.2-0-29-0, Patel 2-0-18-0,Swann 4-0-26-0, Bopara 2-0-12-0.
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Vettel edges Webber for European pole 1. Sebastian Vettel
Valencia, June 25 The 23-year-old German, who is the runaway leader of this year's drivers' championship, was the only man to clock a lap in less than one minute and 37 seconds as he outpaced his team-mate Australian Mark Webber to take his 22nd pole spot. Webber is the only other driver in this year's eight qualifying sessions to have claimed a pole position start and he did so on Saturday with a big push on his second run in the top-ten shootout. Vettel made clear he could carry this boost to his confidence into Sunday's race to erase the disappointment of his last-lap mistake - costing him victory - in Canada two weeks ago. "It's a very good day for us," he said. "Both cars on the front row is just what we wanted because it is very tough here. There are 25 corners and it is a long race so we need to be there. "This has been a great result for us - just what we wanted and what we need for tomorrow. It is so difficult to get the perfect lap here." Webber said that he couldn't wait for the race to get underway. "That was pretty good. There are so many corners here. It would be great to put it all together in one perfect lap, but that's not easy," said the 34-year-old Australian. "That said, I am really looking forward to this race." Webber's final lap charge lifted him up the grid to the front row leaving Briton Lewis Hamilton of McLaren in third ahead of two-times champion Spaniard Fernando Alonso of Ferrari back in fourth place ahead of his team-mate Brazilian Felipe Massa. Hamilton's McLaren team-mate and fellow-Briton Jenson Button was sixth ahead of Germans Nico Rosberg and his Mercedes team-mate seven-times champion Michael Schumacher, Nick Heidfeld of Renault and Adrian Sutil of Force India. — AFP |
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Saina enters Indonesian Open final
Jakarta, June 25 The fourth-seeded Indian won 21-14, 14-21, 21-17 in a 45-minute battle against giant-killer Cheng, who had created quite a flutter by upstaging top seed Shixian Wang and seventh seed Xin Liu earlier in the tournament. Saina had to dig deep in her armoury and rely on her power-packed smashes to outpace Cheng, who is known for her fast movement on court. "I have seen her play in many tournaments. She is a very talented and hard working player. She is very dynamic and moves very fast on court. So it is important to have full force in the smashes or else she can retrieve from anywhere. It is a good win," Saina said. It was a sweet revenge for Saina who had lost narrowly to Cheng in the pre-quarterfinals of the Singapore Open in her last tournament. "I had lost closely to her that too was my own fault as I had given two points. I was upset after the match but I am happy I could beat her today. She played well but I was pumped up to do well," she said. In the opening game, Saina didn't give Cheng any chance to overtake her and though the Chinese Taipei shuttler came close many times, the Indian reeled off seven successive points from 14-13 to nose ahead. However, Cheng raised her game in the next and opened up a 6-0 lead first up and then moved ahead with giant strides to bounce back into contention with the help of more net winners than Saina's. The decider was a closer affair but Cheng didn't have a reply to Saina's 11 smash winners as the Indian kept widening the gap with her rival before sealing the game and the match in her favour. Last year, Saina had won three titles — Indian Open grand Prix Gold, Singapore Super Series and Indonesian Super Series —in June, before winning the Commonwealth Games gold medal and Hong Kong Super Series. But half-way through 2011, Saina has just one title — Swiss Open Grand Prix Gold — and one runner-up finish in the Malaysia Super Series to her name. The girl from Hyderabad, in the last six months, has tasted success but her defeats against lower ranked players such as Japanese Ai Goto in the Indian Open Super Series had brought to the fore her inconsistency. — PTI
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Sharapova surges into 4th round
London, June 25 Sharapova, who won the title in 2004, has enjoyed an impressive start to her bid for a second Wimbledon crown and moved serenely into the second week of the Grand Slam without losing a set in her first three matches. The Russian glamour girl, seeded fifth, will play either Peng Shuai or Melinda Czink in the last 16. Sharapova, 24, has been a firm favourite of crowds here since, aged just 17, she shocked defending champion Serena Williams to become the third youngest woman to win Wimbledon. In contrast, Zakopalova, who won her previous meeting with Sharapova at the Australian Open back in 2003, had only been past the third round of a Grand Slam once in 32 attempts and she lacked the grasscourt instincts to trouble the former world number one. Sharapova made a slow start before seeing off British teenager Laura Robson in the previous round, but she was far more commanding against Zakopalova as she broke twice in the first four games of the opening set. Another break at 5-2 sealed the first set in convincing style, but Sharapova made a rather more unfocused start to the second. She was unable to convert two break points in the second game and then gifted a break to Zakopalova with some sloppy ground-strokes and a double-fault. The prospect of dropping a set for the first time in the tournament stirred Sharapova back into life and she broke to level at 3-3. Nadal advances
Defending champion Rafael Nadal also reached the fourth round by beating Gilles Muller of Luxembourg 7-6 (6), 7-6 (5), 6-0. The match started on Friday, but was suspended by rain after the first set. Both players held serve in the second set. But after Nadal earned a mini-break in the tiebreaker and then held to go up 2-0, the top-seeded Spaniard dominated the final set. Nadal won the title at the All England Club in 2008 and again last year. He missed the 2009 tournament with injury. Somdev, Sania move ahead Somdev Devvarman and Sania Mirza brought more cheers to the Indian camp by registering victories in men's and women's doubles. Somdev parterning Kei Nishikori of Japan defeated the German pair of Rainer Schuettler and Alexander Waske 6-7(3), 6-3, 6-2 to enter the second round. They now face a tough test against sixth seeds Michael Llodra of France and Nenad Zimonjic of Serbia. Sania and her Russian partner Elena Vesnina overcame a second set slump to enter the third round. The fourth-seeded Indo-Russian pair defeated Czech Renata Voracova and Galina Voskoboeva Kazakhstan 6-3, 5-7, 6-4. Lee-Hesh ousted
Indian veterans Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi blew away a strong start to make a shock exit from the men's doubles event of the Wimbledon championships as they lost the second round 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 (1), 4-6 to Arnaud Clement and Lukas Dlouhy here today. The third seed 'Indian Express' pair dominated the opening set but allowed their unseeded rivals to make a strong comeback. The defeat means that Paes and Bhupathi will now try to win their first Grand Slam together after rejoining forces at US Open, the last tennis major of the season. The French-Czech pair broke the Indians twice — third and ninth games — in the second set to draw parity and then nosed ahead by winning the third set via tie-breaker. The fourth set could not have started on a worse note for the Indians as they dropped serve in the very first game. That mini lead was enough for Clement and Dlouhy, a former partner of Paes, and it provided further impetus to the momentum gained by them and they closed it out easily. — Agencies |
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Football lovers appeal
for JCT revival
Jalandhar, June 25 Members of the Sri Guru Gobind Singh Football Society, Jalandhar, and its affiliated outfits gathered in large numbers at the Guru Gobind Singh Stadium and appealed to the JCT management to reconsider its decision to discontinue its patronage for the game. They held a meeting to ponder over the impact of the unfortunate decision on the future of football players and lovers in this region. Those gathered were of the view that Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal should personally intervene in the matter and the Government should don the mantle to further the cause of the game in the State that had given several prominent players to the country. A memorandum voicing the same concerns was later submitted to Punjab Director of Sports, Pargat Singh. Dwelling on the past, they recounted how Punjab’s only professional football team - JCT Phagwara - had been forced to discontinue their association with the game after a dismal performance in the 2010-2011 I-league season, a shocking decision for the football lovers in the State. For the past 40 years, the team has been responsible for Punjab lifting the prestigious Santosh Trophy many times. Besides, the team has been responsible for sustaining an interest for the game football in the minds of the present generation. Those present on the occasion included Inderjit Singh, president, All-India Shri Guru Gobind Singh Football Society, Jalandhar; Secretary Manmohan Singh, technical secretary Dr Jaspal Singh, International footballer Gyan Singh, Vijay Kumar, Gurinder Singh Sangha, Tirlochan Singh Sangha, Sarabjit Singh, Harnek Singh and representatives of Youth Football Academy (Rurka Kalan), PAP Football Academy, Hazara Football Coaching Centre, Garha Football Centre, Doaba Khalsa Football Centre and Layallpur Khalsa College Cantt Football Centre. |
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Sasi wins, Negi loses in AAI Chess
New Delhi, June 25 After four rounds, Caruana remained as the only unbeaten player. He leads the six-player field with 3.5 points while Laznicka, who bounced back from his third-round loss to Sasi yesterday, has three points. Sasikiran and Wesley So have two each, Negi 1.5 and Hou Yifan is yet to open her account, suffering her fourth successive defeat. Sasikiran and Hou's were engaged in a Catalan Classical that lasted 62 moves. Sasi looked like winning way ahead, but mistakes from either side prolonged the game, though the Indian benefitted from Hou's monumental blunder on 36th. "At some point I think Rd 1 was a mistake, probably a big blunder, and she may have been better at that stage. But she allowed me to get away and on the 36th, she played Nc5, which was a big mistake from her. After I got g4 (43rd) move I think I was winning," said Sasi. "That was a lease of life, because I came down from a very good position to a poor one with my mistake. Anyway it is good to get a second successive win. Now that brings me to 50 per cent at this stage," he added. The Laznicka-Negi battle was in the Queen's Gambit Declined Semi-Slav, where both players admitted to having made a few mistakes. "My opponent surprised me in the opening and I had not prepared for this line, even though I have seen it. I spent a lot of time on. It was a sharp game and towards the end he (Negi) made some mistakes. Though I won, I did not get a very good feeling about the game," said Laznicka. — PTI
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