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Unstoppable Djokovic mauls Mahut
Two Olympic quotas for India
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Olympic Qualifier: Women probables pruned to 32
Budding referees attend course at CGA
Pune Warriors retain Ganguly
Rajasthan on top
Coca-Cola, KXIP launch
U-16 cricket cup
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Melbourne, January 21
Mahut, compromised by a left knee injury, maintained his good humour and he shrugged and smiled broadly to fans when he finally won a game at the start of the second set. He was later given a birthday cake by reporters. Later, Murray won an entertaining match with French doubles specialist Michael Llodra 6-4, 6-2, 6-0, which included so many crowd-pleasing rallies and cute volleys that it looked like an exhibition.
Mahut, who lost the longest match in tennis history at Wimbledon 2010, was not the only injury casualty on day six as Russia's Maria Kirilenko became the second women's retirement in quick succession. Just hours after Anabel Medina Garrigues agonisingly rolled her ankle against Li Na late on Friday, Kirilenko lasted just one game into the second set against Petra Kvitova before retiring with a thigh problem. Williams showed no signs of her recent ankle sprain as she thumped Hungary's Arn for the loss of just two games, and Serbia's Ana Ivanovic set up a fourth round match with Wimbledon champion Kvitova. Maria Sharapova, who lifted the women's trophy four years ago, won 6-1, 6-2 against Angelique Kerber and will next play Germany's Sabine Lisicki. But former world number two Vera Zvonareva departed in tears after she was shocked by 56th-ranked fellow Russian Ekaterina Makarova. China's Zheng also upset French number one Marion Bartoli to join compatriot Li Na in round four. Former finalist Jo-Wilfried Tsonga blazed through for the loss of just six games against Portugal's Frederico Gil, but Gael Monfils was ousted in five sets after an injury-hit struggle with Kazakhstan's Mikhail Kukushkin. Fellow Frenchman Richard Gasquet also reached the fourth round and Spain's David Ferrer came through in three sets against Juan Ignacio Chela. Nishikori, 22, beat France's Julien Benneteau in four sets to become the first Japanese man to reach the Australian Open round of 16 in the open era. Sania-Vesnina in pre-quarters
Sania Mirza and Elena Vesnina overcame a fighting Eva Birnerova and Alberta Brianti 7-5 7-5 to advance to the women's doubles pre-quarterfinals as India recorded its second straight all-win day at the Australian Open here today. The sixth-seeded Indo-Russian pair saved 13 breakpoints out of 16 it faced against the Czech-Italian combo in the second round clash, which lasted close to two hours at court number six. They will now fight it out with Australia's Jarmila Gajdosova and American Bethanie Mattek-Sands for a place in the quarterfinals. First-time partners Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna progressed to the men's doubles pre-quarterfinals as the fourth seeded India pair scored an easy 6-2 6-2 win over Australia's Carsten Ball and Treat Conrad Huey of Philippines. — Agencies |
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Asian Shooting Championship Imran, Manavjit make London Games cut
Doha, January 21 Khan finished fifth but as all the other shooters above him had already bagged Olympic quotas, the qualifying spot for the London Olympics came his way. The Indians also won the team gold and silver in the 50m rifle 3 positions and trap event respectively. Sanjeev Rajput, who has already booked a ticket to London, won gold in the in the 50m rifle 3 positions. Gagan Narang, who has also qualified for the London Games, battled his way to bronze in the same event to bring cheers to the Indians, who had to wait for 10 days for an Olympic quota in the competition which began on January 11. Manavjit's triumph made it a memorable outing for India at the Asian Championships with seven gold in the senior category. His gold medal made it a haul of 11 quotas for India, the highest number ever since quota places were introduced. 2006 trap world champion Manavjit banked on his experience to come through a tough qualifying round and did not relinquish the overnight lead today. Starting the day with a score of 49/50, Manavjit shot rounds of 25, 24 and 24 to qualify for the final in first place. So dominant was his performance that the next shooter who qualified for the final was five points behind him at 117. Despite the cushion, Manavjit started shakily in the final, dropping four of the first seven targets. The final in trap is a test of skill as the shooters have only one shot to hit the target unlike the qualification where they can use both cartridges. — PTI
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Olympic Qualifier: Women probables pruned to 32
New Delhi, January 21 Hockey India selectors Olympians Balbir Singh, B.P Govinda, Syed Ali and Rekha Bhide, along with Government observers Harbinder Singh and Dilip Tirkey, watched the four-Test series against Azerbaijan before pruning down the list of 48 probables to 32. India blanked Azerbaijan by winning all four matches. The 32 players will train together till the final team of 18 for the Olympic Qualifier is selected. The other teams in the qualifier are South Africa, Italy, Canada, Ukraine and Poland. The 32 players are: Goalkeepers: Yogita Bali, Savita, Rajani Etimarpu and Sukhmani Virk; Defenders: Jaspreet Kaur, Joydeep Kaur, Subhadra Pradhan and Pinki Devi, Preeti Sunila Kiro; Mid-fielders: P. Sushila Chanu, Asunta Lakra, Kirandeep Kaur, Deepika, Ritu Rani, Mukta Parva Barla, M.N. Ponnamma, Namita Toppo, Anju Dhiman, Reena Rathor and Kiran Dahiya; Forwards: Poonam Rani, Vandana Kataria, Rani, Soundarya Yendala, Anuradha Devi, Rosaline Dung Dung, Jaspreet Kaur Handa, Anupa Barla, Lily Chanu, Deep Grace Ekka, Apoorva Viswakarma, and Lilima Minz.
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Adelaide, January 21 Having already pocketed the series 3-0, the two teams will play the final Test match at the Adelaide Oval from January 24. "We are thinking one thing heading into the last Test against India - whitewash. Anything less than a 4-0 defeat of this powerful Indian team will be a disappointment to all of us," Clarke wrote in his column for 'The Telegraph'. The Aussie skipper admitted that it was really satisfying to clinch the series in Perth especially against a side that was ranked No 2 in the world before the series started. "There was great satisfaction with clinching the series in Perth. It was a fine achievement to beat a side ranked second in the world when the series started," he wrote. However Clarke feels that neither he nor his boys can let any slip-up as the job isn't complete yet. "This is something all the guys can be proud of. But the job's not done. Having dragged ourselves up after a disappointing loss to New Zealand in Hobart, little more than a month ago, the last thing we want to do is stumble again. There has been too much of that in the recent past." The skipper feels that facing India at Adelaide will be the "toughest." "I expect Adelaide to be the toughest of the lot, regardless of the series scoreline. Adelaide Oval usually presents a beautiful batting wicket and it traditionally lacks the bounce and sideways movement of other pitches around the country. In short, this is likely to be the closest to home conditions India will experience on this tour, which means it is going to be tough work for our bowlers." — PTI
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Budding referees attend course at CGA
Chandigarh, January 21 Both Chris and Grant were highly impressed with the facilities on offer at the CGA Range here. “This place is just excellent and we have been able to go about our course here without any hitch at all. The participants who have registered for this course are also quite good with their knowledge about the game and the rules and I hope they will be able to pass this certification course which then enables them to work as referees in bigger tournaments,” said Chris Hilton. The participants are being given both outdoor practical and indoor lessons and they will then be tested about all aspects of rules regarding the game of golf. Chris is being accompanied here by his wife Liz Hilton who also plans to take this test. “This is my first visit to Chandigarh and I must say that this really is a very good place to learn and play golf. We are here for this three-day course and then we will be going to Sri Lanka after this to conduct a similar certification course there as well,” said Liz. All those who pass this certification course will become eligible to be appointed as referees in golf tournaments both in India and abroad.
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Pune Warriors retain Ganguly
New Delhi, January 21 Ganguly had signed up with the outfit after the start of the tournament last year. He had been a part of the Kolkata Knight Riders in the first three editions of the Twenty20 event and had led the side in 2008 and 2010. "We are privileged to have a player of Ganguly's calibre. He has been one of India's greatest and most inspirational cricketers. We have no doubt that his presence in the team will boost the team's prospects in the IPL, and motivate the boys to excel themselves," Abhijit Sarkar, Pune Warriors director, said. — PTI |
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Ranji Final
Chennai, January 21 With two days left, Tamil Nadu are still 555 runs behind Rajasthan's first innings score but the magic figure for the hosts will certainly be 521. With Rajasthan scoring their 621 runs at an average of 2.53 runs per over, Tamil Nadu can still win the trophy if they don't get all out. As of now, they require to score the runs at a rate of 2.54 runs per over which means 521 runs in 205 overs. Another 455 runs in the remaining 180 overs and not losing more than six wickets will seal the issue for Laxmipathy Balaji and Co. Resuming at 404 for two, it was veteran opener Vineet Saxena (257) and young Robin Bist (57, 159 balls, 9x4) who again continued in sedate fashion taking the score to 485 before the latter played a Sunny Gupta (3/127) delivery straight to K Vasudevadas at square leg. — PTI
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Coca-Cola, KXIP launch
U-16 cricket cup
Mohali, January 21 The initiative was announced by Ashish Sethi, CEO, Kandhari Beverages Pvt Ltd (Franchise Bottling Partner of The Coca-Cola Company in India), Col. Arvinder Singh, COO KXI Punjab and PN Sankaran Director Operations, Procam International at a press event organised at the PCA Stadium in Mohali. The initiative is also being supported by Cricketing legend and Coca-Cola’s Happiness Ambassador, Sachin Tendulkar, who sent his best wishes for the tournament and said, “The formative years of cricket is between ages 11 to 15. That is when, cricketers start discovering their mental as well as physical skills and orient themselves towards a particular discipline of the game like batting, bowling, wicket keeping and fielding. What Coca-Cola is now doing through the Coca-Cola U-16 Cup Cricket program, is providing a similar platform to young cricketers to groom and nurture themselves for bigger challenges ahead. I congratulate them for taking a lead in such initiatives”. |
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Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray had time for jokes and smiles as they breezed into the Australian Open fourth round on Saturday — but there were tears as two top women lost out.
Course’ that is currently underway at the National Golf Academy of India at CGA Golf Range here. This course is being conducted by Chris Hilton, Chairman, Rules of Golf Committee the Royal and Ancient St. Andrews Scotland (R&A) and Grant Moir, Director-Rules of Golf R&A who have come here to enlighten and educate these budding referees about the rules which govern this sport and also to apprise them about any rule changes that keep taking place from time to time.
Men's champion Djokovic happily destroyed injury-hit Nicolas Mahut 6-0, 6-1, 6-1, but he did his best to cheer up the Frenchman on his 30th birthday as he played to the crowd on a bright Saturday in Melbourne.
