Paris, June 1
Former champion Ana Ivanovic went out of the French Open on Friday, beaten 1-6, 7-5, 6-3 by Italian claycourt specialist Sara Errani in an erratic third-round display.

Ivanovic, the Roland Garros winner in 2008 and a former world number one, started well on the Suzanne Lenglen showcourt but her game deteriorated and, at one stage in the final set, she hit three double faults in a row. Errani, seeded 21st while Ivanovic was number 13, served well and won points at the net before taking victory on her second matchpoint when the Serbian put a forehand wide.

Errani will now meet 26th-seeded Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova, another former champion, who knocked out third seed Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland 6-1 6-2.

Ivanovic took full responsibility for her loss, saying: "I was making some unforced errors when I was too flat-footed. "In the third set I was creating a lot of opportunities and missing a lot of easy, easy finishing balls and that is something I am not happy about," the world number 14 told a news conference.

"Some double faults really came out of nowhere. Maybe I wasn't using my legs enough."

Errani, who said her coach had told her to play to Ivanovic's backhand as much as possible, was delighted with the win. "It is one of my best," she told a news conference. "She is not top 10 now but she has always been among the top players, so I am very happy."

Third seed Agnieszka Radwanska exited the French Open on Friday after being comprehensively out-fought and out-manoeuvred in a straight-sets, third-round defeat to former champion Svetlana Kuznetsova.

The 26th seed, who won the 2009 title at Roland Garros, won 6-1 6-2 with a display of relentless consistency to which the frequently wayward Radwanska had no response. Despite her lithe frame, the Pole looked ill at ease on the clay and lacked the all-round aggression of her Russian opponent who broke four times to take the first set in 30 minutes.

Kuznetsova continued to punish the out-of-sorts Radwanska to book her place in the fourth round.

Maria Sharapova made up for lost time as she hurried into the third round of the French Open with a 6-1 6-1 pummelling of Japan's Ayumi Morita on Friday.

The Russian second seed had been scheduled to face Morita on Thursday but failed to get on to Centre Court after Paul-Henri Mathieu took almost six hours to beat John Isner. On Thursday, she refused to hang around longer than necessary on a cold and blustery Suzanne Lenglen Court and whipped winners at will to end 84th-ranked Morita's challenge as the clock ticked over the hour mark. — Reuters 

Mumbai, June 1
There may be a few problems afflicting the IPL, but senior India batsman Sachin Tendulkar today said that they don't make the entire tournament questionable. "I think there are one or two problems in every organisation and it does not make the entire organisation bad," responded Tendulkar to a query on allegations of spot-fixing surrounding the BCCI's lucrative Indian Premier League.

Tendulkar, who is set to take oath as Rajya Sabha member on June 4, advised young players to follow the people who set the right example and absorb their good qualities.

"I would definitely say this (spot-fixing) is not a good example (to set). My advise would be to follow the people who set the right example. Follow the right direction and absorb all the good qualities," he said.

Tendulkar was speaking to reporters at a function associated with the 'Coca Cola-NDTV Support My School' campaign.

A TV sting operation recently showed five fringe players connected to the IPL purportedly indulging in questionable behaviour, prompting the BCCI to suspend them besides launching an inquiry.

The cricket body has asked its new anti-corruption chief Ravi Sawani to conduct an inquiry and submit a report. The suspended players are TP Sudhindra (Deccan Chargers), Mohnish Mishra (Pune Warriors), Amit Yadav (Kings XI Punjab), Shalabh Shrivastava (Kings XI Punjab) and first-class cricketer Abhinav Bali.

Stressing the importance of education, Tendulkar, who is the educational campaign's ambassador, said it was important to provide infrastructure in schools, and to support the education of girls.

"School days shape your life and the progress of a person starts from there. If we can bring small changes like providing basic facilities like good toilets, I think we can get the girls to attend the school instead of dropping out.

"Woman is the backbone of a family and the future of a family will change if the girl is educated," he added.

Asked if he would propagate this campaign as Rajya Sabha member, Tendulkar said, "I am already involved in a lot of causes before being a member of Rajya Sabha. I don't think you need another platform to do such initiatives." The function marked 100 schools being covered under the campaign, which started in January 2011. Tendulkar said he hoped that the milestone didn't stop here. — PTI 

Chandigarh, June 1
A few junior girl wrestlers have made grave allegations of sexual harassment by their coach during a camp held in Lucknow to prepare for the Asian Junior Wrestling Championship in Kazakhstan, which runs from May 31 to June 3.

The complaint has been filed with Sports Minister Ajay Maken and is being investigated by a Sports Authority of India committee.

The preparatory camp was held from April 30 to May 25, and 32 junior girl wrestlers participated in it. The camp was to run until May 30, but the team moved to Delhi early to attend to the visa formalities.

The complaint, filed on May 16, states that on the night of May 15, a coach, who belongs to Haryana, forcibly entered the room of one of the junior wrestlers. The girl raised a din and a few other girls reached and bolted the room from outside. Allegedly, the coach then tried to brazen his way out of the situation, warning the girls against filing a complaint.

The complaint also alleges that the coach used to harass the girls, passing lewd comments.

The Sports Ministry has asked the SAI to investigate the incident, and a three-member committee, under SAI’s Lucknow director, Rachana Govil, is looking into the allegations.

“Yes, I have received this complaint and am looking into it,” Govil told the Tribune. “It’s a very serious and sensitive matter and I cannot disclose any details at this moment.”

She said that while the girls and the coaches have left, and she has been pursuing her investigations and would deliver her report soon.

The coach at the centre of this controversy has been banned by the SAI from working with or accompanying the girls until he’s cleared of the allegations. The girls left to participate in the tournament on Wednesday morning.

A circular from the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) designated senior coach Vikram Kumar as the original official in charge of the camp, which had five coaches, including the in-charge. Vikram Kumar, however, clarified that he never took over as the coach. “No, Ajit Mann Singh was appointed in charge of the camp instead of me after the official circular was sent out,” said Vikram. “I did not take over the camp at all.”

The Tribune has learnt that there could be a peculiar twist in this tale – that it’s possible that rivalry between officials of Uttar Pradesh and Haryana led to this. “I suspect that it’s a concocted allegation,” says an official close to the situation. “The girls had been there for such a long time, and there was no inkling that they had been facing any problems.”

In fact, this official says, the girls have said that the camps should be held in Lucknow in the future too.

The official adds that the nature of the complaint is quite suspicious: “It’s very peculiar – no individual girl is saying that she herself faced sexual harassment, they’re saying that the coach was harassing other girls.”

New Delhi, June 1
Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan is all set to buy stakes in I-League champions Dempo with the Goan football club's chairman Srinivas Dempo today saying that he was hopeful of sealing the deal.

Dempo said that the talks with Khan, who co-owns IPL-winning side Kolkata Knight Riders, were "progressing very well".

"We are discussing with Mr Shah Rukh Khan on his possible investment in the club and the only thing I can say is that talks are progressing very well," Dempo said. "His response has been very positive. Mr Khan is very passionate about football and, apart from just involving himself in Dempo, he wants to do something for Indian football. He said that football was his first love even before cricket," Dempo added.

Dempo would not elaborate much on the details but sources said that Khan has been in talks with the Goa-based I-League champion club for a while. They said Khan has met Dempo quite a few times and he was interested in acquiring 50 per cent stake in the club.

"Talks are on and he has also met the Dempo management, including the owner, a couple of times, but it is yet to be confirmed. Some things need to be worked out before finalising the deal," a source said.

It has been learnt that the club was keen on using Khan's name and popularity in promoting the I-League champion side who have been dominating Indian football for quite a while now.aThe club recently bought a 34 per cent stake in leading Danish soccer club and academy FC Midtjylland, for 12 million euros. — PTI

Who are Dempo Sc? Dempo Sports Club is a football club based in Panjim, Goa. The club is owned and sponsored by the Dempo group of companies. Popularly known as ‘the whites’, the team has been a constant performer and gained immensely popularity in the last four decades of its existence. In the 2004-05 season, the club won its maiden National Football League title. They won the league again in the 2006-2007 season and followed it with the two I-League triumphs in 2006-07 in its inaugural version and then in 2009-2010.

London, June 1
The ICC Cricket Committee has decided to keep the controversial Duckworth Lewis method for calculating one-day targets when weather intervenes while making minor changes in other areas of the game, the sport's governing body said on Friday.

The committee considered a proposal by V.Jayadevan for a new way of working out run chases for reduced overs matches at a two-day meeting at Lord's this week.

"The committee unanimously agreed that there was no evidence of any significant flaws in the D/L method nor did the committee believe that any improvements could be offered by the VJD method. Therefore the committee decided to continue with D/L," the ICC said in a statement.

Duckworth Lewis has long been criticised because of its complex mathematics. The technology behind the Decision Review System has also been queried in some quarters but the ICC committee fully backed the idea.

"The committee noted the improvements in DRS technology and that DRS has almost totally eradicated player-dissent. This is an extremely beneficial side effect of the DRS," David Richardson, ICC general manager - cricket, said.

"We have always said that DRS was there to assist the umpires in getting more decisions correct and eradicating the obvious mistakes. The statistics demonstrate that it has been effective in that objective. The committee re-affirmed this as the aim."

The committee also heard that a prototype sensor has been developed that can be worn during matches and would indicate whether or not the bowler's elbow is being straightened during the delivery swing.

Other changes which were recommended included an increase in the number of permitted short pitched deliveries from one to two per over in one-day cricket.

Powerplays should also be restricted to the first 10 overs plus one five-over batting powerplay to be completed by the 40th over. In a non-powerplay over, only four fielders ought to be allowed outside the 30 yard circle. With regards to Test s, the committee suggested that drinks should not be brought on to the field other than at the official drinks breaks as well as urging teams not to waste time at referrals. — Reuters 

New Delhi: Centuries by Nakul Sharma (110) and Prateek Pawar (102) helped Gush Club beat Malik Sports by 55 runs in the 37th Raghubir Singh Hot Weather Cricket Tournament, played at the Modern School ground here today. Nakul Sharma was adjudged the man of the match, which was presented to him by DDCA Sports Working Committee member Naresh Sharma.

Put in to bat, Gush Club scored 300 for 9 in 40 overs with Nakul Sharma and PrateekPawar adding 163 for the second wicket.

Scores: Gush Club: 300 for 9 (Nakul Sharma 110(92b,14x4,3x6) and Prateek 102(84b,10x4), Rajeev 39, Vivek 2/60). Malik Sports:245 (Himmat 61(64b,8x4,1x6), Manav 38(26b,6x4), Chopra 47(31b,5x4,2x6), Abhinav 36(28b,5x4,2x6)Ravi 30, Vijayan 3/39, Ramesh 3/48.Farooq 2/35). — TNS