London, July 2
Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna reached the quarterfinals of the men's doubles with their respective partners. However in women's doubles Sania Mirza was knocked out.

Rohan Bopanna and his French partner Edouard Roger-Vasselin defeated Austrian-Brazil pair Alexander Peya and Bruno Soares by 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-2. Bopanna also won in the mixed doubles with his Chinese partner Jie Zheng. Indo-China pair, won 7-6 (8-6), 7-5 against unseeded Croatia-Colombia pair of Darija Jurak and Robert Farah. Bhupathi and his Austrian pair Julian Knowle, seeded eight, beat unseeded Canadian pair of Jesse Levine and Vasek Pospisil 6-2, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4. Paes and Radek Stepanek won 6-4, 6-2 and 6-4 against Lukasz Kobot and Marcin Matwoski. — Agencies

London, July 2
Clutching tickets won in a raffle, acquired through the local tennis club or bought at a charity auction, the fans huddled together on a chilly Centre Court all agreed - the Wimbledon women's quarter-finals were low on star names.

But the diehard aficionados ready to queue all night outside the grounds were delighted to find it took them only three hours to get in to watch what Britain's Times newspaper scornfully called "the women you've never heard of." Five-times champion Serena Williams is out. Maria Sharapova has gone. In the last eight, household names are hard to come by as only three of the top 10 seeds made it into the last eight. Williams' unexpected downfall in the fourth round prompted American great John McEnroe to quip: "Serena's exit has kept this crazy tournament as crazy as it's ever been!" With one of the quarter-final line-ups now boasting a showdown between Sabine Lisicki and Kaia Kanepi, fans were feeling a little underwhelmed.

"It has lost its edge. We are slightly disappointed," confessed Daniel Francis, on Centre Court with his mother Breda with their tickets won in an auction.

But, eager to put a positive spin on a thoroughly British experience, he said: "I suppose it is good to see the underdogs just like we do in football with the FA Cup." Jenny Gibbs, enjoying her Centre Court debut as a spectator, said: "I must say I was disappointed it wasn't men's tennis. That at the moment is so much better."

Dorothy Richardson agreed: "I am disappointed we are not going to see the stars." Fourth seed Agnieszka Radwanska is the highest ranked survivor. Name a famous Belgian tennis player and most would pick Kim Clijsters or Justine Henin. Few would choose Kirsten Flipkens, one of the last eight. Fans of Andy Murray were fanatical enough to queue from Friday. — Reuters

London, July 2
Eight women from eight different countries will walk through the gates of the All England Club on Tuesday harbouring genuine title hopes following a Wimbledon wipeout of the headline attractions.

Czech eighth seed Petra Kvitova, Wimbledon champion in 2011, and China's Li Na, French Open winner in the same year, are the only two who know how it feels to win a grand slam. After defeat for Maria Sharapova and Victoria Azarenka's injury-enforced withdrawal, Serena Williams was expected to stroll to a sixth Wimbledon title but her fourth-round defeat by German Sabine Lisicki on Monday left the draw wide open.

Kvitova takes on 20th seed Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium, a quarter-final debutant at this level, while Li faces fourth- seeded Pole Agnieszka Radwanska who was runner-up here last year. “I think it doesn't mean anything," Radwanska told reporters, referring to her role as the highest seed left in the tournament. — Reuters

Mahela Jayawardene and Upul Tharanga celebrate in Kingston on Tuesday. — AFP

Raina 2-0-10-0

ICC to review Amir’s case

The five-member ICC sub-committee in all likelihood will review whether certain clauses incorporated in Mohammad Amir's five-year ban for indulging in spot-fixing can be relaxed in order to allow the talented paceman opportunity to use PCB's training facilities. "The ICC, during the annual conference week, constituted a five-member committee that will review and recommend amendments to the ICC Anti-Corruption Code, and on recommendation from the PCB, will also provide its suggestions to the ICC board on the ban. — Agencies

New Delhi, July 2
Known for his sound technique and insatiable appetite for runs, Cheteshwar Pujara believes he has it in himself to succeed Rahul Dravid at the crucial number three position in the Test side and says comparison with his childhood idol acts as a "morale-booster".

“It's a big compliment for me (comparison with Dravid) because someone who has been successful in Indian cricket and someone who has been called 'The Wall' of the Indian cricket, if you are compared with that person, it's a morale-booster for me and increases my confidence," Pujara said.

“He is one of my childhood idols. I try and learn as many things as possible from him. Unfortunately, he has retired now but whenever I had the opportunity to play alongside Dravid, I always enjoyed his company, the way he used to guide me, the way he used to give me tips, it was always motivating for me," he said.

Seen by many as one who could go on to be an able successor to the former great, Pujara has an average of 65 after 13 Tests having scored four centuries, including two double hundreds, and three half-centuries. Pujara said cricket fans comparing him with the former India captain shows that "you have something similar" to Dravid."You have something in you, that's why people are comparing me with him. It's a great feeling for me, I mean you have the technique which is similar to Dravid. He is a player who has scored more than 10,000 runs in both the formats." The 25-year-old Saurashtra batsman, who has strengthened his position in the Test format, is patiently waiting for his chance to make the ODI debut.

“I'll get my chances soon. I am working on being a good ODI and T20 player. I started off well in the Test cricket and if I continue the way I am playing Tests, I'll get my chances in the ODI format too. I just need to wait for my opportunity and I know the time will soon come," said Pujara, who averages 56.97 in 61 domestic one-day matches with eight hundreds and 17 fifties.

Pujara admitted that the South Africa series will be a big test of his batting but exuded confidence of performing well in challenging conditions. — PTI

Melbourne, July 2
Pakistan-born leg-spinner Fawad Ahmed Tuesday had his bid for Australian citizenship accepted, making him eligible to play in the upcoming Ashes series in England.

The former refugee, 31, played for Australia A last month in England and selector John Inverarity has indicated he will be considered for the Ashes squad.

“It is a dream moment for me," Ahmed said. “I haven't spoken to (my family) about today but they're really hopeful and they're happy for me. I miss them a lot on this occasion but I'm really pleased to be a citizen now.”

Ahmed described his experience as "unbelievable". "The last four years here in Australia, I couldn't wait to be a citizen, especially in the field of cricket," he told reporters in Melbourne.

BCCI's Tour Programme and Fixtures Committee met at the Cricket Centre here on Monday to finalise the domestic cricket schedule for the 2013-14 season. The committee decided to implement the decisions taken by the Technical Committee in its previous meeting which included every team will play four home and four away games in the Ranji league phase. "The Tour Programme and Fixtures Committee of the BCCI met at the Cricket Centre in Mumbai, on Monday, 1 July 2013, to finalise the domestic cricket schedule for the 2013-14 season. The detailed tournament schedule will be displayed on www.bcci.tv on Monday, 8 July 2013," said the release from BCCI secretary Sanjay Patel. Other decisions of the Technical Committee will also be implemented during the upcoming Ranji Trophy season which include that Vijay Hazare Trophy matches at the knockout stage, and the Deodhar Trophy matches, will be played under lights; the under-25 matches will start a day after the Ranji matches so that players who are not part of the playing XI in the Ranji games can play the under-25 games. — PTI

Nice, July 2
Australian Simon Gerrans took the Tour de France leader’s yellow jersey when his Orica-GreenEdge outfit won Tuesday’s team time trial, 24 hours after he had won the third stage.

The Australian team crossed the line in 25 minutes 56 seconds, making it the fastest stage in the Tour’s history. They finished one second ahead of Belgian world champions Omega Pharma Quick-Step with Britain’s Team Sky a further two seconds behind in third.

“It has been a dream start for us,” Orica-GreenEdge sporting director Matt White said in a finish-line interview. “We knew we would be competitive but to win (the time trial), we are very surprised.”

Gerrans beat pre-stage favourite Peter Sagan of Slovakia to win Monday’s individual honours and now leads the overall standings ahead of team mates Daryl Impey of South Africa and Michael Albasini of Switzerland.

The team were in the limelight for the wrong reasons on Saturday’s opening stage when their bus got stuck under the overhead banner at the finish line as the speeding peloton was approaching. Omega Pharma Quick-Step were hampered by problems with German individual time-trial world champion Tony Martin, who suffered concussion and an elbow wound in a crash in the opening stage, and Briton Mark Cavendish, who has had bronchitis.

Team Sky had their own woes with team pursuit Olympic champion Geraint Thomas riding despite a small pelvis fracture, though he kept up with his team mates until the final stretch. — Reuters

RESULTS: STAGE IV Orica(Australia) 25:56” Omega Pharma - Quick-Step(Belgium) +1” Team Sky(Britain) +3” Saxo - Tinkoff(Denmark) +9” Lotto(Belgium) +17” General Classification Simon Gerrans (Australia / Orica) 12:47:24” Daryl Impey (South Africa / Orica) ST Michael Albasini (Switzerland / Orica) Michal Kwiatkowski (Poland / Omega Pharma - Quick-Step) +1”

New Delhi, July 2
Commonwealth Games gold-medallist Manoj Kumar (64kg) gave India a perfect start at the Asian Boxing Championships in Amman, Jordan by thrashing local favourite Ibrahim Saleh in the opening round.

The 26-year-old Indian, a silver medallist at the recent Limassol Boxing Cup in Cyprus, Lac Mohamed Dilshan of Sri Lanka tomorrow in his pre-quarterfinal bout.

In the first round, Manoj surprised the short but strong local lad with his aggressive intent and pace.

Making full use of his height, the Indian dominated the proceedings through the bout, never allowing Saleh to play his natural game.

By the end of the final round, Manoj had the clear advantage with fatigue setting in on the Jordanian boxer.

Manoj entered the round of 16 with victory by virtue of a unanimous decision.

Later today, Jagroop Singh (81kg) will make his debut at the Asian Championships against Uzbekistan’s Boburbek Yuldashev.

Reigning national champion in the light weight division Vikas Malik (60kg) will lock horns with Nooristani Khaibar from Afghanistan.

Being held at the Sport City Boxing Arena, the event will feature the approved AIBA Scoring System the ‘10-point Must System’ .

According to the official entry list, including the athletes, coaches, referees and team officials, 167 boxers from 27 nations are competing in the event. — PTI

New Delhi, July 2
Following India’s miserable performance in the Hockey World League at Rotterdam recently, which was a qualification event for the 2014 World Cup, Hockey India has cast the net wide to pick 48 core probables for a coaching camp in preparation of the team for the 9th Asia Cup, to be held at Ipoh (Malaysia), from August 24 to September 1.

The Asia Cup will be India’s last hope to qualify for the World Cup, for if they win the title, they would make the cut. The World Cup will be held in The Hague (Holland) from May 31 to June 15, 2014.

The coaching camp will be held at the SAI Centre (Bangalore) from July 16 to August 16. The probables include seven goalkeepers, nine defenders, 12 midfielders and 20 forwards. India were let down by goalkeepers and the defenders, which included three drag-flick specialists, in the World Cup qualifying event, and as a result, Hockey India decided to tap the maximum available talent and observe them closely in the month-long camp in Bangalore before finalizing the Asia Cup team.

Senior selectors B.P Govinda, Savitri Purty, chief coach Michael Nobbs and scientific advisor Jason Konrath, along with Government observer Harbinder Singh, selected the probables for the Asia Cup camp.India are grouped in Pool B with Korea, Bangladesh and Oman while Pakistan, Malaysia, Japan and Chinese-Taipei make up Pool A.

Goalkeepers: PR Sreejesh, PT Rao Katharu, Nanak Singh, Naveen Kumar, Jagdeep Dayal and Abhinay Kumar Pandey; Defenders: VR Raghunath, Rupinder Pal Singh, Harbir Singh Sandhu,Amit Rohidas, Sampath Kumar Maylaram, Gagandeep Singh, Dayananda Chanamthabam, Narinder Pal Singh and Gurmail Singh; Mid-fielders: Sardar Singh, Manpreet Singh, M B Aiyappa, Kothajit Singh, Pardeep Mor, Vivek Dhar, Birendra Lakra, Jaspreet Singh, Simranjit Singh, Manjit Kullu, Vikas Pillay and Sumit; Forwards: SV Sunil, Gurwinder Singh Chandi, Chinglensana Singh, Danish Mujtaba, SK Uthappa, Pradhan Sommanna, Nithin Thimmaiah, Dharamvir Singh, Akashdeep Singh, MG Poonacha, Prabhdeep Singh, PL Thimmanna, Sukhdev Singh, Gurpreet Singh, Jasjeet Singh, Nikin Thimmaiah, Harman Preet Singh, Manjinder Singh, M.K Muddappa and Gagandeep Singh.

Mumbai, July 2
Former national hockey coach Joaquim Carvalho today hit out at the performance of his successor Michael Nobbs, saying the Australian has not done anything worthwhile to galvanise the sagging fortunes of the team in his two-year-old tenure.

“He has shown no improvement in the Indian team. A good coach needs to come up with good strategies against specific opponents, should have good management and communication skills as well as ability to read the game. He is no coach,” Carvalho said.

However, Carvalho’s former India and Mumbai teammate Mervyn Fernandis has questioned frequent changes of coaches. “I do not believe in talking about coaching. That’s my personality. We have made so many changes, brought in foreign coaches, but where have all these changes got us? And before making any change we should see what are the other options,” Fernandis said.

Nobbs, under whom India finished 12th in the London Olympic Games last year, is under serious pressure to help team qualify for the next men’s World Cup in The Hague, Netherlands scheduled for May-June, 2014.

The Indian team, led by Sardar Singh, failed to achieve its primary aim to qualify for the showpiece event at the World League semi-final at Rotterdam last month.

Nobbs’s could be in the line of fire if the Indian team fails to earn a direct entry into the world cup by winning the eight-nation Asia Cup, which is slated to be held from August 24 to September 1 at Ipoh, Malaysia. — PTI

Pune, July 2
The Indian athletics contingent was today hit by doping incident just a day before the start of the biennial Asian Championships with a woman shot-putter returning positive for a banned substance.

A source in the Athletics Federation of India said that the dope-flunked athlete is one of the three shot-putters representing the country in the Championships starting on Wednesday.

Earlier in the day, the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) had revealed that a medal-winning woman shot-putter had flunked the dope test at last month's Senior National Interstate Athletics Championship in Chennai.

NADA did not name the athlete but said her blood samples contained Methylhexaneamine, which is a banned substance

Udaya Laxmi, Neha Singh and Navjeet Kaur Dhillon had won the gold, silver and bronze medal respectively in shot-put at the said meet.

It has been learnt that the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) is expected to pull out athletes from the Championships. — PTI