|
|
|
|
|
India ‘a’ tour
to South Africa
Nadal steamrolls Raonic to lift Rogers Cup
|
|
|
World Athletics Championships
Ashes-2013
‘More than 250 athletes have failed dope test’
Dufner keeps composure to win first major title
|
|
India ‘a’ tour
to South Africa
Pretoria, August 12 The 27-year-old Delhi left-hander blasted a 150-ball-248, which is only the second highest individual List A score behind former Surrey batsman Alistair Brown's 268 against Glamorgan at the Oval, back on July 19, 2002. Riding on Dhawan's brilliance and some solid support from skipper Cheteshwar Pujara (109 not out), India A amassed a mammoth 433 for three in 50 overs. The target was a tall-order for the hosts but their batsmen fought hard before being bowled out for 394 in 48.4 overs. Reeza Hendricks (102) and Vaughn van Jaarsveld's (108) centuries were not good enough to take the hosts past the finishing line. India A will meet Australia A in the final on Wednesday. The day undoubtedly belonged to Dhawan, who hit 30 boundaries and seven sixes in his innings during which he surpassed Sachin Tendulkar's 200 not out against South Africa in 2010 at Gwalior and Virender Sehwag's 219 against West Indies in Indore back in 2011. If Dhawan's first 100 came off only 86 balls, the second hundred came off only 46 balls as he raced to his maiden List A double hundred in only 132 balls with a push off left-arm seamer Beuran Hendricks' bowling at the LC de Villiers Oval. Just when it looked that he would eclipse the world record, he was caught by wicketkeeper Dane Vilas of Rusty Theron's bowling trying another slog shot. Dhawan added 285 runs in only 33.5 overs with his skipper Pujara, who also helped himself to a three-figure mark having faced 97 balls and hit eight boundaries. — PTI Brief scores: India A 433 for 3 (Dhawan 248, Pujara 109*); SA A 394 (Hendricks 106, van Jaarsveld 108, Pandey 4-76).
|
|
Nadal steamrolls Raonic to lift Rogers Cup
Toronto, August 12
Robert Bedard, the last Canadian to win what was then called the Canadian Open in 1955, was in attendance to see Nadal claim his third Rogers Cup title. The Spanish star also won in 2005 and 2008. “To win here, I have to be playing my top level,” Nadal said. “Very happy the way that I played almost every match in this tournament. Is very important for me, this title. Just very happy for everything.” Raonic was the first Canadian since the now 81-year-old Bedard even to reach the final. “The tournament overall was a great thing,” Raonic said. “There were a lot of situations that I'm very happy with the way I dealt with them, and there were a lot of learning experiences through it all. “A lot of stepping stones that I need to do in my career happened this week, so that's great. The match, obviously I'm a little disappointed with myself. I would have hoped to deal with that situation a little bit better.” Nadal, playing his first tournament since a first-round loss at Wimbledon in June, posted his eighth tournament win this year and the 58th of his career. On Saturday night in the semifinals, Nadal beat two-time defending champion Novak Djokovic 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (2). “I did a lot of things well,” Nadal said. “My return was huge this afternoon. I returned a few first serves of his in important moments, decisive. Then I think he play with more mistakes than usual. That helped me.” Serena has it easy too Serena Williams crushed Romania's Sorana Cirstea 6-2 6-0 in the final of the women's Rogers Cup on Sunday to capture her 54th WTA singles title. Williams completely overwhelmed her unseeded opponent to cruise to a one-sided victory in just over an hour and claim the Rogers Cup for the third time. It was the world number one's eighth title this year and put her outright fifth on the all-time list of tournament winners after she had been tied with Monica Seles. Only Martina Navratilova, Chris Evert, Steffi Graf and Lindsay Davenport have won more WTA singles titles than Williams. — Agencies
|
|
Fraser-Pryce burns up the track The 26-year-old set a world leading time of 10.71 seconds for a commanding 100m win Moscow, August 12
The 26-year-old set a world leading time of 10.71 seconds for a commanding win which followed hot on the heels of compatriot Usain Bolt who took the men's title on Sunday. Murielle Ahoure was second in 10.93 to give Ivory Coast its first world championship medal and she became the first African woman to finish on the podium in a sprint. Defending world champion Carmelita Jeter of the US was third in 10.94. From the moment twice Olympic champion Fraser-Pryce shot out of the blocks there was only going to be one winner. Also champion in 2009, the Jamaican was never headed and her rivals were left watching the soles of her bright pink spikes as she powered to the line. Oliver powers to 110m hurdles gold Powerful American David Oliver won the world 110 metres hurdles title with a season-leading time of 13.00 seconds. Oliver led early and maintained his form to take an emotional victory. American dreams of a clean sweep came up just short as veteran Ryan Wilson took silver in 13.13 but a last-hurdle stumble by defending champion Jason Richardson allowed Russia's Sergey Shubenkov to snatch bronze in 13.24. Olympic champion and world record holder Aries Merritt had a ragged race and could only finish sixth. Unrivalled Adams wins fourth successive gold New Zealand's Valerie Adams became the first woman to win four successive world titles when she secured shot put gold. A third-round throw of 20.88 metres proved enough for Adams. Germany's Christina Schwanitz (20.41) took silver and Gong Lijao of China (19.95) bronze. American sprinter Allyson Felix won three successive 200 metres world titles between 2005 and 2009 and Cuban hammer thrower Yipsey Moreno also won three world titles in a row between 2001 and 2005. Ohuruogu snatches women’s 400m title Britain's Christine Ohuruogu snatched victory from defending champion Amantle Montsho with a desperate lunge to the line in the women's 400 metres. Ohuruogu, world champion in 2007, has a reputation as a big race performer and did not disappoint the British fans, winning in a time of 49.41 seconds. Botswana's Montsho will despair the fact she did not dip at the end after being given the same time in second with Russian Antonina Krivoshapka taking bronze in 49.78. Ohuruogu was fourth coming off the final bend but charged down the home straight to catch Montsho on the line. Holzdeppe takes shock pole vault gold Germany's Raphael Holzdeppe was a shock winner of the men's world pole vault title as he edged red-hot favourite Frenchman Renaud Lavillenie on countback. Both men failed three times to clear 5.96 metres but the German had been faultless in moving up through the heights to notch 5.89 and add world gold to his Olympic bronze last year. Olympic champion Lavillenie was uncharacteristically off form and had several failures along the way before settling for silver, also on 5.89. Bjorn Otto of Germany took bronze. — Reuters Gowda qualifies Vikas Gowda advanced to the men’s discus throw final in after finishing seventh overall in the qualification round. National record holder and reigning Asian champion Gowda finished fourth in qualification round A with a best throw of 63.64m from his first attempt. Reigning world and Olympic champion Robert Harting of Germany was the lead thrower going into the final round with an effort of 66.62m. Piotr Malachowski of Poland was second overall in the qualification with 66.00m while London Olympics bronze medallist Gerd Kanter of Estonia was third with 65.54m. — PTI
|
|
Ashes-2013 Chester-le-Street, August 12 Alastair Cook's side, who retained the urn after the drawn third Test earlier this month, take a 3-0 lead in the five-match series with the final Test at the Oval next week.
Australia were in great shape at 109/0 chasing 299 to win but Broad ripped into the Australians with his 6/50. Chris Rogers (49) was the only wicket to fall, the first-innings centurion edging a turning delivery from Graeme Swann low to Jonathan Trott at first slip with the total on 109. Rogers played the tortoise to fellow left-hander Warner's hare during their century partnership. Warner, suspended for punching England batsman Joe Root in a Birmingham bar during the Champions Trophy tournament in June, carried the attack to the home team with a series of crunching strokes. Australia survived an early scare when under-fire umpire Tony Hill gave Rogers out after he appeared to snick James Anderson to wicketkeeper Matt Prior. Rogers went for a review and the decision was reversed when television replays showed the ball had clipped the thigh pad, not the bat. The home team, 2-0 up in the five-match series, also went to the Decision Review System before lunch when Hill rejected an lbw shout by Stuart Broad against Rogers. Hill was vindicated on that occasion as replays showed the ball had pitched outside leg stump. Swann spilled a difficult chance early in the rain-delayed afternoon session when he dived low at second slip trying to take an edge from Rogers off Tim Bresnan. While Rogers was content to nudge and nurdle, Warner was in typically pugnacious mood. — Reuters Scoreboard Australia 2nd innings
|
|
‘More than 250 athletes have failed dope test’
New Delhi, August 12 Relying to a question in the Lok Sabha, Sports Minister Jitendra Singh stated that 279 sportspersons have returned positive for doping offence in the last two years. "The government and the National Anti-Doping Agency are working towards dope free sports in the country in association with stakeholders to rid sports of this menace and create a clean and healthy environment for sports in India," the Minister stated. "The NADA is taking stringent measures against doping in sports by conducting in-competition dope tests on sportspersons. The government has repeatedly announced zero tolerance to violation of the anti-doping regulation," he added. The Minister informed the house that NADA has conducted 9898 dope tests in the last three years. “During the period from 2009-2012, NADA has conducted numerous educational and awareness programmes about the prohibited substances and methods in sports across the country,” he said.— PTI
|
|
Dufner keeps composure to win first major title
Chandigarh, August 12
Dufner, who lost the 2011 PGA Championship to Keegan Bradley in the playoff after he squandered a five shot lead on the last four holes, on Sunday kept his composure to win his first major title, the PGA Championship, by two shots. Trailing playing partner Jim Furyk by one stroke overnight, Dufner produced some exceptional play to shoot a two-under-par 68 and a 10-under total of 270 on the challenging Oak Hill Country Club. “It is great to see Jason get redemption for his 2011 loss. He has put in a lot of hard work, which paid off on Sunday,” said Jeev Milkha Singh, who played a practice round with Dufner at the 2012 PGA Championship. The ‘Dufnering’ effect Dufner was in the news earlier this year when a photograph of him asleep, while sitting on the floor of a classroom, leaning against the wall, went viral. He was attending a charity event at the school, for underprivileged children, as the defending champion of the event. Soon the entire golf community was discussing the photograph, which, Dufner himself said, “shows how I act all the time.” The pose came to be known as ‘Dufnering’ and other professional golfers got in on the act as well. It became so popular that on Saturday, the PGA President had his staff photographed ‘Dufnering’ at the PGA Championship.
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | E-mail | |
Shikhar Dhawan smashed his way to the record books with a breathtaking 248-run knock as he singlehandedly guided India A to a 39-run victory over a fighting South Africa 'A' and into the tri-series final.
