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At 31, Serena shows heart for sweet 17
Bindra a national hero, don’t cast aspersions on him: Sports Ministry
BCCI to resolve SA tour issue after AGM
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Spinners bowl Pak to victory over Zimbabwe
Sandeep, Rahul look to impress as India A take on NZ
CLTA felicitates season’s best performing players
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At 31, Serena shows heart for sweet 17
New York, September 7 World number one Williams thrashed a rattled Li Na 6-0 6-3, overcoming some staunch resistance at the end, while Azarenka returned to the Flushing Meadows final with a 6-4 6-2 win over unseeded Italian Flavia Pennetta. "Just to be able to defend a title for once would be really awesome," said French Open winner Williams, who will get her chance on Sunday after failing to go back-to-back following her 1999, 2002 and 2008 titles in New York. Although overpowered in the opening set, Li battled valiantly in the second, saving six match points to hold serve before the top seed finally closed the deal on a seventh with an unreturned serve. "It was a good match. It was tough at the end," Williams said. "I got a little nervous but I was able to close it out." Former French Open champion Li, China's first semi-finalist at the U.S. Open, admitted that she experienced a bout of nerves when she hit the Arthur Ashe Stadium court. "I should not be, like, nervous because (it was) not (the) first time to play semis," said Li, twice an Australian Open finalist. "But when I walked to the court I was feeling the court (was) so big. I mean, even my side, it was feeling like a football court. "In the end, finally, I can play tennis," she added with a smile. Williams, hot off a 6-0 6-0 quarter-final win against Spain's Carla Suarez Navarro, had won 24 consecutive games before Li held serve in the second game of the second set. "To hear constantly, 'go Serena, go Serena,' it is really a pleasure. I hear young voices and older voices and it really makes me feel so special," said Williams. Williams and Azarenka's final will be the first back-to-back title clash at the U.S. Open since Serena and her older sister Venus battled for the crown in 2002. Belarusian Azarenka trails 12-3 head-to-head against Williams, but has won two of their last three matches, hardcourt finals in Doha and Cincinnati. "When you play against Serena, you have to play your best," said Azarenka. "She makes me play my best." Williams is bidding for a fifth U.S. Open title and her 17th in grand slams. At 31, she would become the oldest women's winner at Flushing Meadows since tennis turned professional in 1968, supplanting Australia's Margaret Court who won in 1973. Mighty Max
Australian Open champion Azarenka booked her return to the championship match by finally finding a way to hold serve in a contest littered with 13 service breaks. In the end, Azarenka's power was too much for the battling Pennetta, who returned from a serious wrist injury to reach her first grand slam semifinal. There were five service breaks in a row before Azarenka held to win the first set after her unseeded 31-year-old opponent saved five set points. The second set followed a similar pattern, with three broken serves before Azarenka turned up the power. After holding serve to lead 3-1, Azarenka broke Pennetta yet again and squealed with delight after closing out the 94-minute match with a well-placed forehand. “It's an amazing opportunity, something that every tennis player dreams of, to be in the final of the U.S. Open and play against the best player in the world," said the second seed, a former US Open junior champion and mixed doubles winner. “I can't wait to go out and play.” Earlier, Belarusian veteran Max Mirnyi captured his third U.S. Open mixed doubles title on Friday when he teamed up with Czech Andrea Hlavackova to beat American Abigail Spears and Mexican Santiago Gonzalez 7-6 (5) 6-3. — Agencies |
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Bindra a national hero, don’t cast aspersions on him: Sports Ministry
New Delhi, September 7 In a press release issued early today, the Sports Ministry observed with “considerable disquiet” the comments by individuals in the media, “casting aspersions” on certain sportspersons who have brought laurels to the country in international sports events. The Ministry reiterated its stand that it considered international sports awardees as national heroes and had “zero tolerance” on attacks against sportspersons. “The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports remains committed to furthering the cause of Indian sportspersons and sports in India,” the statement added. Meanwhile, Abhinav Bindra refused to comment on Chautala’s reference to his father AS Bindra as he felt that the IOA president’s remarks did not deserve his reaction. On the alleged financial irregularities committed by A.S. Bindra, Abhay Singh had said that if the Olympic medallist felt that chargesheeted people should be stripped of their positions, then Bindra “should throw his father out of his house, or leave his house himself”. Abhinav refused to be drawn into a war of words when he tweeted that “to the media wanting a reaction out of me on Mr Chautala’s statement, Hve nothing to say as it doesn’t deserve a reaction”. However, he emphasised that “nothing will deter me and fellow athletes in our goal to clean Indian sport and take it forward”. Abhinav was upset that due to IOA’s suspension, Indian sportspersons were not able to compete under the national flag, and were denied the honour of hearing the national anthem on a podium finish. He said ethics was one of the main reasons for IOA’s suspension by the IOC. “Unless we set that right, we are going to get back in. Why is that so difficult to understand?” wondered Bindra.
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BCCI to resolve SA tour issue after AGM
Kolkata, September 7 “What we will decide we will decide only after the AGM. We are very busy with our AGM at the moment," Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) interim chief Jagmohan Dalmiya told mediapersons here. The series seems to be hanging fire, arguably due to strained relations between the two boards. However, Dalmiya reiterated the tour was on. Cricket South Africa had earlier announced a tour from Nov 17 involving three Tests, seven ODIs and two Twenty20 Internationals. But the BCCI is yet to give its nod, amid speculation that it favoured a shortened trip. The BCCI has now decided to host West Indies for a small tour comprising two Tests and three One-Day Internationals (ODI), besides three warm-up games, between Oct 31 and Nov 27. Again, India will tour New Zealand in mid-January for five ODIs and two Tests, with the first one-dayer to be played Jan 19 and the second Test ending Feb 18. But Dalmiya refused to agree that the BCCI wanted a truncated tour, and said the itineraries are decided on the basis of mutual agreement. “It was never finalised that we will play a specific number of matches in South Africa. They sent us an itinerary, and we have a revised one. In any case, the number of matches on a tour is decided on mutual agreement," said Dalmiya. Meanwhile, there were reports from Dubai that the uncertainty over the tour could be sorted out in Dubai when BCCI secretary Sanjay Patel meets CSA chief executive Haroon Lorgat on the sidelines of the International Cricket Council (ICC) chief executives' meeting slated for Sep 16-17. The meeting has been agreed upon after several conversations between the two over the past few days as they work towards resolving scheduling issues to South Africa-India series. No bilateral series vs India costs PCB $1.6 million
India's refusal to play a bilateral series has incurred the Pakistan Cricket Board a loss of atleast USD 1.6 million. The PCB has to repay an amount of USD 1.6 million to the Dubai-based broadcaster, Taj Entertainment Network since there was no bilateral series with India in their last agreement. “India has not agreed to tour Pakistan or even play against us at a neutral venue since the Mumbai attacks and this is costing the PCB big revenues,” a PCB official said. He said the issue was not only repaying Ten Sports but also of the fact that any series against India would generate around USD 60 to 70 million for the PCB at any given time. “We went to a play a series in India last December without any benefits because we wanted to take the first step,” he added. — PTI |
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Spinners bowl Pak to victory over Zimbabwe
Harare, September 7 Zimbabwe, who were already one wicket down when they resumed on the fifth morning in pursuit of a victory target of 342, slumped to their lowest total against Pakistan in a dismal batting display. Pace bowler Junaid Khan took two wickets in the first three overs, dismissing captain Hamilton Masakadza caught in the gully and trapping Vusi Sibanda lbw for six. Brief Scores: Pakistan 249 (Azhar 78, Misbah 53) and 419/9 d (Younis 200*, Akmal 64) bt Zimbabwe 327 (Waller 70, Chigumbura 69, Raza 60, Ajmal 7-95) and 120 (Ajmal 4-23, Rehman 4-36). — Reuters
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Sandeep, Rahul look to impress as India A take on NZ
Visakhapatnam, September 7 The India A's One-day squad is quite different from the one which played two unofficial Tests against the Kiwis. Manprit Juneja, Vijay Zol and Abhishek Nayar, who scored centuries in those two first-class games, are not a part of the limited-overs side. Instead, Karnataka dasher Robin Uthappa — a 'veteran' of 38 ODIs and 11 T20 Internationals — is expected to open the batting with Chand. Uthappa will be equally desperate to get a substantial score under his belt. Uthappa recently hired former India batsman Praveen Amre as his personal coach and also flew down to Mumbai to train under the latter. The middle-order has some flashy yet exciting players like former India U-19 captain and Rajasthan left-hander Ashok Menaria, Maharashtra's Kedar Jadhav and wicketkeeper-batsman Sanju Samson. The Indian bowling attack will be led by Dhawal Kulkarni, with Vidarbha's Shrikant Wagh, Punjab's Sandeep Sharma and Odisha's Basant Mohanty being the other options. While Jalaj Saxena will be manning the spin department, the lanky leg-spinner Rahul Sharma will like to keep national selectors interested in him with a long season coming ahead. New Zealand have more or less the same side that fought doggedly during the two unofficial Tests. — PTI
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Buenos Aires, September 7 Luis Suarez netted twice to keep Uruguay very much in the picture for next year's finals in Brazil as he moved top of the scorers' standings on 10 goals. Higuain will not be able to recover the lead in next week's fixtures as he is suspended for group leader Argentina's visit to improved Paraguay in Asuncion, where Lionel Messi's team will be hoping to secure a ticket to Brazil. Colombia were on target for a first finals appearance in 16 years after their 1-0 home win over Ecuador in Barranquilla but Suarez's goals mean they need to avoid defeat against Uruguay in Montevideo on Tuesday to advance. Chile beat Venezuela 3-0 in Santiago to climb above Ecuador into third place, two points behind the leading duo, with a win that severely dented the visitors' hopes of finals qualification for the first time. However, Venezuela (16 points), Peru (14) and even Paraguay (11), who enjoyed a 4-0 rout of Bolivia in Asuncion, could still vie for the playoff berth if Ecuador (21) and Uruguay (19) stumble in the final matches. — Agencies
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CLTA felicitates season’s best performing players
Chandigarh, September 7 Both players had won the Junior National Tennis Championships of their respective age groups. During the annual general meeting, the associaton allocated an amount of Rs. 5 lakh for scholarships and incentives for outstanding performers for the coming year. The General Body also commended the coaching faculty headed by Gajendra Singh, Director Coaching & Development, for the noteworthy performances of players from CLTA’s Junior Development Programme. The meeting was attended by Rajan Kashyap, Patron-in-Chief, CLTA, and Justice SS Sodhi, Patron, CLTA, apart from other representatives. In order to upgrade essential tennis infrastructure at CLTA, 10 synthetic courts (eight are floodlit), 2 clay courts, 4 mini-courts, a gym and physiotherapy centre with top facilities will be considered. The General Body acknowledged the great support of KK Sharma, Adviser, UT, in the creation and maintenance of infrastructure. — TNS
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New York, September 7
Harare, September 7
