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AUSTRALIAN OPEN
world league
final
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Haryana girls take on Kerala in final
Not taking New Zealand lightly: Dhoni
Real edge Espanyol to close on leaders
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AUSTRALIAN
OPEN
Melbourne, january 13 Williams, looking for her sixth title, closed the evening on Rod Laver Arena with a 6-2 6-1 demolition of local hope Ashleigh Barty after four-times champion Djokovic had overcome Lukas Lacko 6-3 7-6(2) 6-1. Earlier, there were shocks aplenty in the women's draw with the biggest coming when sixth seed Petra Kvitova fell victim to Thai world number 88 Luksika Kumkhum in front of a rapturous crowd on Margaret Court Arena. There were upsets for two Italian seeds as well, Sara Errani beaten 6-3 6-2 by German Julia Goerges and her doubles partner Roberta Vinci going down 6-4 6-3 to China's Zheng Jie. Serena's sister Venus Williams also bid an early farewell to the tournament when she blew a 3-0 lead in the deciding set to lose 2-6 6-4 6-4 to Russian Ekaterina Makarova. Djokovic's new co-coach Boris Becker will have raised an eyebrow with the 30 unforced errors the second seed served up as he opened his quest for a fourth straight title in Melbourne. The Serbian always looked like cantering to victory in three sets, however, and 23 minutes after taking a tight second stanza by dominating the tiebreak, he was firing down his 10th ace for the win. “I know that I didn't play my best, especially in the second set,” said Djokovic, who has now won his last 22 matches at Melbourne Park and 25 contests in a row in all tournaments since his loss to Rafa Nadal in the U.S. Open final. “I was a little bit too passive in some stages of the match and was trying to find the proper setting and proper balance and footing in the court.” With temperatures forecast to soar well above 40 degrees Celsius from Tuesday onwards, there was good reason for the players to keep their time on court to a minimum and rest up for challenges to come. Barty blitzed Even in the cool of the evening, Serena Williams showed no signs of wanting to hang around and 17-year-old Barty looked like a lamb heading for the slaughter. Williams, who hit 31 winners, feasted on the teenager's second serve and even dominated at the net, suggested that she herself was the biggest obstacle to her title ambitions. “I just don't want to get in my way. I just have to stay out of my way and I'll be fine,” she said. “As long as I'm able to stay relaxed, I'll be okay.” Thai Luksika was far from relaxed as she looked to close out her victory over Kvitova but was soon bowing to all corners of the stadium having sealed the biggest win of her career 6-2 1-6 6-4. Haas exit Swiss Wawrinka, Djokovic's potential quarter-final opponent, had the easiest passage when Kazakh Andrey Golubev retired while trailing 6-4 4-1. German Tommy Haas, seeded 12th, also retired with a shoulder injury while losing to Spain's Guillermo Garcia-Lopez in his first round match. — Reuters Results * Men (1st round): Denis Istomin (Uzbekistan) beat Marcos Baghdatis (Cyprus) 6-4 7-5 6-4, Nikolay Davydenko (Russia) beat Lukasz Kubot (Poland) 3-6 6-3 3-6 6-3 6-4, 2-Novak Djokovic (Serbia) beat Lukas Lacko (Slovakia) 6-3 7-6(2) 6-1, Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (Spain) beat 12-Tommy Haas (Germany) 7-5 5-2 (Haas retired), 9-Richard Gasquet (France) beat David Guez (France) 7-5 6-4 6-1, 7-Tomas Berdych (Czech Republic) beat Aleksandr Nedovyesov (Ukraine) 6-3 6-4 6-3, 3-David Ferrer (Spain) beat Alejandro Gonzalez (Colombia) 6-3 6-4 6-4, 8-Stanislas Wawrinka (Switzerland) beat Andrey Golubev (Kazakhstan) 6-4 4-1 (Golubev retired) *
Women (1st round): 1-Serena Williams (U.S.) beat Ashleigh Barty (Australia) 6-2 6-1, 15-Sabine Lisicki (Germany) beat Mirjana Lucic-Baroni (Croatia) 6-2 6-1, Zheng Jie (China) beat 12-Roberta Vinci (Italy) 6-4 6-3, Julia Goerges (Germany) beat 7-Sara Errani (Italy) 6-3 6-2, 17-Samantha Stosur (Australia) beat Klara Zakopalova (Czech Republic) 6-3 6-4, 14-Ana Ivanovic (Serbia) beat Kiki Bertens (Netherlands) 6-4 6-4, 4-Li Na (China) beat Ana Konjuh (Croatia) 6-2 6-0, 31-Daniela Hantuchova (Slovakia) beat Heather Watson (Britain) 7-5 3-6 6-3, 22-Ekaterina Makarova (Russia) beat Venus Williams (U.S.) 2-6 6-4 6-4, Belinda Bencic (Switzerland) beat Kimiko Date-Krumm (Japan) 6-4 4-6 6-3 MOVERS AND SHAKERS
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final India show some spine
New Delhi, January 13 Dharamvir Singh gave India the lead but Thilo Stralkowsi’s goal denied the home team their first win.
An impressive England spanked New Zealand 5-1 to finish on top of Pool A, while Australia thrashed Argentina 6-1 to emerge as the leaders in Pool B at the Hero Hockey World League Final. Irrespective of the result, it was Zealand who had the first promising scoring opportunity in the match when Phil Burrows won the ball in the circle and his shot missed the net by centimetres. Both the teams worked hard but failed to break the deadlock till the 30th minute when England surged ahead through Ashley Jackson who converted his side's second penalty corner. England doubled their lead in the 44th minute from yet another penalty corner conversion from Jackson. England extended their lead six minutes later when Mark Gleghorne scored from another penalty corner. — PTI * India dr Germany 3-3 * England bt New Zealand 5-1 * Australia bt Argentina 6-1 * Netherlands dr Belgium 2-2
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Haryana girls take on Kerala in final
Dehradun, January 13 A better backcourt defence and sharp jump-serves made the difference as Haryana won the match 25-21, 25-18, 25-14. In the other semifinal, Kerala subdued a fighting Maharashtra in the first two games before comfortably sealing the third game and the match 25-21, 25-23, 25-16. Jini KS, Vijina KB and Anushree KB were the star performers for Kerala. In the boys category, Tamil Nadu and Sports Authority of India (SAI) comfortably won their respective semifinals to enter the final. Helped by exceptional performances by Mukul Kumar and Nishanth Kumar, SAI defeated Rajasthan 25-23, 25-19, 25-23. While Mukul smashed unfettered, Nishanth diffused Rajasthan’s attack with his relentless blocking. In the other semifinal, Tamil Nadu proved too strong for the Uttarakhand as they beat the hosts 25-16, 25-17, 25-12.
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Punjab are on the rise, again
Chandigarh, January 13 The highlight of their campaign has been three away victories, including the quarterfinals, in five matches. It has in fact been better than their performance at home, where they remained unbeatable last season. They did not get to a rollicking start like they did last season. In fact they barely managed to scrape into the knockout stage, thanks to thumping win over Jharkhand in the last league match. The team seemed to struggle in their home conditions but picked up momentum as the tournament progressed. Just a step away from making the final, Punjab face a stern Karnataka test in the semis, arguably the best performer of the season. “They beat us when we played at their home. Now they are coming here, it will be an interesting contest,” said Bhupinder Singh Senior, Punjab coach. “Karnataka are a balanced side and they play hard. They have been doing exceptionally well. The team which plays better will win, Bhupinder added. While Karnataka have gone full throttle (seven wins out of nine) from the starting grid, Punjab picked up pace as the tournament progressed, winning five, losing two and the other two finishing in draws. Punjab have always relied on their pacers, and it was no different this time either. Sandeep Sharma, VRV Singh and Manpreet Gony all played their part at crucial moments to help the side reach the semis. Besides, performances by Jiwanjot Singh, Manan Vohra, Mandeep Singh too have been crucial. “At the start of the season I was confident that we would cruise into the knockout stage but that did not happen. We had to struggle till the last match. Our batsmen did not do well. But we lost toss seven out of nine times and that made the difference,” said the coach, putting team's performance into perspective. A striking point in Punjab's progress is that they made use of a big pool, using as many as 20 players. “We had decided that performance would be the sole criteria for selection. Also, we utilized the manpower judiciously since it's a long season,” he said. In 2012, it looked hunky and dory as Punjab had raced to four outright wins at home. Later, they gained first innings lead in the two matches and lost two. But in the semis, they just gave in against Saurashtra in the semis. “Last year we had qualified for the knockout stage after first four matches. We relied on just 15 as both the bowlers and the batsmen were on fire,” said Arun Sharma, the former Punjab coach. Punjab will be in a quandary as far as pitch for the semifinal is concerned. It can neither be a green-top, nor a rank-turner for Karnataka have the resources to dominate in both the scenarios. A sporting wicket could therefore be the way to go for Punjab.
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Not taking New Zealand lightly: Dhoni
napier, January 13
The Indian team arrived in Napier on Monday for the five-match series which would be followed by two Tests next month. “We’re not taking New Zealand lightly, weReal edge Espanyol to close on leaders’ll give them the respect they should get and we know their experienced players are dangerous enough to win games by themselves,” Dhoni said. Dhoni said he is hoping for a good performance from his bowlers. “Overall I’m quite happy with the bowlers. Again it really depends on the conditions. But if the wicket is favouring the fast bowlers we’ve definitely got bowlers who can make the most out of the new ball.” — PTI
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Real edge Espanyol to close on leaders
madrid, January 13 Barca and Atletico drew 0-0 in Saturday's top-of-the-table clash at the Calderon and Real took full advantage to move on to 47 points from 19 matches, with the leaders tied on 50 and champions Barca ahead on goal difference. It was hardly a vintage performance from Real at Espanyol's Cornella-El Prat stadium in Barcelona, with the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema well below their best. It was left to Ronaldo's Portugal team mate Pepe to grab the only goal of a tepid contest when the centre back was left unmarked in the 55th minute and headed a Luka Modric free kick into the net. Espanyol barely troubled Real keeper Diego Lopez and Real should have doubled their lead when Ronaldo sliced a shot wide with the goal at his mercy. Real coach Carlo Ancelotti said that with the top three teams unlikely to slip up more than a couple of times his side would have to avoid dropping as many points in the second half of the campaign to have any chance of winning the title. — Reuters
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Novak Djokovic showed some early season rustiness but Serena Williams roared into the second round like a well-oiled machine as the tournament favourites took centre stage on the first evening of the Australian Open on Monday.
Williams, looking for her sixth title, closed the evening on Rod Laver Arena with a 6-2 6-1 demolition of local hope Ashleigh Barty after four-times champion Djokovic had overcome Lukas Lacko 6-3 7-6(2) 6-1.
Real Madrid closed to within three points of La Liga leaders Barcelona and Atletico Madrid at the halfway stage of the season when a Pepe header secured a laboured 1-0 win at mid-table Espanyol late on Sunday.
“New Zealand are a fantastic side. They’ve got good bowlers and their recent performances have been really good. And especially at home, they’ll know the conditions better than us and for some who have not played here it will be a challenge,” Dhoni said.
