|
|
|
|
|
Top seeds sizzle in the heat
|
|
|
India’s Winter Olympics squad slides into fund barrier
Ronaldo pips Messi for best player award
Tamil Nadu boys, Kerala girls winners
Tamil Nadu spikers strike a pose with the trophy.
Tribune photo
|
|
Top seeds sizzle in the heat
Melbourne, january 14
Australian Tomic, booed off Rod Laver Arena by his compatriots, blamed a groin injury for withdrawing having lost the opening set 6-4, leaving top seed Nadal to join fellow “Big Four” players Roger Federer and Andy Murray in securing his passage. Defending champion Victoria Azarenka led third seed Maria Sharapova and former world number one Caroline Wozniacki over the first hurdle in the women's draw, but there was only one topic of conversation on day two of the championships. “Every single person that I saw coming in from practice or going out to play a match or coming back from a match, everyone just said like, 'It's really hot today'," Murray told reporters after beating Go Soeda 6-1 6-1 6-3. Azarenka said being on court was like “dancing in a frying pan” and Wozniacki thought her water bottle was going to melt, but for some players the impact of the extreme heat, forecast to continue until Friday, was more serious. Frank Dancevic slammed organisers for forcing players to compete in "dangerous" conditions after he collapsed on court and passed out for a minute in his match on one of the more exposed outer courts. “I think it's inhumane, I don't think it's fair to anybody, to the players, to the fans, to the sport, when you see players pulling out of matches, passing out," the Canadian told reporters after his defeat to Benoit Paire. “I've played five-set matches all my life and being out there for a set and a half and passing out with heatstroke, it's not normal. “Until somebody dies, they're just keep going on with it and putting matches on in this heat.” A ballboy also fainted, while China's Peng Shuai said the heat had caused her to cramp up and vomit and she had to be helped from the court after her 7-5 4-6 6-3 defeat to Japan's Kurumi Nara. Organisers said temperatures peaked at 42.2 degrees Celsius (108 degrees Fahrenheit) in the early evening but, taking into account the low humidity, the threshold for calling off play had not been reached. Maria Sharapova celebrated her return to the grand slam spotlight with an emphatic 6-3 6-4 win over Bethanie Mattek-Sands in what was a clash of styles in more way than one. Glancing up at the legends of tennis can make 17-times grand slam champion Roger Federer push too hard for the "wow" factor, so new coach Stefan Edberg can expect a cold shoulder from the cool Swiss when watching from the stands. The new partnership began successfully as the Swiss moved into the second round with a 6-4 6-4 6-2 trouncing of local wildcard James Duckworth. Somdev ousted India's campaign in the singles event of the Australian Open came to an end after Somdev Devvarman went down to 26th seed Feliciano Lopez of Spain in straight sets in the opening round. The unseeded Indian showed a lot of fighting spirit before going down 4-6 4-6 6-7 (2) to World No. 27 in a two-hour and 13 minutes men's singles contest here at the Melbourne Park. — Agencies
Results Men (1st round) 1-Rafa Nadal (Spain) beat Bernard Tomic (Australia) 6-4 (Tomic retired), 24-Andreas Seppi (Italy) beat Lleyton Hewitt (Australia) 7-6(4) 6-3 5-7 5-7 7-5, 5-Juan Martin Del Potro (Argentina) beat Rhyne Williams (US) 6-7(1) 6-3 6-4 6-4, 4-Andy Murray (Britain) beat Go Soeda (Japan) 6-1 6-1 6-3, 26-Feliciano Lopez (Spain) beat Somdev Devvarman (India) 6-4 6-4 7-6(2), Blaz Kavcic (Slovenia) beat Radek Stepanek (Czech Republic) 6-7(3) 4-6 6-1 2-0 (Stepanek retired), 6-Roger Federer (Switzerland) beat James Duckworth (Australia) 6-4 6-4 6-2, 10-Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (France) beat Filippo Volandri (Italy) 7-5 6-3 6-3 Women (1st round) 3-Maria Sharapova (Russia) beat Bethanie Mattek-Sands (US) 6-3 6-4, Elina Svitolina (Ukraine) beat 19-Svetlana Kuznetsova (Russia) 6-3 6-3, 13-Sloane Stephens (US) beat Yaroslava Shvedova (Kazakhstan) 7-6(1) 6-3, 5-Agnieszka Radwanska (Poland) beat Yulia Putintseva (Kazakhstan) 6-0 5-7 6-2, 8-Jelena Jankovic (Serbia) beat Misaki Doi (Japan) 6-1 6-2, 20-Dominika Cibulkova (Slovakia) beat Francesca Schiavone (Italy) 6-3 6-4, 2-Victoria Azarenka (Belarus) beat Johanna Larsson (Sweden) 7-6(2) 6-2, 10-Caroline Wozniacki (Denmark) beat Lourdes Dominguez Lino (Spain) 6-0 6-2
|
|
After Monaco gold, Anju hopes for Athens medal
New Delhi, January 14 Anju became the first Indian track and field athlete to win a gold medal in a major world event after international governing body IAAF upgraded her second place finish at the 2005 Monaco World Athletics Final to the top spot, following a dope violation by a Russian competitor Tatyana Kotova. “I have been told by the AFI that I will get the gold in the Monaco World Athletics Finals. I am really happy and the wait was worth it,” she said. “I had always some doubt about some of the top Russian women long jumpers of my time and I knew that they could have been on dope,” she said. Anju, whose fifth place finish in the 2005 Helsinki World Championships was also upgraded to fourth following disqualification of Kotova, said that she is now expecting a similar happening in the 2004 Olympics results. Three Russians Tatyana Lebedeva, Irina Simagina and Kotova had finished on the podium while Australia's Bronwyn Thompson was fourth ahead of Anju. “Simagina was tested positive in 2006 and was later handed suspension by Russian Federation. I am hoping that if a re-testing of their samples are done, I have a chance to win a medal from Athens,” she said. Russian Tatyana Kotova was found last year to have been caught for doping after her samples collected during the 2005 World Athletics Championships in Helsinki was found to contain traces of banned substance. The IAAF had re-analysed samples of the 2005 World Athletics Championships apparently in line with Internationally Olympic Committee's decision to retest eight-year old samples, dating back to 2004 Athens Olympics in order to deter dope cheats. The 2005 Monaco World Athletics Finals (September 9-10), competed by top eight athletes of that time, was held a few weeks after the 2005 World Athletics Championships (August 6-14) in Helsinki, and hence Kotova's result in the latter event has now been deleted from the record books. The Athletics Federation of India is yet to receive the official communication from the IAAF though the world body's website has updated the results of the 2005 World Athletics Final in Monaco with Anju is now being listed as the gold medal winner with an effort of 6.75m. AFI president Adille Sumariwala said that he is expecting the official communication from the IAAF shortly. “The IAAF website has updated Anju as the gold winner. We are yet to be officially communicated by the IAAF. I am waiting for the official documents in a day or two,” he said. — Agencies |
|
India’s Winter Olympics squad slides into fund barrier
Chandigarh, january 14 The delay is causing a lot of anxiety to the WGFI officials, for the Games are starting from February 7 and the squad has to leave by February 2. "There isn't much time left. The problem is that the clothing and the equipment is not available in India, we've to import it. The more the funds are delayed, the lesser time we have to procure the equipment,” said Thakur. “Besides, he said, the athletes need to train with the new equipment ahead of the competition to get used to it. One just can't use the new equipment straight away in the competition.” Can't the skiers use the clothing and equipment they are already using in case the ministry fails to release the money in time? “No. The clothing and equipment have to conform with the given specifications, a minor deviation could result in the eviction,” said Thakur. Meanwhile, the WGFI president Surendra Singh Patwal, while talking to the AFP, painted even grimmer picture for the Indian contingent. “We do not get sponsors. So unless the government gives us funds, we may have to withdraw at least two of the three qualifiers," he said. Shiva Keshvan, the luger, apparently has sponsors to back him up, but the fate of alpine skier Himanshu Thakur and cross-country skier Nadeem Iqbal hinges on the availability of funds. Thakur said they were struggling mainly because the IOA was suspended. “There's no one to follow up the matter with the sports ministry and the SAI,” he said. “"I hope the authorities understand the situation and release the money at the earliest,” he said.
|
|
Ronaldo pips Messi for best player award ZURICH, January 14 Argentine Messi, hampered by uncharacteristic injury problems at Barcelona late in the year, and Frenchman Franck Ribery of Bayern Munich were the other candidates for the prize, officially known as the FIFA Ballon d'Or. Jupp Heynckes, now retired, was named coach of the year for the first time after his Bayern Munich team won an unprecedented Champions League, Bundesliga and German Cup treble. Ronaldo was also voted FIFA Player of the Year in 2008, before Messi began a run of four successive titles. In 2010 and 2011, the award was fused with the Ballon D'Or award previously handed out by France Football magazine. — Reuters Ribery disappointed Franck Ribery missed out on the 2013 Ballon d'Or accolade but said there was little more he could have done to win the award after helping Bayern Munich win five trophies in the year. Ribery finished third in the voting despite enjoying his best season with Bayern as they won the domestic league and cup double, the Champions League, the European Super Cup and Club World Cup. "What more could I have done after winning all those titles," he said.
|
|
Tamil Nadu boys, Kerala girls winners
DEHRADUN, January 14 Tamil Nadu's T Sathriyan was adjudged the best player of the championship in the boys' category. Uttarakhand finished third after it got a walkover against SAI team. In girls final, Kerala beat Haryana 25-23, 25-18, 25-19. For the third place, Maharashtra beat Tamil Nadu. — TNS
|
|
Can India match Aussie game?
Chandigarh, january 14 Despite the ranking difference, anything is possible in a knockout match, which is why former India player Rajpal Singh finds the format strange. "Despite not winning any match in their pool and finishing last, India get the opportunity to play in the quarters. It's a knockout match and if they win, what about Australia, who played consistently good to top pool," said Rajpal. "This is not a very important tournament. But in the WHL semifinals, which was the World Cup qualifying tournament, Pakistan, who had topped their pool, were knocked out by Korea, who bottomed the other pool." Drag-flickers need to fire Though the possibility was there, according to Rajpal, the former captain didn't sound too confident about India's chances of progressing. India would have regained some of its confidence after the fighting draw against Germany. "We are consistently improving and will continue to fight and play the same way in the next match as well. We need to keep ourselves motivated and improve with every game," Terry Walsh, India coach, had said after the German game. But Walsh accepts the challenge for the team to keep organised against the "high quality Australian side". To make a match out of the quarterfinal, the hosts will have to be "composed", with their defence "well organised" and their attack "electric" as was the case in the previous match. But to have any chance of beating the Australians, who were at their destructive best in their 6-1 win over Argentina, India will need their drag flickers to fire. In the three matches, Rupinder Singh has scored only one goal, while VR Ragunath has not scored any. On a day when India will have to absorb immense pressure and most probably play on the counter, with very few scoring chances, every penalty corner will be precious.
|
| 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 | |
Melbourne, january 14
The three-member Indian contingent for the Winter Olympics, comprising Shiva Keshvan, Himanshu Thakur and Nadeem Iqbal, has hit rough weather with the Sports Ministry yet to release the funds required to procure the kits and equipment for the athletes. “We had submitted the proposal and budget to the ministry a while back but the funds haven't been released yet. All we are being told is that it's being processed; no one is telling us when exactly it will be released,” said Roshan Lal Thakur, secretary of the Winter Games Federation of India
(WGFI).
South proved its dominance in volleyball by lifting both the trophies in the Junior National Volleyball Championship that concluded in Dehradun on Tuesday. While Tamil Nadu emerged champion in the boys' category, Kerala won the girls' title. In a closely-contested final, Tamil Nadu defeated Rajasthan three sets to one (25-22, 25-13, 25-27, 25-16).
