Melbourne, January 17
Novak Djokovic bared his teeth to finish off Denis Istomin and extend the hottest winning streak in tennis to 27 matches in the third round of the Australian Open on Friday as a cool front brought respite to Melbourne after a four-day heatwave.

Serena Williams earlier made light of the last of the scorching temperatures, which again peaked around 42 degrees Celsius (110 degrees Fahrenheit), to blast her way into the fourth round for the loss of only a dozen games. She beat Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia 6-3,6-3 in the third round.

China's Li Na escaped defeat by a matter of centimetres in her third round match, while Spain's David Ferrer continued carving his way through the men's draw largely unnoticed. Ferrer's compatriot Tommy Robredo caused the biggest upset of the day by edging ninth seed Richard Gasquet 2-6 7-5 6-4 7-6(6) in an evening thriller disrupted briefly by rain.

Djokovic's last defeat was against Rafa Nadal in the U.S Open final and 49 Istomin never looked like stopping his winning run at 26 matches under the closed roof of the Rod Laver Arena.

Looking to become the first man in the professional era to win four consecutive Australian Opens, second seed Djokovic raced through the first two sets in 70 minutes before the Uzbek suddenly upped his aggression to break the Serbian as he was serving for the match. Visibly piqued, Djokovic was in no mood to risk the possibility of giving up his first set of the tournament and broke back immediately before overwhelming Istomin with the power of his shots to convert his second match point. Temperatures are forecast to plummet on Saturday, a huge relief to players and organisers alike after four days of rows over what constitutes dangerous conditions.

The next hurdle in Serena Williams’s path to a sixth Australian Open title is Ana Ivanovic after she ended Sam Stosur's hopes of winning her home grand slam for another year with a 6-7(8) 6-4 6-2 victory.

Ferrer's attritional style was made for hot conditions and he survived a second set wobble to wear down Frenchman Jeremy Chardy and reach the fourth round at a 15th consecutive grand slam with a 6-2 7-6 (7-5) 6-2 victory.

Indian players celebrate after winning the match. PTI

The Germans put the Indian defence, their perennial problem, under tremendous pressure from the word go and surged ahead as early as in the fourth minute when captain Korn gently tapped home a pass from Tobias Hauke. Two minutes later, Stralkowski doubled Germany's lead by perfectly converting their first penalty corner. The Germans continued their aggressively style of play and created a couple of bright scoring chances only to waste them. India, however, managed to pull one back in the 18th minute through Mandeep, who slammed home from the right corner of the German goal after receiving a through ball from Rupinderpal Singh.

India not to participate in Azlan Shah Cup

The Indian hockey team will not participate in the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup to be held in Malaysia from March 13-23 as it will be busy preparing for the World Cup in Europe. — PTI

HI secy Batra, Ric Charlesworth in war of words New Delhi: Controversial Australia coach Ric Charlesworth hit back at Hockey India secretary-general Narinder Batra's stern personal criticism and said his comments about the poor crowd turn-out during the Hockey World League Final was "self-evident" in the second semifinal between the two best teams of the world."I came to know about his (Batra's) comments now only. I think he wants patients for his hospital," Charlesworth said reacting to Batra's personal attack that the celebrated Australian coach was a “loose cannon” and he needs “psychological treatment”. — PTI India bt Germany 5-4 New Zealand bt England 7-6 Belgium bt Argentina 3-1 Netherlands bt Australia 4-3

Mohali, January 17
Even though it is bone-chilling cold in Mohali, Ranji Trophy semifinalists Punjab and Karnataka cannot afford to remain cold to the situation in hand. They have had their freeze-moments in the past - Punjab virtually gave it away to Saurashtra last year and Karnataka have been showing signs of cold feet time and again in the semifinals.

They have reached the semis six times in the last seven years (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2013), winning only once.

But, this can be their moment of reckoning.

This is also perhaps their best chance at having a shot at the trophy itself as they know a relatively less fancied opponent can be ambushed in the final once this hurdle is crossed.

But it's easier said than done. After heaving a measure of their respective opponents, both the teams realise that they will have to play out of their skin to beat this cold. Punjab are on a winning spree, winning their last four matches from almost hopeless situations. Ominously for Punjab, Karnataka have won six out of their last eight matches, with both batting and bowling on fire.

On paper, both are balanced sides with class players, batsmen as well as bowlers, in their ranks. Punjab have the ex-factor in Bhajji and Yuvraj, Karnataka have the X-factor in Mayank Agarwal, Shreyas Gopal and Karun Nair. Punjab then have some more in Jiwanjot Singh (728 runs in 16 innings with three centuries) and medium-pacer Sandeep Sharma. But recently, Karnataka handed Punjab an innings defeat in Hubli, where Yuvraj and Harbhajan Singh did not play. That, though, is a thing of the past. “This will be a different game as it is the semifinals,” said Harbhajan, Punjab skipper, on the eve of the match.

There is a bit of bad news for both the teams: Punjab will miss pacer VRV Singh as he is down with fever. Karnataka pacer HS Sharath and top-order batsman Ravikumar Samarth have been ruled out, and Mayank Agarwal and Srinath Aravind fill in. Punjab batsman Sunny Sohal comes in place of Ravi Inder Singh.

The visiting side is well-settled, with every player performing the assigned role. The same, however, cannot be said about Punjab. They have performed only in fits and starts. On some days the bowling has been just average, and on most days the batting has not been that successful. Harbhajan said, “We have been on and off in the batting department. In many matches there have been individuals who have stood up and got us the results. Here also, anyone can come up and do the job for us.”

Karnataka skipper R Vinay Kumar said, “An extra batsman may be included, depending on the conditions tomorrow. It's a good batting wicket, though it might do a bit on Day 1 and will get better.” Rain and foggy conditions are predicted for next two days.

Squads Punjab: Manan Vohra, Jiwanjot Singh, Mandeep Singh, Taruwar Kohli, Gurkeerat Mann, Yuvraj Singh, Rajwinder Singh, Uday Kaul (wk), Siddharth Kaul, Harbhajan Singh, Manpreet Gony, Sandeep Sharma, Sunny Sohal, Jaskaran Singh, Gitansh Khera; Karnataka: Mayank Agarwal, KL Rahul, Robin Uthappa, Karun Nair, Manish Pandey, CM Gautam (wk), Shreyas Gopal, Abrar Kazi, R Vinay Kumar (capt), S Aravind, Abhimanyu Mithun, Ronit More, Ganesh Satish, Amit Verma, KP Appanna. — PTI

New Delhi, January 17
Seasoned opener Gautam Gambhir was omitted from India's 30-member probables for the upcoming ICC World Twenty20 scheduled to be held in Bangladesh, while veteran spinner Harbhajan Singh was named in the list.

Delhi all-rounder Rajat Bhatia was a surprise inclusion while young Kerala wicket-keeper Sanju Samson, who has been a revelation in the shortest format, and former India U-19 captain Unmukt Chand were also included in the probables list for the event to be held from March 16 to April 6.

Unheralded Railways leg-spinner Karan Sharma, who made an impression in the IPL and Champions League for Sunrisers Hyderabad, has also been named in the list announced by the BCCI secretary Sanjay Patel.

Harbhajan has been rewarded for his IPL performance last season where he was among the top wicket-takers with 24 scalps at an impressive economy rate of 6.15. His batting form has also been good of late as he hit a match-winning 92 for Punjab in the Ranji Trophy quarterfinal last week.

The left-handed Gambhir, who is no longer in the Indian ODI or Test team, failed to make the cut along with Virender Sehwag, another senior player who has been out of the selection radar for some time. — PTI

Probables Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Ajinkya Rahane, Ambati Rayudu, MS Dhoni, Dinesh Karthik, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Vinay Kumar, Stuart Binny, Mohit Sharma, Kedar Jadhav, Yuvraj Singh, Amit Mishra, Rajat Bhatia, Sanju Samson, Ishwar Pandey, Umesh Yadav, Unmukt Chand, Mandeep Singh, Harbhajan Singh, Varun Aaron, Shahbaz Nadeem, Parthiv Patel, Karan Sharma.

New Delhi, January 17
The All India Football Federation (AIFF) admitted that results of some matches have raised suspicion about the spirit of those encounters in the I-League. AIFF, however, said nothing could be done due to lack of evidence in these cases.

AIFF vice-president Subrata Dutta said, “Some unusual high scoring matches in the I-League had raised our eyebrows but no evidence was found as there was no effective investigative mechanism to check whether it was fixed or not.”

FIFA's anti-corruption officials had reportedly raised doubts on the infamous 2011 I-League match between Dempo Sports Club and Air India that the former won 14-0. The AIFF is planning to set up an Anti Corruption and Security Unit very soon to tackle cases of match fixing in football. Meanwhile, international police organization Interpol said the Indian government should bring effective legislation to curb match fixing in Indian sports. — Agencies

Gaganjeet Bhullar had five birdies in his card of 68 in the second round in Abu Dhabi. File Photo

The only other Indian playing in Abu Dhabi, Shiv Kapur, carded a level-par 72 and was one-under 143 for the tournament. All three Indians made the cut, which was applied at 144.

Lahiri drops to T14 in Thailand

On the Asian Tour, Anirban Lahiri carded a one-under 71 and dropped to tied 14th with a total of four-under 140 after the second round of the King’s Cup Golf in Hua Hin, Thailand. Lahiri had five birdies and four bogeys during his round today.

Meanwhile, Rahil Gangjee carded a second consecutive 71 to take his 36-hole total to a two-under 142, while fellow Kolkatan SSP Chowrasia was a stroke behind at 143 after carding a 73 today.

Jyoti Randhawa had a dismal 75 and his total of one-over 145 dropped him to 47th place, making him the last Indian to make the cut this week.

Chiragh Kumar, Abhinav Lohan, Sujjan Singh, Digvijay Singh and Himmat Rai missed the cut, which was applied at a two-over 146.

Kolkata, January 17
Olympic medal-winning boxer MC Mary Kom on Thursday said she had also faced a sex attack when she was 18, but managed to overpower the assaulter.

The boxer expressed concern over women’s safety in India and urged them to go for physical training to fend off attackers. “I would urge them to have some kind of physical training to prevent sex attacks, because you need to be strong and fit to fight attackers. I would also tell them to fight sex offence without fear,” she said.

The boxer’s comments came in the wake of a series of rape cases, including of foreigners, reported from across the country.

Mary Kom, who won a bronze in women’s flyweight class in the 2012 London Olympics, said she faced a sex attack when she was 18, but managed to overpower the assaulter.

“I was going to church on a Sunday. I was wearing a traditional wraparound dress and took a rickshaw as I was a bit late. Suddenly, the rickshaw puller caught my hand and tried to molest me,” she told a stunned audience at an interactive session organised by the FICCI Ladies Organisation.

Mary Kom said she kicked and punched the man who fell flat. “I managed to flatten him because I was fit and strong. But that incident taught me a lesson that as a woman, I have to be very alert all the time and must have courage.”

Mary Kom recently launched a mobile app for teaching self-defence to women. — IANS

New Delhi, January 17
Taking a strong action against one of its key Project Officers, Sports Authority of India (SAI) today suspended Satish Rana for allegedly tampering with an official document pertaining to Indian wrestling team's tour to the USA.

Rana has been accused of manipulating the Annual Calendar of Training & Competition (ACTC) for the year 2013-14 after it was reported that the official allegedly tampered with the file, which contained the list of wrestlers and coaches for the Dave Schultz Memorial International tournament.

It was alleged that Rana, gained access to project files, which contained annual programme of the wrestlers, as approved by the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) and the sports body at the start of the year.

He tampered with the original document that contained the names of seven wrestlers, and reproduced the page with names of 15 wrestlers, two coaches in place of one, besides including the names of two officials who were never a part of the original list. — PTI

Barcelona, January 17
Quicksilver Lionel Messi scored twice as Barcelona beat Getafe 2-0 and qualified 6-0 on aggregate for the King's Cup quarterfinals but they lost Neymar to injury midway through the first half.

Messi and Neymar were returning to the starting lineup but the Brazil forward lasted less than 25 minutes as he twisted his ankle turning awkwardly by the touchline and was taken away on a stretcher. However, after the match Barca coach Gerardo Martino said: "The injury to Neymar isn't as serious as it seemed and he'll be back playing soon."

It was Messi's first start since he injured his hamstring last November and the forward looked sharp in front of goal. After slotting home his first in the run-up to halftime, Messi struck again after the break following a trademark mazy run when he hurdled several challenges and a dive by goalkeeper Jordi Codina before tucking the ball into the net. — Reuters

BRIEFLY

BCCI call meeting on Jan 23
Chennai: The Indian Cricket Board has called an Emergent Meeting of its members in Chennai on January 23 but the affiliated units are unaware about the agenda of the meeting. At least two affiliated units confirmed that they have indeed received a circular from the BCCI headquarters about the meeting but are clueless about the agenda.

Yogeshwar helps Bajrang to participate in US meet
New Delhi: Wrestler Bajrang Kumar’s scuttled trip to the USA for a crucial competition was brought back on track by Olympic bronze-medallist Yogeshwar Dutt, who convinced SAI officials to sanction his expenses for the Dave Schultz Memorial International Tournament in Colorado Springs.

Kiwis must win 1st ODI, says Shane Bond
Napier: New Zealand bowling coach Shane Bond has asked his boys to rise up to the challenge of facing Number 1. ODI team and put them under pressure by winning the first game on Sunday."I think everyone is really excited about this tour by the Indian team. They are a fantastic unit and we are playing at home, in conditions that aren't really familiar to them. They have some ferocious batsmen so do we and both sides have good bowlers," said the former fast bowler.

Perera, Mathews anchor SL
Sharjah: Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews and debutant Dilruwan Perera narrowly missed centuries but guided Sri Lanka to a solid first innings total on the second day of the third and final test against Pakistan in Sharjah on Friday. Pakistan openers Khurram Manzoor (14) and Ahmed Shehzad survived six overs before stumps to take their team to 19/0.

Faulkner powers Oz to win
Brisbane: James Faulkner's sensational late assault powered Australia to a dramatic one-wicket victory over England in the second one-day international in Brisbane. England sensed the chance of securing their first win over Australia on the tour after Eoin Morgan's 106 powered them to 300/8. Australia made a feeble start to their chase but Shaun Marsh contributed 55 before Glenn Maxwell (54) and Faulkner (69*) provided the late to victory with three balls to spare.
Brief Score: Australia 301/9 (Faulkner 69*, Marsh 55, Maxwell 54) bt England 300/8 (Morgan 106, Bell 68) by 1 wicket. — Agencies