Smiling Button and Hamilton unveil new McLaren

Published>Fri, Jan 29 10 05:49 PM

Formula One world champions Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton appeared together as team mates for the first time on Friday to show off the new McLaren that they will use to fight each other this season.

Button, who won the 2009 championship with Brawn GP, now reborn as Mercedes, looked happy and relaxed as he stood alongside the sport's youngest champion, the 2008 winner who turned 25 this month.

"We need to start forgetting about last year...and looking to the future. And this is the future," said 30-year-old Button, lifting the covers off the sleek silver and red MP4-25 car with his number one on it.

Asked to comment on his new team mate, Hamilton grinned as Button whispered something.

"He says be nice," he said, giving the older Briton a friendly hug.

"I won my first ever championship on John (Button)'s engines," he said, referring to his team mate's father. "I always wanted to follow in Jenson's footsteps.

"I'm really looking forward to working with him for the rest of the year and years to come."

Speaking at the headquarters of title sponsor Vodafone, McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh quoted Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the telephone, in saying "preparation is the key to success."

"We have prepared for this season more comprehensively than ever before," he declared.

McLaren are the first team to have the two most recent title-holders together in their line-up and the first with two champions since they had Alain Prost and the late Ayrton Senna were paired in a notoriously acrimonious 1989 partnership.

"Both drivers are clearly winners and want to win again this year," said Whitmarsh. "We expect an exciting season within our team."

In a nod to Mercedes, who will still provide McLaren's engines for the long term despite taking over Brawn, Whitmarsh added: "We know we must be at our best to beat the works team."

Source: Web Search

West Zone enters Duleep Trophy final

Published Fri, Jan 29 10 05:39 PM

Rajkot, Jan 29 (PTI) As expected, West Zone breezed into the final of the Duleep Trophy on the basis of their huge 475-run first innings lead after their semi-final match against North Zone ended in a tame draw here today. Resuming at their overnight score of 56 for one, West Zone declared their second innings at 345 for seven, a few overs before the start of the mandatory overs. The only highlight of the day was centuries by Cheteshwar Pujara and Rohit Sharma. The duo, who got together after the quick dismissal of Parthiv Patel (31) and skipper Wasim Jaffer (6) this morning, added 172 runs for the fourth wicket. Pujara, promoted to open the innings, made 110 runs from 171 balls with the help of 16 fours. Sharma was more aggressive of the two, scoring 116 runs off 129 balls. His knock was studded with five sixes and 11 fours. All-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, too, chipped in with a useful knock of 56. For North Zone, Vikas Mishra was the pick off the bowlers with figures of 4-96, while Parvindar Awana, Rajat Bhatia and Ravi Inder Singh shared a wicket each. After amassing a mammoth 769 runs in the first innings, West Zone bundled out the visitors for 294. However, they chose not to enforce the follow-on and opted for batting practice instead.

Source: Web Search

Wrestling training venue for Commonwealth Games inaugurated

Published>Fri, Jan 29 10 05:19 PM

New Delhi, Jan 29 (IANS) Days after the first venue for the Commonwealth Games (CWG) was inaugurated, Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit Friday inaugurated the Ludlow Castle wrestling training centre - the first built by the state government.

'The inauguration marks the completion of first Commonwealth Games venue being constructed by the Delhi government. The wrestlers of the national capital now have a great training facility,' Dikshit said in her address after the inauguration.

'Once the Games are over, it will be very useful for children too. By next month, Thyagraj stadium, which is built using latest technology, will also be completed,' she added.

The centre is the second venue for the games to be completed. Sports Minister M.S.Gill Sunday opened the revamped Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium, the first Commonwealth Games venue to be ready.

Though the government had sanctioned Rs.20 crore (Rs.200 million) for the Ludlow Castle project, it was completed at a cost of Rs.13 crore (Rs.130 million) in 11 months. Earlier on the place was a badminton hall, which was demolished for the construction of wrestling training centre.

The centre has two floors. The ground floor has various facilities like restrooms, gym, cafeteria, physiotherapy centres, doping control centre, changing rooms, sauna bath and a medical centre. The first floor has a training hall which can accommodate six mats at a time.

The venue is centrally air conditioned with power back up facility.

CWG Organising Committee Chairman Suresh Kalmadi, Delhi Education Minister Arvinder Singh Lovely and Public Works Department Minister Rajkumar Chauhan were also present on the occasion.

Source: Web Search

Inzamam eager to help Pakistan cricket

Published>Fri, Jan 29 10 04:59 PM

Karachi, Jan 29 (IANS) Former Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq has expressed his willingness to work with the national cricket team as a batting coach to improve their dipping performance.

However, Inzamam has made it clear that he would accept such a role on his own terms and conditions.

Inzamam, one of Pakistan's most successful batsmen, said the national team needs the services of experts to work on its batting and fielding.

Pakistan has flopped miserably on its ongoing tour of Australia, having lost the Test series 3-0. The tourists are also trailing in the five-match one-day series against the Aussies after losing the first three One-day Internationals.

Inzamam said Pakistan will be ready for next year's World Cup only if the cricket board starts taking long-term measures.

He pointed out the short time appointment of Mohammad Yousuf as captain the key reason behind Pakistan's poor showing in Australia.

'If the players are told that their captain is just there for a single series, then most of them will not take him seriously. They will not give their best under him. That is what has happened with Yousuf. I believe that the PCB should have given him a long-term stint,' said Inzamam, who retired after leading Pakistan to a disastrous first-round exit from the 2007 World Cup in the Caribbean.

Source: Web Search

Paes-Black in final of Oz Open mixed doubles

Published Fri, Jan 29 10 04:53 PM

Melbourne, Jan 29 (PTI) Leander Paes earned a chance to equal the record for most Grand Slam title wins by an Indian after reaching the final of the Australian Open mixed doubles event with partner Cara Black, following a hard fought semifinal win here today. The top seeded Indo-Zimbawean pair came from behind to edge past seventh seeds Lisa Raymond and Wesley Moodie 6-7 7-6 (5) 10-7 at Melbourne Park. After losing the first set, Paes and Black were trailing 2-4 in the second set but their tenacity paid as they were successful in stretching the match to a Super Tie-breaker. American Raymond and South African Davis Cupper Moody pushed the top seeds to limit but could not stop them from going into the title clash. Paes and Black will take on 10th seeds Ekaterina Makarova of Russia and Jaroslav Levinsky of Czechoslovakia, who beat seventh seeds Flavia Pennetta of Italy and Marcelo Melo of Brazil 6-0 4-6 10-8 in their semifinal match. Paes has so far won 10 Grand Slam titles, including six men''s doubles trophies. Paes'' estranged partner Mahesh Bhupathi has won the highest number of Grand Slam of titles -- 11 -- for India with seven mixed doubles and four men''s doubles trophies. Paes won the mixed doubles title at the Australian Open in 2003 with Czech-American legend Martina Navratilova and finished runner-up the following year.

Source: Web Search

Chouhan hands over Rs.73 lakh to women's hockey team

Published>Fri, Jan 29 10 04:39 PM

Bhopal, Jan 29 (IANS) Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan gave Rs.73 lakh to the women's hockey players who are protesting here against Hockey India (HI) for the non-payment of their dues.

Chouhan handed cheques of Rs.1 lakh each to 18 players and five officials and coaches at a dinner hosted at his official residence Thursday.

He also gave an additional Rs.50 lakh to captain Surinder Kaur for clearing outstanding dues of other players.

Chouhan had given Rs.1 crore earlier to the Union Sports Ministry for distribution to the players, but that money is still to reach them.

'When I came to know that the players have not got the money, I immediately told the officials to prepare the cheques and invited them for a dinner,' said Chouhan.

The players have been peacefully protesting at the national camp here by wearing black arm bands. The senior players in the team have pitched in with money to help their needy teammates. They have opened a bank account for the purpose.

Chouhan told the players that the state government would provide all facilities to them.

Chouhan said the 'Madhya Pradesh government was only trying to rectify Hockey India's mistake of not rewarding the national women's team for their splendid performance in the Asia Cup'.

Chouhan also said that Obaidullah Khan gold cup hockey tournament would be played in Bhopal in March. It could be an international event in the near future. He announced prize money of Rs.5 lakh for the winners of the tournament while Rs.3 lakh and Rs.2 lakh would respectively go to the second and third placed teams.

Former hockey players Inamur Rehman, Jalaluddin Rizvi, Samir Daad, Mohammed Yusuf, Gauhar Nazib, Jafaruddin and Ajijuddin were also honoured on the occasion.

Source: Web Search

Serena warms up by winning Melbourne doubles

Published>Fri, Jan 29 10 04:29 PM

Serena Williams completed one half of an Australian Open double when she and older sister Venus Williams won the women's doubles title on Friday.

Serena heads into Saturday's singles final against Justine Henin in Melbourne on a winning note after defending her doubles crown with a 6-4 6-3 victory over Zimbabwe's Cara Black and American Liezel Huber at Rod Laver Arena.

The win gave them their 11th grand slam doubles championship and their fourth at Melbourne Park -- and also preserved their perfect record in grand slam finals.

"I guess I was really focused and my serve was really working today," Venus told reporters after not conceding a single service break.

"They played really like a team and were really coming into the net and just doing everything right. So Serena and I just had to work together."

The Williams sisters overcame a sluggish start to win a break at 3-3 in the first set, then sealed it on the third set point when Black netted.

They then carried the momentum into the second, winning an early service break before calmly serving out the match.

COMEDY ENDING

Although sharp at the net and a model of cooperation throughout, their triumph had a touch of comedy at the end, when Venus was unaware that they had won the match.

After breaking Huber's serve to seal the match, she was set to ready herself for the next game.

"I actually didn't know the score. I thought that it was 5-2. I really don't know how I lost track," she said. "I thought '(Serena's) really happy about this break! I thought, 'Wow, I've never seen her this happy. But I'll go with it.'"

Serena, whose legs have been heavily strapped throughout the tournament, appeared on court with her wrist taped, but brushed off concerns about her fitness ahead of her clash with Henin.

"I fell the other day a couple times in my match, so, yeah, I'm just adding to the list," she said.

The second-seeded Williams sisters snapped a 13-match winning streak for Black and Huber, who won the Sydney and Auckland titles in the lead-up to Melbourne Park.

The Williams sisters have now beaten the top-ranked pair in all three of their meetings, including the U.S. Open final last year. They hold an astonishing 16-1 record in finals overall, their only loss dating back to 1999 at San Diego.

Source: Web Search