Henin fightback gives her 500th career win

Published Fri, Jan 22 10 11:09 AM

Justine Henin continued her fairytale return to competitive tennis by coming from a set down to register her 500th career win and reach the fourth round of the Australian Open on Friday.

Belgian Henin, unseeded because of her lack of tournament play since coming out of an 18-month retirement, beat 27th seeded Russian Alisa Kleybanova 3-6 6-4 6-2.

The Belgian, who beat world number five Elena Dementieva in the second round on Wednesday, lost the final of the Brisbane International to compatriot Kim Clijsters in the buildup to the Australian Open. Her next match will be against another Belgian, Yanina Wickmayer, for a place in the quarter-finals. Wickmayer beat Italy's Sara Errani 6-1 6-7 6-3 in her third round tie.

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No matches for a year at Kotla; venue remains on 2011 WC itinerary

Published>Fri, Jan 22 10 10:39 AM

New Delhi, Jan. 21 -- The Ferozeshah Kotla will stage four matches as planned in the 2011 World Cup after it received what, in effect, was a get-out-of-jail-free card from the International Cricket Council on Thursday. There has been no mention of a ban, nor a financial penalty. A carefully worded ICC order stated: "Following the conclusion of a full investigation into the circumstances that led to the abandonment of a One-Day International match between India and Sri Lanka on 27 December 2009, the ICC confirms that no international cricket will be played at the New Delhi ground until the end of December 2010." The fifth and final ODI was stopped after the pitch was deemed too dangerous to play. It continues: "The ICC received a submission from the BCCI assuring it that no international match is scheduled and therefore no international match will be played at the ground until the end of 2010. Keeping this in mind, the ICC has decided to endorse this action on the part of BCCI as part of its concluding report." "In any case, we were not planning any international matches at the Kotla this year," a BCCI official told HT. "So this isn't really an issue." ICC pitch consultant Andy Atkinson will work with local officials to "oversee remedial work" ahead of the World Cup. But, in the meantime, the Kotla will host both IPL team Delhi Daredevils' home matches and domestic games. Delhi Daredevils' COO Amrit Mathur confirmed this. "We are looking forward to the IPL games at the Kotla," said Mathur. "It was a tricky situation for the ICC," said a DDCA source. "If they had banned us, it might have become difficult for them to get out of it, particularly in the context of our right to appeal, as proper procedure had not been followed. A ban involves being inspected thrice, disaffiliation and re-affiliation and a fine. Here they've basically said they endorse the calendar of the BCCI." "They have managed to uphold their match referee's (Alan Hurst) stand, yet have called Kotla an iconic ground, one which has never been dubbed unfit before." Interestingly, the ICC order says there was an "excessive degree of variation" while Hurst's report said that seam movement was "occasional".

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Playing Tests with one-day mindset

Published>Fri, Jan 22 10 10:29 AM

Chittagong, Jan. 22 -- Talks of a close finish, resistance and grit from the Bangladesh batsmen went up in smoke on Thursday. The hosts had eight wickets in hand to bat the day out, but they succumbed rather meekly. The wicket hardly showed any sign of wear and tear even on the last day. The bounce was mostly consistent. Nevertheless, Bangladesh kept losing wickets. Virender Sehwag constantly kept the cover region vacant, enticing batsmen to drive. And that's where Bangladesh's predominantly limited-overs mindset came to the fore. On the verge of completing a decade in Test cricket, Bangladesh still have a lot to learn. Incidentally, former Bangla players like Habibul Bashar, Khaled Mashud, Akram Khan and even the current players believe their strength lies in batting. This time, though, the fault lies with the batsmen. They didn't back their bowlers, who bowled India out in the first innings and then picked up eight wickets in the second. They first failed to overhaul India total and then were shockingly aggressive while chasing 400 plus total in the second innings. The likes of Tamim Iqbal and skipper Shakib Al Hasan went for extravagant shots. They did get a few boundaries, but perished soon after. It appeared Bangladesh were playing an ODI.

Considering the fact that Bangladesh play a lot more one-day matches (215) than Tests (62) and their internationals hardly play in the domestic four-day competition, 'natural game' was exactly what was on display on Thursday.

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Women hockey players reject Rs 50,000; continue to protest

Published>Fri, Jan 22 10 10:23 AM

Chandigarh, Jan. 22 -- Hockey India's hurried and feeble attempt at appeasing the protesting women players was shot down, with the team demanding to be treated at par with their male counterparts. Indian men's hockey team ended their strike after being promised an amount of Rs 1 crore. The women, however, were offered a mere Rs 50,000 each as reward for their performance in 2009. "We want HI to treat us at par and give us the same cash incentives," senior player Deepika Murthy said on Thursday. "Anything less will not do." The women's squad, preparing for the World Cup at the SAI Centre in Bhopal, has instead demanded Rs 3 lakh each for their performances in 2008-09. The probables also decided to continue with their black-armband protest but reiterated that they would not boycott the camp. "Both men's and women's team represent the country at the same platform, then why are the girls being discriminated against," added Mamta Kharab. The team also wants the governing body to pay cash incentives to the juniors. Hockey India had given Rs 1 lakh each to the junior men's team, which won the Asia Cup. Hockey India interim president, Vidya Stokes said she has requested the government to release Rs 1 lakh for each player as reward for their performances. The players, however, have rejected that offer too claiming that the government owes them Rs 1 lakh as per the cash incentives they give for winning medals in continental championships. "HI has got nothing to do with it," Kharab said. "That amount is for our silver medal in the Asia Cup and is pending for some time. It is not part of our demands." The players have also sought a graded contract system, like the one proposed by men. India responds Meanwhile, the players have received support from all quarters since their decision to open a bank account and seek help from the public. Madhya Pradesh chief minister, Shivraj Singh Chouhan has promised to bear all expenses of the team camping in Bhopal. The government has also released Rs 50,000 to the family of E Rajani, whose father recently underwent surgery. The National Commission for Women, on Thursday, shot off a letter to HI asking it to look into the grievances of the players.

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IPL auction snub: Sidhu bats for Pak players

Published>Fri, Jan 22 10 10:19 AM

Amritsar, Jan. 22 -- Cricketer-turned-politician BJP MP Navjot Singh Sidhu has reprimanded the influential team owners for the third Twenty-20 Indian Premier League for 'denting the secular image of the country' by way of ignoring Pakistani players in their team selection. "I don't know on whose instances they have done it, but, they have certainly created a room to cast aspersions on India's secular image and Gandhian philosophy to view the world society without the discrimination of caste, colour and creed," he said. Speaking to Hindustan Times, Sidhu urged the central government to intervene to defend the secular credentials of the country by directing the teams to chose a couple of Pakistani players for the IPL league. "Being a cricketer I know the worth of Pakistani players. How could they leave out a versatile player like Shahid Afridi?" he questioned. Sidhu said that cricket and culture were the only silver lines on the otherwise estranged bilateral relations of India and Pakistan. He said that at a time when government to government dialogue had no headway, it was only the cricket, which helped in breaking barriers between the SAARC giants.

Sidhu said that the formation of current IPL league teams would wrench the psyche of an ordinary Pakistani to the extent of rummaging justification into the anti-India activities being carried out by a selective few.

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Safina finds recipe for success against Baltacha

Published>Fri, Jan 22 10 10:09 AM

Aspiring chef Dinara Safina could have created a new dish of British lamb on Friday after she roasted Elena Baltacha 6-1 6-2 in less than an hour to reach the the fourth round of the Australian Open.

The 23-year-old world number two looked relaxed during the match on Rod Laver Arena, admitting afterwards she had acquired a new hobby in the culinary arts and gone to a local bookshop on her day off to purchase a cookbook.

"I had to buy two books. I like cooking. I'm having new apartment in Moscow," Safina told reporters.

"I'm like, 'okay, instead of library of books, I'll have cookbooks'. I want to cook.

"I'm just starting, you know. Until now nobody got sick, so this is the positive. They might... not like, but if they have problems with the stomach, it's not good."

Safina appeared to take some lessons from the cookbook, which was based on the popular Meryl Streep film "Julie & Julia", though there was little finesse in her approach as she pounded Baltacha into submission.

She was ruthlessly efficient in the first set, in which the only game she lost was when Baltacha broke her serve, and took it in just 26 minutes.

PRETTY SATISFIED

Safina appeared to be still sitting in her chair, mentally at least, at the start of the second set, allowing Baltacha to finally held her own serve by blasting away to love.

The Russian, however, soon got back to the business of blasting winners and attacking the world number 83 until she sealed the match in just 57 minutes.

"My game is trying to put pressure on opponent... so I managed to dictate from the first point of the match," Safina said.

"I think it was going everything right and during the match I was trying to do it more and more, to give her less, less time.

"I think it was very solid match from my side. I played good. (and am) pretty satisfied with everything I did."

Baltacha agreed with Safina's interpretation, admitting she had been outclassed in the high pressure environment of Rod Laver Arena. "It was difficult. It was difficult," Baltacha said. "All credit to Safina. I think she played really well.

"It was difficult because I don't play top 10 every week (and) I knew for me to get anywhere near her, I'd have to play very, very well. And she put a lot of pressure on me out there."

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IPL imbroglio: PHF plays waiting game

Published>Fri, Jan 22 10 09:49 AM

Mumbai, Jan. 22 -- Despite growing demands for its hockey team to pull out of next month's World Cup in India following the "humiliation" meted out to its cricketers in the Indian Premier League (IPL) auction in Mumbai, the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) has no plans of pulling out its team from the mega event unless its government orders it to do so. The PHF has employed a wait-and-watch policy following Pakistan's decision of not sending a parliamentary delegation to India in protest. Pakistan ministers, Rehman Malik (interior), and Ijaz Jakhrani (sports), had on Thursday, also talked about giving a "befitting reply" to India. Former cricketer Zaheer Abbas said the country should pull out its hockey team from the World Cup that starts in New Delhi on February 28. "We must be clear about our sporting relations with India because for the last one year they have been doing everything possible to hurt our image and isolate us internationally," he said.

He said till Thursday afternoon, the PHF had not received any advisory from the government on the issue. The Pakistan team is currently playing a warm-up series against the Netherlands in Doha, Qatar, where it was held to a 4-4 draw on Wednesday.

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