India’s top order collapses after flying start

GALLE, July 31: Virender Sehwag blasted a quickfire unbeaten 128 as India squandered a flying start with a dramatic collapse which saw the visitors losing four wickets in the span of 20 balls on a rain-truncated opening day of the second Cricket Test against Sri Lanka here today.

The flamboyant Sehwag notched up his 15th Test century but India, who were cruising along comfortably at 167 for no loss, lost four wickets in quick succession to reach 214 for four when play was called off early because of bad light.

The complexion of the game changed abruptly after play resumed following a rain interruption as paceman Chaminda Vaas and ‘mystery’ spinner Ajantha Mendis ripped through the top order to help the Islanders claw back brilliantly.

While Sehwag played with characteristic flair, the quick dismissals of opener Gautam Gambhir (56), Rahul Dravid (2), Sachin Tendulkar (5) and Sourav Ganguly (0) has dented India’s hopes of posting a big first innings total on what appeared to be a good batting strip at the Galle International Stadium.

The stylish VVS Laxman (13) was giving Sehwag company at stumps on a day which saw only 44.3 overs being bowled.

The visitors, who desperately need to win the match to keep themselves afloat in the three-match series, have to now bank on the last recognised pair of Sehwag and Laxman to put up a decent total on the board.

The Indians showed signs of making amends for their Colombo debacle in the pre-lunch session as Sehwag and Gambhir plundered runs at will to score 151 runs.

Play was held up after the lunch break because of rain and when it began again, the balance tilted in favour of the home team who exploited the overcast conditions well.

The dismissal of Gambhir started the slide as the Delhi batsman was trapped leg before by Mendis. Gambhir asked for a review but it did not change his luck as the television umpire upheld the on-field umpire’s decision.

Rahul Dravid, who has been struggling to find his form, again fell prey to Mendis as he failed to keep the ball on the ground and Malinda Warnapura took the catch at shortleg much to the delight of his teammates.

The hosts then scalped the prized wicket of Tendulkar who was trapped leg before by Vaas to compound India’s misery.

Sourav Ganguly did not trouble the scorers much as he edged an away swinger from Vaas to Prasanna Jayawardene behind the wicket to reduce India to a precarious 178 for four. Jayawardene dived to his left to pull off a brilliant catch.

Sehwag and Laxman ensured that there were no further setbacks for the tourists as the duo took the team beyond the 200 mark.

It was a stunning exhibition of strokeplay by Sehwag who unleashed 19 boundaries and two sixes during his unfinished knock and seemed to be unaffected by wickets tumbling around him.

The way India began, it looked an altogether different ball game after the humiliating innings defeat in the first Test in Colombo. Both Sehwag and Gambhir negotiated the twin-threat of Mendis and Muttiah Muralitharan in a confident manner.

Sehwag survived a third umpire review before shaping his innings with elegance as well as aggression, albeit controlled.

Gambhir got a life when he was on 13 and ensured the he cashed in on the chance to deny Sri Lanka further opportunity.

He took 92 balls to raise his fourth Test fifty while Sehwag was in prime form as he took just 87 balls to complete his 15th Test century.

Even magical Muralitharan was rendered ordinary as Sehwag scored boundaries off the spinner quite freely.

Earlier, Nuwan Kulasekara tested both the Indian openers with his pace and bounce coupled with good line and length, deceiving them a number of times in his opening spell.

However, the paceman was unlucky as Sehwag and Gambhir missed the edge on many occasions and the deliveries that got edge either did not carry or dropped in front of the fielders.

Gambhir went for a flashy shot outside the off-stump, managed a thin edge towards first slip Kumar Sangakkara but he could not hold on to the chance as wicket keeper Prasnna Jayawardene dived across blocking the view. (PTI)

Paes-Dlouhy, Bhupathi-Knowles in Cincinnati quarters

CINCINNATI, July 31:Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi easily advanced to the quarterfinals of the USD 2,615,000 Cincinnati Masters tournaments along with their respective partners.

The sixth seeded pair of Paes and Lukas Dlouhy of Czech Republic defeated Ivo Karlovic of Croatia and Rogier Wassen of Netherlands 6-4 6-2 in the second round while Bhupathi and his Bahamian partner Mark Knowles got a walkover from Czech pair Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek.

Both Paes-Dlouhy and Karlovic-Wassen pairs had plenty of chances against each other and offered many a breakpoints.

Both the pairs got four breakpoints each in the first set. The Indo-Czech pair converted two and saved three to take the lead.

In the second set, Karlovic and Wassen squandered three breakpoints to hand the match to Paes and Dlouhy in just 58 minutes.

Paes-Dlouhy combination will now face second seeds Daniel Nestor of Canada and Serbian Nenad Zimonjic in the next round, while Bhupathi and Knowles will face the winners of the second round match between Mardy Fish/John Isner and Jonad Bjorkman/ Kevil Ullyett. (PTI)

Australian security visit is routine exercise: BCCI

The BCCI is not losing sleep over the impending security inspection by an Australian delegation and is confident that the world champions’ October tour would go ahead as scheduled despite the recent serial blasts in India.

"The Australian delegation’s visit to India is a routine one and the BCCI has not received any official communication from them so far," cricket board Secretary Niranjan Shah said here today.

"We can understand their apprehension in sending a team of officials to inspect the venues. BCCI does not envisage any problem and I am sure they will come and play," Shah said.

Australia will be here in October to play a four-match test series. (PTI)

Lure of gold leaves Olympics prone to doping cheats

LONDON, July 31: The Beijing Olympics will see the biggest anti-doping effort in history but the omens for a drug-free games are not good.

Alongside steroids and the blood-booster epo, testers have promised developments in tracing substances such as human growth hormone, which are undetectable with standard testing methods.

The chairman of the International Olympic Committee’s Medical Commission, Professor Arne Ljungqvist, said recently, "while it is to our advantage to not release all the details, enhanced testing will be administered in Beijing.

"You can expect continued efforts to detect human growth hormone and epo."

Regardless of the improved tests, past Olympics have shown that some competitors will risk everything to win medals — and there is no reason to believe Beijing will be any different.

It is a depressing statistic that in the blue riband Olympic sport, athletics, doping clouds hang over three of the last five men’s 100 metres winners.

Canada’s Ben Johnson notoriously caused the biggest drugs scandal in Olympic history when he tested positive for steroids after charging wild-eyed to victory in 1988 and was forced to leave Seoul in disgrace.

The reigning champion, Justin Gatlin, is serving a four-year ban for using steroids after the American failed a test two years after winning impressively in Athens.

And 1992 winner Linford Christie was refused a place on Britain’s 2012 Olympic Torch relay after he tested positive for the steroid nandrolone late in his career, although there is no evidence the Briton was on drugs when he triumphed in Barcelona.

Perhaps no former Olympic champion has fallen as far as Marion Jones, a triple gold medal winner at the 2000 Sydney Games, who is currently serving a six-month jail sentence in Texas for lying to investigators about her drug-taking.

US sports officials hope a line has been drawn under a dark chapter with the conviction in May of athletics coach Trevor Graham — who guided both Gatlin and Jones — for lying to federal investigators over the Balco Laboratory scandal which embroiled so many stars.

A doping furore nearly ruined the start of the Athens Olympics four years ago, when home sprint stars Kostas Kenteris and Katerina Thanou were allegedly involved in a motorcycle accident, apparently to avoid taking pre-competition tests.

Once the action got underway, Russia’s Irina Korzhanenko was forced to hand back the women’s shot putt gold medal after she was found to be taking the steroid Stanozolol — the same substance Ben Johnson used 16 years earlier.

Athletics is far from alone in the Olympics doping hall of shame.

Weightlifting has had a notoriously close relationship with drugs and Bulgaria has already withdrawn its entire weightlifting team from Beijing after 11 competitors tested positive for steroids.

In a major embarrassment for the Olympic host nation, one of China’s leading hopes for a swimming medal failed a drugs test in June.

Ouyang Kunpeng, the country’s leading backstroke swimmer who won three silver medals at the 2006 Asian Games, has been banned for life for steroid use, although an investigation will establish if the substance was taken accidentally.

The incident re-awakened unease about China’s elite swimmers and track athletes, who were embroiled in numerous doping scandals in the 1990s and have been under a cloud of suspicion ever since.

Some observers argue that drugs use is not increasing, but the sophistication of testing is — which is netting more cheats.

For example, many of the gold medals won in remarkable performances by East Germany’s women athletes and swimmers are now widely discredited because the extent of the former communist nation’s state-sponsored doping system was only revealed after the Berlin wall fell in 1989.

The IOC has promised that athletes who fail tests this summer will face increased penalties and will be banned from competing in London in 2012.

But faced with the lure of gold and the potential riches it can bring, it seems inevitable that some competitors in Beijing will still reach for the test tube. (AFP)

DD to have live telecast of Olympic Games

NEW DELHI, July 31: Beijing Olympics Games will be telecast live by the national broadcasting agency Doordarshan on its DD-1 and DD Sports channels from August 8.

The channel will telecast live all events featuring Indian participants and also have a customised commentary, a press release said here today.

The opening ceremony will be telecast from 5.30 pm to 9.05 pm on August 8 while closing will be shown from 5.30 pm to 7.30 pm on national channel DD-1. (PTI)

Rafa rolls over Serra in Cincinnati beat-down

CINCINNATI (USA), July 31: Rafael Nadal steamrolled to another overwhelming victory this season, crushing Florent Serra 6-0 6-1 today in the second round of the ATP Cincinnati Masters tournament.

The lop-sided victory took just 46 minutes and was the second runaway win for the world number two in less than three months. He also lost just one game in a dominating victory over German Denis Gremelmayr in the Barcelona semi-finals.

Nadal also lost only four games when he beat number 84 Serra, of France, at the Australian Open in January.

Nadal laid down another marker for Roger Federer, whose top ranking he is closing in on and now trailing by a hair-thin 300 points.

But the Spaniard refuses to peer into the future. "I’m focussed on Cincinnati, this is a very important tournament.

"If the number one comes it will be very difficult to achieve. I have to keep playing like I have for the last four months," said the Roland Garros and Wimbledon winner.

Dmitry Tursunov sent 11th seed Richard Gasquet packing, the Frenchman collapsing in the second set to go down 7-6 (10/8) 6-0.

Novak Djokovic timidly re-entered the rankings chase behind Nadal, the third-seeded Serbian advancing over Italy’s Simone Bolelli 7-6 (7/2) 7-6 (7/2).

Djokovic is being left behind as Nadal closes in on Federer. The Australian Open champion Djokovic trails Nadal by a massive 1,300 points and did not help his cause when he lost in the quarter-finals to Britain’s Andy Murray during a Toronto title defence a week ago.

He came to that event with minimal confidence after going out in the Wimbledon second round to Marat Safin. But the Serb may not be quite ready to resume the fight.

"I’m just trying to focus on my game, on my career and my matches. That’s my priority," he said. "I just want to improve."

The winner has advanced beyond the Cincinnati second round for the first time this week on his fourth appearance.

"I’m only 21. I don’t want to put an extra pressure. I have enough pressure and expectations of being a favourite in most matches I get in.

"Thinking about number two or number one in the world would create an extra amount of pressure, which I don’t need in this moment."

Eighth-seeded Scotsman Andy Murray and American seventh seed James Blake advanced with straight-set victories.

Blake continued the rescue of a modest hardcourt start, producing a 6-3 6-4 victory over Frenchman Gilles Simon, who won the Indianapolis title earlier this month.

Murray dropped an early break but roared back over erratic American Sam Querrey for a 7-6 (7/3) 6-1 victory. The British number one looked healthy after tweaking his knee in Toronto. A scan showed him good to play this week.

Blake, who has won five of his 10 ATP titles at US events, has been trying to recover after second-round disappointments at Roland Garros and Wimbledon.

He was badly let down in Indianapolis a fortnight ago, after winning the first set but losing a semi-final to Tursunov. Blake fell 6-1 6-2 last weekend to Nicolas Kiefer.

Spain’s fifth seed David Ferrer became the highest-ranked player to fall, going down in a struggle lasting two and a half hours to Ecuador’s Nicolas Lapentti 7-6 (7/2) 3-6 6-3.

In the evening match, Carlos Moya, of Spain, took a 7-6 (10/8) 1-0 advantage over Russian Nikolay Davydenko before the match was suspended by rain. (AFP)

Sania advances in singles, ousted from
doubles in Sweden

STOCKHOLM (Sweden), July 31: Sania Mirza had mixed luck at the Nordea Nordic Light Open as she advanced to the second round of the singles competition but made a stunning first-round exit from the doubles event here.

Seeded sixth in singles, Sania beat Frenchwoman Emilie Loit 6-3 6-2 to set up a clash with Czech Iveta Benesova in the USD 145,000 tier IV hard-court event.

In a lopsided encounter, the Indian ace, who has plummeted to 50th in the latest WTA charts owing to a string poor performances, was in her elements as she outplayed Loit in less than an hour’s time, yesterday.

However, Sania and her French partner Nathalie Dechy frittered away a good start to crash out of the doubles event.

The second seeded Indo-French pair plunged to a 6-1 6-7 (2) 7-10 defeat against unseeded duo of Camille Pin of France and Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium in one hour and 27 minutes in the first round.

Sania and Dechy converted all three break points and saved six of the seven on their own serve to race away with the first set.

However, the French-Belgian pair curbed their erratic play and bounced back in the second set, which they won through tie breaker.

Building on the momentum, they held nerves in the super tie breaker to prevail over their fancied opponents. (AFP)

Big relief for Shoaib, clears dope tests

LAHORE, July 31: Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has announced that the controversial seamer Shoaib Akhtar and 25 other leading cricketers have cleared dope tests.

PCB COO Shafqat Naghmi yesterday said all those cricketers tested for banned substances cleared the dope tests.

"Thankfully all the 26 players have cleared the dope tests, according to the results received by us today," Naghmi said.

The PCB had made dope tests mandatory ahead of September’s Champions Trophy, stressing that only players clearing the tests will be considered for the country’s 15-man squad for the eight-nation tournament to be played from September 12 to 28 on home soil.

With four players included in Pakistan’s 30-man preliminary squad for the Champions Trophy unavailable, the Board asked the other 26 players to undergo dope tests earlier this month.

Four other players in the provisional squad including senior batsman Younis Khan missed the dope tests.

Younis was in Saudi Arabia to perform Umrah at the time the tests were carried out here while three other players including all-rounder Yasir Arafat and middle-order batter Bazid Khan could not take the tests as they are currently playing professional cricket in England.

All those players will have to clear dope tests before the announcement of the 15-man Pakistan squad for the Champions Trophy on August 12, said Naghmi.

The results of the dope tests which were carried out in a WADA-accredited laboratory in Malaysia must have come as a big relief for Pakistan’s cricket community which was left stunned earlier this summer when fast bowler Mohammad Asif failed a dope test conducted during the Indian Premier League (IPL).

The 32-year-old pacer is working hard to get back in shape in time for the Champions Trophy. He hasn’t played an international cricket since featuring in the fourth one-dayer against India in Gwalior last November.

He has to prove full match fitness to be selected in the Pakistan squad for the Champions Trophy.

A former Test cricketer and chief selector Salahuddin Ahmed told ‘The News’ that the selectors will judge Shoaib’s fitness in a series of practice games to be played here from August 5 to 9.

Salahuddin said the board has told the national selection committee that Shoaib can be picked for national but only after proving that he is 100 per cent fit to play top class cricket.

"A fit and in-form Shoaib can be an asset for our team," said Salahuddin.

He said the Board has asked the selectors to name the final 15 for the Champions Trophy by August 11, a day before the deadline set by the International Cricket Council (ICC) for the submission of squads for the tournament. (UNI)

IOC slams Korean TV for ‘stealing’ opening ceremony

BEIJING, July 31: The International Olympic Committee today slammed a South Korean TV station for "stealing" footage of the Beijing Olympics opening ceremony, after it broadcast footage of a rehearsal.

The film crew from private station SBS sneaked in and filmed a full dress rehearsal this week that was broadcast in South Korea on Tuesday and then posted on the internet.

"I think it is disappointing that someone comes in there and literally steals one of the most exciting moments of the games," said Kevan Gosper, an IOC executive board member from Australia.

"This is a great surprise and I have not heard of this happening before."

The Beijing Olympic Organising Committee said that the filming was unauthorised and that it had launched a investigation.

"We are disappointed and frustrated with the broadcast by sbs," said spokesman Sun Weide. "This matter is still under investigation."

Tight security has surrounded the rehearsals for the ceremony at the 90,000- seat national stadium, better known as the bird’s nest, where the Olympic opening ceremony will take place on August 8.

The 50-minute show has been one of China’s most closely guarded secrets about the games, despite having more than 10,000 performers in a performance that has been in the works for three years.

All participants have been sworn to secrecy and little has been disclosed about the actual programme, other than it will portray thousands of years of Chinese history. (AFP)

Indian archers prepared to tackle windy Beijing weather

NEW DELHI, July 31: In Athens Olympics they were foxed by turbulent weather conditions, but this time around the Indian archers are better prepared to face the eventuality and are leaving no stones unturned for a medal in Beijing.

Having learnt a lesson at the last edition of the games, where the Indians went haywire in the windy conditions of Athens, the Archery Association of India (AAI) is acclimatising the Beijing-bound archers in "all kinds of weather conditions".

The Beijing-bound quartet of Mangal Singh Champia, Dola Banerjee, Laishram Bombayla Devi and Vardhineni Pranitha are finetuning their skills at the Sports Authority of India (SAI) eastern centre at Salt Lake in Kolkata under the watchful eyes of Korean coach Lee Wang Woo for three-and-half hours each in the morning and in the afternoon, for many months now.

Touted as the "medal hopes", the archery contingent led by Athens-returned Dola knows that the onus is on them and the AAI is in no mood to leave any gap in their preparation.

"We are going there to give a tough competition and win medals but not just to participate. The only thing we need now, is a little bit of luck to convert our performance into medals... We have a fair medal chance, and the women’s team event seems easier," AAI General Secretary Paresh Nath Mukherjee told from Kolkata.

"We selected Kolkata as the practice venue because the weather here is perfect. With the city having witnessed a good monsoon, the archers were exposed to all kinds of weather. They have shot in no wind, medium wind and heavy wind conditions. Even there were damp and muddy conditions... Heavy humid conditions, similar to that of Beijing, sometimes," he added. (UNI)

Lee wants more pitches that aid fast bowlers

MUMBAI, July 31: There are very few pitches in the world which aid fast bowling currently and this aspect needs to be set right to encourage more youngsters to take up fast bowling, feels Australian fast bowler Brett Lee.

"The wickets these days are getting hard to bowl on. I say it tongue in cheek about there being no pitches in the world conducive to fast bowling. But there are hardly any pitches in the world which are green and juicy and encourage fast bowlers," Austalian pace spearhead told here.

"I am not asking for a pitch that moves the ball three or four feet both ways but I am talking about giving the bowler a bit of assistance and encouraging young lads to bowl fast," Lee said.

Lee, who has taken 289 wickets in tests and 303 in ODIs, was on a promotional tour across cities in India as a brand ambassador for Timex Watches.

The Australian speedster admitted that a lot more cricket was being played presently but said players were now better equipped to deal with it.

"There is a lot more demand of people wanting to watch live cricket on TV in different countries in various formats and therefore there is going to be a lot more cricket played," he said.

However, cricketers would need to decide how much cricket they wanted to play and presently there were a lot more preparations made prior to games to ensure that they were physically fit, the ace Aussie pacer said.

The ICC Champions Trophy to be held in Pakistan in September has been a subject of debate because of security concerns, but Lee said he would take a call on the matter only after Cricket Australia arrived at its decision.

"We are waiting to see what Cricket Australia and Australian Cricketers Association say on the matter, only after which we can take a call," Lee said.

The pacer, who played for the Punjab Kings XI in the inaugural IPL Season this year, said it had been a wonderful experience and the League would do a lot of good for world cricket.

"The thing that impressed me most was playing in a team made up of a whole lot of cultures," Lee, who took four wickets in the four games he played, said.

He, however, refused to comment on other Twenty20 tournaments which are being planned and whether it would affect international team schedules.

"I think we will have to wait and see what happens on that. However, IPL has been brilliant and I am looking forward to the next season," Lee said.

Lee refused to be drawn into predicting the outcome of the Australian Test series in India later this year saying it was too early pass a judgement.

"We have a couple of series before the one here and we would want to focus on those games. However, it is going to be a lot of fun coming to India," Lee said.

He admitted that while Test Cricket was his favourite he also liked the Twenty20 format for its energy.

"Test Cricket is my favourite but I like playing Twenty20. It’s fast and brings a different kinds of people to the game," Lee said.

Speaking about the umpire’s referral system being tried during the ongoing India-Sri Lanka test series, Lee said he still preferred some umpiring decisions left to the umpires in the middle.

"I still like the human element there. I like an umpire’s presence, I think it’s important to cricket," he said, adding that he was not opposed to technology being used for stumpings and run-outs. (PTI)

Indian challenge ends at Morocco ITF event

NEW DELHI, July 31: Indian campaign folded on a disappointing note at the USD 10,000 ITF women’s event in Rabat, Morocco with the second round exit of Parija Maloo.

Sixth seed Parija lost 3-6 0-6 to unseeded Spaniard Nuria Parrizas-Diaz in the clay court event.

National Games champion Parul Goswami had already crashed out of the event after losing her opening match 1-6 0-6 to Spain’s Melisa Cabrera-Handt.

The combination of Parija-Parul had also suffered a 1-6 1-6 mauling at the hands of Fatima El Allami of Morocco and Italian Lisa Sabino in the first round of the doubles event. (PTI)

ICC Special Task Force likely to meet Gilani

LAHORE, July 31: International Cricket Council’s (ICC) Special Task Force, formed to help allay security fears surrounding September’s Champions Trophy in Pakistan, might even meet Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gillani next month in a bid to succeed in its mission.

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) COO Shafqat Naghmi told ‘The News’ yesterday that the Board is considering arranging a meeting of the task force with the premier "if possible" to show its members that there is complete government commitment for a "safe and successful" Champions Trophy.

"The task force will be meeting top-level government officials on its visit to pakistan, and if possible, we will also arrange a meeting with the Prime Minister," Naghmi said.

The dates of the task force’s visit to Pakistan are yet to be ascertained but it is expected that this high-powered delegation would come here in the middle of next month.(PTI)