Nadal
claims clay-court century with win over
Lopez
BARCELONA, May 2: Rafael
Nadal’s clay-court juggernaut roared
ahead with the Spaniard winning his 100th
match from 101 on the surface to reach
the quarter-finals of the Barcelona Open.
Nadal
worked for one hour, 45 minutes to beat
friend and 16th seed Feliciano Lopez 6-4,
6-3 yesterday.
The
three-time Roland Garros champion has not
been beaten on his favoured surface since
starting in the Monte Carlo first round
three years ago.
His only
defeat during his run of form came in the
Hamburg final last spring to rival Roger
Federer, who swept a 6-0 fifth set.
"I’m
happier to be in the quarter-finals in
Barcelona, I’m not thinking about
the victories," said the world
number two, who faces a fast turnaround
when he meets Juan Chela Friday.
"This
is one of my favourite events and playing
Feliciano is always tough," added
Nadal, who had his left shoulder taped
after complaining of pain in recent days.
Nadal
never faced a break point in a contest in
which the first three games took 21
minutes to complete, including a third
game with eight deuces and three break
points saved by Lopez.
A player
from the host nation has won the event
for six of the past seven years.
Nadal’s win meant four Spaniards
from six moved into the last eight and
Nicolas Almagro made it five when he beat
Croatian Mario Ancic 7-6 (7/5), 6-2.
Nadal is
treading a fine line between winning
while not running out of steam prior to
his run at a fourth straight trophy in
Paris from May 25.
The
Spaniard faces title defences here and in
rome before the French Open after winning
his fourth straight in Monte Carlo last
weekend over Federer.
Spanish
second seed David Ferrer laboured before
finally overcoming persistent Nicolas
Lapentti of Ecuador 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, taking
two and a half hours to get the job done.
Compatriot
Tommy Robredo, the sixth-seeded champion
from 2004, ended the run of Argentine
Guillermo Canas 6-1, 7-5.
Swiss
Stanislas Wawrinka sprang a surprise on
erratic Argentine third seed David
Nalbandian 6-3, 6-1.
"It
was a tough match for me," said
Nalbandian, the 2006 semi-finalist.
"I was not the favourite at all, but
that’s normal for me."
"I’m
27th and he’s seventh," said
the Swiss, who ran his record in the
series to 5-2.
Albert
Montanes joined his mates in the Spanish
Armada, getting past tough Russian
qualifier Mikhail Kukushkin 6-3, 3-6, 6-3
and next plays Wawrinka.
"I
expect to have problems with him,"
said Wawrinka. "He’s playing at
home."
Ferrer
needed all of his bulldog determination
to put down Nicolas Lapentti, ranked 83rd
now but standing sixth in the world nine
years ago.
The
Spanish favourite led early but was
unable to impose, with Lapentti winning
five of the last six games in the first
set.
Ferrer
started to regain control with a break in
the tenth game of the second to level and
rode a break in the third to the
hard-fought victory.
Ferrer
will face off on Friday against Robredo,
whom he leads 2-1, including a win last
month in Valencia. (PTI)
Kallis
feels IPL, ICL beneficial for Indian
cricket
NEW DELHI, May 2: In a bid to
promote the multi-million dollar Indian
Premier League (IPL), the BCCI is using
strong arm tactics against the rebel
Indian Cricket League (ICL), but South
African all-rounder Jacques Kallis feels
that all these leagues cropping up will
ultimately benefit the game in the
country.
Kallis,
who is playing for Bangalore Royal
Challengers, has said both the leagues
provide a learning base for the domestic
players who get a chance to share the
dressing room with some of the
international stars.
"Both
IPL and ICL are beneficial for Indian
cricket because it is the domestic
players who will get to learn a lot from
it. In both the tournaments they get to
share the dressing room with some of the
legendry players and I feel that it is a
good learning experience,’’
Kallis said here yesterday.
"Some
guys are yet to play international
cricket and at a young age they are
playing with and against some of the top
stars, had it been during my time, then I
would have been immensely
successful,’’ he added. (UNI)
Lee
earns $80,000 per scalp in IPL: Report
MELBOURNE, May 2: Speedster
Brett Lee returned home as the richest
Australian cricketer, taking home a
whopping $80,000 per scalp for his four
wickets from as many games in the
cash-rich Indian Premier League.
The
paceman was bought for $900,000 at
auction and earned more than $320,000 for
his brief stint with the Punjab side.
Captain
Ricky Ponting, who went for a relatively
modest $400,000 to the Kolkata Knight
Riders at the auction in February, has
emerged as the highest-paid Australian
batsman when earnings are worked out on a
rupees-per-runs-scored basis.
Ponting
earned $3663 for every run, or $142,000
for the four games he played.
The World
Cup winning captain, who made two golden
ducks and scored just 39 runs for the
tournament, admitted he would have liked
to have scored more runs and that his
impact "wasn’t that
great", according to ‘The
Australian’.
Lee and
Ponting were among the six players, who
return to Australia to prepare for the
Caribbean tour where they will earn
almost $13,000 a test and $5000 a one-day
internationals.
But
despite the money part, Ponting was
concerned that the dollars players were
earning in the IPL could drift them away
from their home teams.
"There’s
a real danger there that international
players might just see the glitz and
glamour of this event and not want to
play international cricket any more,
which I don’t think would be great
for the game," Ponting was quoted as
saying by ‘The Australian’.
All
rounder Andrew Symonds was next in the
line as his purse was heavier by $500,000
after playing just four appearances with
the Deccan Chargers of Hyderabad.
Symonds,
who had a controversy-free tour of the
sub-continent unlike last year, pocketed
$3000 for each of his 161 runs.
Each
player is understood to have been paid on
a pro-rata basis for the games played and
received 10 per cent of that amount for
each game they did not play.
Matthew
Hayden ($134,000) and Michael Hussey
($125,000) both bring home more for two
weeks’ work than most Australians
get for two years.
Simon
Katich fetched only $200,000 at auction
and earned just under $60,000 for his
efforts. The New South Wales captain only
played two matches. (PTI)
Knight
Riders look for elusive win against the
tough Kings
MOHALI, May 2: A team that
started out as a tournament favourite is
suddenly looking down the barrel after
three successive losses and the task does
not get any easier for Kolkata Knight
Riders when they take on an on-the-rise
Kings XI Punjab in the Indian Premier
League here tomorrow.
After two
initial losses, the Yuvraj Singh-led
Kings XI have been on a winning streak
and continued to do well despite the exit
of top Australian players like Simon
Katich and pace spearhead Brett Lee from
their team.
On the
other hand, the Sourav Ganguly-led Knight
Riders will be desperately looking for a
win here to keep their chances in the
tournament alive.
The Punjab
team have the home advantage going for
them with some of their top-order batsmen
like Shaun Marsh, son of Aussie great
Geoff Marsh who scored an unbeaten 85
against the Deccan Chargers, looking in
terrific form.
Even the
absence of Lee and Katich was not felt by
the team after marsh not just came good
with the bat in the very first game he
played against Chargers, but also saved a
few runs with his agility on the field.
Yuvraj and
Sri Lankan Kumar Sangakkara have been in
ominous touch while Mahela Jayawardene
has also struck form. Ramnaresh
Sarwan’s presence also lends
assurance to the Punjab batting.
Despite
Lee’s exit, the Punjab bowling
spearheaded by Irfan Pathan and S
Sreesanth has done well. 19-year-old leg
spinner Piyush Chawla has been
economical.
Sreesanth
seems to have put the
"slapgate" with Harbhajan Singh
behind him, and is picking up wickets
consistently but his economy has left a
lot to be desired.
Meanwhile,
the Knight Riders seems to have been
hampered by New Zealand wicketkeeper
Brendon McCullum and Aussie Ricky
Ponting’s exit. The team would be
hoping for better knocks from their
replacements Salman Butt and Brad Hodge,
who failed to impress in last
night’s loss to Rajasthan Royals.
Ganguly,
who was finally among runs scoring 51
against the Royals, having made just 40
in his four games earlier, will have to
play a big knock, anchoring the innings,
in which he would need support from the
likes of David Hussey.
In the
bowling department, pacers Umar Gul and
Ishant Sharma have been doing well and
should find the bounce offered by Mohali
track much to their liking. (PTI)
KV
Gandhi Nagar celebrates Annual Day
Excelsior
Correspondent
JAMMU, May 2: Kendriya
Vidyalaya (KV) No 1 Gandhi Nagar
celebrated its Annual Day at Zorawar
Auditorium today.
Sudhanshu
Pandey, Divisional Commissioner, Jammu
and Chairman of the Vidyalaya Management
Committee inaugurated the function.
B D
Sharma, Retd Education Officer, KVS
(Jammu Region) was the guest of honour
while S C Khajuria, Offg Assistant
Commissioner and Education Officer, KVS
(Jammu Region) presided over the function
which began with the lighting of
traditional lamp by the chief guest.
A
colourful bonanza of cultural items
including Dogri dance, Bhangra, Dandia,
Shiv Stuti, Bharat Natayam, English and
classical songs were staged by the
students.
Chitra
Mishra, Principal of the Vidyalaya read
out the annual report and highlighted the
achievements of the students and staff in
the field of academics, sports and other
co-curricular activities.
Later, the
chief guest distributed prizes to the
meritorious students.
Sushma
Jain, senior PGT of the Vidyalaya
presented the vote of thanks.
KV
No 2 celebrates Annual Day
Excelsior
Correspondent
UDHAMPUR, May 2: Kendriya Vidyalaya
(KV) No 2, Dhar Road Udhampur celebrated
its Annual Day today.
Colonel G
S Radkar, Offg Commandant, 3 Adv Base
Wksp (Chairman nominee) was the chief
guest on the occasion who accorded a warm
welcome by the scouts and guides of the
Vidyalaya.
The tiny
tots of the Vidyalaya enthralled the
audience with their fine performance in
cultural programmes which included
Rajasthani dance, Punjabi Giddha, English
and Hindi plays.
Later, the
prize winners were awarded by the guest
of honour Sushama Radkar.
Arvind
Gaur, Principal, KV No 2 was also
present. The vote of thanks was presented
by Vijay Kumari Sharma, CCA Incharge of
the Vidyalaya.
Mahim
clinches Badminton title
Excelsior Sports
Correspondent
JAMMU, May 2: Mahim
Jatinder got the better of Akash Bhola by
straight 2-0 sets to clinch the mens
singles title in badminton today in the
ongoing Teachers/Officers Sports Meet
being played at Jammu University.
Akash
Bhola could not match the skills of Mahim
and lost the sets by 21-9 and 21-8.
The match
was officiated by Ravish Vaid and the
tournament was organised by the
Department of Physical Education.
Meanwhile
the Inter Department Athletic Meet would
commence from May 6.
Rakesh
Bakshi appointed as Match Commissioner
AIFF announces
officials for Santosh Trophy
Excelsior Sports
Correspondent
JAMMU, May 2: The All India
Football Federation (AIFF) has announced
the list of officials for the prestigious
National Football Championship-Santosh
Trophy commencing on May 25.
According
to Prof Bashir Ahmed Shah, chief
spokesman of Jammu and Kashmir Football
Association (JKFA), Rakesh Bakshi of
Chandigarh has been appointed as the
Match Commissioner while U K Nair
(Gujarat) and Ghaya-Sul-Haque (Bihar)
appointed as Referee Inspectors.
N A Khan
of J&K has been appointed as the
District Committee Incharge whereas Sunil
Bhardwaj (Haryana) as AIFF observer.
Besides
these, 16 referees have also been
appointed to officiate the matches in the
coveted tournament. They are
Rizwan-ul-Haq (Delhi), S B Saha (Delhi),
Deepak Singh (Delhi), Dinesh Nair
(Gujarat), G S Billai (Chhattisgarh), S
Suresh (Tamil Nadu), K Shanker (Tamil
Nadu), Raghunath Gosavi (Goa), Benjamin
Silva (Goa), Gokul Anand Sharma
(Manipur), Arjun Nan (SSCB), Nazir Ahmed
(J&K), Rock Fernandes (WBFA), P K
Bose (Madhya Pardesh), Amjad Khan (Madhya
Pardesh) and J P Pandit (Bihar).
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