Williams
doesn’t rule out Henin at French
Open
BERLIN, May 9: Even after another
painful loss at the German Open, Justine
Henin’s rivals still think the
Belgian can pull it together to win a
fifth French Open next month.
Dinara
Safina said the world No. 1 can bounce
back after she beat Henin 5-7, 6-3, 6-1
yesterday. Serena Williams had a similar
view after her 6-3, 6-1 rout of
Poland’s Agnieszka Padwanska
extended her streak to 17 matches.
"Henin’s
such a great winner," said Williams,
who reached the quarterfinals. "She
can play a lot better. She knows that,
and she can take solace in that
fact."
Williams
handed Henin the worst loss for a No. 1
player in nine years last month at the
Sony Ericsson, 6-2, 6-0. That came after
the Belgian was knocked out of the
Australian Open in January by in another
hard loss, 6-4, 6-0, to Maria Sharapova..
Some now
wonder if the game has changed too much
for Henin, even on her favorite surface.
"Henin
has mastered clay, but I think the game
is getting more powerful, like Serena is
playing," said Ivanovic, the world
No. 2 who advanced against Sybille Bmmer,
7-5, 4-6, 6-4.
After the
Williams loss, Henin took a month off to
nurse a knee injury and refocus on
tennis. She returned to play an event she
has captured three times, twice ahead of
a French Open title in June.
The
Belgian never shook off her tentativeness
against Safina, the 17th-ranked Russian
who hadn’t taken a set against her
in five previous matches. After 2
hours-w, 34 minutes, Henin missed the
line with a hard forehand to end the
match.
"The
whole match I didn’t have the
intensity, I didn’t have the
consistency," Henin said. "It
wasn’t enough today. Now we have to
see in the next few weeks."
Safina
acknowledged that the rest of the players
are aware Henin hasn’t been the same
since the Australian Open loss to
Sharapova snapped a 32-match winning
streak.
"I
wasn’t afraid to play her today.
Going into the match, I had a feeling
today I could win," Safina said.
Henin
reminded Safina of her brother Marat
Safin, the two-time Grand Slam winner who
has slid out of the top 10.
"Like
my brother, when you have won everything
its hard to motivate yourself _ I
don’t think its possible to do that
all the time," Safina said.
"But Henin is such a great player,
things could change very quickly."
Williams
believes the week-in, week-out stress of
staying on top can be tough. Her eight
Grand Slams is one better than Henin, but
the American has pursued interests like
acting and design outside tennis.
"It’s
not easy to play the same places, face
the same players every week and eat the
same food," Williams said. "Me,
I’m not tired, I’ve had a lot
of time off and I’m in top
shape."
She
overpowered the 11th-seeded Radwanska in
just 57 minutes.
"I
tell myself if I play well, I make it
easier on myself," said Williams,
chasing a second French Open title after
2002. "I usually beat myself and
I’m tired of beating myself."
Williams
pointed out Henin has only four losses
this year, a record most players would
envy. The Belgian also won two titles,
although they came before the Australian
Open.
Now Henin
will review whether she will play Rome
next week, or deal in a different way
with problems not fixed at one of her
favorite tournaments.
"I
really wanted to use this tournament to
get my confidence back," Henin said.
"Now I will have to see."
(AGENCIES)
BCCI
to help MPs stay fit
NEW DELHI, May 9: After allocating a
corpus of Rs 50 crore for training
Olympic medal aspirants, the cash rich
cricket board has now turned its
attention on keeping the countries
Members of Parliament (MPs) physically
fit.
The BCCI
has granted Rs 1.5 crore for building a
sophisticated gymnasium at the
constitution club, which is exclusive
club for MPs.
The MPs
had sought help from the BCCI for the new
project.
"The
MPs had sought BCCI’s help for
setting up a gym at the constitution
club. The BCCI president Sharad Pawar has
acceded to their request and has
sanctioned Rs 1.5 crore for the
purpose," BCCI vice president Rajiv
Shukla. Who is a MP himself, said.
"This
will help the MPs ton keep themselves fit
and we are happy to be able to help in
this regard," he said.
The cheque
will be formally handed over to the club
officials later today. (PTI)
Off-form
Ponting working hard on technique
BRISBANE, May 9: After failing to
fire for Kolkata in the cash rich Indian
Premier League (IPL), Australian captain
Ricky Ponting has turned to high-tech
plasma screen gadgetry in a private
batting tutorial to help snap his form
slump.
In Allan
Border field here, a plasma screen
television was hauled into the practice
net next to Ponting as he was videotaped
facing deliveries from a bowling machine.
The video
footage was fed through the plasma
screen, on a five-second delay, enabling
ponting to play a stroke and then watch
it replayed immediately on tv.
Ponting,
who endured a run of low scores in last
summer’s one-day series and which
continued in the IPL, emerged delighted
and enthused from the net session.
"It’s
the first time I’ve used that, it is
the best little coaching session you can
have,’’ Ponting declared.
"It’s
good to have a coach or someone standing
by that knows your game. But to have it
explained to you is one thing, to see it
for yourself and be able to identify
yourself what you are doing during a shot
is fantastic.’’
Ponting
claims he is not overly worried by his
form slump - most recently scoring just
39 runs in four matches in the IPL- but
feels the plasma session is a
‘’priceless’’ tool
which can help him return to his
devastating best.
"Sometimes
you know yourself what you are doing but
to put your finger right on it is a
little more difficult,’’
Ponting said.
"With
this set-up, you hit one and you give
yourself time to have a look at the
replay and digest it.
"It
can pick up everything - head position,
backlift and whatever it is you want to
work on.
"I
have used game footage over the years but
to have it at training, especially when
you are trying to get everything ticking
over again, is priceless.’’
Australia
will leave tomorrow for a three-test tour
of the West Indies. (AGENCIES)
Revenge
match for Kings XI Punjab
CHENNAI, May 9: Having lost their
home tie against Chennai Super Kings,
Yuvraj Singh would be keen to settle the
score as Kings XI Punjab take on the
hosts in the Indian Premier League tie at
the M A Chidambaram stadium tomorrow.
Absence of
Australian players — Mike Hussey and
Matthew Hayden — and Kiwi Jacob Oram
gives Yuvraj a perfect chance not only to
take revenge for the early defeat as well
strengthen their chances of making the
semifinal stage.
With 10
points in their kitty the Punjab team is
placed at the top of the points-table
while the hosts are placed at third in
the Twenty20 extravaganza.
Punjab
skipper Yuvraj would also look to fire
big as he is yet to come up with a
sterling innings in the tournament. He
has aggregated 170 runs from seven
matches with his highest being 57.
Dhoni
would also be looking at the semifinal
spot and would not hesitate in pushing
teammates for their second victory over
the Punjab team.
Dhoni had
looked in a good touch in the tournament
as he has scored 229 runs from eight
matches with a strike rate of 145.45.
Besides
Dhoni, local lads S Badrinath and Vidyut
Sivaramakrishnan have been among runs and
young guns would again need to show
maturity to help their team’s cause.
The
bowling department of the visitors looks
better with pace trio of Irfan Pathan, S
Sreesanth, VRV Singh and spinner Piyush
Chawla.
The pitch
has so far behaved well in the previous
four matches here and proved to be a
batsmen friendly, the match on the morrow
is likely to be an even contest.
However,
form of former New Zealand captain
Stephen Fleming is a worrying factor for
the hosts as he has not performed well in
the last three encounter.
The
run-rate of Dhoni’s team had seen a
slide after the departure of big hitting
players and the skipper would hope his
batting line-up would fire and bowlers
would perform to rein in the opponent
batsmen.
With
Laxmipathy Balaji getting in to the
groove, he along with Manpreet Singh gony
would have to share the burden of taking
wickets.
Yuvraj and
his men had a strenuous three-hour net
practice session today though the hosts,
who returned home after their four-wicket
over Delhi Daredevils, remained indoors.
(PTI)
Law
Deptt clinches Inter Department Cricket
tourney
Excelsior
Sports Correspondent
JAMMU, May 9: Law Department got
the better of History Department by a
convincing margin of 9 wickets in the
final to clinch the Inter Department
cricket tournament played at Jammu
University Ground.
Law
Department won the toss and opted to
field first. History Department
accumulated 128 runs in the stipulated 20
overs with Satinder top scored with 58
runs.
Omar and
Taqdeer also contributed useful 34 and 10
runs respectively.
Chasing
128 to win, Law Department did the
needful in 15 overs losing just one
wicket in the process.
Vimarsh
Kaw was the standout performer with 57
runs which contained nine boundaries and
a six.
Amit
Baloria (33) and Nitish Mahajan (29) were
the other notable contributors.
The
umpires in the match were Raj Kumar and
Vikram Singh. The scorer was Ankit
Bakshi.
Prof
Lokesh Verma, Director, Department of
Physical Education, Prof S K Sharma, Prof
Kulwant Singh, Dr Sanjay Gupta, Dr Brij
Baloria, Ramesh Magotra and Romesh Sharma
were present during the final match.
Gufran
Memorial Cricket Tournament from May 18
Excelsior
Sports Correspondent
DODA, May 9: The 4th Gufran
Memorial T20 State level cricket
tournament would be held from May 18 at
Sports Stadium under the aegis of Jammu
and Kashmir Cricket Association (JKCA).
The
decision of conducting the tournament was
taken in a meeting of Young Star Cricket
Club (YSCC), Doda held at Sher-i-Kashmir
Stadium, Srinagar.
During the
meeting, Manzoor Ahmed Batt, Patron, YSCC
Doda held discussion with Mohammad Saleem
Khan, general secretary, JKCA and Imtiaz
Ahmad, joint secretary regarding the
conduct of the tournament.
Before the
meeting, YSCC also held a meeting with
JKCA President, Farooq Abdullah who
assured his full support during the
tournament.
Dr
Abdullah has also accepted the invitation
of the club to witness the final of the
tournament on June 1.
Khurshid
Ahmed Bhat, DDC Doda, Iftikhar Ahmed
Butt, Nasir Ali Dev and Mubashir Hussain
were prominent among others who attended
the meeting.
Meanwhile,
the tournament would be telecasted live
and the scores would also remain
available on club’s website
www.ysccdoda.org.
Itinerary:
May 18
(evening): Baba Sahejnath vs Faridya
Club, Doda.
May 19
(morning): Friends Ghat vs Kashmir
Mughal.
May 19
(evening): Durga Club, Ramban vs Lion
Club, Jammu.
May 20
(morning): Friends Eleven, Jammu vs
Kishtwar Senior.
May 20
(evening): Bhalessa Eleven vs Doda Dare
Devils.
May 21
(morning): Zakir Eleven, Doda vs Super
King, Doda.
May 21
(evening): Kishtwar Junior vs Firdous
Eleven, Doda.
May 22
(evening): Gazi Eleven Beoli vs Young
Star Cricket Club, Doda.
May 23
(morning): Friends Ghat/Kashmir Mughals
vs Masood Bhaderwah.
May 23
(evening): Youth Bhaderwah vs Baba
Sahejnath/Faridya Club, Doda.
May 24
(morning): New Saraj, Doda vs Durga Club,
Ramban/ Lions Club, Jammu.
May 24
(evening): Srinagar Junior vs Bhalessa
Eleven/Doda Dare Devils.
May 25:
First quarterfinal
May 26:
Third quarterfinal
May 27:
Second quarterfinal
May 28:
Fourth quarterfinal
May 29:
First semifinal
May 30:
Second semifinal
June 1:
Final
Santosh
Trophy-2008
AIFF
announces match officials for Jammu
venues
Excelsior
Sports Correspondent
JAMMU, May 9: The All India
Football Federation (AIFF) today
announced a list of officials who will
officiate the matches to be played at GGM
Science College Ground during the 62nd
edition of the National Football
Championship-Santosh Trophy.
According
to Prof Bashir Ahmed Shah, Chief
Spokesman of the J&K Football
Association (JKFA), K M Tiwari of
Himachal Pradesh has been appointed as
the match commissioner while B S Chouhan
(Delhi) as Referee Inspector.
B Tiengdoh
(Meghalaya) has been appointed as
Disciplinary Chairman.
The other
officials included Debashish Mishra
(IFA), Gobind Kanojia (Delhi), Pardeep
Mukherjee (IFA), Bikramjeet P (Delhi),
Biplav Poddar (IFA), K K Pandey (UP),
Munna Lal Nadeshwar (Chattisgarh),
Dhanraj More (WBFA), Vijay Kumar
(Karnataka) and Yousuf Khan (MP).
BSF
won Police Golf tourney
SRINAGAR May 9: Border Security
Force (BSF) today lifted the Police Golf
tournament at Royal Springs Golf Course,
here.
Held on
"9 hole game ‘’on Indian
Police service pattern, three teams of
Border Security Force, Jammu and Kashmir
Police and civil administration teams
participated in this event.
BSF won
the team title while Jammu and Kashmir
police team was runners up.
Longest
drive was made by Raja Ajaz Ali. Near to
the pin was won by Sobrata Das while best
card was won by Somesh Goyal.
Jammu and
Kashmir Governor Lt Gen (Retd) S K Sinha
who was chief guest on this occasion
distributed prizes among the winners.
(UNI)
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