Mumbai, Jan 31: Men’s and women’s singles top seeds Vishnu Vardhan and Eetee Maheta crashed out of the Rs 12-lakh prize money Omkar All India ranking men’s and women’s tennis championship held at the the Juhu Vile Parle Gymkhana Club (JVPG) today. Qualifier Mohit Mayur sent men’s no.1 seed Vishnu Vardhan packing in three sets in a second round match, while Eetee also went down in three sets against unseeded Sowjanya Bavisetti. London Olympian Vardhan looked to be in control of proceedings till an inspired Mayur dug deep to win 3-6 7-5 6-3 in just under two hours. Women’s top seed Eetee also suffered the same fate as she was knocked out by Sowjanya after winning the opening set like Vardhan. Sowjanya won 4-6 6-3 6-3. In the eagerly-awaited Vardhan-Mayur matchup, it was the India no. 4 who stamped his authority in the early part of the match and he was rewarded in the eighth game when he broke Mayur’s serve before serving out the first set. After surviving a long opening game to the second set on his serve, Mayur steadily began to secure easy holds. However, the equal effectiveness of Vardhan’s serve frustrated him to the extent where he eventually picked up a code violation for flinging his racquet after losing a point. Mayur’s grit finally bore fruit when he earned three break points while leading 6-5 and sealed the set on his second. It seemed to swing the momentum well in favour of the underdog who grabbed an early break in the deciding set and won his fifth straight game to take a commanding 3-0 lead. Vardhan did have a couple of opportunities in game seven but Mayur held on for 5-2 and produced a jittery-free final service game to close out the match. (PTI)

Dubai, Jan 31:
The International Cricket Council today allocated USD 1.8 million to crisis-hit New Zealand as part of the Targeted Assistance and Performance Programme after the conclusion of its first Board meeting of the year here.
“New Zealand Cricket has been allocated USD 1.8m, which represents USD 0.6m for each of the next three years from the ICC’s Targeted Assistance and Performance Programme (TAPP) which is aimed at developing more competitive teams among Full Members and Associate/Affiliate Members,” the ICC said in a statement.
The New Zealand Cricket initiative will focus on a programme of ‘A’ Team cricket and the development of coaching and sports science expertise.
New Zealand have been struggling of late internationally and their Cricket Board has been dogged by controversies after the recent sacking of Ross Taylor as captain.
Besides, the ICC Board considered the report of the Chief Executives’ Committee working group and agreed that domestic Twenty20 leagues can add to the game and further deliberations should be aimed at “the growth and sustainability of international cricket” by “attaining co-existence between domestic T20 leagues and the international game”.
The Committee includes Sundar Raman (BCCI), James Sutherland (Cricket Australia), David Collier (England Cricket Board) and David White (New Zealand Cricket).
ICC Chief Executive David Richardson said the key lay in attaining balance between domestic and international cricket.
“Domestic Twenty20 leagues have provided so many opportunities for players and officials alike as well as entertaining large domestic crowds.
“A workable and balanced international playing calendar is key to the sustainability of the game. We also need to ensure that cricket is played in a corruption-free environment,” he said. (PTI)

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