Sports

Melbourne, January 18: Indian tennis star Sania Mirza crashed out from the Australian Open with a fighting 5-7, 6-3, 6-1 defeat at the hands of former World No.1 Justine Henin in her first round match in Melbourne on Monday.

Sania was on top of her game in the first set, winning it in a tie breaker but from there on, Henin upped the ante and did not let the Indian slip away with the match. The Belgian remained on course of another Grand Slam, seeded 11th in the tournament as she won the next two sets with ease despite some good show of volley and serve by the Indian.

Kolkata, January 17: Rajasthan men surprised formidable North Bengal while title holders Petroleum Sports Promotion Board (PSPB) cruised into the pre-quarterfinals in both the men’s and women’s events in the 72nd Senior National and Inter-State Table Tennis Championship here Monday.

Rajasthan men paddlers conquered the higher ranked North Bengal 3-1, winning three matches in a row after Devesh Karia went down 12-10, 11-6, 9-11, 12-14, and 7-11 to Soumyajit Ghosh.

Doha, January 17: Japan eased into the quarter-finals of the Asian Cup with a comfortable 5-0 victory against Saudi Arabia Monday and will be joined in the next round by Jordan, who beat Syria 2-1.

Shinji Okazaki was a hat-trick hero for Japan, for whom Ryoichi Maeda scored the other two, while Odai Al Saify and and own goal from Suliman Al Salman give Jordan their 2-1 come-back victory. Mohamed Al Zino gave Syria an early lead.

Kolkata, January 17: Players from 13 countries including India will vie for honours in the US$ 10,000 International Tennis Federation (ITF) Women’s International tournament to be held here Jan 24-29.

Slovakia’s Dalila Jakupovic, ranked 395, has got the top billing, followed by Mari Tanaka of Japan – 462, and Nicoel Clarico of Italy (475). The tournament will be held at the Jaidip Mukerjea Tennis Academy.

New Delhi, January 17: Mercurial fast bowler Shantakumaran Sreesanth was disappointed Monday after being ignored for the 15-member Indian squad for the World Cup.

‘I am so heart broken… but it’s lack of faith that makes people afraid of meeting challenges, and I believe in myself. Jai mata di,’ the fast bowler tweeted from Cape Town, where he is with the national team for the ODI series against South Africa.

New Delhi, January 17: The Sports Ministry has sanctioned cash awards for 286 medallists of the New Delhi Commonwealth Games and the Guangzhou Asian Games.

The cash awards, totalling Rs.22.57 crore, are being given under the ‘Scheme of Special Awards’ to winners of medals in international events, the ministry said in a statement Monday.

‘Cash awards worth Rs.5.10 crore have already been given to Asian Games gold medallists,’ the statement added.

New Delhi, January 17: The following are the career averages, in One-day Internationals, of the 15-member India squad selected for the World Cup Monday:

Batsmen:

Virender Sehwag (vice-captain, right-hand opening batsman and off-spinner)

M: 228; Runs: 7380; HS: 146; Avg: 34.64; SR: 103.27; 100s: 13; 50s: 36

Gautam Gambhir (left-hand opening batsman)

M: 105; Runs: 3680; HS: 150 not out; Avg: 40.43; SR: 86.52; 100s: 9; 50s: 21

Sachin Tendulkar (right-hand opening batsman and part-time spinner)

M: 444; Runs: 17629; HS: 200 not out; Avg: 44.97; SR: 86.18; 100s: 46; 50s: 93

New Delhi, January 17: Don’t be surprised if you see a group of youngsters breaking into an impromptu jig at a mall or even at the India Gate. Students of Delhi University have planned flashmob dances and a run as novel ways to protest against corruption.

A flashmob is a group of people who assemble in a public place all of a sudden, perform an unusual act and then disperse.

Mumbai, January 17: Has Munaf Patel clinched a berth in the World Cup squad? That perhaps is an obvious question begging for an obvious answer. The bowling heroics are too few in Indian cricket and the 27-year-old pacer’s exploits at the Wanderers on Saturday night may have cleared way for his selection. S Sreesanth or Ishant Sharma, may be both, could be the loser(s) in the bargain.

New Delhi, January 17: Mercurial fast bowler Shantakumaran Sreesanth was disappointed Monday after being ignored for the 15-member Indian squad for the World Cup.”I am so heart broken… but it’s lack of faith that makes people afraid of meeting challenges, and I believe in myself. Jai mata di,” the fast bowler tweeted from Cape Town, where he is with the national team for the ODI series against South Africa.

New Delhi, January 17: Mercurial fast bowler Shantakumaran Sreesanth was disappointed Monday after being ignored for the 15-member Indian squad for the World Cup.”I am so heart broken… but it’s lack of faith that makes people afraid of meeting challenges, and I believe in myself. Jai mata di,” the fast bowler tweeted from Cape Town, where he is with the national team for the ODI series against South Africa.

Melbourne, January 17: India’s Sania Mirza took a set off former World No.1 and winner of seven Grand Slam titles Justine Henin of Belgium before losing 7-5, 3-6, 1-6 in the Australian Open women’s singles first round here Monday.Sania came up with scorching winners and looked determined to upset the 11th-seeded Belgium, who was making a comeback after missing the US Open due to an elbow injury she picked up at Wimbledon last year.

Chennai, January 17: Leg spinner Piyush Chawla was the surprise inclusion while young batsman Rohit Sharma and speedster S Sreesanth were today dropped from India”s 15-member squad for the upcoming cricket World Cup to be held in the sub-continent from February 19.

Tamil Nadu spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, who is also a useful batsman, was also named in the squad announced by the BCCI secretary N Srinivasan after a meeting of the selection committee here.

Chennai, January 17: Spinners will play a major role in the World Cup to be held in the sub-continent from Feb 19, Krishnamachari Srikkanth, chairman of the cricket board’s selection committee, said Monday, justifying the inclusion of three tweakers in the Indian squad for the quadrennial event.”Spinners will play a major role in the sub-continent.

That’s why we have picked up three spinners in the squad. I hope this team will match the performance of the 1983 World Cup winning team,” he said after the squad was announced.

Melbourne, January 17: Former world number one Maria Sharapova produced a Jekyll and Hyde performance in a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Thailand’s Tamarine Tanasugarn in the first round of the Australian Open Monday.

The 2008 Melbourne champion opened the match in embarrassing fashion, serving two double-faults and dropping the game to love.

However, she cranked up the volume and hit back immediately, some ferocious returning giving the Russian a love break and she continued trying to hit the fur off the ball, taking the first set in 25 minutes.

Johannesburg, January 17: Sachin Tendulkar`s return One-day cricket after an 11-month hiatus has been cut short
due to a hamstring injury and the iconic batsman will be replaced by diminutive Parthiv Patel for the remainder of the series against South Africa.

Tendulkar`s injury comes a day before the selection committee meeting in Chennai to pick the 15-member squad for the ICC World Cup, starting February 19.

Tendulkar, who had not played one-dayers after scoring first ever ODI double hundred in February 2010, suffered the injury during the second ODI against the Proteas yesterday.

London, January 17:Liverpool and Merseyside rivals Everton shared four goals as three English Premier League (EPL) derby matches ended in draws.

Dirk Kuyt levelled from the penalty spot for Liverpool after Everton had come from behind at half-time with two quick goals at Anfield.

Kenny Dalglish’s first home match in charge since replacing Roy Hodgson began well with Fernando Torres striking the post in the 17th minute before Raul Meireles fired the Reds in front from outside the area in the 29th.

Quito, January 17:The president of Ecuador’s Delfin Sporting Club football team was gunned down in the coastal city of Manta, according to a media report.

Honorio Cevallos was speaking with his team coach Juan Carlos Bedolla at a restaurant during the weekend when a man shot him several times.

Reports said two men were involved in the killing who later fled in an automobile.

Cevallos was taken to a clinic, where he died while being treated by doctors.

Melbourne, January 17:Maria Sharapova began her bid for a second Australian Open title with a second-set comeback to post an opening-day victory over Thai veteran Tamarine Tanasugarn 6-1, 6-3 Monday.

The three-time Grand Slam winner swept the opening set but trailed 1-3 in the second before finally claiming the win.

The Russian 14th seed, who claimed the title at Melbourne Park in 2008 but lost in the first round in 2010 after missing 2009 with injury, fired five aces and overcame 10 double-faults and 22 unforced errors in the 78-minute win.

Melbourne, January 16:Shane Watson blazed a magnificent 161 not out, and clubbed a six to win the game, as Australia scored 297 for four to beat England by six wickets in their first one-day international on Sunday.

Australia’s score was the highest successful run chase in a one-day international at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).

Watson shared in two century stands, an opening partnership of 110 with Brad Haddin (39) and 103 for the second wicket with captain Michael Clarke (36), though Australia were struggling to keep up with the required run rate by the time Clarke departed.

Los Angeles, January 16: Tennis ace Serena Williams has shot down reports that she is engaged to rapper Common.

The couple began dating in 2007 and reunited late last year after a brief split and recent reports suggested that they are set to take their romance to next level.

However, Williams representative has denied the rumours, saying they are “not true at all”, reports aceshowbiz.com.

–Agencies

Melbourne, January 16: Old Indian warhorses Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi will play together on the circuit after nine years in the chase to complete a career Grand Slam by winning the Australian Open, beginning Monday.

The former World No.1 pair, have been seeded third here Sunday and play big serving and towering Croat Ivo Karlovic and Dusan Vemic of Serbia.

Paes, 37, and Bhupathi,36, announced their return on the circuit last year in the bid to add the only Grand Slam title missing from their cabinet.

Melbourne, January 16: Sania Mirza and Somdev Devvarman will have to play out of their skins in their first round matches to keep India’s interest alive in the singles at the Australian Open beginning here Monday.

Somdev, ranked 108, was handed a wildcard following his impressive performance last year, but as luck would have it, the gutsy Indian has run into World No.52 Tommy Robredo of Spain, once ranked as high as No.5.

Melbourne, January 16: World tennis stars led by Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal put on a show at the Rod Laver Arena, raising more than 1.5 million dollars and counting for flood relief in Queensland Sunday, a day before the start of the Australian Open.

Federer and Nadal were among 14 players who donated time and talent to the benefit in front of a sold-out 15,000 crowd at the Rod Laver Arena.

Johannesburg, January 16: Just when India have started gathering momentum in the ongoing ODI series against South Africa by pulling off a thrilling victory in the 2nd ODI at Johannesburg to level the 5-match series 1-1, they have suffered another blow as batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar is all set to return home owing to an injury.

Tendulkar injured his right hamstring during his 24-run innings in the second ODI against the Proteas at the Wanderers yesterday, which India won by a slender one run margin to level the series 1-1.