Sports

California, July 30: Serena Williams has won three of the last four grand slam titles but is still number two in the world, behind Dinara Safina, who has won none of the big four events of tennis.

Such are the intricacies of the WTA Tour rankings system that Safina can be fairly confident about keeping her seat at the top of the ladder at least until the U.S. Open.

Not that Williams is complaining. “I’m happy with my results and winning Wimbledon,” the American said going into this week’s Stanford Classic where she is the top seed.

Dambulla, July 30: That’s what Pakistan skipper Younis Khan is hoping for against Sri Lanka

Pakistan are banking on a fresh set of players to deliver as they seek to avenge Sri Lanka’s Test victory in a one-day series starting here today.

Pakistan were beaten in a Test series for the first time on Sri Lankan soil when Younis Khan’s men lost the first two matches before drawing the final game in Colombo last week.

But Younis is confident a change in personnel and infusion of new blood for the five one-day matches will revive the tourists and provide entertaining cricket for fans.

Mumbai, July 30: Disappointed at not being selected in the superior ‘A’ team, Henderson Dias and Romil Khutia are doing everything possible to prove they deserve to be among the cream players.

Yesterday, when Don Bosco ‘B’ (Matunga) took on Balmohan Vidyamandir (Dadar), the duo scored a brace each in the team’s 7-1 win in the MSSA U-16 Div IV match at Azad Maidan yesterday.

Henderson plays on the right wing while Romil handles the left and tend to make every defensive wall look brittle.

Hyderabad, July 30: India’s ace badminton player Saina Nehwal has been reportedly afflicted with chicken pox. The temporary health setback is likely to affect her participation in the World Badminton Championships.

Incidentally, Saina seeded sixth in the world had got a bye in the women’s singles first round of the World Badminton Championships to be held in Hyderabad on August 10-16.

Recently, the duo of coach Pullela Gopichand and badminton champion Saina Nehwal had been awarded the prestigious Dronacharya and Arjuna awards, respectively.

Rio de Janeiro: Brazil’s Ronaldo underwent surgery on his broken left hand, his club Corinthians said in a statement.

The team doctor said earlier this week that the striker was expected to be out for five to six weeks with the injury which he sustained in Sunday’s 3-0 Brazilian championship defeat by Palmeiras.

“Ronaldo is doing well and should be discharged from hospital on Thursday,” the club statement said. Ronaldo has not played for Brazil since the last World Cup in 2006.

–Agencies

Stanford, July 30: A red-hot Maria Sharapova destroyed fifth seed Nadia Petrova 6-1, 6-2 on Wednesday to move into the quarter-finals of the Stanford Classic.

Sharapova, who came back from shoulder surgery in May after nearly 10 months off the tour, overwhelmed her fellow Russian with precise serving, huge returns and razor sharp groundstrokes in a stunning return to form.

New Delhi, July 30: India’s ace shuttler Saina Nehwal’s World Championships campaign suffered a setback as bad health took toll on her preparations. She has been contracted with chickenpox.

The news was confirmed by her coach Pullela Gopichand and he added that she would be fit for the World Championships.

Her father Harvir Singh Nehwal also expressed hope that the gutsy shuttler would gain complete fitness before the tournament since she has been in good form this year and the title in the upcoming Championships would do justice to her hard work.

–Agencies

Valencia, July 30: Seven times Formula One world champion Michael Schumacher will replace injured driver Felipe Massa at Ferrari if he passes a fitness test, the team said.

The German, now 40 years old, retired from Formula One at the end of 2006. All being well, he will make his comeback in Valencia, Spain, next month.

“Ferrari intends to entrust Michael Schumacher with Felipe Massa’s car for as long as the Brazilian driver is not able to race,” the Italian team said in a statement.

Chandigarh, July 30: Almost a decade ago, a young Baljeet Singh Dadhwal visited the Chandigarh Hockey Academy with his father Sarabjeet Singh. The boy knew why he was at the Academy. He even told this to his father: “I want to play for Chandigarh, and I want to play for India in the World Cup.”

After more than nine years, during which Dadhwal played for both Chandigarh and the Indian hockey team — he played an important role in India’s 2007 Asia Cup triumph — he is down with a career-threatening injury.

Rome, July 30: A list of the world records set at the Foro Italico in Rome by the end of Wednesday’s events. The competition ends Sunday.
Sunday July 26 (6 world records):

Sarah Sjostrom, Sweden, women’s 100m butterfly, 56.44 seconds Paul Biedermann, Germany, men’s 400m freestyle, 3:40.07 Ariana Kukors, US, women’s 200m individual medley, 2:07.03 Federica Pellegrini, Italy, women’s 400m freestyle, 3:59.15

New Delhi, July 29: Olympic bronze medallist Vijender Singh said the country’s highest sporting honour – Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna– will spur him to make a fresh beginning in boxing.

‘It is a dream come true for me. My journey has just begun. I am not going to stop here. Khel Ratna is the highest honour for a sportserson and it could not have come at a better time before the World Championships in September. It will motivate me to perform well there,’ Vijender told IANS.

New Delhi, July 29: Infighting within the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is ruling the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), has been causing delays in projects related to the 2010 Commonwealth Games to be hosted here, the Congress said Wednesday.

Jai Kishan Sharma, the leader of opposition in the MCD, has written to Lt-Governor Tejendra Khanna seeking his intervention to speed up the projects.

According to Sharma, the civic agency has constituted several special and ad-hoc committees for carrying out the Games works.

Roseau, July 29: Half-centuries from Shakib Al Hasan and Mohammad Ashraful trumped a maiden One-day International hundred from Travis Dowlin, and inspired Bangladesh to a three-wicket win over West Indies in the second ODI to take an unbeatable 2-0 lead in the series.

Shakib, the Bangladesh captain, struck 65 from 61 balls to earn the Man-of-the-Match award, and his predecessor as skipper Ashraful scored 64 from 77 balls, as the Tigers successfully chased 275 in the match at Windsor Park on Tuesday.

Karachi, July 29: Shahid Afridi”s dream of leading the national team came true as the flamboyant all-rounder was today appointed captain for the one-off Twenty20 match against Sri Lanka next month. Pakistan Cricket Board today made an announcement to this effect but there was no mention whether Afridi would continue at the helm of the country”s T20 team.

Edgbaston, July 29: Andrew Flintoff, who has already performed like a man hardly of this earth in the Ashes series, is using space technology to ensure his continued participation. The man who is determined to defy the strains of his body to play the next three matches has been sleeping with a machine designed by Nasa.

Stanford, July 29: Maria Sharapova shook off the rust to beat Japan’s Ai Sugiyama 6-4, 6-7, 6-1 in the first round of the Stanford Classic on Monday.

Fellow Russian Elena Dementieva joined her in the second round after beating Britain’s Anne Keothavong 6-1, 6-4.

On the comeback trail after shoulder surgery last year, three-times grand slam champion Sharapova conceded she needed more matches to get her form back.

Lahore, July 29: The International Cricket Council (ICC) and the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said on Tuesday they were closer to resolving their dispute about the staging of the 2011 World Cup.

Pakistan’s cricket authorities mounted a legal challenge in May after the ICC decided to move all the tournament’s matches out of the country for security reasons in the light of the armed attack on the Sri Lanka team in Lahore in March.

Mumbai, July 29: The connect between cricketers and B-Town babes cannot be called a new story.

Though we have heard of similar things in the past, but this time two names have been added to the list. Buzz is that hot-shot cricketer Irfan Pathan is totally smitten by actress Amrita Rao.

Such is his fascination for her that he seems to be completely bowled over.

According to reliable sources Irfan would love to date Amrita despite the fact that he is already into a steady relationship.

New Delhi, July 29: India may have been outplayed in the Twenty20 World Cup this time but coach Gary Kirsten says they will come back hard in the next edition of the event which is just eight months away.

“We will make sure that our preparations next time are good,” Kirsten said.

India, who won the inaugural edition in 2007, did not even make the semifinals this time, losing all their super eight stage matches.

The former South African opener once again stressed on the importance of preserving Test cricket.

Melbourne, July 29: Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath and Matthew Hayden will once again play at the Gabba after Cricket Australia confirmed the trio would be part of the All-Stars Twenty20 match to launch the 2009-10 season.

Warne will captain the All-Stars line-up, which will play against a full-strength Australian XI on November 22, four days before Australia’s first home Test of the summer.

Melbourne, July 29: Mitchell Johnson’s chances of playing at Edgbaston may have firmed but Australia’s captain Ricky Ponting said the soggy conditions had given them plenty to think about regarding the position of the spinner Nathan Hauritz.

As the selectors ponder whether Stuart Clark can squeeze into the line-up, Ponting said Australia’s research into Edgbaston didn’t make for happy reading for the spinners.

New Delhi, July 29: Yusuf Pathan courted controversy with the BCCI by saying that his brother Irfan has been left out of the Champion’s Trophy squad because of reasons unrelated to cricket.

“Irfan’s performance was always up to the mark. He has not been left out because of his performance. Everybody has seen what is happening,” an angry Yusuf responded when asked for his reaction on Irfan’s omission from the probables squad.

“What will I comment,” Yusuf went on. “It is for you (the media) to react and comment on what is happening.”

Melbourne, July 29: Michael Clarke hailed Ricky Ponting as ‘one of the greatest players’ as he gets set to achieve a significant personal milestone in the third Ashes test at Edgbaston.

The Australian captain is just 25 runs away from becoming Australia’s highest run scorer in Test cricket – overtaking another legend, Allan Border, in the process.

Ponting currently stands at 11,150 runs (average 56.31) while Border had 11174 runs (average 50.56).

Melbourne, July 29: Cricket Australia (CA) and the Australia Cricketers’ Association (ACA) today announced that legends Shane Warne, Matthew Hayden and Glenn McGrath will return to the field to launch the 2009-10 season in a blockbuster All Star Twenty20 match at the Gabba.

The trio of ex-greats will turn out for the Johnnie Walker ACA team against a full strength Australian XI in a Twenty20 match on Sunday, 22 November.

This match would be the precursor to Australia’s summer schedule where they take on the West Indies and Pakistan.

Madrid, July 29: Cristiano Ronaldo scored his first goal for Real Madrid netting the opener from the penalty spot in a 4-2 friendly win over Ecuador’s Liga de Quito at the Bernabeu.

The Portuguese winger, signed from Manchester United for 80 million pounds last month, sent the goalkeeper the wrong way after being tripped as he dribbled into the area in the 48th minute.

Christoph Metzelder and returning former youth team players Esteban Granero and Alvaro Negredo added the other goals for Real as they booked a Peace Cup semi-final encounter with Juventus on Friday.

–Agencies