Bhupathi-Knowles in World Tour Finals semis
LONDON: India’s Mahesh Bhupathi and his partner Mark Knowles went through Thursday to the last four of the season-ending ATP World Tour Finals without a perfect record after losing their final group match.
Third seeds Bhupathi and his Bahamian doubles partner lost 6-4, 7-6 (11/9) to top seeds Daniel Nestor of Canada and Nenad Zimonjic of Serbia at London’s O2 Arena in their Group A match.
Bhupathi and Knowles had already qualified for the semi-finals of the season-ending tournament having won their first two games but missed out on the chance to send a message of invincibility to their potential last four opponents.
Meanwhile in Group B, Bhupathi’s compatriot and former doubles partner Leander Paes, playing with the Czech Republic’s Lukas Dlouhy, are out of the picture having lost the first two of their three round-robin matches.
The French and US Open champions face Max Mirnyi and Andy Ram in their final match Friday.
“It was a bit of a rough outing in the last two matches,” Paes said.
“It’s a bit interesting because we won two Grand Slams this year, then the last two days we’ve been pretty much off rhythm.
“Could put it down to many reasons. But it’s something we need to look at, go back to the drawing board.
“Once we make it here next year, hopefully we do, and we work hard enough to get here next year, we need to come a little more prepared.”
The staging of the doubles games just before the singles clashes has been deemed to be a success for the competition, with up to 17,500 people watching the matches.
Paes said the pair would have no problem motivating themselves for their final group game.
“You’re on the court. You’re entertaining people. You’re out there with pride to do the best that you can,” the Kolkata doubles master said.
“Also remember that a lot of people are paying top dollar to buy their tickets to come in here. It’s live on television. We have a big responsibility as professional athletes, top eight doubles teams in the world.”
Motivation was never a problem but “I wish we could find some rhythm, though,” he added.
I never thought I will play for India again: Sreesanth
KANPUR: Born-again pacer S Sreesanth, claiming to be one of the most misunderstood cricketers in the world, feared he may not play for India again after a series of controversies plagued his career.
Star performer of day three of the second India-Sri Lanka Test, Sreesanth shared his fears of not playing for India again because of his serial disciplinary indiscretions.
“To be honest, I never thought I will play for the country again. But God has been very kind and I got the opportunity at the right time,” said Sreesanth, after his career-reviving five-wicket haul in the Sri Lankan first innings that put India on the threshold of a victory.
Sreesanth felt it was a sort of re-birth at the Green Park where he played his last Test against South Africa last year.
“I played my last Test here and it’s nice to start here again. It’s like a cycle, you go back from here and come back here again,” he said.
Since the 2008 Slapgate incident — he was slapped by Harbhajan Singh during an IPL match in Mohali — Sreesanth had gradually slipped into the wilderness with injuries and controversies joining hands to nearly ruin his career.
Sreesanth was also warned by the BCCI to mend his ways, failing which he could be banned from domestic cricket.
Sreesanth claimed he had been misunderstood. “I think I have been misunderstood a lot of times, not just once or twice. I said in Ahmedabad also that I must be one of the most misunderstood cricketers in the world.
“But I don’t think I would change. I will do things which are right and not things which people say are right,” he added.
Asked if he went into the match wanting to silence his critics, Sreesanth said, “I was not proving a point. I was enjoying more and was playing to my expectations. I have become realistic now and set goals which I can achieve.
“Yes, I was desperate to get the new ball in hand. It’s always a proud moment to play for the country and it was great to open the bowling with Zaheer bhai,” he said.
Looking back, he felt his Warwickshire stint, where he worked with bowling great Allan Donald stood him in good stead even though Donald was critical of his approach.
“I think it was a good decision and I thank BCCI for giving me the permission to play county cricket. It was not easy bowling there in June-July.
“Donald Sir helped me a lot. I know he said certain things about me but he helped me get my focus on off-field things, work on my work ethics, my attitude, training schedule and my professional approach. I have made a lot of sacrifice over the last seven months,” Sreesanth said.
Source : Hindustan Times
Jeev, Randhawa open strongly at World Cup
SHENZHEN (China): Jeev Milkha Singh and Jyoti Randhawa shared six birdies against a lone bogey to return a steady five-under 67 and take a share of the 15th spot after the opening round of the Omega Mission Hills World Cup of Golf on Thursday.
Jeev and Randhawa shot three birdies each in a strong opening day performance.
The lone bogey in the card came off Jeev’s club on the par-three second hole.
Both the players opened with par shots on the first hole and after Jeev had stumbled to a bogey on the second, Randhawa made up for it with a birdie on the third hole.
Jeev himself found a birdie on the seventh hole as the Indians combined for one-under at the end of the front-nine.
The duo had a blemish-free backward journey and shared four birdies between them to round off creditable show on the opening day of the $5.5 million event’s 55th edition.
The Irish team of Graeme Mcdowell and Rory McIlroy set the green ablaze with a 14-under 58 in the opening round to take a three-stroke lead.
The duo combined for 12 birdies and an eagle to be comfortably ahead of the chasing pack in which Argentina’s Tano Goya and Rafael Echenique were the second spot with an 11-under 61.
Defending champion Sweden was tied with Italy, Canada and South Korea six strokes off the lead at the Mission Hills Golf Club.
Today’s round was played in alternate-shot format the first player tees off, the second player hits the second shot, followed by a shot from the first player, and so on until the ball is holed. Tee balls are alternated so that the same player doesn’t hit every drive.
The second round tomorrow will also be alternate-shot, so will be the final round on Sunday.
But Saturday’s round will be played in the better-ball format in which each player on the team plays with his own ball until completing the hole. The lower of the two scores is recorded as the team score for that hole.
Bond returns to New Zealand team for Pakistan Tests
WELLINGTON: Star fast bowler Shane Bond has been recalled to the New Zealand Test squad to play Pakistan in the first two Tests of a three-match series.
Bond’s selection Friday follows a two-year absence from the New Zealand Test team due to injury and his participation last year in the rebel Indian Cricket League (ICL).
The injury-prone 34-year-old has played only 17 Tests since his debut in 2001 but he has taken an impressive 79 wickets at an average of 22.39.
He returned to the New Zealand one-day and Twenty20 team against Sri Lanka in September and played Pakistan in the One-dayers in the United Arab Emirates this month.
“Shane has shown a lot of energy in the UAE and in domestic cricket, and has bowled a good number of overs,” selector Mark Greatbatch said.
“It will be exciting to have him back.”
Also returning is pace bowler Daryl Tuffey, who played his last Test in 2004 before losing form and signing for the ICL.
Greatbatch said Tuffey had a good record at Test level and had made a positive return to domestic first class cricket.
“Significantly, of the 66 Test wickets he’s taken, 24 have been against Pakistan — it’s a team he’s done very well against,” Greatbatch said.
Tuffey and Bond have been joined in the squad by Test seamers Iain O’Brien and Chris Martin.
Batsmen Grant Elliott and Peter Fulton have returned to the Test side after last playing against Australia last year. Gaps have opened in the line-up with Jesse Ryder injured and all-rounder Jacob Oram announcing his retirement from Tests.
“Grant Elliott’s inclusion is based on his excellent form in the short version of the game — we’re keen to give him an opportunity to perform in Tests,” Greatbatch said.
Peter Fulton has been in and out of the Test side and makes his return based on excellent performances on winter tours with emerging players and New Zealand A teams as well as a strong start to the domestic competition, he said.
Greatbatch said it was likely the playing 11 would be based around six batsmen and four bowlers, but the final line-up would be decided closer to the first Test, which begins in Dunedin on Tuesday.
New Zealand: Daniel Vettori (captain), Shane Bond, Grant Elliott, Daniel Flynn, Peter Fulton, Martin Guptill, Chris Martin, Brendon McCullum, Tim McIntosh, Iain O’Brien, Jeetan Patel, Ross Taylor, Daryl Tuffey.
Sachin first to cross 30,000 runs in international cricket
NEW DELHI: After completing 17,000 runs in the 50-over format of the game, Sachin Tendulkar achieved another milestone by completing 30,000 runs in his international career during the first Test against Sri Lanka at Sardar Patel stadium in Ahmedabad
Tendulkar touched the magical 17,000-run mark in One-Day International cricket earlier in this month. Sanath Jayasuriya is second on the list with 13,377 runs followed by Aussie captain Ricky Ponting who has a lot of catching up to do.
Sachin has scored 17778 runs in One-dyers thus far. The Indian batting legend has 45 One-day hundreds and 91 ODI fifties under his belt. The veteran batsman has scored 42 hundreds and 54 half centuries in the Test format of the game.
The diminutive Mumbaikar, who made his ODI debut Pakistan in 1989, is already way ahead of his contemporaries when it comes to accumulating runs.
Derby frenzy over, Bagan shift focus
Two days after thrashing East Bengal, Mohun Bagan are on a higher perch — literally.
Through greenery greener than the jersey they wear, they have travelled past clusters of human habitation quaintly named Byrinhat, Nongpoh and passed the massive Umiam lake hemmed by a row of mountains on one side and dense vegetation on the other to reach Shillong where Lajong FC lie in wait.
It’s a world away from the steaming, heaving cauldron of emotions that the Yuba Bharati Krirangan was on Sunday. And forget talking about it in the way Kolkata just can’t seem to stop, forget the open palm or the five-finger salute that Mohun Bagan supporters haven’t had enough of; the Meghalaya capital seemed untouched by both the hurrah and the humiliation of the derby. One that has devoured a coach, stained reputations and catapulted Edeh Chidi into immortality.
It is just as well, Ishfaq Ahmed said. In a city whose cool breeze and mild sunshine reminded him of home, the midfielder from Kashmir said, “it is possible that we would have got carried away by the frenzy Kolkata is caught up in.”
Karim Bencherifa took it from there. “Ideally, I would have liked the boys to have enjoyed the moment. After all, having made history, the players deserve to enjoy. They would have loved to be in the middle of the buzz. But that is only if we had 10 days off before the next game.
“Given how the schedule is and that we would have had to play on Thursday, I would rather we did it outside Kolkata and in a place like this. There are no distractions here and although among themselves the players are still talking about the game, the focus ahs already shifted to Thursday’s tie against Lajong FC,” the Mohun Bagan coach said.
As pre-paid connections don’t work in the Northeast, even the mobile phone isn’t a distraction for most in the squad. It is almost like being in what is called concentracao in Brazil and Argentina where before big games players are put up by clubs in one residential area or hotel and cut off from the rest of the world.
“And we can keep the buzz going by getting three points from here,” Bencherifa said.
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