Indian runners Mandeep and Murmu suspended after failed dope test

NEW DELHI: Two top Indian athletes - Mandeep Kaur and Juana Murmu - were on Wednesday suspended and faced the prospect of a two-year ban after flunking an out-of-competition dope test.

The 'B' samples of both the athletes returned positive for anabolic steroids in the tests conducted by International Association of Athletics Federations.

Mandeep, who had won gold in Commonwealth and Asian Games 4x400m relay and Juana, who finished fourth in the Asian Games, were suspended immediately after the reports of the 'B' samples were known this evening.

Mandeep and Juana's 'A' samples were taken by an international agency - International Doping Tests and Management of Sweden - on behalf of the IAAF at NIS Patiala and tested at National Dope Testing Laboratory.

The samples were taken out of competition at NIS Patiala on May 25.

Mandeep's 'B' sample had adverse analytical findings for epimethandiol, metabolites of methandienone and stanozolol while Juana's had epimethandiol and metabolites of methandienone.

The duo have been provisionally suspended by Athletics Federation of India till the hearing by a NADA panel is completed. The NADA panel will hand the punishment after the hearing.

Since it was the first dope offence for the two athletes, their punishment would range from a warning to a two-year ban.

AFI sources said that the two athletes have told the officials that their positive result could be due to food supplements they had taken from outside the NIS where they had been training.

The development is a huge setback for the country as both were in the yet-to-be-announced Indian team for the Asian Athletics Championships to be held in Kobe, Japan from July 7.

The duo are certain to be dropped from the team as now their 'B' samples have returned positive.

Moreover, it could be difficult for India to qualify for the London Olympics in women's 4X400m relay race as Mandeep has been an important member of the quartet for some time.

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Venus' sixth sense saved Serena's life

EASTBOURNE: Venus Williams has always taken her role as big sister to Serena very seriously but never before had she thought a bit of family intuition would end up saving the life of the 13-times grand slam champion.

Serena, who once starred in the American medical drama ER, found herself in the centre of her own health scare in February when she had to undergo emergency treatment after a life-threatening blood clot was found in one of her lungs.

Had it not been for a tip off from Venus, Serena may have been prevented from making her long-awaited comeback to competitive tennis this week in the Wimbledon warm-up tournament in the British seaside town of Eastbourne.

"I remember I was in the gym and Serena called me and said 'my foot's swelling'," Venus, who is celebrating her 31st birthday this week as she too makes a comeback, said in an interview.

"My physio and I were both there and I said 'you need to look up online on symptoms of blood clots'. So she did and our physio went back and what do you know, it was.

"She had lot of the symptoms and thank god she did not ignore it because that could have been dangerous.

"I wasn't with her so it wasn't like I could do anything... but I just suggested because it was one of the symptoms. I did not believe this could even happen to her."

Already known as a tennis champion, fashion designer and interior designer, Venus never thought her limited medical knowhow could prove so crucial.

"Someone like Serena, who's a champion and a legend and has spent her whole career and lifestyle being healthy, it's hard to expect her to have a health problem like she did," added five-times Wimbledon champion Venus, who is making her own comeback after missing six months with an abdominal injury.

"Everyone was surprised, including us. "Thankfully we were able to recognise it and help her to get treatment right away. A lot of things you can think 'gosh, this is not really happening to me as I'm super healthy' and it can happen to anyone."

Like Serena, Venus also had to bide her time on the sidelines as she allowed her battered and bruised body to recover from a series of injuries that have limited her participation to just the grand slams over the past year.

This week, she seemed to lap up the atmosphere at the picturesque setting of Devonshire Park, where her face was plastered across dozens of billboards and hoardings dotted around the tennis complex.

KEEN HISTORIAN

Dressed in a white tracksuit over a bright pink tank top, she did not appear to have a care in the world as she strode purposefully into the ground's Champagne Bar area, only stopping once to sign a giant tennis ball for a young boy.

Venus, a keen historian of tennis, knows that no woman over 30 has won a grand slam trophy in over two decades.

But such a statistic does not concern the statuesque American, especially since recent trends show that those aged around 30 are most likely to succeed.

Over the past 13 months, Li Na and Francesca Schiavone have won French Open crowns aged 29, while 28-year-old Kim Clijsters is the U.S. and Australian Open champion and Serena, 29, is the Wimbledon holder.

"Tennis has changed a lot. People are now trying to be healthier and everyone's believing they can play longer. I think the days of retiring at 27 are over," explained Venus.

"By the time you get to the age I am, that's when you really start to understand the game and you can take advantage of that. So I'm going to stay and take advantage of all my experience."

Her vow to play on will strike fear into rivals, especially since the Williams sisters have ruled Wimbledon in nine of the past 11 years.

Critics have been laying into the women's game in recent weeks, saying it is suffering an identity crisis as the public at large can barely recognise any of the current top 10.

Should either of the Williams sisters triumph at Wimbledon on July 2 after barely playing any match for months, it will again raise questions about the strength of the women's tour.

Venus, however, dispelled suggestions that a Williams' victory will only highlight the poor state of the women's game.

"If we come back and play well, that's credit to our games. It's not easy to win majors because if it was, everyone would be doing it," said Venus, who expects a low seeding at the grass slam since injury means she is ranked outside the top 30.

"We have dropped ranking points and that's part of being off but at this point we're happy to be back, we're here to play, we're in the draw and that's what matters."


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Sania-Vesnina lose French Open doubles final

BANGALORE: The Czech combine of -- Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka -- made it a payday to remember in Paris. The unheralded pairing, who became only the sixth unseeded team in 30 years to win a major title when they clinched the French Open women’s doubles crown on Friday, took home the euros 330,000 purse, up for grabs at Roland Garros.


India's Sania Mirza and Russian Elena Vesnina, the seventh seeds, picked the wrong day to go off colour, going down 4-6, 3-6 in the title round. The Indo-Russian pairing, who dropped a set for the first time this fortnight in the semifinal on Wednesday, had to settle for euros 165,000.

The opening set was a sea-saw contest. The Czechs broke Sania's serve in the third game and Vesnina's in the fifth to run up a 5-1 lead. In the seventh game, on the Indian's serve, the Czechs had two set points at 15-40 and a third at advantage, but the Indo-Russian pair battled hard to push the game to deuce before holding serve. They broke Hlavackova at love in the next game to narrow the lead to 3-5. Vesnina then held serve to make it 4-5.

In the tenth game, with the big-hitting Hradecka serving for the set, the Indo-Russian team pushed hard, taking the game to deuce but the Czechs closed out on their fifth set point on the back of a 189 kmph serve.

Vesnina, who finished runners-up in the French Open with Victoria Azarenka in 2009, struggled with her serve on Friday. She was broken in the opening game of the second set, but the seventh seeds fought back breaking Hlavackova in the fourth game to level at 2-2. Vesnina, however, was broken in the fifth game and the Czechs did well to hold on to that.

In the eighth game, the favourites had a chance to break Hlavackova, they even had a breakpoint, but the 24-year-old held out to give her team a 5-3 lead. Hlavackova and Hradecka then broke Vesnina in the ninth game, closing out on the second match point after 81-minutes of play.

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Federer shatters Djokovic streak to reach French Open final

PARIS: Roger Federer brought Novak Djokovic's 41-match winning run since the start of the year to a sensational end Friday as the Swiss legend reached a fifth French Open final and a fourth Paris title showdown with five-time champion Rafael Nadal.

Federer, the 2009 winner, stunned the world number two Serb 7-6 (7/5), 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (7/5), a victory which not only shattered Djokovic's hopes of making a first Roland Garros final, but also stalled his bid to take over as world number one.

World number three Federer, whose last Grand Slam final had been at the 2010 Australian Open where he wrapped up a 16th major title, sealed a memorable win with his 18th ace in a tie which finished at 2135 (1935GMT) in gathering gloom.

Having reached his sixth Roland Garros semifinal playing a carefree brand of no-pressure tennis, he also left Djokovic one win short of matching John McEnroe's 1984 record of a 42-match unbeaten start to a season.

In a rollercoaster of a first set, Djokovic was surprisingly broken in the first game, distracted by the commotion in the crowd behind him caused when a spectator collapsed.

But the Serb was back on level terms for 1-1 with a break back before fighting off four break points on his next serve to hold for 2-1.

A huge inside-out backhand gave Djokovic another break for a 4-2 lead but Federer, with a roar of emotional support behind him, stormed back, retrieving the break and holding to love for 4-4.

Federer saved two set points in the 11th game before Djokovic, furious at being handed a time violation by French umpire Damien Dumusois, got the better of a gruelling 27-shot rally to hold and lead 6-5.

The Swiss, who had converted just two of 10 break points in the opener, held to send the set into a tiebreak which he claimed when Djokovic netted a forehand after 70 minutes on court.

Federer fought off two break points in the first game of the second set and broke Djokovic to lead 3-1 when the Serb, clearly unsettled and distinctly under par, ballooned a forehand long.

A rattled Djokovic soon trailed 4-1 and then needed to fight off four break points in the sixth game to keep his campaign on track before Federer, nerveless on serve, stretched his advantage to 5-2.

The world number two was close to breaking point and fought off five set points in the eighth game.

But the 29-year-old Federer was soon two sets to love ahead when a weary Djokovic netted.

Under siege, Djokovic had given up a further 12 break points in the second set with Federer crucially converting the only one he needed to do in the fourth game.

However, showing the fight which has brought him seven titles in 2011, Djokovic carved out the only break of the third set in the second game on his way to cutting the deficit.

Serve dominated in the fourth set as the sky over Paris became increasingly darker, before Djokovic unleashed a brutal service return to break for a 5-4 lead.

In an enthralling conclusion, Federer hit back for 5-5 and fought off two break points to nip ahead at 6-5 before Djokovic held for a tie break.

The Serb saved two match points but was powerless to keep out the Swiss star's 18th ace which sealed the semifinal after 3hr and 39mins of enthralling action.

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Miami triple threat strikes first in NBA finals

MIAMI: There might be a new sheriff in town, but this is still Wade County.

Dwyane Wade erupted for 15 points in the second half - including a late 3-pointer that put the game out of reach - as the Heat won Game 1 of the NBA Finals over the Dallas Mavericks, 92-84, at the American Airlines Arena in Miami.

In his first Finals game since earning Finals MVP in 2006, Wade finished with 22 points and 10 rebounds. Teammate LeBron James led the Heat with 24 points - the final two coming on a booming alley-oop from Wade with 40 seconds left in the game. Miami nearly had three double-doubles, with James and Chris Bosh (19 points) each pulling down nine rebounds.

But after struggling to find his game through most of the Eastern Conference Finals - a and although James proved yet again just how limelight-ready he is -- it was Wade's late trey and overall play that delivered the biggest surge of electricity through a team and a town.

"Once that three went down," James sadi, "I knew he was feeling really good."

"Understanding that Dallas is a great offensive team, I thought we played well defensively," Wade said. "That allowed us to get out and get some good shots on the other end. Obviously I made some shots tonight. But we all made plays down the stretch that helped us win the ballgame."

Dirk Nowitzki led the scoring for the Mavericks, who shot just 37.3 percent from the field. Nowitzki finished with 27 points, including another perfect night at the line, going 12-for-12 in free throws.

Wade's performance keyed a dominating second half by the Heat, who out-scored the Mavericks, 49-34, in the final 22 minutes to pull away late.

Neither team shot well (38.8 percent for the Heat, 37.3 for the Mavs), but the Heat hit 41 percent (16 of 39) in the second half, compared to just 36 percent for the Mavericks.

"They have two very good closers, two of the best in the game," Nowitzki said of Wade and James. "Dwyane made some big shots there in the fourth quarter, and LeBron has been shooting the ball really well this Playoffs. [Wade] had some open looks and really made some tough shots."

"I think in order for us to win basketball games, we have to defend, and we have to get stops," James said. "And our offense will speak for itself when we continue to get stops."

Outside of rebounding (46-36 over the Mavs), the Heat's most unlikely advantage came in bench scoring, where they held a 27-17 edge over the usually potent Mavs reserves. Of Dallas' 17 bench points, 12 came from Jason Terry. Cumulatively, the reserves shot 4-of-22, including a 1-for-8 performance from backup point guard JJ Barea.

"I thought we rushed some shots," Nowitzki said. "We just got to finish."

The shooting woes kept the game close until the Heat pulled away in the final minutes. Until Wade's dagger of a 3-pointer from the top of the key put the Heat up, 82-73, with just over three minutes left, neither team had led by more than eight points.

But until Wade took over, the Mavs looked to be the ones headed for the win.

Shawn Marion hit a jumper to put Dallas up, 46-43, to open the second half. Nowitzki followed a 19-footer after a Chris Bosh miss on the inside. A possession later, DeShawn Stevenson hit a 3-pointer from the corner with no one within 10 feet of him to put Dallas up eight points with 10:03 left in the third.

"He checked for the wind," said Heat coach Erik Spoelstra. "He had three days to shoot that. And we didn't get anybody near him."

Down eight, the Heat called timeout.

"We needed to lock in," James said. "We just weren't paying attention to detail about how we were going to defend this team coming into the game."

From there, Wade took over.

First came a reverse lay-in on the ensuing Heat possession. Then, after a steal by Mike Bibby and an assist from LeBron James, came another finish at the rim for Wade, who'd spent most of the first half on the outside.

"They answered. They responded well," said Dallas coach Rick Carlisle. "During that period they were making a run at us. I thought we did a good job of hanging in. And again, I thought there were some critical situations where we needed to somehow come up with one loose ball here or go make a shot there that would have made a big difference. But it didn't happen."

Over the course of the next 10 minutes, the Heat went on a 22-10 run to close the quarter and turn the tides of the game. James and Wade scored nine and eight points, respectively, over the run.

But every time the Heat would threaten, the Mavs would answer. Turnovers traded hands, shots clanged off metal. But with 1:12 left in the third, James strode to the top of the key, pulled up and hit a three.

Miami would never trail again. Then, as if to underscore that this was the Heat's game, James hit a fall-away three at the buzzer that carried him far out of bounds to put Miami up, 65-61, heading into the fourth.

"Daring me to shoot, that's pretty much gone," James said. "I think people will still live with keeping myself and keeping D-Wade on the perimeter, but it's just my confidence. I put a lot of hard work into it, and understand that you have to be a two-way player in this league. .... Tonight once again I shot the ball extremely well from the outside, but more importantly, it helped our team get a win. That's what it's all about."

True to form, both teams started off slow, with the Heat taking an 11-5 lead after the first 6:30 of the game. But after Jason Kidd hit two threes on two straight possessions after a Mavericks timeout, the three-point barrage began.

As both defenses clamped down on the lane, the teams combined for 12 threes over the final 17 minutes of the first half, with both shooting 6-of-14 from behind the arc.

Mario Chalmers had a big second quarter, hitting three 3-pointers - two of them from the exact same spot on the baseline - after missing his first three shots of the game. Chalmers keyed an uncharacteristic quarter for the Heat, one in which they settled mostly for shots from long range, going 5-for-8 from behind the arc with Wade and Mike Miller both hitting threes.

"I feel like after I hit the first one I hit two more, and I wanted to keep going, but the quarter ran out," Chalmers said.

Neither team shot particularly well from the field in the first half, though, with the Mavericks posting a 38.2 shooting percentage and the Heat firing at 36.6 percent.

Wade's first half did nothing to dispel the rumors that he might be at least slightly injured, with only two points in the first quarter and seven for the half on 3-of-10 shooting.

"Maybe this will be something that will spark him," Spoelstra said. "All I care about was he made a lot of winning plays on both ends of the court there in the fourth quarter. I'm not going to over-analyze his first half."

The Heat held a 22-19 edge in rebounding before the break, but had a 9-5 edge on the offensive boards - including one massive two-handed put-back by Bosh early in the second quarter that fired up the crowd.

Pargat Singh threatens hunger strike

NEW DELHI: Former hockey captain Pargat Singh wants a movement on the lines of 'Save the Tiger' campaign to save hockey, the 'national game'. This is one of the many plans the former Olympian revealed on Wednesday in his bid to help India regain the old glory.

Pargat is also contemplating a hunger strike on National Sport Day, August 29, to draw the attention of the people to hockey's plight.

"We should stand up and do everything for hockey and should not spare anyone who's mediocre," he told reporters here, taking a dig at some of the administrators running the game in the country.

"I request the honourable Supreme Court to resolve the pending issues in the best interest of the game and the players." He also said that the mechanism of coaching in the country needed serious attention. "We don't have a single coach of international repute," he said, adding that the country also required at least 500 artificial turfs to draw people back to the game.

"A country like India needs at least 500 artificial turfs in the next five years in order to beat international teams. And to put the plan into effect, we need a 100-day action plan under the aegis of the sports ministry."

He urged the government that hockey be accorded a special status like the National Emblem or the National Anthem. "The sports ministry should also think of a special National Game code to help the sport attain special status for development."

He also appealed for at least 10 lakh people to register for the signature campaign at www.cleansportsindia.org which he plans to take to the Prime Minister on August 29.

"I also appeal to my fellow Olympians to come forward and save the game. I appeal to them to adopt their districts and write to the sports minister to become a part of the National Game movement. We need vision, leadership, money and infrastructure and there should be no room for petty politics in sports. We need to put up a united front for the sake of the game and ensure that we win again at the Olympics."

Pargat, who is was on Tuesday named in a Hockey India panel to find foreign experts for the national team, criticised the national body for its approach. "Till date, my proposals tabled in December last year haven't been implemented. There is total chaos. I still don't know whether we will get a foreign coach or an advisor on time but I will try my level best," he said.

While admitting that it may be difficult to identify quality experts in 15 days, Pargat said India might find it very difficult to qualify for the London Olympics given the way things are. "In the current set-up, it is highly unlikely that India will qualify for the Olympics. I am not very optimistic. All I can say is that it will be a big challenge for the team."

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Sania-Vesnina beat Huber-Raymond to enter French Open finals

PARIS: Sania Mirza stormed into her first Grand Slam doubles final as she and her Russian partner Elena Vesnina defeated American duo of Liezel Huber and Lisa Raymond in a thrilling three-setter in the semifinals of the French Open on Wednesday.

French Open 2011

Seeded seventh in the tournament, Sania and Vesnina beat their fourth seeded opponents 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 in 105 minute semifinal contest at the Roland Garros.

In the final, the Indo-Russian combo will face the unseeded Czech duo of Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka who beat third seeded pair of Vania King of United States and Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan 6-3, 6-3 in another semifinal.

This is Sania's third Grand Slam final appearance in her career - the first two being in the mixed doubles in the Australian Open.

Sania and ace compatriot Mahesh Bhupathi had won the Australian Open mixed doubles in 2009 while they were the losing finalists in the same Grand Slam tournament in 2008.

Sania, who paired up with Vesnina only in February, had a strap around just below her left knee but did not show any apparent problem as she played some superb winning shots across the net.

Sania and Vesnina broke their opponents early in the first set to race to 4-1 ahead before pocketing it 6-3 in 30 minutes.

The second set was a longer affair with both sides breaking serves though Sania and Vesnina were broken thrice in their serves to lose it 2-6 in 38 minutes. In the deciding set, Sania and Vesnina broke their opponents' serve in the first game itself and held theirs to take a 2-0 lead.