Federer is world No.1 again

PARIS: Roger Federer's Wimbledon triumph on Sunday has seen him regain the world number one spot from arch-rival Rafael Nadal.

The Spaniard went top after last August's Beijing Olympics on the back of his win there and at Wimbledon in July.

He consolidated that by winning the Australian Open at the start of the year but lost to Robin Soderling in the fourth round of the French Open and then withdrew from the defence of his Wimbledon crown through injury.

Federer, who lost to Nadal in Melbourne, won both the French Open and Wimbledon to chalk up a record 15 Grand Slam titles, one more than Pete Sampras.

Dhoni, Nehra best performers in West Indies

New Delhi, July 6 (PTI) India paceman Ashish Nehra made a memorable comeback after four years, topping the wicket takers list, while skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni became the highest scorer in the four-match ODI series against West Indies.

By virtue of amassing 182 runs from three innings with an average of 91, Dhoni became the numero uno batsman of the series that India won 2-1 yesterday.

Nehra bagged six wickets from three outings to finish the series with an economy rate of 5.84.

The left-arm Delhi pacer, seeking to consolidate his place in the national side, capitalised on humid conditions in the West Indies to make the batsmen's life miserable.

Nehra shared the wicket takers list along with West Indian pacer Dwayne Bravo.

They are followed by young West Indian pacer Ravi Rampaul, India all-rounder Yusuf Pathan and the hosts Jerome Taylor, all picking up four wickets each.

PCB allows Tanvir to play for Rajasthan Royals

KARACHI, July 3: The Pakistan Cricket Board has given a green signal to all-rounder Sohail Tanvir to play for his Indian Premier League franchise Rajasthan Royals in a charity match against Middlesex at Lord’s on July 6. The sports management company which represents Tanvir said in a statement that Tanvir would represent the Rajasthan Royals in the match being played for the British Asian Trust. Tanvir was the best bowler of the IPL in the first season and played a key role in his team's title win. However, he could not play the second edition after the Pakistan foreign ministry advised the PCB not to send its players to India due to security concerns arising out of the tense relations between the two countries after the Mumbai terror attacks last November. The IPL was later moved to South Africa but by that time the IPL franchises had either terminated or suspended the contracts of the Pakistani players due to their unavailability for the second season. Portfolio world, the sports management company also quoted Shilpa Shetty the co-owner of the Rajasthan Royals as saying that she was excited to have Tanvir back in the team. "He was truly missed in the IPL second season," Shetty was quoted in the statement. Tanvir, the left arm pacer, struggled in the recent T20 World Cup in England and was dropped from the playing eleven. (Agencies)

‘This time, it’s mine’

LONDON, July 4: Serena Williams clinched her third Wimbledon title and 11th Grand Slam crown with a 7-6 (7/3), 6-2 victory over sister Venus, the defending champion, on Saturday.

The victory added to her 2002 and 2003 wins at the All England Club and shattered Venus’s hopes of a hat-trick of titles and sixth overall which would have taken her level with Billie Jean King. Saturday’s final was the fourth all-Williams title match-up at Wimbledon and eighth in all Grand Slams with the win giving Serena the edge in head-to-head meetings at 11-10. Of the eight major finals the sisters have faced each other in, Serena has won six.

"It feels so amazing. I’m so blessed. I feel like I shouldn't really be holding the trophy, Venus should be holding it, she always wins," said Serena who currently holds three of the four Grand Slam titles. "I can’t believe I have won 11 majors. It’s a real honour."Venus, 29, admitted Serena had been the better player of the two. "She was just too good today. She had an answer for everything and played the best tennis," said Venus after a final fittingly staged on US Independence Day. "I don’t think the loss has set in yet, that’s why I’m still smiling. But I have had some great times here and I’m looking forward to coming back next year."Serve dominated the first set with 27-year-old Serena fighting off the only two break points in the eighth game and it was the younger of the two sisters who seized control of the tiebreak. Serena went to three set points by forcing Venus to scramble from side to side before putting away a powerful crosscourt forehand. Venus saved the first set point but was powerless when a pinpoint lob from her sister left her stranded at the net. It was the first set Venus had dropped at Wimbledon since the third round in 2007, a run of 34 consecutive winning sets. Serena, who had saved match point in her marathon semi-final win over Elena Dementieva, carved out her first set point when Venus double-faulted to hand her a 4-2 lead and revenge for last year's final defeat to her sister looked likely. Second seed Serena held to love, backed-up by her 12th ace of the match, to lead 5-2.

She then wasted three match points in the eighth game but clinched the title when Venus netted with a forehand. (Agencies)

Federer's 14 Grand Slams

Sri Lanka's Vaas to quit Tests, says chief selector

Galle (Sri Lanka), July 4 (AFP) Veteran Sri Lankan seamer Chaminda Vaas has decided to retire from Test cricket, the country's chief selector Asantha de Mel told AFP today.

The 35-year-old left-armer, who has served Sri Lanka at the top level for 15 years, will, however, still be available for one-day and Twenty20 cricket, the official said.

"Chaminda has told me he does not want to play Test cricket anymore, but he will continue in the shorter formats," de Mel, a former Sri Lankan fast bowler, said.

Vaas, a 110-Test veteran, was overlooked for the Test series against Pakistan which began at the Galle International Stadium today.

The selectors did not pick him even after spin wizard Muttiah Muralitharan was ruled out of the first Test due to a knee injury, leaving the Sri Lankan attack short of experience.

India aims for second ODI series triumph in WI

Gros Islet (St Lucia), Jul 4 (PTI) India would be aiming to notch up only their second ODI series triumph in the Caribbean when they take on the West Indies in the fourth and final one-dayer here Sunday .

The thrilling six-wicket triumph in the rain-truncated third one-dayer has given India a 2-1 lead in the series and a win Sunday would give the team a second series triumph here and partly make amends for the early exit from the Twenty20 World Cup in England.

The last time India won an ODI series in West Indies was 2002 when Sourav Ganguly led them to a 2-1 triumph in a five-match series, two games of which were abandoned due to rain.

But the hosts extracted revenge in 2006 when they hammered the Rahul Dravid-led Indians 1-4.

In the ongoing series, the visitors, under Mahendra Singh Dhoni, have not been too convincing.

Mumbai to take on Punjab in Ranji opening tie

Mumbai, July 4 (PTI) Mumbai will open their Ranji Trohy title defence in the 2009-10 season by taking on Punjab in the Elite Division Group A tie at Mohali from November 3-6.

Mumbai had clinched the Ranji Trophy for the 38th occasion defeating Uttar Pradesh in the final in Hyderabad last season.

Elite division groupings:

Group A: Mumbai, Hyderabad, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Railways, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat and Orissa

Group B: UP, Maharashtra, Saurashtra, Karnataka, Bengal, Delhi and Baroda

Elite division schedule:

Round 1: Nov 3-6: Punjab v Mumbai at Mohali; Railways vs Tamil Nadu in Delhi; Hyderabad vs Himachal Pradesh in Hyderabad; Gujarat vs Orissa in Ahmedabad; Baroda vs Delhi in Vadodara; Uttar Pradesh vs Karnataka in Kanpur; Maharashtra vs Bengal in Pune.

BCCI Technical, NCA Committees to meet on July 8

Mumbai, Jul 4 (PTI) The Cricket Board's Technical Committee and the National Cricket Academy Committee are to meet here on July 8 ahead of the 2009-10 season.

"The Technical Committee meeting will be chaired by Mr Sunil Gavaskar and would undertake a review of the 2008-09 season," said BCCI's CAP, Prof Ratnakar Shetty.

Gavaskar used to have a meeting with the Ranji Trophy captains and coaches for getting feedbacks at the end of the season but that meeting could not be held this year because of the Indian Premier League that was held in South Africa.

"We have made changes to the formats of the under 19 and 22 events, by making these cricketers play on a home and away basis. The technical committee would be informed about this," Shetty said.

Number one is still a distant dream: Saina Nehwal

New Delhi, July 4 (PTI) She is inching closer to being among the world's top five and is tipped to be number one in the next couple of years but ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal says being numero uno is still a very distant dream.

The legendary Prakash Padukone considers Saina talented enough to be at the top in the next two years but the 20-year-old doesn't want to aim so high right now.

"Prakash sir has been very encouraging, I also want to be the number one but I don't want to think about that now. I would have to be at my best to achieve that. I have to be consistent and win back-to-back tournament," Saina told PTI after going up a rung to sixth in the latest world rankings.

Paes-Black in Wimbledon mixed doubles final

London, July 3 (PTI) Top seeds Leander Paes and Cara Black stormed into the final of Wimbledon mixed doubles event with a straight-set victory over Stephen Huss and Virginia Ruano Pascual here today.

The Indo-Zimbabwe pair beat their 12th seeded opponents 6-4 6-4 in a 71-minute semifinal contest.

Paes and Black, who won the US Open mixed doubles last year, were rusty at the start and were broken in the second game by the Australian-Spanish pair who go up 2-0 and then 3-0.

The top seeds, however, fought back with stunning ferocity to break their opponents in the fifth and seventh games to pocket the first game 6-4 in 35 minutes.

The second set went on serves till the fourth game after which Paes and Black tightened their game to break their opponents once and pocket the set 6-4 in 36 minutes and the match.

PTI

Dhoni gives India invincible lead

Gros-Islet (St Lucia): Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni played another responsible knock of 46 not out as India took an unbeatable 2-1 lead in the series, winning the third One-day international by six wickets according to the Duckworth-Lewis (DL) Method with just one ball to spare here on a rain-marred on Friday.

India capitalised on a good start by openers Dinesh Karthik (47) and Gautam Gambhir (44) and Man of the Match Dhoni played a composed innings off 34 balls as the visitors achieved the rain revised target of 159 in 22 overs at the Beausejour Stadium.

India skipper opted to bowl but the start was delayed by over two hours due to rains and when the game started persistent rains interrupted the game thrice.

Ramnaresh Sarwan's fine 62 off 59 balls went in vain even as West Indies made a challenging 186 for seven in 27 overs. But India were set a target of 195 according to the DL method.

But another spell of shower in the 14th over during India's innings revised gave the target to 159 in 22 overs.

However, it was the 84-run opening run stand that always kept India ahead of the run rate and Dhoni ensured that he stayed till the end as India scampered home to win in the penultimate ball. Dhoni's only six came in the last over and it reduced the equation to four from four balls that India achieved easily.

Earlier, Sarwan's 62 lifted the West Indies to 186 in 27 overs in the rain-shortened match. Left-armer Ashish Nehra led India's bowling with 3-21 off five overs while Harbhajan Singh took 2-35.

West Indies skipper Chris Gayle then blasted off six fours to score a quickfire 27 off 14 balls before he fell on the resumption of the game after the first spell of shower.

Sarwan and Runako Morton (22) then stitched a 51-run stand for the second wicket before a fine piece of stumping by Dhoni off Harbhajan ended Morton's stay.

Sarwan kept on playing his shots while Shiv Chanderpaul (15), Dwayne Bravo (14) and Darren Bravo (21) made valuable contributions. Denesh Ramdin remained unbeaten on 14 from six balls as the West Indies achieved the challenging total courtesy the Duckworth-Lewis Method.


The fourth and the final ODI will be played here on Sunday.

Source:http://cricketnext.in.com/news/dhoni-gives-india-invincible-lead/42228-13-1.html

Bedi laments lack of recognition from DDCA

New Delhi: A veteran of 67 Tests with 266 wickets to his credit in his 12-year career, former skipper Bishen Singh Bedi has lamented lack of recognition from his home state board of Delhi and District Cricket Association.


"I don't think Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) would have ever remembered me for whatever I did," rued the leg-spinner, who retired from international cricket in 1979.


The 62-year-old cricketer received 'Lifetime Achievement Award' by a magazine at a function here on Thursday, while teen tennis star Yuki Bhambri got the 'Exemplary Achievement' award

and swashbuckling Indian batsman Virender Sehwag bagged 'Jewel of the Nation' award for their contributions to their respective disciplines.


"I'm very surprised. I was not expecting such an award at all, though I am quite excited to be called 'Jewel of the Nation'," Sehwag said after receiving the honour from Union Minister of State for Corporate Affairs Salman Khursheed.


Yuki on his part said: "It's great to see that tennis is given some recognition in a cricket crazy country like India."


The awards were given by The Sunday Indian magazine in association with Indian Institute of Planning and Management, to recognise regional talents who have made the country proud.

Soruce:http://cricketnext.in.com/news/bedi-laments-lack-of-recognition-from-ddca/42225-13.html

India aim to bounce back from batting debacle

Gros-Islet (St Lucia): India will be looking to edge closer to a rare one-day international series victory against the West Indies in the Caribbean before embarking on a well-earned break from the game.


They face West Indies in the last two ODIs of four this coming Friday and Sunday at the Beausejour Cricket Ground here.


India and West Indies shared the first two ODIs last Friday and Sunday at Sabina Park in Jamaica.

Soruce:Cricketnext.com

Buchanan remains Ponting's fan

He might have shifted loyalties to England but former Australia coach John Buchanan remains a fan of Aussie skipper Ricky Ponting and expects his leadership to become more assertive in the Ashes beginning next week.

Buchanan, a consultant with the England Lions team, heaped praise on Ponting and said the diminutive right-hander would prove his captaincy skills in the series starting July 8.

"He is determined to turn the tables for (the defeat in England in) 2005," Buchanan was quoted as saying by 'The Times'.

"When he led Australia in the past two Ashes, he was surrounded by good lieutenants, but he is now ready to take the captaincy issue forward and move from a consultative style to one of more direct leadership."

Describing himself as a fan of Ponting, Buchanan said he looks to be in firm control of the team.

"I've always been a great fan of Ricky. He is an outstanding team man and he brings that to his leadership style, but it is clear this is now his team," he said.

© PTI

Brazil dethrone Spain at top of FIFA rankings

ZURICH: Brazil has ended Spain's one-year reign at the top of FIFA's rankings, rewarded for its comeback win over the United States in the Confederat
ions Cup final.

Brazil rose four spots to reach the top of the rankings --released Wednesday -- for the first time since August 2007. European champion Spain, upset by the U.S. in the semifinal last week, slipped to second.

Netherlands fell back to third, Italy stayed fourth and Germany slipped two places to fifth.

Russia, England, Argentina, France and Croatia rounded out the top 10.

The U.S., beaten 3-2 by Brazil in a thrilling match Sunday, rose two spots to No. 12.

But it was far from the biggest climber.

North Korea jumped 23 spots to No. 83 after it qualified for its first World Cup since 1966.

Higher up the rankings, Australia hopped over 13 teams to reach No. 16, its highest spot since FIFA began its rankings in 1993. Ivory Coast rose 20 places to become Africa's top team at No. 18.

I can run 9.5, says 'Lightning' Bolt

LONDON: Usain Bolt, the fastest man in history, insisted on Thursday he can run the 100 metres in 9.5 seconds -- if he can get back into his gold med
al-winning Beijing Olympics form.

The Jamaican, 22, also said he had no fear of the in-form Tyson Gay -- and if the US sprinter breaks his 9.69 seconds world record, he will break it back.

Bolt, in Britain as the European athletics season gets into full swing, insisted he had yet to reach his peak.

"With a lot of work I think I probably can go a little bit faster with hard work and dedication. That is the key for getting there. I'm working on it," Bolt told reporters on a visit to a south London sports school.

"I was thinking 9.5 maybe but I've got a lot of work to do to get back to the shape I was in.

"I'm not in the best shape right now but I'm working, slowly but surely. I still have a lot of work to do.

"For me it's always about the World Championships. The fast times will come if I work hard and train really hard, so I'm not really worried about that."

Bolt suffered minor leg injuries in a car crash in April, but he recovered quickly following minor surgery and is now focused on the biennial World Championships, which take place in Berlin on August 15-23.

Both Gay - owner of the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay world titles - and Bolt - who sensationally captured the same treble at the Beijing Games last August - secured their World Championships berths in their national trials at the weekend.

In New York in May, the American ran the 200 metres in 19.58sec, the third-fastest time in history, laying down his intentions for taking on Bolt. The Jamaican won the Beijing gold in a world record 19.30sec.

However, the man nicknamed "Lightning" Bolt is not worried about Gay's challenge to his records.

"I have no problem. Everybody wants to be a world record holder. If he breaks it, it's part of the game for me. I'll work to break it back. It's all fun and games," the triple Olympic gold medalist said.

"I've no fear. I have no fear of any athlete I go against. I compete at my best at all times. I don't worry."

And he insisted that there was plenty more to come from the fastest man on earth.

"I'm not at my peak, I have a little more left in the tank, I have a bit more to go. I'm still trying to get everything together to get that perfect race."

Bolt also hinted that he may compete in the 400 metres in future.

"I think maybe next year I may try it, I think I can maybe run 44 seconds," he said.

Since Bolt became the fastest man alive, he has maintained his laid-back persona and is in no rush to give up the chicken nuggets that powered him to victory in Beijing.

"I do eat too much fast food maybe. I do like to enjoy myself," he admitted.

"I try and stay as much down to earth as possible. I like to have a party because I'm young, so I like to enjoy myself also.

"I train six times a week, mostly in the evening hours when the sun goes down. I'm not really a morning person."

But he added: "I think I was born naturally fast.

"Natural talent takes you just so far, then you've got to put in the work.

"I know what it takes to get to the top. It's all about hard work and dedication. That's what makes me the fastest man in the world."

Soruce:TOI

Paes-Black in mixed doubles semis

WIMBLEDON: Top seeds Leander Paes and his Zimbabwean partner Cara Black breezed into the semi-finals of Wimbledon's mixed doubles event with a facile
straight set win over 11th seeded Andre Sa and Ai Sugiyama on Thursday. ( Watch )

The Indo-Zimbabwean duo needed a little over an hour to swamp the Sa-Sugiyama pair 6-3, 6-3 in the lop-sided quarterfinal match.

In the semi-finals, they will take on 12th seeded pair of Australian Stephen Huss and his Spaniard partner Virginia Ruano Pascual.

The Huss-Pascal duo defeated humbled fourth seeds Kevin Ullyett and Su-Wei Hsieh 6-3, 5-7, 9-7 in a hard-fought quarterfinal match

Source:TOI

Jeev Milkha Singh tied 20th, Randhawa in danger

Paris, July 3 (PTI) Returning from a rib injury, Jeev Milkha Singh fired three-under 68 for the tied 20th place but compatriot Jyoti Randhawa's opening round of 76 jeopardised his prospects of making the cut in the Open de France Alstom golf tournament here.

Among others, Kolkata pro SSP Chowrasia carded 69 to lie tied 32nd while Delhi lad Shiv Kapur's one-over 72 had him tied 85th.

Paired with Colin Montgomerie and Miguel Angel Jimenez, Jeev had, by and large, a satisfying round with the 17th hole bogey being the lone blot on the card.

Jeev said he could still feel the pain in his ribs but was happy with the show.

"I played the pro-am with an anti-inflammatory patch on, and it wasn't too bad. There was a bit of discomfort, but it felt much better than during the US Open

More Indians will be added to ICC Hall of Fame

New Delhi, July 3 (PTI) The presence of just three Indian cricketers in International Cricket Council's Hall of Fame may have generated a controversy in the country but the game's governing body today made it clear that more Indians would be added to the elite list.

The ICC said that the list would be updated annually and would have an adequate Indian representation.

"This is not the final list. I do believe that a number of magnificent Indian cricketers deserve to be in the Hall of Fame. We will soon develop a mechanism and have plans to add more players to the list on an annual basis," ICC President David Morgan told PTI in a telephonic interview from London.