SPORTS 15
Saturday, 16 May, 2015
ROGER FEDERER BEATS TOMAS BERDYCH TO REACH ROME MASTERS SEMI-FINALS
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SPORTS DESK
OGER Federer brushed aside Tomas Berdych 6-3 6-3 in 67 minutes to reach the Rome Masters semi-finals. Switzerland’s Federer will face the winner of Rafael nadal or Stanislas Wawrinka on Saturday. The former Australian Open champions meet in another of Friday’s quarter-finals at the Foro Italico. Federer was broken by Berdych early in the first set, but won four straight games from 3-2 behind to claim the opening set. He was equally dominant in the second set as he broke again in the seventh game of the second to continue his preparations for the start of French Open a week on Sunday in some style. Federer - who has overcome Czech player Berdych 14 times in 20 meetings - has yet to win the Rome tournament despite making 15 appearances in the Italian capital. He lost to Felix Mantilla in 2003, and has twice went down to ‘King of Clay’ nadal at the event in 2006 and 2013. Goffin found himself in the quarter-finals after British number one Andy Murray withdrew from the tournament on Thursday citing fatigue after winning his previous two clay court tournaments in Munich and Rome. Seventh seed Ferrer always looked the likelier figure on his favourite surface despite dropping the second set to Goffin. He was himself broken twice as Goffin restored parity at 1-1, but Ferrer made a bright start to the deciding set as he eventually progressed in two hours and 10 minutes. He will face world number one novak Djokovic or Kei
bcci willinG to help afGhanistan: thaKuR
olympic Golf touRnament ‘just an exhibition’: adam scott
nishikori in the last four. Results from the Rome Masters quarter-final matches 2-Roger Federer (Switzerland) beat 6-Tomas
Berdych (Czech Republic) 6-3 6-3 7-David Ferrer (Spain) beat David Goffin (Belgium) 6-2 4-6 6-3
PLANNING TO DO AWAY WITH CLT20: SHUKLA
SPORTS DESK BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur has said that the Indian board is willing to extend all kinds of help to Afghanistan, who want to use an Indian venue to play their matches. “Afghanistan Cricket Board has requested BCCI that they want to come and play here, use the infrastructure and also to have one venue as the Afghan venue,” Thakur told PTI. “Their board has requested to create one centre in India which can be dedicated to Afghanistan cricket. “BCCI will be more than happy to accommodate the Afghan cricket team for any kind of help for the promotion of the game.” Asked if any kind of financial assistance will be given to the Afghanistan team by the BCCI, Thakur said: “Let’s see, let them write to BCCI. Any knowledge, any kind of help which Afghanistan board requires, we are more than happy to help them.” Afghanistan have used Sharjah as the venue for some of their bilateral series in the past.
SPORTS DESK Rajiv Shukla, the IPL chairman, has said the BCCI is looking to scrap the Champions League Twenty20. The issue was discussed at the board’s governing council meeting in April as a result of limited interest from fans and sponsors. Shukla said there are thoughts of conducting a different tournament in its place, and that he and BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur are weighing possible options. “Yes, we are planning to do away with the Champions League T20,” he told PTI. “In place of that, we are considering an alternative league. But at the moment all this is at the planning stage. “Several ideas are coming and honourable secretary and myself are considering those ideas. We will sit together
after the IPL gets over and try and plan out something. “At the moment we don’t have anything in hand, but yes we are in the process of bouncing off ideas. When something concrete comes up, we will certainly bring it to everyone’s notice.” There have been six editions of the CLT20 so far pitting the top teams of various countries against each other. India, Australia and South Africa are the primary stakeholders of the tournament, while teams from West Indies, Pakistan and Sri Lanka have been regular competitors. The major fallout for the teams would be the loss of monetary benefits. CLT20 appearances are included in IPL teams’ sponsorship deals and the non-Indian teams receive $200,000. There have been reports of the top-four IPL teams who make the playoffs this season to play a league-based event leading into a knockout stage to be played in the UAE.
WARNE, TENDULKAR LINKED TO VETERANS’EXHIBITION-MATCH SERIES SPORTS DESK Shane Warne and Sachin Tendulkar are understood to be planning a new Twenty20 event for retired international players that would involve two teams playing each other in a series of exhibition matches. Although
the plans are not concrete yet at least the organisers whose identity has not yet been revealed - have a shortlist of 30 players in mind. It is understood that they have identified, among others, Brian Lara, Rahul Dravid, Jacques Kallis, Ricky Ponting, Anil Kumble, Brett Lee, Adam Gilchrist, Muttiah Muralitharan, Andrew Flintoff, Glenn McGrath and VVS Laxman. The plan is understood to involve a series of matches around the world over a three-and-a-half-year period, with the USA to host the first series in September. The idea, it is learnt, is to take the matches to places where fans are starved of good quality cricket. The USA, Canada, Singapore, Hong Kong, UAE are some of the venues the organisers are exploring. A report in the Australian newspaper said the proposed tournament - which it said would be called the Cricket All-Stars League - had offered contracts worth US$25,000 a match to ex-players to be involved in it. The seeds for this venture are believed to have been sown last year during Lord’s bicentenary celebrations, where Tendulkar and Warne led teams in a 50-over match. Subsequently both players and their management teams fanned around the cricketing
globe to check if recently retired players were interested in playing in Twenty20 matches which would be competitive in nature. The organisers are also keeping powerful boards like the BCCI, Cricket Australia and ECB in the loop and are expected to make a formal announcement in the next two months to make the plans public. An ICC spokesman said it had not yet received any communication and had seen nothing other than what had been reported in the media. “There is a process in place with regard to activities such as this and the ICC will deal with it once it is approached,” the spokesman added. Lee’s manager, neil Maxwell, said Lee had received an offer and would be seeking permission from Cricket Australia to play. “I can’t see anything wrong with it,” Maxwell told Fox Sports. “It’s a group of retired blokes playing a game of cricket.” The reports come as the Indian Essel Group also considers launching a T20 league, although the two ventures are unrelated. There has been no comment from Warne or Tendulkar, although in January, Warne tweeted that “Sachin & I have an exciting announcement soon”.
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Adam Scott considers Olympic golf to be an “exhibition” sport and is barely interested in competing at next year’s Rio Summer Games, the former world number one told Reuters. In fact, the 2013 Masters champion sounds like he would much prefer to lie on the couch and watch Usain Bolt and Michael Phelps add to their gold medal totals in Brazil even though golf will make its first appearance at the Olympics since 1904. “I’m not definitely ruling it out but certainly I’m not planning my schedule around playing the Olympics,” Scott told Reuters at the Wells Fargo Championship in Charlotte. “I’m planning my schedule around playing majors the best I can. If I can fit going to the Olympics into that, it might be a bit of fun, then lucky me if I qualify. “But if not, I’m not going to miss it, that’s for sure, and I’ll enjoy watching (the major Olympic sports).” Scott believes the focus of the Olympics should be on sports where winning a gold medal is the pinnacle, not an afterthought. He thinks the addition of sports such as tennis and golf are unwarranted. “Whether I win an Olympic medal or not is not going to define my career or change whether I’ve fulfilled my career,” he continued. “It’s nothing I’ve ever aspired to do and I don’t think I ever will. It’s all about the four majors and I think that’s the way it should stay for golf. “To go and play an exhibition event down there to meet some athletes (in other sports) in the middle of the major season, I don’t think any other athletes in their sport would do that.” Asked to clarify that he thought Olympic golf was an “exhibition,” Scott, 34, did not shy away from the question. “Yes, I do, because I don’t believe a lot of sports belong there,” he said. “It’s gotten away from where it started.” The 2016 Olympics will be held in August. To accommodate it, the year’s final major, the PGA Championship, has been moved to late July from its traditional date in the second week of August. Scott is almost certain to be exempt for what is shaping up to be a two-man Australian Olympic men’s team. He currently is ranked 11th in the world. The only countryman ranked higher is number eight Jason Day. Third best is John Senden, ranked 48th. Scott understands that some think having golf in the Olympics will help grow the game but taking the spotlight away from athletes who toil much of their careers in obscurity is not something he feels good about. “Most of the athletes at the Olympics, probably have trained four years specifically to peak at this one event,” said Scott. “It’s the pinnacle of their sport. ... They get one crack at their big thing every four years. They have put their life on hold for this event and it’s so important to them, and I feel it’s their time. “(Golf) doesn’t need to be in the Olympics.” SPORTS DESK
STEVEN GERRARD HAS DONE MORE FOR LIVERPOOL THAN ANY POLITICIAN: BRENDAN RODGERS Brendan Rodgers believes Steven Gerrard is ‘Mr Liverpool’ and has done more for his home city than the politicians whose job it is to work for the betterment of the area. The 34-year-old midfielder will lead his boyhood side out at Anfield for the final time on Saturday ahead of his summer move to Los Angeles Galaxy. Reds manager Rodgers admits the player is irreplaceable and that the city of his birth owes him a great debt. Gerrard’s testimonial at Anfield in August 2013 raised about £1million and he donated £500,000 to Alder Hey Children’s Hospital Charity - of which he became a founding partner - while his own foundation, set up in 2011, continues to raise money to provide grants for local causes. “I’ve asked a lot of my staff ‘If you could describe Steven in one word what would it be?’” he said. “The words which come to mind are ‘genuine’, ‘quality’, ‘worldclass’ - all the adjectives you would describe him as. “I would describe him as ‘Liverpool’. not just Liverpool as a football club, but Liverpool the city. “This is a guy who is very much about looking after his people. He loves this city. “As you have seen and heard he has had number of opportunities to move from here to prestigious clubs but Liverpool is his home. SPORTS DESK