ISB 27-04-2012_Layout 1 4/27/2012 2:06 AM Page 21
Friday, 27 April, 2012
Sports 21
Sharapova in quarters, Ivanovic bows out STUTTGART AFp
Hockey trials LAHORE: The trials to select the Boys for PHF Academies from all over Pakistan are in progress from 7th April 2012. The trials to spot the boys for PHF Academy Lahore were held on 25th April 2012, where some 190 boys appeared. The trials to pick the talented boys for Gojra Academy will be held on 27th April 2012. StAFF RepoRt
GEO SUPER IPL-5: Delhi Daredevils v Mumbai Indians 07:30PM
TEN SPORTS Thrid Test: West Indies v Australia 06:00PM
Port qasim, KESC in Patron’s Trophy Grade-ii final
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OMEN'S world number two Maria Sharapova reached the quarter-finals of Stuttgart's WTA tournament on Wednesday while exworld number one Ana Ivanovic suffered a shock first-round exit. Sharapova progressed to the last eight of the clay-court tournament after French qualifier Alize Cornet was forced to retire after the first game of the second set with a shoulder injury in the second-round tie. "You never want a match to finish like that, but we are approaching Roland Garros and, being French, she would want to be fit to be able to play in her home country," said Sharapova. "I wish her the very best for a fast recovery. "It is quite a task to adjust to clay, you need matches to find your game. "The ball bounces differently and you have to be prepared for the longer rallies. "The only thing that helps is playing matches, that is priceless." In Friday's last eight tie, Australian Open finalist Sharapova will face either US Open winner Samantha Stosur or Stuttgart's defending champion Julia Goerges, who meet on Thursday. Sixth-seed Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark is into the second round after opponent Jelena Jankovic was also forced to retire in their opening match. Wozniacki took the first set 6-3, but Jankovic was forced to retire after 56 minutes with a back problem and the Dane will face Germay's Angelique Kerber on Thursday for a place in the quarter-finals. Polish fourth-seed Agnieszka Radwanska is also in the last eight following her 6-3, 6-4 second-round victory over Hungary's Greta Arn and she will play either French Open winner Na Li of China or Uzbekistan's Akgul Amanmuradova in the last eight. Earlier, wild-card Mona Barthel was delighted by her shock first-round win over her former idol Ivanovic in straight set. The 21-year-old German blasted down 11 aces to out-muscle the Serbian, ranked 15th in the world, for a 7-5, 7-6 (7/4) victory and will now face seventh-seed Marion Bartoli of France in the second round. "There was something special, because Ana used to be a bit of a role model for me," said Barthel, ranked 35th in the world. "I was still at school when she won the (2008) French Open and I watched it on television. "At that time all this was a long, long way off for me." Ivanovic has struggled for form since she rose to world number one nearly four years ago following victory at Roland Garros. "It was a tough match, she served really well," said Ivanovic, who was part of the Serbia team which beat Russia 3-2 in Moscow in last weekend's Fed Cup World Group semi-final.
watCh it LiVe
LAHORE StAFF RepoRt
STUTTGArT: France's Marion bartoli returns the ball to Germany's Mona barthel during the 2nd round match at the WTA Porsche Grand Prix. AfP
Bartoli into Stuttgart second round STuTTGART: Wild-card Mona Barthel was delighted by her shock first-round win over former idol and ex-world number one Ana Ivanovic at Stuttgart's claycourt WTA tournament on Wednesday. The 21-year-old German blasted down 11 aces to outmuscle Serbia's Ivanovic, ranked 15th in the world, in straight sets for a 7-5, 7-6 (7/4) victory and will now face seventh-seed Marion Bartoli of France in the second round. "There was something special, because Ana used to be a bit of a role model for me," said Barthel, ranked 35th in the world. "I was still at school when she won the (2008) French Open and I watched it on television. "At that time all this was a long, long way off for me." Ivanovic has struggled for form since she rose to world number one nearly four years ago following victory at Roland Garros. Her best recent form has been at the US Open when she reached the fourth round in both 2010 and 2011. She started her semi-final against Maria SharaSTUTTGArT: Mona barthel reacts after pova at Indian Wells at the start defeating Marion bartoli in their 2nd round match of March, but was forced to retire at the WTA Porsche Tennis Grand Prix. AfP with a hip injury. In contrast, Barthel is part of a batch of promising female tennis players emerging from Germany having won the Hobart WTA tournament in January. She went on to reach the third round at the Australian Open where she lost to eventual winnner Victoria Azarenka, the current world number one. AFp
Port Qasim and KESC will play in the final of the Patron’s Trophy Grade-II 2011-12 at Iqbal Stadium Faisalabad. The final will be played on April 29 to May 2 and will be umpired by Javed Ashraf and Aftab Gillani while referee would be Iqbal Sheikh and scorer Tahir Suhaib. Earlier, Port Qasim moved past Omar Associates after having the first innings lead as the match between the teams ended in a draw. In the second semi-final KESC defeated PTV by nine wickets to set the final date with Port Qasim. SCORES: First Semi-Final Played At Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad, Omar Associates (First Innings) 179 in 56.2 overs: (Waqar Ali Syed 50, 141 balls, 5x4s, Imran Ali 31*, 90 balls, 5x4s, Prince Abbas 30, Shahzad Malik 24, Muhammad Sami 5-21, Azam Hussain 2-39, Tanveer Ahmed 264) and 2ndinnings 120-0 in 33 overs: (Hammad Ali Shah 60*, 89 balls, Hafiz Majid 50*, 119 balls, 7x4s). Port Qasim Authority (First Innings) 300 in 77.5 overs: (Atif Ali Zaidi 70*, 122 balls, 7x4s, 1x6, Shadab Kabir 70, 123 balls, 9x4s, 1x6, Kamran Younas 68, 47 balls, 8x4s, 4x6, Daniyal 31, 33 balls, 6x4s, Nasir Awais 452, Ahmed Raza 3-72, Prince Abbas 2-67). Result: Match Drawn (Prot Qasim qualify for the final on first innings lead). Overnight Score: Port Qasim Authority (First Innings) 152-3 in 30 overs. Toss: Port Qasim, Umpires: Akmal Hayat & Nasar Khan, Referee: Naveed Nazir, Scorer: Noor Nabi. Second Semi-Final Played At Pindi Stadium, Rawalpindi, PTV(First Innings) 286 in 82.2 overs:(Mohammad Saad 97, 185 balls, 10x4s, Haseeb Azam 63, 69 balls, 7x4s, 1x6, Naeem Anjum 34, 55 balls, 5x4s, Arun Lal 3-61, Mir Hamza 3-71, Osama Basharat 2-16, Rizwan Khan 2-31) and 2nd Innings 97 in 31.2 overs: (Raheel Majeed 26, 28 balls, 4x4s, Mir Hamza 4-7, Tabish Khan 4-30, Arun Lal 2-52). KESC (First Innings) 337 in 82 overs:(Saad Ali 126, 203 balls, 13x4s, Akbar-ur-Rehman 82, 7x4s, Javed Mansoor 31, 60 balls, 2x4s, Raheel Majeed 379, Usman Saeed 2-16) and 2nd Innings 47-1 in 7.2: (Ahsan Ali 27*, 23 balls, 6x4s). Result: KESC won by 9 wickets. Overnight Score: PTV (Second Innings) 14-1 in 5 overs. Toss: KESC, Umpires: Shamim Ansari & Sajid Afridi, Referee: Masood Anwaar, Scorer: Shakeel Ahmed.
Murray, Raonic set up battle, Nadal starts title defence BARCELONA AFp
Andy Murray crushed Colombia's Santiago Giraldo in a powerful 6-1, 6-2 display on Thursday to set up a quarter-final showdown with Milos Raonic at the Barcelona Open. Second seed Murray, a quarter-finalist a week ago in Monte Carlo, reached the last eight again as he builds for the French Open next month. Murray and number 25 Raonic, who put out two-time semi-finalist Nicolas Almagro 6-3, 6-3, will finally clash in a match which should have been played in March at Miami had the Canadian not suffered an injury and been forced to withdraw to give Murray the walkover third-round win. The Scot has come alive this week as he produced his best career showing in Barcelona after previously winning only one match here at the Real Club de Tenis. Murray's win was his 25th of the season against five defeats; Giraldo lost his 15th match without a win against top 10 players. Second seed Murray won the opening set in 33 minutes and broke to start the second as he wasted no time in advancing on the clay. He overcame a second-set niggle, losing serve in the fourth game but answering with a break-back and following with a love game for 4-2. The Scot advanced on his second
match point from his opponent's backhand error after 74 minutes and nine aces. Raonic, the 11th seed who has played less than 20 career ATP clay matches, produced an equally one-way third-round win against Spanish sixth seed Nicolas Almagro as he beat the two-time semi-finalist 6-3, 63 in just 67 minutes. The winner fired seven aces while breaking three times. "This was probably my best win on clay," said Raonic.
"There's been a big change for me this week. I'm very proud of my play today, and I'm progressing well." Spanish seventh seed Feliciano Lopez beat Finn Jarkko Nieminen 63, 6-1 while Japan's Kei Nishikori continued his own progress, with the eighth seed defeating Spaniard Albert Ramos 7-6 (7/2), 63. Spanish powerhouse players Rafael Nadal, who has won six of the last seven editions, and third seed David Ferrer, a three-
time losing finalist to Nadal, were bidding to advance later. Nadal was facing Colombian Robert Farah while Ferrer was taking on compatriot Albert Montanes. Meanwhile, Rafael Nadal began his title defence at the Barcelona Open on Wednesday with a 6-1, 6-2 defeat of compatriot Guillermo GarciaLopez, who had defeated the king of clay two years ago in Thailand. Top seed Nadal, champion at the Real Club de Tenis in six of
the last seven editions - he missed 2010 with knee trouble - claimed his 30th match victory in a row at his home event. Nadal didn't have it all his own way, with his 78th-ranked opponent winning only his second game of the match as he managed a break with Nadal leading a set and 4-0. The top seed eventually finished the job with some slight difficulty after Garcia-Lopez saved a match point with a forehand in the final game before the end came after 81 minutes. Garcia-Lopez beat Nadal in Bangkok two years ago indoors and also put out tournament second seed Andy Murray in Indian Wells in March. Nadal admitted his dodgy left knee was not perfect but insisted it wont be a problem for him, Top seed Nadal, whose victory was his 30th in a row at the clay event in the Catalan capital, told reporters he had felt a slight twinge of pain in his left knee, but remains unconcerned: "It's normal." "I had a few errors, but my backhand felt good the entire match. I was solid. "Things went better than I would have thought, it was a good win." Nadal, the world number two, picked up where he had left off on his favourite surface last weekend when he won an historic eighth consecutive trophy in Monte Carlo, ending a seven-match loss streak to world number one Novak Djokovic.