Sania-Hingis win Paribas Open title
www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 28th March 2015
India's Sania Mirza and Swiss legend Martina Hingis began their partnership with a title win as they overcame Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina 6-3, 6-4 in the summit clash of the BNP Paribas Open. Top seeds Sania and Hingis didn't drop a set en route to the title. The Indo-Swiss pair, who joined forces recently, was trailing 2-4 in the second set but went on to win four games in a row to clinch the issue. With this win, Sania achieved her career-best doubles rank of No. 3 when the new WTA rankings were announced. “On paper, obviously we are supposed to be a good team, but it doesn't always turn out that way when
Sania Mirza and Swiss legend Martina hits a big forehand, espeyou step on the court,” cially on the right side, and Sania said after the win. I can move and finish off “We're really happy we the point. She prepares, I weren't just able to win, finish. That's pretty cool to but win in such a dominatme,” said Hingis, winner ing fashion, not losing a of 16 Grand Slam titles set and being down just including five singles. “I'm two times in the whole very happy we made this two weeks,” the Indian move. Obviously, we had added. “This is something partners we played well we were hoping for. She
with, like me last year with Flavia, and changing was a big move. I'm very happy it worked out, because you never know what to expect. Winning the tournament in our premier is new energy, and hopefully we can keep it up,” she added. Sania was asked what makes them such a good team in terms of strategy. “She's one of the best people who can complement the way I play. She's got probably some of the best hands in the world at the net. I need that. I need someone who can finish the balls off where I set them up. And that's really it. Like I said, on paper everything looks great, but you still have to go out there. Names don't do anything. You have to go out and win,” she said.
national teams from UAE, Singapore, Ireland, Japan and Germany. The India Mixed team broke seed finishing 14th from their starting place of 17th and
the Open and Masters divisions held seed in 11th and 7th. The India Mixed team won the Spirit of the Game award. This presti-
gious award is unique to the sport of Ultimate Frisbee in which the emphasis is placed on fair play and sportsmanship rather than just winning. The award is highly respected and for India to win it at World Championship level is an incredible achievement. Ultimate Frisbee in India is rapidly growing and a team will be coming to perform at the Under 23 World Championships to be held in London in July 2015. - Dharmesh Mistry
Mustafa Kamal handed a 109-run thrashing by India in the quarter-final match. The only dramatic moment in what was otherwise a clinical Indian performance was when Rohit got a close no-ball reprieve. Rohit was on an individual score of 90 and team total on 196 in the 40th over bowled by Rubel Hossain when a marginal 'no-ball' call went in favour of the Indian opener. Rohit went onto add another 47 runs in quick time to help India go past 300-run mark. Ian Gould was the umpire who adjudged Rubel's full-toss as waist high 'no-ball' with Rohit being holed out at deep mid-wicket boundary. However, TV replays showed that it was a real touch-and-go situation which could have gone
either way. Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza had also expressed his displeasure at a few decisions going against his side, though he did not say in so many words. "I don't want to say anything about the umpiring decisions. Everybody present saw what happened. So it's not fair on my part to comment on this," a peeved Mortaza said. ICC backs umpires ICC Chief Executive David Richardson said, "The ICC has noted Kamal's comments, which are very unfortunate but made in his personal capacity. As an ICC president, he should have been more considerate in his criticism of ICC match officials, whose integrity cannot be questioned. The no-ball decision was a 50-50 call. The spirit of the game dictates that the umpire's decision is final and must be respected. Any suggestion that the match officials had 'an agenda' or did anything other than perform to the best of their ability are baseless and are refuted
Team India win at World Championships for Beach Ultimate
Team India put up an incredible performance at WCBU 2015 held in Dubai last week. The squad entered 3 divisions of the tournament, Masters, Mixed and Open. The tournament held every 4 years attracts teams from around the world; this year was no different with 25 countries participating. Two of India’s players were placed in the top 10 players list and 1 in the top 3 assists list in their respective divisions. The India Open team beat highly respected Ultimate
ICC President threatens to quit over umpiring in India-Bangladesh QF
International Cricket Council (ICC) president Mustafa Kamal has threatened to quit his post alleging foul play in the second quarter-final between India and Bangladesh that the defending champions won. The controversy over a no-ball decision, which gave a life-line to centurion Rohit Sharma. "From what I have seen, the umpiring was very poor. There was no quality in the umpiring. It seemed as if they had gone into the match with something in mind," he said and added that he may quit his post over his country's controversial defeat. "Umpires may make mistakes. The ICC will see if this was done deliberately. Everything is on record. The ICC has to investigate and inquire the issue to see if there's anything to it," Kamal said. Also outraged by the umpiring, the Bangladesh Cricket Board is all set to lodge a protest in the ICC and has got the backing of Kamal. "Bangladesh were
in the strongest possible terms.” Protests erupt in Bangladesh Rage in social media continued to mount as mainstream Bangladeshi newspapers castigated the “poor umpiring,” reflecting a nationwide anger against umpires’ alleged ‘bias’ for Indians. Most Bangladeshi newspapers carried comments of cricket connoisseurs criticising the umpiring in the Bangladesh-India match to justify the protests with mass circulation Samokal newspapers carried a banner headline saying “The umpires defeated Bangladesh.” “India, umpires beat Bangladesh in World Cup QF,” read another headline carried by the Dhaka Trubune. Furious fans continued to ventilate their rage in the social media after hundreds supporters staged protest marches at different parts of the country including the premier Dhaka University campus where they also burnt an effigy of Pakistani umpire Aleem Dar.
SPORT WORLD
31
Sachin leads cricket world in lauding Sangakkara, Jayawardene
Indian icon Sachin Tendulkar led the cricketing world in applauding Sri Lankan veterans Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene, who bowed out of ODIs after their team's World Cup quarter-final loss to South Africa.Both Jayawardene and Sangakkara had announced that the World Cup would be their final ODI assignment and much to the dismay of the Lankan fans, it ended on a disappointing note for the much celebrated duo with Sri Lanka losing by nine wickets to the Proteas. "Well done on glorious ODI careers @KumarSanga2 & @MahelaJay Being an integral part of the ODI side for so many years, it is difficult to imagine the side without the 2 of you. Wishing you the very best and will miss the 2 of you constructing the innings in coloured clothes," Tendulkar tweeted. Already retired from Tests, Sangakkara played a whopping 404 ODIs, scoring 14,234 runs at an average of 41.98. Jayawardene, on the other hand, amassed 12,650 runs from 448 ODIs at an average of 33.37. Tributes also poured in from other international stars with former South Africa captain Graeme Smith being among those who congratulated the two for their stellar international careers. "Congrats to @MahelaJay and @KumarSanga2 on incredible careers and what brilliant memories they gave us all," tweeted Smith. "To @KumarSanga2 & @MahelaJay bad luck tonight but well done on your superb careers. Good luck and hope to see you both in the future!" added former Sri Lanka coach Dav Whatmore. Australian all-rounder Shane Watson also tweeted his appreciation for the veterans. "Sad to see two of the greats @MahelaJay @KumarSanga2 leave the one day game... #Quality #Class #Humility," Watson wrote on his Twitter handle.
ECB pondering ways to promote one-day game
England’s poor showing at World Cup has rattled officials and ECB is pondering to have a shorter County Championship to bring to fruition its commitment to give greater priority to one-day cricket. A team of ECB executives is conducting a root-and-branch review of the game with a number of eye-catching suggestions, including four-day Test cricket, already contained in the “Strategy Conversation Summary” hatched from an initial powwow. The only way to create space for more limited-overs matches is by reducing championship fixtures. One county chairman said: “The programme of 16 four-day games has been a sacred cow, but there is a growing appetite to change.” David Morgan, the author of the most recent review in 2011-12, recommended a drop to 14 matches. He was overruled, but the 20-over format has continued to grow worldwide since and the leading 50-over players are increasingly coming from Twenty20 rather than the first-class game. If the ECB wants to introduce an English Premier League to supplement the existing NatWest t20 Blast - possibly with a smaller number of franchise or merged teams - then even a 14-game championship may be too long. One radical option understood to be up for discussion would mean three divisions of seven, with the leading Minor Counties brought in to supplement the existing 18 first-class outfits. This would generate 12 games per county, playing each team in their division home and away, and free about a month for the white-ball game. Serious reform is unlikely to be introduced before 2017.