*TOIJ20608/ /20/C/1* /20/K/1* /20/Y/1* /20/M/1* THE TIMES OF INDIA, JAIPUR MONDAY, JUNE 2, 2008
TIMES SPORT
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Bolt from the blue: 100m world record AFP
New York: Jamaican sprinters electrified the Reebok Grand Prix in New York on Saturday with Usain Bolt setting a new 100 metres world record and Veronica Campbell-Brown posting the fastest time of the year in the women’s event. The 21-year-old Bolt announced he is a genuine force in track and field’s blue ribband event by streaking home in a time of 9.72 seconds, breaking the previous record of 9.74 posted by compatriot Asafa Powell last September. Bolt, world championship silver medalist in the 200m, exploded off the starting line to get an early jump on world champion Tyson Gay and left the American second in 9.85. “I had the idea that I could run the world record,” Bolt said after his stunning win. ‘I was pretty confident coming in here. “I wasn’t looking for a world record but it came to me today and I’ll take it.” Bolt’s brilliant performance crowned a great night for Jamaica as world champion Campbell-Brown ran the fastest women’s 100 of the year, winning her event in 10.91 seconds, two-hundredths of a second faster than American Allyson Felix’s 2008 best. American Jenn Stuczyns-
THE FAST ONE: Usain Bolt
ki had three tries at setting a women’s pole vault record but could not get over the bar set at 5.02 metres, winning the event at 4.80. But the night belonged to Bolt, who waited out an hour’s delay to the start of the meet due to the threat of a thunderstorm, and a 45-minute suspension forced by thunder and lightning in the area. REUTERS
Serbians on song Ivanovic, Jankovic And Djokovic Advance To The Quarters Paris: Serbia hogged the French Open limelight on Sunday when first Ana Ivanovic raced and then Jelena Jankovic hobbled into the quarter-finals before Novak Djokovic struck another blow to the hopes of a home champion. Second seed Ivanovic played with the urgency of a woman late for a lunch appointment as she ruthlessly dismantled Czech Petra Cetkovska 6-0, 6-0 in 54 minutes on Court Philippe Chatrier. While Ivanovic’s win was painfully easy, Jankovic’s was just downright painful. Jankovic needed a 10-minute medical time-out after game three of the second set against Poland’s Agnieszka Radwanska before she crawled past the finishing line with a 6-3, 7-6 victory. “The whole arm is a mess,’ said Jankovic, who resembled a wrestler pinned to the floor as the tournament trainer massaged her arm and shoulder back to life. “I started to feel the pain in the beginning of the second set and since then it’s been pain, pain, pain,’ said the 23-year-old, who will next face Spain’s Carla Suarez Navarro. The Paris crowd had bare-
AFP
Novak Djokovic in action against Paul-Henri Mathieu on Sunday
ly got through the scrum at the turnstiles as Ivanovic, who by each passing minute looks like improving on her runner-up finish of last year, showed no mercy against the lamentable Cetkovska.
The unseeded Czech, who had not dropped a set in the tournament, looked like a decent threat going on a highquality opening rally, but once Ivanovic got her eye in, she folded quicker than a bad pok-
er hand. Ivanovic pounded her with winners and even when the Czech carved out two break points in game five of the second, she slouched with a knowing smile when Ivanovic snuffed out any whiff of a comeback. “It was much tougher than it probably looked, or the results indicates,’ said a generous Ivanovic, who has lost a paltry 15 games at Roland Garros so far this year. “I had to work really hard, and I played almost without mistake today.” She now plays Swiss 10th seed Patty Schnyder. Djokovic was in no mood to let Paul-Henri Mathieu put him off his mission of a first Roland Garros title. He swept past the French 18th seed 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 and now faces his childhood training partner Ernests Gulbis of Latvia for a place in the semis. Gulbis is the only Latvian ever to grace the Grand Slam stage and the 19-year-old did the Baltic state proud by silencing the partisan crowd on Court Suzanne Lenglen with a 6-4, 7-6, 6-3 win over Frenchman Michael Llodra. The triumph carried him to his first Grand Slam quarter-final. REUTERS
Paes out of French Open Paris: Leander Paes and his Czech Partner Lukas Dlouhy crashed out of the French Open men’s doubles competition after losing 4-6, 4-6 at the hands of Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay and Luis Horna of Peru in the pre-quarterfinals here on Sunday. Nothing went right for the ninth seeded Indo-Czech duo as they were rusty throughout the 64-minute contest. They came second best on serve and could not hold their own in the rallies. On top of that, they made double faults at crucial points. Their unseeded opponents got as many as 11 break points in the match, though they converted only three of them. But for the eight break points saved by Paes and Dlouhy, the match would have finished even quicker with a much worse scoreline for the Indo-Czech pair. Cuevas and Horna now run into top seeds Byran brothers -- Bob and Mike -- in the quarterfinals. With the exit of Paes, no Indian survived in the men’s doubles. Mahesh Bhupathi, who paired up with Bahamas’ Mark Knowles, and Rohan Bopanna, who teamed up with Pakistani Aisam Qureshi, had lost in their opening rounds. Paes, who won doubles titles here in 1999 and 2001 partnering Bhupathi on both occasions, teams up with Nadia Petrova of Russia in mixed doubles and they will take on the duo of his estranged partner Bhupathi and Jie Zheng of China in the first round. Later, Paes, teaming up with Russian Nadia Petrova, lost to compatriot Mahesh Bhupathi and Jie Zheng of China 7-5, 6-4 in the mixed doubles. Yuki Bambri also lost in the boys’ singles after going down 2-6, 1-6 to Guillaume Rufin of France. PTI
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