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GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday, January 30, 2017
Serena to play fewer tournaments to aid grand slam quest By Simon cambers MELBOURNE,(Reut e r s ) - S e re n a Wi l l i a m s plans to play fewer tournaments in the future to aid her quest to win more grand slam titles, according to her coach Patrick Mouratoglou. The 35-year-old American won her 23rd grand slam title on Saturday at the Australian Open, breaking the open-era record she held jointly with Germany’s Steffi Graf. Serena will now manage her schedule as she chases down the all-time leader Margaret Court,
the Australian whose record of 24 grand slam titles straddled the amateur and professional eras. “Mentally she has to stay fresh and mentally excited when the grand slams start, because they are the goal,” Mouratoglou told a group of reporters after Serena’s 6-4, 6-4 victory over her sister Venus Williams gave her a seventh Australian Open title. “So we have a lighter schedule – not lighter than last year, which would be difficult (when she played just eight events and did not play after September) - but lighter than the year
(REUTERS)-Jasprit Bumrah kept his nerve to send down a brilliant final over and secure India’s series-levelling five-run victory against England in the second Twenty20 international yesterday. Chasing 145 to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series, England needed eight runs from the last over but the 23-year-old Bumrah bowled with ice in his veins, conceding only two runs while claiming two wickets. Both Ben Stokes and Joe Root made 38 but their contributions were not enough to get England across the line. Root, though, was unlucky to be given out leg-before on the first ball of the eventful final over with replays suggesting an inside edge. There was no argument, however, when Bumrah bowled Jos Buttler with his fourth delivery of that over. Needing six runs of the last ball, Moeen Ali failed to connect with the Bumrah delivery. Earlier put into bat, India posted a modest 144-8 with opener Lokesh Rahul (71) supplying nearly half of the total in
an otherwise insipid batting display by the hosts. Chris Jordan (3-22) drew first blood dismissing Virat Kohli for 21 in the fifth over but Rahul propped up the Indian innings with some crisp hitting, which included six boundaries and a couple of sixes. The right-hander added 56 with Manish Pandey (30) to set the stage for a late assault which never came. Clever bowling by Jordan, Stokes and Tymal Mills, backed up by England’s excellent fielding, stifled the Indian batsmen. The pace trio, time and again, outfoxed the batsmen with well-disguised slower deliveries as boundaries dried up. Jordan enhanced his death-bowling reputation with a tidy final over in which three Indian wickets tumbled with only five runs added to their score. The target was modest but England wobbled early with Ashish Nehra (3-28) dismissing openers Sam Billings and Jason Roy off successive deliveries. After Eoin Morgan’s exit, Root and Stokes looked poised to finish off
before (11 events).” At one stage in 2016, Serena held the world number one ranking based only on seven events over a 52week period. Germany’s Angelique Kerber overtook her when she won the U.S. Open last September but Serena will return to top spot when the rankings are updated today. Serena has traditionally played fewer tournaments than most top players, but since she usually reaches the final, she is able to pick and choose. From the start of 2012 to the end of 2016, Serena won
288 matches, second only to Poland’s Agnieska Radwanska, who won 289. But while Radwanska lost 107 matches in that period, Serena lost just 29. Mouratoglou said Indian Wells, in March, would be Serena’s next stop but didn’t expect to see her at too many events before the next grand slam, the French Open, which begins on May 29. “We’ve already done the schedule for the whole year,” Mouratoglou said. “It doesn’t mean that the schedule is not going to change, it’s meant to adapt to situations. But generally
speaking it’s already set for the whole season.” Mouratoglou said numbers alone were not the main factor behind Serena’s continuing hunger, even in her 20th year on tour. “She was not motivated by 22, she was motivated to win grand slams,” he said. That’s her motivation. This won’t change until she maybe one day wakes up and is not motivated to win grand slams, but for now she is. That’s enough. The record is not the thing that makes her play.” And Mouratoglou said Serena would not obsess over the record of 24 held by Court. “With all the respect for Margaret Court, it was another era, the draws were like 16 players and they were not professionals,” he said.
“Of course the record is here and we definitely want to beat it, but there was a professional era and the record was Steffi Graf.”
cricket. The 42-year-old guided his team to a 3-0 Test series win over Sri Lanka earlier this month and a 2-1 away Test series success in Australia in November. South Africa won the first of five one-day internationals against Sri Lanka
on Saturday with a convincing eight-wicket victory at Port Elizabeth. Sri Lanka were bowled out for 181 and South Africa reached 185-2 with 15.4 overs remaining with Hashim Amla scoring 57 and Faf du Plessis making an unbeaten 55. Z9 (BBC Sport)
Serena Williams of the U.S. poses with the Women’s singles trophy after winning her final match. REUTERS/Edgar Su
Brilliant Bumrah denies Proteas head coach Domingo England to level T20 series will have to reapply for his job
Pacer Jasprit Bumrah rejoices during his match-winning final over against England in Nagpur. the contest when Nehra injected fresh life into the match by dismissing Stokes. Beaten in the preceding Test and one-day series, England were very much in the contest but Root’s unfortunate dismissal and the lower order ’s struggle against Bumrah meant England finished on 139-6. The teams now move to Bangalore for the third and final Twenty20 International which marks the end of England’s tour.
SOUTH Africa head coach Russell Domingo will have to reapply for his job if he wants to stay in charge of the team after their summer tour of England. Domingo has been in the role since May 2013 and his contract ends in August. Cricket South Africa have said they are “resolved to begin a recruitment process” as they look to appoint a head coach “through to the 2019 World Cup”. South Africa will play three one-day internationals, three Twenty20 games a n d f o u r Te s t m a t c h e s against England. Domingo’s side are currently ranked third in Tests, second in one-day internationals and fourth in T20
Russell Domingo will be in charge for South Africa’s four-Test series against England, with the first Test at Lord’s starting on 6 July.
Entries for GSCL Inc Republic Cup closes on February 2 ENTRIES for the Georgetown Softball Cricket League Inc. Republic Cup 4, closes on February 2, and according to the organisers no late entries will be accepted. The tournament is set to start on February 3. Entries can be made through Russel Jadbeer on telephone number 225 4802, Mahendra Hardyal on 623 2704 or Samuel Kingston on 619 5103 or 692 8815. The tournament will be played in the Open and Masters’ (over 40) categories, with an entrance fee of $50,000 in each division. According to Organising Secretary of the GSCL Inc, Kingston, the first eight teams in each division will
be accepted. He added that the winning teams are expected to take home a trophy and $250,000 each, while the second place finishers can earn a trophy and $50,000 once the tournament secure the required number of teams in both categories. Each team will be required to submit a list of 15 players at the time of registration, while pass ports will be used to verify the age of players competing in the Masters’ category. Everest Cricket Club, Eve Leary, DCC, GNIC and GCC are the venues identified for the preliminary matches, while the finals will be contested on February 5 at the Everest ground.