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GUYANA CHRONICLE Friday, July 13, 2018
Indies investigates trample Bangladesh Williams to face Kerber in WestFIFA by an Innings and 219 Women’s Wimbledon final possible discriminatory By Sonia Oxley BBC Sport at Wimbledon
SERENA Williams will face Germany’s Angelique Kerber for an eighth Wimbledon singles title after both won their semi-finals in straight sets. The American former world number one overpowered Germany’s Julia Gorges 6-2, 6-4, while Kerber beat Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko 6-3, 6-3. Tomorrow’s final will be a re-match of the 2016 showpiece, which Williams won. Williams will be seeking a record-equalling 24th Grand Slam title and her first since giving birth in September. Williams was in control from the outset against 13th seed Gorges, who was making her Grand Slam semi-final debut. It was the first time at these championships that the American had faced a player ranked in the top 50 and she stepped up with a powerful display that also showed better movement around the court than in previous rounds. She broke in the sixth game of the first set when Gorges went wide and then took the set on the German’s serve when her opponent sent a forehand wide.
The second set followed a similar pattern, with the only brief wobble coming in the ninth game when Williams was broken. But she struck back immediately and looked to the sky when an attempted lob from Gorges flew out to give her the victory.
Serena Williams
Gorges, who had spent more than 10 hours on court before this match, the longest of any of the semi-finalists by around two and a half hours, was put out of her misery on Centre Court in just 70 minutes. “It’s crazy. I don’t even know how to feel because I literally didn’t think I’d do this well in my fourth tournament back,” said Williams. “I don’t have anything to lose and I feel I can play so free. That’s what I’m doing. “This is not inevitable for me; I had a really tough de-
livery and multiple surgeries and almost didn’t make it to be honest. I couldn’t even walk to my mailbox, so it’s definitely not normal for me to be in a Wimbledon final. “I’m enjoying every moment.” Williams only returned
Angelique Kerber
to the Tour in March, having “almost died” giving birth to her daughter last September. Despite her maternity break, she is now into a Grand Slam final for the 12th consecutive year. Kerber is proud to be in another Grand Slam final. Two-time Grand Slam champion Kerber reached her second Wimbledon final with a commanding performance against an error-prone Ostapenko. The 11th seed saved a break point in game six before breaking the Latvian’s serve in
the next game. The 30-year-old then gained an early break in the second set on her way to the victory. “It is such a great feeling to be back in the final and to play on Centre Court is always a great experience,” said Kerber. “I’m happy and proud to be in another Grand Slam final, I will just try to play like I did and just focus on my game. “Jelena is always fighting until the last point, hits the ball really hard, and I was trying to stay focused. It was quite tough but I’m happy to be through.” Ostapenko, who won the 2017 French Open title, was playing in her first Wimbledon semi-final. Despite making 18 first-set winners compared to only six from Kerber, the 21-year-old also made 19 unforced errors, with Kerber only making two. The former world number one then capitalised on more poor play from Ostapenko, breaking her serve at the first time of asking in the second set and again in the sixth game. Ostapenko saved a match point in the seventh and gained one break back, but it was not enough against the 2016 Australian Open and US Open champion.
chants by England fans
England fans watch Croatia v England - Hyde Park, London, Britain - July 11, 2018 England fans look dejected during the match. (REUTERS/Simon Dawson)
MOSCOW, Russia (Reuters) - Global soccer body FIFA says that it is investigating possible discriminatory chanting by England supporters during the World Cup semi-final against Croatia on Wednesday. FIFA did not give any details of the chanting but said it had received a report from observers at the match at the Luzhniki Stadium which Croatia won 2-1 after extra time. “We can confirm that a report has been filed through the anti-discrimination monitoring system in relation to chants of a possible discriminatory nature by English fans at yesterday’s match,” FIFA said in a statement on Thursday. “Subsequently, disciplinary proceedings have been opened against the Football Association... As proceedings are ongoing, please understand we cannot comment further at this stage.” FIFA has employed teams of specialist observers at all World Cup matches to detect possible racist and homophobic chanting and banners at matches.
Swimming - a hobby turned mantra for two youngsters India A fightback leaves Windies A facing second Test defeat By Stephan Sookram
FOR many, an afternoon dip is just as the name suggests - an afternoon dip in the pool. However, for two youngsters, Joseph Matthews and Latisha Blair it is more than that. The two breathe swimming, (as oxymoronic as it sounds), as even down to their land training relates to improving their performances in the water.
Latisha Blair
Chronicle Sport caught up with them during one of their training regimen and learnt the driving force behind their dedication to the sport. “I’ve been swimming for about a year and a half now. At first, I didn’t think swimming as anything to be fun but when I started my first competition, I started to like it; swimming
was a second home to me,” said Matthews. Matthews, who is 14 years old and attends the Georgetown Education Trust College (GETC) says that he seeks improvements at every opportunity, thanks to said training. “My training is very hard. It never gets easy. But although it’s hard, it allows me to drop time (be faster) at every competition. I’ve dropped two seconds at
Joseph Matthews
every competition in every event that I swim,” ke said. “My main goal is to make it to the world championships. The Olympics is a big thing, yes, but like in swimming, the world championship is where the best in the world go. He was especially thankful for the help he receives from the coaches and his family and friends
who have given him the impetus to continue. “I am encouraging people at school to swim and almost my whole class has followed me here.” Blair on the other hand, who is a 14-year-old student of North Ruimveldt Multilateral, is willing to look past those long days of training. “It (training) has been very hard. Some mornings, the work is so hard that I want to cry, sometimes I vomit but at the end of the day, I realise that it’s good for me and it will make me better. “Break a fifty backstroke record and go to the Olympics,” she said when quizzed about what keeps her going in the sport and what she has planned for aquatic community. “I’d like to encourage people to take up swimming because a lot of people don’t take up swimming. They just see it as jumping in the water and splashing up and having fun. They don’t see it as something that will help you to go a far way in life.” She noted the importance of her family and friends, who support her throughout her journey and are always being present when she needs them the most. (sookram@guyanachronicle.com)
WINDIES A squandered early momentum to find themselves in a tough position, with India A needing just another 107 runs to win with seven wickets remaining on the final day of the unofficial second Test at Taunton. At stumps, Hanuma Vihari’s patient 65 for 123 balls anchored India A to another second innings fightback, which saw the team close the day at 214 for 3. Earlier, Indian A found themselves on the back foot after devastating spells of pace bowling from Raymon Reifer and Oshane Thomas left the team all out at 192 in their first innings, well short of the Windies A total of 302. In response, Windies A seemed in good shape at 125 for 2 on the back of 61 from opener John Campbell and 67 off 84 balls from Jermaine Blackwood. The line-up struggled to come to grips with the bowling of Mohammed Siraj who took wickets at regular intervals to stop the regional team from inflicting heavy damage. The spinner ended with figures of 4 for 64. In response, India A lost opener Ravikumar Samarth (18) with 51 runs on the board.
However, a solid partnership of 136 from Vihari and Karun Nair put the team in firm control of the match. They, however, assisted by poor play in the field by Windies who conceded 45 extras,
which included 25 byes and a mammoth 17 wide deliveries. The Windies A ended on a high note as Nair was dismissed on the final delivery of the day by Jomel Warrican.
SCOREBOARD
WINDIES A st innings 302 INDIA A 1st innings 192 WINDIES 2nd innings 210 (o/n 96 for one) J. Campbell c wkp. Pant b Mohammed Siraj 61 D. Thomas c wkp. Pant b Gurbani 25 J. Blackwood b Gurbani 67 S. Brooks c wkp. Pant b Mohammed Siraj 2 S. Ambris c (sub.) b Nadeem 5 V. Singh c Samarth b Mohammed Siraj 16 R. Reifer c Easwaran b Gurbani 0 R. Shepherd c wkp. Pant b Mohammed Siraj 5 J. Warrican c (sub.) b Yadav 1 S. Lewis b Yadav 0 O. Thomas not out 6 Extras: (b-7, lb-12, w-1, nb-2) 22 Total: (all out, 57.3 overs) 210 Fall of wickets: 1-51, 2-125, 3-137, 4-160, 5-180, 6-180, 7-203, 8-204, 9-204. Bowling: Mohammed Siraj 20-3-64-4, Gurbani 17-1-64-3, Yadav 7.3-2-23-2, Nadeem 13-2-40-1. INDIA A 2nd innings (target: 321 runs) R. Samarth c wkp. Thomas b Reifer 18 A. Easwaran c wkp. Thomas b Shepherd 31 K. Nair c Campbell b Warrican 55 H. Vihari not out 65 Extras: (b-25, w-17, nb-3) 45 Total: (3 wkts, 46 overs) 214 Fall of wickets: 1-51, 2-78, 3-214. Bowling: Lewis 9-1-35-0, Thomas 10-1-54-0, Reifer 12-1-29-1, Shepherd 5-1-25-1, Warrican 7-0-30-1, Campbell 3-0-16-0. Position: India A require 107 runs with seven wickets intact.