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SPORTS GOA, SUNDAY, 22 AUGUST, 2010 www.oheraldo.in
In BrIef Force India fined over fee dispute Formula One team Force India has been slapped with a heavy euro 1,074,730 fine by the Queen's Bench Division in the High Court of Justice in London over a fee dispute with Italian company Aerolab. According to a website GPupdate.net, Force India will have to pay damages and interest at the rate of eight per cent to Aerolab, which provided services to the Silverstone-based team. "Such an order is the first firm result in the dispute between the two companies over unpaid fees for services rendered by Aerolab to Force India," the website reported.
Botha is S Africa T20 captain Off-spinner Johan Botha has replaced Graeme Smith as South Africa's Twenty20 captain, Cricket South Africa (CSA) announced on Saturday. Smith announced he was stepping down from that role earlier this week. Botha, 28, impressed as Proteas skipper after leading South Africa to a 4-1 away One-Day International series win against Australia during the 2008/9 season.
Vidic agrees 4-yr Man Utd deal Serbia defender Nemanja Vidic has signed a new four-year contract with Manchester United. "This kills all the silly speculation over the past few months," manager Alex Ferguson told the club's website (www.manutd.com) on Friday. Ponting's ‘bruising’ meet on IPL security Melbourne: Retired cricketers, including Adam Gilchrist and Shane Warne, had a "bruising" argument with Ricky Ponting over touring India for the IPL-3 in the wake of security concerns, the current Australian captain said. Ponting said in his diary 'The Captain's Year' that he wanted the Australians to follow the recommendations of security advisor Reg Dickason but Gilchrist and Warne were opposed to the move.
Serena pulls out of US Open Serena Williams has pulled out of the US Open because she is still recovering from surgery on her right foot, the American world number one said. Williams, who won her 13th grand slam at Wimbledon earlier this year, cut her foot on broken glass at a restaurant in July and has not played since.
Sachin, Sehwag in Ponting's World XI Australian captain Ricky Ponting has chosen two stalwarts of Indian cricket in his World XI batting line-up which he has handpicked from the best cricketers he has played against in the past decade. And the two geniuses are none other than Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar and Najafgarh ka Nawab Virender Sehwag. Extracts from his latest books, The Captain's Year, published by The Weekend Australian, revealed his admiration for the two Indian batsmen. Chinese businessman not to buy Liverpool
Chinese businessman Kenny Huang has withdrawn from the bidding process to take over Premier League club Liverpool, read a statement issued by his Hong Kong representatives on Friday. Huang, chairman of the Hong Kong-based QSL Sports Group, had previously said he wanted to invest in the five-times European champions, put up for sale by American owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett in April, but had not launched a formal bid.
Kuznetsova in Montreal semis Svetlana Kuznetsova thrashed China's Zheng Jie 6-1, 6-3 to become the first player through to the semifinals of the Montreal Cup on Friday.
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Dempo squeeze past Vasco Pg 15
Goa trounce Tripura 3-0 Pg 14
No-ball incident has made us more aggressive: Dhoni PTI DAMBULLA, AUG 21
Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni today conceded that the no-ball controversy in the last tri-series match against Sri Lanka has turned his players into a more aggressive lot but the team will take care not to cross the line. "That no ball incident really push us up to be more aggressive. But there is a limit to be aggressive on the field. We don't really want to cross that boundary though we will be as aggressive as possible on the field," Dhoni told reporters ahead of India's penultimate league match against Sri Lanka here tomorrow. "Of course, whatever happened was bad. It is better off to just ignore the incident. It is important to be focused and
that is what we will do on the field. We will just forget what happened in the last game and hope we come out winners in the next game," he said when asked whether the incident will change the course of India's rivalry with Sri Lanka. Dashing batsman Yuvraj Singh had to sit out of the controversial match on August 16 because of dengue but Dhoni said all the players are available for tomor-
THE TEAMS INDIA: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt & wk), Virender Sehwag, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma, Yuvraj Singh, Ravindra Jadeja, Dinesh Karthik, R Ashwin, Praveen Kumar, Ishant Sharma, Abhimanyu Mithun, Ashish Nehra, Pragyan Ojha, Saurabh Tiwary, Munaf Patel. SRI LANKA: Kumar Sangakkara (c), Mahela Jayawardene (vc), Tillakaratne Dilshan, Dilhara Fernando, Rangana Herath, Suraj Randiv, Chamara Kapugedera, Nuwan Kulasekara, Lasith Malinga, Angelo Mathews, Ajantha Mendis, Thisara Perera, Thilan Samaraweera, Chamara Silva, Upul Tharanga.
Match starts 2.30 pm (IST).
Revolting tennis players withdraw pull-out threat PTI NEW DELHI, AUG 21
India's top tennis players, who had threatened to boycott the Commonwealth Games because of non-payment of dues, today pledged to represent the country in the mega event after being given a categorical assurance that the vexed issues would be resolved soon. On a day of swift developments, the revolting quartet of Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupathi, Somdev Devvarman and Rohan Bopanna made themselves available to play for the country while the Sports Ministry and the AITA also promised to resolve the dispute as early as possible. With all the parties showing
Yuki bags silver, Vikas assured of medal PTI SINGAPORE, AUG 21
Yuki Bhambri had to settle for a silver medal in the tennis event after retiring hurt due to cramp on his legs in the singles final on the seventh day of the inaugural Youth Olympic Games here today. India were also assured of a medal in boxing with Vikas Krishan reaching the semifinal in boys 60kg after defeating Hrayr Matevosyan of Armenia 7-2. Yuki, who had stunned second seeded Damir Dzumhur of Bosnia and Herzegovina en route to the final, was trailing 1-4 against Juan Sebastian Gomez of Colombia in the third and deciding set when he retired hurt and conceded the match 7-6(4), 6-7(4), 1-4 at Kallang Tennis Centre. With Yuki's silver, India's medal tally now stands at four -- three silver and a bronze.
Bhupathi & Co in semis AGENCIES CINCINNATI, AUG 21
Mahesh Bhupathi and Max Mirnyi booked a semi-final berth at the ATP Cincinnati Masters after sailing past Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski in straight sets in Mason, USA. The fourth seeds scored a comfortable 6-3, 6-2 win. They will next take on fifth seeds Lukasz Kubot of Poland and Oliver Marach of Austria.
Baghdatis beats Nadal:
World number one Rafa Nadal was knocked out of the Cincinnati Masters by Marcos Baghdatis, the Cypriot winning the quarter-final 6-4 4-6 6-4. Baghdatis goes through to meet Switzerland's Roger Federer in Saturday's semi-final.
some urgency in dealing with the issue, the row seemed headed for a settlement paving the way for the star players in the Davis Cup tie against Brazil and next month and October 314 Commonwealth Games. The players however lashed out at the All India Tennis Association for leaking their private correspondence to the media and delaying the submission of the bills for clearance. "We would like to put all speculation to rest and confirm we will be present in full strength to represent India against Brazil in Chennai in September. We will continue to be committed to play for our country (in CWG)," the players said in a joint statement.
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Pakistan sealed a tense fourwicket win at The Oval to reduce England's lead to 2-1 with one match remaining next week. England resumed 146 ahead but their final pair lasted only four balls and added just one run as Mohammad Amir finished with a career-best 5-52. James Anderson struck in the first over but Salman Butt (48) and Mohammad Yousuf (33) looked to be in control. Anderson bowled Yousuf and Graeme Swann took his third wicket to create some late tension but Pakistan held on. It was Pakistan's first Test victory over England since Lahore in December 2005 and an impressive response from defeats
New Zealand's Nathan McCullum in Friday's tri-series Sri Lanka captain Kumar San- match, saying it was the allgakkara today defended his rounder who first obstructed move during the unsavoury his way. collision incident involving "When I was finising the first run, the bowler has to be behind the wicket or aside, especially a spinner. When I ran for the PTI first run, I knew there DAMBULLA, AUG 21 was two runs. That's The ICC today gave a clean chit to Kumar my duty. On my last Sangakkara, who was involved in an un- two steps, for some savoury incident with New Zealand all- reason, McCullum rounder Nathan McCullum during a c a m e o u t o f t h e tri-series match, saying the Sri Lanka cap- crease and was obtain was found not guilty of breaching the structing my way," ICC Code of Conduct. Sangakkara said. PTI DAMBULLA, AUG 21
Sangakkara gets clean chit
Chelsea hammer Wigan
SCORECARD
Arsenal ..........6 Birmingham ..2 Everton ..........1 Stoke ............1 West Brom ....1 West Ham ......1 Wigan ............0
AGENCIES BIRMINGHAM, AUG 21
Free-scoring Chelsea hit six goals for the second Premier League game in succession to heap more misery on Wigan. The hosts, who were embarrassingly beaten 4-0 at home by newcomers Blackpool in their opening game, made an encouraging start but still found themselves behind at half time. Goalkeeper Chris Kirkland made a fine save from Frank Lampard but Florent Malouda was on hand to tap in the rebound in the 34th minute. Nicolas Anelka, in the week his France career was effectively ended by an 18-match ban, made it 2-0 with a clinical finish in the 48th and he put the game to bed four minutes later with a close-range header, despite Wigan’s claims of offside. Didier Drogba set up Salomon Kalou for the fourth before Kalou got his second in the 90th. Yossi Benayoun slotted home his first Chelsea goal in injury time to complete the rout and leave the Blues, which also thrashed West Brom 6-0 in its opening game, top of the Premier League table. Earlier, Theo Walcott was back to his scintillating best with an
by 354 runs and nine wickets respectively in the first two matches of the series. For England it was a stark reminder of their fallibility three months ahead of the Ashes. Defeat brought to an end their run of six successive Test victories and condemned them to a first loss since being crushed by an innings and 74 runs by South Africa in Johannesburg in January. Andrew Strauss and his team would have had genuine reason for optimism given recent evidence of Pakistan's vulnerability chasing low totals. In July 2009 they were bowled out for 117 when needing 168 to beat Sri Lanka and in January this year requiring 176 against Australia they were dismissed for 139.
"When you get up in the morning you have to be prepared for the game irrespective of the weather condition because all of a sudden you may find yourself in a position where you are not really prepared for the game and the game happens. It may be a 20 overs game. So it is important to be focused and do whatever you can to be prepared for the game. "If the game doesn't happen, it doesn't happen. It is important to be spot on throughout and it goes on for two days because you have a reserve day at the same time. So we will be prepared for it and we will just hope the game happens tomorrow," he said. Dhoni was happy about the schedule of the tournament and said the players got enough time
to rest in between matches which they have not got for a long time. "In a way it is good for us. We have played throughout the year and hardly get opportunity to get some time off. This was one of those tournaments where we got time between our games and this is my fourth visit to Sri Lanka and frankly speaking I have never been out of the hotel," Dhoni said. "So this gave me time to see what Sri Lanka is all about. Of course, it breaks the momentum a bit. But till now it has been good for us. Whenever we have turned up the intensity has been good on the field. It has helped us so far," Dhoni said. Dhoni said under the circumstances with weather playing a factor, the bonus point India got
McCullum obstructed my way: Sangakkara
Arsenal thrash Blackpool
Pak seal tense victory AGENCIES THE OVAL, AUG 21
row's match. "Everyone is available. There is no issue about fitness as of now. Hopefully, the whole squad will be available for tomorrow's selection," he said clearing the air on Yuvraj's availability. The Indian captain said it was at times difficult for the players to concentrate on the game because of the weather conditions here but they will have to maintain focus all the time.
Blackpool ....0 Blackburn ..1 Wolves ........1 Tottenham ..2 Sunderland 0 Bolton ..........3 Chelsea ......6
impressive hat-trick as Arsenal thrashed 10-man Blackpool 6-0. Walcott scored two in the first half then added a superb third while an Andrei Arshavin penalty and goals by Abou Diaby and Marouane Chamakh piled on the agony for the visitors, who won their opener 4-0 at Wigan Athletic last week. Blackpool defender Ian Evatt was sent off after half an hour when the score was 1-0 for bringing down Chamakh, leading to Arshavin's penalty. Gareth Bale got two, the second a superb volley, as Tottenham Hotspur won 2-1 at Stoke City helped by a controversial late decision that the ball had not crossed the goalline that left Stoke fuming. Craig Gardner also scored twice as Birmingham beat Blackburn 2-1, Johan Elmander’s double helped Bolton win 3-1 at West Ham and Nigeria striker Peter Odemwingie scored on his West Bromwich Albion debut to clinch a 1-0 victory over Sunderland. In Saturday ’s only draw, Wolverhampton held Everton 11. Defending champion Chelsea was at Wigan in the late kick off. Man United play Fulham away on Sunday while Man City host Liverpool on Monday night.
"I don't know whether it was done purposefully, I didn't have anything to do. When on crease, there was some contact. When that happened, my head also had turned the other way. He took offence with that and complained to the umpire.
against Sri Lanka in their last
game could come in handy.