MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2013
S P ORTS
Ahmed will be an Australia ‘match-winner’: Bailey CHESTER-LE-STREET: Australia Twenty20 captain George Bailey believes Fawad Ahmed will become a match-winner for his adopted country after he took his first full international wickets on Saturday. Leg-spinner Ahmed’s return of three wickets for 25 runs from his maximum four overs couldn’t prevent Australia losing the second Twenty20 international at Chester-le-Street by 27 runs as England levelled the two-match series at 1-1, but it may yet have more enduring significance than the raw result. It was Ahmed who ended England’s opening partnership of 111 when he induced Michael Lumb to topedge a sweep to wicketkeeper Matthew Wade, a wicket the bowler greeted with a kiss to the skies. And having been entrusted with the 20th and final over by Bailey, Ahmed responded by dismissing both Eoin Morgan and Jos Buttler-bowled first ball-as England finished on 195 for five. Ahmed’s return was timely after he took none for 43
on debut during Australia’s 39-run win in the first Twenty20 at Southampton on Thursday. “It meant a lot to him and would have meant a lot to all the people who have supported him,” Bailey told reporters on Saturday. “It was fantastic for him. We saw he has good control and good skills. He is someone who can have a lot of success. “He’ll be thrilled. No matter what your age is when you come into international cricket you want to know if you are good enough and where you stand. To improve from game one into game two he’ll be really happy. “To Fawad’s credit he handled that pressure really well. It’s good to know for the future. I think that showed he has a good knowledge of his own game and self-belief.” The 31-year-old Ahmed fled his native Pakistan in 2010 fearing political persecution and arrived in Australia as an asylum seeker. Having played first-class matches in Pakistan, he began his cricket career in
Australia with the Melbourne University club. After bowling to Australia’s Test players in the nets in 2012, Ahmed was signed by the Melbourne Renegades in Australia’s Twenty20 Big Bash League before playing three Sheffield Shield matches for Victoria, where he took 16 wickets at 28.37 and impressed the likes of Australian leg-spin great Shane Warne. In July, Ahmed became an Australian citizen after government-sponsored changes to legislation helped fast-track his application. July also saw Ahmed play for Australia A on their tour of South Africa and Zimbabwe, after he was added to the national reserve side’s squad for their tour of Britain and Ireland in June. Bailey said he’d been struck by Ahmed’s enthusiasm for cricket, as exemplified by his approach to batting at No 11 and being out in the middle when Australia needed 34 to win off the last over. “Knowing Fawad he would have been disappointed
Roger races into fourth round of US Open Hopes to keep quarter-finals date with Nadal NEW YORK: Grand slam king Roger Federer showed off his fitness by sprinting into the round of 16 at the US Open on Saturday, beating Adrian Mannarino 6-3 6-0 6-2 to turn out the lights on Day Six of the tournament. Playing the closing contest of Saturday’s night programme, Federer ran through games as though he had a taxi cab waiting outside the stadium with the meter running and hurtled past the unseeded Frenchman in 81 minutes.
moved Federer, the greatest grand slam men’s title winner of them all with 17, into a fourthround clash with Spain’s Tommy Robredo, who earlier beat British qualifier Dan Evans. The 32-year-old Swiss has won all 10 of his previous matches against Robredo. Federer might not want to get ahead of himself, no matter how quickly he moves past opponents, but it was hard not to notice that he was now one step away from a potential quarter-final showdown
NEW YORK: Swiss tennis player Roger Federer plays a shot against France’s Adrian Mannarino during a 2013 US Open men’s singles match at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York on Saturday. —AFP “I like it like this,” said Federer. “I like three hours, five hours, too, as long as I end up winning them. But no doubt about it, you do feel more of the show factor at night than during the day. “But it does feel great just for confidence, and I had a lot of fun out there.” The one-sided victory
with rival Rafa Nadal. Strange as it may seem for rivals who have squared off 31 times over their careers, five-times US Open champion Federer has never played 2010 winner Nadal at Flushing Meadows. “Clearly (I) follow the progress of the players,
but today I didn’t see anything during the day,” Federer said. “I think I only start really focusing on it once I’m really right there, like the moment I would win my next round and he did the same. “(But) I have gone through that my entire career, people talking about our matches even before the tournament started,” he added. “Clearly I think we both hope it’s going to happen this time for the first time in New York.” Federer said he had several things working in his favour against Mannarino on Saturday. “I was able to really use my serve well, because it was breezy tonight again so I was able to use the wind a bit better. Maybe I had a bit more variation than him that allowed me more margin in my game. “Once I had the first set I was able to play with the lead, which makes things a little more easy as well.” It got so easy for Federer that he yielded just 11 points to the Frenchman in the second set. In the match, the Swiss slashed 34 winners to eight for his 25-year-old opponent. Federer showed absolutely no signs of the back issues that have limited him at times in 2013, a year that has seen him win just one tournament title and his US Open seeding slip to seventh, his lowest mark in a decade. A second-round elimination at Wimbledon led some to question whether the Swiss master was slowing down. The masterclass he gave on centre court of the National Tennis Center seemed to allay those concerns. At one stage, Federer was playing at such a pace the local broadcaster was unable to get through their commercials before the players were back on court and fans watching on television rejoined the match in the middle of the next game. Federer said he still got a charge out of the big-night atmosphere under the lights in Arthur Ashe. “In this stadium, with this crowd, it’s always very particular, clearly, because it is the biggest stadium in the world, it is New York City, and you don’t ever know how many times more you’re going to play on this court. “You always want to enjoy it.” —Reuters
Tiny blonde bombshell Giorgi goes wild at Open NEW YORK: Italian qualifier Camila Giorgi played the match of her life on the stage of her dreams Saturday to reach the fourth round of the US Open by stunning former world number one Caroline Wozniacki. The 21-year-old qualifier matched her best Grand Slam result, a run to the final 16 last year at Wimbledon, by rallying past Danish sixth seed Wozniacki 46, 6-4, 6-3 as the crowd roared in support at Arthur Ashe Stadium. “I wanted that. It was my goal to be there,” Giorgi said of the largest Grand Slam venue. “It was amazing to play there. For me, it was so nice. I had never been there, so was really good. I loved to play in this court.” Giorgi, ranked 136th in the world, had not played since a third-round run at Wimbledon because of a right shoulder injury. But the 1.68m tiny blonde dynamo sizzled on the Flushing Meadows hardcourts in booking a fourth-round date with fellow Italian, 10th seed Roberta Vinci. “It was amazing this match,” Giorgi said. “My first set wasn’t really good but after, I was focused every point. I think I played better tactical maybe.”
So what was her triumphant strategy? “When the ball came, just hit the ball in the corners,” she said. Wozniacki was caught off guard and quickly knew she
Wozniacki said. “All of a sudden she came into the rhythm and just started hitting everything and it was starting to go in. “She played very well. She took
NEW YORK: Camila Giorgi of Italy plays a backhand during her women’s singles third round mac against Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark on Day Six of the 2013 US Open at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. —AFP was in trouble as Giorgi fired 46 winners in the match to only 13 for the Danish standout. “She was all over the ball,”
very high-risk shots and things were going in for her. She was going for the lines and hitting them when she want-
ed.” Wozniacki sees a great future for Giorgi if she keeps playing that way. “She hits every ball no matter where she stands. She’s hitting from both sides, and she was serving quite well,” Wozniacki said. “If she learns to control her pace like she did today, then I think she has a bright future.” Giorgi says she does not like to be loud on the court but there is plenty of noise, and arm movement, from her coach and father, Sergio Giorgi, whose vocal offerings resulted in a coaching violation against his daughter. “I always hear him. Many times I look at him,” Giorgi said of her dad. “Everybody does that, so this is the fact. But you need to avoid. If not, you lose the match for one thing. This is not good.” Giorgi has taken a big boost from her injury comeback run. “It’s really, really good. This helps a lot to my confidence, and I hope to stay like this for the last week,” she said. “My first goal is to be in the top 100 and then to get back the confidence, because when you are not playing tournaments, you don’t have this rhythm of the matches, so it’s not easy. “I feel good now. My shoulder is good. So I’m happy for this reason too.” —AFP
KIEV: The Bulgarian team performs in the group clubs final during the 32nd Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships in Kiev yesterday. —AFP
he didn’t get us over the line with the bat,” Bailey said after both Ahmed and Mitchell Johnson finished on three not out in Australia’s total of 168 for nine. “I didn’t think he thought 34 off the last over was out of his reach.” But above all, it’s Ahmed’s bowling that has impressed Bailey. “He will be a match-winner for us. I thought he mixed his pace up well today (Saturday). I think he just responds really well. “He’s a student of the game-he loves it.” Ahmed’s rapid rise in Australian cricket has seen him become something of a standard-bearer for players from the country’s immigrant communities. But Bailey said it was important Ahmed wasn’t swayed by outside influences. “If he’s half-sensible, he won’t listen to anyone else’s expectations. He’s pretty passionate and has good self-belief. “Much like everyone else, I’m enjoying getting to know him. He’s a good player to have in your team.” —AFP
Hales becomes No 1 ranked T20 batsman CHESTER-LE-STREET: England’s Alex Hales has become the number-one ranked batsmen in the International Cricket Council Twenty20 rankings after his match-winning innings against Australia on Saturday. Nottinghamshire opener Hales’s 94, off just 61 balls, provided the platform for England’s 27-run win that saw them level the two-match series at 1-1. Hales received 65 rating points for this performance and that helped him l e a p f ro g N e w Ze a l a n d c a p t a i n Brendon McCullum at the top of the ICC’s Twenty20 international batting standings. Australia’s Aaron Finch, who struck a Twenty20 international record 156 in the series opener at Southampton on Thursday, moved up into the top 20 for the first time in his career after a huge rise of 78 places into 20th spot. Meanwhile England seamers Steven Finn and Jade Dernbach have entered the top 10 of the equivalent Twenty20 international bowler rankings for the first time. Finn, who took two wickets in the series, is now in sixth place (up by six) and Dernbach’s six wickets saw him jump 12 places into seventh position. West Indies’ Sunil Narine still heads the bowler rankings, with two more spinners in the Pakistan duo of Saeed Ajmal and Mohammed Hafeez second and third respectively. The 1-1 series draw saw England remain sixth and Australia seventh in the ICC Twenty20 team standings. Leading ICC T20 international rankings at Aug 31 — after the conclusion of England-Australia T20I series — (rank, team, rating points, change in rating points): Teams 1 Sri Lanka 128 2 Pakistan 125 3 India 121 4 West Indies 120 5 South Africa 118 6 England 112 (-1) 7 Australia 103 (+1) 8 New Zealand 102 9 Ireland 81
10 Bangladesh 11 Scotland 12 Zimbabwe 13 Netherlands 14 Kenya
74 62 46 36 34
Batsmen (rank, change in ranking, player, team, ratings points, average, strike-rate, highest rating points): 1 (+1) Alex Hales ENG 842 39.11 136 842 v AUS at Durham 2013 2 (-1) Brendon McCullum NZL 818 35.50 135 849 v BAN at Pallekele 2012 3 (-) Shane Watson AUS 747 30.11 150 832 v RSA at Colombo 2012 4 (-) David Warner AUS 743 28.63 138 826 v WIS at St Lucia 2010 5 (-) Martin Guptill NZL 738 35.39 124 793 v RSA at Hamilton 2012 6 (-) Mahela Jayawardene SRI 731 32.48 134 785 v AUS at Pallekele 2011 6 (-) Virat Kohli IND 731 34.87 130 731 v PAK at Ahmedabad 2012 8 (-) Suresh Raina IND 719 33.60 136 776 v ENG at Kolkata 2011 9 (-) Chris Gayle WIS 702 33.30 143 831 v AUS at Colombo 2012 10 (-) JP Duminy RSA 676 34.96 122 694 v ENG at Durham 2012 Bowlers (rank, change in ranking, player, team, rating points, average, economy-rate, highest rating points) 1 (-) Sunil Narine WIS 817 16.75 5.94 817 v PAK at St Vincent 2013 2 (-) Saeed Ajmal PAK 721 17.15 6.26 788 v NZL at Pallekele 2012 3 (-) Mohammad Hafeez PAK 689 19.76 6.56 689 v ZIM at Harare 2013 4 (-) Ajantha Mendis SRI 686 12.84 6.10 762 v WIS at Colombo 2012 5 (-) Shakib Al Hasan BAN 668 19.84 6.75 668 v ZIM at Bulawayo 2013 6 (+6) Steven Finn ENG 667 19.48 7.16 667 v AUS at Durham 2013 7 (+12) Jade Dernbach ENG 664 20.48 7.86 664 v AUS at Durham 2013 8 (-2) Abdur Razzak BAN 660 18.94 6.92 661 v IRL at Belfast 2012 9 (-2) Prosper Utseya ZIM 659 28.04 6.57 667 v Pak at Harare 2013 10 (-2) Nuwan Kulasekara SRI 655 24.50 7.21 676 v AUS at Melbourne 2013. —AFP
NEW YORK: Victoria Azarenka of Belarus celebrates victory during her women’s singles third round match against Alize Cornet of France on Day Six of the 2013 US Open at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. —AFP
Azarenka through after dropping set NEW YORK: A feisty Victoria Azarenka dropped her first set of the tournament on Saturday before regaining her composure to safely book her place in the last 16 at the US Open. A finalist last year and one of the favourites to win the title this season, the Belarussian passed her first real test at the championship in beating beat Alize Cornet of France 6-7(2) 6-3 6-2. By her own admission, this was not one of Azarenka’s best performances. She made 38 unforced errors and got involved in an argument with the chair umpire over a line call. “I don’t think I played my best tennis today but I have to give her credit. She played really well,” Azarenka said. “The dynamic of the match was a little bit weird for me. “I felt like I didn’t take my opportunities in the first set, which was kind of a waste and it gave her a lot of confidence.” The first set took more than an hour to complete and the 24year-old Azarenka was frustrated that she let it go after fighting back from 4-1 behind to force a tiebreak. But she raised her game in the remaining two sets, reducing her unforced error count. “That was more me playing, more finding the rhythm,” she said. “I felt much better in the third set than in the first set which was going past the two-hour mark. It’s pretty good, so I’m happy
with that.” Azarenka’s frustrations threatened to boil over when the umpire ordered a point she had won to be replayed and was still fuming about it after the match. “That was the most ridiculous thing there is,” she said. “I had already walked to my chair, Alize almost walked to her chair, they said, ‘replay the point’.” Despite her below-par performance, Azarenka said she enjoyed being under pressure, believing it brought out the best in her. “I like pressure. I think pressure is something that if you want to be on top, you have to deal with,” she said. “That’s what makes you better. You need that to be on top, to be motivated. “If you don’t have any pressure, if you don’t feel like you have to achieve something, it’s not fun. For me, I need that.” Azarenka’s next opponent is former world number Ana Ivanovic, who also came from behind to win her center court clash with American Christina McHale 4-6 7-5 6-4. “Ana is a great player,” said Azarenka. “She’s definitely in great form, and I’m sure she’s motivated and pumped up. “It’s going to be a good match. She’s a great champion, as well. I’m looking forward to that.” —Reuters