India suspends Olympic rebels over doubles row
Davis Cup: Ferrer holds off Isner to put Spain in final G IJON (Spain)—Holders Spain clinched reached their fourth Davis Cup final in five years when David Ferrer overcame the big-serving John Isner to help beat the United States 3-1 in the lastfour tie on Sunday. World number five Ferrer had to fight from a set down on the clay in the northern Spanish coastal city, coming through 6-7 6-3 6-4 6-2 against the 10th-ranked Isner in exactly three hours for his 16th victory in 16 singles rubbers on clay. “It was a very tough, very difficult tie but we are really happy as we are in another Davis Cup final, something that is extremely hard to achieve,” Ferrer said in an interview with Spanish television. “Now we just need to enjoy it and rest and prepare for the final,” added the 30year-old, who has won five titles this year and reached the U.S. Open semi-finals this month. Spain will play away against Argentina or Czech Republic, whom they beat in the 2011 and 2009 finals respectively, in November’s title clash. Those finals, their most recent meetings with the two nations, were at home and competition rules dictate the next must be away. The Czechs were in a strong position at 2-1 ahead after Saturday’s doubles in Buenos Aires, with Tomas Berdych due to play Carlos Berlocq in Sunday’s first reverse singles following the withdrawal through injury of Juan Martin del Potro. Ferrer said the Spanish were hoping talisman Rafa Nadal, who has not played since Wimbledon, would have shrugged off a knee injury in time to feature. “Spanish tennis is blessed with very good players, led by Rafa Nadal, and we hope he recovers soon because he is fundamental for us,” he added.
S Africa unfazed by ‘choker’ tag: de Villiers C OLOMBO —Power-packed South Africa go into the World Twenty20 starting in Sri Lanka on Tuesday determined not to be ridiculed any more as the perennial chokers of international cricket. The Proteas, a formidable side in all forms of the game, have not won a major world title since their return from an apartheid-induced ban in 1990, after inexplicably crashing at crucial moments in previous tournaments. But limited-overs captain AB de Villiers warned rivals in the 12-nation tournament that they will see a new, determined South Africa in action who are capable of going all the way. “I am going to be very honest with you, and I am going to put it up straight up front— we have choked in the past and we know about it,” de Villiers told reporters in Colombo. “We have had some really bad experiences in the past. But I emphasis the word ‘past’. We have come with a new look in this team and we have worked hard with our new management team that has given us a lot of energy and new ideas. “So we will approach this tournament differently and we like to win in pressure situations and we are going to do exactly that. We are prepared and excited to take the field.” South Africa failed to make the final of the 1999 World Cup in England when they tied with Australia despite needing just one run to win off the last four deliveries. During the Champions Trophy semi-final against India in Colombo in 2002, South Africa collapsed from a comfortable 192-1 to lose by 10 runs after needing just 70 more from the last 14 overs.—AFP
GIJON, SPAIN: David Ferrer of Spain celebrates a point over John Isner of the United States during day three of the semi final Davis Cup between Spain and the United States at the Parque Hermanos Castro in Gijon, Spain. Isner told Spanish TV before the match Ferrer was probably his favourite player on the tour for his work ethic and fighting spirit but it was the American who battled back from a break down to take the opening set 7-3 in the tiebreak. One U.S. fan held up a card counting each of Isner’s booming aces - he powered down 16 in the match to Ferrer’s five - but the American also made 70 unforced errors to Ferrer’s 32 and he was visibly tiring as his challenge faded in the fourth set. He saved a match point on his serve to stay in the
match but it was merely delaying the inevitable as Ferrer sealed victory the next game when Isner went wide with a limp backhand. Ferrer flung his racket into the crowd before he, Isner and captains Alex Corretja and Jim Courier shook hands at the net. Shortly after it was announced that Nicolas Almagro and Sam Querrey would not contest the dead final rubber. Top-ranked U.S. pair Bob and Mike Bryan had kept their team’s hopes of upsetting the Spanish alive when they fought off a brave chal-
lenge from Marcel Granollers and Marc Lopez to win their doubles on Saturday. Ferrer and Almagro beat Querrey and Isner respectively in Friday’s singles. Favourites to win a fourth title in five years, Spain’s latest success extended their unbeaten run at home to 24 ties dating back to 1999 when they lost 3-2 to Brazil in Lerida. The U.S. are the most successful Davis Cup nation with 32 titles, while Spain have dominated the competition over the past decade, with four titles since their first one in 2000. Meanwhile, India’s tennis association has handed doubles specialists Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna a two-year Davis Cup suspension for their refusal to partner Leander Paes in this year’s London Olympics. The trio figured in an ugly row ahead of the Olympics that forced the All India Tennis Association (AITA) to change their original decision to field Paes and Bhupathi as a pair. Paes eventually partnered rookie Vishnu Vardhan while India had a second pair in Bhupathi and Bopanna but none returned with a medal from London. “It is ... decided not to consider Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna for selection to play for India until June 30, 2014,” AITA Secretary Bharat Oza said in a statement late on Saturday. After regular pair Bhupathi-Bopanna refused to be separated for the London Games, the AITA decided to pair Paes with Vardhan and indicated action would be taken against Bhupathi and Bopanna. The AITA has decided to retain the current Davis Cup squad, which does not include Paes, for next year’s Asia/Oceania group matches.—AP
Lara dedicates Hall of Fame honour to father COLOMBO—Brian Lara, who was inducted into the ICC’s Hall of Fame at the awards ceremony in Colombo on Friday evening, dedicated the honour to his late father Bunty Lara, who died before his son played a Test. Lara also credited his brother Winston and sister Agnes during the function at the Water’s Edge Resort, saying they’d played important roles in his development as a cricketer. “This person you see today before you accepting this Hall of Fame honour is someone he [Bunty Lara] moulded. He ensured that I had everything I needed to succeed as a cricketer and in life, even in trying times,” Lara said. “He made a special effort to make sure everything was there. “I had to work hard ... but I knew I had strong support. My biggest pain was that he did not see me play a Test match, but having the West Indies team in Trinidad at his funeral was a special tribute to the man who made sure I was given the tools to play this glorious game and make such a lasting contribution.” Lara ended his 17-year international career as Test cricket’s leading run-scorer, with 11,953 runs at an average of 52.88 in 131 matches, a record that has been beaten since. However, he still holds the record for the highest individual score - 400 against England in Antigua in 2004. He had held it before as well, when he scored 375, also against England in Antigua in 1994, to go past Garry Sobers’ 365. He also holds the record for the highest first-
LORD’S: Liam Dawson, Chris Wood, James Vince and Michael Bates of Hampshire with the CB40 trophy after beating Warwickshire in CB40 Final.
McKay makes solid return from injury COLOMBO—Clint McKay became one of the fastest to 50 ODI wickets earlier this year but he knows his place in the shorter format is far from certain for Australia’s World T20 campaign. McKay missed the T20s against Pakistan in the UAE due to a hamstring injury and made his return on Saturday in Australia’s warm-up match against New Zealand in Colombo, where he took 2 for 14 from three overs. However, with Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc both in good form, and the spinners Brad Hogg, Xavier Doherty and Glenn Maxwell likely to play a significant role in the Sri Lankan conditions, McKay may struggle to force his way in for the group matches against Ireland and West Indies. McKay has played only four T20 internationals - three of them this year - despite his ongoing presence in the ODI side. “I’d like to think I’d get in the best attack but if I don’t, well so be it,” McKay told reporters after the New Zealand game. “I’ll just keep training and making sure that if I do get my turn I’ll be ready to go. The young boys Starcy and Patty are bowling beautifully at the moment so we’ll just wait and see what makeup of the team they’re going to go with.” McKay is far from an express bowler but has been extremely valuable to Australia’s one-day team in the past three years, his changes of pace proving especially difficult for batsmen to handle.—AFP
Inter schools tournament starts tomorrow
COLOMBO: Brian Lara with Enid Bakewell of England, after the pair was inducted into the ICC’s Cricket Hall of Fame. class score: 501 not out for Warwickshire against Durham* in 1994. In the 299 ODIs that he played, Lara scored 10,405 runs at an average of 40.48. In 2004, when captaining West Indies, he led the team to victory in the Champions Trophy against England at the Oval. “As a boy, you never really thought of Hall of Fames, you never really thought of records. Growing up in the ’70s my heroes were Clive Lloyd, Viv Richards and Roy
Fredericks as a left-hand batsman. I am happy I was able to spend 17 years in the West Indies and was able to contribute in a way worthy of this honour,” Lara said. “It is nice to share it with my family. “Tonight I had my brother and my sister here with me. Agnes is the one who took me to my first coaching clinic when I was six, and Winston was a role model as a stylish right-handed batsman ... so to have them here is very special.”—AP
R AWALPINDI —The InterSchools Sports Tournament of the federal government educational institutions (boys) will start on Tuesday. The opening ceremony of the tournament will be held at F.G Technical High School Tariqabad. The students will participate in Hockey, Football, Baskeball, Cricket, Table Tennis, Badminton and Volleyball. Every Primary School will have to participate in the PT Show. FGEI (C/G) Regional Office Rawalpindi GSO-1 will be the chairman while Muhammad Afzal Tahir Principal F.G Boys Sec School Adamjee Road will be Secretary Sports for 2012. Draws of team will be held held on Monday at F.G Boys Secondary School Adamjee Road under the supervision of Sports Secretary.—APP
Pakistan confident to win Asian Kabaddi tournament I SLAMABAD —Pakistan is confident to win the gold medal when its Kabaddi team will feature in the 2nd Kabaddi Asia Cup scheduled to be held next month in the eastern city of Lahore, Pakistan Kabaddi Federation (PKF) Secretary Mohammad Sarwar said. Mohammad Sarwar said that Pakistan was preparing and training hard to win the five-day Asian mega event in October this year. The Pakistani team, one of the best but lost the final of the inaugural event by 4438 to India in Tehran in September last year, aimed to show a better performance in front of the home crowd. “We are working hard on our team’s preparations and
hopefully will not repeat mistakes that we did last year, and we shall lift the trophy,” Sarwar told Xinhua news agency. Experts believed that the home ground and local crowd-support will matter this time for Pakistani team in the Asia Cup taking place from Oct 27 to Oct 31 at the Punjab Stadium, Lahore. According to PKF secretary, other than Pakistan, seven teams including India, Sri Lanka, Iran, Nepal, Indonesia, Thailand and Afghanistan will participate in the event. All the teams will be divided into two groups and every team will play against each other in the group. And the top two from each group
will go through to the semifinals. The winning team will be awarded a prize money of an amount of Rs 1.5 million (15,957 U.S. dollars) while the runners-up will receive Rs 1 million (10,638 U.S. dollars). Pakistan has also announced to provide all the participating teams with free travel tickets besides arranging foolproof security during their stay in the country. Pakistan has won silver medals at the 10th South Asian Games held in 2006 in Sri Lanka followed by 11th South Asian Games in 2010 in Bangladesh. Pakistani team also won silver medal in the 2006 Asian Games held in Doha.—NNI
Golf: Bill leads Hawaii C’ship K APOLEI (Hawaii)—Bill in an injury-plagued career We’re having a little war. So, Glasson moved into position for his first Champions Tour victory, shooting a 7-under 65 on Saturday to take a fourstroke lead into the final round of inaugural Hawaii Championship. Winless in 46 starts on the 50-and-over tour, the 52year-old Glasson had a 13under 131 total. He won seven times on the PGA Tour
marked by more than 20 surgeries. Glasson birdied three of the last five holes after dropping a shot on the par-4 13th. ‘’Finishing the way I did is going to help tomorrow,’’ he said. ‘’I need to hit some fairways. That’s my thing. My irons have kept me in the ballgame. My driver, she’s not liking me right now.
we’ll see who wins that battle.’’ First-round leader Peter Senior and Mark McNulty were tied for second. Senior followed his opening 65 with a 70. The 53-yearold Australian is winless in 65 starts in three seasons on the senior tour. He has five runner-up finishes, losing three playoffs.—AP
Sachin Tendulkar also deserved ICC’s People Choice Award, says Sangakkara’s mother BIPIN DANI OBSERVER CORRESPONDENT MUMBAI—Kumari Surangana, the mother of former Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara believs that India’s master-blaster Sachin Tendulkar would also have been the “right” candidate to win the International Cricket Council’s People’s Choice Award. Kumar Sangakkara has won this Award for the second year in a row at the ICC Awards evening in Colombo yesterday. Speaking exclusviely from Colombo, the mother said, “Sachin Tendulkar is the most popular cricketer in the world and he also deserved this award. But it was people’s choice to
nominate my son”. Sangakkara was voted to the award by the general public and beat off strong competition for the award from South Africa duo Jacques Kallis and Vernon Philander, India’s Sachin Tendulkar and England’s James Anderson. The winner of the award, which was introduced in 2010, was chosen by cricket fans around the world who had, in the course of the last four weeks, the opportunity to vote for their favourite player. “There can’t be any doubt about the popularity of Sachin Tendulkar”, she further added. The parents watched on TV their son grabbing three awards. “The entry was limited to few people and therefore we
witnessed the ceremony on TV at home”, she said. “All three awards-Test Cricketer of the Year 2012, People’s Choice Award and the ICC Cricketer of the Yearwon by my son are important and prestigious and touching to us”. Tom Moody (former Sri Lanka coach) and Marvan Atapattu, the current batting coach were among the members of the judge panel, chaired by Windies great Clive Llyod. “The winners were selected by the independent panel and they were not bias”, the mother insisted. Sangakkara credited his success to his father. Swarnakumara Sangakkara. “His father had hands in moulding Kumar’s career”, the mother signed off.