PDF E-Paper LHR_Layout 1 2/14/2012 2:48 AM Page 21
tuesday, 14 February, 2012
Sports 21
Serbia eye Spain’s title PARIS
S
AFP
WatCh It LIve ESPN India v Sri Lanka 08:50AM
ERBIA shrugged off the absence of Novak Djokovic to reach the Davis Cup last eight on Sunday with the 2010 champions confidently setting their sights on dethroning Spain in November's final. Janko Tipsarevic secured an unassailable 3-1 lead over Sweden in the World Group first round tie in Nis with a 6-2, 7-6 (7/5), 7-5 win over Michael Ryderstedt. Victory gave Serbia a quarter-final tie in April against the Czech Republic, but captain Bogdan Obradovic believes that with world number one Djokovic back in the side for that clash, his country can start dreaming of a second title. "It's never easy to play matches in which you are the odds-on favourite but the players dealt with the pressure really well against Sweden," Obradovic told www.daviscup.com. "With a bit of luck, we will reach this year’s final and hopefully take on Spain because we are confident that we can beat them on home soil." Tipsarevic had beaten Filip Prpic in straight sets in Friday’s opening rubber and had then played doubles on Saturday when Sweden had clawed their way back into the tie. But despite those efforts, he had no problem in disposing of Ryderstedt. "I want to thank my team for standing by me through the thick and thin
ESPN Sportscenter 08:00PM
Gambhir backs rotation policy ADELAIDE AFP
eight. The French beat host Canada 4-1 with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga downing injury substitute Frank Dancevic 6-4, 6-4, 6-1 to clinch the tie and Gael Monfils then defeating Vasek Pospisil 6-4, 6-4. Austria made the quarter-finals -- where they will tackle Spain -- for the first time in 17 years with a 3-2 win over two-time champions Russia in Wiener Neustadt. Jurgen Melzer secured the vital point, beating debutant Alex Bogomolov 6-2, 6-4, 6-1. "I think it was one-way traffic," said Melzer. "Giving Austria the chance to play a quarter-final against Spain, that was our goal."
and this is also the best home crowd we have ever played for," said Tipsarevic. "I hope some of these fans will be ale to make the trip with us to the Czech Republic because it will be a very open match." The United States, the 32-time champions, completed a 5-0 whitewash over Switzerland in Fribourg. Ryan Harrison beat Michael Lammer 7-6 (7/0), 7-6 (7/4) and John Isner, who condemned Roger Federer to his first defeat in the tournament in nine years on Friday, saw off Marco Chiudinelli 6-3, 6-4. The US will travel to France in the last
Indian opener Gautam Gambhir says India's memorable four-wicket win over Australia in their one-day international had vindicated the team's controversial rotation policy. India's decision to rotate openers through the series saw champion batsman Sachin Tendulkar miss the Adelaide match on Sunday, denying him another chance to score his 100th international century. The decision to rotate players has angered the likes of Indian great Sunil Gavaskar, who believes the best team should always take the field. However, Tendulkar's absence enabled Gambhir to return to the side to partner Virender Sehwag at the top of the order and he produced a man-of-the-match performance with 92 from 111 balls.
punjab festival enters into 10th day of hectic activity LAHORE STAFF REPORT
Four matches played in SBP Governor cup LAHORE STAFF REPORT
The overnight shower has left the outfield unplayble thus reducing the overs of 8th SBP Governor Cup Super Series cricket Tournament matches. On the day one match could not be played while two matches were played at LCCA Cricket Ground and two at Aligarh Cricket Ground Model Town, Lahore. In the first match of 12 overs at LCCA ground, HBL Multan beat SBP Hyderabad by three wickets. HBL Multan chased the score of SBP Hyderabad 112/5 in 12 overs and made 117 in just 11.4 overs. In the 2nd match SBP Karachi won its second consecutive match by defeating SBP Lahore by 22 runs. Chasing 134 runs Lahore’s team closed its innings in the 11th over and continued fall of wickets restricted them at 111/6. At Aligarh, PPCBL, Lahore and NBP Hyderabad was remained one-sided. This match was won by PPCBL by 9 wickets. They chased 94 runs losing one wicket in 10.3 overs. At the same ground, Bank of Khyber beat HBL Karachi. BOK scored 157/2 wickets in 14 overs and restricted HBL Karachi at 86/8 wickets and won by 71 runs.
Ranking tennis in progress KARACHI STAFF REPORT
The 10th Westbury Open Ranking Tennis Championship is in progress here at the Karachi Club with talented players making the next round. President PTF Kaleem Imam graced the day as chief guest. RESuLTS: mens Singles qualifyig Round, Vinod Das beat malik hamza 6-3, 6-3 MENS SINGLES MAIN ROuND: omer Shahid beat Sikander hayat 6-1, 6-2, Saad mubarik (lahore ) beat Saif Nor 7-6 rtd u-17 SINGLES MAIN FIRST ROuND: Shahraz w/o Damar Rehan, Fahed mehmood beat taha Band-e-Ali 6-4, 6-7, 6-1 uNDER-11 FIRST ROuND: m Amin Shafi beat Abdul Samad Suhail 8-2, Fizza Ghanchi beat Abde Ali 8-6, Daiyal Sanghani w/o Ajay, Kinza Ghanchi beat Abdullah Khan 8-0.
The Punjab Sports Festival 2012 entered its tenth day and with every passing day the sporting activities gaining momentum on different venues of the province. In Lahore, Cantt/Shalamar, Maria Masood from Kinnaird High School won the 100m race in girls athletics competitions while Asma Kahlid stood second. In 200 m, Rabia Sadiq from Yasmeen School Lahore won first position, Maria Masood from Kinnaird High school was second, 400m, Nemat from Kinnaird High School took first position, Mahnoor from Government High School for Girls Singhpura was second, Mehak from Kinnaird High School achieved
first while Irum from Government High School Dryport Mughalpura secured second position in 800 m race. In 1500 m, Mafia from Government Girls High School Mughalpura attained first, Khizra from Kinnaird High School was second. In the long jump and javelin throw, Atiqa Ikram from Kinnaird HS achieved first position whereas in the shotput, Sabahat from Kinnaird HS stood first. In the girls badminton, Honors Public School beat Government Girls High School Ghaziabad 2-0, Government Girls Kinnaird High School beat Government Girls High School Singhpura 2-0, Honors Public School beat Government Girls High School Dryport Mughalpura 2-0, Beaconhouse School defeated Government Girls Kinnaird High School 2-0
while Beaconhouse School outplayed Honors Public school 2-0. In the overall ranking, Honors Public School for Girls bagged first position in Inter School Girls Badminton, Beaconhouse was second and Kinnaird High School third. In the girls karate, 45 KG: Saira from Queen Marry HS beat Samra from Government Girls HS Singhpura 6-3. In 55 KG: Maria Qadir from Government Girls HS Singhpura defeated Iqra Yaqub 7-3. In 55+ KG, Mehak from Queen Marry HS moved past Saima from Government Girls HS Singhpura 6-4. In Inter School Girls Hockey Final, Queen Marry School won over Government Girls High School Singhpura 6-3. In the cricket {General Public] matches, UC 54 beat UC 43 by 2 runs, Ali was de-
clared man of the match with 56 runs. UC 60 beat UC 59 by 20 runs while Akhtar was the best player of the match with 70 runs. In Model Town, Asad XI from UC 119 beat Ali XI from UC 111 by 5 runs. Ali Butt with 20 runs was declared the man of the match. Shahbaz XI from UC 112 defeated Qasim XI from UC 122 by 3 runs. In Lahore City, the football matches were held at Iqbal Park Sports Complex in which Government HS Shahdra trounced Government Central Model School Samanabad 1-0. In Girls Volleyball matches, Government Girls HS Samanabad beat Government Girls HS Lady Mclegan 21 while Government girls HS Dev Samaj Road defeated Government Fatima Girls HS Fan Road 2-0.
sindh, Islamabad National U-14 football final today ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT
Sindh and Islamabad reached the final of the National U-14 Football Championship-2012 being played here at Jinnah Sports Complex, Islamabad. In the semi-finals, Sindh beat Karachi Zone B 4-0 with goals coming from Shah Zaib in the first minute and Muneer Munna scored three goals in the 10th, 21st and 31st Minutes. In the second semi-final, Islamabad beat Punjab 2-1. Islamabad got its goals from Bahlol Khan (FW) in the 25th minute and Hassam Mahmood (FW) in the 40th minute. Punjab’s scorer was Farrukh who found the cage in the 33rd minute. Makhdoom Syed Faisal Saleh Hayat, President, Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) will grace the occasion as chief guest for the final match between Sindh and Islamabad of National U-14 Football Championship-2012 at Jinnah Sports Complex, Islamabad today and will award the trophies and cash prizes among the top three teams of the championship. Faisal said that the PFF in line with its emphasis on PFF Vision Plan 2020 and
Youth Development Program has hosted this championship. “PFF has introduced PFF Vision 2020 Plan which the PFF has unveiled on June 21, 2008 will take Pakistan to new height. This ambitious plan will create pavement to the PFF in earning berth in top 15 Asian teams as well earning tickets of World Cup, Olympics and FIFA age-limit competitions in coming decade”, the. President added. It is pertinent to mention here that stringent age scrutiny was conducted before and during the championship. FATA was scratched out from the championship due to 14 overage players and 46 others players of different participating teams were stopped to play due to the very same reason. The 15 teams took part in this 13 days championship comprising of Faisalabad Zone, Lahore Zone, Karachi Zone A, Karachi Zone B, Quetta Zone, Chaman Zone, Peshawar Zone, Noshehra Zone. The provinces teams are Punjab, Balochistan, Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) and regions teams are Islamabad, Gilgit Baltistan, Azad Jammu & Kashmir and Federally Administrative Area (FATA).
VANcoUVeR: Jo-wilfried tsonga of France returns against Frank Dancevic of canada during their Davis cup match. tsonga defeated Dancevic 6-4, 6-4, 6-1. afp