Sports News
Serena Williams wins Wimbledon title
Saturday, July 04, 2009 (London): Serena Williams clinched her third Wimbledon title and 11th Grand Slam crown with a 7-6 (7/3), 6-2 victory over sister Venus, the defending champion, on Saturday.
The victory added to her 2002 and 2003 wins at the All England Club and shattered Venus's hopes of a hat-trick of titles and sixth overall which would have taken her level with Billie Jean King.
Saturday's final was the fourth all-Williams title match-up at Wimbledon and eighth in all Grand Slams with the win giving Serena the edge in head-to-head meetings at 11-10.
Serve dominated the first set with 27-year-old Serena fighting off the only two break points in the eighth game and it was the younger of the two sisters who seized control of the tiebreak.
Serena went to three set points by forcing Venus to scramble from side to side before putting away a powerful crosscourt forehand.
Venus saved the first set point but was powerless when a pinpoint lob from her sister left her stranded at the net.
It was the first set Venus had dropped at Wimbledon since the third round in 2007, a run of 34 consecutive winning sets.
Serena, who had saved match point in her marathon semi-final win over Elena Dementieva, carved out her first set point when Venus double-faulted to hand her a 4-2 lead and revenge for last year's final defeat to her sister looked likely.
Second seed Serena held to love, backed-up by her 12th ace of the match, to lead 5-2.
She then wasted three match points in the eighth game but clinched the title when Venus netted with a forehand.
Dhoni helps India take 2-1 lead over Windies
GROS ISLET: Mahendra Singh Dhoni played a captain's knock as India battled inclement weather to defeat the West Indies by six wickets via the
Duckworth-Lewis method and take an unassailable 2-1 lead in the four-match ODI series at the Beausejour Stadium in St. Lucia on Friday.
The One-dayer was almost reduced to a Twenty20 fixture as it witnessed as many as four stoppages due to rain during the West Indies innings -- including a two hour and five minutes delay at the start of the match. The interruptions forced the overs to be brought down to 27 per side.
The West Indies, put into bat after Dhoni won the toss, rode on Ramnaresh Sarwan's 62 to post a competitive 185 for seven and India were set a revised target of 195 following the D/L method.
The visitors needed a strong start and Dinesh Karthik (47 off 43 balls) and Gautam Gambhir (44 off 38) did just that.
The duo put on 84 runs before a direct throw from Ravi Rampaul ended Karthik's innings.
Gambhir and Dhoni took the score to 95 for one off 13.3 overs when rain intervened for the fifth time and following a 22-minute delay, the target was revised to 159 in 22 overs.
Needing another 64 runs from 51 deliveries, India lost Gambhir and Yuvraj Singh (2) in quick succession.
With 11 runs required off the last seven deliveries, Rohit Sharma too departed leaving Dhoni to see the team through. The skipper's 34-ball unbeaten knock included a couple of boundaries besides the six in the last over.
While Dhoni sparkled, opening partnership too did the job.
Karthik and Gambhir not only complemented each other but also gave the visitors perfect launchpad to go for victory after Sarwan's 58-ball 62 guided the West Indies to 185 for seven.
Sarwan was involved in two crucial partnerships, 51 runs with Runako Morton (22) and another 48 with Shivnarine Chanderpaul (15) before he was run out going for a non-existent second.
Gambhir's strong throw found Sarwan short of the mark. His innings included five fours and a six.
He carried on the momentum provided by captain Chris Gayle (27), who gave the hosts a rollicking start after the match started two hours and five minutes late following a rain delay that first reduced the match to 41 overs a side.
Gayle hit Ishant Sharma for a couple of boundaries in each of his first two overs.
Left-arm pacer Ashish Nehra (3/21) received similar treatment in his second over, another couple of boundaries, before rain intervened with the West Indies at 27 for no loss from 3.3 overs.
Play resumed after a 15-minute delay but the distraction was enough to unsettle the West Indies captain, who departed chasing a widish delivery from Nehra.
Gayle slashed the first ball after resumption and Dhoni did the rest behind stumps. His 14-ball stay at the crease had six hits to the fence.
Morton (22 off 34 balls), who was a silent spectator till then was joined by Sarwan and the duo took the score to 56 for one from 9.1 overs before rain intervened for a third time.
Following another 15-minute delay, the overs were reduced to 36 per side.
However, rain forced play to be suspended again just two deliveries on re-start with the hosts on 57 for one.
This time play remained suspended for an hour and 20 minutes before it resumed with the overs reduced to 27 a side.
Morton greeted RP Singh with a four but fell soon after. Sarwan though didn't let the stoppages affect his rhythm as he took 16 runs off one Yuvraj over to help the hosts go past the 100-run mark in 16 overs.
Along with the vastly experienced Chanderpaul, the duo put on 48 runs before the left-hander departed trying to hoist Yusuf Pathan over mid-on and Nehra doing the rest.
Number one is still a distant dream: Saina
New Delhi, July 04: She is inching closer to being among the world's top five and is tipped to be number one in the next couple of years but ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal says being numero uno is still a very distant dream.
The legendary Prakash Padukone considers Saina talented enough to be at the top in the next two years but the 20-year-old doesn't want to aim so high right now.
"Prakash sir has been very encouraging, I also want to be the number one but I don't want to think about that now. I would have to be at my best to achieve that. I have to be consistent and win back-to-back tournament," Saina said after going up a rung to sixth in the latest world rankings.
She has become the first Indian woman and third overall, after Pullela Gopichand and Padukone, to achieve such a ranking.
"Once I crack the top-five, I will set my eyes on the top three and then may be with time, the number one target will come. But it is too distant a dream right now and so I think I should concentrate more on my game," the Hyderabadi added.
The Indonesian Open champion said she is in good form and wants to beat higher-ranked rivals more often to boost her confidence.
"I am playing very well now and wining matches. I am happy that I reached the sixth spot but my main focus is to play more top ranked players and beat them. Once I do that consistently, the ranking will automatically go up," Saina said.
Saina would be seeded at the World Badminton Championship in Hyderabad next month and the star shuttler said she expects to get a good draw.
"The ranking is important now because the World Badminton Championship is just a month away and with this ranking, I will be seeded now and I hope to get a good draw.”
"So this is one plus point but then there are many players outside the top-10 who are really good and I have to beat them to do well in the tournament," said Saina, who will start training from Monday.
After her win in the Indonesian Open, Saina has been compared with Gopichand and Padukone but the Hyderabadi girl says it is unfair to bracket her with such legends of the game.
"Gopi sir and Prakash Sir are the legends of the game. They have achieved so much in life and I have just started off. So comparing me with them is unfair.”
"I have learnt a lot from both of them and I feel really encouraged by their words. I would also like to reach such heights in life and achieve much more," she said.
Injured Murali out of Pakistan Test
Friday, July 03, 2009: Sri Lanka spin wizard Muttiah Muralitharan will miss what is expected to be an emotional return to Test cricket against Pakistan this weekend, officials said on Friday.
A knee injury has ruled 'Murali' out of Saturday's game at Sri Lanka's Galle International Stadium, the first Test between the two teams since a militant attack in Lahore, Pakistan, left eight people dead.
The two teams, however, recently contested the finals of the World Twenty20 in England that resulted in Pakistan beating Sri Lanka by eight wickets.
"Murali has picked up a knee injury and has been asked to rest for a while," team manager Brendon Kuruppu said.
Muralitharan, 37, currently holds the world record in Test cricket with 770 wickets. He is also the highest wicket-taker in one-day internationals with 505.
His place in the first of the three tests will be taken by either orthodox left-arm spinner Rangana Herath or rookie slow bowler Suraj Randiv Kaluhalmulla, a Sri Lanka Cricket official said.
The remaining two Tests will be played in Colombo followed by five one-day internationals and one Twenty20 game.
| 
