Melbourne, Jan 22 (PTI) Mahesh Bhupathi and Sania Mirza will not defend their mixed doubles title at the Australian Open due to a calf injury to the former.
Bhupathi suffered the injury on Monday while practicing and aggravated it during yesterday's men's doubles first round match which he lost along with his Belarusian partner Max Mirnyi.
According to Bhupathi, the doctor has advised him at least 10-day rest resulting in them pulling out of the first Grand Slam of the season.
With this pull out, Bhupathi's campaign is over at the Australian Open.
Sania Mirza is already out of singles but her challenge is still alive in the women's doubles event.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Aus Open: Bhupathi-Sania pull out of mixed doubles
IPL ties up with Google for ‘live’ streaming of 2010 season
IPL ties up with Google for ‘live’ streaming of 2010 season
Hockey India to give Rs 50,000 each to women players
HI interim president Vidya Stokes told reporters here that apart from Rs 50,000, the ad-hoc national body has requested the government to give each player Rs one lakh for their silver medal winning performance in last year's Asia Cup in Bangkok and gold in the inaugural Champions Challenge I in Kazan, Russia.
"We have requested the Sports Ministry to give each women player Rs one lakh as reward for their silver medal in Asia Cup," Stokes said.
"But as of now, we (HI) are immediately giving Rs 50,000 each all the 19 players of the camp for their outstanding performance last year."
"I have spoken to the coach and captain and they are very happy. We will issues the cheques as early as possible, she added.
Following in the footsteps of their male counterparts, the Indian women hockey players on Thursday protested the non-payment of their dues by wearing black armbands during the training session of Commonwealth Games preparatory camp in Bhopal.
The protesting women players have not received their dues since April last year, and hence the core group decided to sport black bands in protest in contrast against the men's team's move to go on strike.
The team has also opened a savings account in Bhopal branch of the Syndicate Bank and has asked hockey loving fans all over the country to support their cause.
TOI
Roger Federer charges into Australian Open third round
Watched by Britain's Prince William in the official box, the world's number one ripped through the 47th-ranked Hanescu in just one hour 39 minutes, winning 6-2, 6-3, 6-2.
Federer, bidding for his 16th Grand Slam title and fourth Australian Open here over the next fortnight, will now play Spanish 31st-seed Albert Montanes in Saturday's third round.
It was a stunning set of statistics for Federer in Thursday's match.
He broke Hanescu's serve five times and didn't drop his own serve, while hitting 52 winners, 28 of them with the forehand. Federer dominated the match points 96 to 64.
Hanescu has still to take a set off Federer in their four meetings as the Swiss legend stepped up a gear after his muddling opening round performance against Russian Igor Andreev on Tuesday.
His opening set loss to Andreev was the first time he had dropped a set in a first round Grand Slam match since the 2003 US Open.
Federer made his intentions known from the outset, breaking Hanescu's opening service and again in the eighth game to take the set in 34 minutes.
The Swiss great strolled through the second set, reeling off another service break in the eighth game to take a 2-0 sets lead.
He broke Hanescu in his opening two service games of the final set to coast to victory in quick time.
Federer is on track to face either former finalists, Lleyton Hewitt or Marcos Baghdatis, in the fourth round and a potential quarter-final with Russian sixth seed Nikolay Davydenko.
TOI
Bhupathi out of doubles, Paes and Sania advance
Melbourne, Jan 21 (PTI) Mahesh Bhupathi's reunion with Max Mirnyi began on a disappointing note as the fourth seeded duo made a stunning first round exit from the Australian Open even as Leander Paes and Sania Mirza notched up facile wins with their respective partners here today.
Paes and his Czech partner Lukas Dlouhy were the first to take the court and the third seeds didn't have much trouble in sailing past Czechs Leos Friedl and David Skoch 6-3 6-1 in the first round of the men's doubles event.
Paes and Dlouhy will next take on Lucas Arnold Ker of Argentina and Romania's Horia Tecau.
But the newly-formed combination of Bhupathi and Belarusian Mirnyi disappointed with a 4-6 4-6 loss to the unseeded German-Finnish pair of Michael Kohlmann and Jarkko Nieminen.
India thump Bangladesh to lead 1-0 in the series
India clinched the first cricket Test against Bangladesh with an emphatic 113-run victory to take a 1-0 lead in the two-match series here today, despite a rollicking century by wicketkeeper-batsman Mushfiqur Rahim that delayed the inevitable.
The Indians, who needed to pick up eight wickets on the last day, took just about two sessions to wrap up the game and make amends for their disappointing batting show in the first innings.
Chasing an improbable 415-run victory target, the hosts resumed on 67 for two and rode on Rahim's gutsy 101 and Tamim Iqbal's gritty 52 before folding for 301 in 75.2 overs.
Amit Mishra (4/92), Ishant Sharma (3/48), and Zaheer Khan (2/90) struck at regular intervals to bowl out the hosts at the Zohur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium.
The baby-faced Rahim threw his bat at everything hurled at him but that was merely a desperate attempt by a number seven batsman to delay the inevitable.
The diminutive stumper-batsman took 112 balls to hit his maiden Test ton - also the fastest by a Bangladeshi batsman - and was the last man out.
Both the teams now move to Mirpur for the last Test.
Rahim, who came in just before lunch when his side were 135 for five, took the Indian attack by the scruff of its neck, hitting 17 fours and a six.
With this win, India maintained their unbeaten record in Bangladesh. They have now won five out of six matches in Bangladesh, including a drawn Test in 2007.
The Test, which began with a war of words between the two sides after India's stand-in captain Virender Sehwag had described the hosts as an ordinary side, was also a memorable one for opening batsman Gautam Gambhir who became the only fourth batsman to have scored five successive Test tons.
Sachin Tendulkar also reached the milestone of becoming the only player to score 13,000 Test runs by notching up his 44th hundred, which also earned him the Man of the Match award.
An Indian batting collapse on the opening day of the weather-hit match provided some excitement but the Test ultimately ended on expected lines with the visitors scripting a comfortable win.
Chasing a stiff 415, Bangladesh needed 348 from the final day and once they were 136 for five at lunch any hopes of an improbable win had evaporated.
Wickets fell at regular intervals with the Indian bowlers applying pressure all day with some impressive show till came the tail.
Using the early movement of the ball due to foggy conditions, Ishant struck twice in the first hour conceding just 11 runs from his seven-over uninterrupted spell to give his side the stranglehold in the Test.
Ishant first removed key batsman Mohammad Ashraful (27) in the fourth over of the day with Rahul Dravid taking a fine catch at the second slip.
Bangladesh were 94 for four soon with Ishant striking again in his sixth over, trapping Raqibul Hossain LBW.
Sehwag introduced himself in place of S Sreesanth and immediately removed Tamim Iqbal to reduce Bangladesh to 135 for five.
Overnight batsman Tamim went for an unnecessary slash off a Sehwag delivery which shaped away after pitching on the off and the thick edge went straight to Dravid's safe hands at slip. Tamim, who who resumed the day on 23, faced 122 balls and hit six boundaries in his 52.
Bangladesh, who resumed the post-lunch session on 136 for five, showed no intention of digging their heel and trying to save the match.
Captain Shakib Al Hasan perished in the third over after lunch, foxed by an Amit Mishra googly which took the shoulder of his blade for Sehwag to take a head-high catch at silly point.
Mahmadullah (20) hit two fours in the same over of Zaheer Khan but the veteran Indian bowler had the last laugh as he removed the batsman in his next over with wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik collecting the faint edge.
Mishra struck twice in quick time to remove Shahadat Hossain (24) and Shafiul Islam (8) before he went on to end Rahim's heroics.
Source: PTI