Rotterdam: Top-seeded Roger Federer easily beat Nicolas Mahut 6-4, 6-4 in the first round on Wednesday to sail straight into the quarter-finals of the ABN Amro World Tennis Tournament. Federer's second-round opponent Mikhail Youzhny withdrew with a foot injury, giving the Swiss star a place in the last-eight. The 16-time Grand Slam winner next meets Jarkko Nieminen, who overcame Lukasz Kubot 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (2). Federer is making his first...
01:08 PM, Feb 16, 2012
Rotterdam, Netherlands: Paul-Henri Mathieu fought back from a set down on Monday to upset fourth-seeded Feliciano Lopez 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4 in the opening round of the ABN Amro World Tennis Tournament. Sixth-seeded Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine also went out in the first round, losing 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-2 to Lukasz Kubot of Poland. Mathieu, ranked 733 in the world after missing the entire 2011 season with a knee injury,...
04:36 PM, Feb 14, 2012
Rotterdam, Netherlands: Roger Federer says he was misunderstood and he did not blame Switzerland teammate Stanislas Wawrinka for their Davis Cup loss to the United States. In comments translated from French, Federer appeared to criticize Wawrinka's performances in the 5-0 first-round whitewash at the weekend. But speaking at a pre-tournament news conference on Monday at the ABN Amro World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam, Federer said there was no rift with...
04:34 PM, Feb 14, 2012
New Delhi: Brushing aside the controversy surrounding the exclusion of former India captains Rajpal Singh and Arjun Halappa from the team picked to play the Olympic qualifiers, the coach of the Indian mens hockey team - Michael Nobbs - says the team has been selected from the best available resources. Hockey India (HI) on Monday announced the squad of final 18, which didn't include the names of Rajpal and Halappa....
06:13 PM, Jan 31, 2012
Lausanne: The International Hockey Federation (FIH) has announced that Singapore will take the place of the United States at the hockey Olympic qualification tournament, to be held in New Delhi from February 18-26. Singapore, currently ranked 41 in the world, were contacted to join the six-team men's qualification group after the United States unexpectedly pulled out of the event. The US took the decision decision to withdraw primarily due to...
09:49 PM, Jan 27, 2012
New Delhi: India's young woman squash sensation Dipika Pallikal's hopes of winning a sixth WISPA title went up in smoke when she lost her title clash against Natalie Grinham of the Netherlands in the Tournament of Champions in New York on Thursday night. Pallikal, playing her ninth match in 10 days, looked too tired and foot-weary as she lost 4-11 3-11 3-11 in 25 minutes while playing the biggest match...
06:02 PM, Jan 27, 2012
New Delhi: Dipika Pallikal became the first Indian ever to reach the summit clash of a Silver event when she clinched a three-set thriller against New Zealand's Jaclyn Hawkes to march into the final of the Tournament of Champions squash meet in New York on Thursday. Seventh seed Pallikal, India's top-ranked female player, overcame a spirited challenge from fifth seed Hawkes to prevail 11-5 14-12 11-9 in the first semi-final...
08:43 PM, Jan 26, 2012
Wijk Aan Zee (Netherlands): Asian champion P Harikrishna put up another sterling show to beat Illya Nyzhnyk of Ukraine and stretch his lead to a full point after the end of the ninth round of the 'B' group of Tata Steel Chess Tournament here. Taking his tally to an impressive seven points out of a possible nine, Harikrishna made his tactics work again and Nyzhnyk had no clue what hit...
01:33 PM, Jan 25, 2012
Melbourne: A day after a rare crack opened up, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal quickly restored diplomatic relations. Nadal had criticized Federer for his unwillingness to speak out on issues affecting the men's game, allowing others to "burn themselves" as they seek improved conditions for players. After joining Nadal in the second round of the Australian Open with a win on Monday, Federer said "things are fine" between the two...
06:54 AM, Jan 17, 2012
Melbourne: Mardy Fish beat Austria's Jurgen Melzer 6-2, 4-6, 6-1 on Friday to move into the final of the Kooyong invitational tournament against Australian teenager Bernard Tomic. Fish has won twice at the exhibition tournament that is a traditional warm-up for the Australian Open, which begins on Monday at Melbourne Park. The 19-year-old Tomic, a Wimbledon quarter-finalist last year, beat Frenchman Gael Monfils to reach the final. Andy Roddick finished...
01:43 PM, Jan 13, 2012
Melbourne: Bernard Tomic moved into the final of the Kooyong exhibition tournament with a 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (2) win over Frenchman Gael Monfils on Thursday. The Australian teenager beat No. 7-ranked Tomas Berdych in his opening match and then controlled the first and third sets against Monfils in his second match at the invitational tournament. He'll next meet the winner of Friday's semifinal between American Mardy Fish and Austria's Jurgen...
11:19 AM, Jan 12, 2012
Mumbai: Cricket is no longer the bastion of elite gentlemen's clubs. The new crop of stars in Mumbai's cricket circuit has more humble origins. A school near the slums of Kurla is emerging as a tough opponent for many elite schools in the city. Students of the Al Barkat school started their victory march in the sport two years ago when the school floated a cricket team and made professional...
07:48 AM, Jan 09, 2012
New Delhi: Rising Indian shuttler Sourabh Varma cracked the top 50 in the latest world badminton rankings on Thursday, following his superb performance at the Syed Modi Grand Prix gold tournament last week. Sourabh, who finished runner-up at the season-ending tournament, jumped 22 ranking places to be placed at the 50th position in the rankings released on Thursday. The 20-year-old from Madhya Pradesh had a dream run in the prestigious...
08:24 PM, Dec 29, 2011
Lucknow: Giant-killer Sourabh Varma had to be content with a runner-up finish at the Syed Modi Memorial India Open Grand Prix Gold event, as he lost a fiercely-fought final to former World and Olympic champion Taufik Hidayat, here on Sunday. The unseeded Indian was locked in an intense battle which he lost 15-21, 18-21 in 46 minutes. Ranked 72 in the world, Sourabh was in his debut season on the...
09:40 PM, Dec 25, 2011
New Delhi: The Indian women's hockey team notched up a facile 4-1 win over Ireland to clinch the bronze medal in the four-nation tournament held in Parana, Argentina. Both the teams were locked 1-1 at half time but India came back strongly in the second session to fire three goals. The goal scorers for India were Jaspreet Kaur (penalty corner 7th min), Anuradha Thokchom (58th min), Vandana Katariya (68th min)...
02:54 PM, Dec 19, 2011
Abu Dhabi: After winning three Grand Slams, seven other titles and claiming the No. 1 ranking, Novak Djokovic briefly abandoned his strict diet to toast a season of triumph with a glass of wine. "More than one, actually," a smiling Djokovic said on Saturday. "It did not end up well the next day, but I did not have a practice so it was a good excuse." Djokovic went 70-6 for...
10:14 AM, Dec 18, 2011
New Delhi: Third seed James Willstrop of England notched up his 14th victory in 15 meetings against compatriot Peter Barker, with a convincing 11-4, 11-3, 11-3 win in their last-four clash at the 2011 Punj Lloyd PSA Masters squash tournament on Saturday. Willstrop also stretched his unbeaten run to 14 matches on the tour and will now take on fourth seed Gregory Gaultier of France in the final on Sunday,...
11:44 PM, Dec 17, 2011
New Delhi: Indian women's hockey team lost 1-3 to Argentina in the inaugural of the Four-nation tournament in the Argentine city Parana. India failed to score any goal in the first half while the hosts scored twice. Josefina Sruoga (11th min), Delfina Merino (22nd) and Rosario Luchetti (51st) scored for Argentina. Rani (39th min) pulled one back. Argentina controlled the proceedings in the first half with good all round display....
04:34 PM, Dec 15, 2011
New Delhi: Indian women's hockey team registered a 4-2 win via a penalty shootout against Ireland to clinch the bronze medal in the Four Nation hockey tournament held at Buenos Aires in Argentina. None of the teams could draw first blood in the first half as even after trying hard both the sides failed to score a single goal. In the 53rd minute, Harvey from Ireland converted a penalty corner...
11:43 PM, Dec 12, 2011
New Delhi: Italy has replaced Egypt in the men's London Olympics qualifying hockey tournament, to be held here in February next year. According to the initial draw released by International Hockey Federation, the first 2012 Olympics qualifying tournament to be held at Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium here from February 15-26 was to feature India, Canada, France, Poland, Egypt and the United States of America. But Egypt pulled out of...
07:15 PM, Dec 10, 2011
