SPORTS

Sania goes down fighting at Wimbledon

London: An extravagant Sania Mirza squandered four match points to crash out of the women’s singles of the Wimbledon championships as she lost her second-round match 0-6, 6-4, 7-9 to qualifier Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez here on Thursday.
Sania, seeded 32nd, wasted three match points in the 13th game of the third set, which allowed her opponent to stage a comeback and the Spaniard did it in style, backing her game by powerful service and intelligent tennis at net. Sania took long to get into her rhythm and within the first 21 minutes, the Indian had lost the first set without managing a single game.
The Indian then got her act together as she negotiated the attacking net game of Sanchez through some wonderful lobs. The second set, which again started on a dismal note as she dropped her serve, was remarkable for Sania as she displayed ample determination to stay in the hunt through improved tactics. Sania broke Sanchez in the sixth and 10th games to draw parity in the match.
Sania made a good start in the final set as she went up 4-2 by breaking Sanchez in the second and sixth games, but she nullified all the good work by handing two breakpoints in the seventh game after missing easy shots. Next two games went on serve and Sania earned her first match point in the 10th game when a Sanchez forehand sailed long. The Spaniard saved it through a brilliant forehand winner and followed it with another to ward off the threat. Sanchez then saved three more match points in the 13th game as Sania could not convert any of the chances as she preferred to hit hard rather than apply intelligence.

Women’s relay team books Beijing berth

Korat (Thailand): The Indian women’s 4x400 metres relay team, showing an incredible improvement of over four seconds from the previous leg, clocked 3:28.29 in the second meet of the Asian Grand Prix series here on June 26 to make sure of its berth in the Beijing Olympics.
Fielding the same quartet that clocked 3:32.55 at Bangkok just three days ago, India cracked 3:29 for the first time since the Athens Olympics. The team comprised Satti Geetha, Chitra, M. R. Poovamma and Mandeep Kaur.
Mandeep did not run the individual 400 metres, preserving herself for the more important — from the Indian team angle — longer relay. With Manjeet Kaur still recovering from her injury sustained at Madurai, it was left to Mandeep to take over the lead role.

I am honored to be invited for the match: Bhutia

Indian football team captain Baichung Bhutia is all geared up to play along with the likes of Didier Drogba, Kaka and Steven Gerrard in the international exhibition match on July 12 in Munich to raise funds for African children.
Baichung will play in the Goal 4 Africa match, to be kicked off by football legends Pele and Michael Platini, on the invitation of Goal 4 Africa ambassador and Dutch star Clearance Seedorf in the unique event inspired by Nobel laureate Nelson Mandela’s dream of “Education for all — all for education.”
“I am honored to be invited for the match. It is also an honor for the country. I am looking forward to play in the match,” Baichung said after Indian team’s workout during the ongoing camp for the AFC Challenge Cup. “I gather that Gerrard and Drongba will play there, but for the rest of the international players, I will be able to know later when the match nears,” he said.

Go to top