Filed under: Sania Mirza
Indian tennis ace Sania Mirza lost a tight three setter to 28-year old Frenchwoman Virginie Razzano in the first round of Wimbledon.Razzano, a 12-year pro on the WTA circuit is a former top 20 player who mad the fourth round here on her last visit to SW19 in 2009.Mirza had her chances in the first set having served for it at 5-4 before losing it in a tiebreak.Sania raced through the second 6-2 in just 37 minutes,but was no match for the skill of the veteran in the final set as she capitulated to a 7-6(4),2-6,6-3 defeat.As her reward Razzano will next face the winner of the match between world no.1 Caroline Wozniacki and Arantxa Parra Santonja of Spain.The opening set had some enormous momentum swings with Mirza jumping to a 3-0 lead with a double break courtesy of a slew of unforced errors from the notoriously slow starting Frenchwoman.Razzano broke back though immediately to keep her interest alive in the set and get herself on the board.The next five games all went with the server leaving Mirza the opportunity to serve for the set at 5-4.Sadly,Sania’s serve let her down when the moment of truth arrived as Razzano earned two break points,eventually needing just the one to draw level at 5-5 in the opening set.Normal business resumed thereafter with the women settling for a tiebreak to decide their fortunes.The opening 9 points of the breaker also went with serve,leaving Mirza with two serves to follow at 4-5 to decide her fate.Once again though a couple of indifferent points,one a winner from Razzano and the other an unforced error from Sania saw the Frenchwoman steal the set 7-4 despite having been behind for the lion’s share of it.Credit to the young Indian though as she came out all guns blazing in the second set putting the disappointment of losing the first set behind her very quickly.Mirza saved a couple of break points in the opening game before taking her first chance on the Razzano serve to sneak ahead 2-0.The games continued to be close over the rest of the set with Mirza keeping her nose in front by holding serve despite some inconsistent bouts of Razzano pressure.Razzano served to stay in the set at 2-5 and duly broken a second time as Mirza closed out the set 6-2.The second set stats made remarkable reading with Mirza winning just 9 points on the Razzano serve all set,but amazingly putting 8 of them together to break serve twice.The Indian helped her own cause by landing a high percentage of first serves which crucially allowed her to get through the set without dropping serve.The final set saw a complete transformation in play with Razzano suddenly becoming the more aggresive player racing through her opening three service games for the loss of only three points while heaping tons of pressure on the Mirza serve.It all came to fruition in the crucial 7th game which turned out to be not just an instant classic but also the decisive moment in the contest.Despite saving a host of break points,Sania finally dropped serve for 3-4.Razzano crucially conssolidated the break with a hold to love before ensuring that she would not need to serve for the match by squeezing out the contest on the Mirza serve.Mirza will now turn her attention to the women’s doubles where she teams up with Elena Vesnina of Russia to take on the American-Russian pairing of Melanie Oudin and Anna Chakvetadze in the first round.Mirza and Vesnina finished runners-up in the Final of the French Open last month.Later today,India’s no.1 male tennis player Somdev Dewarman will make his Wimbledon main draw debut against Germany’s Denis Gremelmayr.The pair have never met previously.
Final Score:
Virginie Razzano(FRA) d.Sania Mirza(IND) 76(4)26 63
Filed under: Uncategorized
India grabs I.C.C World Cup 2011 after 23 years. In 1983 Kapil Dev In 2011 Mahindra Singh Dhoni
Filed under: Uncategorized
Gautam Gambhir and MS Dhoni’s stellar partnership paved the way for India to end its 28-year wait for a World Cup title even as Mahela Jayawardene’s century and Muttiah Muralitharan’s swansong ended in hurt and despair.
Chasing a target of 275, India were pegged on the back foot as early as the second ball of their innings when Lasith Malinga trapped Virender Sehwag plumb in front, and though the Indian opener asked for a referral, it was upheld. Malinga then struck again in the seventh over when he had Mumbai’s icon Sachin Tendulkar caught behind in the seventh over. But, the title was sealed when Dhoni hit the first ball of the 49th over for a massive six to put the icing on the cake and send a billion people into raptures.
And, to make things even sweeter for India, Yuvraj Singh was named Man of the Series for his 15 wickets and 362 runs. This win has also completed the career CV of Tendulkar, who didn’t contribute to the final as much as he may have liked to, but his innings in the lead-up to the final, not least in the semi-finals against Pakistan, It was also the perfect send-off for coach Gary Kirsten, who has now ended his tenure with the Indian team.
Coming back to the loss of those two early wickets, Gambhir and Kohli got the run chase back on track with a 83-run partnership as the Delhi boys got India right back into the match taking minimal risks and milking the Sri Lankan bowling to the fullest. And, even after Kohli was caught off his own bowling by Dilshan, Dhoni and Gambhir took the chase forward.
Dhoni has not been in the best of forms with the bat in the World Cup, but he potentially played the knock of his career in the final as he remained unbeaten on a 79-ball 91 and shared in a 109-run partnership with Gambhir as they snuffed the fight out of the Sri Lankan attack and broke their spirit with each run they made. And, even though Gambhir was bowled going for a massive hit when on 97, India wasn’t denied to be a win and it was fitting that Dhoni and Yuvraj, who have shared in so many monumental partnerships were in the middle, when the mission was finally achieved.
Malinga (2-42) made the early dents, but wasn’t able to make any more inroads in his subsequent overs. But, however, the most telling blows was felt by the Sri Lankan spinners, Suraj Randiv and Muralitharan, who bowled 17 overs for 82 runs without taking a wicket; and that’s really where Sri Lanka lost the match and plot.
Earlier, Jayawardene scored his 14th one-day international century as his unbeaten 103 helped Sri Lanka set India a target of 275 to win the final of the 2011 World Cup at Mumbai’s packed Wankhede Stadium.
Jayawardene was the anchor in Sri Lanka’s innings as he scored at more than a ball without taking too many risks and he also strung together important partnerships with his skipper Kumar Sangakkara, Thilan Samaraweera, Nuwan Kulasekara and Thisara Perera to negate the good work done early in their innings by Indian pace spearhead Zaheer Khan, who bowled three maiden overs on the trot at the start of the match.
Sreesanth, who shared the new ball with Zaheer, bowled reasonably well in his first two overs, but Tillakaratne Dilshan it him for a couple of boundaries over midwicket and to the midwicket boundary to break the shackles the left-arm pacer had sprung on the Sri Lankan opening batsmen. In between, Zaheer had Upul Tharanga caught by Virender Sehwag at first slip. Tharanga was all at sea against Zaheer and was beaten on more than one occasion; in fact the Sri Lankan opening batsman was unable to score a single run off the 18 deliveries he faced of Zaheer before he was put out of his misery. Zaheer’s first spell figures read 5-3-6-1 and he was the main reason Sri Lanka scored only 31 for 1 in their mandatory power play, their lowest score in this spell of play in the entire tournament. Zaheer’s bowling apart, exceptional fielding by Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina at point and cover point respectively further…
Filed under: Uncategorized
Gautam Gambhir and MS Dhoni’s stellar partnership paved the way for India to end its 28-year wait for a World Cup title even as Mahela Jayawardene’s century and Muttiah Muralitharan’s swansong ended in hurt and despair.
Chasing a target of 275, India were pegged on the back foot as early as the second ball of their innings when Lasith Malinga trapped Virender Sehwag plumb in front, and though the Indian opener asked for a referral, it was upheld. Malinga then struck again in the seventh over when he had Mumbai’s icon Sachin Tendulkar caught behind in the seventh over. But, the title was sealed when Dhoni hit the first ball of the 49th over for a massive six to put the icing on the cake and send a billion people into raptures.
And, to make things even sweeter for India, Yuvraj Singh was named Man of the Series for his 15 wickets and 362 runs. This win has also completed the career CV of Tendulkar, who didn’t contribute to the final as much as he may have liked to, but his innings in the lead-up to the final, not least in the semi-finals against Pakistan, It was also the perfect send-off for coach Gary Kirsten, who has now ended his tenure with the Indian team.
Coming back to the loss of those two early wickets, Gambhir and Kohli got the run chase back on track with a 83-run partnership as the Delhi boys got India right back into the match taking minimal risks and milking the Sri Lankan bowling to the fullest. And, even after Kohli was caught off his own bowling by Dilshan, Dhoni and Gambhir took the chase forward.
Dhoni has not been in the best of forms with the bat in the World Cup, but he potentially played the knock of his career in the final as he remained unbeaten on a 79-ball 91 and shared in a 109-run partnership with Gambhir as they snuffed the fight out of the Sri Lankan attack and broke their spirit with each run they made. And, even though Gambhir was bowled going for a massive hit when on 97, India wasn’t denied to be a win and it was fitting that Dhoni and Yuvraj, who have shared in so many monumental partnerships were in the middle, when the mission was finally achieved.
Malinga (2-42) made the early dents, but wasn’t able to make any more inroads in his subsequent overs. But, however, the most telling blows was felt by the Sri Lankan spinners, Suraj Randiv and Muralitharan, who bowled 17 overs for 82 runs without taking a wicket; and that’s really where Sri Lanka lost the match and plot.
Earlier, Jayawardene scored his 14th one-day international century as his unbeaten 103 helped Sri Lanka set India a target of 275 to win the final of the 2011 World Cup at Mumbai’s packed Wankhede Stadium.
Jayawardene was the anchor in Sri Lanka’s innings as he scored at more than a ball without taking too many risks and he also strung together important partnerships with his skipper Kumar Sangakkara, Thilan Samaraweera, Nuwan Kulasekara and Thisara Perera to negate the good work done early in their innings by Indian pace spearhead Zaheer Khan, who bowled three maiden overs on the trot at the start of the match.
Sreesanth, who shared the new ball with Zaheer, bowled reasonably well in his first two overs, but Tillakaratne Dilshan it him for a couple of boundaries over midwicket and to the midwicket boundary to break the shackles the left-arm pacer had sprung on the Sri Lankan opening batsmen. In between, Zaheer had Upul Tharanga caught by Virender Sehwag at first slip. Tharanga was all at sea against Zaheer and was beaten on more than one occasion; in fact the Sri Lankan opening batsman was unable to score a single run off the 18 deliveries he faced of Zaheer before he was put out of his misery. Zaheer’s first spell figures read 5-3-6-1 and he was the main reason Sri Lanka scored only 31 for 1 in their mandatory power play, their lowest score in this spell of play in the entire tournament. Zaheer’s bowling apart, exceptional fielding by Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina at point and cover point respectively further…
Filed under: Uncategorized
Gautam Gambhir and MS Dhoni’s stellar partnership paved the way for India to end its 28-year wait for a World Cup title even as Mahela Jayawardene’s century and Muttiah Muralitharan’s swansong ended in hurt and despair.
Chasing a target of 275, India were pegged on the back foot as early as the second ball of their innings when Lasith Malinga trapped Virender Sehwag plumb in front, and though the Indian opener asked for a referral, it was upheld. Malinga then struck again in the seventh over when he had Mumbai’s icon Sachin Tendulkar caught behind in the seventh over. But, the title was sealed when Dhoni hit the first ball of the 49th over for a massive six to put the icing on the cake and send a billion people into raptures.
And, to make things even sweeter for India, Yuvraj Singh was named Man of the Series for his 15 wickets and 362 runs. This win has also completed the career CV of Tendulkar, who didn’t contribute to the final as much as he may have liked to, but his innings in the lead-up to the final, not least in the semi-finals against Pakistan, It was also the perfect send-off for coach Gary Kirsten, who has now ended his tenure with the Indian team.
Coming back to the loss of those two early wickets, Gambhir and Kohli got the run chase back on track with a 83-run partnership as the Delhi boys got India right back into the match taking minimal risks and milking the Sri Lankan bowling to the fullest. And, even after Kohli was caught off his own bowling by Dilshan, Dhoni and Gambhir took the chase forward.
Dhoni has not been in the best of forms with the bat in the World Cup, but he potentially played the knock of his career in the final as he remained unbeaten on a 79-ball 91 and shared in a 109-run partnership with Gambhir as they snuffed the fight out of the Sri Lankan attack and broke their spirit with each run they made. And, even though Gambhir was bowled going for a massive hit when on 97, India wasn’t denied to be a win and it was fitting that Dhoni and Yuvraj, who have shared in so many monumental partnerships were in the middle, when the mission was finally achieved.
Malinga (2-42) made the early dents, but wasn’t able to make any more inroads in his subsequent overs. But, however, the most telling blows was felt by the Sri Lankan spinners, Suraj Randiv and Muralitharan, who bowled 17 overs for 82 runs without taking a wicket; and that’s really where Sri Lanka lost the match and plot.
Earlier, Jayawardene scored his 14th one-day international century as his unbeaten 103 helped Sri Lanka set India a target of 275 to win the final of the 2011 World Cup at Mumbai’s packed Wankhede Stadium.
Jayawardene was the anchor in Sri Lanka’s innings as he scored at more than a ball without taking too many risks and he also strung together important partnerships with his skipper Kumar Sangakkara, Thilan Samaraweera, Nuwan Kulasekara and Thisara Perera to negate the good work done early in their innings by Indian pace spearhead Zaheer Khan, who bowled three maiden overs on the trot at the start of the match.
Sreesanth, who shared the new ball with Zaheer, bowled reasonably well in his first two overs, but Tillakaratne Dilshan it him for a couple of boundaries over midwicket and to the midwicket boundary to break the shackles the left-arm pacer had sprung on the Sri Lankan opening batsmen. In between, Zaheer had Upul Tharanga caught by Virender Sehwag at first slip. Tharanga was all at sea against Zaheer and was beaten on more than one occasion; in fact the Sri Lankan opening batsman was unable to score a single run off the 18 deliveries he faced of Zaheer before he was put out of his misery. Zaheer’s first spell figures read 5-3-6-1 and he was the main reason Sri Lanka scored only 31 for 1 in their mandatory power play, their lowest score in this spell of play in the entire tournament. Zaheer’s bowling apart, exceptional fielding by Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina at point and cover point respectively further…
Filed under: World Cup 2011
ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 schedule and Cricket World Cup 2011 fixtures are given below
Match Date Teams Venue
1 19 Feb India vs Bangladesh Dhaka
2 20 Feb New Zealand vs Kenya Chennai
3 20 Feb Sri Lanka vs Canada Hambantota
4 21 Feb Australia vs Zimbabwe Ahmedabad
5 22 Feb England vs Netherlands Nagpur
6 23 Feb Pakistan vs Kenya Hambantota
7 24 Feb South Africa vs West Indies New Delhi
8 25 Feb Australia vs New Zealand Nagpur
9 25 Feb Bangladesh vs Ireland Dhaka
10 26 Feb Sri Lanka vs Pakistan Colombo
11 27 Feb India vs England Kolkata*
12 28 Feb West Indies vs Netherlands New Delhi
13 28 Feb Zimbabwe vs Canada Nagpur
14 1 Mar Sri Lanka vs Kenya Colombo
15 2 Mar England vs Ireland Bangalore
16 3 Mar South Africa vs Netherlands Mohali
17 3 Mar Pakistan vs Canada Colombo
18 4 Mar New Zealand vs Zimbabwe Ahmedabad
19 4 Mar Bangladesh vs West Indies Dhaka
20 5 Mar Sri Lanka vs Australia Colombo
21 6 Mar India vs Ireland Bangalore
22 6 Mar England vs South Africa Chennai
23 7 Mar Kenya vs Canada New Delhi
24 8 Mar Pakistan vs New Zealand Pallekelle
25 9 Mar India vs Netherlands New Delhi
26 10 Mar Sri Lanka vs Zimbabwe Pallekelle
27 11 Mar West Indies vs Ireland Mohali
28 11 Mar Bangladesh vs England Chittagong
29 12 Mar India vs South Africa Nagpur
30 13 Mar New Zealand vs Canada Mumbai
31 13 Mar Australia vs Kenya Bangalore
32 14 Mar Pakistan vs Zimbabwe Pallekelle
33 14 Mar Bangladesh vs Netherlands Chittagong
34 15 Mar South Africa vs Ireland Kolkata
35 16 Mar Australia vs Canada Bangalore
36 17 Mar England vs West Indies Chennai
37 18 Mar Sri Lanka vs New Zealand Mumbai
38 18 Mar Ireland vs Netherlands Kolkata
39 19 Mar Australia vs Pakistan Colombo
40 19 Mar Bangladesh vs South Africa Dhaka
41 20 Mar Zimbabwe vs Kenya Kolkata
42 20 Mar India vs West Indies Chennai
43 23 Mar First Quarterfinal Dhaka
44 24 Mar Second Quarterfinal Colombo
45 25 Mar Third Quarterfinal Dhaka
46 26 Mar Fourth Quarterfinal Ahmedabad
47 29 Mar First Semifinal Colombo
48 30 Mar Second Semifinal Mohali
49 02 Apr FINAL Mumbai
*To be confirmed. Most probably it would be played in M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru (Bangalore).
Filed under: Sania Mirza
Falling in love at first sight in not new, but ever heard of falling in love in the third one? Well, that’s the case as far as the newly married cross-border sports couple Sania Mirza and Shoaib Malik are concerned.
Appearing before the media for the first time since their controversial, yet news headline dominating wedding, Indian tennis sensation Sania Mirza and Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik disclosed that their love for each other was of a different kind.
A visibly happy and vibrant Sania told ‘anxious’ media persons she had met Malik for the first time in 2004, but the meeting lasted for only two minutes at a restaurant in Hobart.
The very next day Shoaib along with former fast bowler Waqar Younis came to watch her match where she found the ‘all-rounder’ Malik ‘very simple’ and ‘attractive.’
But when did they decide to take the marital vows? It was after Mirza’s engagement with childhood friend Sohrab Mirza crashed, said the giggling tennis ace, and also made it clear that Shoaib did not propose to her.
“It was decided from both sides,” Sania said.
Sania said now that they are married, she wants to forget all the hullabaloo surrounding her wedding lead a happy life.
Responding to a question, she made it clear she would continue supporting her homeland in future India-Pakistan encounter on the cricket field, but was quick to add that she would want her hubby to hit a century.
While Sania did much of the talking, Shoaib, though unwanting, responded to some questions.
Replying to a question, Shoaib clarified that Sania would play ‘only’ for India and she would have the good wishes of Pakistan.
Filed under: Sania Mirza
“I wasn’t marrying a Pakistani. I was marrying a person I liked and he was marrying a person.”
This was Indian tennis ace Sania Mirza response in her first media interaction, four days after she tied the knot with Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik(28), when asked about her cross-border marriage that hogged media limelight for days.
“It didn’t matter if he (Shoaib) was from Timbuktu. He could have been from anywhere,” Sania (23) said.
“I was marrying a person, not a Pakistani, people try to make it political but we were very clear that we were two individuals who were getting married just like normal people… Everyone had an opinion… but the most important thing is that now we are relieved as we are married,” she said.
Sania said now that they are married, she wants to forget all the hullabaloo surrounding her wedding and lead a happy life.
Filed under: Sania Mirza
Cricketer Shoaib Malik and his Indian wife Sania Mirza are to be declared as brand ambassadors of Pakistan’s population welfare ministry, it was announced here Wednesday.
Population Welfare Minister Firdous Ashiq Awan made the announcement while speaking to reporters here Wednesday before leaving for India on a five-day official visit, during which she will also attend the newly-married couple’s wedding reception.
She expressed the hope that the pair would play their role in controlling the high birth rate in both India and Pakistan, Online news agency reported.
Responding to a question, the minister said the marriage of Shoaib and Sania would help to revive the stalled sub-continental peace talks.
She said a ‘historical reception’ would be accorded to Shoaib and Sania on their arrival in Pakistan.
Speaking about her engagements in India, Awan said she would be meeting Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar, Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad and Sports and Youth Affairs Minister M.S. Gill.
Awan is visiting India at Azad’s invitation.
Filed under: Sania Mirza
The sangeet ceremony of the newly-wed Indian tennis star Sania Mirza, who tied the knot with Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik earlier in the week, was today held at a city hotel here.
Both Sania and Shoaib, who got married on Monday, attended the ceremony.
Sania’s outfit for the occasion was designed by Shantanu and Nikhil, while Shoaib’s dress was gifted to his newly-wed wife’s family members, the tennis player’s spokesperson said.
The guests had a lively evening as some enthralling music was played out on the occasion.
The menu for the evening included a lavish spread of about seven starters, a salad counter, a kebab corner, 10 main course dishes and six deserts, the spokesperson added.
Former tennis players Jaideep Mukherjee and Akhtar Ali also attended the wedding celebrations.
