Li Na becomes the first asian to win a Women's French Open title

PARIS, June 4: China's Li Na became the first Asian player to win a grand slam singles title with a 6-4 7-6 (7/0) victory over defending champion Francesca Schiavone in the French Open final.

The sixth seed produced a brilliant display of precision tennis to end her opponent's 13-match winning run at Roland Garros in an hour and 48 minutes.

Schiavone mounted an impressive fightback after being comprehensively outplayed for a set and a half but Li raised her game again in the tie-break.

The Italian was a hugely popular winner last year with her joie de vivre and unpredictable game, mixing spins and slices in a way rarely seen in the women's game these days.

Li is a much flatter hitter who relies principally on power, but her on-court nous marks her out while she had also shown herself to be mentally very strong in wins over Petra Kvitova, Victoria Azarenka and Maria Sharapova.

With a 30-year-old taking on a 29-year-old for the first time since the Wimbledon final of 1998 between Jana Novotna and Nathalie Tauziat, much of the talk prior to the match had been about the value of experience.

India are World Champions; Nation rejoices

MUMBAI, April 2: After a 28 year wait, the Indian cricket team have finally scaled the ultimate summit in world cricket.

It was a night when battle hardened cricketers wept. The tears of joy were well worth the wait. Making history is never easy.

The jubilant scenes witnessed after India's emotion-driven World Cup triumph were unprecedented. A nation of 1.2 billion people rejoiced.

It was not surprising that the Indian celebrations in the field of dreams revolved around the inspirational Sachin Tendulkar. Coach Gary Kirsten too was the toast as the players sang and danced.

Someone who stays in the background, Kirsten had delivered with his player-friendly methods. Without being soft, he had managed to motivate the side. His reign had been a largely victorious one.

This had been a campaign where India found its feet gradually and peaked at the right time.

The side possessed resilience and depth, was predatory on the field. India also displayed fine end-game skills — a critical element of success.

This Indian team has managed to see motes of lights in darkness, scripted stirring comebacks. Resilience and belief have been the key words.

It can be extremely demanding to wear the tag of favourite and shoulder the burden of expectations right through a tournament of this magnitude. India did not wilt under pressure as it became the first side to win the premier ODI competition on its own soil.

It suited India to have Dhoni at the helm. He is a strong captain, has the ability to bring the team together in the manner of a leader.

His decisions may not always be popular but he is clear in his mind. With Dhoni, there are no half measures. There is a calmness about him in trying circumstances that soothes the nerves of his men. Yet, the aggression in his body language is unmistakable.

Dhoni's counter-attack in the summit clash stunned Sri Lanka. Promoting himself in the order to partner the left-handed Gautam Gambhir made cricketing sense, yet — given Yuvraj Singh's form, the move represented a gamble.

His explosive stroke-play powered India home in the final stretch. His bat-speed and powerful wrists came to the fore as he dismantled the Sri Lankan attack.

Confidence is a precious commodity and the Indian captain has this in plenty.

And Gambhir's sound technique and rapier-like strokes complemented Dhoni's power hitting. The left-hander made the right moves.

The value of Virat Kohli's determined innings and his partnership with Gambhir after Sri Lanka had made early inroads has to be acknowledged. This was the association that put India back on course.

Of course, Yuvraj was around with Dhoni when India whittled down the target and finally romped home.

Yuvraj has grown in stature. He has added steel to his natural ability and is comprehending situations better.

The heroic southpaw has taken immense responsibility on himself, guided the side on the chase with a blend of solidity and flair.

His numbers are impressive but Yuvraj's spirit travels beyond figures. He has taken flight at decisive moments with the willow, bowled his left-arm spin with the sort of control not associated with part-time bowlers and lifted his levels of fielding. He played with heart and passion.

And left-arm seamer Zaheer Khan dazzled with the ball. He went for runs at the death in the final but his crafty bowling was outstanding. His commitment gleamed like head-lights on an unlit highway.

Saturday's final marked the end of Muttiah Muralitharan's memorable international journey. Struggling with niggles he failed to impart his normal rip on the ball during the final.

The mercurial Lasith Malinga breathed fire at the start but Sri Lanka was let down by lack of quality in pace support for its spearhead. And the islanders missed variety in its spin combination. The classical Mahela Jayawardene's gem went unrewarded.

Sonia Gandhi joins cricket revellers at midnight

NEW DELHI: It was something of a public relations coup for the Congress, when party president Sonia Gandhi, in a surprise appearance, joined revellers on the streets of the national capital a little after midnight on Saturday to celebrate India's magnificent World Cup victory. She was quite clearly in sync with the public mood.

Cheering cricket fans crowding Bahadurshah Zafar Marg couldn't believe their eyes when they spotted Ms. Gandhi, beaming and waving at them excitedly from her Tata Safari. Traffic came to a standstill and people surged up to her to shake hands, as she shouted out: “Congratulations to everybody. We have won!” And, surprisingly, the usually oppressive security that rings her was absent.

Ms. Gandhi has, as party colleagues stress, been known to break protocol and reach out spontaneously to people. But this has usually been when she has been out campaigning — as she did during her Jansampark yatras — or when she when visiting the victims of a calamity. “Spontaneity is very much a part of her make up,” said Union Information Minister Ambika Soni.

“I have seen her during the Jansampark yatras reaching out, shaking hands with people, giving the security a scare. But this is also what recharges her batteries and gives her the energy to work for the people.”

But choosing the World Cup victory for a public appearance, Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh says on the telephone from Assam, “shows that she has inculcated the sense of being part and parcel of this nation completely. She looked more excited than when we formed the government! She totally reflected the people's mood in the country.”

Spontaneity is a word that crops up again in party's media chairman Janardan Dwivedi description: “This must be the spontaneous reflection of her inner feelings on India winning the World Cup.” Ms. Gandhi was, of course, also captured on film, cheering when India defeated Pakistan in the World Cup semi finals at Mohali last Wednesday, and last year when she was witness to India's sporting triumphs during the Commonwealth Games.

For senior party leaders who have accompanied Ms. Gandhi on her travels, her capacity to reach out, mingle and identify with ordinary people is not surprising. It is just that in Delhi it is very rare — the most she has been known to do is to come up to the barrier outside her 10 Janpath residence.

“But yesterday,” Ms. Soni points out, “she let her inner instincts decide her course of action; she identified herself with more than a billion people watching cricket on wayside screens across the nation, not just those watching the game from VIP boxes in Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium. And the newspaper reports suggest it was very much appreciated. She was thrilled with the Indian victory and she wanted to share her joy.”

Party colleagues said they had no idea that Ms. Gandhi would venture out on the streets.

But whatever the case, instinctive or planned, Ms. Gandhi's gesture worked because it had an element of spontaneity in it.

Given the bad news the party and the government has been dealing with in the last few months — from corruption to food inflation — Ms. Gandhi's identifying with a moment of total national joy on Saturday night demonstrated that when the occasion demands, her instincts are very sure. Just as it was when she renounced the Prime Ministership offer in 2004.

President Patil hosts reception for Team India

MUMBAI, April 3: President Pratibha Patil said watching the thrilling final of Cricket World Cup was a 'mesmerising' experience and lauded the 'tenacity and hard work' of the Men in Blue, hosted a "high tea" function in Mumbai in honour of victorious Team India.

Captain M S Dhoni and his boys reached Raj Bhavan for their first official welcome ceremony to celebrate the team's victory in the World Cup final after 28 years.

Maharashtra Governor K Sankaranarayanan, Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan and senior state ministers attended the event.

President Patil watched the World Cup final held at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai yesterday with her Sri Lankan counterpart M Rajapaksa.

India defeated Sri Lanka by 6 wickets in the final.

Paes-Bhupathi pair clinches Miami title, become World No. 1

MAIMI, April 4: Adding to the joy of India's cricket World Cup triumph, veteran tennis players Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi won their second title of the season by clinching the Sony Ericsson Open Miami to become number one in the ATP World Tour Doubles Team Rankings.

Third seeded Bhupathi and Paes rallied to beat second seeded Belarusian-Canadian pair of Max Mirnyi and Daniel Nestor 6-7(5) 6-2 10-5.

Paes had, in fact won the title even last year with Lukas Dlouhy but for Bhupathi it was his first career title at Crandon Park.

"The key (to us winning) was just fighting as a team. Like Leander said, we didn't play our best match of the week. All four of us were tentative in the beginning," said Bhupathi.

The Indian duo were up 6-5 in the first set but let it slip by conceding a break and never had a lead in the tie-break.

"We had a chance to win that set but we didn't take it -- threw away the breaker pretty much," Bhupathi said.

Bhupathi and Paes found their rhythm in the second set and were also helped by a double fault by Nestor in the fourth game. That enabled the Indians to take a 3-1 lead and they never looked back after that.

"My level dropped after the first set. We didn't get enough balls in play and they served better as the match went on. Max played well, so I feel bad about that. But we played against a tough team today," Nestor admitted.

The win takes the Indians ahead of World number one Bob and Mike Bryan for first place in the ATP Doubles Team Rankings and in the battle to qualify for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals.

It is Paes and Bhupathi's second team title of the year, following the Chennai Open at the start of the season.

"It's still early for us. The season is broken down into four segments -- this is just the first of them. If we're still No. 1 after the US Open, then we'll start getting excited," said Bhupathi.

Paes finished runner-up to Nestor and Zimonjic with Lukas Dlouhy last year at the French Open, after he and the Czech won it in 2009.

"We love playing on the dirt. We got a month off now to get ourselves physically fit and get ready for a lot of long matches on the clay," Paes said.

"The clay definitely helps us because we train so hard for it over the years but at the same time there are a lot of singles guys who play well on the dirt too. At the French Open, I think it's one of the hardest slams to win, but if we're physically right, I think it will be good," he added.

Interpol confirms terror threat to World Cup matches

ISLAMABAD, March 25: Interpol on Thursday confirmed fears of a possible terror attack on the ongoing cricket World Cup matches. Briefing journalists here, the secretary general of the international police organisation, Ronald K. Noble said Interpol identified, located and arrested a terrorist with the help of Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Maldives last week.

“Thanks to the cooperation of your country and other countries, we were able to make sure that the World Cup remains safe,'' Mr. Noble said, but did not reveal the nationality of the arrested terrorist. All he said was that the man was arrested on his way from Karachi.

Pakistan's Interior Minister Rehman Malik disclosed that the terrorist was not a Pakistani; adding that all details had been shared with India. Further, according to him, there was information to suggest that the Taliban was spreading its tentacles in India. Again, this had been brought to the notice of Indian authorities, he said.

While no mention of this was made at the joint press conference by Mr. Malik and Mr. Noble, a press release issued by Interpol on March 10 said a Maldives national wanted in connection with a 2007 terror bombing attack was arrested after his passport triggered an Interpol alarm as he travelled from Pakistan to the Maldives via Sri Lanka.

“Iqbal Mohamed, the subject of an Interpol Red Notice for internationally wanted persons issued at the request of the Maldives National Central Bureau, was identified by Interpol's Major Events Support Team deployed to Sri Lanka for the Cricket World Cup during a routine check of Colombo airport passenger manifests.”

Meanwhile, the Foreign Office said Pakistan had been assured by the Indian government that all measures had been taken to secure the World Cup matches in India; particularly the fixtures in which the Pakistani team was playing given the threats made against the team by certain organisations.

“Pakistan's High Commissioner in India has been in touch with the Indian government and we have been assured of the team's security,'' Foreign Office spokesperson Tehmina Janjua said, adding that when a country hosts such a big event, it takes responsibility for the security.

About the upcoming Home Secretary-level talks in New Delhi next week, Ms. Janjua said Pakistan would approach the meeting with an “open mind and constructive spirit.” Stating that dialogue is the only way forward, she said this dialogue must be “uninterrupted and uninterruptable.”

Italian Ambassador summoned on Jeev's coach's turban issue

NEW DELHI, March 24: India on Wednesday summoned the Italian Ambassador in New Delhi and lodged a strong protest against leading golfer Jeev Milkha Singh's coach being asked to take off his turban for the second time in last one week during security check at Milan airport.

Noting that the matter was being investigated to ascertain facts and responsibilities, the envoy Giacomo Sanfelice di Monteforte said the security guidelines had to be implemented keeping the religious sensitivities in view.

The Italian envoy met Vivek Katju, Secretary (West) in the Ministry of External Affairs, during which India registered the protest, saying religious sentiments of Indians need to be respected.

Responding to the Members in the Rajya Sabha on the incident, External Affairs Minister S M Krishna assured the House that the issue would be taken up with Italy and said "whenever there is an insult to Sikhs, we take it as national insult. We take it up in that spirit."

"He (Katju) conveyed our great unhappiness at the very serious incident. He asked the Ambassador to transmit our strong feelings to the highest level to the Italian authorities".

He said Italian government should be sensitive to the significance of the Sikh turban, to the Sikhs as community as well as to the Indian nation.

He said necessary sensitivity should be shown in such cases, official spokesperson Vishnu Prakash told reporters after the meeting.

After his meeting with the Secretary (West), the Italian envoy said "the matter is very disturbing. Already been brought to the highest level in Rome and Milano. Investigation is on to ascertain facts and responsibilities. To this, personally I add my deep regrets."

The envoy was called to the South Block, a day after Jeev Milkha Singh's coach Amritinder Singh was asked to take off his turban while undergoing a security check at the Milan airport, the second time in the last one week.

Amritinder, who was travelling with Jeev for the Sicillian Open tournament, was rudely told on 15th March by Milan airport by security officials that he could either remove the turban or not board the flight, which led to protest from the Indian government.

India had raised the issue with Italian government, to which they apologised at that time.

However, yesterday, the coach had to undergo the same ordeal even though he showed a letter of apology from the Italian Golf Federation for the first incident.

Krishna has already condemned the behavior of airport personnel at Milan, saying religious sentiments of Indians need to be respected.

Promising Talent at Cosmic Sports Center’s Tennis Tournament

By Deepak Arora

Photographs By Noyanika Arora

NEW DELHI, Feb 19: Cosmic Sports Center’s much-awaited In-House tennis tournament concluded on Saturday with a grand prize distribution ceremony at its precincts in South Delhi’s prestigious Rao Tula Ram College. Nearly 50 children of all age groups (5 years to 16 years) enrolled in the Cosmic Tennis Centre participated in the tournament that began on January 25 and concluded on February 19.

Speaking with TheTribuneOnline.com, Wg Cdr Karan Rai, Managing Director of the Cosmic Sports Centre, said the primary aim of this kind of tournament is to give each child irrespective of his/her age a feel of match play conditions.

While bigger boys/ girls keep participating in the tournaments at the National level from time to time, he said majority of other kids do not get to play matches officially before they attain certain age.

Wg Cdr Karan Rai said this year the In-House tournament had seven age groups and the children were placed in each group according to their standard of play. They played each other in their groups on a league basis to get a winner’s trophy. Though the tournament is full of fun and frolic yet it has its tense moments.

While those playing matches for the first time are very nervous to begin with, he said they, however, gained confidence as they play more and more matches. Those who won were seen rejoicing and there were scenes of some kids having tears in their eyes and running to their mothers for consolation.

“This is one way to initiate them to face tough situations in the field of tennis as well as in life later on,” added Wg Cdr Karan Rai.

At the conclusion of the tournament, each participant was given a trophy and a certificate irrespective of the fact whether he/she won or lost. Some children showed very promising talent. They were honoured with additional trophies.

Shubham Malhotra was winner of the Group One and Chaitanya Kapila was the finalist.

Similarly in Group Two, Kirti Vardhan was the winner and Mrinal Mukerjee. In Group Three, Mukul Tomar bagged the prize with Keshav Jayaraman as finalist.

In Group Four, Yeshasvi Vempati was the winner and Anindya Prusty was the finalist.

In Group Five, Vishal Kumar was the winner and Meher Kalra was the finalist.

In Group Six, Amandeep Singh Baha was the winner and Manvi Manaktala and Sarthak Sharma were the finalist.

In Group Seven, Avi Berry was the winner and Ayush Dubey was the finalist.

Winners of Promising Talent were Chaitanya Kapila, Nakul Kumbria, Kailash Jayaraman and Vedanti Tewari.

After the prize distribution, children and their parents approx a total of hundred were treated to a Tea/Soft Drinks and Snacks Party.

Cosmic Sports Centre conducts an In-House tennis tournament every year at its premises. This is besides organising National level tournaments from time to time which is open to all players in the country.

The tournament was organised by Wg Cdr Karan Rai, Managing Director of the Cosmic Sports Centre.