Djokovic to face Wawrinka in Australian Open semis Boxing India

HIMALAYAN MIRROR
GANGTOK, THURSDAY 29 JANUARY 2015
Djokovic to face Wawrinka in
Australian Open semis
Melbourne, Jan 28
(IANS) : World No.1
Novak Djokovic will face
Stanislas Wawrinka in the
Australian Open semifinals after defeating
Milos Raonic 7-6(5), 6-4,
6-2 here Wednesday
night.
Fans will be hoping for
another epic as Djokovic
and Wawrinka clash for
the third year in a row at
the Melbourne Park.
Two
years
ago,
Djokovic
denied
Wawrinka 12-10 in the
fifth set of their fourthround clash, but last year
the Swiss got his revenge
with a 9-7 fifth set victory
in the quarter-finals.
"I take a lot of confidence (into the match). I
try to carry that in every
next match, next challenge. Obviously I'm
going to play Stan, who is
the defending champion
here. We played five-set
matches at the 2013 and
'14 Australian Opens,"
said Djokovic.
"I'm going to be ready
for a fight. But knowing
that I have raised the level
of performance tonight,
and probably playing the
best match of the tournament so far is affecting
my confidence in a positive way. Hopefully I can
carry that into next one."
The
27-year-old
Djokovic is bidding to
become the second man in
history to win the
Australian Open for the
fifth time, joining Roy
Emerson.
The Belgrade native
won his first major title in
Melbourne in 2008 and
followed with three successive victories in 201113. He has a 48-6 match
record at the Melbourne
Park.
Djokovic is yet to drop
a set in a ruthless run. The
right-hander is through to
his 25th Grand Slam
semi-final, one behind
Andre Agassi on 26, the
fourth most in the Open
Era. The top-seeded
Djokovic improved to a 50 ATP career meetings
record against Raonic as
he dismissed the Canadian
in two hours.
The Serb was not at his
best in the first set, not
quite finding his timing
under the lights on Rod
Laver Arena. But a costly
forehand unforced error
from Raonic at 5-6 in the
tie-break - having just
saved two set points - gifted the Serb the opener.
From there, Djokovic
was clinical. He lost just
two points on serve in
each of the second and
third sets, while breaking
Raonic three times in
total.
"It was a close first set,
but I thought I had more
chances in the first set
than him. I managed to
stay tough and win the
crucial first set. Obviously
winning it in a tie-break
and making the break of
serve first game of the
second set was definitely
huge for me," said
Djokovic.
"I could start swinging
through a little bit more,
be more aggressive into
the court. After that first
game of the second set I
played a great match."
The 24-year-old Raonic
was looking to become
the first Canadian in history to reach the Australian
Open semi-finals. The
Toronto native reached his
first Grand Slam semifinal
last
year
at
Wimbledon, losing to
Roger Federer.
"I just think (the first
set) gave him a bit more
belief. I wish I would have
served better in certain
moments, but I didn't lose
because of my serve. He
just didn't allow me to
organise my game," said
Raonic.
"Even when he was
returning well, by the end
of the match he was doing
a good job of playing deep
and never allowing me to
go forward. Obviously if
Sania-Bruno enter
Australian Open semis
you watch the footage, he
was pretty much on the
baseline the whole time
and I was further back."
Boxing India introduces new
league, ranking system
New Delhi, Jan 28
(IANS) : Boxing India
(BI) Wednesday launched
the Indian Series of
Boxing (ISB) and introduced a national ranking
system following the conclusion of its second
Executive
Committee
Meeting (ECM).
The ISB - the new
national league - is a platform
for
grooming
pugilists and popularising
the sport in India. Male
boxers, across weight categories, will participate
and have a chance to win
prize money besides their
regular salaries.
ISB will act as qualifier
for the World Series of
Boxing (WSB) and this
qualification will give the
boxers an opportunity to
directly qualify for the
World Championships
and Olympics.
For the ranking system,
a core committee is
Cristiano Ronaldo
Suspended for Two
Matches
Madrid, Jan 28 : Real
Madrid star Cristiano
Ronaldo was handed a
two-game suspension on
Wednesday following his
red card in the 2-1 win
over Cordoba CF at the La
Liga weekend.
The prolific striker lost
his temper in the closing
stages of the game after
failing to make an impact,
kicking out and raising a
hand to strike Cordoba
defender Edimar in the
face, leaving referee
Alejandro Hernandez no
other choice but to dismiss
him,
reports
goal.com.
Ronaldo was quick to
apologise after the incident, while Edimar called
SPORTS 7
for La Liga's disciplinary
committee to show leniency, and the Portugal captain has escaped a lengthy
ban. The 29-year-old will
miss the La Liga games
against Real Sociedad and
Sevilla as a result of his
suspension.
Ronaldo has been in
sublime form for Madrid
in 2014-15, netting 36
goals in 31 appearances in
all competitions.
The former Manchester
United star's absence
means Ancelotti could
turn to promising youngster Jese Rodriguez, who
recently made his comeback after a lengthy spell
on the sidelines due to
injury.
Hockey Olympian
Jaswant Rajput dead
designing a chart that will
ensure that all boxers get
ranked on the basis of
their participation in various state, zonal, national
and international tournaments.
The purpose of the
ranking system is to bring
meritocracy and transparency which will give
the highest ranked boxers
a chance to represent the
country. Further, there
will be a grading system
such that boxers of vari-
ous ranking systems will
get permanent contracts.
“In the best interest of
the sport, the boxers and
the nation, it was imperative to take a decision and
introduce reforms to
transform the sport.
Introduction of the ISB is
one such reform that is
poised to bring in a new
boxing economy.
These reforms are
aimed at giving maximum
exposure to our pugilists
by providing a solid training platform and grooming them to perform well
at the international sporting events," BI president
Sandeep Jajodia said.
"Therefore, these new
reforms would not only
be
instrumental
in
enhancing the overall
popularity of the sport
and enhancing the skills
of the boxers but would
also ensure their financial
growth.”
Kenyan Kirui eyes Boston
Marathon with aim at Worlds
Nairobi, Jan 28 (IANS) :
Two-time world marathon
champion Abel Kirui is
keen to compete at the
Beijing
World
Championships in August.
However, his selection
depends on his performance at the Boston
Marathon in April. The
Olympic marathon silver
medallist will not be giving up on his quest to
make history as a threetime world champion,
reports Xinhua.
"It is not easy to make
the Kenyan team, especially now that younger
athletes are emerging. But
I still have something to
offer for the team and I
hope, I will be able to
prove it in Boston," said
Kirui.
The 32-year-old won in
2009 with a time of tow
hours and 06:54 minutes,
then defended his title
with a winning margin of
two minutes and 28 seconds - the largest ever
margin at the World
Championship event. He
won the silver medal in the
2012 Olympic marathon.
He has also won the
Vienna Marathon and was
runner-up at the 2007
Berlin Marathon.
But that will not matter
when he runs in Boston
where he will come up
against Boston champions
Meb Keflezighi, Lelisa
Desisa, Wesley Korir and
former world marathon
champion Patrick Makau.
Winners in Boston will
join the chase for the
lucrative World Marathon
Majors. The chase for the
2015 men's title will be
aggressive, with seven
men in the field holding
personal-best marathon
times under 2:05:30 and
ten men with times under
2:06:30.
Former world marathon
record-holder and two-
time Berlin Marathon
champion Makau leads the
group. Makau recently
won the challenging 2014
Fukuoka Marathon and is
also a past winner of
marathons in Frankfurt
and Rotterdam. Desisa,
the 2013 Boston Marathon
champion and 2013 World
Championships Marathon
silver medallist, is also a
strong contender for the
crown.
Kiran leads in Hero women's golf
Melbourne, Jan 28
(IANS) : Top-seeded
mixed doubles duo Sania
Mirza and Bruno Soares
marched in to the semifinals of the Australian
Open, beating local pair
Casey Dellacqua and John
Peers 6-2, 6-2 in a lasteight
match
here
Wednesday.
The Indo-Brazilian pair
started the match on a
bright note, breaking their
opponents twice to claim
the first set 6-2 in just 23
minutes at Melbourne
Park.
They continued their
ascendancy in the second
set leading 4-2, going on
to win the second set by
an identical first set score,
taking a mere 30 minutes
to claim the second set on
Court 2. The victors hit 18
winners and committed 10
unforced errors on their
way to victory. They are
scheduled to play the win-
ner of the quarter-final
between third seeds
Kristina Mladenovic of
France and Canada's
Daniel Nestor and fifth
seeds Cara Black of
Zimbabwe and Juan
Sebastian
Cabal
of
Colombia.
Meanwhile in boys' singles, India's Sumit Nagal
went down to Australia's
Marc Polmans 1-6, 1-6 in
the third round in just 45
minutes.
Jobs for National Games
medallists from Kerala
Thiruvananthapuram,
Jan 28 (IANS) : Kerala
Chief Minister Oommen
Chandy Wednesday said
sportspersons from the
state who win medals at the
35th National Games will
be offered government
jobs.
"We have decided to
offer government jobs to
all the medal winners of
our Kerala team in individual events. Medal winners
include all the three -- gold,
silver and bronze," said
Chandy.
The 35th National
Games will be held at 30
venues across seven dis-
tricts in the state Jan 31Feb 14. The Kerala government is racing against time
to complete the construction of new venues.
The Indian Olympic
Association (IOA) has
appreciated the state government for making all the
arrangements in time.
Kolkata, Jan 28 (IANS) :
Former Olympic gold
medal-winning hockey
player Jaswant Singh
Rajput Wednesday died at
a city hospital following
prolonged illness.
"He had been suffering
from a chest infection and
was quite serious for the
past two weeks. He died
Wednesday morning at a
city hospital.
He was aged 86,"
Bengal
Hockey
Association (BHA) assistant secretary Khalid
Hussain told IANS.
Rajput, who played both
as a left-half and centrehalf, was part of the hockey team which won independent India's first
Olympic gold at the 1948
London Games and a
squad member of the gold
medal-winning team at the
1952 Helsinki Olympics.
Born in Delhi, Rajput
picked up the game during
his school days before
shifting base to Kolkata.
He started off as a left-half
but later in his career preferred playing from the
centre and was known for
his excellent dribbling
skills and ball-control.
Kolkata, Jan 28 (IANS) :
English golfer Kiran
Matharu played out an
even par round on Day 1
of the third leg of the
Hero-RCGC Women’s
Professional
Golf
Championship at the
Royal Calcutta Golf Club
to lead after Round 1 here
Wednesday.
Order of Merit leader
Vani Kapoor is second
with a score of one over
73 while Chandigarh's
Amandeep Drall ended at
third place.
Kiran began on a cautious note, carding a solitary birdie on the fourth
hole in the front nine as
opposed to two bogeys.
She played a more controlled back nine with
birdies on the 15th and
17th holes and had just a
single bogey on the 18th.
She finished with a score
of par 72 after 18 holes.
Vani had an inconsistent
front nine carding a bogey
on the first hole but came
back strongly to card three
consecutive birdies on the
second, third and fourth.
However, a double
bogey on the fifth cost her
dearly. She followed it
with a birdie but had two
more bogeys on the seventh and ninth. After an
erratic front nine, she
seemed to settle down and
played an even par back
nine. Amandeep finished
with 2 over 74. She had
birdies on the ninth and
15th and bogeys on the
third and 10th. She also
carded a double bogey on
the seventh.
Sharmila Nicollet made
a cautious comeback as
she finished on 3 over 75
to be placed fourth. She
carded bogeys on the third
and seventh and a double
bogey on the ninth. Her
lone birdie came on the
13th.
Kolkata's Smriti Mehra
and Neha Tripathi finished at tied fifth with
identical scores of 4 over
76. Delhi's Ankita Tiwana
and Gauri Monga are tied
seventh, finishing at 5
over 77.

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