Did Serena get away?

“It is a joke” said tennis referee Charles Granville referring to the $2000 fine imposed on Serena Williams for lashing out at a chair umpire in the recently concluded US Open. Mr. Granville, father of American professional tennis player Laura Granville, said that suspending players rather than fining them would make the tennis players behave themselves on court. French newspaper journalist, Cecile Soler said that unless a player goes physical or swears at the officials, he or she should not be suspended. Soler said: “Taking the point away is the biggest thing and that was what the umpire did.”

Williams was down 30-40 in the first game of the second set against Australian Sam Stosur in the final match of the US Open. She then hit a crunching forehand and yelled “come on” before the ninth–seeded Stosur dived at the shot. Chair umpire Eva Asderaki assessed Williams a code violation and a point penalty that gave the game to Stosur. During the changeover, Williams called Asderaki a “hater”, a “loser” and “unattractive inside” saying: “you’re giving me a code violation because I expressed who I am? We’re in America, last I checked.”

Armand Diab, another tennis referee based in Chicago, said that suspension is the ideal punishment. However, he also said that suspension would not be a practical solution as that would mean incurring “lot of revenue loss” for the tournament. Diab said: “It (the fine) is not right or wrong, it’s business”. Diab then said that he had seen cases where men said a lot worse things and have got away with it.
Williams earned $900,000 for her runner-up finish in New York and $500,000 for winning the summer's Olympus US Open Series. Armand Diab described the $2000 fine as a “slap on the wrist” for Williams. Williams was on probation after she had threatened a line judge saying she was going to “shove a ball down her throat” in a semi-final match at the US Open in 2009. ITF president Francesco Ricci Bitti said “I don't think [suspending Williams] would make much sense because it would penalize the people handing out the punishment."

“What has happened in cricket has not happened in Tennis.” said Granville. Cricket, another British-originated sport, gives the ultimate authority to the on-field umpire. Cricketers are suspended if they don’t respect the officials. Granville then compared the incident to the “two-year ban on first violation” imposed on players who are tested positive for using illegal substances. Granville then likened the incident it to the time taken by players between points. “Do Nadal and Djokovic follow the 20-second rule between points? The importance of players has had a corrupting effect (on the tennis authority).”

Soler, who has been writing on Tennis for Le Figaro for 20 years, called the umpires to be “brave and make the right calls”. Diab, on the other hand, said: “I read the recent article on New York Times which said how poorly the umpires are paid at the US Open”. He said that the tennis officiating profession could be under threat.

US Open -preview

US Open Men’s Preview

Andy Murray, Scotland

Strengths:
• Killer double-handed back-hand. Best in the game right now
• Beat Federer and Nadal en route to winning the recently concluded ATP tournament at Montreal.
• Youngest among the quartet (Rafa, Del Po, Djokovic and himself), so there is a sense of less pressure on him. He is just about at the right age to start winning slams, he is young but has enough experience.
• In the form of his life. The way he beat Federer (in straight sets) in the Montreal Masters was astounding.
• Playing on hard-courts, that’s his favorite surface. He likes hard-courts more than grass surprisingly.
• Does not need to rely on his serve. His all-round game is not based around his service. Even if he is serving bad, he can make for it

Weaknesses
• Never won a Grand Slam before. Came twice in the final against Federer in US Open 2008 and Aus Open 2010 and lost in straight sets
• British media, British History, expectations. The last decent British player, Tim Henman was so hyped by the media that he could not handle it. They named a ‘Henman Hill’, kept on reminding him when the last British player won a major and how he has a chance to make history. The stupid British media will not shut up and Murray will have to live with it.
• Bad first-serve percentage. Even in the win over Federer in the Montreal masters, he was serving something like 55% on his first serves.


Rafa Nadal, Spain

Strengths:
• Ability to grind down opponents,
• Tremendous mental strength,
• Chasing down every ball without giving up,
• Heavy top-spin from his specially designed Babalot racquet are some obvious strengths of Nadal.

Weaknesses
• Does not like hard-courts. His technique is not as smooth as Federer and thus he exerts lot of pressure on his knees and ankles. Hard-courts can be very unforgiving on those joints making him injury-prone on this surface. This very thought (of getting injured) would mean he may not come out with his A-game.
• Reducing “lefty factor”. When he burst onto the scene, immortals like Federer did not know how to handle the heavy top-spin from the left handed-forehand onto their back-hand, especially on clay courts.
• Never won the US Open before. Has won all the other slams, including the Aus Open.

Roger Federer, Switzerland
Strengths:
• Been there, done it before, five times at the US Open and sixteen times otherwise
• Huge hit. He is always the crowd favorite wherever he goes. Federer’s opponents will have to live with that
• Change of style. As evident from the Montreal Masters and the Cincinnati open, Federer has started using chip n charge more often than he used to. With awesome hands at the net, he could be a handful.

Weaknesses
• Weak back-hand. As awesome and elegant it looks, there is no doubt that his back-hand is his weakness.
• Weak back-hand means he also has a weak return of serve when compared to the other top players.
• At 29, you get a feeling that he has achieved so much that there might a sense of , dare I say, complacency and lack of hunger as compared to say a Murray or a Nadal.

Roddick, USA
Strengths:
• Awesome serve. Best serve in the Men’s circuit. A-Rod needs to forget about first serve percentages and go flat-out. If he goes flat-out and gets 60% first serves in, that is better than him going conservatively and getting 70 -75 % first serves.
• Home ground, home support.
• Been there done it before. Not often can you say that about A-Rod, but the US Open 2003 is the only slam he has won in his career so far.
• Reducing expectations. There were such high expectations immediately after he won the US Open 2003, that one gets the feeling it got to him. Now, no one expects him to win the US. Can he do a Goran’01?
Weaknesses
• Over-reliance on serve. If he does not serve well, he is in hot-water.
• Conservative shot-making. Built like and ox, some of his shots are put-it-back-into-play shots. Needs to go for broke more often.
• Inexplicable losses of concentration, leading to loss of confidence. His loss to Mardy Fish at Cincinnati was unbelievable. He was up 5-2 in the second set and all-over Fish. Lost concentration and the set. Lost confidence and the match. (losing the final set 6-1)

Dark Clouds over Major Events in India

Concern of security is affecting sports events on regularly basis. Thanks to Indian Government for their efforts to alleviate the fears which have increased since IPL committee decided to host the event in South Africa as we didn't have enough police/army/nsg/crpf to give the security cover. Country with 3/4th largest army and big police force can't provide security cover to common people, that is for politicans only. 

GOI expected that BCCI will postpone the event but Modi was able to do a turnaround and get the event hosted in SA which will benifit hugely with the coming event.

But that decision as I also wrote earlier has put India-Pakistan-Bangladesh-Sri Lanka at same platform in terms of security concerns. Events are getting affected or main players are not turning up due to fear factor.

• Players from the European Nations particularly from the Badminton powerhouse countries like England,Denmark pulled out from the India Open Badminton (Hyderabad 2009) due to security concerns. Hyderabad is due to host world badminton championship in August this year
  
• ASIAN billiards is also hit by fears, players from countries Pakistan, Malaysia, South Korea and Iraq have pulled out from asian billiards and asian u-21 snooker championship.
• Davis Cup tie against Australia is already under threat after Lleyton Hewitt  raised concerns of having event in India during elections timings. 

I feel its not the terrorists who have held the common public to ransom its the politicans and elections which have held us to ransom. You have to vote its a biggest democratic exercise of the world with 700 million voting. 

Democracy is government for the people and by the people so the biggest elections are putting my National Pride at stake Why ?? . Image of my India is taking a beating. 

I guess the time has come to think What we have done for the country not What the politicians have done and are doing. 

Time for young guns to come over not those who spread communal voilence ...... 

ESPYS AWARDS

ESPYS are back again, 2007 nominations have been announced. Though most of us do not follow American games like NFL and NHL, but still we can participate in the ESPYS by voting in the following categories.

• Best International Male Athlete
• Didier Drogba
• Roger Federer
• Dirk Nowitski (NBA)
  
• Albert Pujols (Baseball)
  
• Best International Female Athlete
• Justine Henin
• Maria Sharapova
• Lorena Ochoa Golf
  
• Annika Sorenstam Golf
• Best Male Tennis Player
• Rafael Nadal
• Roger Federer
• James Blake
• Andy Roddick
• Best Female Tennis Player
• Justine Henin
• Maria Sharapova
• Serena Williams
• Jelena Jankovic

Technorati Tags
ESPYS2007
img: atptennis.com

Nadal Defeat and French Open Hopes

King of clay Nadal was dethroned last week by none other then king of grass Roger Federer. Federer finally overcame Nadal on clay in the final of the Hamburg Masters thus breaking the phenomenal 81 matches winning streak of Nadal on clay. Federer was unable to beat Nadal in previous 5 occasions on clay but finally on Sunday he showed his class on Clay court beating Nadal 26 62 60.

Now all eyes of tennis fans will move to the French open which begins on Sunday 27th May. Defeat of Nadal at the hands of Federer will give much needed confidence to beat Nadal, now players of the likes of Nikolay Davydenko, Fernando Gonzalez, Novak Djokovic , Tommy Robredro will go to Paris with positive hopes in the second major of year.


This win will also give Federer confidence as he is going through lean phase for the first time since he became no. 1 in 2004. Federer is struggling by his standards and this victory has come at a crucial time. But beating Nadal at his den will be very difficult.




Let's switch over to Paris for enthralling tennis. Will it be Nadal again or will Federer will overcome his nemises this time or will it be some one else may be Fernando, Davydenko : we will have to wait till 10th, but one thing is sure it will not as easy as last year, others have raised their bar to beat Nadal and Federer.
Will they be successful ??? Let's enjoy the beautiful game of tennis in beautiful city of Paris from our homes :)



Technorati Tags
Tennis FrenchOpen RogerFederer Nadal Robedro Fernando Paris

Federer Loses!!!

Yesterday night I hear the news that Federer has lost.(Sorry for my ignorance match happened on Sunday) at Indian Wells. I couldn't believe my ears. He lost to Argentine Guillermo Canas 75 62 thus ended his 41 matches winless streak just 5 matches short of setting a new open-era record for the longest winning streak.

Canas has come back after serving a 15month drug suspension, though he was banned for 2 years but he had successfully got that cut to 15 months. He argued that the substance was contained in medication given to him by tournament officials. The ban started in June 2005 and ended in September 2006 . This is his first Masters Series tournament since 2004 after his comeback from the suspension

Federer said

He was just a guy who put me away when he had to,"

Roger is 3730 points ahead of Nadal in the ATP ranking, the lead melt by 500 points but still stay huge. After all he is a human. Probably this will make the tournament more interesting in the sense that all others will fight for it otherwise Federer would have been way ahead of them to even think of beating as he was champion here for the last 3 years.


Read More

• BBC
• Human After All

Technorati Tags
Tennis Roger Federer Canas Guillermo

Federer Loses on way to Dubai Open Semis

Confused?
Federer has dropped sets in two matches in a difference of three days. Isn't it hard to believe ?
Yesterday he dropped a set for the second time in three matches but overcame Serbian teenager Novak Djokovic 6-3, 6-7 (6), 6-3 on Thursday to reach the semifinals at the Dubai Open. Two days back he also dropped as set to Denmark's Kristian Pless in his first-round match on Monday

He advanced to the semifinals along with Germany's Tommy Haas and Robin Soderling of Sweden. Federer will meet Haas in the semis and has beaten the ninth-ranked German in seven of their nine meetings.

Federer said after the match

“The ball was out, but it’s hard to accept, match point,” Federer said. “It was a bit of a pity it went three and it had a bitter taste at the end with the netcord and Hawkeye.

“Maybe I should have closed it out earlier and not got to that position. I should have closed it out at 6-4 (in the tiebreak). I can only blame myself.”

Nadal was outsded from the tournament by Russian Mikhail Youzhny 7-5 6-3. First set end was a controvertial one with arguments on whether ball has landed on the line or outside. Nadal thought the ball was out but Youzhny challenged the call and Hawkeye showed the ball to be just skimming the line. Both Nadal and the umpire believed the ball was out, but officials have to accept Hawkeye’s ruling.

“The mark of the ball was still on court and it was outside but in the challenge it was in, so that’s unbelievable,” said Nadal. “I say to him (the umpire), ‘look, the ball is out’, and he say ‘I know’.”

Youzhny also agreed the ball to be out

“It looked like it was out,” he said. “I saw the mark, but I just took the challenge because it was a very important point. When it showed it was good I was a little bit shocked. But anyway, you can have the same mistakes from linesmen or the chair umpire.”

Now Federer will meet Hass and Soderling will challenge Youzhny. Winner of the tournament will get a whooping $300,000 and 300ATP points. Federer will look to extend his winning streak to 40 matches.

Technorati Tags:
DubaiOpen RogerFederer Nadal Youzhny Hass

FedEx-King Of Tennis

Sports are said to be characterized by unpredictability be it Cricket, Football or any other game. Infact it is this fickleness of sporting world which always keep us attracted towards games. Remember Bangladesh defeating Australia last year, we were all so happy not because we ‘r big Bangladeshi fans but we want the aussies to be defeated. Now the question arises why we want them to be defeated, probably we don’t want the Cricket to become monotonous, dominated by one nation who keeps on steamrolling others. I think same thing is happening to tennis but with a difference, the domination of the King has an artistic touch to it so beautiful and melodious that it can be compared with Beethoven’s symphony.

Everytime I watches Federer play I just thought can this man ever had an off day. Mind you Roddick was playing well before he met Federer who just annihilated him. It was nothing but cold blooded destruction; you can just look at the expression of helplessness on Roddick’s face. He just can’t do anything. Coming to next match in Finals,Gonzales played very well but I always got the feeling that there is only winner. Or in Vijay Amritraj Star Sports Commentator words Gonzales was always on the backfoot be it serving, receiving or any aspect of the game. Federer’s shot selection, anticipation, court coverage is just awesome. He just makes the game looks so simple.
Now comes the big and inevitable question which arises every time Federer wins a Grand slam. Is he the best ever player world has seen??

My views on that are quite simple you can’t compare players from different era. Bjorn Borg is different from Pete Sampras who in turn is different from Federer (Forgot me I don’t know much about the other great champ Rod laver).what I feel is that you can’t judge a people alone on the number of grand slams he has won, we have to look at several other aspects too like the competition he faces at that time technology available on that era, all these things do count too. For example is Roddick, Nadal, Blake or Gonzales comparable to Aggasi, Ivanisevic (who on grass is a wonderful player) Edberg, Becker, Courier and lots of other name? May be or may be not, I am not saying that these players can defeat Federer but still you never know. Just Imagine Federer playing with a wooden racket against fired up John McEnroe in Wimbledon Center Court, well I would be the last person to predict the result.

So the thing is quite simple enjoy Tennis and forget about all other thing and as the Tennis Australia President said “All the Best Rogers for the French Open”

Technorati Tags:roger federer, australian open, tennis, gonzales, roddick

Great Weekend

It was wonderful weekend for all sports bluff. Great Football Action from EPL, Australian Open and then last but not the least DADAGIRI is back.
Now starting with my own favorite Football two great matches and two quite unexpected results which i hope will open up the league. The greatest scenario when the title will be decided in last week. However MANU inspite of this defeat is still very much in command with 6 point separating them and there nearest contender Chelsea FC which at the moment is looking in total disarray. There inspirational captain JT is injured and without him there defence looks like conceding every time opposition attack. And as if injuries are not enough, with Chelsea you always got some melodrama without additional cost. This time the cast are Mourinho,as, as always the lead protagonist, Abramovich who don’t really know what his problem is and poor chap Shevchenko who i feel has just got struck between these two people. Whatever is the result of this mangling but i just don’t want to see that Sven Goran Erickkson guy to manage Chelsea. Next In comes my beloved Liverpool now just 5 points behind Chelsea and playing good Football. I think the important thing to be noted is that they have already played most of there difficult away matches and in Anfield even my dictators will agree that Liverpool are difficult to defeat. Arsenal too are on a kind of roll and with Henry back maybe they are the team to watch out for, but how much Van persie injury, who is arguably there Best player this season, affect them remains to be seen and lastly MANU still leading by 6 points and playing quite an attractive Football. So inessentia its still a two horse race, but who knows 2 or 3 more such weekend and we will be in for some real delight.
Next in Line comes the years first grand slam Australian Open and for probably the first time in the history of tennis people are more curious to find out who will be the Runner up. Such is the overwhelming dominance of KING FEDERER. That guy even when not playing at his cent percent still wins most of the matches in straight set. So is there anyone who can stop him. My bet is with A-Rod, ever since he has got Jimmy Connors as his coach he is a different player and then coming through grueling matches like that against Safin always bolsters ones confidence. Well if everything goes according to plan then they will be meeting in Semi-Finals. That match will be a treat to watch and i will be firmly sitting in Roddicks Corners. Coming to women’s draw most of the Indian have stopped following it as our Darling Sania has already crashed out.Atleast it has saved lots of people from the agony of rising early in such Chilly Winter Mornings. Jokes apart for me Serena Williams is the one to watch for. She is making a comeback and if she is fit she is quite an handful player. Still women’s draw is quite an open one with lots of good players still in. Let’s see what happen.
Next, Our National Obsession Cricket, i can’t really forget it. Well it was a good start to the one day series against WI, but still not without a scare. Since i didn’t actually saw the match so no comment on any individual, but not discussing DADA will amount to an insult to this Great Fighter. Man this guy might not have the technique or any other material thing but he has got one thing in abundance i.e. GUTS ability to fight it out till the end. My take is DADA will be a big success in World Cup. As i am wondering how can we discuss cricket without even a hint of World Cup and that too about Team Selection. The probables list is already out and there are no real surprises, the real fun will begin when this list will be pruned to 15 players. The player who is the hot topic right now is Virendra Sehwag,somehow i have the feeling that this break will do wonders for him. I don’t think selectors will take the risk of dropping him or even Irfan Pathan .Both of them are quite central to India’s plans at the world cup.
That all i have to offer right now. I will try to be back very soon and Off Course if Super MOD Nitesh Luthra keeps inspiring me i will back very soon.

Sania Mania Begins

First day was not full of surprises as all the top seeded player advanced into the second round of the Australian Open except for the lone case of men no. 4 seeded Ivan Ljubicic of croatia who was defeated by Mardy Fish of USA (64 67 46 46) making the exit of first seeded player of the tournament. Russian Marat Safin had to wage a long battle to defeat Benjamin Becker of germany in a crunching 5 setter. First round was easy cakewalk for Federer , Nadal , Roddick , Robredo. Federer left behind the defeat at the hands of Roddick last week to beat Bjorn Phau of germany in straight sets.

In women category Kim Clijsters who is playing her last Australian Open as she will retire in 2007 end was in supreme form thrashing Russian Vasilisa Bardina 60 60. The match lasted only 44 minutes. It was not easy outing for Sharapova she had to sweat hard to qualify for round2. Maria defeated Camille Pin of france in a three setter cruncher 63 46 97 . Sharapova was cruising for victory in the third set with 5-0 lead but Camille bounced back and was actually serving for the match at one stage at 6-7 but maria ultimately won the set 97 in 171 minutes tie. 6th seeded hingis cruised to round 2 with 60 62 victory.

Sania Mirza also qualified for the round 2 after an easy outing against Ukraine's Olga Savchuk winning 6-3 7-5 . Carrying on her good form after qualifing for the semis of the hobart open last week sania desplayed some nice forehands to advance. Whole nation is expecting from sania to better her round 3 qualification in 2005 Australian Open. Mirza had to face extreme heat conditions in her match temperature was in the range on 30's..

The Australian Open's Extreme Heat Policy (EHP) was implemented for the first time at Australian Open 2007 as the temperature soars on Day Two at Melbourne Park. Under the Policy, no new matches will commence on outside courts, but those already in progress will continue to their conclusion. There is provision to make breaks between games and sets longer than usual in these matches.

Technorati Tags
AustralianOpen SaniaMirza MariaSharapova Federer

Dream On India Dream On : Hopman Cup

India is having a dream start to 2007 in sports. First Time qualifiers and underdogs India marched closer to a final finish in ITF mixed teams championship after a tense match with croatia which consited of budding star Mario Ancic.

Sania gave India a 1-0 lead by beating Sanja Ancic in straight sets 6-2, 6-3. This was followed by a tense match between Rohan Bopanna who is more then 200 atp rankings below brother of Sanja Ancic Mario Ancic. Mario defeated Bopanna in two tie breaker sets 76(7-2) 76 (7-3). It was now left to the mixed doubles to decide the winner , that match was a cruncher. Ancic siblings won the first set 6-3 which included serves in excess speed of 230Km/hr. India bounced back winning the second set with same scoreline 6-3. Third set went into the tie breaker with india holding the nerves winning the set 7-6 and hence the match . India now has 2 wins in 2 matches and will meet today another strong contenders Spain to decide the leader of group B .


Results till now are

Australia 2 def Russia 1
France 2 def USA 1
India 2 def Czech 1
Spain 3 def Croatia 0
Russia 2 def USA 1
France 3 def Australia 0
Czech 2 def Spain 1
India 2 d Croatia 1

Matches Today
USA v Australia
Russia v France

Czech Rep. v Croatia
Spain v India

Toppers from both groups will meet in the finals on 5th Jan

• Hopman Cup

Technorati Tags
HopmanCup SaniaMirza MarioAncic

Sports Personalities and their Resolutions for 2007

This is my guesses on what New Year Resolutions of sports stars and sports federations heads could be. No offenses to the personalities.

Maria Sharapova: I will stop grunting on the courts
img from: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/


Yuvraj Singh: I will never ever play kabaddi in my life.

K.P.S Gill : I will revive Indian Hockey again.
(By sacking the coach and removing the experienced hockey players. )

Sania Mirza : I will win a grand slam

Greg Chappell: I will patch up with Ganguly

Sharad Pawar : I will pay heed to my agriculture ministry also

Paes-Bhupati : We will not fight and together watch Ekta Kapoor Soaps

Roger Federer : Hope somebody gives me a fight next year

Saurav Ganguly : I will become captain again

Suresh Kalmadi : We will bid for 2016 medals and
prepare a team which will win 10 golds in 2008 olympics.

Dhoni: I will further grow my hair and have a big pony tail like ladies

Technorati tags
SportsStars Resolutions2007

Doha Update

3 Golds in Waiting India is assured of three silver medals atleast, there are very high chances of those three medals be golds. All three of them are in Tennis. Sania Mirza has reached the singles finals as well as mixed-doubles with Leander Paes who also has reached the men's doubles finals with Mahesh Bhupati. It has been a fantastic asian games for sania who earlier won the silver medal in the women's team event.



Chess Gold Almost Assured. India is very much assured of team gold in the mind game. The Indians have now won each of their seven matches for a total of 18.5 points - a lead of 4.5 points lead over its nearest rival China (14 points) with two rounds to go. Indian Humpy won the gold earlier in the individual category. Chess is being introduced for the first time in asian games.

Women Athletes Shine. Indian women athletes continued their fine outing in the Asian Games with a Gold in the 4*400 metres relay bagging gold while the men captured the silver medal. Sinimole Poulose won a bronze medal in the women's 1500 metre with a timing of 4 minutes and 15.09.

China Stun Pakistan Also. China delt a big blow to other hockey giant pakistan by defeating them in the semi finals 2-1 in the games. Lu slammed in a rebound from goalkeeper Nasir Ahmed, who had blocked the penalty corner drive, in the 10th minute of the golden goal extra-period to create a new benchmark in Chinese hockey. China will face South Korea in the finals.

Jaspal Rana to fly back. Jaspal Rana is declared the best sportsperson of the games and he will fly back to receive the honour in the closing ceremony. Rana took three golds in the games.






India is meanwhile 9th in the medal table with 7 Golds 16 silver and 19 bronze (42 total). Today there are high chances of india climbing up the tally.

• Medals Tally

facts : http://www.dohaasiangames.org/

Sports Stars of 2006

Here is my pick for the players of 2006.

Fabio Cannavaro
There is no better defender the cannavaro at present, captained Itlay to lift the 2006 Fifa world cup playing his 100th international match. His performance against Germany in the World Cup Semi-Finals 2006 was earmarked as one of the finest individual performance ever seen in football by many pundits.
He earned a spot on the All-Star Team at the end of the competition - awarded by FIFA's Technical Study Group - alongside six other Italian teammates, Gianluigi Buffon, Gennaro Gattuso, Andrea Pirlo, Luca Toni, Francesco Totti and Gianluca Zambrotta.
He was runner up in the race for the Golden Ball, finishing runner-up to French captain Zinedine Zidane. Those who voted for Cannavaro felt that he had played immaculately throughout the tournament, while Zidane only shone in the knockout phase of the competition; it was a close contest with Zidane polling 2012 points to Cannavaro's 1977.
Presently he plays for Real Madrid, shifted from juventus after its relegation to Serie B.



Mohammad Yousuf

Mohammad Yousuf adumbrated any other cricket achievements of this year by breaking one of the longest standing records of all times most runs in a calender year by Sir Viv Richards scored 1710 runs in 1976. He also hit 9 centureis in a year surpassing the 7 centuries scored by Arvinda Desilva and Viv Richards. By scoring 665 runs in a three test match series he broke the record of Zaheer Abbas ( 1978-79 ) of most runs being scored by a Pakistani. He became the first player in Test history to have been dismissed 3 times in the 190's, with all three innings coming in 2006. Hitting nine centuries in a calender year is not a kid's play and Mohammad Yousuf did that elegantly

Mohammad Yousuf 11 1788 99.33 9/ 3


Roger Federer
Piled up records this year , no other player in tennis circuit could match him except Nadal and that too in clay only.

Grand Slams Wins
2006 Australian Open Cyprus Marcos Baghdatis 5-7, 7-5, 6-0, 6-2
2006 Wimbledon Spain Rafael Nadal 6-0, 7-6(5), 6-7(2), 6-3
2006 U.S. Open United States Andy Roddick 6-2, 4-6, 7-5, 6-1
Runner Up
2006 French Open Spain Rafael Nadal 1-6, 6-1, 6-4, 7-6(4)
Other wins of 2006

• Read my earlier post on Federer 2006 Records

Fernando Alonso

Alonso became the youngest driver, at 25, to win back-to-back F1 world championships. The Spaniard won six of nine races to start the season and seven total, including an emotional victory in his home Grand Prix at Barcelona. He'll also be remembered as the driver who dethroned Schumacher. Alonso had to work very hard to win the 2006 championship, he was way ahead of schumacher in the early races but the German legend bouced back to make a great finish for this season.
It was the Japanese Grand Prix that sealed the win for Alonso as in this race schumacher suffered a mechanical problem. Alonso will be racing for McLaren from 2007.


Tiger Woods

He is what Federer is to Tennis, Schumacher was to F1, Sachin is to cricket in short god of Golf. He has 12 major career Major Victories and is chasing Jack Nicklaus 's 18. Earl Woods, 74, Tiger's father and the guiding force behind his career, died of cancer in early May.In June, Tiger returns to the links and fails to make the cut for the U.S. Open by three strokes. He had made the cut in 39 consecutive majors, a record he shares with Jack Nicklaus.
Tiger snaged his third British Open claret jug with an 18-under-par score. His 11th major win, he won by two strokes over Chris DiMarco, who also recently lost a parent (his mother on July 4). Tiger won the Buick Open in August becoming the youngest player to win 50 PGA tournaments. Jack Nicklaus, who had previously held the record, had been 33 years old when he snagged his 50th title. Tiger cruises through the last round of the PGA Championship to win the title 5 strokes behind his closest competitor and with an 18-under-par score for the tourney. He racks up his 12th major tournament win and continues his pursuit of Jack Nicklaus's records—the Golden Bear had 18 major victories in his career.

Facts from

• Tiger HomePage
• TigerWoodsTimeLine
• TigerWoods

Share your views , had I missed something? vote also

TechnoratiTags
SportsStars2006 TigerWoods FernandoAlonso MohammadYousuf RogerFederer FabioCannavaro Cricket Football Tennis Golf

Records Galore : Federer

Roger Federer easily tamed James Blake 60 63 63 to win his third masters title in four years. This was Federer's fifth consecutive Tennis masters cup appearance. He lost in the semifinals at shanghai in 2002 and won consecutive title in Housten in 2003-04 and was defeated last year by David Nalbandian.Federer now holds a 22-2 overall record at the circuit-ending finale.

Federer piled up records this year:

1. First ever player to win $8 million in prize money in single season. He has won $8,343,885 in 2006 and has amassed $29,576,458 in career prize money during a nine-season professional career.

2. Federer is the only player to have won more then 10 tournaments in three consecutive years. 2004-05 (11) 2005-06 (11) 2006-07(12).

3. Federer became the sixt player in open era to win three or more year end championships after John McEnroe (1978, 1983-84), Boris Becker (1988, 1992, 1995), Ilie Nastase (1971-73, 1975), Ivan Lendl (1981-81, 1985-87) and Sampras (1991, 1994, 1996-97, 1999).

4. Federer amassed a 92-5 win loss record the year 2006

5. Roger has till now won 45 career titles and is not ranked 11 in the open era. Records of Rod Laver ,Pete Sampras , Bjorn Borg and many others are in danger.

6. Federer is the only player in the open era to win both the US open and Wimbledon for three consecutive years.

7. Holds the record for longest winning streak both the grass and hard courts.

8. Federer ended the year with 1674 points 780 more then the nearest rival Nadal.

9. He is the third in the open era list on consecutive rein at the top position 147 weeks (Starting from 2nd Feb 2004.) behing Jimmy Connors (160) and Lendl (157). He is fifth in total weeks behind sampras(286), Lendl (270) ), Connors (268), McEnroe (170), and Federer (147).

10. First man in open era to reach 6 consecutive grand slam finals


Read More

• Atp Maters

It's Federer vs Nadal Again

We will witness another clash of the titans match between Nadal and Federer in the ATP masters semifinals. Nadal defeated Davydenko 57 64 64 in just concluded thriller match for the semifinal birth in Shanghai. They will facing each other for the 6th time in this year with the last match between them was the wimbledon final 2006. Nadal leads 6-2 in head to head with four victories on clay court and one on hardcourt. Federer has one only two matches against the second seed Nadal. Federer will have advantage in this match because it is not being played on clay court and also some psychological edge having won the last clash between the two players.



Head to Head Record.




In another match James blake is now playing Tommy Robredo to make a 3-0 win loss record and in doubles Bjorkman-Mirnyi, Knowles-Nestor have qualified for the SFs with 3-0 and 2-1 win loss record respectively.

Nalbandian bounces back with semis birth, Paes& Damm also in

Roger Federer and David Nalbandian helped each other to secure a place in the semi finals from the Red Group. Nalbandian first defeated Roddick 62 76 and Federer later on defeated Ljubicic 76 64 to make a 3-0 win loss record in the tournament. With these results red group standing were 3-0 for Federer and 1-2 for Roddick, Nalbandian and Ljubicic but Nalbandian advanced because of better set won percentage (4-4 versus 3-5 for the other two players).

In a similar fashion Damm-Paes also qualified for the semis. World No-1 team of bryan brothers were shocked by the 4th seeded Paul Hanley and Kevin Ullyett 36 76 64 thus kicking them out of the tournament with 3-0 win loss record.

With this loss the win loss standing in the Red Group were 1-2 for the other three teams of Damm-Paes , Erlich-Ram and Bryan Brothers. Damm-Paes qualified because of better percentage of sets won record.


Today the other semifinalist from the Gold Group will be decided. Nadal will take on Davydenko and Robredo will face in form Blake.

James Blake First into Semis

The last man to qualify for the ATP tennis masters is now the first one into semis. Blake stormed into the semis after defeating Russian Davydenko(3) 26 64 75 to lead the Gold Group 2-0. Rafael Nadal kept hopes of reaching semis alive after defeating Spaniard Tommu Robredo 76 62.

Blake will face Robredo in the last match, even if he loses he will have a 2-1 record and the second semifinalist will be decided in a do or die battle between Nadal(2) and Davydenko. Since blake has scored victory over both the players he will top the Gold group.




Federer will face Ljubicic and Roddick will face Nalbandian today. If Ljubicic and Roddick wins then there will be a three way battle for the semis place as all the three players will have 2-1 record.

Tennis Spectacle in Madrid

It's a tennis spectale in Madrid alright as it hosts season ending WTA Championship with the world's top eight take to the court. The added incentive: The year-end number one slot still up for grabs and three of the eight with a chance to snap the top-slot!

But it isn't all tennis that's making headlines at Madrid. With eight gussied up women tennis stars, including Maria Sharapova, and Kim Clijsters, and Martina Hingis, there's bound to be more.


Purple courts!

Or is that lilac? (I haven't been all that good in giving names to colours and so, if you happen to know the colour by any other name, do let me know in the comment.) If you thought US open's blue courts were 'happening', what about purple???

Belgian Justine Henin-Hardenne looks to return on the "purple" court. Image Source: http://www.sonyericsson-championships.com

And apparently Maria liked purple a tad too much!

Maria Sharapova in purple on the "purple" court. Image Source: http://www.sonyericsson-championships.com

And the Ball Boys!

If the men's tournament at Madrid Masters can have model ball girls, why not the women's event? The tournament has 34 model "ball boys", with their duties being used in 1 match a day!

And by the way, who did the tournament organizers fly in to select this gang of model ballboys??? It was none other than Maria Sharapova!

Picture: Maria Sharapova poses with male models. Image Source: MSNBC.com

And some Neon-Night Tennis

If coloured courts and male mode ballboys was just adding some colour and spice on court. How about some Neon-Night Tennis?

black tennis court illuminated solely with UV light, 8 players wearing neon clothes, a bright ball and background live DJ music. That is something!!!

Sharapova Going Right for No.1 Rank

Maria Sharapova kicked started her campaign for regaining the top ranking in madrid masters defeating 7th seeded Elena Dementieva 61 64 while her rival present no.1 Amelie Mauresmo was not in her rhythm and lost to Nadia Pertova(5) 62 62.
In another Yellow group match Justine Henin-Hardenne(3) had to sweat hard for almost 2 hours to defeat come back girl Martina Hingis(8) 62 67(5) 61.
Sharapova can finish this year with top rankings if she wins the tournament and Justine Henin fails to reach the finals.








In today's matches Dementieva will try to overcome her yesterday's defeat to beat Kuznetsova. Dementieva will try to end her winless streak of the previous two sony ericsson championships but it will be touch one. Clijsters will start her campaign facing Sharapova. In the final match yesterday loser Hingis will face Petrova . They head-to-head 1-1 in their previous meetings.










In other tennis news Rafeal Nadal will coming to India next year in Chennai Open in Jan 2007.

Nitesh