Djokovic flattens Troicki to move into quarterfinals

LONDON, July 3: Defending champion Novak Djokovic,  Andy Murray, David Ferrer, Philipp Kohlschreiber reached the Wimbledon quarterfinals.

World number four Andy Murray ignored the fuss over his Centre Court snub to sweep into the Wimbledon quarterfinals with a ruthless 7-5, 6-2, 6-3 victory over Croatia’s Marin Cilic on Tuesday.

With rain disrupting the second week, Wimbledon officials provoked howls of criticism after scheduling home favourite Murray on Court One rather than the covered Centre Court. That meant Murray, bidding to end Britain’s 76-year wait for a male singles champion at Wimbledon, was forced to endure several rain interruptions on Monday while his title rivals Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer coasted through under the Centre Court roof.

Rafael Nadal’s shock exit last week has given Murray, beaten in the Wimbledon semi-finals for the last three years, a golden opportunity to become the first British male finalist at the All England Club since Bunny Austin in 1938.

It helped Murray’s cause that Cilic had to survive the second longest match in the tournament’s history to get past Sam Querrey in the last round.

That 5 hour 31 minute epic appeared to have left the 16th seed a spent force and when play was suspended due to rain on Monday afternoon, Murray had taken a firm grip with a 7-5, 3-1 lead.

Despite the scheduling storm, Wimbledon chiefs stuck to their guns and Murray was back on Court One on Tuesday for an earlier than usual 1100GMT start under ominous grey skies.

Murray led 40-0 on his serve from the previous evening and he quickly finished off the game as drizzle began to fall again.

The interruptions had no effect on Murray, who was in a rich vein of form, producing two fabulous backhand winners to break again and take the second set.

Even when Murray faced four break points in the first game of the third set, he produced a perfectly-placed ace on each occasion to get out of trouble.

Murray landed the knock-out blow in the fourth game when he unleashed a superb passing shot down the line to break for a 3-1 lead.

The Scot was soon celebrating a comfortable win that sealed his place in the Wimbledon quarterfinals for the fifth successive year.

Seventh-seeded David Ferrer of Spain reached his first Wimbledon quarterfinal by beating No. 9 Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 on Tuesday under the Centre Court roof.

Ferrer had lost three previous times in the fourth round at the All England Club. He’s now made it to at least the quarterfinals at all four Grand Slam tournaments.

Next for Ferrer is a matchup against No. 4 Andy Murray of Britain. They’ve split 10 previous head-to-head meetings.

Philipp Kohlschreiber made it into the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam for the first time, ending US qualifier Brian Baker’s fairytale run in a straight sets .

The German 27th seed won 6-1, 7-6 (7/4), 6-3 in an hour and 55 minutes on Court 12.

Baker lost six years of his career after five different operations on a hernia, then his left and right hips and finally his right elbow.

He eventually felt ready to return to tennis in July 2011 and the 27-year-old has enjoyed a remarkably successful time back on the circuit.

Baker started the year ranked 458 but the world number 126 will break into the top 100 after his Wimbledon run, with the American likely to enter at around 77.

Kohlschreiber goes fourth on the list of the most Grand Slams played before reaching the last eight, having got there on the 33rd attempt.

Fabrice Santoro holds the unenviable record at 54, followed by Australian doubles duo Mark Woodforde on 38 and Todd Woodbridge on 34.

The German made it into the last eight thanks to some 23 aces and superb net play.

Defending champion Novak Djokovic reached  quarterfinals with a crushing 6-3, 6-1, 6-3 win over childhood friend Viktor Troicki on Monday.

It was Djokovic’s most convincing display of the tournament so far.

Gasquet, the French 18th seed, was 6-3, 2-1 down against Germany’s Mayer when play was called off.

“I played really well for the whole match,” said top seed Djokovic, who enjoyed the luxury of finishing his match under the Centre Court roof.

“We know each other so well. We first played when I was eight and he was nine at a junior tournament in Serbia. We don’t have any secrets but there has to be one loser and one winner.”

The win was Djokovic’s 12th successive win against his Davis Cup partner with Troicki’s only success coming in the pair’s first meeting, in Umag in 2007. Agencies

LONDON, July 3: Four-time Wimbledon winner Serena Williams reached the semifinals at the All England Club on Tuesday with a 6-3, 7-5 defeat of defending champion Petra Kvitova.

The US sixth seed brought all her experience to bear as she punished the Czech title-holder for missing a chance to take the second set.

The 30-year-old came through her quarterfinal in an hour and 24 minutes under the Centre Court roof.

She faces either Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka, the Belarusian second seed, or in-form unseeded Austrian Tamira Paszek in the semis.

"She's been playing so well on grass, hasn't lost since last year, so that was tough," Williams said of Kvitova."I have absolutely nothing to lose so it's really fun. I'm having the time of my life out here and enjoying every moment. It's exciting.”

However, Serena knows she will have to step up another gear in the semifinals.

"I'm going to have to if I want to win the title. There's a lot of people vying for it still," she added.

She said a fifth Wimbledon singles title was "definitely something that I've thought about."

It is only the second time she has reached a Grand Slam semi-final since winning the 2010 Wimbledon title.

Williams had won her previous two encounters with Kvitova, both in 2010, knocking the 22-year-old left-hander out of the Australian Open second round and the Wimbledon semi-finals.

The pair were the only two champions left in the draw after the first round exit of Serena's sister Venus, and world number one Maria Sharapova in the last 16. Williams fired 23 aces -- a Wimbledon women's singles record -- to make it into the last 16 and was raining down booming serves against Kvitova, winning 86 percent of points on her first serve. Agencies

NEW DELHI, July 3: Johannesburg and Cape Town were among the four venues finalised for the fourth edition of the Champions League Twenty20 tournament, which will be held from October 9 to October 28.

Centurion and Durban are the other two venues announced by the CLT20 Governing Council.

The event will feature a galaxy of international stars, who will be part of 14 champion teams, from as many as eight countries.

The teams which have made it to the tournament are Kolkata Knight Riders, Chennai Super Kings, Delhi Daredevils, defending champions Mumbai Indians (from India), Auckland Aces (New Zealand), Trinidad & Tobago (West Indies), Sydney Sixers, Perth Scorchers (Australia) Titans, Highveld Lions (South Africa).

Pakistan will be represented for the first time ever by Sialkot Stallions.

The representatives from Sri Lanka and England will be decided after next month’s Sri Lanka Premier League and the ongoing Friends Life T20.

The CLT20, the most lucrative club-cricket tournament in the world, is now in its fourth year, and it will be the second time that it is held in South Africa.

India had hosted the tournament in 2009 and 2011 and were originally frontrunners to hold the competition in 2012 as well. The last time South Africa had hosted the tournament, in 2010, Chennai Super Kings defeated Warriors in the final in Johannesburg.

Of the already qualified teams, the Titans, Stallions and Australia’s two new Big Bash League Twenty20 teams, the Sydney Sixers and Perth Scorchers, will be making their first appearance in the tournament.

The others include two former champions in Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians. Agencies

Bangkok, July 3: India rallied from a goal down to beat Malaysia 2-1 in its final league match here on Tuesday and booked a semi-final berth in the Junior Women’s Asia Cup Hockey Championship. With the win, India finished second in group A behind China.

In a must-win match for India, the teams played out a goal-less first half. Norazlin Sumantri scored for Malaysia within a minute of resumption but Anupa Barla (52nd minute) and skipper Ritu Rani (penalty corner 65th minute) ensured that India would make it to the last four stage.

Ten minutes after Malaysia took the lead, India started to dominate the proceedings and held sway in the last 25 minutes. Anupa Barla’s strike capped a good pass by vice-captain and fellow forward Poonam Rani. Skipper Ritu Rani led India to victory when she converted a penalty corner. India will face the winner of Group B - either Korea or Japan - in the semifinal to be played July 5. Agencies

Dubai, July 3: Big-hitting opener Chris Gayle has vaulted 12 spots into the top five of the International Cricket Council (ICC) Twenty20 International batting rankings, less than two weeks after returning to the West Indies colours following a two-year exile.

In the latest rankings released on Monday, the 32-year-old Gayle was fourth behind new No.1, England’s Eoin Morgan. The movement for Gayle comes after he plundered half-centuries in both Twenty20 Internationals against New Zealand in Florida last weekend.

The left-hander stroked an explosive 85 from 52 balls as the West Indies won the first game by 56 runs on Saturday and followed up with a measured 53 on Sunday as the Caribbean side carved out a convincing 61-run victory.

Only nine days ago, Gayle played his first T20 for the West Indies in two years after ending a stand-off with the West Indies Cricket Board that also saw him barred from Tests and One-Day Internationals. In four innings since his return, the Jamaican has lashed three half-centuries.

In the bowlers’ rankings, captain Darren Sammy is the highest ranked West Indies player at 12th, with England’s Graeme Swann at the top. Agencies

Moscow, July 3: Maria Sharapova is calm about losing the World No.1 spot with defeat in the fourth round at Wimbledon, the Russian tennis star has said.

Either second-ranked Victoria Azarenka or No.3 Agnieszka Radwanska will emerge on top after the tournament after Sharapova’s 4-6, 3-6 defeat to Germany’s Sabine Lisicki ended her reign as No.1, which started last month with victory at the French Open.

“Obviously what I achieved a few weeks ago doesn’t just go away in a few minutes - I’ll have that for the rest of my career. But the tennis world keeps going,” Sharapova said on the WTA website late Monday. “Of course, you want to stay at the top as long as you can, but obviously everyone guns for that spot, as it is the top spot.” Agencies

Mumbai, July 3: The fit-again duo of opening batsman Virender Sehwag and pacer Zaheer Khan is all set to return to the Indian squad after missing the Asia Cup when the selectors meet here tomorrow to choose the side for the upcoming cricket tour of Sri Lanka.

The duo, along with Zaheer’s pace understudy Umesh Yadav, sat out of the Asia Cup in Bangladesh in March on fitness grounds.

They were also not part of the squad for the one-off Twenty 20 International in South Africa on March 30 which was India‘s last international engagement.

With these three players expected to be available for selection, the squad for the Lanka tour — comprising only One-Day Internationals and Twenty20 ties — is set to see some changes from the side which flopped in the Asia Cup and lost the rain-hit T20 match to the hosts in Johannesburg by D/L method.

With Sehwag back in action, one of the other middle order batsmen from the Asia Cup squad will have to be sacrificed and Bengal’s Manoj Tiwary could be the man to make way for the former‘s return.

It’s not clear whether Tendulkar, who had set the fabulous record of 100 international hundreds in the previous 50-over competition that India took part in, is available for the Lanka tour following his nomination as a Rajya Sabha member.

According to selection committee sources, things would become clear just before the five-member team sits down to choose the touring squad when the Cricket Board’s convener Sanjay Jagdale apprises them about the availability and fitness concerns, if any, of players in contention.

If by any chance Tendulkar decides to opt out of what is widely perceived to be a low-key series commencing on July 21, Ajinkya Rahane is the man most likely to be named as the third opener after Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir. Agencies

LONDON, July 3: Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga beat American Mardy Fish to reach the quarterfinals of Wimbledon for the third year running on Tuesday - finally prevailing after countless rain delays.

Fifth seed Tsonga lost the opening set on Monday before play was abandoned but returned at lunchtime on Tuesday to gradually reel in Fish and claim a 4-6, 7-6, 6-4, 6-4 victory.

The match hinged on the second set tiebreak when Tsonga warmed up the crowd with some inspired tennis to level on a cool and drizzly Court Two.

Tsonga saved break points before serving out the third set and then forged 4-2 ahead in the fourth before rain returned to halt his progress. When the skies eventually lightened Tsonga knocked off the two games he needed to set up a quarterfinal against Germany's Philipp Kohlschreiber. Agencies

BANGKOK, July 3: India’s Pankaj Advani suffered a 2-5 loss to Andrew Higginson of England but still remained in contention for a berth in the knock-out stage in the SangSom 6-Red World Snooker Championship on Tuesday.

Unseeded Advani has collected two points from three matches, with two wins and a loss, the same as Higginson.

Earlier in the day, Advani defeated Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 5-4 in the six-player round-robuin league. Yesterday, the Indian had beaten Ben Nunan of Australia 5-4.

Advani will take on sixth seed Shaun Murphy of England and 54-year old Steve Davis, also an Englishman and former world champion, in his remaining two league fixtures tomorrow.

On another table in Group C, India’s number one snooker player Aditya Mehta also suffered his first defeat in the round-robin league. He lost to third seed Mark J Williams of Wales 4-5.

With two points from three matches - from two wins and a loss, Aditya, however, remained in contention for a knock-out berth.

On Monday, he won both his matches - against Li Hang of China (5-4) and Thanawat Thirapongpaiboon of Thailand’s (5-4). Aditya will play Ken Doherty of Ireland and Peter Ebdon of England on Wednesday. Agencies

New Delhi, July 3: India discard off-spinner Harbhajan Singh has been signed up by English county club Essex for the second half of the county season.

The 31-year-old, who has taken 683 international wickets, has been left out of the India squad since last summer's tour to England. Harbhajan's previous county experience have been with Surrey in 2004 and 2007.

The spinner will be reach mid-July and will be available to play for the eight remaining county matches till the end of the season, plus the county's seven remaining matches in the Clydesdale Bank 40 competition.

His first appearance is scheduled for the match against Gloucestershire at Cheltenham July 11 subject to receiving a British visa in time.

Essex head coach Paul Grayson has welcomed the signing.

"We are delighted to have signed one of the best spinners in world cricket over the last 10 years or so. Harbhajan is a great character who is a match winner and I believe that his winning mentality will rub off on the rest of the playing squad here at Essex.

"I am really excited at the prospect of having him in the squad and this signing for the second half of the season shows that Essex mean business and will continue to fight in the County Championship & Clydesdale Bank 40 formats of the game," Grayson said in a statement released by Essex.

Harbhajan, 31, has played 98 Test Matches for India and 227 One Day Internationals.

His Test appearances have yielded 406 wickets with a career-best 8-44 against Australia at Chennai in 2001 while he has also taken 7 wickets in an innings for India on six occasions. The right-arm off-spinner has also claimed 255 one-day international victims.

As an attacking-minded bowler who is highly regarded for his ball control and ability to vary his length and pace, Harbhajan is amongst the top ten of highest wicket-takers in Test history and is the third-highest Test wicket-taker among all Indian Test bowlers.

He made his Test debut in 1998 against Australia at Bangalore.

He is no stranger to Chelmsford, having taken 7-83 and 1-23 when Essex met India in a drawn match at The Ford County Ground back in 2002. His haul of victims in the first innings included his 300th wicket in first-class matches when he dismissed Jon Dakin. Agencies

COLOMBO, July 3: Sri Lanka’s Tillakaratne Dilshan and Kumar Sangakkara smashed successive centuries against Pakistan to light up the rain-hit second Test in Colombo on Tuesday.

The hosts, replying to Pakistan’s first innings total of 551/6 declared, took their overnight score of 70/1 to 278/5 by stumps on the fourth day at the Sinhalese Sports Club.

Dilshan scored 121 and Sangakkara was unbeaten on 144 as the pair put on 225 runs for the second wicket after opener Tharanga Paranavitana fell for zero on Monday.

Pakistan grabbed four wickets in the final session to leave Sri Lanka still needing 74 more runs to save the follow-on on the last day.

But a draw appears likely as rain once again wiped off two hours of play in the post-lunch session after bad weather on the previous two days restricted the bowlers to only 71 of the stipulated 180 overs.

Sangakkara had scored an unbeaten 199 and Dilshan made 101 in the first Test in Galle last week which Sri Lanka won by 209 runs to take the lead in the three-match series.

Dilshan was the first to the landmark, lofting off-spinner Saeed Ajmal for a six to bring up his 14th Test hundred and the third against Pakistan.

Left-handed Sangakkara surpassed Australian legend Don Bradman’s tally of 29 centuries with a single off Ajmal in the next over.

When Sangakkara reached 60, he become the highest run-getter against Pakistan, surpassing Indian great Sunil Gavaskar’s tally of 2,089 runs from 24 Tests.

Sangakkara, who is playing his 15th Test against Pakistan, has scored nine centuries against them with a top score of 230 in Lahore in March, 2002.

Dilshan was dismissed in the final hour of play when he was trapped leg-before by left-arm seamer Junaid Khan. He hit 13 fours and a six.

Junaid then picked up his third wicket as skipper Mahela Jayawardene padded up to an incoming delivery and was declared leg-before by umpire Simon Taufel for no score.

Ajmal removed Thilan Samaraweera for zero and Abdur Rehman sent back nightwatchman Suraj Randiv in the day’s last over to enable Pakistan to end the day on a high.  Agencies

PARIS, July 3: The French Football Federation has opened disciplinary proceedings against players Samir Nasri, Hatem Ben Arfa, Jeremy Menez and Yann Mvila for misbehaving at Euro 2012, the FFF said on Tuesday.

The federation added that Didier Deschamps, who has just left his job at Olympique Marseille, had asked for time to think about taking over from Laurent Blanc as France coach.

Deschamps has until the end of the week to make his decision, said FFF president Noel Le Graet. “Hatem Ben Arfa, Yann Mvila, Samir Nasri and Jeremy Menez are summoned to appear before the disciplinary committee,” Le Graet told a news conference.

Nasri insulted a reporter after the 2-0 quarterfinal defeat by eventual champions Spain while Menez did the same to captain Hugo Lloris.

Ben Arfa was involved in a dressing-room argument with Blanc and Mvila did not shake the coach’s hand when he was replaced by Olivier Giroud against Spain. Blanc declined to renew his contract following the team’s defeat. Le Graet also said the individual bonus money of 100,000 euros ($125,800) due to the entire squad for reaching the last eight in Poland and Ukraine had been “frozen”. Reuters

New Delhi, July 3: India will be without a relay team in the London Olympics as it failed to make the cut in the IAAF list released on Tuesday. The qualification period for the men’s and women`s 4x100m and 4x400m Relays at the London Games ended on Monday.

With three members of the Commonwealth and Asian Games gold-winning women`s 4x400m relay quartet -- Ashwini Akkunji, Sini Jose and Mandeep Kaur -- caught for doping and the fourth, Manjeet Kaur ruled to have retired by a NADA panel, India failed to be among the top 16 countries which qualified for the London Games.

India had hopes to qualify in relay events in London Olympics only in women`s 4X400m.

The aggregate of the two fastest times achieved by national teams in the qualification period of January 1, 2011 to July 2, 2012 was taken into consideration for the Olympic qualification. Ashwini, Sini and Mandeep were banned by a NADA panel for one year for doping and their ban period ended before the Olympics. But, the IAAF appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sports in Switzerland and reimposed the ban on them while the case is pending. Indian women`s 4X400m relay quartet had made it to 2008 Beijing Olympics as 15th best team in the qualification period. Agencies

MADRID, July 3: Euro 2012 winners Juan Mata, Jordi Alba and Javi Martinez were included in Spain’s soccer squad on Tuesday for the London Olympics later this month.

Chelsea midfielder Mata and full back Alba, who is set to leave Valencia for Barcelona this week, scored in Sunday’s 4-0 final victory over Italy in Kiev.

The world champions became the first side to retain the European title, stringing together three major tournament triumphs in a row.

Luis Milla’s 22-man Olympic squad was named the day after Mata, Alba and Athletic Bilbao midfielder Martinez were involved in a huge homecoming celebration as the team paraded the trophy through the streets of Madrid.

The Olympic team will join up on Friday and will face Senegal and Mexico in friendlies before heading to London.

The squad, which will be trimmed down to 18, also includes Manchester United goalkeeper David De Gea, Chelsea midfielder Oriol Romeu and Barcelona trio Martin Montoya, Thiago Alcantara and Cristian Tello. Agencies

Colombo, July 3: Sri Lanka has raised concerns over the bowling action of Pakistan off-spinner Saeed Ajmal after the first Test in Galle last week.

A former Sri Lankan cricketer pointed out that despite having a questionable action, no one was talking about Ajmal‘s action.

“Ajmal is getting away with blue murder and nobody`s taking any action,” a former Sri Lankan players was quoted as saying `The Nation`.

“Ajmal has never been known to bowl in short sleeves either at practice or in a match, which has raised doubts whether he is actually bending his arm. He wears short sleeves only when he is batting,” he added.

Sri Lanka had previously also raised doubts over the spinner‘s action in the series played last November in the UAE. On both the occasions the match referee was the former Australian opener, David Boon.

According to Sri Lankan cricket writer, Saadi Thawfeek, some of Ajmal‘s deliveries goes beyond the permissible limit of 15 degree.

“It is not that all the balls bowled by Ajmal are questionable but a couple of them in an over especially the top spinner, which Sri Lanka believes goes beyond the permitted 15 degree angle,” Thawfeek wrote in this week’s `The Nation`.

Ajmal took seven wickets in the first Test at Galle that Sri Lanka won by 209 runs. Agencies

Mumbai, July 3: Delhi boy Unmukt Chand will lead the 15-member Indian team at the International Cricket Council (ICC) Under-19 World Cup to be held in Australia in August. Uttar Pradesh’s Akshdeep Nath has been appointed as the vice-captain. Chand has been the man in from with the bat and also scored a brilliant 121 in the tied Asia Cup final against Pakistan.

Tamil Nadu's Baba Aparajith, who scored a valiant 90 in the tied match, also finds a place in the squad. Medium pacer Rush Kalaria, who bagged five for 37 in the final, has also been included.

The squad: Unmukt Chand (captain), Akshdeep Nath, Manan Vohra, Akhil Herwadkar, Vijay Zol, Sandipan Das, B. Aparajith, Prashant Chopra, Sandeep Sharma, Kamal Passi, Rush Kalaria, Mohsin Sayyed, Smit Patel (wicketkeeper), Harmeet Singh and Vikas Mishra. Agencies

Johannesburg, July 3: Graeme Pollock, voted South Africa’s best cricketer of the 20th century in 2009, has blasted BCCI for yet again raising a red flag for the universal implementation of the DRS.

Pollock did not spare the ICC either as he slammed the world governing body of the game for not taking on the financial and administrative responsibility to impose the technology.

Pollock felt the BCCI’s continuous rejection of the DRS was mainly due to its unsuitability to Indian batsmen.

“It’s ridiculous that India have managed to do this on their own, but it does suggest that DRS favours sides that have lots of good batsmen,” Pollock said.

Pollock was reacting to BCCI?s opposition to the DRS at an ICC board meeting in Kuala Lumpur last week, effectively vetoing the adoption of the system that uses infrared cameras, finely-tuned microphones and ball-tracking devices to aid umpires.

“Essentially, the system does not suit India`s top six (batsmen). You play differently if you`re a batsman, when the review system is in operation,” Pollock said.

“You are limited in the number of reviews you can call for, and if DRS is not in operation, a lot of players are going to get away with decisions that should go the other way.”

Cricket South Africa acting chief executive Jacques Faul said South Africa supported the introduction of DRS, although all-rounder Jacques Kallis last year said that 99% of cricketers were not entirely convinced of the accuracy of the system. Agencies

LONDON, July 3: Reggae pounded and rum flowed at a darkened Shoreditch nightclub in east London during an afternoon fashion launch for the Jamaican Olympic team kit designed by Bob Marley’s daughter Cedella.

Then the audience recognized Usain Bolt. Cameramen fought for positions and the crowd surged to get within touching distance of the man who destroyed the world 100 and 200 metres records at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and again in Berlin in the following year.

On the previous evening, Bolt had demonstrated why he is the face of the London Olympics by clocking a season’s beat 9.76 seconds over the 100 at the Rome Golden Gala. In his previous race in Ostrava he had managed only 10.04 after a sluggish start.

Sitting patiently some hours after the fashion show in a featureless London hotel room, Bolt explained why the two races had been so dramatically different.

“I came to Europe and I was back and forth, sleep early and sometimes sleep late,” he said. “Then when I came to Ostrava it was mainly late, late, late.” “So my coach was explaining to me that night sleep is different from day sleep. It really is true. When I got to Rome I made sure I slept well and had enough food.”

Bolt famously gorged on chicken nuggets the night before startling the world by clocking 9.69 seconds in the Beijing Olympics 100 final, despite slowing down to celebrate over the last 20 metres. He will revert to a more familiar diet in London.

“The good thing about the fact that we are in London is we are allowed Jamaican food,” he said. “We don’t have to worry about putting on weight. I would say this is pretty much home court advantage for me. I’m really looking forward to competing here.”

Meanwhile, Jamaican Asafa Powell and American Tyson Gay will go head to head in their final 100 metres before the Olympics at next week’s London Grand Prix.

The duo, hoping to upset sprint king Usain Bolt at the Olympics later this month, will meet in the Diamond League meeting at Crystal Palace on July 13

“I’m looking forward to taking on Tyson,” the 29-year-old Powell said in a news release on Tuesday. “It’s good to have him back, it’s going to make for a very competitive Olympic Games.”

“Hopefully the world will be able to see the four fastest men ever ... in the 100 final in August in London - what a race that would be.” Gay, who has clocked the world’s second fastest time behind Bolt, said he was peaking at the right time after battling against injuries “My body is getting closer to where I want it to be,” Gay said. “I’ve shown over the years that through all of the injuries I’m a fighter and I hope to be fighting for that Olympic gold in London.”

Last week Powell and Gay secured their places at the Games by clocking 9.88 and 9.86 seconds respectively at their national trials. Reuters

LONDON, July 3: Formula One test driver Maria de Villota has sustained life-threatening injuries in a crash during testing in Cambridgeshire, the Marussia team and local ambulance services said on Tuesday.

De Villota was due to carry out a straight-line aerodynamics test at Duxford airfield, and hit a team vehicle after an installation lap.

“A woman has sustained life threatening injuries and following treatment at the scene by paramedics, she has been taken to Addenbrookes Hospital for further care,” Gary Sanderson, a spokesman for the East of England Ambulance Service, said in a website statement.

De Villota, 32, from Spain, was testing the car for the first time since joining Marussia in March.

“The accident happened at the end of her first installation run and involved an impact with the team’s support truck,” Marussia said on the team website. “Maria has been transferred to hospital. Once her medical condition has been assessed a further statement will be issued.”

Strict rules govern the amount of on-track testing F1 teams can do, although the rules are looser for straight-line aerodynamic tests, which typically take place on airfield runways.

De Villota’s father Emilio competed in three F1 races in the 1970s, while she has competed in series such as Formula Palmer Audi and Spanish Formula Three, which have traditionally served as routes to Formula One for young drivers.

She tested a Renault F1 car at the Paul Ricard circuit in France last year. British-based Marussia was formerly known as Virgin Racing until Russian supercar manufacturer Marussia bought a controlling stake last year. IANS

LONDON, July 3: The prized Olympics and Paralympic medals have been locked up in the Tower of London vaults.

The 4,700 gold, silver and bronze medals, made at the Royal Mint in Llantrisant, near Cardiff, have been locked until required.

The Olympics medals were designed by artist David Watkins, and the Paralympics medals by jewellery artist Lin Cheung.

Rio Tinto, the mining company which has produced the metals for the medals, handed the medals to London Organizing Committee Chairman Lord Coe and they took them to the vaults.

The Olympic medal has a design featuring the Greek goddess of victory, Nike, on the front, stepping out of the Panathenaic stadium.

On the back, the River Thames, under the London 2012 logo, is intersected by shards.

The Paralympic medal has a section of one of Nike‘s wings on the front and a depiction of the surface close to her heart on the other. ANI

ORCHIES, July 3: Slovenian sprinter Borut Bozic has hit out at Tour de France organizers after becoming the second rider in a year to be thrown off his bike after being hit by a car.

Bozic, who rides for Astana, had resumed racing after a toilet break early on Monday’s 207 km stage from Vise to Tournai in Belgium when he was hit from behind by a race officials’ car.

Having reached a speed of “40 to 45 km/h”, the 31-year-old was sent flying and his bike was crushed under the chassis.

A visit to hospital on Monday night revealed no lasting injuries except for a bruised arm and elbow.

But while admitting he felt “much better” the Slovenian remains angry with the organizers, especially as he has yet to receive an apology from the guilty driver.

“There’s no excuse for what happened. I’m not happy at all,” said Bozic.

“Of course, we’re only human, anybody can make a mistake. It’s the first time in my life something like that has happened to me and I wouldn’t wish it on anybody.”

When told by a reporter that organizers had claimed he was to blame for the accident, Bozic reacted with bemusement.

“I had just stopped to piss like the rest of the guys. What is even more strange is that the driver of the car didn’t even say sorry.” “After about 70 km a lot of riders stopped to piss. After 1 km I stopped alone, and when I started to ride back to the peloton about 200 metres later the car hit me from behind.”

Asked if the car had stopped to help him, he said: “The car had to stop, because my bike was under his car!”

Bozic will now hope his injuries do not hamper his bid to get among the contenders for the sprint stages in the first week.

“I’m just happy it’s not worse,” he said. “I thought the race was over for me because in two seconds my arm and elbow blew up like a balloon. I thought I couldn’t go on because I was in so much pain.” AFP

KARACHI, July 3: Younus Khan’s One-Day International (ODI) form is being questioned due to his repeated failures in this version, but his 29 and 82 in the first Test, and 32 in the first-innings of the ongoing second Test has made selectors confident about him.

The Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) Chief Selector Iqbal Qasim, who was unhappy with the former captain’s performance in the ODI series, has now expressed his satisfaction with Younus’ performance in Tests.

Qasim had earlier said that the selection committee will discuss the ODI future of the experienced batsman.

“It’s a good to see him scoring runs in the Tests. He has regained his form, which is a good sign for the team.”

“We’re satisfied with his performance. The team has fought back with a good batting show in the second match and that’s also a good sign,” said Qasim. ANI

MOSCOW, July 3: Seven Russian football supporters remain in the custody of Polish police from the two dozen detained during Euro 2012 clashes in Poland last month, the head of the Russia fan club said on Tuesday.

At least 162 Poles and 25 Russians were arrested after Polish hooligans attacked several thousand Russian supporters marching to celebrate a national holiday before the two sides played out a 1-1 draw on June 13.

“At the moment, seven detained fans remain in Poland,” Alexander Shurygin said. “One of those detained has health problems, so he’s been transferred to a jail that has medical facilities,” he added.

The Russian embassy in Warsaw on Monday requested that city courts set dates as soon as possible for the appeal hearing of two Russians sentenced to several weeks in prison for their part in the clashes. IANS

BANGALORE, July 3: Top officials in Sports Authority of India (SAI) are upset with the government’s decision to keep them away from the Olympics after the sports ministry recently rejected their proposal to send a contingent to London.

SAI director general Desh Deepak Verma had proposed a team of 15 officials for the Games but the ministry included only his name in the official contingent.

“May be it was wrong on the part of SAI to propose a jumbo contingent but that was no reason to deny a chance to all of them. There were genuine candidates who deserved to go. There were people involved in taking policy decisions as SAI is the nodal agency for sports. It was unfair to block all the names,” sources close to the development said.

Critics of the ministry’s decision also said picking the DG for the London trip may be of no use as he is all set to move out of SAI. “The DG SAI, an IAS officer, has already got his promotion. It is only a matter of time before he moves out of SAI and takes up his new post. So then, what is the purpose of the DG travelling to the Olympics?” they asked.

On Monday, the new government order was issued posting Verma as the secretary, parliamentary affairs. It now remains to be seen whether he will be able to make the London trip as part of the delegation.

The ministry’s firm stand has not gone down well with the officials in SAI centres across the country. “These are officials who have worked hard to support our preparations for the Olympics be it in camps held in Patiala, Bangalore or Thiruvananthapuram. Many of them have worked with the probables and know their training modules and their requirements. The presence of such people would have helped,” sources said.

Among those listed for the trip to London were LS Ranawat (executive director, academics), Radhika Sriman (ED, teams) and SS Roy (regional director, south). Apparently, this will be first instance that there will be not a single SAI official at a major event. TNN

MUMBAI, July 3: The rupee rose to a seven-week high of 54.36 against a dollar on Tuesday as some clarity on taxation rules and the measures announced by the government to attract overseas investments boosted confidence in the Indian currency.

The partially convertible rupee rallied for the fourth trading sessions in a row. It closed 1.07 per cent higher at 54.36, the highest level in seven weeks.

The rupee has rebounded sharply after hitting a record low of 57.33 against a dollar on June 22.

The finance ministry proposal that the controversial general anti-avoidance rules (GAAR) would not be applicable on participatory notes, through which many foreign investors invest in India, boosted foreign investors confidence in the markets.

The guidelines also calls for a monetary threshold for implementation of GAAR.

The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) move to hike overseas investments limit in government bonds also sent a positive signal to the market and helped revive the battered currency.

Research firm CRISIL said in a report that the Indian currency was likely to strengthen to 50 against a dollar by the end of the currency financial year.

“CRISIL Research, in the base case scenario, expects the rupee to appreciate to around 50 per dollar by March-end 2013,” CRISIL said in the report.

“We assign two-in-three chance to this event,” it said.

The key underlying assumptions include the initiation of some domestic policy measures to revive growth, no further worsening of our expectation of growth and inflation and an easing of current account deficit due to softening of crude and commodity prices - all of which could improve investor appetite.

Some improvement in the Eurozone situation in the first quarter of 2013 is also accounted for, which will stimulate return of capital flows into Indian markets. (IANS)

NEW DELHI, July 3: A 58-day-long strike by a group of Air India pilots seemed coming to an end on Tuesday as the agitating aviators assured the Delhi High Court that they will call off their stir within in the next 48 hours and join duty.

Appearing for the pilots, senior advocate Geeta Luthra told Justice Reva Khetrapal that the pilots would immediately call off the strike and join duties.

The aviators after putting forth an original list of 14 demands, are now demanding the reinstatement of their 101 sacked colleagues and recognition of their union - Indian Pilots’ Guild (IPG). The aviators said that their grievances will be taken up by the chief labour commissioner (CLC) and if the response is positive, their strike will be immediately called off. The strike, which caused Air India revenue loss of over Rs 615 crore and stranded its thousands of passengers to East Asia and Middle East, is the second longest in the country’s aviation history. The pilots’ decision to end the strike came after the Air India management assured the court that it would “sympathetically” consider their grievances.

“The Air India management shall sympathetically consider the grievances of pilots, including the aspects of reinstatement of those pilots whose service has been terminated consequent to this strike,” the judge said.

“Serious effort has been made by this court to settle the dispute. Counsel for both the parties have assured this court that they will be extending full cooperation in this regard to their respective client,” Justice Khetrapal said while disposing of the plea of the striking pilots. The striking pilots will have to give joining reports and terminated pilots will have to give “willingness to join duty” report to the Air India management and the court within 48 hours.

The court also told the pilots and Air India management to appear before concilliating officer and CLC NK Prasad on July 6 at 4.30 pm. The court posted the matter for July 9 when the concilliating officer will submit a report.

“All pilots belonging to the IPG will give an affidavit to the court stating their willingness to join back duties. The CLC will conduct a meeting between us and the Air India management to sort out our issues. We are confident that a resolution will be found soon,” Rohit Kapahi, committee member of the IPG, said.

After they call off their strike, the aviators would first have to get their fitness checked by a team of doctors and only after that they will they be allowed to go through a mandatory route flying check. In the route flying check, the pilots, who have not flown an aircraft over a period of 30 days, will operate a flight with a check (instructor) pilot who will oversee their performance. After the process, the pilots resuming duty will be assigned a flying schedule. The strike started on May 8 when pilot members of the IPG went on a mass sick leave, protesting the move to provide Boeing 787 Dreamliner training to their colleagues and pilots from the erstwhile Indian Airlines.

During the strike, the grounded fleet of Boeing 777s, unused manpower and absence from key routes hit the airlines’ chances of a financial turnaround. The strike also crippled Air India’s international operations.

The striking pilots had started an indefinite hunger strike on June 24 here. Five of the 11 fasting pilots were hospitalised. (IANS)