• Sania-Huber take Doubles Crown
• Paes, Sania to Lead
• Paes Enters Men's Double's Semi-Final at US Open
• Tata Bost For Sports in Bangladesh
• Sania in Doubles 2nd Round; Bhupathi Out

• India Wins at Last in 11th Men's Hockey World Cup
• Indian Navy Team to Ski to South Pole
• Manavjit Wins Gold; Inda Sweeps Trap Medals
• Sania Enters US Open Doubles 3rd Round

Sania Mirza of India and Liezel Huber of South Africa lifted the doubles crown of the Sunfeast Open WTA Tier III meet, defeating Ukranian cousins Yuliana Fedak and Yulia Beygelzimer 6-4, 6-0 here on Sunday. Sania and Huber won fairly easily at the Netaji Indoor Stadium, though the first set saw some hiccups on their part. The Ukrainians got the first break, off Sania's serve, in the first game itself. But the Indo-South African pair broke back in the fourth, off Fedak's serve. Sania lost serve again in the fifth but breaks in the sixth and 10th games, both off Beygelzimer's serve, gave them the set. In the second, though, it seemed that the top seeds were in a hurry and three consecutive breaks - with Fedak losing serve twice - gave them the set at love. Fedak had been unlucky as she was broken by powerful forehands from the South African. In a post-match press meet Sania acknowledged her partner's contribution in improving her as a doubles player. "She is my mentor. I have learnt a lot about doubles from her," the Indian teenage sensation said. Sania was appreciative of the crowd too. "The noise I heard every time I walked on court is really special. Even when I was losing yesterday (in the singles), they were rooting for me. Hopefully, I will be back next year to win the singles," she said. Huber said: "In the first set we put so much pressure on them that in the second they just committed more errors." She had words of praise for her partner. "It is hard to believe she is only 19. She has already got three doubles titles."

Courtesy: The Times of India, September 25, 2006

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A 54th minute goal by Rajpal Singh saw India beat South Africa 1-0 and avoid the ignominy of finishing last in the 11th men's hockey World Cup here today. It was India's first win in seven matches and came against a team they had drawn 1-1 in the league last week. The 11th place finish meant that India, number six in the FIH World rankings, earned the right to play in the 2007 Champions Challenge tournament in Boom, Belgium (June 23-July 1), the qualifying tournament for the 2008 Champions Trophy. India could have won by a far bigger margin but for the largesse of the forwards who missed sitters galore with Rajpal and Shivendra Singh each blowing up two clear scoring chances. The Indians could also convert just one of the six penalty corners they received when Rajpal, positioned close to the post, deflected in captain Dilip Tirkey's pass. Curiously, India opted not to play their lone penalty corner specialist in the squad, V Raghunath, who warmed the bench through the 70 minutes though being in the 16. Instead, Viren Rasquinha was shifted from midfield to the full-back position to accompany Dilip Tirkey.

Courtesy: The Pioneer, September 18, 2006

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Leander Paes and Sania Mirza will lead India's campaign in both the individual and team tennis competitions of the Asian Games to be held in Doha in December. Paes, who last played a singles match as Davis Cup captain against Pakistan in Mumbai in April, will be joined by Mahesh Bhupathi, Rohan Bopanna, Harsh Mankad, Karan Rastogi and Prakash Amritraj in the individual men's event. Mankad, who was not available for Davis Cup duties this year, has been chosen ahead of Amritraj by virtue of his better ATP Tour ranking in team event alongside Paes, Bhupathi and Bopanna. Amritraj and Rastogi are in the reserves. In the doubles, Paes will pair with former Grand Slam partner Bhupathi while Amritraj will take the court alongside Bopanna, according to the team announced by All India Tennis Association here today. The women's team will be represented by Sania, Shikha Uberoi, Ankita Bhambri, Isha Lakhani, Rushmi Chakravarthy and Sandya Nagraj in the individual competition. The first four will play the team event while Rushmi and Sandhya are the reserves. The doubles teams comprise the pairings of Sania with Shikha and Ankita with Isha. Paes and Sania form the star mixed doubles combine while Bhupathi and Shikha constitute the second team. The singles nominations will be announced later. The AITA also confirmed Paes and Sania representing India in the Asian Hopman Cup to be played in Hyderabad in November. It also announced the appointment of Mr Akhtar Ali as the non-playing captain for the Indo-Pak series which will feature four one-day ties on 6, 8, 10, 12 November. Bopanna, Rastogi, Divij Sharan and Vivek Shokeen form the Indian team for the ties that will be held at Islamabad, Lahore, Chan-digarh and Gurgaon respectively.

Courtesy: The Statesman, September 13, 2006

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Come December, a team of 10 adventurers of the Indian Navy will set out on an expedition. They hope to become the first naval team to travel to the South Pole on skis. Announcing this here, Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Arun Prakash said the team would ski about 200 km. Each member will manually pull sleds weighing over 140 kg each. Commander Satyabrata Dam, who led the Navy's successful expedition to Mount Everest two years ago, will head the team to the Antacrtic. "We are all very excited to be heading for the remotest spot on earth," he said. "The Navy is daring enough to dream impossible dreams and it provides the means to achieve those dreams." Among the challenges the team will have to face are temperatures ranging between minus 10 and minus 35 degrees Celsius, wind speeds averaging 100 to 150 km an hour, and `katabatic' winds or dense air with snow blowing down inclines at speeds of 60 km an hour. "While the ascension in height is 3,200 metres at the South Pole, the effective altitude is around 3,800 m due to the thinner atmospheric layer," Commander Dam said. The team, which includes members from Ladakh, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan and West Bengal, represents "a microcosm of India," said the naval chief. The expedition would involve "very little rest, reserves of determination, stamina, skill and team spirit," he said, adding that the team hoped to reach the South Pole by end-December. Comparing the degree of difficulty of Antarctic expeditions to climbing the Everest, Commander Dam said only 268 people had gone to the South Pole since 1912 while over 1,600 had scaled the highest peak. The team will take about 15 to 20 days, walking 10 to 12 hours a day, said deputy leader K.S. Balaji. "We will get very few rest periods of four to five hours each day, the better part of which will be spent cooking frozen food. Boiling water freezes in seconds there." The team will carry "raw fish, smoked lamb, butter, biscuits, cornflakes, lots of chocolates." It will also carry two weeks' extra rations.

Courtesy: The Hindu, September 08, 2006

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Leander Paes, partnering Czech's Martin Damm, cruised into the semi-finals of the men's doubles at the US Open. The sixth seed Indo-Czech pair registered a 6-4, 4-6, 6-1 win over Czech Leos Friedl and Mikhail Youzhny of Russia in the quarterfinals on Thursday. In the third round on Tuesday, Paes and Damm defeated Jarkko Nieminen of Finland and Graydon Oliver of the United States 6-4, 6-2 to book a quarterfinal berth. Paes bowed out of the mixed doubles on Sep 1. Paes and his Australian partner Samantha Stosur, seeded third, suffered a first round defeat to the unseeded Belarussian pair of Max Mirnyi and Victoria

Courtesy: Hindustan Times, September 08, 2006

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World champion Manavjit Singh Sandhu led the way with the gold as India swept all the three medals at stake in the men's individual trap event at the Asian Clay Shooting championship in Singapore today. Manavjit totalled 141 out of a maximum of 150 (120 in the five rounds and 21 in the final) to pip Mansher Singh (120+20) by one point in a close contest. Anwer Sultan (119+19) was a further two points behind and had to settle for bronze. The Indian trio also won the team gold with a new Asian clay record of 359 points out of a possible 375. China was a distant second with 340 while Chinese Taipei claimed the bronze medal with 338. Going into the day, Anwer was in the lead but Manavjit was in his elements today. "I am thrilled to win the gold medal. I am confident if I can continue like this, people are going to take notice and I can get the right corporate support as well," Manavjit said. "In terms of scores, it was not the best perhaps. What was important was to win the gold for myself after the team effort. Shooting has become high profile and we have again proved we are progressing well." Mansher Singh, who missed the gold medal by a whisker, said "I am happy with my own performance. I made a good recovery after trailing yesterday. I am on the right track for the Asian Games and we can do well in the team event as well." The National Rifle Association of India is understandably upbeat about India's chances at the Doha Games in December. "Our trap marksmen have done the nation proud. This performance is going to boost their confidence and we will be able to win medals at the Asian Games as well," NRAI Secretary general Baljit Sethi said.

Courtesy: The Pioneer, September 05, 2006

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Tata Steel has entered into an agreement with the Bangladesh Olympic Association (BOA) for training the country's sportspersons, as part of the Tata group's overall initiative towards fulfilling its corporate social responsibility (CSR). As per the MoU signed in Dhaka on Sunday, Tata Steel would undertake training of Bangladeshi sportspersons in the company's sports facilities in Jamshedpur. The group's CSR initiative in Bangladesh comes less than two months after it decided to put on hold its mega investment plans in that country, which included setting up a 2.4 million tonne steel plant. The group had cited inordinate delay on part of Bangladesh government in processing its revised investment offer as the main reason behind the decision. "This is a part of our ongoing effort to engage with sports in Bangladesh," Tata Group's resident director in Bangladesh Manzer Hussain said. "The Tata group has been active in sponsoring the Nitol-Tata National Football League for many years now. CSR is integral to Tata group's business philosophy and the group has a long history of patronising sports," he added. The MoU has identified areas where initial emphasis would be given. "We have some of the best training facilities in these sports and hope we will be able to quickly bring the levels of chosen athletes to international standards," said Tata Steel chief of sports Satish Pillai. The neighbouring country's chief of army staff and president of the BOA, Lt Gen Moeen U Ahmed, graced the occasion as the chief guest.

Courtesy: The Economic Times, September 05, 2006

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India's Sania Mirza entered the third round of the women's doubles at the US Open, but lost the mixed doubles battle in the first round itself. Sania and Liezel Huber of South Africa, seeded 11, beat France's Stephanie Cohen-Aloro and Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez of Spain 6-0, 6-3 in the second round at Flushing Meadows on Sunday. They had beaten American pair of Angela Haynes and Neha Uberoi in the second round. However, pairing with Pavel Vizner of the Czech Republic, Sania lost the mixed doubles battle in the first round itself to Katarina Srebotnik of Slovania and Nenad Zimonjic of Serbia and Montenegro, but not before extending them into the third set. They lost to the sixth seeded pair 2-6, 6-3, 7-10 after a tough long struggle. Sania was knocked out of the women's singles by 14th seed Italian Francesca Schiavone Thursday. The Indian star went down 7-5, 1-6, 2-6, in the second round match.

Courtesy: The September 04, 2006

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Sania Mirza and Liezel Huber of South Africa defeat Angela Haynes and Neha Uberoi (both United States) 6-4, 6-0 in the first round of women's doubles in the US Open. In mixed doubles, Anastassia Rodionova (Russia) and Kevin Ullyett of (Zimbabwe) defeated Paola Suarez (Argentina) and Mahesh Bhupathi 4-6, 6-1, 10-8. Earlier in the day, Sania Mirza bowed out of the US Open women's singles event with a three-set loss to Fransesco Schiavone of Italy in the second round. Much like her Wimbledon loss to Elena Dementieva, Sania started strongly before fading out, losing 7-5 1-6 2-6 to the 14th seed in the year's final Grand Slam at the Flushing Meadows.

Courtesy: The Times of India, September 01, 2006

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