(Current Affairs) Sports | January 2011

World champion Viswanathan Anand hit a career-high rating of 2810 in the latest world ranking list released by the World Chess Federation (FIDE).

The rating, effective, however, was not good enough to help Anand keep the No. 1 spot he gained since November 1. The second placed Anand had to make way for Norway's Magnus Carlsen who regained the top position at 2814. In the last two months, Carlsen gained 12 points to Anand's six. Armenia's Levon Aronian and Russia's Vladimir Kramnik retained the third and fourth places while the biggest gainer among the elite was USA's Hikaru Nakamura who jumped five places to hold the 10th position.

The lists: World (Top-5): Magnus Carlsen (Nor, 2814), 2. Viswanathan Anand (Ind, 2810), 3. Levon Aronian (Arm, 2805), 4. Vladimir Kramnik (Rus, 2784), 5. Sergey Karjakin (Rus, 2776),

India (Top-5): 1. Viswanathan Anand (2810), 2. K. Sasikiran (2690), 3. P. Hari Krishna (2667), 4. Surya Shekhar Ganguly (2651), 5. Sandipan Chanda (2641),

India (Women Top-5): 1. K. Humpy (2607), 2. D. Harika (2520), 3. S. Vijayalakshmi (2454), 4. Tania Sachdev (2391), 5-6. Soumya Swaminathan (2353), Eesha Karavade (2353),

Gambhir and Dravid take India to a draw

Neither India nor South Africa deserved to lose this most even of series; neither did, as the third Test in Newlands concluded in a draw.

South Africa's Jacques Kallis was adjudged the Man of the Match as well as the Man of the Series.

England crushes Australia for Ashes

Dominant England claimed its first Ashes series in Australia for 24 years with its third innings victory over the home team in the final Sydney Test.

England wrapped up an innings and 83-run victory.

It was England's first series victory Down Under since Mike Gatting's team beat Australia 2-1 in 1986-87.

Federer wins Qatar Open

World No. 2 Roger Federer began his season in formidable fashion by defeating holder Nikolay Davydenko 6-3, 6-4 to win the Qatar Open.

The 16-times grand slam champion proved too much for his Russian opponent, claiming a break of serve in each set to complete victory under the floodlights at the Khalifa Tennis Complex in central Doha.

Women: Final: Petra Kvitova bt Andrea Petkovic 6-1, 6-3.

At Doha (Qatar Open): Final: Roger Federer bt Nikolay Davydenko 6-3, 6-4; Semifinals: Nikolay Davydenko bt Rafael Nadal 6-3, 6-2.

At Auckland: (WTA Auckland Classic): Final: Greta Arn def Yanina Wickmayer 6-3, 6-3 .

Stanislas Wawrinka crowned champion

Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka bore away the bell with a 7-5, 4-6, 6-1 win over Belgian Xavier Malisse in the final of the Chennai Open tennis.

The World No. 21 picked up his third Tour title, displaying in patches the same form that saw him account for top-seeded Tomas Berdych in the semifinal. The 25-year-old, thus, was second time lucky, having lost the 2010 Chennai Open final to Croatian Marin Cilic.

Wawrinka also became the first wild card since Ivan Ljubicic, in 2006, to triumph in Chennai.

The result: Singles: Final: Stanislas Wawrinka (Sui) bt Xavier Malisse (Bel) 7-5, 4-6, 6-1

Paes-Bhupathi duo clinches title

Old warhorses Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi won their first title together in over six years, grinding out a 6-2, 6-7(3), 10-7 win over first-timers Robin Haase and David Martin in the Chennai Open final.

The fearsome alliance thus set itself up to mount a genuine challenge on the Australian Open, the only major title missing from their collection. The season's first Grand Slam begins in Melbourne on January 17.

The result: Doubles: Final: Leander Paes & Mahesh Bhupathi (Ind) bt Robin Haase (Ned) & David Martin (US) 6-2, 6-7(3), 10-7.

England crushes Australia; keeps Ashes

England retained the Ashes with a crushing innings and 157-run win in the fourth Test on Wednesday, breaking a 24-year away drought in the series and leaving Australian captain Ricky Ponting's future in doubt.

England's biggest win over Australia since 1956 put it an unbeatable 2-1 up with one to play, almost a quarter of a century after Mike Gatting's team claimed the series 2-1 in 1986-87 in England's last triumph in Australia.

Australia's humiliation was complete when Ben Hilfenhaus was the last man out before lunch on the fourth morning at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, caught behind off Tim Bresnan for a duck after Ryan Harris was unable to bat because of an ankle injury.

“Winning the Ashes in Australia has always been a bit of a Holy Grail for English sides,” skipper Andrew Strauss said.

“We haven't won the Ashes yet but we obviously retain the urn which has been one of our primary goals and the guys deserve everything they get because the players stood up and performed when it mattered.”

There was only going to be one outcome after Australia was routed for a miserable ground record low of 98 on Sunday's opening day after Strauss had won the toss and put the Australians in to bat on a greenish wicket.

The English responded with a towering 513 to hold a match-winning 415-run innings lead which Australia found totally beyond it.

“The really important thing we need to do is pay credit to England and the way its team played for the whole tour,” Australian skipper Ricky Ponting said.

“Apart from the third Perth Test, they've played a really high level of cricket the whole way through, not only this series, but the tour games as well. Credit to them for the way they prepared.”

Pressure on Ponting

The crushing loss will heap further pressure on an embattled Ponting. It was the Australian skipper's third failure to win an Ashes series following his earlier defeats in England in 2005 and last year.

Wicketkeeper Brad Haddin was left unbeaten with a defiant 55 including four fours and a six in Australia's second innings of 258 for nine.

Bresnan finished as England's best bowler with four for 50 off 21.4 overs, while England No. 3 Jonathan Trott was named man-of-the-match for his unbeaten 168.

In 1986 England won the series and the Ashes after an innings and 14-run victory at the MCG.

Australia can still level the series if it can fight back and win next week's fifth Sydney Test, but the Ashes are gone.

“Our objective was to come out here and win the series, so we haven't achieved that yet,” Strauss said.

“It's very reassuring to know that the Ashes are going to remain in England for the next couple of years, but it would leave a very sour taste in the mouth if we weren't able to go on and convert our position into a series win in Sydney.”

England last won at the MCG in 1998 with Dean Headley taking six for 60 in the second innings as the tourists won by just 12 nail-biting runs.

Second heavy defeat

The heavy defeat was only Australia's second in its last 12 MCG Tests, the previous coming two years ago against South Africa by nine wickets.

It was England's 20th win in 54 Ashes Tests at the MCG.

A small crowd, dominated by the celebrating Barmy Army and other English supporters, witnessed the final rites with the Australian fans giving up on a lost cause.

Australia lost Mitchell Johnson in the second over bowled by Chris Tremlett for six.

Haddin and Peter Siddle stalled England's victory push with some lusty hitting in an 86-run partnership with both clubbing sixes off spinner Graeme Swann.

Siddle finally fell for his Test best 40 when he hoisted Swann to Kevin Pietersen on the long-on boundary.

Hilfenhaus only lasted four balls before the axe finally fell on Australia.

Ponting, who is expected to hold on to the captaincy for next week's Sydney Test, fitness permitting with his fractured little finger, said he hoped history would not only focus on his three Ashes defeats.

“The fact that I've lost those three Test series is disappointing for me,” he said.

“Hopefully, I am not only remembered as the guy that lost those three Ashes series, there's lot of other great things I've been part of in my career.”

Australia's next Test after Sydney is not due until August against Sri Lanka.
SCOREBOARD

Australia — 1st innings: 98.

England — 1st innings: 513.

Australia — 2nd innings: S. Watson lbw b Bresnan 54, P. Hughes (run out) 23, R. Ponting b Bresnan 20, M. Clarke c Strauss b Swann 13, M. Hussey c Bell b Bresnan 0, S. Smith b Anderson 38, B. Haddin (not out) 55, M. Johnson b Tremlett 6, P. Siddle c Pietersen b Swann 40, B. Hilfenhaus c Prior b Bresnan 0, R. Harris (did not bat); Extras (b-1, lb-6, w-2): 9; Total (for nine wkts. in 85.4 overs): 258.

Fall of wickets: 1-53, 2-99, 3-102, 4-104, 5-134, 6-158, 7-172, 8-258, 9-258.

England bowling: Anderson 20-1-71-1, Tremlett 17-3-71-1, Swann 27-11-59-2, Bresnan 21.4-8-50-4.
An action replay of the year gone by

It had to end, finally, 70-68 in the fifth, but for 11 hours and five minutes stretched over three days, John Isner and Nicolas Mahut took sport to its logical extreme — into a zone where the outside world, even the happenings on the adjacent courts at Wimbledon, ceased to exist.

Sport seldom leads that sort of separate existence. This was especially true in 2010, a year that will forever be associated with spot-fixing in cricket, corruption in high places in football and organisational shambles at the Commonwealth Games.

Sports fans must be eternally grateful, therefore, to Isner and Mahut. And, of course, to Spain, which achieved its maiden FIFA World Cup triumph by stubbornly sticking to its beliefs.

Nearly all of its opponents defended deep and in numbers. In the final, the Netherlands, once similarly staunch in its aesthetic beliefs, resorted to crude hacking.

But Spain didn't lose faith in its modus operandi. Receive, pass, offer. On and on till the openings came, often late in games.

There was no avalanche. One-nil was the scoreline in each of its knockout games, but that didn't tell half the story of the beauty and bravery of Spain's football.

Receive, pass, offer. The mantra is drilled into anyone who learns the game at La Masia, Barcelona's youth academy. Seven La Masia graduates were on the pitch during the World Cup final.

Three — Xavi Hernandez, Andres Iniesta and Lionel Messi — form the three-man shortlist for the FIFA Ballon d'Or, the sport's biggest individual honour.

How the mighty fell

Elsewhere, the mighty fell soundly on their backsides. Wayne Rooney, who had only to turn up at matches to find the net prodigiously for club and country last year, endured a torrid 2010, scoring off the pitch but seldom on it.

He also starred in one of the most convoluted transfer tearjerkers of all time, at the end of which he remained a Manchester United player, with a fattened contract to boot.

Further demonstration that sportspersons live in fragile bubbles came from Tiger Woods. We wondered, at the start of the year, if the revelations of his infidelity and the subsequent cancellation, one by one, of endorsement deals that relied on his ‘image' would cause his cold-eyed stare down the fairway to falter. The answer, emphatically, was yes.

Australia, cricket's Tiger Woods for over a decade, fared no better. Failure to regain the Ashes from England was confirmation that the side has an arduous rebuilding phase ahead of it.

In tennis, the year began with a tearful Andy Murray confessing, at the Australian Open podium, that he could “cry like Roger (Federer). It's just a shame I can't play like him.”

It ended with Federer winning the World Tour Finals to cap a run of form that saw the Swiss genius, working with new coach Paul Annacone, rack up a 34-4 win-loss record after his quarterfinal defeat at Wimbledon.

In between, Rafael Nadal ruled supreme, regaining the number one ranking and winning three Slams on the trot, including a first ever U.S. Open crown to become the seventh player in history, and the youngest, to complete a Career Slam.

Two narratives

The women's game, as in recent seasons, contained two narratives — that of the Williams siblings and that of the rest. Serena, who won in Australia and Wimbledon, kept her non-Slam appearances to a minimum, allowing Caroline Wozniacki to become only the second year-end No. 1 without a Slam.

Sebastian Vettel became the youngest Formula One world champion, holding his nerve in a tense final race in Abu Dhabi to pip three other title contenders.

For India, 2010 demonstrated a still modest, but growing presence in world sport. Viswanathan Anand, despite braving a 30-hour bus ride thanks to Eyjafjallajokull, came back from a game down to win his fourth World Chess Championship.

The Commonwealth Games in Delhi produced a best-ever medal tally. The shooters, led by, Gagan Narang, were predictably prolific, but there were surprise successes as well, notably in women's wrestling and a 1-2-3 finish in the women's discus throw.

Somdev Devvarman won the tennis singles gold in Delhi, and carried that form to Guangzhou, where he picked up gold in both singles and doubles. India's 4x400m women's team also did the Commonwealth and Asian Games gold double.

Vijender Singh put behind a semifinal disappointment in front of his home crowd to win the middleweight boxing gold at Guangzhou, where he dismantled Uzbek World champion Abbos Atoev 7-0. Sushil Kumar created history in Moscow, becoming the first Indian to win gold at the World wrestling Championships.

Saina Nehwal won the CWG gold in the badminton singles, and more significantly bagged three Super Series titles, in Singapore, Indonesia and Hong Kong, on her way to reaching a career-high number two world ranking.

Further cheer came at the Wyndham Championships, where Arjun Atwal became the first Indian golfer to win a PGA Tour event.
Anand loses No. 1 spot

World champion Viswanathan Anand hit a career-high rating of 2810 in the latest world ranking list released by the World Chess Federation (FIDE).

The rating, effective from Saturday, however, was not good enough to help Anand keep the No. 1 spot he gained since November 1. The second placed Anand had to make way for Norway's Magnus Carlsen who regained the top position at 2814. In the last two months, Carlsen gained 12 points to Anand's six. Armenia's Levon Aronian and Russia's Vladimir Kramnik retained the third and fourth places while the biggest gainer among the elite was USA's Hikaru Nakamura who jumped five places to hold the 10th position.

Among the Indians, second-placed K. Sasikiran climbed two places to be 45th after reaching 2690, up two points since November 1. Third-placed P. Hari Krishna gained 10 points to reach 2667 and jumped from the 87th spot to the 74th.

The lists: World (Top-10): Magnus Carlsen (Nor, 2814), 2. Viswanathan Anand (Ind, 2810), 3. Levon Aronian (Arm, 2805), 4. Vladimir Kramnik (Rus, 2784), 5. Sergey Karjakin (Rus, 2776), 6. Veselin Topalov (Bul, 2775), 7. Alexander Grishcuk (Rus, 2773), 8. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (Aze, 2772), 9. Vassily Ivanchuk (Ukr, 2764), 10. Hikaru Nakamura (USA, 2751).

India (Top-20): 1. Viswanathan Anand (2810), 2. K. Sasikiran (2690), 3. P. Hari Krishna (2667), 4. Surya Shekhar Ganguly (2651), 5. Sandipan Chanda (2641), 6-7. Parimarjan Negi (2607), K. Humpy (2607), 8. G.N. Gopal (2597), 9. Abhijeet Gupta (2590), 10. S.P. Sethuraman (2545), 11. P. Magesh Chandran (2537), 12-14. Deep Sengupta (2530), B. Adhiban (2530), Tejas Bakre (2530) 2530), 15-16. Abhijit Kunte (2520), D. Harika (2520), 17. S. Arun Prasad (2513), 18. Vidit Gujarathi (2495), 19. M.R. Lalith Babu (2491), 20. Deepan Chakkravarthy (2485).

India (Women Top-10): 1. K. Humpy (2607), 2. D. Harika (2520), 3. S. Vijayalakshmi (2454), 4. Tania Sachdev (2391), 5-6. Soumya Swaminathan (2353), Eesha Karavade (2353), 7. Padmini Rout (2336), 8. Nisha Mohota (2326), 9. S. Meenakshi (2323), 10. Mary Ann Gomes (2306) .
Gambhir and Dravid take India to a draw

Neither India nor South Africa deserved to lose this most even of series; neither did, as the third Test here in Newlands concluded in a draw on Thursday.

Four days of animated cricket, where the momentum swung less abruptly than at Durban, but no less dramatically, had reduced the Test to this: India had a day to bat out, 340 to chase if it could manage the brio; South Africa had ten wickets to take on a ground where the last such endeavour, against England, had ended in heartbreak.

India, by choosing not to hazard even a token attempt at the chase, allowed South Africa to encircle its batsmen in ring fields for much of the fifth day. But Gautam Gambhir (64) and Rahul Dravid (31) resisted the push for wickets, making easier the lives of those who followed as India held on to draw its first series (1-1) in South Africa.

Crucial hour

The first hour was crucial — the new ball a pivot on which the contest could turn. Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel began like they've been known to, Steyn swinging the ball and moving it off the seam at fast-medium speed, Morkel raising it from a length at high pace. Steyn beat Sehwag in the first over; Morkel hit Gambhir in the second.

Gambhir needed a canteen of ice to press to his left arm, a limb already battered by a rapid ball in the match. But it only seemed to sharpen the left-hander's focus. Pain brings to life the senses better than anything else, which is why the injured batsman is always feared, especially if his movement isn't unduly affected. Gambhir, who lives for such days, marked his guard, settled into his balanced stance, and resumed.

Sehwag batted with greater circumspection than common. Only on occasion did he attempt to light the ‘firecrackers' Harbhajan Singh thought he might.

He left as just as the hour was about to be marked, a speeding, length ball from Morkel accosting a defensive stroke even as it was forming to take the edge to first slip.

Sehwag's wicket, which completed a lean series for the opener, brought together two of India's best at batting time. For two and a half hours, punctuated by the break for lunch, Gambhir and Dravid did just that: they batted time, rationing their concentration, switching on, applying their organised techniques to the ball at hand, switching off, and then doing it all over again.

The luck that is essential for survival on a wearing fifth-day wicket was also with them. Lonwabo Tsotsobe defeated both batsmen's edges — his bowling from left-arm around when he straightened the ball was particularly impressive — and Steyn nearly had Gambhir edging a drive onto his stumps from a ball that burst through the top surface.

Paul Harris, introduced after an hour and a quarter, asked uncomfortable questions with his left-arm orthodox from both over and around the wicket. Him not being a big turner of the ball added to the difficulty, for the batsmen were forced to delay their decision to play or pad the ball away till the last possible instant.

The odd delivery ripped and bounced from the rough, maintaining the air of uncertainty.

Harris should have had Dravid ‘lbw': one that hurried on with the arm from around the wicket beat the cut-stroke, hitting pad first; it was a difficult decision because bat and pad were close together, and the umpire ruled in the batsman's favour.

But South Africa didn't have long to despair. Dravid fell shortly thereafter, caught at wide third slip off a delivery from Tsotsobe that kicked and moved.

Gambhir and Tendulkar played out an anxious period to tea. Gambhir was reprieved on 62 when A.B. de Villiers failed to hold a sharp catch at silly-point, the leading edge off Harris travelling too quickly for him.

De Villiers, this time at backward short-leg, put down another tough one; it wasn't clear if Tendulkar had touched it — Harris' anguish suggested he had.

Barring a short period after lunch when he seemed to lose concentration and aimed rash shots at Steyn and Harris, Gambhir batted with clarity. His scoring strokes were often an extension of his defence, bat held soft and straight till contact before a turn of the wrists or a punch of the arms timed and placed the ball.

Steyn ended Gambhir's four-and-a-half-hour vigil, a bouncer from around the wicket grazing the glove en route to the ‘keeper.

This left India in the capable, reassuring hands of Tendulkar and V.V.S. Laxman, who, despite the odd moment that spiked the heart-rate, guided the side to safety, batting 82 minutes together before the match was stopped.

South Africa's Jacques Kallis was adjudged the Man of the Match as well as the Man of the Series.

South Africa — 1st innings: 362

India — 1st innings: 364

South Africa — 2nd innings: 341

India — 2nd innings: G. Gambhir c Boucher b Steyn 64 (184b, 9x4), V. Sehwag c Smith b Morkel 11 (40b, 2x4), R. Dravid c Prince b Tsotsobe 31 (112b, 4x4), S. Tendulkar (not out) 14 (91b), V.V.S. Laxman (not out) 32 (67b, 4x4), Extras (b-7, nb-2, w-5): 14; Total (for three wickets in 82 overs): 166.

Fall of wickets: 1-27 (Sehwag), 2-106 (Dravid), 3-120 (Gambhir).

South Africa bowling: Steyn 18-6-43-1, Morkel 15-6-26-1, Tsotsobe 13-4-29-1, Harris 30-19-29-0, Smith 4-0-27-0, Petersen 2-0-5-0 .
England crushes Australia for Ashes

Dominant England claimed its first Ashes series in Australia for 24 years with its third innings victory over the home team in the final Sydney Test on Friday.

England wrapped up an innings and 83-run victory early on the last day after victory was assured when it had Australia seven wickets down on Thursday's close.

It was England's first series victory Down Under since Mike Gatting's team beat Australia 2-1 in 1986-87.

Overpowering batting

It was probably England's most comprehensive performance of the series with Alastair Cook (189), Matt Prior (118) and Ian Bell (115) all claiming centuries in an overpowering first innings lasting 177.5 overs and 758 minutes.

England bowlers, led by leading series wicket-taker James Anderson, exposed the gulf between the two attacks by dismissing Australia cheaply again. Steven Smith and Peter Siddle showed some fight with an 86-run eighth-wicket partnership before Siddle holed out to Anderson on the square leg boundary off Graeme Swann for 43 off 65 balls.

Ben Hilfenhaus fell to Anderson caught behind for seven and debutant Michael Beer was the last Australian wicket to fall, bowled by Chris Tremlett for two. Smith remained unbeaten on 54 in 132 minutes.

Huge wins

England was a potent force during the series, overpowering Australia in huge wins in Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney, with the Australians winning the third Perth Test. The opening Brisbane Test was drawn.

Alastair Cook was the series top scorer with 766 at 127.66, second only to Wally Hammond's 905 in 1928-29 for most runs for England in a series in Australia. Anderson finished the series with 24 wickets, the most by any England bowler since Frank Tyson took 28 in 1954-55 and wicketkeeper Matt Prior took 23 catches in the series.England was the last team to beat Australia at the SCG in 2003 when Andy Caddick claimed 7-94 after Michael Vaughan had amassed 183 in the second innings to pull off a massive 225-run triumph.

England has now won 22 times in Sydney in 54 Tests.

Pretty special: Strauss

Andrew Strauss acclaimed England's emphatic first Ashes series triumph as “pretty special. “It feels pretty special if I'm honest,” skipper Strauss said.

“Until an Ashes series is finally over you've got half an eye on what's to come, so even in Melbourne (fourth Test) we were still very conscious that we wanted to finish on a high and show people that we deserved to win this series.

England — 1st innings: 644.

Australia — 1st innings: 280.

Australia — 2nd innings: S. Watson (run out) 38, P. Hughes c Prior b Bresnan 13, U. Khawaja c Prior b Anderson 21, M. Clarke c Prior b Anderson 41, M. Hussey c Pietersen b Bresnan 12, B. Haddin c Prior b Tremlett 30, S. Smith (not out) 54, M. Johnson b Tremlett 0, P. Siddle c Anderson b Swann 43, B. Hilfenhaus c Prior b Anderson 7, M. Beer b Tremlett 2; Extras (b-11, lb-4, w-3, nb-2) 20. Total (in 84.4 overs) 281.

Fall of wickets: 1-46, 2-52, 3-117, 4-124, 5-161, 6-171, 7-171, 8-257, 9-267.

England bowling: Anderson 18-5-61-3, Tremlett 20.4-4-79-3, Swann 28-8-75-1, Bresnan 18-6-51-2 .