Sania loses 2014 opener
Sydney: Sania Mirza’s start to the 2014 campaign came to a crashing end when she lost her women’s doubles first round clash with Zimbabwean partner Cara Black at the Sydney International here on Monday. The third seeds were outplayed by Australian-Croatian wildcards Jarmila Gajdosova and Ajla Tomljanovic 3-6, 2-6 on Court No. 6. (IANS)
Yuki moves to 172, Somdev drops to 93
New Delhi: Courtesy his quarterfinal appearance at the Chennai Open, Yuki Bhambri jumped 23 places to a career-best rank of 172, while Somdev Devvarman lost three places and dropped to 93 in the latest ATP rankings, released on Monday. During the Chennai Open, Somdev had suffered a shock first round defeat at the hands of unfancied 19-year-old compatriot Ramkumar Ramanathan, who leapt to 407th from 526th place. Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan remained India’s third highest ranked in singles at 314. In the doubles, there was no change in the rankings of Indian players with Leander Paes being the highest-ranked at number 10, followed by Rohan Bopanna (13) and Mahesh Bhupathi (35). In the women’s rankings, Sania Mirza lost two places to 11 in the WTA doubles chart. (PTI)
Brazil far behind in World Cup prep
GENEVA: FIFA President Sepp Blatter criticized Brazil’s slow preparations for the World Cup, calling the country further behind than any other hosting the international event during his tenure. Brazil has completed only six of the 12 World Cup stadiums despite a FIFA deadline to finish by the end of 2013. ”Brazil has just realized what it means to organize a World Cup,” Blatter said in an interview with a Swiss newspaper. ”They started a lot too late. It is the country which is the furthest behind since I’ve been at FIFA and moreover, it’s the only one that had so much time – seven years – to prepare itself.” Six of the stadiums were ready for last year’s Confederations Cup. One of the remaining six was symbolically delivered on New Year’s Eve, although it won’t be fully ready until the end of the month. Delays have included financial problems, worker safety issues and construction-site accidents. Three construction workers died at stadiums late last year. (AP)
Ribery voted best outfielder in Bundesliga
Berlin: Franck Ribery has been voted the best outfield player in the first half of the Bundesliga by his fellow professionals. The French winger earned 56.4 percent of the vote in a survey carried out by football magazine Kicker. The magazine surveyed 238 players for the poll. Arjen Robben, Ribery’s colleague at Bayern Munich, was runner-up with 11.4 percent and Borussia Dortmund’s Marco Reus was third on 6.8 percent. Ribery was named European player of the year in August and is shortlisted for the world player of the year award. Bayer Leverkusen’s Bernd Leno won the award for best goalkeeper, while Lucien Favre of Borussia Moenchengladbach topped the best coach category with 22.7 percent of the vote. (IANS)
More pain to come for England: Flower
Sydney: Coach Andy Flower warned on Monday that there was more pain to come in the wake of England’s Ashes series meltdown in Australia. Australia completed a 5-0 clean sweep on Sunday, routing the hapless tourists for 166 to carry off a 281-run victory in three days in the Sydney Test. Such was the magnitude of the series defeat that major ramifications are expected for English cricket, just months after they beat Australia 3-0 in England. Asked directly whether Kevin Pietersen would be part of England’s future, Flower told reporters: “This will be a new start, and so it should be. It does feel like the end of some type of era. We might have to take a little more pain before we have sustained success again. And we might have to ask for a little patience in that regard over the coming months.” As well as speculation over the future of Pietersen, who averaged just 29.40 in the series compared to 47 in his career, 31-year-old wicketkeeper Matt Prior, who was dropped for the last two Tests, could also face the axe. (AFP)