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Leander’s day, Roger’s night
Melbourne, January 31
Swiss great Roger Federer won his fourth Australian Open and 16th Grand Slam title to deny Andy Murray's quest for British tennis history today. Federer's remarkable level of consistency continued when he mastered the Scottish fifth seed in straight sets, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (13/11) in two hours 41 minutes on Rod Laver Arena.
The world number one clinched victory in a gripping tie-breaker, 13 points to 11, when Murray frittered five set points and the Swiss claimed it on his third match point.
"I'm over the moon winning this title again," he said. "I played some of the best tennis in my life again over the last two weeks. It's very special to win my first Grand Slam as a father." He praised Murray for putting up such a good fight.
"Andy, you played an incredible tournament. You are too good a player not to win a Grand Slam, so don't worry about it." It was the Scot's second Grand Slam loss to Federer following his defeat to the him in the 2008 US Open final and continued Britain's frustrating chase for a first male Grand Slam winner since Fred Perry last won 74 years ago.
"I had great support back home, I'm sorry I couldn't do it for you tonight," Murray said as his voice cracked with emotion and he choked back tears. "I can cry like Roger, it's just a shame that I can't play like him," he joked. Federer has now won 16 Grand Slams in the span of 27 majors and has lost only six finals in that time. He became the fifth man in history to win four Australian Open titles with the last man to do so American Andre Agassi in 2003. - AFP
Khusropur, a real match for Sansarpur
Khusropur, January 31
If Sansarpur has been known as undivided India’s first and foremost hockey nursery, its immediate neighbour, Khusropur, too, has no less distinctive hockey history.
Situated on the southern periphery of Jalandhar Cantonment and to the east of Sansarpur, about 1.5 km away, this village of 2000 has not only produced seven hockey Olympians, two of whom played for Canada, but also a large number of national and international players.
And starting tomorrow, the Khusropur Sports Club will be playing host to the 14th Invitation Hockey Tournament that carries a cash prize of Rs 31000 for the winners and Rs 21000 for the runners-up team.
Arjuna awardee and Olympian Haripal Kaushik, one of the most prominent hockey player the village has produced since the British introduced hockey here more than 90 years ago, says that the village’s special bondage with the armed forces is reflected in the list of the participating teams in the tournament. Signals, EME, Artillery XI, Madras Regiment, besides Border Security Force, Khusropur XI, Sansarpur XI, Punjab and Sind Bank Academy and Mehli XI have confirmed their participation.
Colonel Haripal Kaushik played for the country in the 1956, 1960 and 1964 Olympic games. He has been associated with the Indian Hockey Federation in various capacities, including a national selector and a member of the coaching panel also.
Gurmail Singh Rai and his wife Rajbir Kaur are one of hockey couples the game has. While Gurmail was a member of the 1980 Olympic champion Indian team, Rajbir Kaur played a stellar role in helping India win the 1982 Asian games gold medal.
Amarjit Singh Rana, also a member of the 1980 Olympic gold medallist team, belongs to this village. He later migrated to Canada and lives there now. Rajwinder Singh, who settled down in Europe after representing the country in the 1971 World Cup, too, is a Khusropurian.
Jagdev Singh, burly fullback of Punjab police, who represented the country in Barcelona Olympic games, is also from this village. Harbhajan Singh (1984) and Ranjit Singh (1988) represented Canada in the Olympic games.
Piara Singh, Gurdev Singh and Avtar Singh either represented the country or were in national camps.
This unique village has another distinction. It has been a regular feeding channel to defence forces. Now it has a Brigadier, six Colonels and Lieutenant Colonels, 14 Majors/Captains, 15 Junior Commissioned Officers and 100 other ranks - a tremendous contribution indeed. The village has a winner each of the prestigious Military Cross, Vir Chakra, Order of British Empire and mention in dispatches.
Colonel Haripal Kaushik, who has been following the progress of fellow villagers, says that Honorary Captain Narang Singh was perhaps the first outstanding player from the village to make a mark. He participated early in the 20th century in the Punjab Native Infantry Hockey Tournament.
“There used to be a joint Sansarpur-Khusropur Hockey Club in 1900s. It continued till the number of players rose manifold and both the villages then opted for separate hockey clubs. Some of the outstanding pre-partition hockey players of Khusropur were Jaswant Singh, Ishar Singh, Atma Singh, Pandit Mathura Das, Faqir Chand, Pandit Ram Parkash Natha, Gurpartap Singh, Gurdial Singh, Brigadier Sarup Singh, Chanan Singh and Ratan Singh.
“The village has now a stadium, 10-kanal of land for which was given by Colonel Kehar Singh and rightly it has been named after him. Other contributors were Baba Sham Singh and Ram Singh and the rest was the village common land. The Army authorities provided the engineering support for leveling the playfield. It was in 1995 that Khusropur Sports Club came into being,” adds Colonel Kaushik.
Later, Edward Alosiyus, a former goalkeeper of India, settled in the village and started coaching youngsters with a missionary spirit. He continued his good work till he was transferred to Hyderabad, his hometown.
Mashresha wins Chandigarh Marathon
Chandigarh, January 31
Ethiopian and Kenyan athletes continued to dominate the long distance races bagging the first positions in the full and half marathon events in the first Chandigarh Marathon held today. Ehiopia’s Mashresha improved his own record as he completed the 42 km marathon in from 2:10:51 as compared to the Mumbai Marathon 2010, which he finished in 2:12:34. Another Ethiopian, Ronald, bagged second place as he clocked 2:13:16 while India’s Ashish Chauhan came third with the timing of 2:13:36.
In the half marathon (21km) Kenya’s Boniface completed the race in 58 minutes followed by Tesafeye of Ethiopia who clocked 59 minutes while India’s Pramod got third place clocking one hour and 3 minutes.
Flying Sikh, Milkha Singh kicked off the Full Marathon at 6.30 am in presence of cricketer Dinesh Mongia, UT home secretary Ram Niwas, finance secretary Sanjay Kumar and other senior officials of Chandigarh Administration. As many as 100 participants took part in the Full Marathon while in the half marathon about 305 people participated. Athletes from Kenya, Ethopia, England Poland and Germany participated in both events.
The 5 km Dream Run was the centre of attraction as more than 3,000 people participated in the run, which was flagged off by Adviser to the Administrator Pradip Mehra. Bollywood actress, Poonam Dhillon and comedian Jaspal Bhatti were among those present at the flag off ceremony.
Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs and Water Resources Pawan Kumar Bansal gave away the prizes to the winners of the Full and Half Marathon. Speaking on the occasion, the home secretary announced that the marathon in the city would be an annual affair and announced the date for second edition of the Chandigarh Marathon as February 6, 2011. |
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