ATP World Tour 2010 calendar - ATP Tennis 2010 Schedule

ATP stands for Association of Tennis Professionals. The ATP World Tour calendar for the 2010 includes the Grand Slam tournaments such as the ATP World Tour 500 series, the ATP World Tour Masters 1000, the ATP World Tour 250 series, the ATP World Team Championship, the Davis Cup, all are planned by International Tennis Federation (ITF). The Hopman Cup is included in the 2010 calendar and does not distribute ranking points. The schedule of Association of Tennis Professionals is given below:
2010 ATP World Tour Tournament Calendar
Date Tournament Surface Prize Money Winners
January
03.01.2010 Brisbane, Australia Hard $484,750 Radek Stepanek
Jo Wilfried Tsonga / Marc Gicquel
04.01.2010 Chennai, India Hard $450,000 Marin Cilic
Rajeev Ram / Eric Butorac
04.01.2010 Doha, Qatar Hard $1,110,250 Andy Murray
Rafael Nadal / Marc Lopez
11.01.2010 Sydney, Australia Hard $484,750 David Nalbandian
Mike Bryan / Bob Bryan
11.01.2010 Auckland, New Zealand Hard $480,750 Juan Martin Del Potro
Robert Lindstedt / Martin Damm
18.01.2010 Melbourne, Australia Hard A$10,712,240 Rafael Nadal
Mike Bryan / Bob Bryan
February
01.02.2010 Johannesburg, South Africa Hard $442,500 Jo Wilfried Tsonga
Dick Norman / James Cerretani
01.02.2010 Zagreb, Croatia Indoor
Hard €398,250 Marin Cilic
Robert Lindstedt / Martin Damm
01.02.2010 Santiago, Chile Clay $398,250 Fernando Gonzalez
Brian Dabul / Pablo Cuevas
08.02.2010 San Jose, U.S.A Indoor
Hard $531,000 Radek Stepanek
Radek Stepanek / Tommy Haas
08.02.2010 Rotterdam, The Netherlands Indoor
Hard €1,150,000 Andy Murray
Nenad Zimonjic / Daniel Nestor
18.02.2010 Costa do Sauipe, Brazil Clay $442,500 Rafael Nadal
Mike Bryan / Bob Bryan
15.02.2010 Marseille, France Indoor Hard €512,750 Jo Wilfried Tsonga
Michael Llodra / Arnaud Clement
15.02.2010 Memphis, U.S.A Indoor Hard $1,100,000 Andy Roddick
Mark Knowles / Mardy Fish
14.02.2010 Buenos Aires, Argentina Clay $475,300 Tommy Robredo
Alberto Martin / Marcel Granollers
21.02.2010 Dubai, U.A.E Hard $1,619,500 Novak Djokovic
Dmitry Tursunov / Rik De Voest
21.02.2010 Acapulco, Mexico Clay $995,000 Nicolas Almagro
Michal Mertinak / Frantisek Cermak
22.02.2010 Delray Beach, U.S.A Hard $442,500 Mardy Fish
Mike Bryan / Bob Bryan
March
05.03.2010 Davis Cup
11.03.2010 Indian Wells, U.S.A. Hard $3,645,000 Rafael Nadal
Andy Roddick / Mardy Fish
24.03.2010 Miami, U.S.A. Hard $3,645,000 Andy Murray
Andy Ram / Max Mirnyi
April
05.04.2010 Casablanca, Morocco Clay €398,250 Juan Carlos Ferrero
Oliver Marach / Lukasz Kubot
05.04.2010 Houston, U.S.A. Clay $442,500 Lleyton Hewitt
Mike Bryan / Bob Bryan
11.04.2010 Monte-Carlo, Monaco Clay €2,227,500 Rafael Nadal
Nenad Zimonjic / Daniel Nestor
18.04.2010 Barcelona, Spain Clay €1,550,000 Rafael Nadal
Nenad Zimonfic / Daniel Nestor
25.04.2010 Rome, Italy Clay €2,227,500 Rafael Nadal
Nenad Zimonfic / Daniel Nestor
May
02.05.2010 Munich, Germany Clay €398,250 Tomas Berdych
Ivo Minar / Jan Hernych
03.05.2010 Belgrade, Serbia Clay €373,200 Novak Djokovic
Oliver Marach / Lukasz Kubot
03.05.2010 Estoril, Portugal Clay €398,250 Albert Montanes
Scott Lipsky / Eric Butorac
09.05.2010 Madrid, Spain Clay €2,835,250 Roger Federer
Nenad Zimonjic / Daniel Nestor
16.05.2010 Dusseldorf, Germany Clay €TBD Team: Serbia
16.05.2010 Nice, France Clay €398,250
23.05.2010 Paris, France Clay €TBD Roger Federer
Leander Paes / Lukas Dlouhy
June
07.06.2010 Halle, Germany Grass €663,750 Tommy Haas
Philipp Kohlschreiber / Christopher Kas
07.06.2010 London, Great Britain Grass €627,700 Andy Murray
Mikhail Youzhny / Wesley Moodie
13.06.2010 ’s-Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands Grass €398,250 Benjamin Becker
Dick Norman / Wesley Moodie
13.06.2010 Eastbourne, Great Britain Grass €405,000 Dmitry Tursunov
Marcin Matkowski / Mariusz Fyrstenberg
21.06.2010 Wimbledon, Great Britain Grass €12,550,000 Roger Federer
Nenad Zimonjic / Daniel Nestor
July
05.07.2010 Newport, U.S.A. Grass €442,500 Rajeev Ram
Rajeev Ram / Jordan Kerr
09.07.2010 Davis Cup
12.07.2010 Stuttgart, Germany Clay €398,250 Jeremy Chardy
Michal Mertinak / Frantisek Cermak
12.07.2010 Bastad, Sweden Clay €398,250 Robin Soderling
Filip Polasek / Jaroslav Levinsky
19.07.2010 Hamburg, Germany Clay €1,000,000 Nikolay Davydenko
Paul Hanley / Simon Aspelin
19.07.2010 Atlanta, U.S.A. Hard $531,000
25.07.2010 Gstaad, Switzerland Clay €398,250 Thomaz Bellucci
Michael Lammer / Marco Chiudinelli
26.07.2010 Los Angeles, U.S.A. Hard $619,500 Sam Querrey
Mike Bryan / Bob Bryan
26.07.2010 Umag, Crotia Clay €398,250 Nikolay Davydenko
Michal Mertinak / Frantisek Cermak
August
01.08.2010 Washington D.C., U.S.A. Hard $1,165,500 Juan Martin Del Potro
Robert Lindstedt / Martin Damm
09.08.2010 Toronto, Canada Hard $2,430,000 Andy Murray
Mark Knowles / Mahesh Bhupathi
15.08.2010 Cincinnati, U.S.A. Hard $2,430,000 Roger Federer
Nenad Zimonjic / Daniel Nestor
22.08.2010 New Haven, U.S.A. Hard $663,750 Fernando Verdasco
Jurgen Melzer / Julian Knowle
30.08.2010 New York, U.S.A. Hard $TBD Juan Martin Del Potro
Leander Paes / Lukas Dlouhy
September
17.09.2010 Davis Cup
20.09.2010 Metz, France Indoor Hard €398,250 Gael Monfils
Ken Skupski / Colin Fleming
20.09.2010 Bucharest, Romania Clay €368,450 Albert Montanes
Michal Mertinak / Frantisek Cermak
27.09.2010 Bangkok, Thailand Hard $551,000 Gilles Simon
Rajeev Ram / Eric Butorac
27.09.2010 Kuala Lumpar, Malaysia Indoor Hard $850,000 Nikolay Davydenko
Marcin Matkowski / Mariusz Fyrstenberg
October
04.10.2010 Beijing, China Hard $2,100,000 Novak Djokovic
Mike Bryan / Bob Bryan
04.10.2010 Tokyo, Japan Hard $1,100,000 Jo Wilfried Tsonga
Jurgen Melzer / Julian Knowle
10.10.2010 Shanghai, China Hard $3,240,000 Nikolay Davydenko
Jo Wilfried Tsonga / Julien Benneteau
18.10.2010 Stockholm, Sweden Indoor Hard €531,000 Marcos Baghdatis
Kevin Ullyett / Bruno Soares
18.10.2010 Moscow, Russia Indoor Hard $1,000,000 Mikhail Youzhny
Marcel Granollers / Pablo Cuevas
24.10.2010 St. Petersburg, Russia Indoor Hard $663,750 Sergiy Stakhovsky
Ken Skupski / Colin Fleming
25.10.2010 Vienna, Austria Indoor Hard €575,250 Jurgen Melzer
Oliver Marach / Lukasz Kubot
25.10.2010 Lyon, France Indoor Hard €575,250 Ivan Ljubicic
Nicolas Mahut / Julien Benneteau
31.10.2010 Valencia, Spain Hard €1,357,000 Andy Murray
Michal Mertinak / Frantisek Cermak
November
01.11.2010 Basel, Switzerland Indoor Hard €1,225,000 Novak Djokovic
Nenad Zimonjic / Daniel Nestor
07.11.2010 Paris, France Hard €2,750,000 Novak Djokovic
Nenad Zimonjic / Daniel Nestor
21.11.2010 London, England Indoor Hard £2,227,500 Singles: Nikolay Davydenko
December
04.12.2010 Davis Cup Clay

Read more...

Paes advance in doubles, mixed doubles

India's Leander Paes and Czech Lukas Dlouhy, seeded third, cruised into the men's doubles quarterfinals with a 6-3, 7-5 defeat of Americans John Isner and Sam Querrey in the Australian Open tennis at the Melbourne Park in Melbourne on Monday.    

It was successful day for Paes in the mixed doubles also, where he and Zimbabwean Cara Black reached the third round. The top seeded pair overwhelmed Uzbek Akgul Amanmuradova and Rik De Voest of South Africa, 6-4, 6-2.

This is the sixth time in eight majors that Paes and Dlouhy reached the quarter-final stage.

The Indo-Czech pair won the Roland Garros and US Open titles last year, having finished runner-up at the 2008 US Open. They next play winners of the match between fifth seeds Lukasz Kubot of Poland and Austrian Oliver Marach and Croat Ivo Karlovic and Dusan Vemic of Serbia. 
 
In the girls' doubles, India's Rishika Sunkara and Yuki Ito of Japan went down fighting to sixth seeds Anna-Lena Friedsam of Germany and Mai Grage of Denmark, 7-6(5), 2-6, (6-10) in the first round.
 
In the boys' doubles, India's Vaidik Munshaw and Chuhan Wang of China were ousted by  fourth seeds Liang-Chi Huang of Chinese Taipei and Yasutaka Uchiyama of Japan, 2-6, 6-7(3) in the first round.

Read more...

Petrova says Henin more aggressive in comeback

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) Nadia Petrova has a unique perspective on the recent comebacks of the once-retired Belgian champions Justine Henin and Kim Clijsters, having defeated one and lost to the other at this year's Australian Open.

Petrova's run to the quarterfinals included victories over two reigning Grand Slam champions: U.S. Open titlist Clijsters and French Open winner Svetlana Kuznetsova.

But she tips her hat to Justine Henin, who defeated her 7-6 (3), 7-5 on Tuesday and has now won 13 of their 15 matches - all but two of them before Henin retired in May 2008.

Returning to the tour this month, seven-time major winner Henin is unseeded and unranked in Melbourne but has already advanced to the semis.

Petrova acknowledged the changes in Henin's style, saying she was much more aggressive.

"She's playing closer to the line, she tries to take time from you," Petrova said. "She really tries to rip the ball. She doesn't stick into long rallies like as she used to, to really run everybody. She really tries to go for the winners."

Petrova said Henin's game was much more varied than that of Clijsters. Petrova crushed Clijsters 6-0, 6-1 in the third round here, the Belgian's worst defeat.

Clijsters, who took two years off to get married and have a baby, returned to tennis last year and won the U.S. Open in her third tournament back.

Petrova had lost all four of her matches against Clijsters but, until last week, hadn't played her since her comeback.

"Justine is a little bit different compared to Kim," Petrova said. "The variety of game she has, that one-handed backhand, the slice, you know, with her you really have to mix it up much more than against Kim. ... You never know what's coming."

The 19th-seeded Russian can see Henin taking the Australian Open title in Melbourne.

"She has a good shot," Petrova said. "She has a really good round in the semifinals. Whoever she's gonna face in the final, I'm sure she has a good shot at it."

EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW, AND MORE: Wondering what the Australian Open players do in their down time? Just follow their tweets.

Many players are keeping fans updated on everything from movie choices to match commentaries via Twitter, a social networking site where users type "tweets" of 140 characters or less on their computers or cell phones and are "followed" by friends and fans.

"Looking at Rogers game made me feel a new comer in tennis," No. 3 Svetlana Kuznetsova tweeted about Federer's three-set win over Lleyton Hewitt on Monday night.

That same night, Andy Murray tweeted a link to a photo of himself in shorts and sitting in a bath full of ice bags, perhaps in preparation for his Tuesday evening match against Rafael Nadal.

While Serena Williams mostly uses her tweets to promote her charity work, other players share opinions or the minutiae of their days.

"Love australia... where else can you watch nfl playoff games with breakfast???" Andy Roddick tweeted on Monday.

Victoria Azarenka told the Twittersphere about her morning walk to buy fruit for breakfast on Australia Day, the national holiday; Caroline Wozniacki tweeted that she dined at Nobu two nights in a row, and later hit the town with American players John Isner and Sam Querrey, whom she called "the twin towers."

And Bob Bryan, doubles champion with his brother Mike, chugged some bottled water while he watched "The Time Traveler's Wife."

The Australian Open has its own Twitter feed and includes links to the player's Twitter pages.

About 58 million people around the world use Twitter.

BRONZE BUSTS FOR THE WOODIES: Australians Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde - the most successful doubles combination in tennis history - say their induction into the Australian Tennis Hall of Fame is the greatest honor of their careers.

The pair - nicknamed the Woodies - won 11 Grand Slam titles, 61 ATP doubles titles and gold and silver Olympic medals in their nine years together, starting in 1991 and ending at the Sydney Olympics in 2000, where they took home the silver.

"It's such an incredible honor and probably equal, if not better, than winning the Wimbledons and the Olympics," Woodforde said. "I think it just reflects back about how well you succeeded in the sport."

Bronze busts of the pair were to be unveiled before the night session Tuesday, which is Australia Day, and will be installed in the Garden Square alongside other Australian tennis greats.

They are already in the Sport Australia Hall of Fame.

Individually, the two had modest singles careers, but it was on court together that they dominated. Woodforde thinks all players should be required to compete on doubles teams, saying it would improve their skills and experience the full game.

"Still kind of rankles us that we were called doubles players," he said. "Tennis is about playing singles and doubles."

Woodforde retired in 2000 and Woodbridge continued to play doubles until 2005. The duo were playing a match later Tuesday against Australian Patrick Rafter and Henri Leconte of France as part of the Legends tournament.

Read more...

Padma awards 2010: Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan, Padma Shr

The Padma awards 2010 were announced today, Monday 25 Jan 2010. Padma Awards, the country’s
highest civilian awards, are conferred in three categories, namely, Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri.

The Padma Bhushan award is an Indian civilian decoration established 2 January 1954 by the President of India.

Padma Awards, namely, Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri are given for exceptional and distinguished service in any field including service rendered by Government servants.

This year the President has approved 130 awards including 13 in the category of Foreigners/ NRIs/ PIOs. These comprise 6 Padma Vibhushan, 43 Padma Bhushan and 81 Padma Shri awards.
Padma Vibhushan
Sl.No. Name Discipline State/ Domicile
Shri Ebrahim Alkazi Art Delhi
Shri Umayalpuram K. Sivaraman Art Tamil Nadu
Smt. Zohra Segal Art Delhi
Dr. Yaga Venugopal Reddy Public Affairs Andhra Pradesh
Dr. Venkatraman Ramakrishnan Science and Engineering UK *
Dr. Prathap Chandra Reddy Trade and Industry Tamil Nadu

Padma Bhushan
Sl.No. Name Discipline State/ Domicile
Shri Ilaiyaraaja Art Tamil Nadu
Shri Aamir Khan Art Maharashtra
Shri Akbar Padamsee Art Maharashtra
Shri Allah Rakha Rahman Art Tamil Nadu
Pandit Chhannulal Mishra Art Uttar Pradesh
Smt. Kumudini Lakhia Art Gujarat
Shri Kuzhur Narayana Marar Art Kerala
Prof. Madhusudan Amilal Dhaky Art Gujarat
Ms. Mallika Sarabhai Art Gujarat
Prof. (Dr.) Nookala Chinna Satyanarayana Art Andhra Pradesh
Pandit (Dr.) Puttaraj Gavai Art Karnataka
Shri Ram Kumar Art Delhi
Shri Shrinivas Vinayak Khale Art Maharashtra
Ustad Sultan Khan Art Maharashtra
Shri B.K. Chaturvedi Civil Service Delhi
Shri Moosa Raza Civil Service Delhi
Dr. P.R. Dubhashi Civil Service Maharashtra
Shri Fareed Zakaria Journalism USA *
Shri Anil Bordia Literature and Education Rajasthan
Prof. Bipan Chandra Literature and Education Delhi
Shri G.P. Chopra Literature and Education Delhi
Prof. Mohammad Amin Literature and Education Delhi
Prof. Satya Vrat Shastri Literature and Education Delhi
Prof. Tan Chung Literature and Education USA *
Prof. Belle Monappa Hegde Medicine Karnataka
Shri E.T. Narayanan Mooss Medicine Kerala
Dr. Noshir M. Shroff Medicine Delhi
Dr. Panniyampilly Krishna Warrier Medicine Kerala
Dr. Ramakant Madanmohan Panda Medicine Maharashtra
Prof.(Dr.) Satya Paul Agarwal Medicine Delhi
Prof. Abhijit Sen Public Affairs Delhi
Shri Sailesh Kumar Bandyopadhyay Public Affairs West Bengal
Shri Sant Singh Chatwal Public Affairs USA *
Prof. Arogyaswami Joseph Paulraj Science and Engineering USA *
Prof. Bikash Chandra Sinha Science and Engineering West Bengal
Shri Jagdish Chandra Kapur Science and Engineering Delhi
Dr. Balagangadharanatha Swamiji Social Work Karnataka
Shri Eknath Rao alias Balasaheb Vikhe Patil Social Work Maharashtra
Capt. C.P. Krishnan Nair Trade and Industry Maharashtra
Dr. Kushal Pal Singh Trade and Industry Delhi
Shri Manvinder Singh Banga alias Vindi Banga Trade and Industry UK *
Shri Narayanan Vaghul Trade and Industry Tamil Nadu
Shri S.P. Oswal Trade and Industry Punjab

Padma Shri
Sl.No. Name Discipline State/ Domicile
Shri Gulam Mohammed Mir Public Service Jammu and Kashmir
Ms. Rekha Art Maharashtra
Shri Arjun Prajapati Art Rajasthan
Ms. Arundhati Nag Art Karnataka
Ms. Carmel Berkson Art Maharashtra
Ustad F. Wasifuddin Dagar Art Delhi
Smt. Gul Bardhan Art Madhya Pradesh
Smt. Haobam Ongbi Ngangbi Devi Art Manipur
Shri Hari Uppal Art Bihar
Shri K. Raghavan Art Kerala
Guru Mayadhar Raut Art Delhi
Shri Mukund Lath Art Rajasthan
Shri Nemai Ghosh Art West Bengal
Pandit Raghunath Panigrahi Art Orissa
Shri Rajkumar Achouba Singh Art Manipur
Dr. Ram Dayal Munda Art Jharkhand
Shri Resul Pokutty Art Kerala
Shri Saif Ali Khan Art Maharashtra
Dr. (Smt.) Shobha Raju Art Andhra Pradesh
Ms. Sumitra Guha Art Delhi
Pandit Ulhas Kashalkar Art West Bengal
Shri D.R. Karthikeyan Civil Service Delhi
Dr. Ranjit Bhargava Environment Protection Uttarakhand
Shri Arun Sarma Literature and Education Assam
Prof. Arvind Kumar Literature and Education Maharashtra
Ms. Bertha Gyndykes Dkhar Literature and Education Meghalaya
Prof. Govind Chandra Pande Literature and Education Madhya Pradesh
Prof. Hamidi Kashmiri Literature and Education Jammu and Kashmir
Prof. (Dr.) Hermann Kulke Literature and Education Germany *
Shri Janaki Ballav Shastri Literature and Education Bihar
Dr. Jitendra Udhampuri Literature and Education Jammu and Kashmir
Dr. Lal Bahadur Singh Chauhan Literature and Education Uttar Pradesh
Shri Lalzuia Colney Literature and Education Mizoram
Ms. Maria Aurora Couto Literature and Education Goa
Dr.(Smt.) Rajalakshmi Parthasarathy alias Y.G. Parthasarathy Literature and Education Tamil Nadu
Prof. Ramaranjan Mukherji Literature and Education West Bengal
Dr. Ranganathan Parthasarathy Literature and Education Tamil Nadu
Fr. Romuald D’Souza Literature and Education Goa
Prof. Sadiq – Ur – Rahman Kidwai Literature and Education Delhi
Mr. Sheldon Pollock Literature and Education USA *
Dr. Surendra Dubey Literature and Education Chhattisgarh
Dr. Anil Kumar Bhalla Medicine Delhi
Dr. Arvinder Singh Soin Medicine Uttar Pradesh
Dr. B. Ramana Rao Medicine Karnataka
Dr. Jalakantapuram Ramaswamy Krishnamoorthy Medicine Tamil Nadu
Dr. K.K. Aggarwal Medicine Delhi
Prof. Kodaganur S. Gopinath Medicine Karnataka
Dr. Laxmi Chand Gupta Medicine Delhi
Dr. Philip Augustine Medicine Kerala
Dr. Rabindra Narain Singh Medicine Bihar
Dr. Vikas Mahatme Medicine Maharashtra
Dr. Rafael Iruzubieta Fernandez Public Affairs Spain *
Prof. M.R. Satyanarayana Rao Science and Engineering Karnataka
Prof. (Dr.) Palpu Pushpangadan Science and Engineering Kerala
Prof. Ponisseril Somasundaran Science and Engineering USA *
Prof. Pucadyil Ittoop John Science and Engineering Gujarat
Dr. Vijay Prasad Dimri Science and Engineering Andhra Pradesh
Dr.(Ms.) Vijaylakshmi Ravindranath Science and Engineering Karnataka
Ms. Anu Aga Social Work Maharashtra
Shri Ayekpam Tomba Meetei Social Work Manipur
Shri Deep Joshi Social Work Delhi
Dr. J.R. Gangaramani Social Work UAE *
Shri Kranti Shah Social Work Maharashtra
Dr. Kurian John Melamparambil Social Work Kerala
Baba Sewa Singh Social Work Punjab
Ms. Sudha Kaul Social Work West Bengal
Dr. Sudhir M. Parikh Social Work USA *
Shri Ignace Tirkey Sports Orissa
Kumar Ram Narain Karthikeyan Sports Tamil Nadu
Shri Ramakant Vithal Achrekar Sports Maharashtra
Ms. Saina Nehwal Sports Andhra Pradesh
Shri Vijender Singh Sports Haryana
Shri Virendra Sehwag Sports Delhi
Dr. Alluri Venkata Satyanarayana Raju Trade and Industry Andhra Pradesh
Dr. B. Raveendran Pillai Trade and Industry Bahrain *
Shri Deepak Puri Trade and Industry Delhi
Shri Irshad Mirza Trade and Industry Uttar Pradesh
Brig. Dr. Kapil Mohan Trade and Industry Himachal Pradesh
Dr. Karsanbhai Khodidas Patel Trade and Industry Gujarat
Shri T.N. Manoharan Trade and Industry Tamil Nadu
Shri Venu Srinivasan Trade and Industry Tamil Nadu

Read more...

Harwant Kaur , Indian discus thrower

Harwant Kaur was born on 5th July in the year 1980. She is an Indian discus thrower, who won the silver medal at the 2002 Asian Championships. She has finished fourth at the 2003 Asian Championships and seventh at the 2006 Commonwealth Games. Harwant Kaur made the grade at the Commonwealth Games. On her sixth attempt, Harwant had her best of 58.94 metres, as against the third-place norm of 58.13m, and will join the 18-member team named earlier. Apart from three fouls she also had throws of 58.08 and 57.20. Before going for the Commonwealth Games Harwant said that she was `confident of crossing the 60-metre mark in Melbourne and looked forward to have a podium finish at the games`. in addition she took part at the 2004 Olympic Games and was ranked 13th in the qualifying ronds. She is being coached under the guidence of Parveer Singh. 63.05 metres is her personal best throw which is achieved in August 2004 in Kyiv.

(Last Updated on : 21/11/2008)

Read more...

Suresh Babu , Indian Athlete

The unparalleled, record holder of the national title in the long, triple and high jump events, Suresh Babu is an Indian athlete. He is counted amongst one of those rare athletes who have won medals in two events in the consecutive Asian Games, in the Teheran edition of 1974 the Bronze in the decathlon and of the Bangkok edition of l978 a Gold in the long jump. This fine athlete, Suresh Babu predominated the athletic scenario between the year 1972 and the year1979. He was holding the national titles in the jumps and decathlon. At the same time, he was picking his event for laurels on the international arena.

Suresh Babu was born in Quilon in Kerala on 10th February in the year 1953. He was a science graduate. For his athletics career, the foundation was laid in the Infant Jesus High School and the Fatima Mata College in Quilon. In the year 1969 at Jalandhar, his first attempt at the national level, was as a junior. He won the national championship in high jump three years later. During the years 1974, 1977 and 1979, he switched from one pit to another and won the national championship in long jump and the triple jump in 1974,1976 and 1978. In between the times, he wandered over to the ten card event of decathlon and brought down himself on the national aspect in the championships held in the years 1974,1975 and 1978.

At the Munich Olympics held in the year 1972, he got his first experience of international athletics. At the Teheran Asian Games held in the year 1974, Suresh Babu won his first medal. His first medals includes a Bronze in the decathlon, and also won a Gold medal in the Asian Championships at Seoul in the following year. The Indian Universities athletics team under the captaincy of Suresh Babu participated at the World Universities Games in between the times, which was held at Moscow in the year 1973.

Under the headship of Suresh Babu, the Indian athletics team took part in the 1978 Commonwealth Games, which was held at Edmonton in Canada. They mainly focused on the long jump event and won a Bronze. After that he went on to pick up the Gold at the 1978 Asian Games held in Bangkok. He targeted the 1979 Asian Athletics Meet which was held in Tokyo. He picked up the Silver at the tournament. As an active athlete Suresh Babu during his seven years also won medals for India at competitions held in Ceylon, Lahore and the Philippines. For the World Athletics Meet, he was the captain of the Indian team. The meet was held at Montreal in the year1979.

To honor his contribution to the Indian Sports, the Indian Government conferred the highest prestigious award in sports the Arjuna Award for the year 1978-79. He is currently employed as Sports Officer in the Kerala Sports Council. Suresh Babu has also served as Special Officer, Sports and Games, in the Kerala State Electricity Board. He has been a member of the Technical Committee of the All India Electricity Sports Control Board and been a coach at the Sports Authority of India (Southern Centre) in Bangalore. For Kerala and Lakshadweep, he was the State Supervisor of SAI.

(Last Updated on : 25/11/2008)

Read more...

Geeta Zutshi , Indian Athlete

Geeta Zutshi, a famous Indian women athlete on her credit, has constituted several national and Asian running records in the track events of 800 m and 1500 m. Conformist Mohammad Ilyas Babar was the coach of Geeta Zutshi. In the year 1978, Geeta won the women`s 800 m gold medal at the Asian Games held in Bangkok.

She has won the silver medals for the 800 m track event in the year 1982. She has also won medals for the 1500 m in both the year 1978 and 1982. At the 1982 Asian Games, which was held at New Delhi, she, as the top Indian woman athlete avowed an oath on behalf of all the competitors. It took place during the opening ceremony of the 1982 Asian Games.

Acknowledging her contribution to Indian Sports, Indian Government conferred Geeta Zutshi the highest prestigious sports award, The Arjuna Award and one of the highest civilion award, the Padma Shri. Her achievements has inspired other Indian women too. Geeta Zutsi later shifted to USA. She returned to India in July, 2002, that is after 17 years and took over the Indian junior athletics team as a coach (800m and 1500m).

(Last Updated on : 25/11/2008)

Read more...

Jyotirmoyee Sikdar , Indian Athlete

Jyotirmoyee Sikdar won two Gold Medals and a Silver medal, in the 1998, Bangkok Asian Games, where she cheered up the nation, electrified the sagging morale of the participants and silenced the media criticism of the sports officials. The 29 year-old athlete returned home to be hailed as the `New Golden Girl` of India. Already an Arjuna Award winner (1995), she got the `Most Valued Performance Award` instituted by Samsung. There years later she became the first athlete to be honoured with the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award (1998).

Born in December 1969 in Debogram a town in Nadia district in West Bengal, Jyotirmoyee began her athletics career as a worthy successor to Shiny Abraham in the 800 metres but extended her area or excellence to the 400 and 1,500 metres as well. With the help of her father, a retired pole-vaulter, she built up her stamina by running through the fields and simultaneously completing her graduation in physiology.

Jyotirmoyee made her national debut with a Silver Medal in 800 metres at the All-India Open Meet in 1992. A Gold medal in the Open Nationals of the following year earned her a berth to the 1993 South Asian Federation (SAF) Games at Dhaka where she picked up a Silver in the 1,500 metres. With a Gold at the Singapore Open in 1993, she went on to break the national mark in the 1,500 metres at the National Athletics Meet in 1994. In the trials for the Asiad `94 she came under Shiny Abraham`s 800 metres mark and confirmed her place in the Indian team to the 1994 Asian Games at Hiroshima where she took part in the two events but could manage just a fourth place in 1,500 metres.
She was a part of the 4x400m relay team that won the gold at the World Railways Meet in London in 1994. She took part in the World Championships in Sweden followed by the 1995 Asian Track & Field Meet in Jakarta where she claimed a Cold in the 800 metres and her team won the Silver in the 4x400m relay. She created a new 800 metres national record in 1995 and was named Indian Railways Best Sportsperson in 1996, the year she won a Gold in the 400 metres at Taipei and was a part of the Indian 4x400m relay team at the Atlanta Olympics. She participated twice in the International 1TC Meet, winning a Bronze in 1994 and a Gold and Silver in 1997.

Jyotirmoyee won Bronze Medals in the 800 and 1,500 metre events to along with her team winning the 4x400m relay Silver or the Asian Track & Field Meet at Fukuoka in Japan in 1997. But it was the 1998 Asian Games in Bangkok where she was to give her best performance with career best timings of 2:01.00 seconds in 800 metres and 4:12.82 seconds in 1,500 metres to win the Gold in both the events. Her third medal, Silver, came as member of the 4x400 relay squad.

(Last Updated on : 5/02/2009)

Read more...

J. J. Shobha , Indian Athlete

J. J. Shobha participates in the heptathlon and was the winner of the event at the inaugural Afro Asian games in 2003. Her personal best of 6211 points, achieved in 2004 is a National Record.

She came into the news for her performance at the 2004 Olympic games in Athens; where she completed the seven-discipline heptathlon event despite being injured in the penultimate event of Javelin throw. She had to be carried off the field but she returned with a tightly strapped left ankle and finished 3rd in the final event (800 m) and 11th overall with 6172 points. She was awarded the Arjuna award for the year 2004 for her gritty performance.

(Last Updated on : 25/11/2008)

Read more...

Ashwini Nachappa , Indian Athlete

Ashwini Nachappa was the glory girl of Indian female sprinting in the early 80`s having beaten P.T. Usha. There were many great moments in her life, with regards to her achievements.

However, the first great moment was in the first All India Open Nationals when she won the first gold for the state and the then chief minister Gundu Rao presented her a cash award of Rs.1000.

In the Mangalore Nationals, Anand Shetty and she had emerged the `fastest man and woman` and she ran the 400 metres for the very first time finishing behind P.T. Usha, Shiny Wilson, Vandana Shanbhag and Valsamma. The selection to the 1988 Olympic trials in Bangalore and being part of the Indian team to Seoul for the main event was Ashwini`s biggest moment.
Ashwini`s twin wins over `Payyoli Express` P. T. Usha catapulted her to a household name in India. The first time, at the Open Nationals in New Delhi `91, when she had won over P.T.Usha, in the 400 metres, every one called it a fluke. But, then she came back strongly two weeks later in an international invitation permit meet, also in New Delhi, and finished behind a Russian, pushing Usha to the third spot. The Arjuna Award that she received in June 1990 was yet another memorable occasion.
(Last Updated on : 25/11/2008)

Read more...

Soma Biswas ,Indian athlete

Soma Biswas was born on 16th May in the year 1978 in Ranaghat, indian state of West Bengal. She is an athlete who lives in Calcutta, India. Soma Biswas is a specialised athlete in the heptathlon. She has participated at the Asian Games held at Busan, South Korea in the year 2002. She won the silver medal at the tournament. Thus the rise of Soma Biswas to the fame greared up after this honor. Another silver medal, came from her participation at the 2006 Asian Games in Doha. However she managed to win the 110m hurdles, the 200m and the 800m during that heptathlon.

Read more...

Vijaya Kumar , Indian Shooter

Vijay Kumar, the 21-year-old Himachal Pradesh lad , is an Indian Shooter. Vijay Kumar hails from Harsaur village of Hamirpur district, located near the shrine of Baba Balak Nath at Deotsidh.Vijay’s father Banku Ram is a former soldier. At the 2006 Commonwealth games he is the winner of two gold medals in the Men`s 25m Rapid Fire Pistol (Pairs) with Pemba Tamang & the Men`s 25m Rapid Fire Pistol.Vijay Kumar has the credit of winning 24 gold, 8 silver and 24 bronze in different national shooting events.Vijaya Anand is an Indian shooter and has received the Arjuna Award 2006.

Read more...

Jayant Talukdar , Indian Archer

Jayant Talukdar is a well-known name in Indian archery. Born in 1987 Talukdar is a promising youngster in the field of archery. Jayant comes from Guwahati from where he was picked up by archery coaches at a talent hunting camp .At a training camp in Tata Archery Academy in Jamshedpur , the coaches were impressed with his physical strength and focused attitude .

In 2004 Jayant became the top performer of the Indian team and won the silver medal at the Junior Worlds in Britain .It was the country`s first medal at a world Championship. As Jayant upstaged a few seasoned stars to clinch the Olympic round at the 25th Senior Nationals in Kochi, he became India`s top archer in 2005.

He continued his successful run and made history by winning the gold medal in the FITA Meteksan Archery World Cup at Porec, Croatia,in the same year. Jayant Talukdar ranks second behind Italy`s Ilario di Buo in the world rankings of the individual archery. In the SAF Games held in Colombo, in 2006, Jayanta defeated competitor Tarundeep Rai to bag the men`s individual recurve gold in archery. He has received the Arjuna award for 2006 for his outstanding performance in sports.

(Last Updated on : 25/11/2008)

Read more...

Geeta Rani , Indian Weightlifter

Geeta rani is the Indian weightlifter .She is the winner of a gold medal of the Women`s +75 kg category at the 2006 Commonwealth Games and has received the 2006 Arjuna award. Sangrur-born Geeta Rani (25) is extremely hard working girl and this was the reason that despite having passed only Class VIII, she is now an Inspector in the CRPF on the basis of her performance at the national and international level. She has also won three silver medals in Asian Championship in 2004 and a bronze medal in the Afro-Asian Games in Hyderabad in 2003, he added. She started weightlifting in 1994 and her coach was Surinder Singh.Geeta Rani has been awarded the Arjuna Award for her outstanding performance in sports.

Read more...

Jeev Milkha Singh , Indian Athlete

If there is any discussion taking place about the successive Indian Golfers so far in the history, the name of Jeev Milkha Singh will surely come at the very beginning. This young Golf star of recent times has stunned all the Golf spectators of India with his extraordinary talent and brilliant performances over the past few years. He is now aiming to be among the world`s greatest Golfers and the way he is going on, there are is a lot of reason for the people of India to be hopeful about him.

Jeev Milkha Singh has a very strong sporting tradition by born. He is from one of the most famous sporting families in India. With his father, the `Flying Sheikh` Milkha Singh and his mother Nirmala Kaur, the former captain of the Indian Women`s Volleyball Team, Jeev got his talent genetically. His father is known as one of the greatest athletes of all time in India. Jeev Milkha Singh born on 15 December 1971. According to his own words, from the very childhood, he was attracted in such a sport that he will be able to continue playing till the age of 60 or 70`s. For this very reason only he decided to take Golf to show his charisma and talent, as he found no other sport in the world to meet his perspectives.

At the age of only around nine or ten years, Jeev seriously got attracted to the game of Golf by closely observing the senior army officers play the game. He won his first amateur tournament, the American Express Championship in Delhi at the age of only 13. When he was only 17 years old, he represented India in the Eisenhower Trophy in the year of 1988. He again represented his country in the same tournament in 1992. After passing the school level, he became more determined to take Golf as his only aim and he went to United States of America in order to fulfill his dreams. He got admitted in the Abilene Christian University there and won the NCAA Division II individual Golf Championship in the year of 1993. He also won a number of amateur Golf tournaments in the U.S. during his study period. He did represent India in the Alfred Dunhill Cup in the years of 1996 and 1999 as well.

He won his very first Professional Title in the year of 1993 at Southern Oklahoma State Open. That was a minor local event. However, he mainly played in Asia where he was one of the dominators of the game in the mid 1990s. During this time he won several titles in the Asian Golf Courses. He won the Shinhan Donghae Open in 1994, though it was not an Asian Tour event. In 1995, he won both the Philippine Classic and Asian Match Play Championship. He claimed the title of Philip Morris Asia Cup in 1996 and he became champion in the Lexus International in 1999. He finished seventh at the European Tour qualifying school in 1997.

In the year of 1999, Jeev Milkha Singh played his best season in Europe so far till 2007. He became 50th on the Order of Merit that year. However, his performance fluctuated a little bit in the following years as he was struggling with injury, a common aspect of any sportsperson`s life. He came back with great style in the year of 2006 and won quite a number of titles. In fact, that year was a dreaming year for him. He won the Volvo China Open in 2006 and became only the second Indian player to win on the European Tour after Arjun Atwal. After that, he won the season ending tournament of Volvo Masters and claimed the final 16th spot on the Order of Merit. Coming to the Asian Tour, Jeev Milkha Singh did shown his talent there as well. He won the Casio World Open and Golf Nippon Series JT Cup in the Japan Golf tour in 2006. He also won the Asian Tour Order of Merit to finish the year and with this extraordinary performance, he became the very first Indian to be ranked among the top 50 of the Official World Golf Rankings. In the year of 2007, he got another success in his pocket and participated in the Masters Tournament as the first Indian Golfer in the history of Golf. Though he couldn`t show off a very great performance there, but he did fight with the top names of today`s Golf world. For this great achievement, the Indian Government honoured Jeev Milkha Singh with India`s fourth highest civil honour, the Padma Shri in 2007.

The famous Golfer Fred Couples is the idol for Jeev Milkha Singh. In his own words, winning the Pro Asia tournament in Bangkok in 2007 has been the most exciting phase of his so far playing career. Being ranked as the 48th player in the Official World Golf Rankings, the upcoming aim of Jeev Milkha Singh is to win the British Open and the U.S Masters. It is definite that, if he can do that in near future, it will surely boost up the Indian Golf circuit in a great way.

(Last Updated on : 26/11/2008)

Read more...

Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore , Indian Shooter

India is such a country that has always been producing a large number of talented sportspersons and athletes. In the field of shooting, India`s recent talent has been found in the name of Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore who won India`s first individual silver medal in the 2004 Summer Olympics. Born in January 29,1970 in Jaisalmer in Rajasthan. His father is a Col. of the Indian Army named Col. Laxman Singh Rathore and his mother Manju Rathore is a teacher. Though he is named as `Chilly` at home, according to his parents, he is a soft-spoken and down to earth person.

Though he is famous as a shooter, the world`s third best double trap shooter was a very good cricketer in his childhood. He was such a good player that he was about to get a chance in the Madhya Pradesh state cricket team for the famous Ranji Trophy in India. He was only in class 10 at that time. His mother discouraged him to go for cricket, as she was afraid about his study. Anyway, eventually he was not selected for the team and he appeared in the National Defense Academy examination. He qualified for the army.

After becoming an army personal, Rathore continue to show his talent in the Indian Army as well. When he was a Major of the army, he received the `Sword of Honour` from Indian Military Academy in 1990. He fought bravely against the separatist militants in Indian-administered Kashmir in Kargil War in the year of 1999. He seriously took up shooting in 1998, only a year before the war. He got married to an army doctor, Dr. Gayatri in the same year. At present he is a Lt. Colonel in the Indian Army.

He got the chance to compete in the Olympics, 2004 after he won a bronze medal at the World Championship in Cyprus. He took training in Europe to the Atlanta Olympic gold medallist Russel Mark of Australia. His event in the Olympics was the Men`s Double Trap. He was the member of the winning team in the double trap event in the Commonwealth Shooting Championships, 2005 held in Melbourne. He also won the gold in the individual and team events in Men`s double trap at the 2005 Asian Clay Shooting championships at Bangkok. With the gold in the individual event, he completed a hat trick at the annual events, as he was the champion in 2003 and 2004 as well.

The Government of India awarded him the `Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award`, the highest sporting honour of India in 2004-2005 for his extraordinary performance in the `Olympic Games`. He won the `Ati Vishisht Seva Medal` (AVSM), an award for exceptional service, presented by the government. By winning this award, he became the first officer from the Indian Army below the rank of Brigadier to be awarded the AVSM. He was also honoured by the `Arjuna Award` in 2003-2004. He is a recipient of the `Padma Shri`, a very honorary civilian award from the Government of India. Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore has been the poster boy of Indian shooting ever since he won the first individual Olympic silver medal for India in the 2004 Athens Games. Rajyavardhan Rathore has escalated such an event that tests both skill and reflexes. The most acclaimed sports star in recent times still has much to gain. However, though there were a lot of expectations from the Indian sports enthusiasts for his success, Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore failed to win a medal in the Beijing Olympics, 2008.

Read more...

Preeja Sreedharan , Indian Athlete

Preeja Sreedharan was born on 13th February in the year 1982 at Mullakkanam in Kerala. She is a long distance runner who has represented India in the 2006 Asian Games at Doha. She has also represented India at the 2007 Asian athletics championships held in the Amman. In the Asian Games, she finished 5th in the 5,000m as well as 10,000m races. She has won a silver medal in the 10,000m on July 26, 2007 at the Asian athletics championships.



K.M.Binu
K.M.Binu  is a 26-year-old Keralite who has received the Arjuna Award for 2006 who is the only athlete in the honors list this year.

K M Binu had reached the semifinals of the 400m at the Athens Olympics, and in the process, broke the 34-year-old record held by the legendary Milkha Singh with his timing of 45.48 seconds. Binu had also claimed the silver medal in the 800m at the Busan Asian Games in 2002.In the Doha Asian Games in December 2006, K M Binugot silver medal in the 4x400 m relay. K M Binu also known as Beenamol had been bestowed with the country`s highest sports award, Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, in 2002 and the Arjuna Award two years earlier.

Read more...

Chitra K. Soman , Indian sprinter

Chitra K. Soman was born on 10 July in the year 1983. She is an Indian sprinter who also specializes in the 400 metres. At the 2004 Summer Olympics, Soman finished seventh in 4 x 400 metres relay together with associates Satti Geetha, K. M. Beenamol and Rajwinder. At the 2006 Commonwealth Games, Soman also ran for the Indian team. She has also won a silver medal. In June 2004 at Chennai, Chitra K. Soman achieved her personal best time in 400 m, which is 51.30 seconds. 

Read more...

YouTube to stream IPL-III matches live

	BCCI to partner Google India for the venture.

Cricket lovers can now watch the Indian Premier League (IPL) live on internet portal YouTube. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) will partner with Google India to stream live matches of its domestic IPL league in the Twenty20 format.

Google’s video streaming internet portal YouTube will stream live matches of IPL-III, which begins in March. This will include 44 days of IPL, with 59 matches.

YouTube already has a video channel for IPL. It was launched during IPL-II and exclusively streamed highlights of the matches played then, as well as the inaugural session and the award ceremony. The latest development is an extension of what YouTube offered its users. Users, on the other hand, can view the matches on YouTube free of cost.

The announcement is likely to be made on Wednesday. However, it’s not clear if the rights have been sold for a specific period of years to Google or whether it’s a revenue-sharing deal.

While Multi Screen Media (formerly known as Sony Entertainment and the company that owns SET Max, which airs IPL) holds the satellite telecast rights, the global media rights are held by World Sports Group (WSG), which implies BCCI cannot sell the new media rights to any other company. According to sources, WSG’s rights only include telecast rights.

However, when contacted, WSG President (South Asia) Venu Nair declined to comment on the issue, but added: “We are not aware of any partnership between IPL & Google and cannot comment on what is not relevant to WSG,” he said.

On the other hand, Multi Screen Media President Rohit Gupta said: “Live streaming of IPL on YouTube will help create buzz and excitement around the league. It does not affect our viewership, as the core viewers remain with television.”

Search giant Google is one of the most popular online properties in India. For instance, Google.Co.In attracts 31.6 million unique users (UUs) per month and has an India reach of 73.6 per cent, with 2,832 million page views per month, according to a report by audience measurement agency Vizisense.

Meanwhile, Google.Com gets 28.8 million UUs per month. Its social networking property, Orkut, attracts 15.3 million UUs per month and has 2,548 million page views monthly. Among video-sharing sites, Google’s YouTube scores again. It gets 10.9 million UUs per month.

Read more...

Dinara Safina @ Fantacy updates

2010-01-18: Good news today as Dinara won her match in the Australian Open 1st round posting a 2 sets win against Slovakia`s Magdalena Rybarikova, a 6-4, 6-4 win. In the 2nd round, Dinara will face B. Zahlavova Strycova or Q.

2010-01-15: Dinara is in action next week as she will be playing the Australian Open. In her opening match she will face Magdalena Rybarikova.

2010-01-13: Sad news today as Dinara lost her match in Sydney losing in the quarterfinals 2 sets against Russia`s Elena Dementieva, a 6-2, 6-3 loss.

2010-01-12: Good news today as Dinara won her match in the Sydney 2nd round posting a 2 sets win against Poland`s Agnieszka Radwanska, a 7-5, 6-4 win. In the quarterfinals, Dinara will face Elena Dementieva.

2010-01-10: Dinara is thrilled to be pain free, finally, read more here.

2010-01-09: Dinara is in action next week as she will be playing the Medibank International. In her opening match she will face Bye.

2009-12-19: Dinara was scheduled to play in Brisbane to start her 2010 season but announced she would be unable to do so. "Safina was very much looking forward to starting her year in Brisbane and it is a real shame that she will not be fit in time to attend," Ayles said."I know she would have been working around the clock to try to be ready for the event, but in the end time has beat her and she is still undergoing treatment."

2009-10-28: Dinara was in action earlier today in Doha in the year end WTA championships but she got injured at 1-1 while serving against Jelena Jankobiv and was unable to finish the match. She could lose her #1 ranking if she is not able to finish the tournament...

2009-10-04: Sad news today as Dinara lost her match in Beijing losing in the 2nd round 2 sets against China`s Shuai Zhang, a 7-5, 7-6 loss.

2009-10-04: Good news today as Dinara won her match in the Beijing 1st round posting a 2 sets win against Italy`s Roberta Vinci, a 6-4, 6-4 win. In the 2nd round, Dinara will face Shuai Zhang.

2009-10-02: Dinara is in action next week as she will be playing the China Open. In her opening match she will face Roberta Vinci.

2009-09-27: Sad news today as Dinara lost her match in Tokyo losing in the 2nd round 3 sets against Taipei`s Kai-Chen Chang, a 7-6, 4-6, 7-5 loss.

2009-09-05: Sad news today as Dinara lost her match in US Open losing in the 3rd round 3 sets against Czeck Republic`s Petra Kvitova, a 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 loss.

2009-09-02: Good news today as Dinara won her match in the US Open 2nd round posting a 3 sets win against Germany`s Kristina Barrois, a 6-7, 6-2, 6-3 win. In the 3rd round, Dinara will face Petra Kvitova.

2009-08-31: Good news today as Dinara won her match in the US Open 1st round posting a 3 sets win against Australia`s Olivia Rogowska, a 6-7, 6-2, 6-4 win. In the 2nd round, Dinara will face Kristina Barrois.

2009-08-26: Dinara is in action next week as he will be playing the US Open. In his opening match he will face Olivia Rogowska.

2009-08-19: Sad news today as Dinara lost her match in Toronto losing in the 2nd round 3 sets against France`s Aravane Rezai, a 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 loss.

2009-08-16: Sad news today as Dinara lost her match in Cincinnati, losing in the final 2 sets against Serbia`s Jelena Jankovic, a 6-4, 6-2 loss.

2009-08-16: Good news today as Dinara won her match in the Cincinnati, semifinals posting a 2 sets win against Italy`s Flavia Pennetta, a 6-2, 6-0 win. In the final, Dinara will face Jelena Jankovic.

2009-08-15: Dinara is in action next week as she will be playing the Toronto. In her opening round she will have a bye.

2009-08-15: Good news today as Dinara won her match in the Cincinnati, quarterfinals posting a 2 sets win against Belgium`s Kim Clijsters, a 6-2, 7-5 win. In the semifinals, Dinara will face Flavia Pennetta.

2009-08-13: Good news today as Dinara won her match in the Cincinnati, 3rd round posting a 2 sets win against China`s Shuai Peng, a 6-3, 6-4 win. In the quarterfinals, Dinara will face Kim Clijsters.

2009-08-11: Good news today as Dinara won her match in the Cincinnati, 2nd round posting a 3 sets win against Italy`s Roberta Vinci, a 2-6, 7-5, 6-4 win. In the 3rd round, Dinara will face M. J. Martinez or S. Peng.

2009-08-09: Dinara is in action next week as she will be playing the Cincinnati. In her 1st round, she will have a bye.

2009-08-07: Sad news today as Dinara lost her match in Los Angeles, losing in the 3rd round 3 sets against China`s Jie Zheng, a 7-5, 4-6, 6-4 loss.

2009-08-05: Good news today as Dinara won her match in the Los Angeles, 2nd round posting a 2 sets win against Slovakia`s Daniela Hantuchova, a 6-2, 6-4 win. In the 3rd round, Dinara will face Jie Zheng.

2009-07-27: Good news today as Dinara won her match in the Portoroz final posting a 3 sets win against Italy`s Sara Errani, a 6-7, 6-1, 7-5 win.

2009-07-25: Good news today as Dinara won her match in the Portoroz, semifinals posting a 2 sets win against Italy`s Alberta Brianti, a 6-4, 6-3 win. In the final, Dinara will face Sara Errani.

2009-07-24: Good news today as Dinara won her match in the Portoroz, quarterfinals posting a 2 sets win against Italy`s Maria-Elena Camerin, a 6-3, 6-0 win. In the semifinals, Dinara will face Alberta Brianti.

2009-07-22: Good news today as Dinara won her match in the Portoroz, 2nd round posting a 2 sets win against Russia`s Ksenia Pervak, a 6-1, 6-2 win. In the quarterfinals, Dinara will face Maria-Elena Camerin.

Read more...

Sreesanth

Sreesanth India Full name Sreesanth Born Feb 6, 1983 Major teams India Batting style Right-hand bat Bowling style Right-arm fast-medium Teams played for Kings XI P Batting Statistics

Type Mat Inn NO Runs HS BF Avg SR 100 50 6s 4s ODI 46 18 9 39 10 112 4.33 34.82 0 0 0 1 Test 17 24 7 226 35 362 13.29 62.43 0 0 4 30 T20 10 3 2 20 19 14 20.00 142.86 0 0 0 4 IPL 22 5 4 5 4 21 5.00 23.81 0 0 0 1

Bowling Statistics Type Mat Balls Runs Wkts BBI BBM Econ Avg SR 4W 5W 10W ODI 46 2162 2120 63 6/55 6/55 5.88 33.65 34.32 1 1 0 Test 17 3263 1826 58 5/40 8/99 3.36 31.48 56.26 4 2 0 T20 10 204 288 7 2/12 2/12 8.47 41.14 29.14 0 0 0 IPL 22 445 634 25 3/29 3/29 8.55 25.36 17.80 0 0 0 Career Statistics ODI Debut: vs Sri Lanka, On Oct 25, 2005 at Last ODI played: vs Sri Lanka, On Jan 13, 2010 at Shere Bangla National Stadium, Bangladesh Test Debut: vs England, On Mar 1, 2006 at Last Test played: vs Sri Lanka, On Dec 2, 2009 at T20 Debut: vs South Africa, On Dec 1, 2006 at Last T20 played: vs Australia, On Feb 1, 2008 at IPL Debut: vs Chennai Super Kings, On Apr 19, 2008 12:00:00 AM at Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, India Last IPL played: vs Chennai Super Kings, On May 20, 2009 12:00:00 AM at Kingsmead, South Africa

Read more...

Cong MP had raised Bindra's frustration early this month

NEW DELHI: A Congress MP from Punjab had alerted the national sports administration that Olympic gold medallist Abhinav Bindra was being

maltreated by the National Rifle Association of India and the issue, if not handled well, could blow up on the country's face

At a meeting of the sports officials early this month, which included Union sports secretary, DG, SAI, and director, NIS Patiala, Manish Tiwari is learnt to have said that Bindra was angry at the attitude of NRAI and the issue needed to be resolved lest it become an embarrassment.

The Ludhiana MP, who is an AICC spokesman, flagged the issue at the meeting as it became clear to some of the ruling party members that all was not well with the country's best medal prospect. While the sports ministry cannot do much with autonomous sports bodies, there may be a case for some informal influence in cases like an Olympic gold medalist.

The shooter felt disturbed as he was being called back by NRAI every few months from training abroad and had reportedly confided to friends that he could quit.

The Bindra episode is seen to highlight the poor sports management in the country and the limited ways to deal with it. There is not much the sports ministry can do with sports associations except intervene in smaller associations with which it enjoys some leverage. It, however, is completely helpless when it comes to issuing directions to bigger ones.

However, the Bindra episode may nudge the Centre to look at ways it could exercise some oversight where national prestige is at stake. The issue is being seen as serious especially with Commonwealth Games in the country and then the Olypmics on which some of the medal prospects are focused.

The recent fiasco in hockey where players went on a strike to drive home the neglect faced by them from Hockey India has only underlined the urgency to set the house in order.

Read more...

Dinara Safina's playing style and her early life

Dinara Mikhailovna Safina (born April 27, 1986 in Moscow) is a Russian professional tennis player and is a former world number 1 women's tennis player. Currently Safina is ranked world number 2.

She has been the runner-up in three Grand Slam singles tournaments and won the women's doubles title at the 2007 US Open with Nathalie Dechy. She also won the Olympic silver medal in women's singles at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. Her most recent achievement is runner-up in the 2009 French Open.

She is the younger sister of former World No. 1 men's player Marat Safin. She and her brother are the first brother-sister tandem in tennis history to both achieve #1 rankings.

Playing Style

Safina's game is built on her powerful groundstrokes which are hit heavy and flat. Her forehand is considered one of the best and is her "winner heavy" side, her backhand is hitted accurately and can open up the court which can devastate her opponents game. Due to her full power on every shot playing style she also produces a high number of unforced errors. She also has a big serve but is inconsistent most of the time thus delivering a high number of double faults.

Through the years her mental game significantly improved and also her speed she is also considered one of the most fit players on tour.

Early life

Safina was born in Moscow, Russia to Tatar parents. Her mother, tennis coach Rauza Islanova, was her trainer when she was younger. Safina's father is director of the Spartak tennis club in Moscow. At age 8 Safina and her family moved to Valencia, Spain and as a result Safina speaks fluent Spanish as well as Russian and English.

Previously, Safina was coached by Glen Schaap, former coach of Anna Chakvetadze and Nadia Petrova. Her current coach is Željko Krajan. She trains in Varazdin, Croatia.

Safina's idols growing up were Steffi Graf, Jelena Jankovic, Martina Hingis and Lindsay Davenport. More recently, she has stated that she idolises Rafael Nadal.

Read more...

Dementieva crushes hobbling Serena in Sydney final

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Russia's Elena Dementieva defeated a hobbling Serena Williams 6-3 6-2 at the Olympic tennis center Friday to win the Sydney International for the second year in a row.

Dementieva completely outplayed the American world number one, who was troubled by a sore left knee that restricted her movement.

Williams started the match with the knee already strapped and although she finished the match, she seemed distracted by the injury, missing a string of shots she would normally make in a worrying sign ahead of next week's Australian Open.

Dementieva's win provided her with her 15th WTA title and her second in Sydney after she beat Dinara Safina in last year's final.

Read more...

The world's tallest tower, 'Burj Khalifa' is 828 metres (2,716.5 ft) high

Dubai, UAE; January 4, 2010: The world's tallest tower, developed by Emaar Properties, was unveiled tonight to a crowd of thousands and the world in a crescendo of fireworks, lasers and fountain displays.

The official height of the tower, unveiled as 'Burj Khalifa', was announced as 828 metres (2,716.5 ft).

A closely guarded secret, the official height of Burj Khalifa was flashed onto a giant screen before an estimated crowd of more than 400,000, as lasers and fireworks lit up the night sky.

Fireworks cascaded from the tower's spire to the base and lasers blazed out from all levels leaving the crowds awestruck.

The height was disclosed in arithmetic progression, with the numbers being flashed onto the screen, one after another. The tower's height breaks all existing world records for tall buildings.

Burj Khalifa is the tallest building in the world according to the three main criteria of the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH). The CTBUH ranks the world’s tallest buildings based on ‘Height to Architectural Top,’ ‘Height to Highest Occupied Floor’ and ‘Height to Tip.’

At 828 metres (2,716.5ft), Burj Khalifa is 320 metres taller than Taipei 101, which at 508 metres (1,667 ft) had held the record for the world’s tallest building measured to the architectural top since 2004, the year the project was announced.

Burj Khalifa achieved the distinction of being the world's tallest structure – surpassing the KVLY-TV mast (628.8 metres; 2,063 ft) in North Dakota, USA – 1,325 days after excavation work started in January 2004.

The tower also beats the 31-year-old record of CN Tower, which at 553.33 metres (1,815.5 ft) had been the world’s tallest free-standing structure on land since 1976.

Burj Khalifa employs a record-breaking 330,000 cubic metres of concrete, 39,000 metric tonnes of steel rebar and 142,000 square metres of glass; and it took 22 million man hours to build.

Other world records for Burj Khalifa include the highest occupied floor in the world, at over 550 metres (1,800 ft); the highest outdoor observation deck in the world – At the Top on Level 124; and the tallest service elevator, which travels to a height of 504 metres (1,654 ft).

Mr. Mohamed Alabbar, Chairman, Emaar Properties, said that with the unveiling of the final height of Burj Khalifa, the world now had a new reference point for high-rise developments.

“Burj Khalifa is an example of collaboration on a global scale, and the tremendous positive energy that can be generated when people from all over the world come together to work towards a common goal. Thousands of professionals and skilled workers from around the world worked on this once-in-a-lifetime project.”

“More than 60 of the world’s leading consultants including South Korea’s Samsung Corporation and New York-based Turner Construction International realised the design for Burj Khalifa of Chicago-based Skidmore, Owings and Merrill (SOM),” he said.

Burj Khalifa employed the latest advances in wind engineering, structural engineering, structural systems, construction materials and methods. All design considerations took into account the 12,000 people who will live and work in the tower. The handover to residents of the various components of Burj Khalifa will begin in February.

With a total built-up area of about 6 million sq ft, Burj Khalifa features nearly 2 million sq ft of residential space and over 300,000 sq ft of prime office space, in addition to the area occupied by the keenly awaited Armani Hotel Dubai and the Armani Residences. The tower also features modern lifestyle amenities including clubs, health and fitness facilities, gourmet restaurants and the 124th floor observation deck, 'At the Top.'

Burj Khalifa is the focal point of the 500-acre ‘mega-project’ by Emaar Properties, described as the new heart of Dubai.

Read more...