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SPORTS
IMPHAL MONDAY 12 JANUARY 2015
Federer notches 1,000th match win, claims Brisbane title
Roger Federer poses with a giant number 1,000 after winning his thousandth career title
BRISBANE, Jan 11
Roger Federer notched his
1,000th career victory and
collected his 83rd title with a
seesawing 6-4, 6-7 (2), 6-4
win over Milos Raonic in the
Brisbane International final
on Sunday night.
The 17-time major winner broke Raonic’s serve in
the third game and again in
the opening game of the
second set but just when
Federer appeared set for a
comfortable victory, the 24year-old Canadian broke
back in the fourth game to
State open tennis c'ship concludes
Winners of the Championship pose with their trophies
By Our Sports Reporter
IMPHAL, Jan 11 : The 34th
State
Open
Tennis
Championship organised by
Manipur Tennis Association
concluded today at Officer's
Club Lamphelpat, Imphal.
The closing function was
graced by Additional Chief
Secretary Government of
Manipur O Nabakishore as
chief guest.
In the under 10 boys' final, H Bushan beat Mahesh
A 4-2, 4-1. In under 12
boys' final, W Padmeshwor
beat Rahul Palmei 8-8 (7-4)
and N Derek beat th Rajiv
beat 7-6, 3-6, 11-9 to
claimed the under 14 boys'
title.
In the under 12 girls'
final, Charmie Nongmei-
kapam beat Y Agu to win
the title while Puja
Heikrujam bagged the ladies' open title after
defeating Bushoria Kangjam
6-4, 6-2.
In the veteran (45 years)
double's
final,
N
Kangjamba and N Dilip
played out 6-4, 6-0 win
against Pritam and Th
Tuleshor while H Kala and
Bansingh downed T Joy
and H Dhigen to clinch the
veteran (60 years) doubles'
title.
In the men's double final, a great combinations
from T Brojendro and
Rivaskar Thoudam registered an easy 6-1, 6-3 win
against Kh Bona and Rk
Pritam.
In the men's open final,
Kh Bona recored a straight
6-2, 6-2 win against Y
Leelenjee.
The Chinese women’s team
defeated Romania and will
encounter Singapore in the
semi-finals of the International
Table Tennis Federation
(ITTF) team World Cup here
while the Chinese men’s team
will meet Chinese Taipei after
beating Brazil.
Cheered on by hundreds
of Chinese supporters, the
Chinese women’s team com-
with the words “Congratulations Roger, 1,000 match
wins” from Australian great
Rod Laver.
“Special moment. I’m
glad I got it,” Federer said.
“To get to 1,000 match
wins in front of you guys
... it really means a lot to
me. I’ll never forget this
match.”
The 33-year-old Swiss
star started the 2015 season
with a 996-227 career winloss record and reached the
milestone with victories
over Australian wildcards
John Millman and James
Duckworth, fourth-seeded
Grigor
Dimitrov
and
Raonic, whom he now leads
8-1 in head-to-head encounters.
The Aussie fans love an
underdog, and backed
Raonic while he was down
early in the match, with
Federer firing eight aces and
not facing a break point in
the first set. But as the final
progressed and an upset
loomed, the Pat Rafter
Arena crowd got right behind Federer and cheered
his every winner.
Federer responded to his
slide in the tiebreaker by
serving an ace to open the
third set, but he needed all
his experience to save three
break point chances in the
opening game that lasted
more than 11 minutes.
Raonic then had to save
two breaks points in the
fourth and sixth games - after
missing
two
on
Federer’s serve in the fifth.
The server only conceded
one point in the next three
games until Raonic was
serving to stay in the match.
Raonic led 30-15 until
Federer produced a pinpoint topspin lob that forced
an error, and then the double-fault - only his fourth
of the match. He hit 49
winners, six more than
Federer, but had also had
more unforced errors and,
surprisingly, fewer aces.
“We all know today was
a significant milestone for
Roger,” Raonic told the
crowd, reflecting on how
when he listened to all of
Federer’s credits in the introductions before the
match he could have sworn
he was aiming for his
2,000th win. “I think you
need to step it up.”
–– AP
TRUGPU egde out ARC 2-1,
enter final in CC Meet 2014
Karatekas selected to represent State
teams for Karate Cup, Natl C'ships
TRUGPU and ARC players challenge for the ball
By Our Sports Reporter
IMPHAL, Jan 11 : The Nihon Shito-Ryu Karate -Do
Shobukai,
Manipur
(NSRKSM)
has
selected
12 karatekas and four officials to represent the
State in the 6th Shobukai Karate Cup to be held
from Janaury 16 to 18 at Margao, Gao, informed a press
release issued by NSRKSM.
The Manipur Amateur Karate-Do Association (MAKA)
has selected 17 karatekas and six officials to participate in
the 8th NSKF National Championship and trianing camp
organised by Nihon Shotokan Karate-Do Federation, India from January 16 to 18 at Darjeeling, informed a
statement issued by MAKA.
Chinese teams advance to TT team WC semis
DUBAI, Jan 11
swing the momentum.
The second set then
stayed on serve until the tiebreaker, where Raonic
dropped the first two points
before winning the last
seven to level the match.
After overcoming his
early nerves, third-seeded
Raonic was playing a cool,
composed game until he
served his first double-fault
of the third set, giving
Federer
championship
point.
Raonic netted a forehand
on the next point, allowing
Federer to join Jimmy
Connors (1,253) and Ivan
Lendl (1,071) as the only
players to win 1,000 or
more matches on the men’s
professional tour.
After a sudden end to the
match, Federer raised his
arms to acknowledge the
“Federer 1,000” placards
and red-and-white Swiss
flags being waved around
the stadium.
Ballboys held up 1,000
in big, white numerals near
the net during the presentation
ceremony,
when
Federer accepted the trophy
from Roy Emerson and a
framed montage of images
prising Ding Ning, Liu
Shiwen and Chen Meng won
against Romania with a clear
3-0 victory Friday. Ding
Ning and Liu Shiwen played
a singles match each and the
doubles together, reports
Xinhua. China, the Asian
champion of 2013, will encounter Singapore in the
semi-finals. The Singapore ladies defeated Hong Kong 3-2
in a long and tough match.
The North Korea women’s
team and Germany, last
year’s European champion,
delivered a competitive battle
which the Koreans won 3-1.
In the men’s quarter-finals, China beat Brazil 3-0.
China’s coach Liu Guoliang
said his team has a good
opportunity to win the World
Cup. Austria thrashed Germany 3-0, too.
They will now face Portugal, who defeated Japan 3-2.
–– Agencies
By Our Sports Reporter
IMPHAL, Jan 11 : Tiddim
Road Unique Gammy
Players' Union (TRUGPU)
edged out Assam Regimantal
Centre (ARC), Shillong
by a margin of 2 goals to
one in the first semi final of
the ongoing 58th Sir
Churachand Singh KCSI,
CBE Memorial Football
Tournament, organised by
All
Manipur
Football
Association (AMFA) at
Mapal Kangjeibung, Imphal,
that ended in a controversy.
In
today's
thrilling
match, TRUGPU started
brightly and broke the
deadlock as early as in the
7th minute of the match
through a powerful header
from H Jackey.
The ARC players did not
lose hope and started to
launch a series of strikes
strectching the TRUGPU
defenders.
The ARC team were
awarded for their offensive
play in the 26th minute after L Robin banged home
the equaliser through a fine
cross from H Amarjit.
After the interval with
one goal each, both teams
went on offensive but failed
to secure a target due to
poor finishing.
With series of counter attacks, TRUGPU witnessed
the second and the winning
goal after Ch Anandkumar
slammed home in the 72nd
minute.
The referee blew the final whistle in the 89th
minute after the ARC players protested the decision of
the Referee who denied the
goal scored by ARC's P
Ajitkumar in the dying
minute when the Asst Referee 1 raised the flag.
Man of the match went
to Ch Anandkumar of
TRUGPU.
ARC's L Bishwajit and
TRUPGU's Th Ratan and
Th Johnson were cautioned
during the match.
58th Sir Churachand
Singh KCSI, CBE
Memorial Football
Tournament 2014
MATCH RESULT
TRUGPU 2 ARC 1
Today's Match
12. 01. 2015 at 1 pm
MPSC Vs TRAU
Tomorrow, MPSC will
play TRAU in the second
semi final at 1 pm.
Ferrer beats Berdych
in Qatar Open final
Spain's David Ferrer poses with his trophy
DOHA, Jan 11
David Ferrer won his 22nd
career ATP title when he
defeated Tomas Berdych 64, 7-5 in the Qatar Open final
on Saturday.
Ferrer made it six consecutive years he has won
at least one title. ‘’The performance, it was very
good,’’ Ferrer said.
‘’I’m happy, because it
never is easy to begin the
season winning one tournament.’’
The
Spaniard
improved his record to 8-5
against Berdych, whose finals record slumped to
10-15.
Berdych was not surprised by the quality of play
from Ferrer, a day after the
Spaniard battled through
three tiebreak sets against
seventh-seeded
Ivo
Karlovic of Croatia in the
semifinals.
‘’First of all, David is
never tired,’’ Berdych said.
‘’Not after the match he
played yesterday after two-
and-a-half hours. I have
seen him playing five hours
and then he played the next
day.’’ The fourth-seeded
Ferrer began the final by
breaking the third-seeded
Berdych in the first game,
and raced to 4-1.
Berdych hadn’t dropped
his serve in 34 service
games through the semifinals, but surrendered four
of eight service break opportunities to Ferrer.
In the second set,
Berdych had three set
points on Ferrer’s serve in
the 10th game, but the
Spaniard managed to hold
for 5-5. ‘’In important
points I got a little bit
lucky,’’ Ferrer said.
‘’I tried to be confident
in the bad moments.
I played very good in
those moments.’’ Ferrer
received the advantage
when Berdych doublefaulted on a second
break point he faced in
the 11th game.
–– AP
Alexis Sanchez boosts
Arsenal’s top-four bid
LONDON, Jan 11 : Alexis Sanchez capped an outstanding
individual display with two goals as Arsenal moved up to fifth in the
Premier League with a 3-0 victory against Stoke on Sunday.
Laurent Koscielny set Arsene Wenger’s side on course for the
win with a sixth minute header but it was Sanchez who stood
out, scoring either side of half-time at the Emirates Stadium to
take his season tally to 18. Sanchez’s latest heroics moved Arsenal level on points with fourth-placed Southampton, who were
due to face Manchester United at Old Trafford later on Sunday.
And while a serious looking shoulder injury to Arsenal rightback Mathieu Debuchy took some of the gloss off the win, the
return of Mesut Ozil for his first appearance since early October
provided Wenger with another welcome boost.
Arsenal had no shortage of motivation in their efforts to revive
their top four challenge in the wake of the New Year’s Day defeat
at Southampton that had left them in sixth place.
Tottenham’s loss at Crystal Palace on Saturday offered
Wenger’s side a chance to leapfrog their north London rivals,
while they were also keen to avenge a chastening 3-2 defeat at
the Britannia Stadium last month. On that occasion, Mark Hughes’
side had gone ahead after just 19 seconds and were in complete
control when they reached half-time three up, sparking fierce
criticism of Wenger. But Stoke had lost on each of their 12 visits
to Arsenal since 1981 and it soon became clear that run would
continue as Wenger’s men set about the game like a side with
a score to settle. –– Agencies
Lampard finally signs MLS Ronaldo hopes to hold off Messi, Neuer to retain Ballon d’Or
contract for NY City FC
ZURICH, Jan 11
LONDON, Jan 11
Frank Lampard has finally
signed his Major League Soccer
contract to play for New York
City FC. NYCFC confirmed on
Saturday that this week
Lampard signed a contract to
start in July - midway through
the new team’s first season in
MLS.
The announcement followed the AP detailing
repeated misleading public
statements from NYCFC and
partner club Manchester City
about Lampard’s status.
NYCFC stated last July
that Lampard signed a twoyear contract to start in August
2014. Within two weeks, Man
City said the former Chelsea
midfielder was returning to the
Premier League on “loan,”
having previously categorically ruled out playing for
another English club. But after
the Man City stay was extended on Dec. 31 until June,
it emerged that Lampard was
in fact on a permanent deal in
England. Such was the confusion, the Premier League this
week investigated the contractual confusion and prompted
Man City to eventually confirm that Lampard was in fact
only ever under contract with
the English champion.
The Abu Dhabi-owned
club’s parent company, City
Football Group, acknowledged on Friday that the
announcement in July was an
“error,” and that Lampard had
previously signed only a
“commitment” to play for the
New York team from January
2015 on a two-year contract.
City Football Group confirmed on Saturday that
Lampard had now signed the
same commercial terms that he
committed to last year. CFG
did not immediately say if
Lampard’s contract runs to
December 2016 as originally
intended or for two years from
July 1.
More than five months after NYCFC’s erroneous
announcement, MLS said on
Saturday: “Frank Lampard has
signed a contract for
NYCFC.” City Football
Group’s
conduct
over
Lampard has been criticized by
American pundits and fans of
NYCFC as well as newspapers in England. Britain’s
Daily Mail newspaper said
Man City’s “reputation at
home and abroad is in tatters”
over the “trail of misinformation and confusion.” –– AP
Cristiano Ronaldo is the
favourite to win the Ballon d’Or
for the second year in
succession at Monday’s gala
ceremony in Zurich ahead of
Manuel Neuer and Lionel
Messi.
Messi has finished in the
top two in each of the last
seven years but, despite another prolific year in 2014,
appears this time to be lagging behind his two rivals.
A disappointing World
Cup, in which he was eliminated at the group stage with
Portugal, has not prevented
Ronaldo from staking a
strong claim to win the prize
for the third time overall.
The 29-year-old Real Madrid superstar scored a
remarkable 61 goals in the
calendar year as he helped his
club win the Champions
League, Copa del Rey and
UEFA Super Cup before
ending 2014 by securing the
Club World Cup. Ronaldo
scored a record 17 goals in
last season’s Champions
League and has already netted
a phenomenal 26 goals in 16
La Liga games this season.
Unsurprisingly, he has received fierce support from his
club, who feel that Ronaldo
would be the only worthy
winner of the prize and felt
compelled to publicly criticise
UEFA president Michel
Platini for his suggestions
that Neuer should take the
award.
Platini said in November
that a German should win the
award following their World
Cup triumph, telling press: “I
already said it four years ago.
A Spaniard should have won
it then because Spain had won
the World Cup (in 2010).
This year it is Germany.”
In response, Madrid expressed
“surprise
at
(Platini’s) repeated remarks
regarding his personal preferences for who should win the
Ballon d’Or”, and added that
Ronaldo was “deserving more
than ever of winning the
Ballon d’Or.”
However, Neuer the only
one of six German World
Cup winners on the initial
shortlist to make the final
three makes a good case to
become the first goalkeeper to
take the prize since Lev
Yashin of the Soviet Union
in 1963, and the first German
since Lothar Matthaeus in
1990, the year West Germany
lifted the World Cup in Italy.
After
helping
Pep
Guardiola’s Bayern win a
domestic double in Germany,
Neuer, 28, was outstanding
in his country’s run to World
Cup glory, as they beat Argentina 1-0 after extra time in
the final at the Maracana.
Diego Maradona and 2004
winner Andriy Shevchenko
have given Neuer their backing, while Germany coach
Joachim Loew told Bild:
“Any other choice than Neuer
will disappoint me.”
However, Neuer himself is
remaining cautious after see-
ing his widely-tipped club
colleague Franck Ribery come
away disappointed at last
year’s ceremony.
“I’m certainly not favourite,” Neuer told German daily
Suddeutsche Zeitung. “The
other two are international
brands, they’ve clearly got an
advantage.”
Despite his fame, and the
fact that he scored 58 goals in
66 games for club and coun-
try in 2014, Messi’s candidature is not helped by the fact
that he failed to win a trophy
with Barcelona.
And while he captained
Argentina to the World Cup
final, the 27-year-old failed to
perform to his usual sky-high
standards in the knockout
stage in Brazil, even if he
came away with the Golden
Ball award for the tournament’s best player. –– AFP
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