32 Gulf Daily News Friday, 22nd April 2011
Spain lose appeal over US Davis Cup court
MADRID: The International
Tennis Federation (ITF) has
rejected Spain’s appeal over
the legality of the hard court
surface chosen by the United States
for July’s Davis Cup World Group
quarter-final.
The Spanish tennis federation
(RFET) had argued that the surface,
known as Indoor Hard Premiere, was
not on a list approved by the ITF, the
sport’s world governing body which
runs the competition.
The ITF said in a statement yesterday that its five-strong Davis Cup
committee had unanimously agreed
that the surface complied with the
regulations.
“The committee determined that the
court surface chosen by the Americans
is of the type ‘acrylic’, which is used in
over 30 tour events and two grand slam
tournaments,” the statement said.
The regulations did not “specify
or imply a requirement for specific
brands”, it added.
The RFET, which is worried a fast
court may give the Americans an edge,
said in a statement on its website (www.
rfet.es) it would consider its next move
and await the findings of a fact-finding
mission to Austin in the coming days.
NADAL
SETS UP
MONFILS
CLASH
n Williams takes
lead over Cope
SHEFFIELD: Former champion
Mark Williams looks in the mood
for another World Championship
triumph after he raced to a 7-1
lead over Jamie Cope in the
second round here yesterday.
Williams won the opening four
frames in just 43 minutes and the
Welshman continued to dominate
for the rest of the session as he
chases a place in the quarter-finals.
The 36-year-old’s potting
exhibition was briefly interrupted
when Cope pulled a frame back.
But Williams responded by reeling
off a further three frames in a row
inside 32 minutes to close in on a
convincing victory.
There are three scheduled sessions
in the best-of-25-frame match, but
Williams could now conceivably
seal his victory when they play
eight frames today and give
himself some welcome rest.
Earlier yesterday, Mark Selby
sealed a 10-1 first-round win over
Jimmy Robertson.
n Villa boss in hospital
LONDON: Aston Villa manager
Gerard Houllier was recovering
in hospital yesterday after being
taken ill the night before. Villa
said Houllier will be kept in
hospital for several days while
he undergoes a series of tests, so
assistant boss Gary McAllister
takes charge for tomorrow’s home
Premier League clash with Stoke.
n Nadal celebrates after
winning against Giraldo. AFP
BARCELONA:
Top seed Rafael
Nadal extended
his current clay
court win streak to 31 matches as the Spaniard overcame
an early run of breaks to
post a 6-3, 6-1 victory over
Santiago Giraldo yesterday
at the ATP Barcelona Open.
Nadal is bidding for a sixth
title at his “home” event in
seven editions after missing
2010 due to treatment on a
knee injury.
He moved into the quarterfinals in less than 90 minutes,
surviving a first set with five
breaks of serve against a South
American opponent.
But Nadal did not hang about
after securing the opening set.
He took a 3-0 lead in the second and quickly closed it out.
The number one was last
beaten on clay at Roland Garros
in 2009 by Robin Soderling in
the fourth round.
Nadal now stands an ATPleading 26 wins and four losses this season. He is 27-1 in
Barcelona.
He will today face Gael
Monfils, who beat French compatriot Richard Gasquet 6-4,
7-6 (9/7) in their third-round
encounter.
“It’s never easy against
Giraldo because he has a good
backhand and plays well from
the baseline. When he’s playing well he can be difficult to
stop. But I played well and
didn’t make many mistakes,”
said Nadal.
“Monfils will be a fantastic
opponent. He’s difficult to play
so I will have to be aggressive.
Aggressive
“It will be a tough match,”
added Nadal, who has a 7-1
record against the Frenchman.
“Monfils can attack as well
as defend, You never know
how he is going to come out
and play. He’ll probably play
very aggressive and I’ll have to
try and defend.”
West Indies edge Pakistan
Leg spinner
Devendra Bishoo claimed four wickets as the new-look West Indies beat
Pakistan by seven runs in their Twenty20
international last night.
The Guyanese spinner ran through the Pakistan
middle order as they fell short in their chase of
West Indies’ total of 150 for seven.
West Indies picked a youthful team for the
one-off game and the upcoming ODI series, having dropped experienced batsmen Chris Gayle,
Ramnaresh Sarwan and Shivnarine Chanderpaul.
One of the young faces, opening batsman
Lendl Simmons got West Indies off to a great
start with a lively 65 off 44 balls and left-hander
Darren Bravo struck 42 off 33 as the Caribbean
side brought up their 100 in the 13th over.
But, as so often, Darren Sammy’s side failed
GROS
ISLET,
St.Lucia:
to build on their good foundation and ended up
falling short of a really strong total, with just two
other players making double figures.
Pakistan lost both their openers, Ahmed
Shehzad and Mohammad Hafeez, early but
Umar Akmal’s 41 from 60 balls put them in with
a chance.
Breakthrough
Bishoo, who caught the eye of West Indies
selectors with his performances in regional
Twenty20 cricket, then showed his value in
the shortest form of the game with some astute
bowling.
The vital breakthrough came when Sammmy
made a fine catch at extra-cover off Bishoo, to
dismiss skipper Shahid Afridi (12) and break up
what was a potentially match winning partnership.
Seventh seed Monfils was
deliberately refusing to consider the task ahead.
“I won’t think about the match
now,” said a reluctant Monfils,
playing in only his second event
since a wrist injury forced him
out in February. “I will prepare it
just like any other match.”
Monfils improved to 4-3
over his friend and compatriot
Gasquet, not at his best after a
pair of previous matches each
lasting in excess of two hours.
Fourth-seeded Monte Carlo
finalist David Ferrer got a Spanish
win as he defeated Romanian
Victor Hanescu 6-3, 6-2.
Austrian Juergen Melzer
beat Spaniard Albert Montanes
6-7 (2/7), 6-3, 6-2 to earn a rematch of last weekend’s Monte
Carlo semi-final which he lost
to Ferrer.
Ferrer has a strong Barcelona
history, playing the semi-finals
or better for the last four years
and losing a pair of finals to
Nadal.
Juan Carlos Ferrero, champion a decade ago, continued
his injury comeback after eight
months out with a defeat of
Italian Simone Vagnozzi 7-6
(7/3), 4-6, 6-4.
He plays compatriot and
eighth seed Nicolas Almagro,
whose 7-6 (7/2), 6-3 win over
Nikolay Davydenko earned a
career-first top 10 place.
n King’s Cup falls under bus
VALENCIA, Spain: Sergio Ramos
suffered an embarrassing mishap
during Real Madrid’s celebration of
Wednesday’s King’s Cup triumph
when he dropped the trophy under
a bus at their victory parade.
Defender Ramos had the Cup on top
of his head as the bus inched past
thousands of Real fans celebrating
in the centre of the Spanish capital.
As he lowered the imposing silver
trophy, it slipped from his grasp
and under the front of the opentop vehicle. The bus continued for
several metres before the driver
realised and photographs reproduced
in local media suggested it had
suffered serious damage.
n Dubai group buys Getafe
DUBAI: Royal Emirates Group,
SCOREBOARD
West Indies
L Simmons run out
65
A Fletcher lbw A Rehman
1
D Bravo c U Akmal b A Rehman 42
M Samuels st M Salman b S Ajmal 4
D Hyatt c U Akmal b Saeed Ajmal 14
D Sammy c M Salman b W Riaz 1
C Barnwell not out
11
A Russell c A Rehman b W Riaz 0
A Nurse not out
6
Extras (lb 1 w 4 nb 1)
6
Total (7 wickets; 20 overs)
150
Fall of wickets: 1-2, 2-101, 3-114,
4-125, 5-126, 6-141, 7-141.
Bowling: Junaid 2-0-15-0, A Rehman
4-0-22-2 (1w), S Ajmal 4-0-35-2, W
Riaz 4-1-24-2 (1nb, 2w), S Afridi 3-030-0, M Hafeez 3-0-23-0 (1w).
Pakistan
A Shehzad c Barnwell b Rampaul 12
M Hafeez c Nurse b Sammy
3
A Shafiq c Hyatt b Bishoo
25
U Akmal c Samuels b Rampaul 41
Misbah hit wicket b Bishoo
0
S Afridi c Sammy b Bishoo
12
M Salman run out
5
A Rehman b Bishoo
7
W Riaz c Sammy b Rampaul
6
S Ajmal not out
21
Junaid not out
3
Extras (b 1 w 1 nb 6)
8
Total (9 wickets; 20 overs)
143
Bowling: R Rampaul 4-0-31-3 (4nb),
D Sammy 3-0-26-1, A Russell 4-0-280 (1nb, 1w), D Bishoo 4-0-17-4 (1nb),
C Barnwell 1-0-7-0, A Nurse 4-0-33-0.
which is chaired by a member
of Dubai’s ruling Al-Maktoum
family, announced yesterday
that it has signed a deal to buy
struggling Spanish La Liga
football club Getafe. The group’s
managing director Kaiser Rafiq
said it has agreed to buy 100 per
cent of the club for “between 70
and 90 million euros” (101 and
130 million dollars), with the
exact amount confidential.
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