Sania Mirza and Mahesh Bhupathi won the mixed doubles title at the Australian Open, beating Nathalie Dechy (France) and Andy Ram (Israel) 6-3, 6-1 in the final in Melbourne on Sunday afternoon. The ace Indian pair thus made up for the disappointment of last year when they were beaten by Tiantian Sun and Nenad Zimonjic in the final.
While Sania picked her maiden Grand slam title in the process, Bhupathi swelled his Grand Slam title collection in mixed doubles to seven. Before Sunday’s triumph he won six mixed doubles crowns with different partners, the last also at the Australian Open in 2006 when he had partnered Swiss Martina Hingis.
Sania and Bhupathi had an easier time than they may have expected. Ram was broken in the opening game and from then on there was nothing the French-Israeli pair could do to stop the Indians. Two more breaks, in the seventh and ninth games, and Sania and Bhupathi had the first set in their bag in 28 minutes.
The second set too was one-sided. Bhupathi kicked it off, winning at love. Then a break on Dechy’s serve put the Indians high in the saddle at 3-1. Another break off Ram’s serve and the Indians were cruising at 5-1. Sania completed the formalities by serving out the seventh game for the set and match in 54 minutes.
On Saturday, Bhupathi and his Bahamian partner Mark Knowles squandered a one-set lead and went down to Bob and Mike Bryan in the men’s doubles final.
Above picture from: Australian Open & news from Rediff
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After blaming sight screens and third world conditions for losing in India, who is Ricky Ponting going to blame for the second successive loss to South Africa in the 3 match test series? In fact, Ricky’s complaints about the conditions in India prompted Matthew Hayden give out gyaan on the difference between a third and first world country.
Matthew Hayden for sure looks finished. This could probably be his last series for Australia. With Symonds, Bret Lee and Shane Watson injured, it surely looks like a 3-0 whitewash for South Africa.
Is the Australian era in cricket over? Have other countries have finally found chinks in the Aussie armour? Or is Australia going to strike back like a wounded tiger? Only time has answer to all the questions. Meanwhile, lets savour the latest victory over Australia 
Above picture source: Cricinfo
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The noise coming out of the Australian cricket camp over its star Andrew Symonds being taunted by “monkey chants” during last week’s one-day international in Vadodara seems a bit over the top—when you consider the startling contents of an Australian government backed report that was released today.
Racial abuse is prevalent across the sporting world of Australia, including its cricket grounds, says the report titled ‘ What’s the Score? A survey of cultural diversity and racism in Australian sport’ that was released today by Australia’s Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC).
On Australian cricket, the report points to “racial sledging” of South African cricketers who “were referred to as kaffirs by a small section of spectators” at Perth in December 2005. It says that cricketers from Sri Lanka were “subjected to calls of ‘black c——’ at Adelaide, and adds that an ICC security official was punched by spectators in Melbourne.
A small sample of the report further states:
there was a racist outburst on international television by former Australian Test batsman Dean Jones in August 2006. Jones was sacked from his job as a television commentator after referring to South African Muslim batsman Hashim Amla as a terrorist”. Amla is a devout Muslim who wears a beard for religious reasons and has successfully negotiated with the South African team’s main sponsors, SA Breweries, not to wear the Castle Lager logo on his playing and practice gear.
Read the full report of the Australian Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission here. It surely doesn’t make for a pleasant reading about a ‘so-called’ developed nation.
Meanwhile Ratnakar Shetty, who is also the BCCI’s Chief Administrative Officer, added: “I was present in Vadodara during the match, and the noise from the crowd was deafening. I don’t understand how you could make out monkey noises from all that. What is this monkey noise, anyway? Or Mr Andrew Symonds should report to us exactly what was said to him. Then, it makes sense. But he has not done that, either.”
Well, i believe Mr Andrew Symonds has now become a Gandhian, or else, what does explain his silence and quotes of ‘let’s just move on‘? There couldn’t have been a worse time for Aussies for the report to come out. 
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