A load of crap from an idle brainPersonal, Movies, Music, IT, India, Singapore, Politics, Fun

Some great news all round. India has taken a series winning 3-0 lead against the Sri Lankans in the 5 match one day series.  Meanwhile, South Africa  humiliated Australia by winning both the one day and test series.  To rub  salt into the wounds, New Zealand forced a win in the first one dayer against Australia on the last ball of the match.

Brad Haddin lived upto his captain’s reputation as a cheater by dislodging the bails with his gloves instead of the ball and had the gall to question Daniel Vettori when his actions were questioned.  Pricky Ricky Ponting followed suit in defending his co-cheatmate.  I was waiting to hear a classic in the lines of

If you are questioning my integrity, then probably you shouldn’t be sitting here.

but, unfortunately no such pearls of wisdom sprouted from Ricky’s mouth this time.  In other news, Ricky Ponting has been asked to rest. Heh.  Great news.  If Australia are really serious about mounting any challenge to South Africa or India, they seriously need to get rid of Ricky as captain.  He’s still a good batsman and commands a place in the team purely on his batting and fielding.  But when it comes to captaincy, he often looks lost when the chips are down.

Roger Federer lost in the finals of the Australian Open and that’s something iam unable to come to terms with.  Rafael Nadal seems to be his achilles heel. Nadal has quickly moved from being a good player on clay to grasscourts too.  So, Federer has lost his monopoly in Wimbledon now having lost to Nadal last year.  Am sure Federer will make a comeback and break Sampras’ record of 14 grand slams, but the delay is the killer.

Watched Vicky Cristina Barcelona last weekend.  Scarlett Johansson is yummy and so is Penelope Cruz.  I still cant get over the evil role of Javier Bardem in No country for old men and had a tough time thinking about him as a casanova in this movie.

Meanwhile, i will have some great 2 weeks starting this sunday.  Biwi ji will join me here in Singapore

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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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Delhi boy Yuki Bhambri on Saturday created history by becoming the first Indian to win the junior Australian Open title, beating Alexandros-Ferdinandos Georgoudas of Germany 6-3, 6-1 in the final.

Yuki follows in the footsteps of Indian tennis greats Ramanathan Krishnan, Ramesh Krishnan and Leander Paes to win a junior Grand Slam.

Ramanathan Krishnan won the Wimbledon junior title in 1954, the first Asian player to achieve the feat. His son Ramesh carried on the legacy to win the junior titles at French Open and Wimbledon in 1979. Paes was the last Indian to win a junior Grand Slam when he won the Wimbledon Boy’s title in 1990 and the US Open in 1991 as a 17-year-old.

Sixteen-year-old Yuki came into the Australian Open as the top seed, having reached the semi-final here last year. Yuki has been performing exceptionally in the international circuit. His best show so far has been the title win at the Orange Bowl in Key Biscayne in the US, considered to be the fifth Grand Slam, besides the Osaka Mayor’s Cup in October. It catapulted him to No. 2 in World junior rankings.

However, Yuki’s doubles campaign ended in semi-final after he and his Taipei partner Liang Chi-Huang lost 3-6, 1-6 to Russia’s Mikhal Biryukov and Japanese Yasutaka Uchiyama on Friday.

Yuki honed his skills at the famous Nick Bolletieri Tennis Academy in the USA. He is coached by Aditya Sachdeva, who accompanied him to Melbourne.

With Mahesh Bhupati in both the mixed doubles (with Sania Mirza) and in the men’s doubles finals, its some exciting days for Indian tennis.

Above pictures and news from: TimesofIndia

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Indian tennis ace Leander Paes and Zimbabwe’s Cara Black won the mixed doubles crown at the season-ending Grand Slam on Thursday. The fifth seeded Indo-Zimbabwean pair beat the American-British pairing of Liezel Huber and Jamie Murray 7-6, 6-4 in the final.

The triumph increased Paes’s  tally of Grand Slam crowns to eight. In 1999, Paes had partnered Mahesh Bhupathi and Lisa Raymond to win the men’s doubles and mixed doubles crowns at Wimbledon.

American brothers Bob and Mike Bryan won their seventh Grand Slam men’s doubles crown Friday, defeating India’s Leander Paes and Czech Lukas Dlouhy 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (12/10) to take the US Open title. The Bryans, who ran through the tournament without losing a set, previously won Slam crowns at Roland Garros in 2003, the US Open in 2005, Wimbledon in 2006 and the Australian Open in 2006 and 2007.

The defeat denied Paes a chance at a US Open doubles double, having already claimed the mixed crown with Zimbabwe’s Cara Black. Paes had claimed such doubles in 1999 at Wimbledon and the French Open, partnered with American Lisa Raymond in mixed and compatriot Mahesh Bhupathi in the men’s doubles.

The victory enables the Bryans to move back into the world number one ranking from second.

News and pictures courtesy: AFP, Daijiworld

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Leander Paes & Lukas Dlouhy

Some great news in tennis for India.  Leander Paes has reached the finals of both the men’s doubles and mixed doubles at the US Open.

Paes and his Czech partner Lukas Dlouhy sprinted into the men’s doubles final by pulverising Argentine duo Maximo Gonzalez and Juan Monaco 6-2, 6-0 in just 46 minutes.  (Lines courtesy: Rediff)

Cara Black

Meanwhile in the mixed doubles, Paes and his partner Cara Black of Zimbabwe beat Nadia Petrova and Jonas Bjorkman 6-4, 6-4 to reach the finals.

The last time Leander Paes achieved such a result was in the 1999 Wimbledon.  Will he be able to repeat this feat at the last Grand Slam of the year ?

Above pictures courtesy: Getty Images & Wikipedia

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