Hantuchova wins Pattaya Open

 

Slovakia s third-seeded Daniela Hantuchova successfully defended her Pattaya Open title on Sunday, beating fourth seed Russian Maria Kirilenko in a marathon three hour 14-minute battle.

 

The three sets victory 6-7 (4-7), 6-3, 6-3 was Hantuchova s fifth career title, and means the world number 20 is now unbeaten in 10 matches at the Thai resort, where her victory this year brings her $37,000.

 

“It feels great,” said Hantuchova. “I thought it was an incredible match. Maria was playing really well and we were fighting for every single point.

 

“Even though I lost the first set very closely I just kept going and didn t really look back and always just tried to focus on the next point. That was the key.”

 

Her Russian opponent and world number 26 Kirilenko was playing in her 10th career final, and hoping to win her first title since she beat Samantha Stosur in Seoul in 2008.

 

In a match contested largely from the baseline, Hantuchova struggled at first to find her rhythm and dropped her serve with a double-fault in the opening game.

 

In the second set, both players held break points, but it was Hantuchova who broke in the first and final games.

 

The final set began with both players dropping their serve to love.

 

Hantuchova then held off a break point at 1-1, failed to convert three break points for a 3-1 lead and another to lead 4-2, but safely served out the match after her opponent had produced her seventh double-fault.

 

“I m disappointed to lose in the final,” said Kirilenko. “But if I look back I almost lost the first match so I m trying take the positive things from the tournament.

 

“After the Australian Open I didn t play for nine days because I was injured, and today I was in the final so I think it s a good result still.”
 

Tri-Series: Hussey, Forrest lift Australia to 269

 

Half-centuries for David Hussey and debutant Peter Forrest helped Australia make 269 for eight from their 50 overs in the tri-series one-day international against India in Adelaide Sunday.

 

India controversially rested champion batsman Sachin Tendulkar under their rotation policy, denying the 38-year-old another chance to score his long-awaited 100th international century.

 

Forrest and Hussey put on 98 for the fourth wicket to vindicate captain Michael Clarke s decision to bat after winning the toss.

 

Forrest, 26, promoted for his one-day international debut, impressed in making 66 from 83 balls, including two sixes, while Hussey contributed 72 from 76 deliveries.

 

The Indians made a promising start, with former Australian captain Ricky Ponting falling cheaply in an unusual role as opener, caught at point by Virat Kohli from the bowling of Ranganath Vinay Kumar for six.

 

The dangerous David Warner was run out for 18, while Michael Clarke looked in good touch before being fooled by a slower delivery from Umesh Yadav and dragging the ball onto his stumps for 38.

 

Yadav was the best of the Indian bowlers, picking up two wickets at a cost of 49 runs from his 10 overs.
 

Djokovic gets wax figure in native Serbia

 

The Australian Open champion was in the central Serbian town of Jagodina on Thursday to attend the unveiling of his likeness in wax.

 

Djokovic, who is adored in the Balkan country, did not speak to reporters at the wax museum. Serbian media reported that Djokovic later traveled further south to a ski resort on Mt. Kopaonik.

 

Djokovic is sitting out of Serbia s Davis Cup match against Sweden to rest after winning the Australian Open. He led Serbia to its first Davis Cup title in 2010.
 

Madonna world tour to start on May 29

LONDON; Madonna will go on tour from May for the first time in three years, starting in Israel before moving on to Europe, with legs in South America and Australia, where she has not performed for 20 years, tour promotion company Live Nation said on Tuesday.

The 2012 World Tour will be the first for the Grammy Award-winning 53-year-old Material Girl since her “Sticky & Sweet Tour” in 2008 and 2009 and will stop in more than 20 European and Middle Eastern cities including London, Edinburgh, Paris, Milan, Abu Dhabi and Berlin.

The tour starts on May 29 in Tel Aviv and then visits Abu Dhabi and Istanbul in early June before moving on to Europe. The European leg concludes on August 21st in Nice, France and the North American leg will end in Miami, with the date yet to be confirmed, the company said in a statement.

Dates for the South American and Australian legs and locations were not yet set and additional cities and venues are to be announced, they added.

The announcement came just days after Madonna’s halftime performance at the Super Bowl on Feb 5, with a record 114 million people tuning in to watch the glitzy, Cleopatra-themed show, which was lauded by critics but resulted in an apology from television network NBC and the NFL for a rude gesture made by British hip hop star M.I.A. during the show. AGENCIES?

Lhr factory collapse: 15 dead, 14 hurt; rescue op underway

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LAHORE: As many as 15 bodies and 14 injured people have been retrieved thus far from under the rubble of the factory which came down after its boiler went off with a loud bang causing the cave-in of entire premises yesterday morning, TrendPK reports Tuesday.

According to details, the mishap occurred at 0810 PST in a medicine factory located on Multan Road, Kharak Stop, causing the entire building to collapse trapping under its debris people in large number. The debris could not be removed as yet despite the lapse of 24 hours.

Talking to TrendPK TV on the mishap site, Commissioner Lahore Jawwad Rafiq Malik said the rescue operation will continue till the last person is rescued safe and sound.

The injured and bodies have been shifted to nearby Jinnah Hospital, where Punjab Chief Minister Mian Shahbaz Sharif’s son Hamza Shahbaz Sharif visited to console him.

The bereaved families faced massive troubles in taking custody of their bodies from the hospital.

Meantime, a case has been lodged against the factory owners and government officers in Sabzazar Police Station. Also, police arrested factory manager Muneer Ahmed.

According to the sources, the factory has been working since eight months now, as its license was not renewed since June 2011. TrendPK

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England captain Strauss hopes team will learn from mistakes

DUBAI: England captain Andrew Strauss stressed a 3-0 hammering inflicted by Pakistan was not “all doom and gloom” for his team, hoping they learn from their mistakes and move on.

Pakistan thumped England by 71 runs in the third and final Test on Monday to seal an emphatic 3-0 win — the first whitewash in all Tests between the two countries.

England had not lost a Test series under Strauss since their 1-0 defeat in the Caribbean in February 2009.

“It’s very important we debrief this tour very thoroughly, like we do on any tour and learn some lessons and don’t walk away if that’s staring at us in the face. But at the same time it’s not all doom and gloom, you don’t become a bad side overnight,” Strauss said after the defeat.

England, who rose to number one in Test rankings in August last year after winning their last six series, continued to struggle in Asian conditions with Pakistani spinners Saeed Ajmal and Abdul Rehman destroying them in the series.

Off-spinner Saeed Ajmal took 24 wickets while Rehman finished with 19.

For England, Jonathan Trott remained top scorer in the series with 161 with Alastair Cook 159 and wicketkeeper batsman Matt Prior finishing at 150.

Strauss also managed 150 but key batsmen Kevin Pietersen (67), Ian Bell (51) and Eoin Morgan (82) were major let downs.

Strauss admitted playing spinners on turning pitches was a different challenge.

“Obviously, the challenges here are diffrerent, English sides generally have not played well in these sort of conditions in the past, we need to break that tradition and we are not going to do that by doing the same things,” said Strauss.

England also have tours to Sri Lanka (April) and India (November) this year and Strauss hoped the batsmen learn fast.

“I have not been involved in any series where so many of our batsmen have had hard times as this one. We have all got some questions to answer individually, some soul searching and thoughts to put into on how we can do things better going forward.

“It is also important for the guys to start turning their attention towards Sri Lanka in the particular challenges. There may not be the same challenges as here, but they will be slightly different in terms of the conditions etc, so we need to learn lessons from this.

“If you are a good enough player you find a way, it may take you a week or so finding a way you don’t make the same mistakes again. We haven’t been good enough or quick enough to adapting our game, that’s for sure,” Strauss said.

Pakistan and England will now play a four-match one-day series, starting with the first in Abu Dhabi on February 13. That will be followed by three Twenty20 internationals.

Cricket Australia in India tobacco ad row

SYDNEY: Cricket Australia has pulled Hindi adverts displayed during the series with India after being alerted that they could be promoting tobacco, which would attract big fines for breaching local laws.

Cricket bosses said they were assured by the Indian government that the signage was advertising a brand of mouthwash, but decided to take them down due to their apparent similarity to a brand of chewing tobacco.

“We asked (the Indian government’s) advice because we are not familiar with the Hindi language,” a Cricket Australia spokesman told reporters on Tuesday.

“They came back and said it’s an Indian mouthwash — or at least they said it’s not a tobacco product. We don’t have one million percent certainty about all of the detail.

“It appears that there is a tobacco company with the same or similar brand name to the product that is being advertised. We have just become uneasy about it and said, let’s withdraw this,” he added.

“It’s better to be safe than sorry.”

The boundary-line adverts, aimed at the massive TV audience in India, were reportedly worth thousands of dollars and displayed during seven games.

But they will not be seen at future matches, starting with the one-dayer between India and Sri Lanka at Perth on Wednesday.

Cricket Australia acted after Health Minister Tanya Plibersek warned they faced fines of up to Aus$66,000 (US$70,000) for each breach of the 1992 tobacco advertising ban.

“The Gillard government has received a number of complaints alleging that advertisements for tobacco products have been displayed at cricket grounds,” she told News Limited newspapers.

“The government is taking the allegations very seriously and has written to Cricket Australia seeking detailed information about the advertising.”

Urdu poet Sufi Tabassum’s anniversary today

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KARACHI: One of the great Urdu poets, Sufi Ghulam Mustafa Tabassum is being remembered on his death anniversary today (Tuesday).

Sufi Tabassum was born in Amritsar on August 4, 1899. In 1927, he joined the Central Training College, Lahore, as a Lecturer, where he worked then till 1931.

In 1931, Sufi Tabassum joined Government College, Lahore, from where he retired as Head of the Persian Department in 1954. During this period he matured into a great poet, critic and teacher. He taught three generations of students, including Faiz Ahmad Faiz, Noon Meem Rashid and Ahmad Nadeem Qasmi who later became renowned poets. It was during this period that the best Urdu and Persian poems of Sufi Tabassum were written.

After retirement, he formed the Iranian Cultural Centre in 1955. He devoted all his energies to modernising the Persian used by the scholars of the sub-continent an effort that has borne fruit. He handed over the Iranian Cultural Centre to the Iranian Government in 1958 after serving as its Director for three years. In 1958, he joined the weekly Magazine called “Lail-o-Nahar” as its Editor.

During his editorship, Sufi Tabassum devoted a lot of time to writing for children. When his editorship ended, Sufi Tabassum joined Radio Pakistan as a Script Adviser. There again he distinguished himself as a broadcaster and commentator of literary subjects.

Thereafter, he became Chairman of the Pakistan Arts Council, Lahore, and Vice-Chairman of Iqbal Academy. He worked tirelessly for both the organizations, building for the first time a magnificent building to mature into a national institution, while for the latter he laboured relentlessly to organize the Iqbal Centenary Celebrations and to get extensive research done on all aspects of the great poet’s life.

He died on 07th February 1978. AGENCIES

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Karachi pharma factory raided; 4 nabbed

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KARACHI: Police in a raid on a pharmaceutical factory manufacturing fake medicines in the city, arrested at least four people including the owners.

Police conducted raid on a pharmaceutical factory located in Malir cantt area of Gulshan Mehran and seized fake drugs and fertilizers, according to Shaukat Jokhio, Deputy Commissioner Malir.

A case has been registered in Shah Latif Town Police Station against the accused. TrendPK

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LHC’s 4 additional session judges take oath

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LAHORE: As many as four additional session judges of Lahore High Court (LHC) took oath today, TrendPK reports Tuesday.

Chief Justice of the LHC Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed administered oath to the judges including Justice Yawar Ali, Justice Mamoon Rasheed, Justice Farrukh Irfan Khan and Justice Mazhar Ali.

It should be mentioned here President Asif Ali Zardari approved to make these additional session judges permanent. TrendPK

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