Federer to face Isner in Davis Cup singles

 

Roger Federer will face John Isner in the second singles match Friday when Switzerland takes on the United States in the first round of the Davis Cup.

 

Switzerland s 28th-ranked Stanislas Wawrinka opens the series against eighth-ranked Mardy Fish on the indoor clay courts at 7,000-capacity Fribourg Forum.

 

Isner lost both matches he played Federer, each time on hard courts, and said he aims to serve well and play quick points.

 

“I don t want to be getting in 15-ball rallies with Roger from the baseline  cause that probably won t bode well for me,” the 17th-ranked Isner said. “I m going to need to play aggressive, play-first strike tennis and see how it goes.”

 

Fish, who has a 2-0 career record against Wawrinka, is satisfied to be opening the series.

 

“I would prefer to play first. On a team note, I would like to try to get the team off to a good start,” Fish said.

 

In Sunday s scheduled reverse singles, the third-ranked Federer is set to face Fish, followed by Wawrinka against Isner.

 

U.S. captain Jim Courier will give 19-year-old Ryan Harrison a Davis Cup debut on Saturday, partnering Mike Bryan in doubles against Federer and Wawrinka, who won Olympic gold in doubles in Beijing.

 

Still, that plan could alter depending how deep Fish and Isner go in their singles matches.

 

“We ll see as we go,” Courier said. “That s the team we are nominating now, but certainly things can change given whatever happens (Friday).”

 

Bryan s twin brother, Bob, is unavailable after his first child was born last week.

 

The U.S. has a 2-1 edge on Switzerland in Davis Cup encounters, though each series went with home advantage on hard courts.

 

The Americans  dream team of Courier, Andre Aggasi, John McEnroe and Pete Sampras won the 1992 final played at Fort Worth, Texas, and a first-round series when Federer was unavailable in 2009 at Birmingham, Alabama.

 

A 19-year-old Federer won all three of his rubbers to lead the Swiss to victory in a 2001 first-round match in his home city Basel.
 

Kyrgyzstan gold mine workers go on strike

 

The operator of the largest gold mine in the Central Asian nation of Kyrgyzstan says workers have gone on strike in a demand for additional payments to a state social fund.

 

Toronto-based Centerra Gold Inc. said in a statement Tuesday that it deems the work stoppage illegal and that their collective agreement is in force until the end of the year.

 

Centerra produced 585,000 ounces of gold last year at its key Kumtor mine, which accounts for the bulk of the company s global output.

 

Kumtor mine, which accounts for roughly one-tenth of Kyrgyzstan s economy, has been at the center of several industrial and environmental disputes in this mountainous nation on China s western border.
 

US crews claims $3b in sunken treasure: report

 

US treasure hunters said they found the sunken remains of a British steamer torpedoed during World War II carrying platinum now valued at $3 billion, the Boston Globe reported.

 

The Sub Sea Research, a company based in the northeastern US state of Maine, found the British ship SS Port Nicholson on the ocean floor some 30 miles (50 kilometers) off Provincetown, Massachusetts, the newspaper reported.

 

The Port Nicholson was sailing from Halifax in Canada to New York when it was torpedoed and sank in 1942. Four people died when the ship went down and 87 were rescued.

 

The Sub Sea Research team discovered the sunken treasure in August 2008 with help from a remote control machine tethered to their ship, the Sea Hunter, the paper said.

 

The cargo, valued in 1942 at about $53 million, was a lend-lease payment to the United States from the Soviet Union.

 

The treasure hunters said that there are at least 30 boxes scattered around the shipwreck, and they believe the crates contain platinum ingots.

 

“There s a good possibility there are about 10 tons of gold down there, too, and maybe some industrial diamonds,” Greg Brooks, a partner in the Sub Sea company, told The Globe.
 

Kandh Kot: 5-year-old girl abducted, killed

Later accused hid her dead body in a heap of scrap.

On Sunday morning, five-year-old Asma was abducted from the area of Golimar. Parents with the help of area people searched for her, but her body was found from a heap of scrap.

It is said that the ill-fated girl was strangulated to death after depriving her of gold ornaments.

Police have taken the dead body in custody and cordoned off the area during a search operation.

Kashmor SP, talking to the media, said that barbarian accused would be brought to justice.

Libya: Fighters loot Gadhafi tribe

After capturing this hamlet, a center for Moammar Gadhafi s tribe, revolutionary fighters have gone on a vengeance spree, looting and burning homes and making off with gold, furniture and even automobiles.

Other fighters are trying to persuade them to stop and have sought to protect the tribesmen of the ousted leader. As a result, the rampage in Abu Hadi, a suburb of Gadhafi’s home city of Sirte, has underscored a geographical split among the forces loyal to Libya s new interim government.

Most of those looting homes are unorganized, volunteer bands of gunmen from the city of Misrata, to the west, which was brutalized in a bloody siege by Gadhafi s forces during the nearly 7-month uprising against his rule. Trying to rein them in are revolutionaries from eastern Libya, which shook off Gadhafi s

The loyalists in the city center have been putting up a powerful defense for three weeks now, and on Wednesday the two sides traded artillery, tank and mortar shelling. Still, a spokesman for the revolutionaries  Defense Ministry, Col. Ahmed Bani, vowed on Wednesday that its forces “will be able to completely dominate Sirte in the next few days.”

Deputy Defense Minister Fawzy Abu Kataf said it would take two days of heavy shelling to uproot the remaining pro-Gadhafi fighters in the city. But he said revolutionary fighters were holding off on an all-out assault to allow residents to leave.

Abu Hadi, a center of the ousted leader s Gadhadhfa tribe 10 miles (16 kilometers) from downtown Sirte, was a ghost town. Streets were littered with bullet casings, and black smoke billowed from four homes that had been set ablaze by fighters.

Many of the homes laid out in rows in the residential complexes had been broken into, with wooden doors busted, stoves and refrigerators overturned, baby clothes and homework strewn all over the floors.

Gold price decreases by Rs 700 a tola

According to Sindh Gold Association, bullion price reached Rs 56,300 from Rs 57,000, while 10-gram gold price closed at Rs 48,257 after a decrease of Rs 600.

Pakistani athletes shine in Athens Special Olympics.

The glorifying performance of Pakistani athletes continues in Athens Special Olympics.

Most successful athlete Adeel Ameer have won gold medals in 100 metre sprint after winning the gold in long jump, 100×4 race and rally race events.

Rahimullah won the silver medal in 1,500 metre race.

Misbah Tariq named silver medal in 200 metre sprint.

Abdul Nasir and Zulfiqar Ali won gold medals in Bocce double game.

Losing to India in the final of basket ball event, Pakistan have to content with the silver medal.

Central Contracts For Women Cricketers By PCB

After winning the Asian games final, women cricket team is appreciated a lot by PCB. They have now offered them a central contract that was demanded by them since long. Pakistan women team had bead Bangladesh team to win the final of Asia cup in china last month and won the gold medal for Pakistan.

The contracts offered by PCB will starts from 1st January and they will consist of four categories. 20 contracts will be offered for the first time for 1 year. Pakistan women team captain Sana Mir has appreciated the central contract offered by PCB and said that it is a positive move for the betterment of cricket. So far prize has been announced for these contracts.

Sana Mir added that she is happy that at last {CB has acknowledged that women cricket is also professional cricket. She also said that team is determine to play well and to get more achievements for Pakistan.

Women cricket is under PCB control since 200 and after 5 year they are awarded with central contract. In 2001 men team got central contract. There are almost 600 women cricketers in Pakistan and only 20 contracts will be awarded. After getting central contracts players will perform well and they will now properly focus on cricket.

Pak. hockey team honored by CM Punjab

Staff Report

LAHORE: Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has given a reception, in honor to the gold medal winning Pakistan hockey team in Asian Games, in the Chief Minister House on Sunday.

CM Shahbaz welcomed the hockey players led by the captain Zeeshan Ashraf. All the players were wearing gold medals in the reception.

The president of the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) Qasim Zia and others were also present in the reception. Trend Pk

Games hailed as ‘extraordinary’ as China win more gold

GUANGHOU: An “extraordinary” Asian Games prepared to close after 15 days of thrills and spills that has seen China reinforce its sporting credentials and Japan slip further behind.

On Saturday, the last day of action at an event unprecedented in size and scale in Asiad history, China added yet another gold medal to its glittering haul when Zhou Chunxiu defended her women’s marathon title.

The 2007 London marathon winner clocked a season best of 2hr 25min 00sec, with teammate Zhu Xiaolin taking silver and North Korea’s Kim Kum-Ok the bronze.

It pushed the host nation’s gold tally up to 198 and its total medals to a whopping 414 — both Asian Games records.

While China has basked in its most successful Asiad ever, its arch-rival Japan has performed worse then expected, winning just 48 titles for an overall 215 medals.

It leaves them well behind

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