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Home , Fabrice Santoro, James Hook (rugby union), Mark Knowles, Martin Damm, Martyn Williams, Nicolas Kiefer

UNITED SUFFER A JOLT SPORT SOCCER 62 SIDEBOTTOM HAT-TRICK WILLIAMS SHINES SUNDAY, ★★ MARCH 9, 2008 PUTS ENGLAND IN CONTROL IN 60 METRES CRICKET 61 ATHLETICS 63 INSIDE CRICKET Gutsy Roddick rallies to Dubai title ICL GETS COMES BACK FROM A SET DOWN TO BEAT LOPEZ AND BECOME FIRST AMERICAN TO WIN THE MEN’S EVENT UNDER WAY IN CHANDIGARH TODAY RESULTS Dubai The Indian Cricket League (ICL), to be Men’s singles final: known as Edelweiss 20’s (US) beat Feliciano Lopez (SPA) 6-7 Challenge, will begin at BY ALARIC GOMES (8), 6-4, 6-2. the Tau Devi Lal Cricket Senior Reporter Men’s doubles final: Mahesh Stadium in Panchkula, Bhupathi/ beat Martin Chandigarh today. Dubai World No 6 Andy Rod- Damm/Pavel Vizner 7-5, 7-6 (7). Ahmedabad Rockets, led dick became the first Amer- by Australian Damien ican to win the singles title Martyn, will take on at the Barclays Dubai Ten- Chandigarh Lions, cap- nis Championships with a tained by New Zealand gutsy yet typical 6-7 (8), 6-4, allrounder Chris Cairns. 6-2 win over surprising fi- Despite being busy with nalist Feliciano Lopez of the opening of this event, Spain last night. Kapil Dev, chairman, ex- The American, who had KARL JEFFS/Gulf News ecutive board, ICL, took not lost a set or serve August presence time off to fly into Dubai through the week here, was Shaikh Ahmad Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum with to be the guest of honour rattled by Lopez, who was champion Andy Roddick at the presentation ceremony. for a cricket tournament not expected to be too on Friday evening. tough an opponent consid- Page 59 ering Roddick’s recent form. Roddick had won in It is simply an amazing feeling to ENDURANCE San Jose two weeks ago come here for the first time and Abdullah posts while falling to Robin million) and received the Soderling in the quarters winner’s trophy from finish off with a win.” maiden career win last week in Memphis be- Shaikh Ahmad Bin Mo- Andy Roddick Abu Dhabi Abdullah Thani fore arriving in Dubai for hammad Bin Rashid Al World No 6 Bin Huzaim, on 11-year- the first time ever. Maktoum. He also earned old grey gelding Omani Both players deserved to 300 ATP Ranking points. Eman, scored his first ca- be finalists here — Roddick Shaikh Hasher Maktoum, done well to go the whole cially after he took the first reer win at the open level for his amazing show of Dubai Director of Informa- length of the first set with- set tie-break. It has defi- when he won the Emi- power on serves and Lopez tion, and Abdul Aziz Al out losing their serves, it nitely been a tough match, KARL JEFFS/Gulf News rates Challenge 120-km for taking three top-10 play- Ghurair, Speaker of the was Lopez showing his grit but I have been pleased Packing a punch endurance ride yesterday. ers en route to the final. FNC, also attended the in the tie break to fight back with the way I have beaten Andy Roddick of the US returns to Feliciano Lopez of Spain during the men’s singles Abdullah, who dominated presentation ceremony. from 1-4 down to win it 10- some of the top quality final of the Dubai Championships yesterday. Roddick won 6-7 (8), 6-4, 6-2. for most of the 120-km Different story This was the second 8. That set saw an amazing players on my way to the ti- event held at the Emirates Going into the final, the Dubai final for Lopez after 19 aces, of which 10 were tle here,” added the Ameri- International Endurance American had 62 aces com- his first appearance in 2004 surprisingly against the can champion. through to the semifinals. ly matched with Roddick first game and then held Village, however did have pared to the 45 sent down by against . Spaniard’s name. Going into last night’s fi- Prior to this, only French- gifted a crucial break in the for a 2-0 lead and then some fight in the final Lopez. But last night it was a Lopez proved to be a “It is simply an amazing nal, Lopez had an amazing men Jerome Golmard ninth for a 5-4 lead after once again in the seventh stage when Mohammad different story as Lopez had worthy opponent in the fi- feeling to come here for run in Dubai facing Rod- [beat in Lopez committed a double to make it 5-2 for the Amer- Rashid Saeed Khamis Al ten aces in each of the first nal to the American as he the first time and finish off dick as his possible fourth, 1999] and fault and the American ican, who served out for set Subose, on Deen, put up two sets compared to 15 held his nerve and mixed with a win,” Roddick said top-10 victim in a week. [beat in served out for the set 6-4 in and match. “It has been a good show. from the American. his game well to take the after the final. Ranked at a distant No 1 41, 2002] had won the title 31 minutes. quite a while since I played Page 60 Roddick accepted a first set in the tie-breaker. “He [Lopez] put me un- the Spaniard was the only here as unseeded. Roddick broke his Span- so well,” stated Roddick. cheque for $300,000 (Dh1.1 After both players had der a lot of pressure, espe- unseeded player coming The second set was even- ish opponent in the very See also Page 58

30436939_1_1 Bhupathi and Knowles at the double India-Bahamas duo edges Czech pairing to win Dubai title and lift second trophy in a week

BY ALARIC GOMES Senior Reporter AILMENT

Dubai Fourth seeds Mahesh VIRUS KEY TO Bhupathi of India and Mark Knowles of the Ba- FEDEX SLUMP hamas picked up their sec- ond title in as many weeks Roger Federer could not figure with a 7-5, 7-6 (7) win over out why he felt so sluggish at the third seeds start of this season. His doctors and Pavel Vizner at the eventually gave him an Barclays Dubai Tennis explanation: He had Championships yesterday. mononucleosis. Both pairs were chasing “Roger found out he had mono, their second ATP title of and didn’t know it. He found the season. Damm and out a couple of weeks ago. Vizner won last month in That’s probably what was wrong Marseille, while Bhupathi with him,” Federer’s agent, and Knowles were fresh Tony Godsick, said on Friday. from their win in Memphis “He doesn’t want to make any last weekend. excuses and take anything away The match was the closest from anybody,” Godsick added. it could get with Bhupathi —Reuters and Knowles gelling well to keep Damm and Vizner at bay. The Czechs had the title in 1998 and 2004, first chance to break in the while Knowles previously 11th game on Knowles’ triumphed here in 2002. serve. But Knowles held and Bhupathi and Knowles then broke on Vizner’s have won their last eight serve to win the set 7-5 in 42 matches in straight sets, minutes. and this was the 49th dou- The second set was even bles title for Knowles, closer with the tie-break while Bhupathi picked up the only way out after some his 43rd career crown. exciting tennis on centre “At the moment, we are court. The Czechs had the just trying to win as many upper hand in the tie- matches as possible. We KARL JEFFS/Gulf News breaker, but Bhupathi and have not really been able to On the ball Knowles complemented keep a tab on how many (right) and Mark Knowles of each other well to win 9-7. sets we have won so far,” in action during the men’s doubles final of the Dubai Tennis Bhupathi won the Dubai Knowles said. Championships yesterday. edge past Ireland to secure triple crown Win 16-12 and can clinch their second in four years if they beat next week

Dublin (Reuters) A lone try ed the home side’s lead to Wales had the best of the tors took the lead for the from winger Shane six points mid-way through first half’s final 10 minutes first time as Williams Williams handed Wales a the first half with a second but Ireland's defence held handed off Andrew Trim- 16-12 win over Ireland and penalty against a stiff firm – helped as the referee ble to score the match’s on- the triple crown after a Dublin breeze and from a reversed a penalty against ly try 11 minutes into the tight Six Nations clash at trickier angle. Ireland by awarding a yel- second half. A touchline Croke Park yesterday. low card against Wales conversion from Jones ce- Unbeaten Wales, with Breathing space scrumhalf Mike Phillips. mented a 13-6 lead. four wins from four in the The Irish put Wales un- That gave Ireland the O’Gara slotted his third tournament, can clinch der serious pressure after breathing space they need- kick after Wales flanker their second grand slam in that with ed to go into the break was sin- four years if they beat grounding the ball just clinging onto their slim 6-3 binned for tripping Eoin France in next Sat- inches from the Welsh line lead. Reddan. urday. but the visitors were quick Wales opened the scor- A fourth O’Gara penalty Ireland opened the scor- to fight their way back into ing in the second half with closed the gap to just a ing with a penalty in front Irish territory, with flyhalf a penalty from Jones that point but Wales cemented of the posts from flyhalf Stephen Jones slotting a pulled the two sides even. their win with a penalty Ronan O’Gara who extend- penalty 25 minutes in. Moments later the visi- from . 30437305_2_3