IMPHAL, MONDAY, JUNE 7, 2021 Olympic-bound one Indian boxer, four shooters yet to French Open: Federer slogs past Koepfer in late night battle back and after breaks were me, I certainly hadn't prac- traded again, the set reached a tised for three hours 35 receive first dose of COVID-19 vaccine: IOA tiebreak. minutes," Federer told report- NEW DELHI, Jun 6 bodied sportspersons and Koepfer moved 6-2 ahead ers. "I certainly didn't expect four para-athletes, taking the as mistakes flowed off to win three matches here. As many as 209 athletes and total count of athletes to have Federer's racket and he lev- "Playing without fans, I para-athletes and another 151 been vaccinated against elled the match thanks to knew, was going to hit me at coaches and support staff Covid-19 to 209. another unforced error from some point. It, maybe, ben- members have been vaccinated As far as the coaching and the Swiss who was playing efits players like myself who against the Covid-19 virus, support staff is concerned, as only his sixth match in 17 are very focused when they with some of them even many as 114 of them have months following surgery. go to practice. It wasn't easy completing the vaccination received their first dose while Federer, the 2009 cham- tonight, was unique in many course having received their another 37 have completed pion, was wobbling when he ways, but I'm happy I found second shots. their vaccination course, dropped serve early in the a way. The Indian Olympic Asso- bringing the total count to third but battled back from 2- "I was playing for all those ciation (IOA) on Sunday 151. The overall count of ath- 4 down and after missing a watching at home on TV." informed about the vaccina- letes and coaches being PARIS, Jun 6 because of a knee injury, il- set point in the 12th game he Coco Gauff enters tion status of the country’s partially or fully vaccinated as lustrated the passion that still reeled off the last three points French Open last 16 as Tokyo-bound athletes and on June 5 stood at 360. Roger Federer reached the last- burns within him for the of the night's third tiebreak. Jennifer Brady retires officials, who form part of its Recently, at the official kit 16 of the French Open but game. Sensing his chance of tak- Teenager Coco Gauff long list as on June 5, 2021. Rahi Sarnobat, Deepak Kumar teammate, Angad Vir Singh unveiling and the opening needed all of his fighting Former world number one ing the biggest scalp of his reached the last 16 of the Of the actual Olympic-bound and Mairaj Ahmed Khan. Bajwa. ceremony attire for the To- qualities to scrap his way past Andy Murray, watching at career was slipping away, French Open for the first time athletes, only five are yet to While pistol and rifle According to IOA, among kyo-bound Indian athletes, Germany's Dominik Koepfer home, summed it up nicely Koepfer's temper boiled over after fellow American receive their first dose. shooters Chaudhary, the athletes who have re- IOA president Narinder on an empty and eerie Court on Twitter. when his service was broken Jennifer Brady quit having All five of them were Sarnobat and Kumar are ceived their single Covid-19 Dhruv Batra had requested Philippe Chatrier in Saturday's "I'm not bothered by the at 1-1 in the fourth and he lost the first set 6-1 on Satur- tested positive for Covid-19 training in Zagreb, Croatia, vaccine dose are 120 able- sports minister Kiren Rijiju to night match. outcome of this match at all. was docked a point for spit- day. earlier and have since recov- skeet specialist Khan is cur- bodied sportspersons and 27 ensure that all the Indian ath- The 39-year-old 20-time Just seeing Federer at 39 off ting on the court after a close The 17-year-old was in ered. These include woman rently preparing for Tokyo in para-athletes. Those who letes be fully vaccinated Grand Slam champion was the back of 2 knee surgeries call went against him. complete command as she boxer Simranjit Kaur and Italy, along with another Ol- have received their second before they head to the Olym- ragged at times and lacked his playing to an empty stadium The former American col- won the first set in 23 min- shooters Saurabh Chaudhary, ympic-bound shooter and vaccine dose include 58 able- pics. TNN usual zip against the tenacious at 12.30am getting fired up is lege player was not done utes, with only one unforced Koepfer but the eighth seed inspirational to me. Do what though and Federer could not error to her name. slogged his way to a 7-6(5), you love," the Scot wrote. locate the extra gear he usu- Australian Open runner-up Tokyo Olympics: Mo 6-7(3), 7-6(4), 7-5 victory at Federer had looked superb ally engages to see off Brady then asked for medical about 1am local time. in his opening two matches troublesome opponents, drop- assistance and decided that Farah misses 10,000m Diksha Dagar logs top-10 finish in Czech Republic It was Federer's first taste here, but was rattled by the ping serve in the next game. she could no longer continue. BYSTRIC, Jun 6 of a Grand Slam match played heavy hitting of the world Federer showed amazing Gauff, who has now qualification time without fans, courtesy of number 59 and struggled for reflexes to return a smash reached the last 16 of three of BIRMINGHAM, Jun 6 Indian golfer Diksha Dagar Paris' 9pm COVID-19 cur- rhythm, racking up 63 when Koepfer served at 5-5 the four Grand Slams, will shot a final round of two-under few, and it was not an unforced errors. and he pounced for a crucial face Tunisian 25th seed Ons Britain's four-time Olympic 70 to settle for a morale- experience he seemed to en- But he dug deep to win the break as Koepfer struck a Jabeur. champion Mo Farah is in boosting tied-9th finish at the joy as he was given a torrid night's opening tiebreak, forehand over the baseline. Her win means there are danger of missing out on the Amundi Czech Ladies time by the 27-year-old left- helped by a Koepfer double The Swiss then held serve four American women in the Tokyo Games after falling short Challenge here. hander. fault at a crucial moment. to claim a gruelling victory, fourth round, with Serena of the 10,000 metres qualifying The 20-year-old Indian, Yet the fact Federer pre- Federer piled on the pres- albeit an ugly one by his usual Williams, Sloane Stephens mark at a meet in Birmingham who had played at the Ladies vailed in such surreal sure at the start of the second standards, and set up a clash and last year's runner-up So- Italian Open, fired four bird- circumstances, having hardly set and secured an early with Italian Matteo Berrettini. fia Kenin also through. on Saturday. Reuters The 38-year-old finished ies in the last eight holes on played in the last 17 months break. But Koepfer broke "It was very important for eighth in the European the final day. Diksha, who is 10,000m Cup with 27 min- on a recovery path from an utes and 50.54 seconds, 22 ailing back, had rounds of 74- seconds short of the required 73-70 at Golf Resort Euro 2021: Heavyweights collide as time to make the Team GB Konopiste. squad heading to Tokyo in She moves to Scandinavian in the three-day battle and left year left of studying in the July. Mixed Masters next week second-placed Nina Pegova United States and plans to France, Germany, Portugal clash Farah, who won back-to- alongside other Indians Tvesa eight shots behind. play the LPGA Q-School this back 5,000m and 10,000m Malik and Astha Madan. In her first start since re- year. PARIS, Jun 6 recent matches they were trounced 6-0 in golds at the two previous Amateur Sara Kouskova turning home for the summer Four amateurs finished in Spain in the Nations League and suf- Games, has until June 27 to became the first Czech to win holidays, she showed domi- the top-10, including 15-year- Some of the jeopardy may be removed by fered a 2-1 home defeat by North make the required time of on the LET Access series as nant form. old Klara Sionkova who shot the fact that the four best third-placed teams Macedonia in World Cup qualifying. 27:28. she claimed the Amundi Kouskova is only the sec- three stable rounds of 73, 70 will qualify for the quarter-finals, but Euro After 15 years in charge, coach The Briton appeared to Czech Ladies Challenge. She ond Czech player to win on and 71 and shared third place 2020's Group F remains full of intrigue as Joachim Loew will step down after the turn his back on track racing is the first amateur to win an LET/LETAS, following Klara at two-under-par with ama- reigning champions Portugal, World Cup tournament. He has recalled Thomas to focus on marathon running LET/LETAS event. Spilkova's win in the Lalla teurs Elena Colombo and holders France and Germany all face off, Mueller and Mats Hummels, who had Kouskova, a University of Meryem Cup in 2017. Tereza Melecka, and profes- while Hungary could have their say too. previously been discarded after the last after the 2016 Olympics in PTI Rio. However, in late 2019, Texas student, shot 64-67-71 Kouskova still has one sional Verena Gimmy. AFP Sport casts its eye over the four World Cup. Playing group games at he announced that he aimed teams trying to reach the knockout stage. home in Munich gives them an advan- to defend his 10,000m title in Portugal are reigning European cham- tage, on paper at least. the 2020 Tokyo Games. They pions and have reached at least the Germany will rely heavily on the were originally scheduled to Ashwin not an all-time great because of semi-finals in four of the last five Euros. prospects of following their 2018 World quality of players like Joshua Kimmich start in July 2020 but were They came second behind Ukraine in Cup triumph with Euro glory. and Toni Kroos but a successful Euro postponed due to Covid-19 qualifying and, at 36, Cristiano Ronaldo Coach Didier Deschamps has a squad may also depend on Mueller. The 31- fears. Reuters is not getting any younger. However, full of world-class talent. Competition year-old has been too good for Bayern SENA record: Sanjay Manjrekar Portugal also won the Nations League in for places was already fierce up front Munich to be ignored any longer by his NEW DELHI, Jun 6 Not many, when you con- 2019 and Ronaldo has arguably never even before the decision to recall country and is back after two and a half Trayvon Bromell runs sider how good he was and been surrounded by so much talent: from Benzema. Most countries would be de- years in the international wilderness. Ravichandran Ashwin, despite his record. And why, because Ruben Dias at the back to Bruno lighted to have just one of Mbappe, The Magyars reached a second fastest 100-metre in 2021 his records, is not all all-time he was performing with three Fernandes, Bernardo Silva, Diogo Jota Benzema or Griezmann, and maybe straight European Championship via the ahead of Olympics great, said former Indian other very, very fine players,” and Joao Felix. If they click, they could over-confidence is the biggest danger for Nations League play-offs -- they fin- cricketer and commentator Chappell pointed out. take some stopping. France. ished fourth in their qualifying group but Sanjay Manjrekar. Manjrekar Chappell also said Ashwin is Given the talent in Portugal's ranks, At 33, the Real Madrid striker was won play-off ties against Bulgaria and said Ashwin does not have five- a better spinner than Austral- perhaps it is unimaginative to single out recalled after an international exile of Iceland to qualify. wicket hauls in SENA (South ian Nathan Lyon at the Ronaldo, but it will be fascinating to five and a half years. He had not been Coached by the Italian Marco Rossi, Africa, England, New Zealand, moment. follow his progress. At 36 this is prob- called up since a blackmail scandal over Hungary will get to play their first two Australia) countries and that he Ashwin has 409 wickets ably his penultimate major tournament. a sextape involving his former teammate matches at home in Budapest but their has been matched by Ravindra in 78 Tests at an average of Portugal's captain and most-capped Mathieu Valbuena broke in 2015. But best player, RB Leipzig midfielder Jadeja when running through last four years, Jadeja has 24.69, including 30 five- player has 103 international goals, with Deschamps could no longer ignore Dominik Szoboszlai, is out injured. It batting orders when playing in matched him with wicket-tak- wicket hauls in an innings and 11 coming in the qualifying campaign. Benzema's form after a season in which would be an enormous surprise if they India. ing abilities. Then, seven 10-wicket hauls in a He is now just six shy of the all-time he scored 30 goals for his club. finished anywhere other than bottom of MIRAMAR, Jun 6 “When people start talking interestingly, in the last series Test. Ashwin is the fifth high- international scoring record of 109 held Germany are three-time European their group. about Ashwin as being one against England, Axar Patel est wicket-taking spinner in by Iran's Ali Daei. champions and have reached at least the Given the calibre of Hungary's oppo- American Trayvon Bromell of the all-time greats of the got more wickets than the history of Test cricket. In semi-finals at each of the last three nents, Gulacsi could be a busy man. The underlined his credentials as the game then I have a few prob- Ashwin on similar pitches,” India, only Kapil Dev, Anil "All the other countries envy us," Euros. However, since their disastrous 31-year-old, once on Liverpool's books, Tokyo Olympics 100 metres lems. One basic problem I added Manjrekar. Kumble, and Harbhajan shouted the front of French sports daily showing at the 2018 World Cup, when has gone on to be a fixture in goal for gold medal favourite on have with Ashwin is that Ian Chappell, who was Singh have taken more wick- L'Equipe this week underneath pictures they went out in the group stage, Ger- RB Leipzig in the German Bundesliga. Saturday by running the fastest when you look at SENA also present, explained that ets than Ashwin. of Kylian Mbappe, Karim Benzema and many's fortunes have not improved His recent experience of the latter stages time this year of 9.77 seconds at countries, Ashwin doesn’t someone like Joel Garner of Ashwin is currently world Antoine Griezmann. In France they are much. They topped their qualifying of the Champions League could come in the New Life Invitational in have a single five-wicket haul the West Indies also did No.2 in the ICC Test rankings understandably confident about their group ahead of the Netherlands, but in handy. AFP Miramar, Florida. there,” Manjrekar said on something similar — where for bowlers. He is only nine Bromell becomes the ninth ESPNCricinfo show he would apply the pressure wickets away from surpass- man to dip under 9.80 seconds, ‘Runorder’. and the wickets would be ing Harbhajan Singh, who is slashing nearly one-10th of a “And the other thing when shared between all the bowl- India’s third-highest wicket- second off his personal best of you talk about him running ers because of Garner’s taker, and is 26 wickets away 9.84. Marvin Bracey of the through sides on Indian pressure. from displacing Kapil Dev United States was second in pitches that are suited to his “How many five-wicket from the second position. 9.85 followed by Chris Royster kind of bowling is that in the hauls does Joel Garner have? The Indian Express in 10.08. Reigning Olympic double sprint champion Elaine Thompson-Herah won the Zidansek reaches French 100m and 200m events, clock- Euro 2020: Aleksandr Sobolev ing 10.87 and 22.54 seconds, penalty gives Russia 1-0 win over Open quarter-finals respectively. Reuters Bulgaria in build-up PARIS, Jun 6 Africa Cup of Nations Tamara Zidansek became the first woman from Slovenia to reach finals draw postponed the singles quarter-finals of a CAIRO, Jun 6 Grand Slam on Sunday with a 7- 6(4) 6-1 victory over unseeded The draw for the Africa Cup of Romanian Sorana Cirstea at the Nations finals, set for Yaounde French Open. on June 25, has been The pair traded breaks in postponed, the Confederation the first two games of a tight of African Football (CAF) said opening set on Court Suzanne on Sunday. It said the Lenglen before Zidansek raised postponement was due to her level in the tiebreak to take “logistical reasons related to the the advantage in the match COVID-19 pandemic” and a when an error-prone Cirstea hit new date would be announced MOSCOW, Jun 6 a wild forehand wide. in due course. World number 85 Zidansek Sierra Leone and Benin Substitute Aleksandr Sobolev's late penalty earned Russia a 1-0 had never been beyond the play their outstanding quali- win over Bulgaria in its final warm-up friendly before the Euro- second round at a Grand Slam fier this month to determine pean Championship kicks off next Friday. before this year’s tournament the last of the 24 teams in the Sobolev coolly directed his penalty into the left corner in in Paris but it was 2009 finals in Cameroon in Janu- the 84th minute, sending Bulgarian goalkeeper Georgi Roland Garros quarter-finalist ary. The tournament has Georgiev the wrong way. Cirstea who showed signs of already been put back a year Captain Artem Dzyuba, on the brink of becoming Russia's nerves at the start of the second because of the pandemic. all-time top scorer, was substituted for Sobolev in the 58th set. CAF last month postponed minute to generate some attacking pace. The 23-year-old Zidansek the resumption of World Cup Russia dominated possession but its tepid attack struggled became more aggressive as qualifiers, which had been to break down Bulgaria's back line. Cirstea struggled to move freely scheduled for the opening Russia missed a chance to open the scoring in the 73rd because of an ankle issue and weeks of June, blaming the minute when defender Yuri Zhirkov's effort was tipped away raced ahead 5-0 before closing COVID-19 pandemic. by a diving Georgiev. out the victory in 86 minutes. The group phase of Afri- Russia take on Belgium, the world's top-ranked team, on Zidansek will face 2019 run- can qualifiers for the Qatar home turf in St. Petersburg in its opening Euro match on June ner-up Marketa Vondrousova 2022 tournament is now due 12. It will also face Denmark and surprise qualifiers Finland or Spain’s Paula Badosa in the to start in September. Reuters in Group B. Reuters last eight. Reuters