SUNDAY 30 JUNE 2019 SPORT 17 Totally deserved the penalty today and TODAY TOMORROW have no problem accepting it. Was a mistake on my behalf and I Lewis Hamilton ENGLAND VS INDIA SRI LANKA VS WEST INDIES take full responsibility for it. It wasn’t says he ‘totally deserved’ at Warwickshire County At Riverside Ground intentional. Anyway, tomorrow is a three-place Austrian Cricket Club in Birmingham in Chester-le-Street, Durham another day and an opportunity to rise. Grand Prix grid penalty. (12.30pm Qatar time) (12.30pm Qatar time) Czech star sends warning by defeating Wimbledon champion Eight women to watch REUTERS Slam triumph can revive her LONDON form and world ranking Pliskova soars past Kerber which has dipped due to A look at the top women’s illness and injuries in the contenders at Wimbledon last year. 2019 (prefix denotes A shock first round exit seeding): at Roland Garros was put to win title in Eastbourne down to an ankle injury but she 1-ASH BARTY (AUSTRALIA) has since gathered steam with a AP The diminutive Australian arrives at semi-final run at Mallorca. EASTBOURNE Wimbledon fresh off her maiden Grand Slam triumph at the French Open and 6-PETRA KVITOVA (CZECH Karolina Pliskova beat Wimbledon champion having replaced Naomi Osaka at the top REPUBLIC) Angelique Kerber 6-1, 6-4 in the Eastbourne final of the world rankings. Kvitova thrives on the Wimbledon yesterday, two days before the grass-court Grand Barty walked away from tennis to lawns, having won the title in 2011 and Slam starts in southwest London. play cricket in her native Queensland a 2014, and has the weapons to beat The No. 3-ranked Pliskova took the first set in few years ago but has barely missed a any of the top-ranked players on her just 31 minutes with three service breaks, and she beat since returning in 2016, winning day. held on to an early break in the second to win the plaudits and titles with her indomitable The left-hander’s career was inter- title. She hit seven aces and won 71% of points on spirit, precision serve and devastating rupted by a knife attack in December her first serve. forehand. 2016 but she is back to her best, fin- Pliskova said the score didn’t accurately reflect She is the first Australian to top the ishing runner-up at the Australian Open a tough match. women’s rankings since Evonne Gool- and winning titles in Sydney and “I was fighting a lot and I think Angelique is agong Cawley 43 years ago. Stuttgart. one of the best grass-court players,” she said. The Czech was hampered by a left Pliskova didn’t drop a set all week in East- 2-NAOMI OSAKA (JAPAN) calf injury during the claycourt tour- bourne, losing just 19 games across five matches, Not much has gone right for Osaka nament in Rome and also pulled out including a 6-1, 6-2 rout of fourth-ranked Kiki since she parted company with coach of the French Open with a forearm Bertens in the semifinals. She never has gone Sascha Bajin a month after she clinched problem. further than the fourth round at Wimbledon. the Australian Open. Kerber hasn’t won a tournament since beating Injuries and poor form have pre- 7-SIMONA HALEP (ROMANIA) Serena Williams in last year’s Wimbledon final. vented the Japanese from reaching Halep started the season on top Pliskova also won Eastbourne in 2017, a year another final in the eight tournaments of the world rankings but a trophy-less after losing the final. Kerber has lost all three finals she has played since her Melbourne 2019 has seen her plummet to seventh she has played at the Wimbledon tuneup. triumph and she relinquished her grip -- her lowest ranking since April 2016. Kerber starts her Wimbledon title defense on the number one ranking after an The 27-year-old claycourt specialist against fellow German Tatjana Maria, and is in the early exit in Birmingham. is a counter-puncher who prefers to same quarter of the draw as Williams and top- Despite her struggles, Osaka is still stay behind the baseline and use her ranked Ash Barty. Pliskova starts against China’s among the favourites at the All England shot selection and court coverage to Zhu Lin. Club this year due to her ability to bring grind down opponents. Taylor Fritz won an all-American final for the out her best tennis on the game’s Grass is far from the Romanian’s men’s Eastbourne title, beating Sam Querrey 6-3, grandest stages. favourite surface, however, and 6-4. It’s the first career ATP title for the 21-year- reaching the Wimbledon semi-finals old son of former top-10 player Kathy May. 3-KAROLINA PLISKOVA in 2014 is still her best result at the All Fritz broke in Querrey’s first service game in (CZECH REPUBLIC) England Club. each set and each time held on to take the set. Pliskova’s immense potential has “I tried to not think about winning the title,” Czech Republic’s not yet translated into success on the 11-SERENA WILLIAMS he said. “I just tried to, you know, stay calm. When Karolina Pliskova biggest stage but her big serve and blis- (UNITED STATES) I stepped up to serve out the match, I felt totally celebrates with tering forehand keep her among the Williams’ hunt for a record- relaxed.” the trophy after top contenders on grass. equalling 24th Grand Slam following Fritz had reached the final in Memphis in 2016 defeating Germany’s At 27, she is at the peak of her maternity leave has twice ended in in his second career ATP tournament but lost in Angelique Kerber powers but needs to show more con- heartbreak but the American is still a straight sets to Kei Nishikori. during their women’s sistency in the second week if she is to force to be reckoned with at Wim- “It feels funny to say I have been waiting for a singles final match progress beyond the last 16 at Wim- bledon, where she will look to improve long time to win a title when I’m only 21,” he said at the WTA Nature bledon for the first time. on last year’s runner-up finish. Saturday. “But when you, you know, have that idea Valley International The seven-times winner has not of ‘I could have won a title when I was 18,’ it’s in Tennis Tournament in 5-ANGELIQUE KERBER enjoyed the best preparation in a my head for a long time, wanting to get that first Eastbourne, southern (GERMANY) season hampered by a knee injury and title.” England, yesterday. Holder Kerber will hope that a comes into the tournament after a Querrey is 10-9 in career finals. return to the scene of her latest Grand third-round exit at the French Open. ISC felicitates Indian billiards team THE PENINSULA DOHA Petronas Yamaha Indian Sports Centre (ISC), an apex body SRT’s Fabio of the Indian Embassy in Qatar, hosted a Quartararo rides felicitation ceremony to honour the Indian during qualifying national billiards team on Thursday. ahead of TT The team was in Doha to participate Assen Grand Prix, in the Asian Billiards Championship 2019. yesterday. A 21-time world champion Pankaj Advani, Asian snooker champion and World Games gold medallist Aditya Mehta, Asian team snooker gold med- Quartararo in allist Laxman Rawat, World and Asian billiards champion Sourav Kothari, Sandeep Gulati, 6 red World Snooker Championship silver medallist Kamal ‘incredible’ pole Chawla and head coach, former world billiards champion, Manoj Kumar Kothari Twenty one-time billiards and snooker world champion Pankaj Advani receiving a memento were among the players and officials who from Hemant Dwivedi, First Secretary of Embassy of India in Qatar, during a felicitation for Dutch MotoGP were felicitated. Nilangshu Dey, President of ISC wel- ceremony held in Doha on Thursday. BOTTOM: Officials of Indian Sports Centre and Indian AFP comed the team and highlighted ISC’s role Embassy in Qatar pose for a photograph with players and officials of the Indian billiards team. ASSEN, NETHERLANDS in promoting sport among the Indian community in Qatar. He also thanked the Yamaha’s French rider Fabio Quartararo set a new lap record as he Indian team for their achievements in the sealed an “incredible” pole position for today’s Dutch MotoGP in Assen. Championship in Doha. The 20-year-old clocked 1min 32.017sec, finishing ahead of fellow Hemant Dwivedi, First Secretary of Yamaha rider Maverick Vinales and Suzuki’s Alex Rins, both of Spain. Embassy of India thanked the team which It was Quartararo’s third pole, having topped qualification last time includes world renowned players and said out at the Catalan race and in the Spanish MotoGP at the start of May. it was a great opportunity for the Indian “The track here is much more difficult than Montmelo so I’m suf- community in Qatar to meet their beloved fering a little bit more on my arms,” the Frenchman said in reference stars. He also thanked ISC for the support to the Catalonian track, where he finished second to Honda’s Marc in organising the function as well as Marquez. arranging fans to cheer the players during “But anyway we managed to get the pole position. First we think the Championship. about today, Saturday, we managed to get two really fast laps. Advani, during his speech, thanked “(There’s) nothing to say because it’s incredible to be in pole position ISC on behalf of the team for organising on this track.” the ceremony which was also attended Spain’s reigning world champion Marquez leads this season’s by President of ICBF, Managing Com- standings, on 140 points, from Italy’s Ducati rider Andrea Dovizioso mittee Members of ISC and Presidents of (103), with Rins just two points adrift.