1. Art and Diseño

Cameroon, Ivory
Coast clash in
tense Group D
Park ‘shocked’ by
failed dope test
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17
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 28, 2015
From humble origin to king of US sports events
Page 17
AUSTRALIA : Czech Republic’s Tomas Berdych celebrates after victory in his men’s singles match against Spain’s Rafael Nadal on day nine of the 2015 Australian Open tennis tournament. — AFP
Berdych ends Nadal tyranny
Murray charges on, Sharapova thrashes Bouchard
MELBOURNE: Iron-willed Czech Tomas Berdych ended
eight years of tyranny under nemesis Rafa Nadal to
storm into the Australian Open semi-finals yesterday
before his next opponent Andy Murray restored British
colonial rule to the floodlit centre court.
Maria Sharapova inflicted another grand slam reality
check on Eugenie Bouchard and will play an all-Russian
semi-final with plucky lefthander Ekaterina Makaraova,
who thrashed third seed Simona Halep on a surprising
day at Melbourne Park.
In the evening session, Murray struck back for the old
guard, slapping down local teenager Nick Kyrgios 6-3 76(5) 6-3 to deflate home fans pumped up by the traditional sporting rivalry with former colonial masters
Britain.
But it was Nadal’s 6-2 6-0 7-6(5) humbling on an
unseasonably cold summer ’s day that rocked
Melbourne Park to its core and shook the biggest monkey in the men’s game off the back of Berdych.
The big-serving Czech’s 17-match losing streak to the
Spaniard was the equal-longest in the professional era
and snapping it was the result of a perfectly executed
plan.
“Oh, it feels great,” Berdych told reporters.
“Everything was working. I was able to execute it really
well.” In an intriguing twist, the man that helped
Berdych create the master plan was Dani Vallverdu,
Murray’s former hitting partner and assistant coach,
who parted ways with the Scot in November.
Now in Berdych’s camp, Vallverdu will provide the
intelligence for preparations against Murray. On the
strength of Berdych’s tournament, the Venezuelan has
been a roaring success, with the Czech not dropping a
set. The rangy 29-year-old was irresistible in the first two
sets against Nadal, wrapping them up in exactly an
hour and giving the 14-times grand slam champion his
first grand slam bagel since the 2006 Wimbledon final
against Roger Federer.
“It was just not my day. I didn’t play with the right
intensity, the right rhythm,” said a disappointed Nadal,
who was nonetheless content with his run after coming
back from injury and illness.
Black-clad Murray was all business against brash 19year-old Kyrgios and needed to be for much of a highquality encounter on a chilly, windy evening.
Kyrgios lifted to bring the crowd into the equation,
but Murray rose with him, closing out the match with a
barrage of scintillating winners.
“I tried to start as quickly as possible because I know
how dangerous he is,” Murray said courtside of his
opponent, who dumped Nadal from Wimbledon on the
way to the last eight. “I have seen his matches for the
last 18 months... So I wasn’t going to underestimate
him.”
DOMINATING RUSSIANS
It was a performance that Sharapova would have
approved of after her 78-minute rout of another young
upstart in Canadian Bouchard.
Bouchard claimed to have gleaned a lot from her
gutting French Open loss last year, overhauled by the
Russian from a set down, but nothing could have prepared her for the schooling that played out.
Pakistan hope to lurch
from disaster to triumph
Australia stun UAE to
reach Asian Cup final
NEWCASTLE: Australia stunned
United Arab Emirates with two
goals in the first 14 minutes to
reach a second successive Asian
Cup final with a 2-0 victory at a
rain-soaked Newcastle Stadium
yesterday. The Socceroos lost to
Japan in the final four years ago
and will now take on another East
Asian power in South Korea in
Sydney on Saturday looking to seal
a first continental title at their third
attempt. Defenders led the way for
the goal-happy hosts with Trent
Sainsbury heading them in front
after three minutes and Jason
Davidson doubling the lead 11
minutes later.
“We knew the start was going to
be really important,” coach Ange
Postecoglou told reporters. “Our
intention was, we wanted to start
really strong. Even if we didn’t score
if we could put some pressure on
without conceding, that was our
best chance.”
The UAE stunned champions
Japan in a penalty shootout to
reach the semi-finals for the first
time since 1996 but another upset
never looked on the cards after
Australia’s early salvo.
Attacking midfielder Omar
Abdulrahman did nothing to
detract from his burgeoning reputation with some delightful touches
and striker Ahmed Khalil hit the
woodwork in the first half but they
were unable to create enough
clear-cut chances.
The wet pitch probably did not
help but Australia, with Matthew
Spiranovic restored to the back four
after suspension, also defended
well
enough
to
contain
Abdulrahman and his team mates.
It was at the other end of the
pitch that the Socceroos made the
most important early impression to
the delight of the majority of the
crowd of 21,079.
Winger Robbie Kruse had his
cross blocked after a burst down
the right in the opening couple of
minutes but when the corner came
swinging into the box, Sainsbury
rose unchallenged to head the ball
into the net off the turf.
The UAE had their best chance
in the 10th minute when Abdelaziz
Sanqour broke down the right flank
and crossed for striker Khalil to hit
the ball first time against the base
of the post.
Australia were straight back on
the attack, though, and after another surge down the right the ball
was heading towards Tim Cahill in
Completely dictated, Bouchard had nowhere to hide
and the five-times grand slam champion feasted upon
her serve. She swooped in for the kill with a string of
smoking winners, sealing it with a crunching inside-out
forehand.
As Sharapova blew kisses, Bouchard headed straight
for the exit, biting her lip. “Am I happy that I was able to
lift my game after having a couple matches where I
wasn’t satisfied? Yeah, absolutely,” Sharapova told
reporters.
“But the toughest is what’s to come. I hope that I’ll be
able to take that and play even better.” Third seed Halep
had cruised into the quarter-finals by smiting lowerranked opponents but ran head-first into a brick wall in
the form of lithe left-hander Makarova. The 26-year-old
Makarova, who describes herself as shy off-court, blew
the nerve-stricken Halep away and has not lost a set all
tournament. She heads into her clash with Sharapova
fresh and in top form. “I’m not shy on the tennis court.
It’s a big stage,” she said. “I never beat (Sharapova), so it
will be tough.” —AFP
AUSTRALIA: Mathew Leckie of Australia (left) and Ismail Al
Hammadi of United Arab Emirates fight for the ball during their
AFC Asian Cup semi-final football match. —AFP
front of goal.
Cahill was dragged back as he
was attempting a shot and Mathew
Leckie then had an effort blocked
but the ball fell to Davidson, who
calmly drilled it low and hard into
the goal.
The Australians were in no
mood to sit back and protect their
lead but the UAE kept their shape
and gradually worked their way
back into the contest.
Khalil let fly with a long-range
effort that flew past Mat Ryan and
wide of the post in the 51st minute
and Abdulrahman continued to
probe for weaknesses in the
Australian defence. — Reuters
KARACHI: If there is one team among the
top eight at the World Cup which could
either crash out embarrassingly in the
first round or romp to the title, it’s
Pakistan.
The talented yet unpredictable side
are haunted by injuries to their fast
bowlers, the suspension of match-winning spinner Saeed Ajmal and a tussle for
the captaincy between Misbah-ul Haq
and Shahid Afridi. All seems to have settled down as Misbah’s men embark on a
mission to match Imran Khan’s World Cup
triumph-Pakistan’s only win-in Australia
some 23 years ago.
“This team has the spirit of cornered
tigers,” said chief selector and former captain Moin Khan, a key member of 1992
winning team. “If they play to their potential this team can surprise the world.”
Captain Misbah, who has recovered from
a hamstring injury, is also confident of the
best results. “The format of this World Cup
is such that teams have a lot of opportunities,” said Misbah, who will retire from
one-day cricket after the World Cup.
“It would be the icing on the cake if I
end my one-day career with the trophy.”
But Misbah knows his bowling will miss
Ajmal, who has single-handedly won
matches for Pakistan before being suspended for an illegal bowling action last
September.
Spinning all-rounder Mohammad
Hafeez-suspended in November last year
also over an illegal bowling action-needs
to clear a reassessment test to allow the
right combination to Misbah.
“It will be important that Hafeez clears
the test because he is two-in-one and his
bowling gives us the right combination,”
said the captain.
Lanky paceman Mohammad Irfan-the
tallest man to ever play international
cricket at 7 feet, one inch-is expected to
be the X-factor in an otherwise inexperienced pace attack which will miss Umar
Gul, not fit enough for the event after
knee and ankle problems.
“To me the X-factor in our team is
Irfan. With his height I think he can be
dangerous,” said coach Waqar Younis,
who missed Pakistan’s World Cup win in
1992 with a back problem.
In Ajmal’s absence, leg-spinner Yasir
Shah, along with all-rounder Afridi, will
handle the spin department. Afridi, who
will also quit one-day cricket after the
World Cup, will be important too as a
batsman in the slog overs as will be Umar
Akmal, Misbah and Sohaib Maqsood.
Pakistan’s top-order problem persists
and will continue to haunt them as
Hafeez opening the innings with Ahmed
Shehzad doesn’t always guarantee a trouble-free start. — AFP