I’m offended by our intoleranceOctober 31st, 2008The rising intolerance in our country, regional, linguistic, religious and cultural makes me sick. In a democracy, this is an incongruity. It is time people were prevented from taking the law into their own hands. Rising prosperity can help too. Sania slumps to 50th rank, Somdev soarsOctober 31st, 2008Sania Mirza’s poor form finally took a tool on her singles ranking as she went hurtling down a massive 15 places to 50th spot in the latest WTA rankings released on Monday. The biggest Indian mover was Somdev Devvarman, who jumped a phenomenal 221 places in ATP singles rankings to 345th spot after winning his maiden Challenger tournament in Lexington on Sunday.
 Devvarman, who has now won four tournaments on the trot, is the third Indian o be ranked after Prakash Amritraj and Rohan Bopanna in singles. Amritraj remained at 221 he go to after playing the Hall of Fame final at New Port Rhode Island, while Bopanna lost seven rungs to be at 329.
Sania though got a jolt just before the Olympics as she had been going through a form slump since her return to circuit just before the Wimbledon after surgery to her wrist. She lost to Meng Yuan in the second round of $600,000 East West Bank Classic last week and before that she went down to a British qualifier in the first round of the Stanford WTA tournament. She had also lost in second round matches at WTA events in Birmingham, s’Hertogenbosch and Wimbledon.
Sania also lost six places in the doubles ranking and is placed at 26. Her doubles partner in Olympics –Sunitha Rao also dropped three rungs to 130.
Leander Paes, who lost in the doubles semifinals at the Rogers Masters Sunday, maintained his 15th position in the individual doubles ranking. Paes and his Czech Republic Lukas Dlouhy though gained two spots to 15th. Mahesh Bhupathi gained two spots to reach 10th place.
Mixed day for Sania at Nordic Light OpenOctober 30th, 2008Stockholm: India’s Sania Mirza opened her singles campaign in the $145,000 Nordea Nordic Light Open on a winning note, defeating French veteran Emilie Loit in straight sets here on Wednesday.
Sania was on the offensive from the start as she swept aside Loit 6-3, 6-2.
“I felt tired and jetlagged, and was expecting a tough match. I am happy I could win in straight sets,” said Sania, who is seeded sixth in the tournament.
 Sania will next play Czech Iveta Benesova, who beat Ukranian Tatiana Perebiynis 6-2, 6-2 and has had two days of rest.
However, Sania faltered in her first round doubles match and along with her French partner Nathalie Dechy went down to the French Camille Pin and British Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium. The second seeded Indo-French pair were beaten 6-1 6-7 (2) 7-10 by the unseeded duo in one hour and 27 minutes.
 Sania Mirza, Lara Dutta in KBC Hot SeatOctober 30th, 2008KBC 2 has had its share of celebrity guests. This time a former Miss Universe, Lara Dutta and tennis sensation Sania Mirza will be on the hot seat on the Children’s Day Special, on November 1.
Amitabh Bachchan (AB): Tell us something about your charities. Sania’s pull-out decision polarises tennis fraternityOctober 29th, 2008Sania Mirza’s bombshell decision not to play in India to avoid controversies polarised the tennis fraternity on Tuesday with Leander Paes sharply criticising her while some others urged her to reconsider the extreme step.  While Paes and former Davis Cup captain Naresh Kumar minced no words in deploring the “juvenile and immature” decision, several other former players like Vijay Amritraj, Akhtar Ali and Enrico Piperno sympathised with the young player and called it a “sad day” in Indian sport.
Paes, the seven time grand slam winner and the current Davis Cup captain, said controversies were part and parcel of a sportsperson’s life and one has to learn to tackle it.
 “Look at every celebrity, who does not have controversies? We all have adversities. Every celebrity have adversities in their lives. It’s how dignified and honest you are. It’s about how you project yourself and how you handle them,” Paes said, adding no individual was greater than the game.
“The greatest joy for any athlete is to play for the country and in the country. Nobody is greater than the game. That’s something Sania has to be careful about,” Paes said.
Naresh Kumar also criticised Sania’s decision to pull out and said, “It’s a sad decision. It’s an immature and juvenile decision. It’s going to affect her game more and get her more controversies. We cannot get a player like Sania.” “They are saying that she will not play in the country for some time. But won’t there be controversies when she plays again?” Naresh asked.
Former Davis Cup captain Akhtar Ali, however, sympathised with Sania. “It’s very unfortunate. She is not well. She did not have a good time at the Australian Open. And on top of that she is being made the subject of controversies every now and then. Some people are repeatedly hassling her. This is all sheer politics,” Ali said.
“She has influenced hundreds of youngsters in the country to take up the game in a big way. We should all now ensure that she is not hassled in this way and allow her to carry on with her game and life,” Ali said.
Piperno, coach of the Fed Cup team, hoped that Sania would reconsider her decision.
“It is her personal decision. We have to respect it. The pressure of controversies became too much for her. Then there was the media also. I hope she reconsiders her decision,” he said.
Amritraj too was shocked by the decision and said, “I am dumbstruck. She is the best not just in India but in the whole Asia. In my time, to play in India was such a big thing,” he said.
Equally surprised was former Davis Cupper Vishal Uppal.
“She said she has done it to avoid controversies, but I think she has created another controversy by opting out”, Uppal said.
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