Sania Mirza: Another feather in her cap

Sania Mirza: Another feather in her cap

Sania Mirza, the Indian tennis ace and youth icon has been conferred with the prestigious Padma Shri award for her contribution to tennis on the eve of the Republic Day on Wednesday. The Padma Shri is the fourth highest civilian award in India. The 19 year old tennis star was one of the six sportspersons on the list of Padma awardees announced by the Centre.

Sania Mirza is now among the youngest receipents of the Padma Shri award. Mirza was thrilled to hear the news. She said, "It’s a great honour and honestly I never expected it. I feel proud about this and once again reiterate that I will do my best to live up to the huge expectations."

Sania Mirza is the first Indian women tennis player to break in the top 50. She is currently ranked 32nd in the WTA ranking. She reached the 3rd round in the australian Open in 2005 and quickly made her presence felt as a upcoming star in the tennis circuit. She also became the first Indian woman to win a WTA event when she won the Hyderabad Open in 2005.

Sania Mirza though has not had the brightest of starts this year in context to her tennis results. She bowed out in the second round of the singles of the Australian Open and the doubles and the mixed doubles results were not good either. Hopefully this award would uplift her spirits for the upcoming events.

Yes. Sania Mirza Gets Padma Sri

Sania Mirza was conferred with the prestigious Padma Sri award for her contribution to tennis on the eve of the Republic Day on Wednesday.

The 19-year-old was one of the six sportspersons who got Padma awards today.

The others were Vijaypat Singhania (aviator), Bahadur Singh (shot putter), Madhumita Bisht (badminton player), MC Mary Kom (boxer), Mohan Singh Gunjyal (adventure sports).

Singhania got Padma Bhushan while others got Padma Sri.

Sania Mirza joins star-studded cast at Dubai Tennis Championships

Sania Mirza joins star-studded cast at Dubai Tennis Championships

Dubai,Jan.23rd, 2006 (WAM) -- Indian tennis sensation Sania Mirza will return to the Dubai Tennis Championships, organisers Dubai Duty Free announced today.

Given a wild card for the 2005 Dubai Women's Open, Mirza returns to Dubai next month as a true superstar of the game and a genuine contender to take out the title.

She not only attracted sell out crowds in Dubai last year, the teenager backed up the expectations by claiming a stunning first round victory over the reigning US Open champion, Svetlana Kuznetsova.The Dubai Tennis Championships is owned and organised by Dubai Duty Free and takes place under the patronage of HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.

The Dubai Tennis Championships has won a total of 12 ATP/WTA awards. These include the Tournament of the Year award from the WTA in 2001 following the inaugural Dubai Duty Free Women's Open, and the equivalent award from the ATP in 1998, 2003 and 2004 for the Dubai Duty Free Men's Open.

Padmasri Sania Mirza?

HYDERABAD: Tennis queen Sania Mirza is all set to add one more priceless possession to the impressive collection of laurels if the early hints are any indication. She can well become one of the youngest-ever recipients of the prestigious Padmasri award at the age of 18, but definitely the youngest from Andhra Pradesh, when the Presidential declaration is made soon.

The office of the President has asked the State Government to furnish it with the complete list of her achievements before taking a final decision. This is generally treated as a normal procedure but importantly if only the athlete's name is among the short-listed. Officially, the announcement is made before the Republic Day celebrations.

Apparently, what made Sania, who lost in the second round of the ongoing Australian Open, catch the imagination of one and all is the meteoric rise in the world rankings from No. 197 to No. 32 in the space of 12 months. Stunning achievement under any circumstances, particularly by an Indian.

Winner of the Hyderabad WTA Open last February and the first Indian woman to enter the fourth round of the US Open event after her third round appearance in the Australian Open in 2005, Sania has also just completed a two-week special training session with the great Australian coach Tony Roche to work more on improving her serve.

For the record, last few Padmasri awardees from the State include Sydney Olympics bronze medallist Karnam Malleswari, badminton star Pullela Gopi Chand, triple Olympian and hockey star N. Mukesh Kumar.

Sania Mirza: A dream come true

One year ago, she was a wildcard. Now India's first-ever WTA tournament winner Sania Mirza is a seeded player at the Australian Open. "It's amazing," the 19-year old told Eurosport ahead of her second round battle against Michaella Kraijcek, winner of her first tournament in Hobart last week.

"I remember being here as a wildcard and to be seeded here just a year later, I can't believe 12 months have passed, it's just so amazing," a smiling Mirza told us Tuesday ahead of her straight sets win over Bulgarian qualifier Victoria Azarenka.

The 32nd seeded Mirza prepared to face another rising teenager in Dutchwoman Kraijicek on Margaret Court Arena, one year the wiser from her first Melbourne campaign that saw the 19-year old reach the third round.

"I remember that I was really, really nervous for my first match on court, and then when I was playing [eventual champion] Serena, I was like frozen, but you know, I've come a long way since then."

Sania crashes out of Australian Open

Sania Mirza's campaign at the Australian Open was cut short in the second round by Dutch teenager Michaella Krajicek at the Melbourne Park on Thursday.

The 17-year-old Krajicek overcame an error-prone Sania 6-3, 7-5 in an hour and 21 minutes.

Sania, who looked rusty in her first round match where she beat qualifier Victoria Azarenka 7-6, 6-2 on Tuesday, had 35 unforced errors to her name and was let down by her forehand against Krajicek.

Both the players had a weak serve and there were as many as six service breaks in the first set, which Krajicek won 6-3 in 29 minutes.

Though the players traded breaks in the second set to level it at 5-5, Krajieck, ranked 11 places below the Indian, raised her level in the last two games. Sania faltered with the return of serve and then dished out a poor service game herself to hand the Dutch player the second set 7-5.

Krajicek, sister of former Wimbledon champion Richard, was better prepared going into the Australian Open as she won the WTA event in Hobart last week.

Sania Mirza to face stiff competition in doubles

Sania Mirza and her American partner Corina Morariu face tough opponents in the opening round of the women’s doubles in the Australian Open, 2006. The duo will play Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia and Amelie Mauresmo of France. Kuznetsova and Mauresmo are seeded 14th in the tournament. Sania and her partner have been included in the second segment of the draw in this year’s Australian Open. The draw also contains the (2, 4, 7, 8, 9, 12, 14, 15)th seeds.

Morariu, a former world No.1 in doubles, is ranked 11th in the WTA Doubles Rankings, while Sania is 109th. The American had won the Wimbledon title partnering Lindsay Davenport in 1999. The duo were runners-up at the Australian Open last year. On the other hand, Kuznetsova is 7th in the Doubles Rankings while Mauresmo occupies the 58th place.

The match is supposed to be an exciting one as Kuznetsova will try to avenge her defeat to the Indian ace at the Dubai Open last year. The match is scheduled to be played on Thursday, 19 January.

Sania meanwhile also has her singles match on the same day. Sania defeated Victoria Azarenka of Belarus 7-6(8), 6-2 in the first round and will now face Michaella Krajicek of Russia.

Sania Mirza in Australian Open second round

Melbourne: Indian tennis ace Sania Mirza Tuesday moved into the second round of the Australian Open tennis tournament with a convincing 7-6, 6-2 victory over junior world champion Victoria Azarenka of Belarus.

She faces Michaella Krajicek of the Netherlands in the second round.

Sania, who has been seeded 32nd at the Australian Open - the first Indian woman to make the mark in a Grand Slam event - occupies the same spot on the WTA ranking released Monday. This takes her two places above the 34 she was ranked before the tournament began.

Sania Mirza climbs to 32 in singles rankings

Before kicking off her Australian Open campaign, Indian ace Sania Mirza jumped two rungs to move to the 32nd place in the latest WTA singles rankings issued on Monday.

Ranked 34th in the last week's rankings, Sania boasts of 616.75 tournament points. Her all-time high singles rankings came on October 10 last year when she was placed 31st.

The Hyderabadi teenager takes on reigning junior world champion Victoria Azarenka of Belarus in her first round match in the Australian Open.

Among her compatriots, US-based Shikha Uberoi (176.25) hangs on to her 153rd place, as does 376th ranked veteran Fed cupper Rushmi Chakravarthi.

Among the Bhambri sisters, Ankita moves up a place to 388 while Sanaa drops a rung to 454th place.

Sania Mirza shot into the limelight

Acid test Down Under

Sania Mirza’s dream run began with her third-round face-off with eventual champion Serena Williams in the Australian Open early last year. Thus started a glorious season for the Indian girl, which saw her enter the fourth round in the US Open and jump 172 places to reach the 34th spot in world ranking.

It was an incredible journey of fame and fortune—and controversy too—as she stood up to the big girls of tennis to carve out a niche for herself. Though a back strain troubled her in the past few weeks of 2005, she is back on her feat and is keen to give her best shot. Even the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) had noted that Sania was the most captivating debutante of the year.

But will she be able to match the high standard she set for herself last year? The new year has not begun well for the poster girl as she suffered defeats in the Medibank International Open in Sydney, the first WTA Tour event of the season, after having had mixed fortunes in the Hong Kong Challenge tournament. She paired with Kim Clijsters to stun the Williams sisters — Serena and Venus — but her performance in singles left much to be desired.

Sania Mirza is the Joshna Chinappa of tennis

She's got youth on her side, attitude and the talent to back it up. Meet Joshna Chinappa, 19-year-old squash champion.

Joshna Chinappa, who made history by becoming the first Indian girl to win the British Junior Open under-19 title, was in Mumbai recently, when BT caught up with her

On being referred to as the ‘Sania Mirza of squash'.
If people think I am the Sania Mirza of squash, then Sania is the Joshna Chinappa of tennis!! I just think there is no comparison between us because her achievements are very different from mine.

Her take on Sania Mirza's short skirt becoming an issue.
I don't think people should really care what the length of her skirt is, as long as she is performing. She is an Indian first and here to play her game, perform and go home and not worry about anything else.

Joshna's squash journey.
I started playing at the Madras Cricket Club at eight. My dad used to play and still does. So, basically, I started because of him and trained with him for many years.

Will take time to find rhythm: Sania Mirza

Will take time to find rhythm: Sania Mirza

Sania Mirza managed to win her first set of the season but a couple of crucial line call overrules nipped her fight in the bud as she went down to Slovakian Daniela Hantuchova in the first round of Medibank International Open here today. Sania, playing in her first WTA Tour match of the season, went down 6-4 2-6 6-2 to Hantuchova, world number 17, in a Centre Court match at the USD 600,000 event.

The 19-year old Hyderabadi, world ranked 34, should have been 5-2 up but an overrule by the chair umpire at a critical moment cost her the lead.

A similar overrule in the decider saw the Indian go down 2-5 down instead of staying on serve for 3-4.

Sania said it would be at least a couple of months before she found her touch as she had made a few changes to her game while training under Tony Roche.

Sania goes down to Hantuchova in Sydney

Sania Mirza pulled off a set before going down fighting against world number 17 Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia in the first round of the Medibank International Open in Sydney on Monday.

Sania, playing in her first WTA Tour match of the season, went down 4-6, 6-2, 2-6 to US Open mixed doubles champion in a Centre Court match at the USD 600,000 event.

Sania Mirza says cultural bias against sports is easing

Sania Mirza says cultural bias against sports is easing

Sania Mirza says an easing of the cultural bias against sports in her home country could lead to a new crop Indian tennis stars. "They (parents) do want their children to come out and play a sport now and being a doctor or a lawyer is not the only thing that matters," said Mirza, ranked 34th in the world on the sidelines of an exhibition tournament in Hong Kong this week. "I think right now people are starting to believe that tennis can be a profession, which people didn''t believe," the 19-year-old said.

India has produced world class tennis players in the past: 1999 French Open and Wimbledon men's'' doubles champions Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi and previously, Vijay Amritraj. But Mirza is India's first female tennis star and the country has embraced her, with businessmen and health workers alike signing her up to promote their respective causes and products. Her appeal spans the region, with Time Magazine naming her one of Asia's Heroes in 2005. But Mirza said she was a loner when she first started out in India.

What does 2006 have in store for Sania Mirza? Marriage in 2006?

What does 2006 have in store for Sania Mirza?

According to her horoscope, Sania’s moonsign is the fiery and dynamic Aries ruled by Mars, which gives her an indomitable spirit and a never-say-die attitude. She is a woman of strong will and personality and will always lead a very independent and self-sufficient life. Ambitious and go-getting, she may seem tough on the surface but inside she is a very sensitive, romantic and emotional. Passionate and dynamic she imparts this special quality to whatever she does. To add to her martial qualitites, an exalted mars, ruler of her moonsign is posited in her ascendant in Capricorn. Mars in Capricorn brings out the best of Mars, A practical approach combined with action, planning and strategy.

This also gives rise to a special yoga, Ruchaka yoga one of the Panchamahapurusha yogas. She has a lot of energy, power and determination and will always excel in her game. Like everyone else she too may have her phases but she will always emerge a winner, Mars will give her a never-say-die attitude and a winner’s streak. Her sunsign is Libra and she has three planets posited in the sign of Libra sun, mercury and Venus. Venus is in its own house gives rise to Malavya yoga which is one of the Panchamahapurusha yoga hence this gives her charm, beauty and glamour and her lucky number is also 6, the number of Venus.

Her temperament is gentle, loving and artisitic. Not just sports and game but she is also fond of art and music and may later move on to the glamour world and showbiz. Sun and Mercury together give rise to Buddha aditya yoga, which makes her sharp and intelligent and easy to assimilate knowledge. However though the sun in the tenth house is debilitated, it is ‘neechabhanga’ which means the debilitation gets cancelled. But still that is the reason why inspite of no fault of hers she gets dragged in unnecessary controversy and issues. Secondly, since an exalted Mars aspects the moon, she is impulsive and outspoken and blunt and says whatever comes to her head and thinks later. But since Jupiter aspects the 10th house, all will be well that ends well.

This year 2006 is going to be very good for her. As Jupiter transits through her seventh house there may be an official announcement of an engagement or marriage.

Venus Williams beats Mirza 2-0 despite injury scare

Venus Williams beats Mirza 2-0 despite injury scare

HONG KONG, Jan. 5 (Xinhuanet) -- Wimbledon champion Venus Williams overcame an injury scare to beat Indian Sania Mirza 6-3, 6-3 in a tennis exhibition game here on Thursday.

Williams was forced to leave the court for about 15 minutes due to a left thigh injury when she trailed it 3-2 following one set broken. But the five-time Grand Slam winner turned to a different person after the timeout to break Sania three times in a row on her return.

Williams said what she suffered is a new injury but she had yet to find out the exact problem. "It was pretty rough. I'm not sure what it was but I'm going to try my best to find out.

"I really couldn't move. I did the best I could. I hope you guys enjoyed the match but usually I'm a whole lot faster." However, the injury did come at a bad time for the Indian sensation, who admitted that the lengthy injury break had been frustrating.

Hong Kong: Sania-Clijsters beat Williams sisters

Hong Kong: Sania-Clijsters beat Williams sisters

Sania Mirza, pairing up with US Open champion Kim Clijsters, started 2006 with a thrilling doubles win over the Williams sisters at the Watsons Water Challenge exhibition event in Hong Kong on Wednesday.

Sania and Clijsters defeated Serena and Venus 8-7 (7/2) in a best of 15 games single set match at the Victoria Park stadium.

"It is a delightful experience to partner a player like Kim and very exciting to win a match against Venus and Serena," Sania said after the match.

The eight-player exhibition event features the cream of women's tennis including three reigning Grand Slam champions.

It was the first international level match Sania was playing in three months after pulling out of a WTA tour event in Bangkok in October with a back strain.

Sania Mirza to bat for Coke

Sania Mirza to bat for Coke

It is being described as the new non-cricket plank in Coca-Cola’s armoury. First ace shooter Rajyavardhan Rathore was signed up by Coca-Cola India and now it has completed the circle by inking a two-year deal with teen-on-plimsolls sensation Sania Mirza.

Having realised that entertainment and cricket, barring Aamir Khan, Rani Mukerjee, Aishwarya Rai and Virendra Sehwag, are majorly with their rival, Coke seems to have adopted this strategy. Industry sources revealed to HT that doubles ace Mahesh Bhupathi's Globus Sports Inc is the centrifugal force behind the deal. The two-year deal is worth Rs 65 lakh, making it the highest-paid non-cricket and non-entertainment endorsement deals.

The tennis icon will add zing to the Coke ad campaign beginning March this year under a two-year contract. When contacted Coca-Cola India spokesperson confirmed that they were in talks with the tennis star. However, they refused to divulge the details. The deal is to be signed this week.

The tennis star too is unavailable for comment as she is currently out of the country.

Sania Mirza is the choice of CNN-IBN viewers

Sania Mirza is the choice of CNN-IBN viewers

Sania Mirza, the tennis sensation from Hyderabad is the sportsperson of India, for the year 2005, as per the poll conducted by CNN-IBN News Channel. The International sportsperson for the year 2005 goes to Fernando Alonso, Formula 1 World Champion.

Sania Mirza is a clear winner and came ahead of many sportspersons of India, and certainly Sania is not only a good player, she is also in the heart of millions of Indian.

On 19 January 2005, 18-year-old Sania Mirza had become the first Indian woman to reach the third round of a Grand Slam tennis event. Sania Mirza ranked 166, who got a wild card entry into the Australian Open in Melbourne, beat Hungarian Petra Mandula, a former French Open quarterfinalist, 6-2, 6-1 in the second round, and lost to Serena Williams in third round.

Sania to take on Venus Williams at Hong Kong

Sania to take on Venus Williams at Hong Kong

Sania Mirza will take on three-time Wimbledon champion Venus Williams in the opening singles match as she kick off her 2006 campaign at the Watson Water Champions Challenge in Hong Kong starting on Wednesday.

The eight-player exhibition event features the cream of women's tennis--three reigning Grand Slam champions, Venus Williams (Wimbledon), Serena Williams (Australian Open) and Kim Clijsters (US Open), besides World Number One Lindsay Davenport.

Alongside Sania, the 2005 Hyderabad Open winner, Nicole Vaidisova (Japan Open), Zheng Jie (China National Games champion) and Elena Dementieva (Fed Cup) complete the line-up.

Sania is set to pair up with world number two Kim Clijsters in the doubles event with the duo taking on the Williams sisters on Wednesday in a best of 15 games match.