No problem with Sania's game: Vijay Amritraj

The inconsistent Sania Mirza today got a pat on the back from former tennis ace Vijay Amritraj, who said there was nothing missing from the teenager's game and her progress should not be judged on a weekly basis.

"I see nothing wrong with Sania's game. She had done remarkably well over the last two-three years," the former Davis Cup captain said here.

However, Amritraj said that the Hyderabadi needed to improve her consistency at the highest level of the game.

Sania has had some good results in the last few weeks, but her wins over higher ranked opponents, notably former world number one Martina Hingis in Korea, have been usually followed by reversals against players ranked below her.

"Everyone strives to be more and more consistent but very few manage that," Amritraj, who reached a career-high ranking of 13, said.

"One should judge her over a whole season. As a rule, if she has five or six good weeks in a season, she can maintain her ranking."

But he pointed out that it was more important to do well in bigger events such as the Grand Slams, Masters Series and Tier I events, as they carried more ranking points.

He mentioned that world number one Roger Federer was an exceptional case.

"Federer is just playing on a different planet because he never lets his physical capabilities drop.

"No one questions other top players like Rafael Nadal or Andy Roddick if their performances fluctuate, because they know that it is very tough. But Federer is head and shoulders above everyone else," Amritraj said.

Shaughnessy beats Sania in Bangkok Open

FORMER world No.11 Meghann Shaughnessy moved through to the second round of the WTA Bangkok Open today, beating rising star Sania Mirza 6-4 6-4.

Shaughnessy will next play Julia Schruff from Germany, who upset world No.69 Emma Laine from Finland 6-4 7-6(7-5) on the second day of the tournament.

The opening day's action was washed out by persistent rain yesterday, and the players suffered further weather interruptions today.

Shaughnessy, who reached her career-high world ranking in 2001, said the rain had initially hampered her play but her serve was key to beating Mirza.

"She is a great player," Shaughnessy said of her Indian opponent.

"She goes for her shots with her forehand being great. She has a great backhand and cut as well."

Dhoni, Sania to campaign for NCC's promotion

Cricketer Mahender Singh Dhoni and tennis sensation Sania Mirza will soon be seen promoting National Cadet Corps in the country.

"The NCC is looking out for role models like Dhoni and Sania to promote the organisation," NCC Additional Director General Maj Gen R K Karwal told reporters on the sidelines of naval NCC cadets training camp at Sukhna lake here.

"Talks are in process with the two sportspersons and the NCC is hopeful to get favourable response from them soon," he said.

He said the NCC would increase its strength from present 13 lakh cadets to 15 lakhs in the next five years.

"The NCC is contemplating to further increase the strength of its cadets to 20 lakhs," he said adding that at present the directorates with shortfall in cadet strength were being examined.

The NCC was also in touch with the authorities to increase the subscribed seats of "C" certificate holders in institutions like Indian Military Academy (IMA) and Officers Training Academy (OTA).

"The Government had sanctioned to increase the subscribed seats of NCC cadets from 64 to 80 in IMA and from 100 to 120 in OTA," he said.

Sania slips six places in world ranking

The quarterfinal loss to lower ranked Olga Poutchkova of Russia at the Tashkent Open brought another plunge in Sania Mirza's ranking as the ace Indian tennis star dropped six places to be 61st on the latest WTA world rankings released today.

Sania, who had registered a slight improvement in her ranking to be at 55th spot after beating World No 8 Martina Hingis, went down to Olga 6-4 4-6 6-0 to crash out of the Tashkent tournament last week.

Now, Sania, with 397 points, is ranked below the Russian, who jumped from 58th to 46th spot.

However, the top seeded Indian woman player has maintained her doubles ranking by remaining steady at 26th for the third consecutive week.

Among other Indian women, Shikha Uberoi (219 to 213) Ankita Bhambri (363 to 361), Isha Lakhani (389 to 385) climbed up the ranking ladder while Rushmi Chakravarthi (456 to 457) slipped one place.

In men's doubles rankings, Leander Paes has maintained his No 10 position while Mahesh Bhupathi has slided two places to be at 26th spot.

Sania Mirza crashes out of Taskhent Open

Sania Mirza crashed out of the Taskhent Open after she lost to Olga Poutchkova of Russia 4-6, 6-4, 0-6 in the quarterfinals Friday.

It was another inconsistent performance by the Indian, who later said, she could not adjust to the conditions.

"Sometimes you don't get used to the conditions and then you don't win," said Sania, rather disappointedly.

"The balls were flying, I just didn't get to feel the ball on my racquet.

"There were some 20-25 times in the match when I wanted to go for a winner but I didn't have the confidence to go for it, I just kept pushing the ball back," she added.

After losing the first set hitting wide with an inside-out backhand at set point, Sania slumped to a 0-4 deficit in the second. Poutchkova, semi-finalist at the recent Sunfeast Open in Kolkata, then double-faulted three times to drop serve in the next game.

That triggered a Sania revival for a while and she won the next five games to take the set. During the six-game winning streak, she seemed to have regained some confidence and the winners flowed from her racquet.

The Russian won key points in the early games of the third set. Sania down 15-40 after a double fault, rallied to deuce in the second game, but could not hold her serve.

Sania Mirza reaches Tashkent quarters

Third-seeded Sania Mirza of India highlighted Thursday's second-round winners at the $145,000 Tashkent Open.

Mirza handled Czech Hana Sromova 6-4, 7-5 on the hardcourts at Tashkent Tennis Center. Mirza's quarterfinal opponent on Friday will be sixth-seeded Russian Olga Poutchkova, who topped France's Olivia Sanchez 7-5, 6-1 on Day 4 here.

In other second-round action, Belarusian Victoria Azarenka bested Slovakian qualifier Dominika Cibulkova 6-4, 6-4 and Chinese Tiantian Sun got past Belarusian Tatiana Poutchek by an identical 6-4, 6-4 score.

The other quarters will pit top-seeded Italian Maria Elena Camerin against Azarenka, eighth-seeded Russian Anastassia Rodionova versus Sun and Tashkent's own Iroda Tulyaganova against the Ukraine's Kateryna Bondarenko. Tulyaganova captured this event in 2000.

Sania Mirza in round two of Tashkent Open

Sania Mirza beat her unseeded Fench opponent Pauline Parmentier 6-3, 6-1 on Wednesday to cruise into the second round of the Tashkent Open in Uzbekistan.

The third seed took just 48 minutes to defeat the Frenchwoman, who is ranked 206.

The Hyderabadi teenager has had a fairly ordinary second year on the circuit but her exploits in Korea Open last week where she beat Martina Hingis has catapulted her rankings to 55.

This tier IV event is Sania's penultimate outing of the year. She plays her next round match in Tashkent against Hana Sromova of the Czech Republic.

Sania Mirza go up by four places to be at 55th spot

Her second-round win over world No 8 Martina Hingis at Korea Open last week helped Sania Mirza go up by four places to be at 55th spot on the latest WTA world rankings released on Monday.

Sania, who defeated Hingis 4-6 6-0 6-4 in a tough battle at Seoul, was at the 59th spot the previous week and the big win over the Swiss boosted the Hyderabadi to 428 points for the promotion.

Sania, who had a major slip in the rankings this year due to a string of forgettable performances, has the chance to regain her top ranking of World No 31. Interestingly, Sania held her career best ranking during October last year.

In the doubles rankings, the Indian ace has maintained her 26th place, which she achieved along with South African Liezel Huber after her Sunfeast Open win in Kolkata.

Among other Indian women on the WTA Tour, Shikha Uberoi (232 to 219), Ankita Bhambri (369 to 363) and Isha Lakhani (391 to 389) have registered rise in their rankings while Rushmi Chakravarthi (454 to 456) suffered a minor slide.

Sania seeded third at Tashkent Open

Sania Mirza has been seeded third at the Tashkent Open tennis tournament, which starts Monday.

Italian Maria Elena Camerin is the top seed and Elena Vesnina of Russia is seeded second, as announced here after the draw Saturday.

Sania, currently ranked 59 in the world singles ranking, will face Pauline Parmentier of France in the first round.

Sania comes to Tashkent after a quarterfinal finish at the Korean Open in Seoul, losing to Spaniard Virginia Ruana Pascual, after having beaten Martina Hingis in the previous round.