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Roger Federer (born 8 August 1981) is a Swiss professional tennis player. As of October 2009, he is ranked world number 1 by the Association of  Tennis Professionals (ATP), having previously held the number one position for a record 237 consecutive weeks. Many sports analysts, tennis critics, and former and current players consider Federer to be the greatest tennis player of all time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Magnificent Trinidad and Tobago sail into semi final

Monday, October 19, 2009 7:33:01 AM

Adrian Barath (63) led a stunning power-hitting show as Trinindad & Tobago breezed into the semifinals of the Champions League after pipping Diamond Eagles by 24 runs in a high scoring League A match.

The unbeaten Caribbean side rattled up 213 for four, highest score of the tournament, and left Diamond Eagles with an almost impossible task of achieving the target in 14.2 overs to qualify for the next stage.
Opener Rilee Rossouw led a brilliant fightback, scoring 44 off just 19 balls and the following batsmen too fought their heart out but Eagles ultimately could manage 189 for five in 20 overs.
Barath, playing his first match of the tournament, almost batted through the innings and shared two solid partnerships with William Perkins (35) and Lendl Simmons (40) to set up the stage for an exciting finish after opting to bat.
Navin Stewart (33 off 11) and Kieron Pollard (23) provided the late firework as the good work done at the top was carried on by the middle-order.
Diamond Eagles needed 16.5 runs per over, the South African side made an audacious start by scoring 72 runs in the first five overs, but the task was just too tough to manage.
Morne van Wyk (25), Boeta Dippenaar (33) and Dillon du Preez (35) batted beautifully in their aggressive knocks but their effort proved insufficient to knock off the target.
New South Wales Blues had qualified from League A early in the day after beating Somerset by six wickets.
Earlier, Barath, who replaced Darren Bravo in the side, was jittery in the beginning, but once he got his rhythm he was at his destructive best.
Barath played second fiddle in the 66-run opening wicket partnership with Perkins and was magnificent in his 76-run stand for the second wicket with Simmons, who contributed a quick fire 40 off 25 balls.
Before being bowled by Dillon du Preez, Barath entertained the crowd with four fours and equal number of sixes while Perkins hit three fours and three huge sixes.
Stewart's scored 11-ball 33 at number five before Kieron Pollard's 23-run cameo took the match away from Eagles.
Stewart put on an amazing display of power-hitting in the 19th over when he smashed du Preez for 26 runs, ruthlessly hitting him for three sixes and two fours.

Ganguly begins season on a high

Monday, October 19, 2009 10:09:58 AM

Kolkata: Former India captain Sourav Ganguly began the season on a positive note, slamming an unbeaten 45-ball 62 in a practice Twenty20 match at the Eden Gardens on Sunday.
Ganguly hit two sixes and six fours to guide his team to an eight-wicket victory.
The southpaw, who retired from international cricket after Australia series last year, hit the Bengal bowlers all over the ground with disdain.

Divided into two teams - A and B - Bengal cricketers played their second T20 match before they leave for Dhanbad for the Mushtaq Ali T20 East Zone meet.
Team A featuring Bengal skipper Laxmi Ratan Shukla were bowled out for 119 in 19.3 overs, while in reply, Ganguly's blazing form ensured a win with 3.4 overs to spare.
Ganguly has given his nod to play for Bengal in the home matches of Ranji Trophy and the one-dayers and on Sunday the chief selector Sambaran Banerjee hinted that the left-hander might even pad up in the away matches if situation demands.
After the practice match, Banerjee said Ganguly had a discussion with him and hinted that depending on performance of Bengal team after their first match, against Maharashtra in Pune, he would think about playing for Bengal in rest of the Ranji matches.
Bengal, who will open their zonal T20 campaign in Dhanbad on October 21 against Assam, followed by their match against Jharkhand the next day.
On October 23, Bengal will take on Orissa, while they face Tripura the next day.
Ganguly, who is expected to be back as Kolkata Knight Riders captain in third edition of Indian Premier League, however, would not play for Bengal in forthcoming T20 meet.