No corruption, asserts Venus

American ace Venus Williams said she did not think corruption was a big problem in tennis, as she limbered up in Hong Kong for the Australian Open.

“No. I don’t think it is a big thing for tennis, to be honest. I think we are OK, I don’t see it as a problem. I don’t think about it per se,” she told reporters, when asked whether she had seen any evidence of match-fixing.

Sania to partner Molik

Indian sensation Sania Mirza will partner Australia's Alicia Molik in the Australian Open beginning in Melbourne on January 14, reports DHNS from Chennai.

The 21-year-old Sania was scheduled to play with Meghann Shaughnessy in the first Grand Slam of the year, but the American hurt her knee badly playing the WTA Tour event at Gold Coast. Shaughnessy is reported to be out of the game for six months.

For the record, Molik had partnered Mara Santangelo of Italy to win the 2007 French Open title.

Waugh not for neutral umpires

After much hue and cry against umpiring decision in the second Test which saw the Australia wrest the initiative against India, former Aussie skipper Steve Waugh has called upon ICC to do away with the neutral umpire policy and says the best umpires should officiate in high-profile matches, reports UNI from Sydney.

‘’The world’s number one umpire for the past four years is Simon Taufel from Sydney and he should be out in the middle making the crucial decisions under pressure for this is what the best aspire to,’’ Waugh wrote in Australia’s Daily Telegraph.

Army ahead in medal tally

Army lead the medal tally with ten gold, eight silver and four bronze in the 51st National Shooting Championship, reports UNI from Ahmedabad.

NCC lie second behind the leaders with four gold and four silver medals at the end of day’s proceedings on Thursday.

In the women’s 50M rifle prone event, Kuheli Gangulee of CISF clinched gold while Army’s Meena and DVS Lakshmi Priya settled for silver and bronze respectively.

In the team event, Birmati, Meena and Raj Kumari gave Army yet another gold in the championship while NCC trio of Lajja, Hema and Meera Kumari took silver. Maharashtra’s Anjali Bhagwat, Tejaswini Sawant and Leena Lad had to satisfy with bronze.

Mukesh, Shahi in joint lead

Mukesh Kumar and Nepal’s Toran Bikram Shahi were the joint leaders after the first round of the Tata Open Golf tournament jointly played at the Beldih (par 72) and Golmuri (par 70) golf courses on Thursday, reports UNI from Jamshedpur. The two shot identical scores of three-under 69 at the Beldih Golf Course. In tied third place were Amardip Malik, Gaganjeet Bhullar, Gurki Shergill, Ramesh Kumar and Mohd Siddikur Rehman.

PCB confirms Lawson’s return

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Thursday confirmed that coach Geoff Lawson will be returning from his vacation on January 12 to take charge of the team’s preparations for the home series against Zimbabwe and Australia, reports PTI from Karachi.

Lawson had compounded matters by stating that he had asked for feedback from some friends in Pakistan on whether it was safe to return because of the political unrest in the country. But Zakir Khan, PCB Director Cricket Operations, said that Lawson had confirmed his return on January 12.