Australian college accused of racism over 'colonial-themed' party

MELBOURNE: An elite Australian college has sparked a race controversy after it organised a "colonial- themed" party where Indians wearing traditional garments served guests present at the event.

The St Paul's college, affiliated with the University of Sydney, had organised its yearly "upscale" dinner with an 'end of the British raj' theme, asking guests to come dressed in "white tie of colonial uniform" and served them Indian food.

College students, who arrived at St Paul's great hall dressed in immaculate black dinner suits with matching white handkerchiefs, were met by a team of Indian and south Asian waiters, dressed in colourful traditional cultural garments, who served them Indian delicacies and curries, the Sydney Morning Herald reported today.

But within days of the event, ideological war broke out at the university over whether the college was basking in the glory of colonialism and slavery. Before long, vicious vitriol began ricocheting across Facebook, the report said.

"I am Indian and I used to go to college. My relatives suffered in colonial India. This theme offended me and brought me to the brink of tears," one female student wrote.

Interest in Dempo: Can Shah Rukh Khan save the football business in India?

Is football in India having a cricket moment? This maybe a good time to ask because of the ongoing Euro championship and with no cricket around for sometime, though the question does surface every time we are in the thick of a major international football tournament.

With the Euro among us, you will notice a spring in the steps of the colleague with a constant frown in office, feel the extra emphasis on deadlines by the boss or in the case of this correspondent, hear the lament of the editor who has to be away when football makes it to the cover of ET on Sunday.

Data by television audience measurement company Tam Media Research show football is breathing down cricket's neck in terms of viewership (see In India, Football's Closing...). The faithful in India who stayed indoors on Friday night and watched Poland and Greece battle to a hard-fought draw in the inaugural Euro match would run into millions. That is a lot of people, certainly many more than those who watched the Indian hockey team beat Britain for the bronze in last week's Sultan Azlan Shah Cup.

Maria Sharapova thrashes Sara Errani to win French Open

PARIS: Russia's Maria Sharapova became the 10th woman in tennis history to win all four Grand Slam titles on Saturday when she defeated Italy's Sara Errani 6-3, 6-2 in the French Open final. 

In what turned out to be largely one-sided contest, the second seed and new world No.1 led from the start, fixing the 21st seeded Errani with her biggest shots and giving her little chance to employ her own, more considered game. 


The French Open title for Sharapova follows her Grand Slam triumphs at Wimbledon in 2004, the US Open in 2006 and the Australian Open in 2008 and it crowns her return from a serious shoulder injury that nearly wrecked her career. 


The 90-minute final though did little to restore the reputation of women's tennis at Roland Garros, continuing a run of straight sets finals that date back to 2001 when Jennifer Capriati defeated Kim Clijsters in a three-set thriller. 


It was the first meeting between the two and the contrasts were stark - notably in height with the 1.88m tall Sharapova towering 24cm above the little Italian. 


The 25-year-old Sharapova had the experience of winning three Grand Slam titles and has just been assured of regaining the world number one spot. Her global superstar status has made her the biggest-earning sportswoman on earth. 


Errani, 10 days younger than her opponent, was little-known outside of her own country until she won three claycourt titles in the buildup to Roland Garros in recent weeks. 


She then defeated two previous champions en route to a first appearance in a Grand Slam final. 


Sharapova opened confidently on serve and then used her booming groundstrokes to pin back a tight Errani, breaking serve when the Italian hit long. 


The Russian, playing in her first final at Roland Garros at her 10th attempt, moved 3-0 up and then converted a third break point to take a 4-0 lead. 


Sharapova had made a dream start, but once again her propensity to double fault struck again, with two of them in the fifth game. She then hit a forehand narrowly wide on break point. 


That seemed to settle Errani, who was bidding to become the second Italian winner at Roland Garros after Francesca Schiavone in 2010, and she pumped her fist at her team in the player's box after holding serve for the first time. 


Errani saved two set points at 2-5 and 15-40 down on serve in the eighth game as she started to pull Sharapova from side to side, but the Russian, despite another double fault, served out for the set. 


Sharapova broke again to open the second set and moved 2-0 up as the Roland Garros centre court faithful tried to lift the morale of the outgunned Italian. 


She held serve to get to 2-1 down and then had a break point to level, only for Sharapova to hit the line with a forehand. 


The fifth game of the set was crucial as Sharapova opened her shoulders to hit some big winners, converting her third break point to go 4-1 ahead when a net-charging Errani failed to deal with a hard, angled drive from the Russian. 


Errani was not yet quite out of it however, as she won four points in a row from 30-0 down to break Sharapova's service for the second time. 


The Russian though put that aside to win the next two games, sealing her career Grand Slam on her third championship point when Errani failed to return an angled backhand.

रिकी पोंटिंग ने कहा, ‘सचिन का जवाब नहीं’

सचिन तेंदुलकर और ऑस्ट्रेलियाई खिलाड़ियों के बीच हमेशा से ही एक ख़ास रिश्ता रहा है। कंगारु कभी भी सार्वजिनक तौर पर किसी खिलाड़ी विशेष की तारीफ करने से हिचकते हैं लेकिन, सचिन इसके अपवाद रहे हैं। पिछले दो दशक में हर ऑस्ट्रेलियाई दिग्गज ने मास्टर ब्लास्टर का लोहा माना है। एक बार फिर मौजूदा कप्तान रिकी पॉटिंग ने सचिन की महानता की खुलकर तारीफ की है।

44 शतक , 15000 से ज्यादा रन और 20 साल। सचिन रिकॉर्ड के उस ऐवरेस्ट पर खड़े हैं जिसकी तरफ देखने के बाद सिर्फ आश्चर्य होता है कि क्या कोई दूसरा खिलाड़ी वहां पहुंच सकता है। जो खिलाड़ी आज खेल रहे हैं अगर उन्हें देखा जाए तो सिर्फ पोंटिंग ही ऐसे क्रिकेटर नजर आते हैं जो सचिन के आसपास पहुंचने की कुव्वत रखते हैं। हालांकि वो भी उनके रिकॉर्ड से काफी दूर हैं।

खुद पोंटिंग कहते हैं कि मैं उनकी जितनी पारियां देख पाया हूं मुझे लगता है कि वो हैरान कर देने वाले खिलाड़ी हैं। उनके रिकॉर्ड्स को देखिए किसी के लिए भी 20 साल तक लगातार खेलना अविश्वसनीय है।

ऑस्ट्रेलिया को दुनिया की सबसे मजबूत और कामयाब टीम माना जाता है। और ये बयान उस खिलाड़ी का है जो ऑस्ट्रेलिया का कप्तान भी है। लेकिन पोंटिंग यहीं पर नहीं रुकते वो आगे कहते हैं कि सचिन ने मेरे जैसे लोगों के उनके करीब पहुंचने के लिए कई मानक तय कर दिए हैं। अगर मुझे अगले 20 साल बैटिंग करनी हो तो शायद मैं व्हीलचेयर पर बैठकर बैटिंग करुंगा।

ये दुनिया की सबसे कामयाब टीम के कप्तान का बयान है। दुनिया के सबसे महान खिलाड़ी के बारे में। वैसे पोटिंग की इन बातों पर किसी को कोई आश्चर्य भी नहीं होता। अगर यकीन नहीं तो एक बार सचिन के आकड़ों पर नजर डाल लिजिए।

तेंदुलकर ने अबतक 159 टेस्ट मैचों में 42 शतक और 53 हॉफ सेंचुरी की मदद से साढ़े बारह हजार से ज्यादा रन बनाएं हैं। अगर बात की जाए वनडे की तो कुल 430 मैचों में 44 शतक और 91 हॉफ सेंचुरी के साथ 16 हजार से ज्यादा रन बनाए हैं। दूसरी तरफ पोटिंग के टेस्ट में 11345 और वनडे में 12043 रन हैं। जाहिर है सचिन का रिकॉर्ड तोड़ना पोंटिंग के लिए भी सपना ही है और ऐसे में अगर पोटिंग ये कहते हैं कि तेंदुलकर हैरान कर देने वाले खिलाड़ी हैं तो किसी को भी हैरानी नहीं होनी चाहिए।