Hamilton triumphs in tight Hungarian GP

Lewis Hamilton led from the front to capture his second Formula One win of the season with a narrow victory at the Hungarian Grand Prix on Sunday.

The McLaren driver took the chequered flag 1.032 seconds ahead of Kimi Raikkonen, with Roman Grosjean finishing third to give Lotus a second podium place.

Double world champion Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull was fourth ahead of overall leader Fernando Alonso in a Ferrari and McLaren’s Jenson Button.

The remaining top 10 places were filled by Bruno Senna (Williams), Mark Webber (Red Bull), Felipe Massa (Ferrari) and Nico Rosberg (Mercedes).

Hamilton got off to a clean start from pole position and apart from pit stops kept in front throughout despite pressure initially from Grosjean and then from the Frenchman’s teammate Raikkonen.

The Finn had muscled past Grosjean on lap 46 after emerging from the pits, squeezing his teammate off the track, and was within a second of Hamilton with 15 laps remaining.

However the Briton, who been dominant all weekend, was able to keep Raikkonen at a distance on the Hungaroring track, which offered few opportunities for overtaking.

“An amazing day, fantastic work by all the team and the fans have been fantastic. Thank you for having us,” Hamilton said on the podium.

Hamilton moves to fourth in the drivers’ championship on 117 points, trailing leader Alonso on 164 points, with Webber on 124 and Vettel on 122.

Formula One now takes a summer break until the Belgian Grand Prix on September 2.

Federer Hold his 7th Wimbledon title

Roger Federer plunged a dagger in the collective British heart, but he did it with such transcendent genius that even in their deepest despair they were uplifted.

No consolation for Andy Murray, though, who played a first-rate final himself and deserved better than to lose. Federer, however, had come to reclaim his kingdom. With the 4-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-4 win, he had his seventh Wimbledon and 17th major. He was also back at the top of men’s tennis — World No.1 for a 286th week beginning Monday.

As another grey London Sunday turned into a golden-crisp afternoon earlier, the tennis matched the weather. Murray often plays as if under a blue fog of self-loathing, but he seemed to have cleared his sinuses before stepping on to Centre Court.

Because he can afford to, Murray tends to passivity, falling back on his defence to bail him out; perhaps being the tennis nerd he is — his idea of a good time when not on his Playstation is to analyse his opponents on DVD — the long rally delights him.

But, in reshaping his ward’s game, Ivan Lendl has made Murray hit his forehand with greater intensity, and use it, as the great Czech did, as a meat-and-potatoes point-winner. Early on Sunday, Murray chose to boss the court with his forehand.

“I wouldn’t want to be playing me today,” Fred Perry said to an opponent during one of his three triumphs here, and the man seeking to follow him after 76 years was playing as if the words were his.

Since Murray’s returning in the first set was solid — he seemed to have a read on the Federer serve — he was an ever-present threat, making his opponent play the extra ball.

He broke Federer twice in the set, in the very first game after the six-time champion missed first a forehand and then a swing volley, and in the crucial ninth game, after he had run down a drop despite a late start and nearly taken Federer’s head off at the net.

Federer broke back in between, of course, after a moment of blinding brilliance. Having controlled the rally with the backhand slice, keeping Murray behind the baseline at his backhand side, Federer unwound into a sublime single-hander that fit in the top corner.

The Swiss master was having his moments — his flash-fast adjustment to a net-cord ball, which he moulded to the only place he could have, prompted a fan to scream out, “You’re a genius, Roger. A genius!” — but he was making too many errors.

He had chances to break in the eighth game of the first set and again early in the second, but he couldn’t take them. Nearly every time, Murray was responding with direct tennis: a stiff first serve followed by an unhesitating first strike.

Off his second serves, he was steady, not put-it-back-in-and-reset-the-rally steady, but pushing, pressuring steady.

Federer’s serve was increasingly coming under threat. He wasn’t getting many free points on his first serve, and often he was surviving by making it up as he went along. But he was doing what champions do: he was staying close to his opponent, hanging on with everything he had, so he could strike should an opportunity arise.

Paes-Vesnina end runners-up at Wimbledon

Leander Paes and Elena Vesnina will have to wait for their first Grand Slam title together as they lost the closely fought Wimbledon mixed doubles summit clash to Mike Bryan and Lisa Raymond, on Sunday.

The fourth seeded Indo-Russian pair suffered a 3-6 7-5 4-6 defeat at the hands of second seed Americans after battling for two hours and four minutes.

It is for the second time in this season that Paes and Vesnina have ended runners-up at a tennis Major as they had lost the final of the Australian Open in January to Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Horia Tecau.

Nevertheless, it was creditable performance by Paes after a stormy build up to the Wimbledon, caused by selection drama for London Olympics.

Paes was forced to pair with lower-ranked Vishnu Vardhan after both Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna refused to play with him. Paes was teamed with Sania Mirza for the mixed doubles event.

Although Sania did not refuse to play alongside Paes, she made it clear that her preferred partner was Bhupathi, with whom she has won two Grand Slam titles.

Paes is the highest Grand Slam title winner for India with 13 trophies, six of them are mixed doubles.

In Sunday’s match, Vesnina served brilliantly and Paes too played well but the margin of error was little against the strong pair of Mike Bryan and Lisa Raymond, who had a superb all round game.

It was the pair of Paes and Vesnina that got the first chance to go ahead but they squandered a break opportunity in the fifth game of the opening set.

The break chance came about following a brilliant rally by an agile Vesnina at the net.

As if that waste of chance was not enough, Paes dropped his serve in the next game. The Indian saved the first break chance with an ace but could not stop Mike Bryan from converting the second.

Webber snatches British Grand Prix victory

Red Bull’s Mark Webber overtook championship leader Fernando Alonso with four laps to go to snatch victory at the British Grand Prix in Silverstone Sunday.

Ferrari’s Alonso, who had led the race from pole, had to settle for second place, with Webber’s team-mate Sebastian Vettel third.

It was a second win of the season for Webber after victory in Monaco and moves the Australian to 129 points in the Formula One drivers’ championship, 13 behind former two-time champion Alonso.

Alonso was in control for most of a race held in dry conditions following Saturday’s torrential rain in qualifying, but could not hold onto the lead after changing to soft tyres on lap 38.

A lead which had usually been above five seconds for most of the race was soon whittled down by Webber, who was on hard tyres after his second pit stop, and the Red Bull driver got past the Spaniard on lap 49 of the 52 laps.

“It was a very interesting race,” Webber said. “Fernando Alonso had very good pace. We had the better strategy in the end. We never gave up, kept pushing and it did not work out in the end for Fernando.” Alonso said: “It was very close today but at the end Mark was much quicker than us and deserved the victory. Now we are fighting for victories in the last three or four Grand Prix.

“I hope the fans enjoyed the show today. I’m still leading the championship and that’s the main target for us. We lost seven points with Mark winning but we gained some more points on the rest of the field.” Red Bull’s tyre strategy, opting for soft-hard-hard for Webber rather than Alonso’s hard-hard-soft, eventually proved the difference between the two.

“We elected to start on the soft, surprised to see Fernando on hard but we knew we would be quicker at the end of the race,” Red Bull team principal Christian Horner.

“Mark was quick when we needed him to be and the pass was fantastic. Mark this year has been in great form. He is enjoying his driving again and his performance here has been very strong.” Ferrari’s Felipe Massa was fourth ahead of Lotus drivers Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean, with Michael Schumacher in a Mercedes, McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton, Bruno Senna in a Williams and Hamilton’s team—mate Jenson Button completing the top 10.

Vettel, who improves to third in the championship, moving to 100 points, said: “We chose the right strategy to come back, so all in all I’m very happy. Mark deserved to win.” It was a disappointing race for home favourites Hamilton and Button. Hamilton could not find the pace to improve his grid position and slips to fourth in the championship on 92 points, followed by Raikkonen on 83. Button meanwhile improved slightly from 16th on the grid to earn a point in 10th place.

“There wasn’t a point in the race when we didn’t have the right strategy but we were surprised to be that far down,” Button said.

“Our car doesn’t feel that bad so rival cars must be very, very good. It’s a little bit frustrating for Lewis and myself, we have to pull together and make some progress.” Meanwhile stewards were to investigate a 12th-lap collision between Mexican Sergio Perez and Venezuelan Pastor Maldonado which left both out of the race.

Sauber driver Perez claimed he was pushed off the track by the Williams driver after they battled at a corner.

“He doesn’t respect other drivers,” Perez told the BBC.

“I was already in front and he should have given space not to crash, but he tried to push me all the way. I don’t understand why he drives like that and I hope the stewards do something.

“This guy will never learn if they don’t do something. He could hurt someone. Everybody has concerns about him.” The next race is the German Grand Prix in Hockenheim on July 22.

Serena rallies to grab her fifth Wimbledon title

Serena was forced to confront her anxiety and nerves again on Saturday. In true closer fashion, she mastered them to win her fifth Wimbledon title with a 6-1, 5-7, 6-2 victory over Agnieszka Radwanska, whose remarkable turnaround in the second set made this revelation of character possible.

Radwanska looked like a greenfinch in a thunderstorm in the first set. Centre Court was a chilly, blustery place to be in, and it couldn’t have pleasant for the Polish girl, who was suffering the effects of a respiratory illness.

The restorative concoction of garlic, hot tea, honey, and aspirin might have helped with her cough; her opponent was another matter.

Serena’s serve wasn’t the mean beast it had been in the previous matches, but the rest of her game had too muscle for Radwanska.

The backhand, in particular, was bullying Radwanska, its measured hostility setting up points when not winning them outright.

With the characteristically American early racquet head preparation, so the menace as she stood coiled in her backswing was enhanced, Serena switched directions at will.

Why Radwanska didn’t go to the Serena forehand more often wasn’t clear: sure, in most rallies she was pushed so hard from side to side that she was rarely able to get enough on the ball to stretch the American to her right; but she directed most of her serves, both first and second, to the Serena backhand. It didn’t help that these serves were roughly as threatening as cream-puffs.

Also Radwanska’ favourite shot, the stroke that comes most naturally to her, the off-forehand, was right in Serena’s two-handed wheelhouse.

Serena was imperious when she was not very good, and she had the set 6-1. It had taken Radwanska all she had merely to prevent the mortification of a ‘bagel’.

As a slight drizzle slanted across Centre Court, forcing the players off, the crowd wondered what Radwanska could do to win at least games in the second set.

She couldn’t get any stronger; what chance did the poor girl have of delaying this overpowering champion?

But although Serena went up an early break in the second, Radwanska snuck her way back in. Like with a lot of what she does, it wasn’t gaudily obvious. She started putting a bit more on her first serves, she placed them closer to the lines, she went at Serena’s body.

The forehand slice, which kept low, was starting to have an effect: unlike the first set, she was pressuring the Serena forehand and it was starting to come apart.

Radwanska’s anticipation and court-craft was allowing her to keep more balls in play. Now used to Serena’s weight of stroke, Radwanska’s ability to construct destabilising rallies was better employed.

Serena, like she has in the recent past, tightened up. It’s the worst mental state to be in against someone like Radwanska, who allows her opponent time to think on the ball — the cause of all choking.

What had seemed impossible during the rain break now became reality, as Radwanska, having broken back to level the set at 4-all, broke again at 6-5.

Serena’s serve came to her rescue again (her 17 aces took her tournament total to 102!). She struck four successive aces in the fourth game to hold at 2-2, and it gave her the confidence to be more assertive on her return game. She broke twice to ease the intense pressure before serving out the match.

Samsung tips record-high profit for second quarter

Samsung Electronics Co., the world’s largest maker of memory chips, mobile phones, flat-screen panels and televisions, said on Friday that its preliminary second-quarter operating profit jumped nearly 80 per cent from a year ago to a record high. Analysts said the sharp rise was driven by Galaxy smartphone sales.

The operating profit for April to June is estimated between 6.5 trillion won and 6.9 trillion won ($5.7 billion and $6.1 billion), a 79 per cent jump from a year ago, the company said in an emailed statement without giving further detail. Its revenue is expected to come in between 46 trillion won and 48 trillion won, up around 19 per cent from the year-earlier period.

Although Samsung did not break out figures for each division, analysts believe about 4.4 trillion won of its second-quarter profit is from its mobile communications division, accounting for about 65 per cent of its operating profit.

The preliminary profit, in line with a median estimate of analysts, beats Samsung’s previous record of 5.85 trillion won profit, reported in the first quarter of 2012.

Samsung’s guidance of its second-quarter revenue, however, was below the average market forecast of around 50 trillion won.

“It means that global demand for information and technology products during the second quarter was weaker than expected,” said Song Myung-sub, an analyst at Hi Investment and Securities.

There are fears Europe’s persistent debt crisis will take a toll on global demand in Europe, North America and China, which are key markets for manufacturers of personal computers, televisions, mobile phones and home appliances. Consumers and PC and TV makers are primary revenue sources for Samsung, which supplies chips and flat-screen panels for global PC and TV makers, in addition to selling its own finished products.

Global television markets shrank from a year ago during the first half of this year, Yoon Boo-keun, Samsung’s president of televisions and home appliance division, said at a media event on Wednesday. The South Korean exporter is preparing for a possible crisis with a contingency scenario for each region, Yoon added.

Mobile phone shipments growth this year will be the slowest in three years at just 4 per cent because of uncertain economic conditions, market researcher International Data Corp. said last month. Analysts including Lee Sun-tae at NH Securities and Investment analyst said Samsung’s low-end smartphone sales in China came in lower than expected in the second quarter due to competition from Chinese handset makers and slowing demand there.

While brisk demand for high-end mobile phones is helping Samsung offset a weaker profit growth in its semiconductor and other consumer electronics businesses, its heavy reliance on smartphones is a source of concern, some say.

Samsung’s shares have been under pressure since hitting a historic high in May 2. The company failed to keep up with demand for Galaxy S III smartphones which was released in May 29, causing delays in sales. Analysts cut estimates of Samsung’s Galaxy S III sales in the second quarter to around 6 million units from 7 million.

Shin Jong-kyun, Samsung’s president of mobile business, promised last month that Galaxy component shortages will be resolved soon but the remarks failed to boost share prices.

Samsung also lost in two legal bids to lift preliminary sales bans imposed on one of its Galaxy Tab tablet computers and the Galaxy Nexus smartphone. A California court accepted last month Apple’s request to block sales of Samsung’s mobile devices that are allegedly infringing on the company’s intellectual properties. Although the direct impact from the temporary sales ban in the US will be limited because the products are not a big part of Samsung’s mobile sales in the US, the court decision stoked concerns about the prospects of Galaxy S III sales in the US market, experts said.

Following the earnings guidance release before the opening of the market, Samsung’s shares traded nearly 2 per cent lower on the Seoul bourse.

“There are concerns about the macroeconomic situations for the rest of the year as well as views looking at Samsung’s lawsuits with Apple as a risk,” said Lee Seung-woo, an analyst at IBK Securities.

Samsung is scheduled to announce its full results later this month.

Torres wins Euro 2012 Golden Boot

Fernando Torres won the Golden Boot as Euro 2012 top-scorer thanks to a goal and an assist in the final eight minutes of Spain’s 4-0 victory over Italy in Sunday’s final.

Torres finished with three goals and an assist along with Germany striker Mario Gomez, but played less minutes than his rival, which is the tiebreak criteria of the ruling body UEFA.

The Chelsea striker Torres scored in the 84th minute of the final and fed Juan Mata in the 88th. His earlier two goals came in the other 4-0 win over Ireland in the group stage.

Torres succeeds injured teammate David Villa, who was top scorer at Euro 2008 with four goals.

Apart from Torres and Gomez, Italy’s Mario Balotelli, Alan Dzagoev of Russia, Mario Mandzukic of Croatia and Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal also scored three goals at Euro 2012.

Spain sinks Italy 4-0 for Euro title

Spain rediscovered their magic on Sunday to beat ailing Italy 4-0 in the Euro 2012 final and with it became the first nation to win three big football titles in a row.

David Silva (14th), Jordi Alba (41st), Fernando Torres (84th) and Juan Mata (88th) were on target as Barcelona midfielders Xavi and Andres Iniesta pulled the strings in midfield in their usual commanding style after some slightly below-par performances earlier in the tournament.

Spain became the first team to get a big event hat-trick following titles at Euro 2008 and the 2010 World Cup with the biggest winning margin in a final, are the first to win back-to-back Euro titles and matched Germany’s record three continental titles, the first being in 1964.

Italy, who had held Spain 1-1 in their opening group match and made a surprise run to the final with a 2-1 victory over Germany in the semis, failed to end a 44-year drought since their only Euro trophy in 1968.

The Azzurri were down to 10 men for the final half hour as Thiago Motta was stretchered off injured four minutes after coming on and coach Cesare Prandelli had already made all three substitutions.

Spain coach Vicente Del Bosque fielded a line-up without a recognised striker, with Barcelona’s Cesc Fabregas in a strengthened midfield just as in the group game with Italy on June 10.

Italy saw Ignazio Abate back from injury at right-back in place of Federico Balzaretti for the final, which started after a short closing ceremony in front of 64,000 fans in Kiev — with Spain’s crown prince Felipe in attendance along with the Prime Ministers from both finalist countries, Mariano Rajoy and Mario Monti, and President Bronislaw Komorowski from Euro co-hosts Poland.

Spain’s famed passing game swiftly shaped up, and they took the lead in the 14th minute after Sergio Ramos and Xavi had aimed high.

Iniesta sent a surgical pass into the back of the Italian defence into the path of Fabregas, who shook off Giorgio Chiellini and crossed shortly before the touchline for Silva to send a thumping header into the roof of the net.

Italy responded with a series of corner kicks to their first deficit of the tournament but their mood didn’t get better when Chiellini had to limp out injured in the 20th and was replaced by Balzaretti.

Spain sat back a little bit and Iker Casillas just got his hand on a cross with Mario Balotelli lurking right behind him. The keeper was also on his guard against two shots from Antonio Cassano as Italy forced their way back into the game.

But just as Italy and their playmaker Andrea Pirlo semed to have found their rhythm Spain struck again in the 41st. The left-back Alba fed Xaxi in midfield, raced down the pitch and got a perfect pass back to beat Gianluigi Buffon with a deft left-footer. Prandelli brought Antonio di Natale for Cassano in the second-half and the Udinese captain headed inches high less than a minute after the restart.

Fabregas came close twice on the other end and Spain appealed in vain to Portuguese referee Pedro Proenca for a penalty in the 48th when replays showed that Leonardo Bonucci clearly handled the ball off Ramos’ header.

Prandelli tried to contain Spain with Thiago Motta in midfield for Riccardo Montolivo but the idea was shortlived, as Motta seemingly injured his hamstring and had to be taken off on a stretcher.

With Pirlo and Balotelli, the two-goal hero against Germany, well marked, and being one man up, Spain had no further trouble seeing out the game, which now lacked the class and flair of its first hour.

But there was time for two more goals, in the 84th when Torres, on for Fabregas, put away another super pass from Xavi, and Torres then fed the final substitute Mata in the 88th as Spain also got the biggest winning margin in a Euro final — beating West Germany’s 3-0 over the Soviet Union from 1972.

Preview of Euro Cup Finals Spain and Italy

On August 11, 2010, Estonia beat Faroe Islands in the opening qualifying match for Euro 2012. Thus began the journey of 53 European nations to today’s final in Kiev.

Now we’re down to the two best teams — the defending champions Spain and a rejuvenated Italy — who’ll battle it out for the Henri Delaunay Trophy, named after the UEFA president who created the continent’s biggest tournament.

The final represents a unique opportunity for Spain to win an unprecedented third consecutive major tournament.

Widely hailed as one of the best teams ever, Spain has continued to impress fans and experts with its “aesthetic football” and incisive passing. However, the lack of an in-form striker has meant La Furia Roja (The Red Fury, as the team is called by its fans) has struggled to score goals at Euro 2012.

Spain’s inability to score goals gains further importance as Italy has been known for its strong defence. However, to view Italy as a defensive team would be unfair to Cesare Prandelli’s side as the Italians have surprised everyone with their attacking football and Spain-like passing. All eyes will be on the Italian orchestrator, Andrea Pirlo, who has charmed the fans with his mastery of passing and possession.

Spain and Italy opened their campaign against each other with a 1-1 draw and the final, like their opening game, will be a clash of different styles.

While Spain looks to wear its opponents down with its relentless passing, Italy has adapted itself well to an ever-changing mix of formations and tactics throughout the tournament.

-Priyansh