Others
What is it about French Open clay that makes for surprises?
Why is the French Open more likely to produce first-time and one-time Grand Slam champions than the Australian Open, Wimbledon or the U.S. Open? Why are there so many surprising results at Roland Garros? What distinguishes its red clay from the surfaces used at the three other major tennis tournaments?
THE CLAY
The French Open is the only Grand Slam tournament held on clay courts — which actually aren’t made of clay, but rather the dust from red brick on top of a layer of crushed white limestone.
Wimbledon, which begins this year on June 27, is famously contested on grass. The U.S. Open, which starts on Aug. 29, and Australian Open, held in January, each uses a different type of hard court.
The softness and speed-absorbing grab of clay courts slow down shots more than the other surfaces do, dulling speedy serves and groundstrokes. The clay’s grittiness magnifies the effect of heavy spin (think of 13-time Roland Garros champion Rafael Nadal’s uppercut lefty forehands), creating higher arcs as the balls rebound off the ground.
“Clay is a completely different surface from hard courts and grass,” said Tamara Zidansek, who reached the semifinals in Paris a year ago while ranked 85th. “It’s such a specific surface.”
Because booming serves and quick-strike forehands relied on by so many players are not as effective on clay as hard or grass courts, there is an increased reward for strategy, for switching speeds and spins, for drop shots.
Read: Asia Cup Hockey: Bangladesh suffer 0-8 defeat to Pakistan
“On clay, you have to hit a lot of balls to win matches. If you’re not quite 100 percent confident, it really shows up,” said International Tennis Hall of Fame member Martina Navratilova, who won two of her 18 Grand Slam titles at the French Open. “It’s harder to win matches when you’re not playing well.”
Katerina Siniakova, a Grand Slam doubles champion who beat then-No. 1 Naomi Osaka in the third round in Paris while ranked 42nd in 2019, described the effect of clay this way: “You have to really win the point. It’s not as easy as the hard courts to win a point, because it’s not so fast. A more creative player can play better on clay and use it as an advantage for them. You can’t use as much slice or drop shots on hard courts.”
ENDURANCE
Points tend to be longer. So do matches: Women’s matches in Paris last year averaged 1 hour, 39 minutes, 42 seconds; that’s 3 minutes longer than at the U.S. Open, more than 6 minutes longer than at the Australian Open, and more than 8 minutes longer than at Wimbledon. Men’s matches — which are best-of-five-sets; women’s are best-of-three — averaged 2 hours, 39 minutes, 24 seconds in 2021, 11 minutes longer than at the Australian Open and 6 minutes longer than at Wimbledon. Matches at the 2021 U.S. Open averaged 2 hours, 50 minutes, 35 seconds, but were shorter than at Roland Garros in previous years over the past decade.
THE ELEMENTS
All surfaces can be effected by the temperature, but clay courts tend to alter more in extreme heat and cold — Nadal’s quarterfinal win over No. 1 seed and defending champion Novak Djokovic in Paris on Tuesday night was contested with the temperature in the 50s Fahrenheit (teens Celsius) — or on a damp or breezy day.
“Grass does change a little, but I feel like the clay is alive. You have to play with it,” said Felix Auger-Aliassime, a semifinalist at last year’s U.S. Open. “Sometimes the clay is more dry and the bounce is going to be different. Other weeks, it’s very humid and very soft and it plays differently. The whole clay swing, from one week to another, the conditions change a lot.”
Read: Maharashtra Int'l GM Chess: Bangladeshi GM Enamul Hossain Razib shares 3rd place
It can be as simple as wind blowing dust off the top of the court at Roland Garros, creating patches that are thicker or thinner.
“I feel like people sometimes forget, because it’s red and it looks the same, but they don’t see the amount of clay,” said Tokyo Olympics gold medalist Belinda Bencic, who grew up mostly playing on indoor hard courts in Switzerland. “They don’t see how it changes. They don’t see how fast it is or how hard. You can’t see that on TV.”
MOVEMENT
Footwork is crucial on clay, which allows players to slide into shots. The trick is to do that properly.
Bencic, for example, says her open-stance way of hitting and lack of play on clay growing up make that aspect harder for her.
“My movement is not really made for clay. I have a huge advantage on grass because of my stance,” she said. “I have to think about it on clay. It doesn’t come naturally.”
THE SPECIALISTS
Some players, particularly from Europe or South America, learn the sport on clay. Folks agree that can be a significant advantage.
“You get a lot of guys that it is ... their ‘home’ surface, kind of what they grew up playing on. That’s what suits their game and so they’re much more comfortable on it than I am,” said Taylor Fritz, an American seeded 13th in Paris who lost to Bernabe Zapata Miralles, a Spanish qualifier ranked outside the top 125. “And maybe I wouldn’t lose to lots of these people on a hard court, but on a clay court, on any given day, there’s definitely more people that I could lose to.”
THE SEASON
There are far fewer events on clay than hard courts. The ATP calendar for 2022 includes 39 tournaments on hard courts, 12 on clay and eight on grass. The current WTA program for this season shows 30 on hard courts, 14 on clay and seven on grass.
So it stands to reason that pros might prefer to focus their efforts on the more frequently used surfaces.
Also, as Djokovic explained, there is an adjustment when the European clay-court circuit that leads up to the French Open arrives.
“Historically it always has required some time and several tournaments to really feel comfortable playing on clay,” he said. “Rarely did I feel my best on clay in the first or second tournament in the season.”
Maharashtra Int'l GM Chess: Bangladeshi GM Enamul Hossain Razib shares 3rd place
Bangladeshi Grand Master Enamul Hossain Razib shared the 3rd position in the First Maharashtra Open Grandmaster Chess Tournament with 14 others players securing three points each after the 4rd round matches held in the Indian town of Pune in Maharashtra, India on Thursday (June 2).GM Razib drew with Indian IM Ramnathan Balasubramaniam in the 3rd round game on Wednesday while he beat Indian FM Ayush Sharma in the 4th round match Thursday morning.
Read: Asia Cup Hockey: Bangladesh suffer 0-8 defeat to PakistanA total of 142 players from 13 countries, including 20 grandmasters, 5 women grandmasters, 29 International Masters and 8 Women International Masters are taking part in the event.
Asia Cup Hockey: Bangladesh suffer 0-8 defeat to Pakistan
Bangladesh conceded a humiliating 0-8 goal defeat against former World Cup, Olympics and Asia Cup champions Pakistan in the 5th place deciding match of the Hero Asia Cup Hockey '2022 at the GBK Hockey Field in the Indonesian capital Jakarta on Wednesday (June 1).
After the match, Bangladesh, which achieved their ever-best world ranking of 27 in the FIH Men's Field Hockey a couple of days ago, had to satisfy with the 6th place in the eight- nation Asia Cup Hockey' 2022.
In the day's keenly contested final, South Korea clinched the prestigious Asia Cup Hockey crown for a record 5th times after 1994, 1999, 2009 and 2013, beating formidable Malaysia by 2-1 goals at the same venue Wednesday evening.
Jang Hyun of South Korea was adjudged the best player of the Tournament while Razie Rahim of Malaysia named as the highest scorer of the Tournament scoring 13 goals..
Earlier, In the day's 3rd place deciding match, last time champions India finished 3rd in the just concluded Hero Asia Cup beating Japan by 1-0 goal at the same venue Wednesday afternoon.
With the frustrating defeat in the day's 5th place deciding match, Bangladesh's losing record against four times World champions, three times Olympics and Asia Cup champions Pakistan has continued, since their first meeting in 1982.
Earier, Pakistan beat Bangladesh 9-0 in 1982, 1-0 in the Asia Cup in Dhaka in 1985, 6-0 in 1999, 8-0 in 2003, 10-0 in 2007, 7-0 in 2017 and 6-2 in Dhaka in 2021.
In the match against Bangladesh, Mubashar Ali struck two, Ali Rizwan, Afraz, Abdul Shahid, captain Umar Bhutta, Ajaz Ahmed and Ghazanfar Ali scored one each for Pakistan, which dominated the first half by 2-0 goals.
Earlier, Bangladesh finished 3rd in the four-team Pool B of the Asia Cup Hockey 2022 beating Oman by 2-1 goals in group match and entered the dream battle of 5th place beating hosts Indonesia by 4-2 goals in a classification match last Sunday.
Pakistan, which finished 3rd in the four-team Pool A of the Asia Cup, entered the 5th place battle beating Pool B bottom team Oman by 5-2 goals in another classification match last Saturday.
Prizes of Inter-Bank Chess Tournament distributed
The prize distribution ceremony of the Inter-Bank Chess Tournament’ 2022, organised by Bangladesh Chess Federation and co-organised by Like Mart and Sports Bangla was held at the Chess Federation Hall-Room of the National Sports Council Tuesday afternoon. Chairman of the Palli Sanchay Bank M. Akram-Al-Hossain was the chief guest at the day’s function and later he distributed prizes among the winners.
Also read:Inter-Bank Chess Championship prize distribution ceremony Tuesday
Deputy Managing Director of Sonali Bank Limited M. Mojibur Rahman, General Manager of Janata Bank Limited Masfiul Bari, President of the meet co-organiser Sports-Bangla Arifuzzaman Arif, among others, were present at the function, chaired by vice president of Bangladesh Chess Federation KM Shahidullah. Champions Janata Bank Limited received a cash prize money of Taka 1,00,000 (one lac) ,runners-up Sonali Bank Limited got Tk 50,000 (fifty thousand), and the 3rd ranked BRAC Bank richer with Tk 25,000 (twenty five thousand) in addition to trophies and medals.
Also read: Asian Online Chess: Bappi Sarkar of Bangladesh stands 6th Besides, all the participating teams were awarded with the trophies.
Asia Cup Hockey: Bangladesh take on mighty Pakistan on Wednesday
Bangladesh will play former World Cup, Olympics and Asia Cup champions Pakistan in the 5th place deciding classification match of the Asia Cup Hockey '2022 on Wednesday (June 1).
The match will kick-off at 12:30 pm Bangladesh time at the GBK Hockey Field in the Indonesian capital Jakarta.
Also read:Asia Cup Hockey: Bangladesh beat Indonesia 4-2, play Pakistan on Wednesday
In the last meeting, four times World champions, three times Olympics and Asia Cup champions Pakistan outplayed Bangladesh by 6-2 goals in the Asian Champions Trophy in Dhaka last year.
Bangladesh never won any match against Pakistan since their first meeting in 1982.
Pakistan beat Bangladesh 9-0 in 1982, 1-0 in the Asia Cup in Dhaka in 1985, 6-0 in 1999, 8-0 in 2003, 10-0 in 2007, 7-0 in 2017 and 6-2 in Dhaka in 2021.
Bangladesh, which achieved their ever-best world ranking of 27 in the Men's Field Hockey, published by FIH very recently, entered the dream battle of 5th place after beating hosts Indonesia by 4-2 goals in another classification match last Sunday.
This was the 4th consecutive win for Bangladesh against Indonesia within last two months.
Bangladesh beat Indonesia 7-2 in the AHF Cup Hockey in Jakarta last March, again defeated Indonesia 3-1 in the Asian Games Hockey Qualifier in Bangkok early this month and beat Indonesia last by 2-1 goals in a preparatory match ahead of the ongoing Hero Men's Asia Cup Hockey' 2022.
Also read: Asia Cup Hockey: Bangladesh concede 1-8 goal defeat against Malaysia
Earlier, Bangladesh finished 3rd in the four-team Pool B of the ongoing Asia Cup Hockey securing three points from three matches after beating their traditional rivals Oman by 2-1 goals.
Pakistan, which finished 3rd in the four-team Pool A of the Asia Cup, entered the 5th place battle beating Pool B bottom team Oman by 5-2 goals at the same venue last Saturday.
Inter-Bank Chess Championship prize distribution ceremony Tuesday
The prize distribution ceremony of the Inter-Bank Chess Team Championship 2022 will be held at the National Sports Council Tuesday.
Palli Sanchay Bank Chairman Md Akram-Al-Hossain will hand out prizes to the winners of the competition organised by the Bangladesh Chess Federation, Like Mart, and Sports -Bangla.
Also Read: Asian Online Chess: Bappi Sarkar of Bangladesh stands 6th
Janata Bank became unbeaten champion in the inter-bank chess tournament, securing 13 points.
Sonali Bank finished runners-up with 9 points.
Asian Online Chess: Bappi Sarkar of Bangladesh stands 6th
Two Bangladeshi players --Bappi Sarkar and Syed Ejaz Hossain became 6th and 7th in the Visual Impaired Open Group of the Asian Online Chess Championships for Players with Disabilities.
Both Bappi and Ejaz both scored three points each from five games and Bappi finished sixth and Ejaz seventh in the tie-breaking system.
Marufa Azad Sukanna of Bangladesh bagged three points from five matches and was placed 4th in the Disability Women's Group.
Also Read: KIIT Int’l Chess: Bangladeshi GM Ziaur Rahman finish 15th
Sharmi Roy of Bangladesh finished 9th with one point.
The three-day event took place on the online chess platform Tornelo.
KIIT Int’l Chess: Bangladeshi GM Ziaur Rahman finish 15th
Bangladeshi Grandmaster Ziaur Rahman finished 15th in the Category ‘A’ Grand Masters Chess event of the 13th KIIT International Chess securing seven points from 10 matches held in the Indian city of Bhubaneswar, Odisha on Sunday
GM Zia earned 7 points from 10 matches games and
Zia settled for tie for in the 11th place and finished 15th in the tie-breaking system.
Also Read: KIIT Int’l Chess: Bangladesh GM Ziaur Rahman earns 5.5 points
In the 9th round matches on Saturday, GM Zia drew with FM Ram Aravind of India and in the day’s 10th round match GM Zia beat WGM Kiran Manisha Mohanty of India.
GM Amonatov Farrukh of Tajikistan emerged champion with 8.5 points.
A total 175 players from 10 countries including 11 Grandmasters, one Woman Grandmaster, 14 International Master and one Woman International Master took part in the event.
Asia Cup Hockey: Bangladesh beat Indonesia 4-2, play Pakistan on Wednesday
Bangladesh beat hosts Indonesia by 4-2 goals in a classification match to secure the 6th place in the eight-nation Hero Men's Asia Cup Hockey' 2022 at the GBK Hockey Field in Jakarta Sunday afternoon.
This was the 4th consecutive win for Bangladesh against Indonesia in last two months.
Also read: Asia Cup Hockey: Bangladesh to play Indonesia on Sunday
Bangladesh beat Indonesia 7-2 in the AHF Cup Hockey in Jakarta last March, again defeated Indonesia 3-1 in the Asian Games Hockey Qualifier in Bangkok early this month and beat Indonesia last by 2-1 goals in a preparatory match ahead of the ongoing Hero Men's Asia Cup Hockey' 2022.
Bangladesh will now battle for the dream 5th place against their sub-continental world giant and three times Asia Cup champions Pakistan in a place deciding classification match on Wednesday (June 1) at 12:30 pm Bangladesh time.
In the day' s match, forward Rashel Mahmud Jimmy, Ashraful Islam, Deen Mohammad Emon and Pushkar Khisa Mimo scored for Bangladesh while Al Akbar Abdullah and Ardam scored one each for the hosts Indonesia.
Rashel put Bangladesh ahead in the 13th minute by a brilliant hit to open box after beating opponent custodian, from a counter attack (1-0).
Al Akbar levelled the margin scoring the first goal for Indonesia in the ongoing Asia Cup Hockey by a cool hit from a goalmouth melee in the 20th minute (1-1).
Just few seconds later, Ashraful scored the 2nd goal for Bangladesh from a penalty corner (2-1).
Deen Mohammad further widened the Bangladesh margin scoring a field goal in the 24th minute by a good deflection (3-1).
Ardam made the match exciting scoring the 2nd goal for Indonesia in 36th minute, also from a penalty corner (3-2).
Pushkar sealed the fate of the match scoring a field goal for Bangladesh from a close range, just one minute before the final whistle (4-2).
Also read: Asia Cup Hockey: Bangladesh concede 1-8 goal defeat against Malaysia
Earlier, Bangladesh finished 3rd in the four-team Pool B of the tournament securing three points from three matches after beating their traditional rivals Oman by 2-1 goals.
Pakistan, which finished 3rd in the four-team Pool A of the Asia Cup, entered the fight for the 5th place beating Pool B bottom team Oman by 5-2 at the same venue last Saturday.
KIIT Int’l Chess: Bangladesh GM Ziaur Rahman earns 5.5 points
Grandmaster Ziaur Rahman of Bangladesh earned five and half points in Category A Grand Masters Chess event of the 13th KIIT International Chess Festival after the 8th round matches held in the Indian city of Bhubaneswar, Odisha on Friday.
Read: Singapore Open Gymnastics: Ali Kader Haque of Bangladesh wins silver medal
In the 8th round match held on Friday (Mat 27), Grandmaster Zia lost to Belarus Grandmaster Stupak Kirill.
Two other Bangladeshi players Jodunath Biswas and Kaumudi Nargis earned 2 points each, also playing eight games.