DC T20 CRICKET TOURNAMENT – SEPT. 4-6, 2010 – FREE ADMISSION

CRICKET  IN THE CAPITOL: Labor Day Weekend Cricket Tournament at Mikie Gordon Memorial Park, Middleburg, Virginia. Cricket Council USA , a sports and entertainment management organization, has joined forces with CricketHappening to host and sponsor the 2010 DC T20 Cricket Tournament. The tournament will be held at the Mikie Gordon Memorial Park, Middleburg, Virginia from September 4 – 6, 2010. Four power-packed cricket teams representing the explosive Atlantic Region will compete for the DC T20 Championship Trophy and $5,000.00 in cash prizes.  The four cricket teams are: the US Tigers, Pak-America Lions, Virginia Warriors and Washington Senators.  As part of the U.S. Cricket Open Championship Series, the 2010 DC T20 Cricket Tournament organization will be represented at the this year’s prestigious U.S. Cricket Open to be held on December 3 – 5, 2010 at the Central Broward Regional Park, Lauderhill, Florida. “Washington D.C. and its surrounding area is home to many very talented cricket players.  It is our goal that the DC T20 Cricket Tournament, as an annual event, will become a cornerstone in the development timeline of cricket in the USA.  It will also serve as a stimulus for our boys’ and girls’ cricket academies,” stated DC T20 Tournament Chairman,  Siva Narapareddy.

2010 US Open men's and women's singles draws

 Fans could be treated to another Roger Federer-Rafael Nadal Grand Slam tournament final at the 2010 US Open on the men's side and a meeting of two former US Open champions in the women's final, as the men's and women's singles draws were revealed Thursday.

The draws were revealed in the US Open Draw Announcement Special, which was broadcast on ESPN2 and ESPN3.com with studio host Chris McKendry and analysts Mary Joe Fernandez and Brad Gilbert. At the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, Patrick McEnroe hosted the actual picking of names from the US Open Trophy, as defending champion Kim Clijsters, USTA President and Chairman of the Board Lucy Garvin and US Open Tournament Director Jim Curley took turns pulling names from the trophy, which were then announced by US Open Tournament Referee Brian Earley.

The top two men's and women's seeds and the 96 unseeded players were placed in the draw randomly the night before, with Thursday's draw ceremony placing the remaining seeded players into the drawsheets.

Clijsters, who returned to the WTA Tour late last summer from an over two-year retirement that included having her first daughter, Jada, won the US Open in just her third tournament back for her second title in Flushing Meadows. Coming back this year as the defending champion now feels a little different for her, but it brings back all the great feelings of winning last year and celebrating with her family.

"I feel good. Last year was a different feeling because it was my first Grand Slam back and being here last year, (with the US Open) having been my only Grand Slam win, was exciting," Clijsters said. "But to be here now to defend my title is a lot of fun, and it is exciting and brings back a lot of good emotions."

In the men's draw, Nadal will once again have to defeat No. 4 Andy Murray in the semifinals. The two met in the 2008 semifinals, a match Murray won over two days. Nadal is 8-4 overall against Murray but has lost four of their last five meetings on hardcourts. Nadal is looking for his first US Open title, which would give him his third Grand Slam tournament title this year and the career Grand Slam.

On Nadal's way to the semifinals, he could face Fernando Verdasco or David Nalbandian potentially in the quarterfinals.

McEnroe, an ESPN tennis commentator as well as the U.S. Davis Cup Captain and general manager of USTA Player Development, thought it was a good draw for Murray with his success on hardcourts.

"I think the biggest thing was which half Murray and Djokovic came up on. I think Murray is probably happy to be in Nadal's half," he said. "He matches up well with him on this surface."

In Murray's quarter, he could play American Sam Querrey in the fourth round and potentially No. 7 and 2010 Wimbledon finalist Tomas Berdych in the quarterfinals.

On the other side of the draw, five-time champion Federer has No. 5 Robin Soderling in his quarter as perhaps his likely only real threat to reaching the semifinals. Federer defeated Soderling in the quarterfinals last year.

A tough semifinal match, however, could await him in either No. 9 Andy Roddick or No. 3 Novak Djokovic. Federer defeated Djokovic in the semifinals of the 2009 US Open, in which he made his now-famous 'The Shot' that went between his legs for a winner.

Federer is looking to reach the US Open final for the seventh straight year and win his 17th career Grand Slam tournament title.

In Roddick's quarter of the draw, he could face No. 17 Gael Monfils in the third round and then No. 6 Nikolay Davydenko in the fourth round before a potential quarterfinal meeting with Djokovic.

As a whole, McEnroe thinks there will be a rematch of the 2008 US Open Final on the men's side, although he does think the draw works out well for Roddick, too.

"To me, the two favorites are Murray and Federer. I think Federer found his game again in Cincinnati (winning the title), and I think he will be happy that he has Murray on the other half," he said. "If you look at the draw in Federer's quarter, it looks pretty clear, although Soderling is a guy who could give you some trouble in the quarters. The other guy I think should be happy is Roddick. Roddick avoided Federer, Nadal and Murray - the guys who give him the most trouble - so I think the draw worked out pretty well for him."

The women's final could see two former US Open champions meeting, with defending champion Clijsters and two-time champion Venus Williams on one side of the draw and former champions Maria Sharapova and Svetlana Kuznetsova on the other.

Sharapova and Kuznetsova are in the same quarter of the draw, which could be the toughest, along with women's top seed Caroline Wozniacki, who lost to Clijsters in the final last year. Wozniacki drew the top seed, with world No. 1 Serena Williams having to withdraw due to a foot injury.

Wozniacki and Sharapova could meet as early as the fourth round, and then the winner could face Kuznetsova in the quarters.

The winner of that match could then face No. 4 Jelena Jankovic, who reached her only Grand Slam final at the 2008 US Open.

On the other side of the draw, two-time US Open champion Venus Williams looks to have a favorable section, with her biggest threat perhaps No. 10 Victoria Azarenka, who is looking for her first Grand Slam tournament title. The two could meet in the quarterfinals. 2010 French Open champion Francesca Schiavone also looms in that quarter of the draw.

In the semifinals, Williams could then face Clijsters. The two met in the fourth round of the 2009 US Open, with Clijsters advancing in three sets. In Clijsters' section of the draw, she could potentially play No. 5 Samantha Stosur in the quarterfinals or No. 12 Elena Dementieva.

Also lurking in that quarter of the draw are former world No. 1s Dinara Safina and Ana Ivanovic. Safina, the No. 1 seed at the 2009 US Open, opens against Daniela Hantuchova.

Clijsters looks at her first-round match - against Greta Arn of Hungary - and then does not like to map out her path through the draw too much past that, knowing how quickly things can change.

"I am one of the players who does not look too far ahead," she said. "I look at the first rounds, and there are some good first-round matches coming up. So much can happen before you maybe eventually play a seeded player. There is no point in looking far ahead because upsets happen all the time."

Liriano shines as Twins best Lee, Rangers

ARLINGTON -- The Twins were one of the teams considered to be a front-runner for Cliff Lee when the left-handed ace was on the trading block in early July. Instead, Lee wound up getting traded to Texas and the Twins looked within their own club to find help for their struggling rotation.
On Thursday night, the Twins got their first chance to face Lee since the Rangers acquired him on July 9, but it was Minnesota's own lefty, not Lee, who delivered the more impressive performance in the series finale.
Liriano held the Rangers to two runs over seven innings and struck out six while the Twins tagged Lee for five runs in five innings. And the Twins avoided getting swept in the four-game series by closing it out with a 6-4 victory over Texas at the Rangers Ballpark in Arlington.
This start seemed to be a big one for Liriano.
The Twins had pushed the left-hander's outing back a couple days due to some concern that Liriano was battling a case of dead arm. And whether or not it was the extra rest, Liriano certainly looked about as strong as he has all season in the early innings of the win.
"I feel way better," Liriano said. "I think when you feel better, you can do things better too."
Thanks to his ability to attack the strike zone and get ahead of the Rangers hitters early in the count, Liriano improved to 12-7 on the year. The 12 wins match the lefty's career high set back during his tremendous 2006 rookie season.
The numbers this season aren't a surprise considering that Liriano has started to look more like the pitcher he was prior to undergoing Tommy John surgery. The dominance that Liriano showed in his rookie year will likely never be replicated, but Liriano has certainly recaptured some of the form that made him a top of the rotation starter in '06.
"He had good stuff," Rangers third baseman Michael Young said. "He got ahead early and that was a big key. Liriano's stuff is as good as any left-hander and the key was he got ahead. He was able to use that good slider and that good changeup late in the count. He was extremely tough late in the count."
Liriano held the Rangers to just one hit over the first 5 2/3 innings of his start. His first hit came on a two-out single to Jorge Cantu in the second inning. Following Cantu's single, Liriano retired 12 straight batters before giving up an infield single to Young on a liner back up the middle that hit off the heel of his glove hand and bounced toward third base. But Liriano remained in the game.
While Liriano cruised through much of his start, the Twins built him a sizable lead. Delmon Young hit a three-run homer in the second inning off Lee and Michael Cuddyer added a two-run double with two outs in the third to make it a 5-0 Twins lead.
"If he makes a mistake, you have to capitalize on it," Young said of Lee. "We did that today. Usually a lot of times we foul it off, but today when we did get a pitch out over the plate, we were able to put good wood on it, which is rare when you are facing a guy like that."
Jim Thome hit career home run No. 582 in the sixth inning off reliever Alexi Ogando to extend Minnesota's lead to 6-0. The 430-foot solo shot to center field put Thome one homer shy of tying Mark McGwire for ninth place on the all-time list.
Liriano couldn't keep Texas scoreless, giving up two runs in his final inning of work as the Rangers finally got to him. Texas scored twice that inning on an RBI single by David Murphy off Cuddyer's glove at first and a sacrifice fly by Andres Blanco.
Things got a little tight toward the end of the contest. Vladimir Guerrero belted a two-run homer to left field off Matt Guerrier with two outs in the eighth to cut the Twins' lead to 6-4. That left closer Matt Capps to come on and try to close the game out in the ninth. He retired the side in order to capture his sixth save with the Twins and 32nd overall on the season.
Still, it was another positive for the rotation that's seen many stellar starts after the team found itself out of the Lee sweepstakes. Twins starters are 18-7 with a 3.32 ERA since Brian Duensing was moved into the rotation on July 23.
Liriano has been one of the brightest spots in the rotation over that time. He is undefeated since the All-Star break, going 6-0 with a 2.47 ERA in eight starts.
The Rangers, meanwhile, haven't had as much luck with Lee. His loss on Thursday night brought his record to 2-5 with a 4.50 ERA in 10 starts since coming to Texas. The team is 3-7 overall when Lee takes the mound.
The Twins had originally planned to have Liriano start Monday against the Rangers and not throw a bullpen between his outings. But when Kevin Slowey suffered a strained triceps and Nick Blackburn was called up to join the rotation, the Twins took the opportunity to push Liriano's start back from Monday to Thursday -- giving him extra rest and the chance to throw a slight bullpen on the side.
Liriano's fatigue at this point in the year is not a surprise considering that he estimates he threw around 50 innings in winter ball in the Dominican Republic this past offseason. But that was the time when Liriano regained the confidence that he had lost while going 5-13 with a 5.80 ERA for the Twins in 2009. So he considers winter ball to be a big reason why he's pitching like he is this season.
"I got my confidence back and my arm feels great," Liriano said. "I was throwing harder. It was a good thing for me to do."
But that doesn't mean he'll continue to pitch that much every winter.
"I won't pitch winter ball this year, not at all," Liriano said. "I think I need a break."
Just not until after the Twins' season is over and the club, who kept a 3 1/2-game lead over the White Sox in the American League Central with the victory on Thursday, is hoping that won't be the case for quite some time.