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7 records set in school games
Rain plays spoilsport Karnataka dismissed for 209 India, Pak ‘ruined Aussie
summer’ TT singles title for Naveen First day’s play called off PSB Academy rout ASC, enter semis
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Paes, Fazal fail to win doubles LUCKNOW, Feb 5 (PTI) — The world’s best doubles player, Leander Paes, could not cope with the erratic weather and an inconsistent partner as India lost the crucial doubles tie to Lebanon to have their lead reduced to 2-1 in the Davis Cup Asia-Oceania Group I first round rubber here today. Paes and Syed Fazaluddin were beaten 7-6 (7/2), 6-7 (3/7), 6-4, 3-6, 4-6 by Lebanon’s Hicham Zaatini and Ali Hamadeh in three hours and 15 minutes after rain stopped play for 20 minutes. Paes showed glimpses of his brilliant serve and volley game, but a largely pathetic show by Fazaluddin dashed India’s hopes of taking an unassailable 3-0 lead and a place in the next round against either South Korea or Japan. India will now depend on Paes to give them a victory in the reverse singles tomorrow against the top-ranked Lebanese, Zaatini. Fazaluddin faces Hamadeh in the fifth and final tie of the rubber in the other reverse singles. In the absence of the injured Mahesh Bhupathi, with whom he makes up the world’s top-ranked doubles pair, Paes struggled to combine well with Fazaluddin early on as the latter misread calls to lose many a point. After both the teams had fought tooth and nail to win two sets each, the Lebanese pair dominated the Indians with their immense stamina and chose Fazaluddin as the weak spot to attack. Fazaluddin made several mistakes, helping Zaatini and Hamadeh score easy points, and Paes could do little but watch as the Lebanese repeatedly forced his partner into a corner and gained vital points in the deciding set. The Indians also cannot escape the charge of complacency after taking a 2-0 lead by winning the opening day’s singles against the same Lebanese players yesterday. The Indian duo survived a three match-points on Fazaluddin’s serve in the ninth game of the fifth set before Paes hit a forehand crosscourt winner to delay the inevitable. The US-based Hamadeh came out firing on all cylinders in the 10th game and Fazaluddin twice hit his returns wide. After facing two match points at 15-40, Paes hit Hamadeh’s serve into the net to end the three-hour struggle. The Paes-Fazaluddin combination again failed for India. The duo had lost to Japan’s Satoshi Iwabuchi and Takahiro Terachi in the semifinals of the Asia Cup last November, costing the hosts a place in the final. After the first set went into a tie-breaker, there was a new vigour in India’s approach. The Indians raced to a 4-0 lead but Lebanon reduced it to 4-2 before Paes volleyed superbly to win the set 7-6 (7/2). The second set went on the same lines but Hamadeh showed better understanding of the game and served well to help Lebanon hang on. In the tie-breaker, Paes lost a point on his serve and then Fazaluddin handed one to allow Zaatini and Hamadeh to win 7-3. Strangely, the balls being used in this Davis Cup tie are of an indian company, as against internationally used brands, and Paes was very unhappy with the bounce. ‘‘How do you hit these watermelons. They’re going to go nowhere,’’ Paes shouted aloud as he struggled with his first serves. The first break came in
the third game of the third set with some excellent
returns of Hamadeh’s serve by Paes. Paes was at his
best again in the 10th game, in which he held his serve
at love and closed out the set 6-4 with a deep serve
which Zaatini returned into the net. |
Giants fight for survival in Davis Cup world group PARIS, Feb 5 (AFP) — The giants of tennis were struggling to keep their country’s Davis Cup hopes alive last evening as big names hit the dust on the first day of the World Group first round matches in the Davis Cup Tennis Tournament. Teenager Roger Federer defused the potent serve of Mark Philippoussis to score a shock four-set win lifting Switzerland into a 1-1 draw with defending champions Australia in Zurich. Last year’s finalists France though were facing elimination at the hands of Brazil, who grabbed an early 2-0 lead on the clay courts of Florianapolis. Fernando Meligini overcame French number one Cedric Pioline in five sets, while Gustavo Kuerten made it a double when he beat Jerome Golmard in four sets in front of an enthusiastic home crowd. And in Harare Zimbabwean number one Byron Black defeated Chris Woodruff in straight sets to go level 1-1 with the United States in the opening match of an encounter dubbed a “David and Goliath” clash. Earlier, world number one Andre Agassi defeated Byron’s brother Wayne 7-5, 6-3, 7-5. Federer stunned Phillippoussis 6-4, 7-6 (7/3), 4-6, 6-4 to pull the Swiss level after Australian number one Lleyton Hewitt had earlier beaten George Bastl 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4. The 18-year-old was outstanding against Philippoussis — who was the hero of Australia’s final victory over France in Nice two months ago but flopped miserably at Saalsportsalle. Federer, a former world number one junior who has been tipped as a future top 10 player, kept cool under pressure despite Philippoussis hammering down 19 aces. The Australians, however, remain the favourites to qualify for quarter-finals. They boast top 20-ranked singles players in Hewitt and Philippoussis and won the cup for the 27th time by beating France in the final in Nice in December. In Florianapolis, Meligini took 3 hours 34min to secure a difficult 7-5, 5-7, 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 victory over Pioline, who is spearheading this year’s French campaign. While 1997 French Open winner Kuerten had an easier 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 win over Golmard in the Brazilian’s home town. With the score all square in his corner a disappointed US team captain John McEnroe, who felt the pressure from the drum beats and high level of noise from an enthusiastic home crowd, said he would have prefered to have played his first tie as captain somewhere in America. Britain’s Tim Henman produced a monumental fightback to keep his country’s Davis Cup hopes alive as the Czech Republic equalised 1-1 in the Davis Cup World Group first round tie. The British number one recovered from two sets down to beat Slava Dosedel in an epic encounter in Ostrava. The 25-year-old dug deep and, roared on by the noisy band of travelling British supporters, stormed back to win a gruelling contest 6-7 (4/7), 5-7, 6-1, 7-5, 6-3 in 4hr 22min. Czech number one Jiri Novak revived his country’s hopes when he overcame British number three Jamie Delgado in straight sets 6-4, 7-6 (7/4), 6-3 later in the day. “It’s definitely one of if not the most satisfying victory of my career,” said a delighted Henman, well aware that a win was essential with British number two Greg Rusedski out injured. Spanish duo of Albert Costa and Alex Corretja forged an important 2-0 lead for the home side against fellow Latins, Italy. Costa scored a 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 victory over Italy’s Davide Sanguinetti, with Corretja later disposing of Andrea Gaudenzi 4-6, 6-1, 6-1, 6-1 Meanwhile, in a game interrupted by a power failure in Brataslava, Slovak Dominik Herbaty came back to beat Austria’s Stefan Koubek 6-4, 6-4, 6-4. Earlier, Slovakian number one Karol Kucera had easily disposed of Austrian Markus Hipfl 6-2, 6-3, 6-3. Russian number one Yevgeny Kafelnikov gave his team a good start when he beat Belgian Filip Dewulf in four sets 6-7 (3/7), 6-4, 7-5, 6-2. The 1995 finalists later took a 2-0 lead when Marat Safin took one hour 55 minutes to defeat Christophe Rochus 7-5, 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 at Moscow’s Olympic Stadium. While Germany and the
Netherlands were tied at 1-1 in Leipzig when Thomas Haas
beat Dutchman John Van Lottus 4-6, 7-6 (7/4), 6-3, 6-2.
The Dutch came back with Sjeng Schalken beating
Germany’s Rainer Schuttler 3-6, 7-6 (7/2), 6-1, 6-0. |
Rain may delay reverse singles LUCKNOW, Feb 5 (PTI) — The India-Lebanon Asia-Oceania Group I Davis Cup tie may be stretched to Monday after heavy thundershowers lashed the city this evening. Rain came down two hours after the end of today’s doubles match, sending the organisers running for the covers. By the time the court was covered there were already puddles in the playing area and it would be surprising if play starts on time tomorrow. India’s Leander
Paes is to play the first reverse singles against
Lebanon’s Hicham Zaatini and Syed Fazaluddin is to
take on Ali Hamadeh in the concluding match. |
Another
milestone for Agassi ANDRE Agassi, the world’s No 1 player and only the fifth player in history to win a career grand slam, added another milestone to his career in Melbourne. By beating Pete Sampras at this year’s Australian Open, he became the first player since Rod Laver in 1969 to reach four consecutive grand slam singles finals. Then he went on to beat the Russian Yevgeny Kafelnikov in a four-set final repeating his win over the No 2 player after he lost the first set just as he did at the 1999 US Open. Agassi’s win over Sampras lived up to the hype and anticipation that was created by both television and the print media before their semi-final. The five-set thriller kept everyone watching on television and at the site, absolutely riveted to the seats. When the match reached one-set all and the third set went into a tiebreak, the best player of the decade, Pete Sampras, raised the level of his game another notch and some magnificent tennis gave him the tiebreak. That’s when it looked like Sampras might have crossed the biggest hurdle. But Agassi, the best player in the world, has grown into his world champion status and matured beautifully in his tennis. Serving behind in the fourth set, down two sets to one against a player of Sampras’ caliber is no easy task. His strength of heart and his hard work along with his mental toughness took him through a fourth set tiebreak that was pure magic. The fifth set was Agassi all the way with no let up whatsoever. The final was almost a mere formality with the American’s win never in question. The women’s final pitted the No 1 and No 2 seeds against each other and the only memorable piece of that match besides the magnificent performance by Lindsay Davenport was the spirited comeback by Martina Hingis late in the second set. But once again the result was never in question. The American was certainly the better player on the day. The player to watch this year after the first grand slam event is the young Australian Lleyton Hewitt who had a brilliant start to the year by winning both Adelaide and Sydney and reaching the round of 16 at the Australian Open. He also helped Australia to the Davis Cup final where they overpowered France on clay in Nice. The player everyone missed at the Australian Open was Pat Rafter who still has not fully recovered from his shoulder injury. We can only hope he gets back soon, as he really is a great asset to the tour. Among the girls, Kournikova and Mirijana Lucic will be players to watch this year, while the Williams sisters will always be a force to reckon with. They have set an amazing standard of fitness and athletic ability and the others are going to have to follow. Sort of the way Martina Navratilova did in the 1980s. Women’s tennis has some incredible young players, each with their own individual and original personalities that makes them marvelous to watch. Men’s tennis, after Sampras and Agassi, will need more players like Lleyton Hewitt who is brash, aggressive and wonderfully talented to continue and take the game to new heights. Ability and talent is abundant on the men’s tour and the quality of tennis is outstanding with every match from round one, but we can’t afford to lose the television audience. The race for the 2000
World Championships has started and Agassi is at the top
of the heap where he belongs. Professional Management
Group. |
ITI hope
to improve showing against JCT LUDHIANA, Feb 5 — Winners of the Karnataka League for the past 17 years, Indian Telephone Industries (ITI), Bangalore, will be keen to put up an improved show against JCT, Phagwara, in their sixth away match of the National Football League here tomorrow. Currently trailing at the tenth spot with 11 points from 12 outings, ITI had lost the home match against JCT at Bangalore 1-3. The south Indian outfit commenced the second phase with another defeat against Mohun Bagan. However, according to Mr Prasad Shetty, team manager, it was poor referring which let them down at Calcutta on February 1 as one goal which they scored was disallowed.”We have already lodged a protest with the NFL committee in this regard.” revealed Shetty today. Playing in the NFL for the second year in running. ITI have so far won two matches. They beat Tollygunge 2-0 in a home match at Bangalore on January 6 and later shocked FC Kochin 2-1 in another home match on January 15. The team drew with Mahindras (0-0), Salgaocar (0-0), Mohun Bagan (0-0), Dempo (1-1) and BSF (0-0). The Karnataka League champions suffered reverses against East Bengal (1-3), Churchill Brothers (1-2), SBT (0-1), JCT (1-3) and Mohun Bagan (1-2). Coached by Nagendran, ITI have recruited four foreigners, including three Nigerians. They are right back Oneka, midfielder Gabriel, and striker George. The fourth foreigner, Yousuf Mahammed, who plays as stopper back, is from Oman. The team also has a couple of Manipuri players like Rajesh Meethi, Candid Maring and Khogen Singh. ITI’s defence is manned by skipper Sunil Kumar, Murlidhar, N. Jamal and Yousuf while Gabriel, Meethi and Candid control the midfield. The attack is spearheaded by George and RC Prakash. N. Balaji is the first-choice goalkeeper. ITI made headlines in 1977 by lifting the first Federation Cup. The team also emerged champions in the Stafford Cup. But that is now history. However, under the watchful eyes of Nagendran, ITI are striving to relive past glory through some breath-taking performances in the NFL. JCT, on the other hand, are better placed with 18 points from 12 outings. The team coached by Sukhwinder Singh and Parminder Singh has so far won four matches while drawing five. JCT have defeated Mohun Bagan, Tollygunge, BSF and ITI but lost to Salgaocar and Mahindras. The remaining six matches were drawn. The Phagwara outfit will
sorely miss the services of star midfielder Hardip
Sangha, who is yet to recover from an injury. In fact,
without Hardip Sangha and Hardip Gill, JCT’s attack
against FC Kochin was considerably blunted the other day.
Nevertheless, Jaswinder, Jaswant, Hardip Saini and Rampal
are capable of striking an effective combination and with
a sturdy defence manned by stopper-back Deepak Mondal,
Prabhjot Singh and Daljit Singh to fall back upon, the
medios and strikers may give ITI a tough time on the
morrow. The kick-off is at 2.30 p.m. |
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EAST LONDON (South Africa), Feb 5 (AFP) — South Africa scrambled to a crucial victory over England in their Standard Bank International triangular limited overs cricket match at Buffalo Park last night. Shaun Pollock hit two successive boundaries in the last over off Mark Ealham as South Africa won by two wickets, reaching 233 for eight with two balls to spare after restricting England to a modest 231 for six in 50 overs. The win took South Africa out of a logjam after they had been tied with Zimbabwe and England going into the last round of the league matches. The match was evenly poised throughout. Neil McKenzie (24) made a bright 37 in his second international and Jonty Rhodes made 42. But hard-hitting Lance Klusener, South Africa’s one-day cricket phenomenon, gave the innings vital momentum when he pounded the first two balls he faced for four at the start of a seventh-wicket stand of 38 with Rhodes at better than a run a ball. England’s Mark Alleyne took the man of the match award after a fine all-round performance. He hit 53, took three for 55 and held a great diving catch to dismiss Rhodes as the match went down to the wire. Rhodes’ dismissal meant Pollock came in with 11 needed off 10 balls and it was seven off four before Pollock played a delicate lap shot to fine leg for four off Ealham, then charged the next ball and pounded it on the full to the square leg boundary. Nick Knight hit 64 and Alleyne weighed in with his maiden international half-century as England made 231 for six after being sent in. It was the fifth time in successive matches that England captain Nasser Hussain had lost the toss — and South African captain Hansie Cronje’s fifth consecutive successful spin of the coin. Cronje’s decision to send England in was surprising on a slow pitch at a ground where the floodlights are not renowned for their brightness. The left-handed Knight
started aggressively but moderated his tempo as wickets
fell at the other end. He made 64 off 111 balls. |
Bankmen
get past BSF LUDHIANA, Feb 5 — State Bank of Travancore (SBT) edged past Border Security Force, Jalandhar, by a solitary goal to consolidate their position in the second and decisive phase of the National Football League at Guru Nanak Stadium here today. After a couple of unsuccessful attempts early on, SBT shot into the lead in the 15th minute through VP Shaji’s brilliant effort, when after latching on to the ball on top of the box, he raced in and gently placed the ball in the net with BSF custodian Bibhas Saha looking on helplessly. With today’s victory, SBT now have 20 points from six wins and two draws, while BSF’s tally remains unchanged at six points. SBT will now travel to Goa for another away match against Churchil Brothers while BSF will meet JCT here on February 14. Today’s defeat at the hands of SBT was incidentally the second one for BSF after they had lost the away match at Thiruvananthapuram on January 23. In all, Jalandhar outfit have lost nine matches so far. Today’s match was clearly dominated by the bankmen from the south. The team functioned like a well-oiled machine and in fact the margin of victory could have been higher had some of the chances not gone waste. BSF, as on earlier occasions, were let down by a lacklustre attack, although the defence and midfield did show promise. SBT made the first serious attempt in the ninth minute when, following Suresh Babu’s flag kick, Sunil Kumar rushed forward to receive the ball and his powerful grounder parallel to the goal-line saw VP Shaji making a vain bid to connect but goalkeeper Bibhas Saha made a timely collection. A long ranger by midfielder Lanel Thomas which landed on top of the box gave VP Shaji a good opportunity and he immediately moved in menacingly to beat Saha with a gentle lob with the defence caught off-guard. BSF counter-attacked through striker Gurjit Atwal and the veteran Gauranga Paul and midway through the first half. Atwal’s shot from the corner into the rival box was cleared by Jiju Jacob before Gauranga Paul could spell danger. SBT had another good chance in the 24th minute when Shaji got past Satinder and found himself in a one-to-one position with the goalkeeper but in haste he shot over. A few minutes before lemon time, the BSF citadel had a narrow escape when a Lanel Thomas lob from the left flank saw Shaji attempting a powerful left-footer but unluckily the ball struck the horizontal and bounced back into play. BSF’s Gurjit Atwal also made a good attempt when he despatched a grounder parallel to the goal-line for DS Negi but SBT defender Dipu Krishnan effected a timely clearance. The second half was a subdued affair and the two sides made a couple of substitutions. SBT, however, maintained a slight edge. On one occasion, Sunil Kumar had only the goalkeeper at his mercy but BSF custodian Saha rushed out of charge to thwart the move. SBT were again on the attack when Ashif Saheer managed to cut through before relaying the ball for Abdul Hakim inside the rival box. Hakim did make an attempt to head the ball but he missed its flight. In the dying minutes,
SBT almost conceded a self goal when Sunil Kumar
misdirected a header but luckily the ball went over the
goal-line. BSF also made a good attempt in the fag end,
when K Mobi Singh, who had come in place of Ranjit
Meetai, despatched a powerful shot from the left flan but
SBT goalkeeper Feroz Sheriff managed to collect the ball
with some difficulty to keep the lead intact for his
team. |
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THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, Feb 5 (PTI) — Seven records were set and Kerala were way ahead of the rest in the overall tally with 122 points after the morning session on the fifth day of the National School Games here today. In the relay events today, Kerala bagged four out of the six gold, setting three records. The new marks were set in boys U-19 by P. Sammaiah of Andhra Pradesh in 1500-m and Rajesh of Haryana in discus throw; in girls (U-19) by Gurpreet Kaur of Haryana in javelin and Naginder Kaur of Punjab in 1500-m; in boys U-17 by the Kerala 4x100 m relay squad, and girls U-17 Kerala 4x100 m relay team and U-14 Kerala 4x100 relay teams. In 1500 m for U-19
girls, Naginder Kaur, a plus two student of STAD
Government Higher Secondary School, Tarn Taran, timed
4:42.69 to better the record of 4:43.4 set by ace athlete
Sunita Rani in 1995. |
Rain hits
‘Rural Olympics’ KILA RAIPUR, Feb 5 — A heavy overnight downpur coupled with intermittent drizzle throughout the day played havoc with the proceedings on the second day of the Kila Raipur Sports Festival, as not even a single sports event could be held at the Grewal Sports Stadium here today. The organisers said the events had been postponed by a day and the finals of all events would now be held on February 7, and reports have it that certain events may even be scrapped, thereby taking the sting out of the sports festival. The playing arena inside the stadium was literally reduced to a vast mud-field, full of slush, even as hundreds of tractor trolleys were seen transporting sand from the adjoining villlage to the main stadium. The weather goods have ensured that everything went haywire on a day when razor sharp contests and some potentially high-voltage duels were on the cards, particularly in bullock cart racing, kabaddi and hockey. The organisers however, have not lost hope and along with the villagers, are making an effort to save the games. Efforts are on to dry up the playing arena not only inside the stadium but also the two hockey grounds located in the high school adjacent to the main stadium. Although a final decison has yet to be taken, the organisers are toying with the idea of holding the Junior Hockey League and matches of the Bhagwant Memorial Gold Gup at the Punjab agriculture university (PAU) astro-turf. Apart from sprinkling sand and saw dust on the playground in the stadium, the organisers have arranged for approximately 700 litres of diesel and 250 litres of kerosene oil in an effort to make the turf playable by using a non-conventional method. Tomorrow first hundreds of sacks will be placed inside the main stadium, which will soak the bulk of the rainwater. Then the sacks will be burnt with diesel and kerosene oil to let the water evaporate from the sacks, which in turn will render the ground underneath totally dry. The chances of the games getting off on time tomorrow are very bleak. The Meteorological Department of PAU has predicted that intermittent drizzles will continue and the heavy cloud cover will remain. The food stall
owners-big and small-were also a dismayed lot as sales
have plumetted. Panchayat boycotts games LUDHIANA, Feb 5 — The Kila Raipur Rural Olympics, which are currently being held in the village, continue to be dogged by controversy with the village panchayat boycotting this annual sports festival yet again and accusing the organisers of terrorising people. In a joint press note, Mr Kuldip Singh, Sarpanch of the Kila Raipur gram panchayat, and Mr Manjit Singh Grewal, member, Marketing Committee of Kila Raipur, have alleged that certain persons are openly terrorising people in the village and the stadium. They said that they had brought the matter to the notice of the Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, the Finance Minister, Capt Kanwaljit Singh, and the Sports Minister, Mr Nusrat Ali Khan, and urged them to take necessary action so that the peaceful atmosphere of the village and the area was not disturbed. The main bone of contention between the village gram panchayat and the Grewal Sports Association is the lack of representation of villagers in the association. “The office-bearers should be from amonst the villagers, but the constitution of this association has been so amended that there is no provision for election and members are nominated by the President, Secretary and chief organisers”, says Mr Kuldip Singh. Meanwhile, Mr Sukhbir Singh Grewal, Chief Organiser of the rural Olympics, when contacted, denied all these allegations and said that the only aim of the association was to organise this sports event and not to politicise it. “The craze and
response for this rural Olympics has been awesome and we
are enjoying the active support of around 30 gram
panchayats of nearby villages,” he said. He,
however, admitted that the gram panchayat of Kila Raipur
was not supporting this sports festival. |
Rain
plays spoilsport SAS NAGAR, Feb 5 — As has happened on numerous occasions earlier, particularly with the Super League matches, rain again played the spoilsport on the opening day of the four-day Ranji Trophy match between Punjab and Hyderabad at the Punjab Cricket Association stadium here today. Light drizzle which started yesterday afternoon continued intermittently well into the night leaving the outfield soggy. But the perseverance shown by the ground staff, who pressed into service the super sopper to clear the ground of the rain water, resulted in the outfield becoming playable in the afternoon. The umpires, who made the final inspection at around 2 pm, decided to start the play at 3.30 pm. Punjab skipper Vikram Rathore won the toss and put the rivals in order to take advantage of the moisture in the track and the overcast conditions favourable for seamers. Nand Kishore, who opened the innings along with V.V.S. Laxman, back from the Australian tour, survived a close caught behind call off pacer Sandeep Sharma. Laxman did not look unduly troubled. His on-side deflection off debutant medium pacer Gagandeep Singh for a delectable boundary was indeed the stroke for which the Hyderabadi is known.He earlier off drove the same bowler for a boundary. The light started deteriorating as the clouds started becoming thicker. The appeal for bad light was upheld this time after the earlier one a short while ago was turned down by the umpires. In the 32 minutes of play possible the visitors were 16 without loss, Laxman and Nand Kishore being the not out batsmen on 10 and six, respectively. As the players trooped out the covers were put on the wicket. Light drizzle started soon thereafter putting in jeopardy the chances of resumption of play on the morrow. Mohd Azharuddin, former India skipper and a fitness fad, took a couple of rounds of the stadium in the morning, to keep himself in fine fettle. India’s most successful captain, who has been selected to play in the Challenger Trophy, will only be too eager to see the weather improve and have a decent outing with the bat. Three of the four
youngsters who played for the Indian team in the
triumphant under-19 World Cup team selected to play in
this match will be under pressure to sustain the momentum
whenever the play resumes. |
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BANGALORE, Feb 5 (PTI) — Mumbai dominated proceedings on the first day of the Ranji Trophy Super League group A cricket tie here, dismissing defending champions Karnataka for 209 in the first innings today. At close, the visitors were 17 without loss with Wasim Jaffer batting on six and Amit Pagnis on nine. Opting to bat, Karnataka, playing without their stars Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble, Venkatesh Prasad and Javagal Srinath, collapsed against the Mumbai attack and only opener Arun Kumar, who made 76 (206 minute 171 balls 13x4) and A. Vijay (41) stood firm. For Mumbai, medium pacer Sriram Kannan (4/55) was outstanding. Spinner Nilesh Kulkarni claimed three for 41. Arun Kumar was lucky when he was bowled off a no-ball from Rajesh Pawar on 47. But he grew in confidence and later smashed three consecutive boundaries off medium pacer Abey Kuruvilla. A. Vijay did a decent job, but lacked support and was finally stumped by Mumbai skipper and wicket-keeper Samir Dighe. Scoreboard Karnataka (Ist innings): Arun Kumar c Amit Pagnis b R. Pawar 76, M. Beerala c Jatin Paranjpe b Amit Dani 14, S. Ssomasundar c Jatin Paranjpe b N. Kulkarni 0, Barrington c N. Kulkarni b S. Kannan 14, T. Naidu c Jatin Paranjpe b N. Kulkarni 20, A. Vijay st. S. Dighe b N. Kulkarni 41, S. Joshi c W. Jaffar b R. Pawar 14, S. Shiruguppi c Amit Pagnis b S. Kannan 1, A Yalvigi c N. Kulkarni b S. Kannan 0, D. Ganesh c A. Majunzumdar b S. Kannan 4, M.A. Khan not out 4, Extras (b4, lb1, nb16) 21. Total (all out in 81.4 overs) 209 Fall of wkts: 1-46, 2-46, 3-75, 4-114, 5-148, 6-171, 7-172, 8-172, 9-186. Bowling: Sriram Kannan 19-5-55-4; Abey Kuruvilla 10-0-45-0; Amit Dani 10-4-22-1; Nilesh Kulkurni 17.4-5-41-3, Rajesh Pawar 25-8-41-2. Mumbai (Ist innings): W. Jaffer batting 6, A. Pagnis batting 9, Extras (NB 1, W1) 2. Total: (In 7 overs) 17. Bowling: D. Ganesh
4-1-11-0, M.A. Khan 2-0-4-0, S. Joshi 1-0-2-0. |
India, Pak ‘ruined Aussie summer’ SYDNEY, Feb 5 (PTI) — Critics have castigated the Indian and Pakistani cricket teams for “ruining” the Australian summer by their inept displays. While India did not get even a sniff of victory against the irrepressible Aussies, Pakistan did only marginally better, winning a solitary game. As for the debits, the list ran long with the two teams’ whitewash in three Tests each and, except for one game, a similar pasting in the one-day internationals. Most of the ties were mismatches as Australian artillery pounded them into submission and sharp-shooting fielders hit the stumps or caught anything in the air with programmed regularity. Ray Chesterton wrote in the Daily Telegraph: “You could pick the best 11 players as a combined team from the India and Pakistan squads and they would struggle against Australia”. Indeed, the high standards of coaching, medical treatment and fitness of the Australians made top guns like Kapil Dev and Wasim Akram sing paeans of the hosts. Kapil Dev went home saying the facilities in Australia were eye-openers for his squad. “Look at their practice wickets, the facilities, you won’t get anything like it in India,” the great all-rounder said with wonder in his eyes. Wasim Akram last night was equally effusive. “Most of our players are carrying some niggles or injury and look at the Australians, I don’t remember anyone except Shane Warne getting injured through the entire summer”. Akram said it was a tribute to their fitness standards and the strong underlying work culture which distinguished the Australians from the rest of the world. “It is the system and the way they go into details about small things,” said Akram. And this system is all
pervasive at all levels of cricket in Australia. The
Indians and Pakistanis presented a total contrast —
their attempts at fielding were comic and their game
resembled the chaotic scenes in the bylanes of Mumbai or
Lahore where everyone is bumping into each other, losing
their way at every step. |
TT
singles title for Naveen CHANDIGARH, Feb 5 — Unseed Naveen Kohli of Faridabad won the men’s singles title beating eight-time title holder top seed Ganesh Ahuja or Bank of India 3-2 while the women’s title was won by Bhawana Sharma of Rohtak on the concluding day of the 31st Haryana State Table Tennis Championship at DAV Public School at Gurgaon. In the men’s singles final, Naveen Kohli lost the first game to Ganesh Ahuja 18-21 but came back strongly to win the other two to win 21-17, 21-13. In the fourth game Kohli trailed 19-20. Ganesh won 21-19 to level the score at 2-2. In the final and fifth game Naveen trailed 0-7 but came from behind to win 21-18. In the women’s singles final Bhawana Sharma of Rohtak beat top seed Monika Singhal of Sirsa in a five games 21-14, 21-12, 13-21, 11-21, 21-14. The boys sub-junior title was won by top seeded Rohit Verma of Sirsa. In the final he beat unseeded Satish of Sirsa 19-21, 21-16, 21-11. The sub-junior girls title was claimed by top seed Monika Singhal. She easily beat Charu of Rohtak 21-13, 21-13. The boys title was claimed by Sunil Ahuja of Sirsa. In the final Sunil Ahuja beat Neeraj Mani of Karnal 12-21, 21-19, 21-17, 21-14. The girls title went to Meenu of Sirsa, who beat Monika Singhal 21-19, 19-21, 21-18. The mixed doubles title was claimed by Jainender Jain and Sweta of Faridabad. In the final they beat Nalin Somani (HPSG) and Vandana Singh of Raman Munjal Public School, Dharuhera 15-21, 21-12, 21-18.
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NEW DELHI, Feb 5 (PTI) — Delhi’s hopes of gaining full points ahead of a needle contest with Bengal suffered a setback today when the first day’s play in their Ranji Trophy Super-League match with Rajasthan was called off without a ball being bowled due to dampness on the pitch caused by overnight showers and hailstorm. Umpires B.A. Jamula and Suresh Shastri had a final inspection of the pitch at 3.45 pm and decided against starting the group A clash at the Ferozeshah Kotla ground here. This leaves hosts Delhi,
locked in the ‘group of death’ with defending
champions Karnataka, strong contenders Mumbai and Bengal,
a difficult task of forcing an outright victory in the
next three days. |
PSB Academy rout ASC, enter semis NEW DELHI, Feb 5 (UNI) — Formidable Air India (Mumbai) Punjab and Sind Bank Academy and Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) scored contrasting wins over their rivals and moved into the semifinals of the 10th Shastri Hockey Tournament here today. In the last match of the day, BPCL overpowered CRPF 4-3 to keep their hopes alive for the last four berth. PSB Academy routed ASC Jalandhar 7-0 after leading 4-0 at half time. This was academy’s second successive win in as many matches while for ASC it was third defeat in a row. In an uneven and lackluster encounter PSB Academy boys surged ahead in the sixth minute through Lakhwinder Pal Singh 1-0, five minutes later Sharanjit Singh converted the third penalty corner to make it 2-0. Prabhdeep Singh increased the tally to 3-0 in the 27th minute and two minutes later it was 4-0 thanks to Lakhwinder Singh who scored his second goal. In the second session which was dominated by the academy boys, Sandeep Singh, Sharanjit Singh and Rajwinder Singh scored a goal each in 49th, 60th and 66th minutes respectively to complete the tally. CISF stunned fancied BSF 2-1 after trailing 0-1 at interval. BSF took the lead in the 18th minute,with international Shinu Herenz scoring a fine goal.
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