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| Thursday,
October 5, 2000, Chandigarh, India   
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Lanka trounce
WI by 108 runs Susanthika denies
accusing minister Uphill task for Bangladesh Hero’s welcome for
Thai boxing champ Serena subdues Tanasugarn |
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Philippoussis returns to tennis roots Team fared quite well: Bhaskaran Australia eager to
avenge defeat It’ll be a challenge: Marsh Athletes refuse to
leave Australia Olympics minister quits amid uproar Malleswari thanks
people for support Four share lead in Hero Golf
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Lanka trounce WI by 108 runs NAIROBI, Oct 4 (PTI) — A sparkling century by opener Avishka Gunawardena and Mahela Jayawardena’s solid 72 gave Sri Lanka a ruthless grip over the match even before the West Indies started their reply, and the islanders completed the formality with a 108-run win in the second match of the icc Knock-out Cup cricket tournament here today. Gunawardena hit his maiden one-day ton scoring 132 and added 160 runs for the third wicket with eye-catching Jayawardena as Sri Lanka rattled up 287 for six wickets to set a daunting asking rate of 5.76 runs per over. The West Indies batsmen were never up to the task losing wickets at regular intervals and looked to submit meekly to the Sri Lankan bowlers before being bowled out for 179 in 46.4 overs. The match was as good as sewn up for the Lankans and the West Indies playing with four rookies, never put up much of a resistance but for Laurie Williams’ 41 and Mahendra Nagamottoo’s 33 to show for record. Former skipper Brain Lara again failed with the bat making only five runs while others just succumbed to the pressure of huge target. Sri Lanka now meets Pakistan in the second round match on October 8 while the Caribbeans pack their bags to go home. The presence of Muttiah Muralitharan and Darrell Hair was expected to stir things up, but no one really played any role still Sri Lanka notched up an easy win. SCOREBOARD Sri Lanka: Gunawardene b McLean 132 Atapattu b Dillon 2 Jayawardene c Browne bWilliams 72 Sangkkarra run out 2Arnold b McLean 41 Kaluwitharana not out 16 Vaas not out 7 Extras (lb-4, nb-1, w-8): 13 Total (for 6 wkts, 50 overs): 287 Fall of Wickets: 1-8, 2-10, 3-170, 4-177, 5-250, 6-274. Bowling: Marvan Dillon 10-2-46-2, Nixon McLean 10-0-56-2, Kerry Jeremy 8-0-54-1, Laurie Williams 10-0-59-0, Mrlon Samuels 6-0-30-0, Mahendra Nagamotoo 6-0-38-0. West Indies: Browne c Kaluwitharana b Zoyza 15 Lara c Kaluwitharana b Zoyza 5 Hinds c Jayawardena b W’masinghe 20 Joseph c Kaluwitharana b Zoyza 0 Samuels c b Wickremasinghe 19 Williams c W’masinghe b Jayasuriya 41 Nagamootoo run out 33McLean b Arnold 8 Dillon c Vaas b Jayasuriya 6 Jeremy not out 4 Extras: 8 (lb-5 w-1 nb-2) Total (all out, 46.4 overs): 179 Fall of wickets: 1/34 2/37 3/41 4/41 5/76 6/85 7/159 8/160 9/170. Bowling: Vaas 8-1-36-0, Zoyza 7-0-34-3, Wickremasinghe 6-0-37-0, Muralitharan 10-4-9-0, Jayasuriya 10-1-30-1, Arnold 5.4-0-28-1 |
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Susanthika denies accusing minister COLOMBO, Oct 4 (PTI) — Sri Lanka’s sole medal winner at the Sydney Olympic Games Susanthika Jayasinghe has done a turnaround, denying having ever accused Sports Minister S.B. Dissanayake of sexually harassing her. “I only said that a high ranking sports ministry official harassed me, but I never mentioned the name of the minister to the international media,” the star athlete was quoted by the official Sri Lankan media today. Susanthika was extensively quoted in the local media in the last few days as having accused Dissanayake — at a press conference in Sydney after winning the bronze medal in the 200m sprint — of trying to force her into having sex with him. “The minister... the big guy... he wants sex with me but I refused. I have a husband,” she reportedly told the press conference. “It was trouble for me, including doping and sexual harassment after I won the world championship in 1997,” she added. However, she told the official media here that she had been misquoted. “I am not very competent in English. Hence, they must have misunderstood and misquoted me,” she was quoted as saying. The 24-year-old Sri Lankan athlete caused more ripples today when she publicly turned down the scholarship offered by President Chandrika Kumaratunga to undergo training in any part of the world. “If you take the position I am in today, I do not need such a scholarship as such. I am training in the USA and I can go there any time,” she said and added that all her expenses were being met by her sponsors. “I am grateful to the President for offering this scholarship, but it would have been better if they had thought about it before I went for the Olympics, a time when I was facing a lot of trouble,” she said. Susanthika, however, said she wants the President to help her build a betterhouse to enable her to lead a good life. She claimed she had still not received the deeds for the two flats allotted to her by the government when she won a silver in the athletic championships at Rome in 1997. She also expressed her disappointment at not being accorded an official reception. “My heart is broken. I am saddened. Even then I am not pointing a finger at anybody,” she told the Daily Mirror in an interview. |
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Uphill task for Bangladesh NAIROBI, Oct 4 (UNI) — Upbeat England meet Test newcomers Bangladesh in the last match of the opening round of the $ 1 million ICC Knockout Trophy at the Nairobi Gymkhana tomorrow, with both teams looking at the game from very different perspectives. Interestingly, the match will bring together the oldest and the youngest of Test-playing countries in a faraway neutral venue at a time the International Cricket Council is seeking to extend the barriers of the game. For Bangladesh, who play their first-ever Test match against India in November this year after having gained full ICC status only this July, this event is an opportunity to give their players some exposure and experience at the top level of the game. Bangladesh have not been around as an international team for very long, having qualified for the World Cup for the first time only last year. Skipper Naimur Rahman said on arrival here that he would be happy if his team gave a good account of themselves before flying out to South Africa for the second leg of their tour of this continent where they play a four-day game at Bloemfontein and three one-day internationals. England, on the other hand, will clearly be focusing on using tomorrow’s game as a warmup for their second round clash against South Africa. Under Nasser Hussain and coach Duncan Fletcher they have emerged as a formidable combination, as the West Indies discovered during the course of their disappointing tour of England. Pacemen Darren Gough and Andrew Caddick struck up a successful partnership this summer and with the pitches here clearly helpful to the quicker bowlers, the duo once again threatens to form a potent combine with Craig White lending an extra edge. As backup, Hussain has one-day specialists Mark Ealham and Mark Alleyne besides Andrew Flintoff to share bowling duties, though they have also brought offspinner Ashley Giles along as an option. England s batting also bears a sound look with opener Marcus Trescothick having settled well into the lineup. Besides Hussain himself, the experienced Alec Stewart, Graeme Hick, Graham Thorpe and the talented Vikram Solanki form a solid rank of batting talent, and one that will be looking to use the game to settle on positions and tactics for the next match. Teams (from): England: Nasser Hussain (capt), Mark Alleyne, Andy Caddick, Mark Ealham, Andrew Flintoff, Ashley Giles, Darren Gough, Matthew Hoggard, Graeme Hick, Vikram Solanki, Alec Stewart (wk), Marcus Trescothick, Graham Thorpe and Craig White. Bangladesh: Naimur Rahman (capt), Khaled Mashud (wk), Javed Omar, Eshanul Haque, Habibul Bashar, Akram Khan, Aminul Islam, Shahariar Hossain, Enamul Haque, Hasibul Hossain, Monjarul Islam, Mohammed Rafiq, Mushfiqur Rahman and Bikash Ranjan Das. |
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Hero’s welcome for
Thai boxing champ BANGKOK, Oct 4 (AFP) — Thailand’s Olympic boxing champion returned home to a hero’s welcome as hundreds of flag-waving fans and officials flocked to Bangkok’s airforce base to greet him. After touching down from Sydney late last night, Wijan Ponlid thanked the crowd and promised to defend his hard-earned Olympic gold. “You will see me get another Olympic gold in Athens,” he told a cheering crowd. Wijan is only the second Thai to win an Olympic gold medal after featherweight boxer Somluck Kamsing won gold in Atlanta four years ago. After a long welcoming ceremony by some of the country’s top sports officials, Wijan was finally able to catch up with his family, including his proud wife Chulaporn. “What I need from him is to still remain the same Wijan, even though our lives will change significantly from now on. I hope that he will not be distracted by celebrity status,” The Nation daily quoted her as saying. The flyweight boxer’s win over Bulat Jumadilov of Kazakhstan has not only earned him a gold medal and celebrity status throughout the country, but is also likely to turn him into an overnight millionaire. |
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TOKYO, Oct 4 (AFP) — Serena Williams made a convincing debut in Japan today by quashing a challenge from Tamarine Tanasugarn in the second round of the
WTA princess Cup tennis tournament. Fresh from winning the Sydney Olympic women’s doubles gold with her elder sister Venus, the American second seed blizted her way with a 6-1, 6-4 victory over the Thai ace. Five-time champion Monica Seles, the top seed, fought off an unexpectedly tough challenge from qualifier Miroslava Vavrinec of Switzerland for a 6-4, 6-4 victory to join Williams in the quarterfinals. Julie Halard-Decugis and Amy Frazier were easy winners with the French fourth seed beating Nicole Pratt of Australia 6-1, 6-3 and the American fifth seed trouncing Angeles Montrolio of Spain 6-0 6-1. “I hit on it for the first time this morning,” second-seeded Williams said of the Ariake Coliseum centre court. “I think it plays rather slow, but I like hard courts, I like it a lot.” Although Tamarine staved off three set points in the seventh game of the first set, she never had another break chance throughout the 71-minute match to fall victim to Williams for a fourth straight time. Williams said her foot injury which forced her out of the us open was “about 70 per cent,” and her match against Tamarine was “4.5 out of 10.” In the quarterfinals on Friday, Williams will take on either eighth seed Jelena Dokic of Australia or Lina Krasnoroutskaya of Russia. Meanwhile Seles, who trounced Vavrinec in their only previous encounter, giving her only one game last year here, found her way tougher this time against the 118th-ranked Swiss. filderstadt (germany): Anna Kournikova will have to wait even longer for her first career title after she was bundled out of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix here on Tuesday. The sixth-seeded Russian was beaten 4-6, 3-6 in the opening round as Belgium’s Kim Clijsters avenged her three-set defeat by Kournikova last week in Luxembourg. In a marathon battle, Jennifer capriati failed to follow up her tournament title victory in Luxembourg when she fell 0-6, 7-6 (13-11), 2-6 to seventh seed Chanda Rubin. Watched by boyfriend Lleyton Hewitt, 17-year-old Clijsters outsteadied Kournikova, and admitted that she was determined not to repeat her mistake of last week in letting the match slip away after taking the first set. “Last week I was more negative, and this time I really wanted to win and was trying to finish it off in two sets,” said Clijsters. “I was more motivated, and hit a lot of balls to her forehand because I knew it can be a little bit shaky sometimes. In the end it worked because she missed a couple of easy ones.” Kournikova was guilty of some spectacular forehand errors and although she also outplayed Clijsters at times with some well-constructed angles, it was the Belgian who was the more consistent player. After trading early breaks, Clijsters took the opening set when Kournikova double-faulted and then mis-hit a backhand that went wide. In the second set, Clijsters broke to lead 5-3 by forcing a forehand error. “Her level goes up and down in the matches,” said Clijsters. “She can hit an unbelievable point or make very easy mistakes. You have to be consistent against her, because once you make a few easy mistakes she’ll run over you and it can go really fast, but I’m playing well. Better than last week.” Kournikova blamed her defeat on poor movement, but pointed out she had enjoyed a good year by reaching six semifinals and five quarterfinals. Only the Grand Slams had been a real disappointment to her. She lost in the fourth round of the Australian Open, the second round of the French and Wimbledon, and the third round of the us open. “I made too many mistakes today,” she admitted. “Last week I lost the first set and then began to play unbelievable, but today it didn’t happen. I just made too many unforced errors and didn’t play out the points. I don’t think I was moving well today so I was in the wrong position to hit the ball. It was just one of those days.” Capriati fought off three match points in the tie-break to take Rubin to a third set in their all-American clash, before Rubin prevailed in a little over two hours. In other matches, Barbara Rittner of Germany surprised Russia’s Yelena Likhovseva 6-2, 7-5, Justine Henin of Belgium lined up a second round meeting with top seed Martina Hingis by beating Gala Leon Garcia of Spain 6-4, 6-2, and Jana Kandaar of Germany overcame Russia’s Tatiana Panova 6-3, 6-2. |
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Philippoussis returns to tennis roots HONG KONG, Oct 4 (AFP) — This week’s outing at the $375,000 Hong Kong Open is the first tour tournament test for Mark Philippoussis, as one of the game’s big hitters returns to his Melbourne tennis roots. The fourth seed plays a
second-round match tomorrow against American Chris Woodruff, the second for Philippoussis under new coach Peter McNamara, a former wimbledon doubles winner alongside Paul McNamee in the 1980s. Philippoussis hopes that going back will help him establish some consistency in a game in which he has shown plenty of promise — a US Open final in 1998 against compatriot Patrick Rafter — but has never quite delivered the big rewards. While the sportscar-loving “Scud,” 23, from the seaside suburb of Williamstown, has gone through a few coaches in his time, he’s hoping that the relationship with McNamara will turn his game. The star which shone so brightly after last December’s Davis Cup title against France has dimmed. Philippoussis has been involved in spats with Davis Cup coaches and team-mates and is not available when his nation plays for a second consecutive title in Barcelona against Spain in December. It’s a subject the tennis loner refuses to discuss, hinting only that he feels he’s been hard done by from everyone from Rafter to retiring coach John Newcombe. Philippoussis beat Pete Sampras in five sets in the French Open first round, reached the Wimbledon quarterfinals and fell to American Jan-Michael Gambill in the second round of the US Open. His Sydney Olympics were also modest: “I played two good matches, and you can’t feel too bad about losing to the eventual gold medallist” — Russian Yevgeny Kafelnikov. “I had some chances, but the good thing is, at the Olympics, I thought I was playing better. I’m training really hard and just getting back to basics.” McNamara has accompanied his charge to Victoria Park for this week’s outdoor hardcourt event. |
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Team fared quite well: Bhaskaran CHENNAI, Oct 4 (UNI) — Indian hockey coach Vasudevan Bhaskaran today said all was not lost for the future
even though the team failed to bring home a medal from the Sydney Olympic games much against expectations back home. The former India captain averred that the lessons learnt from the Sydney defeat would stand the team in good stead as India prepares for the World Cup qualifying competition. He said eight to nine talented junior players had been getting international exposure. In the meeting to follow after 10 days, the players will be viewing videos of the matches they had played at Sydney and study and correct themselves. It will be a meeting where everybody will sit together as IHF President K.P.S. Gill suggested, Bhaskaran said. He said the qualifying at the pre-World Cup tourney in Scotland sometime in February or March next year would be easy. On the overall performance in the Olympics, Bhaskaran said the team fared quite well despite the blunder against Poland in the last two minutes of the match. The sad part is that Poland did not qualify despite holding India. This draw would be haunting us for long, he said adding, every player in the team was ruing it. |
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Australia eager to avenge defeat NAIROBI, Oct 4 (PTI) — India’s win over Kenya in the opening encounter of the ICC knock-out cricket tournament here yesterday takes them into a match with Australia, who are too eager to put their record straight against the India and its best batsman Sachin Tendulkar, in this tournament. Australia have bitter memories of the previous edition of this Cup in Dhaka two years ago. They arrived a day before they met India and 24 hours later were packing their way back home. All due to one man, Sachin Tendulkar. The embarrassment of that first-round exit still rankles the Australians even though they virtually squashed Indians in a series back home. “Even though it’s not the World Cup, it’s probably what we would consider the second-best one-day competition in the world. But we didn’t realise that at the time in Dhaka,” said Australian vice-captain Adam Gilchrist. Gilchrist, however, was quick to see the positive side of that defeat. “I think back to that period of time... it was just after that we went to Pakistan and won three-nil, and I really think we grew as a team, in our belief and the way we had confidence in ourselves. We then came to Australia and that really got the momentum going. It was probably a turning point, that loss in Dhaka,” he said. Coach John Buchanan has put the team through three practice sessions — one of six hours, two of three hours each — in hot conditions. The team played a practice match against Kenya last Saturday and played another against England overnight which ended in a tie. “It’s been a pretty full-on few days since we got here, and I think that was the plan of John and the support staff,” Gilchrist said. “We came here early to acclimatise, (to) work hard in these conditions.” |
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PERTH, Oct 4 (AFP) — Geoff Marsh will seek reassurances on match-fixing issues when he meets Indian cricket authorities this month to discuss coaching their national team. The former Australian team coach will go to India in a fortnight to be interviewed as one of four candidates short-listed to replace Kapil Dev who resigned last month amid vows to clear his name of match-fixing allegations. Marsh today said he was approached by Indian cricket officials two months ago. “It caught me by shock at the time and I said I’d sit down and have a chat with the (Australian Cricket) Board and see what it requires,” Marsh told ABC radio. “I got a phone call back last week to say they want to have a chat so in two weeks I’ll go over... and see what comes from it (but) there’s a lot of things we’ve got to sort out before I agree to go over there and do the job.” Marsh, who coached the Australia team for four years, said he would raise the issues of match-fixing and bookmakers’ access to the players’ dressing room with the Indian officials. “That’s something I’ll be talking to them about... because that is a problem.” It would be a great challenge to coach a country such as India, Marsh said. “It’s a different country and they run their cricket a lot differently over there,” he said. “Whilst their country is fanatical about the game of cricket, there’s 700 million people (who) all listen and watch cricket over there, and there’s a lot of talent over there, and there’s a long way to go.” If appointed, Marsh said he would have to consider his loyalties when India and Australia met in international matches. “The first Australia tour India (is) in February and March but I guess it’d be a bit like Western Australia playing against the rest,” he said. If he got the job, Marsh said he would return to Australia in any lengthy spells between series. Marsh is weighing up the Indian position despite stepping aside as Australian coach last year because he wanted to spend more time with his family. “I think my family know that cricket’s been my life and when these opportunities come up you’ve got to grab them at my age. “In 10 years’ time there’ll be another group of coaches come through.” The other candidates for the Indian job are former Australian Test batsman Dean Jones, former West Indian fast bowler Andy Roberts and former New Zealand opening batsman John Wright. |
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Athletes refuse to leave Australia SYDNEY, Oct 4 (AFP) — At least six overseas athletes are refusing to go home after the Olympic Games which ended here at the weekend, reports said here today. The Georgian Olympic Committee (GOC) is reported to have said weightlifters Valery Sarava and Mukhran Gogiya and wrestlers Guram Mchedlidze and Alexander Tsertsvadze had refused to return home. A report from the Interfax news agency said the athletes had decided to stay in Australia. “Georgian Olympic committee officials have no idea why the athletes have decided not to come back,” GOC secretary David Kintsurashvili told Interfax in the Georgian capital Tbilisi. He described the behaviour of the athletes as “unprecedented.” Two athletes from Tunisia and Gabon have also disappeared just before they were due to fly out of Sydney, ABC radio reported. However, the immigration department said most of those who came to Australia for the olympics were on special visas which were still valid. “Most of the athletes and Olympic family members who came to Australia for the Games entered Australia on Olympic Travel Authorities,” an immigration spokesman said. “They have visas that are valid until November 1, 2000. So unless an individual’s visa has expired or they have lodged a further application to remain in Australia they’re not of concern to immigration. “It is not an immigration issue.” Australian Weightlifting Federation president Sam Coffa said the federation would not support the weightlifters if they attempted to stay in Australia. “If these people have the intention of migrating to this country, there is a proper way of doing it; and if they want to do it the short way, they will get nowhere,” Coffa said. |
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Olympics minister quits amid uproar SYDNEY, Oct 4 (AFP) —Olympics Minister Michael Knight today announced he was quitting politics amid uproar after he vetoed a top award for the planner of Sydney’s internationally acclaimed games. His decision to resign from the New South Wales state Parliament came two hours after he was attacked by international Olympic Committee Vice-President Dick Pound for blocking the award of the gold Olympic order to Sandy Hollway, chief executive of the games organising committee. Mr Pound said he was particularly disappointed with Mr Knight’s decision to veto the honour, describing it as “mean-spirited.” Hollway received the silver after Mr Knight told
IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch that he would refuse a gold order for himself in protest if Hollway was given the gold. The veto, described by the state opposition as “an act of bastardry”, touched off a storm of protest similar to those which accompanied the scandal and bloodletting that soured the Olympic organisation before the start of the games. But the mishaps which beset the Sydney Organising Committee for the Olympic Games
(SOCOG) appeared to have been wiped away by the success of the games, hailed by international media and the
IOC chiefs as the greatest ever. Even Mr Knight, who earned a reputation for arrogance and ruthlessness in the run up to the games, appeared to have been forgiven, most commentators saying he had been vindicated by the Olympics success. Mr Knight, who is still responsible for the Paralympics beginning here on October 18, told reporters he had made the decision to resign in January, and would leave state Parliament in December. He said he would continue to run what he hopes will be the best Paralympics ever and complete the wash-up of the Sydney games before taking a holiday at Christmas. He also defended his decision to recommend a silver for Hollway saying it was the appropriate award. Mr Pound described Mr Knight’s attitude as “particularly disappointing”, saying the
IOC executive committee had decided unanimously to give Hollway the gold order because of his “exceptional contribution” to the success of the games. Speaking from his office in Montreal, Mr Pound told abc radio here: “This was not the view apparently shared by Michael Knight and it went so far that he said he would not accept his if Sandy got one. “I think that’s a shame. We didn’t want to do anything to marr the closing ceremonies and embarrass anyone in Australia at the conclusion of such a magnificent event so it did not go through at that time. “I must say it was a particularly disappointing attitude at a time when everyone should have been rejoicing and not being mean in spirit.” But Mr Pound said it was still possible the
IOC may find way to honour Hollway with the gold award which it considered he deserved. Hollway, socog’s chief executive, had been progressively sidelined by Knight, who in the last month before the games appointed a senior public servant, David Richmond, as socog director-general over Hollway. Then in a final blow on the day of the opening ceremony, Hollway was told there was no place for him in the prestige seating, although Richmond and his wife were there with Mr Knight. The
IOC’s Australian Vice-President Kevan Gosper said he was “very surprised” by Mr Knight’s decision to resign, saying no-one in the Olympic movement had known of his intentions. “I think he should enjoy great credit for these most successful games ever,” Gosper said. “It’s a tough job and it took a tough person. It wasn’t a popularity contest.” |
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Malleswari thanks
people for support NEW DELHI, Oct 4 (PTI) — India’s lone medal winner at the millennium Sydney Olympic Games, Karnam Malleswari thanked the entire country and the people for the support she received following her triumph in Down Under. “I give all the credit to my country. I am happy. I thank the people of the country,” said an elated Malleswari on her arrival here last night. The 69 kg category weightlifter, who rasied a total of 240 kg and a billon hopes, was part of the last batch of Indian Olympic contingent that returned home. “There was a lot of pressure to perform and lots were written about me. I wanted to achieve something and I was determined to get the medal,” said the bronze medallist. On being asked whether she planned to take any action against the magazine that raised doubts about her level of fitness, Malleswari said she would not like to involve herself in any controversies as “good moments deserve only good statements”. |
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Four share lead in Hero Golf CHANDIGARH, Oct 4 — The top-three ranked golfers on last season’s Order of Merit, Mukesh Kumar, Feroz Ali and Vijay Kumar joined by Gaurav Ghei led the field with identical scores of three-under 69 on the opening day of the Rs 10 lakh Hero Golf 2000 Chandigarh Open, the sixth leg of the Wills Sports Golf tour, being played at the Chandigarh Golf Club. The inaugural tee-off for the even was performed by the Captain of the club, Brig Santokh Singh. Vishal Singh occupied the fifth spot at two-under 70. Defending champion Amritinder Singh at one-under 71, was placed at joint-sixth spot while Jeev Milkha Singh sat at joint-18th position with a one-over 73 card. Last season’s ‘‘Player of the year’’ award winner Mukesh, after starting on the 1st tee, carded birdies on the 2nd, 3rd, 12th, 16th and 17th. He had a double bogey on the 5th ‘‘My driver placed my ball behind a tree and though I recovered, I missed a three feet putt on the green said, Mukesh of his double bogey. ‘‘As regards my game, the hitting was good and my second shots even better’’, he said. Last week, Mukesh, after jointly occupying the lead with Randhawa after the third round of the Honda-Siel Nike event, slipped on the final day to finish joint-fifth. Feroz Ali who finished joint-third at the just concluded Honda Siel Nike event in Delhi, started on the 1st tee and proceeded to return four birdies, these coming on the 4th, 12th, 13th and 16th, where he chipped-in from 30 feet. His only bogey of the day occurred on the 7th thanks to his 3-wood tee shot striking a tree and placing his ball on the 1st fairway Feroz’s 5-wood, 3-wood, 3-wood combination from there saw him miss a chip-putt to go one-over for the hole. ‘‘The course is in excellent condition and my game is shaping up well,’’ said the second ranked golfer on last season’s Order of Merit. ‘‘The secret of playing well on this course is to keep the ball straight and in the centre of the fairway,’’ he added. Vijay Kumar was at his confident best today. The leading prize money winner for the past three seasons, after starting on the 10th, birdied the 13th and 18th on his front-nine following it up with three more birdies on the 2nd 6th and ninth. What would have been a blemish free card was spoilt by an unfortunate double bogey on the 5th, where after his drive placed him in the rough, Vijay hacked out to eventually three-putt from a distance of 10 feet on the green. ‘‘I changed my swing this week and that has helped immensely. Till last week, I was not completing my swing’’, said the Lucknowite who after loading the field on the opening day, went on to finish joint-eighth at last week’s Honda Siel-Hike event. Gaurav Ghei another 1st tee starter, birdied the 2nd, 3rd, 13th and 16th holes, with his 30-wood tee shot on the 7th hitting the tee in the centre of the fairway to eventually hand him a bogey on that hole. ‘‘I putted really well today, with a 35 feet uphill birdie putt on the 3rd, a 20 feet putt on the 13th and a 15 footer on the 16th,’’ said the golfer who has two second-place finishes in the three events he has played on the Tour this season. Jaipur’s Vishal Singh birdied the 2nd, 4th and 9th holes, eagled the 13th and bogeyed the 15th, 10th and 3rd in his day’s cards. Jeev Milkha Singh had five bogeys and four birdies in his round of one-over 73. ‘‘My game lacks consistency. It will take at least four more tournaments for me to completely recover my form and confidence,’’ said the only Indian representative on the European PGA tour. Hole-in-one by Shiv Prakash: Shiv Prakash used his 4-iron to good effect as his ball pitched on the green and rolled straight into the pin to hand him a superb hole-in-one on the par-3, 185-yard, 3rd hole. ‘‘It feels really good to card a hole-in-one’’, said the golfer who finished second at the Honda Siel-Nike PGA Championship last week. This is Shiv’s second hole-in-one, with the earlier ones coming at the Surya Napal Open in’ 97. Girish Virk leads amateur field: Girish Virk led the amateur field at one-over 73 while Manav Das was placed second at two-over 74. Scores: 69 — Mukesh Kumar, Feroz Ali, Vijay Kumar, Gaurav Ghei; 70 — Vishal Singh; 71 — Ali Sher, Rafiq Ali, Sanjay Kumar, Amritinder Singh, Digvijay Singh, Shiv Prakash; 72 — Asgar Ali, Bhoop Singh, G.S. Sethi, Pappan, Rahul Ganapathy, Rajiv Kumar; 73 — Jeev Milkha Singh, Harmeet Kahlon, Indrajit Bhalotia, Mohammad Maqbool, Praduman Guleria, Rajesh Choudhary, Shiv Shankar Prasad Chowrasia, Uttam Mundy, Yusuf Ali, Amit Dube. Amateurs: 73 — Girish Virk; 74 — Manav Das; 75 — Harinder Gupta, Jaideep
Patwardhan. |
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