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| Thursday, January 25, 2001, Chandigarh, India   
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Ashish Bhatt no match for SK Thapa Yugoslavia face tough task |
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Sterling display
by Sandipan Vishal upset North start favourites against Central
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Arnaud Clement stuns Kafelnikov MELBOURNE, Jan 24 (Reuters, AFP) — Fifteenth-seeded Frenchman Arnaud Clement upset former champion Yevgeny Kafelnikov of Russia 6-4, 5-7, 7-6, 7-6 to reach the semifinals of the Australian open today. Clement, who will now meet compatriot and doubles partner Sebastien Grosjean, secured a place in his first Grand Slam semifinal with a courageous display to win in three hours and 11 minutes. The Frenchman sealed the match when Kafelnikov put an overhead smash into the net, one of a flood of errors from the racket of the 1999 Australian Open champion and last year’s runner-up. The all-French semifinal guarantees France their first finalist in Australia since Jean Borotra won in 1928. Martina Hingis spoiled the Williams sisters party, driving a wedge through their hopes of a semifinal showdown. But the world No.1 had to summon all her resolve to counter the power game of Serena in a rollercoster ride through a classic quarterfinal contest. She eventually triumphed 6-2, 3-6, 8-6 after two hours and 19 minutes of pulsating tennis. Their titanic battle in the Rod Laver Arena followed Venus’s escape against feisty South African Amanda Coetzer. The pundits were labelling her stunning 2-6, 6-1, 8-6 win the match of the tournament until sister Serena took on Hingis. The Swiss miss came from 1-4 down in the third set in a seesawing match to strike a blow for technique over force. “I was a double break down,” said Hingis. “I just tried to hang in there and fight my way through. It was just a great comeback.” After the match Serena revealed that she hadn’t eaten in two days
after going down with food poisoning. “I wanted a big win today but
I wasn’t at my best or feeling my best,” she said. “So I’m
pretty disappointed. I did well considering I haven’t eaten in two
days, apart from a piece of toast here and there.” And Hingis admitted she would have to move up a level against Venus, who she faces up to for a place in the final against Lindsay Davenport or Jennifer Capriati on Friday. But she couldn’t sustain her dominance as Serena’s superior firepower began to take effect. At times early in the third set, she looked close to tears of frustration as the match seemed to be slipping away. But at 1-4 down, she found a new lease of life, matching Serena’s breaks and finally wrapped it up on her second match point with a confident overhead that gave an exhausted Serena no chance. Venus was on the verge of crashing out herself. She had to dig herself out of a hole to break the resolve of the 10th-seeded Coetzer in another nail-biting quarterfinal. Coetzer was serving for the match in the third set but Venus pulled back to win. The ever-confident US Open and Wimbledon champion denied she had been let out of jail. The 20-year-old, seeking her third consecutive Grand Slam title, added: “the third set was a killer. In the first set she was determined, attacking the short balls, it wasn’t the start I wanted. “I figured in the end I would have to move forward to win the match and I think that’s what won it for me.” Coetzer acknowledged that she blew it. “You know she’s going to be dangerous. I had a small opportunity. I think I missed it,” she said, adding that she felt good going into the third set. It is the first time Williams has been beyond the quarterfinals in Melbourne. She has lost at the same stage twice before - in 1998 and 1999 to Lindsay Davenport. Sebastien Grosjean, once told by French tennis officials that he was too small to make the grade, stood tall at the Australian Open after overpowering former French Open champion Carlos Moya to advance to the semifinals. Grosjean, the tournament’s 16th seed, produced a near-flawless first set to lay the foundations of a 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 quarterfinal win over Spaniard Moya in 98 minutes. The victory lifted the 22-year-old from Marseille into the first Grand Slam semifinal of his career. His best effort in 12 major starts before arriving in Melbourne this year was making the fourth round at Wimbledon in 1998. It was a dominating display from grosjean, who said that seven years ago he was told by the French federation that he was too small. |
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Favourites India steamroller Singapore LUDHIANA, Jan 24 — Favourites India steamrollered Singapore by eight goals to nil to set up a title clash with Bangladesh, who edged out a fighting Malaysia 6-5 via the tie-breaker, in the third Asian School Hockey Championship at the Punjab Agricultural University astro-turf stadium here today. Leading by four goals at half time, the Indians came back strongly in the second session to pump in another four to compound the visitors’ misery. The hero of India’s win was the young Satwinder Singh, who alone scored four goals. Earlier, Bangladesh had a tough time against Malaysia,who rallied to hold them 1-1 in regulation time. With the match stretching into extra time, both teams struggled hard for the golden goal which eluded them. In the battle of
strokes, Bangladesh eventually emerged triumphant, converting all five strokes while Malaysia’s Suffian Mahammad found his stroke being blocked by Bangladesh goalkeeper Mohammad Zahid Hossain much to the dismay of his team-mates. In what was perceived to be a close affair despite India starting as clear favourites, the hosts turned the tide against the boys in red from the opening minute. Singapore did give India some anxious moments but as the lead widened, the visitors’ spirits sagged. “Yesterday’s visit to Amritsar had an adverse affect on my team’s performance today,” lamented K. Thanaraj, coach of the Singapore team. India started attacking the rival citadel early, with skipper Raju and Sudhir Kumar moving in dangerously. A fine move by Raju saw a good chance being wasted as Sudhir failed to provide the finishing touches. Satwinder was also at fault once when he shot over. Having mounted considerable pressure, India finally broke the deadlock in the 20th minute. Skipper Raju’s sprint down the middle proved fruitful as
Sudhir, who had positioned himself inside the striking circle, guided the ball home. Two minutes later a penalty stroke awarded by umpire Rajinder Gandhi after a rival defender blocked a goal-bound hit with his foot was successfully converted by skipper Raju making it 2-0. Shortly before half-time, Satwinder demonstrated his shooting prowess scoring twice in rapid succession. First he intercepted the ball inside the ‘D’ and turned around to shoot from the right and then capitalised on a brilliant move by Raju and Ravinder Kumar to place the ball in an empty goal. On changing
ends, India's domination was unabated and after a couple of close calls, Harnek Singh made it 5-0 by scoring in a melee. The sixth goal was indeed a brilliant effort by Satwinder, who shot from almost the goal-line. On seeing the score swelling, Singapore changed goalkeeper Jeremy Leong Guoqiang but newcomer Huang Jun Jie could do little in the face of a strong Indian attack. In the last six minutes India added another two goals. First a hit by Bharat was deflected into the goalmouth by Satwinder in the 64th minute and then Vipul Halwan found the roof of the net off a penalty corner shortly before close. In sharp contrast to the second semifinal, the first match between Malaysia and Bangladesh was an absorbing affair. Malaysia initially held the upper hand and Engku Abd Malek had a good chance midway through the first half but he failed to tap the ball into an empty goal. Again Faharul Nazri Harun missed a sitter after receiving a cross from the goal-line. After successfully thwarting the strong Malaysian challenge, Bangladesh took the lead a minute before half time when Mohammed Yamin Hossain found the target with a direct hit off a short corner. Malaysia restored parity soon after the breather following a penalty corner. The hit by Suffian Mahammad was deflected home by Prabakaran making it 1-1. Thereafter, Bangladesh held complete sway over the proceedings forcing penalty corners at regular intervals, which all went
waste. With the match stretching into extra time, the two teams once again fought a pitched battle but a goal eluded them. Eventually the tie-breaker rule was
applied. While Mohammed Yamin Hossain, Mohammed Hadayetul Islam Khan, Mohammed Shawkat Ali, Mohammed Mazharul Islam and Mohammed Ashraful Islam successfully converted their strokes, Malaysia converted only four through Prabakaran, Mohammed Izwan Hassan, Engku Abd Malek, and Mohammed Reznan to bow out of the competition. Incidentally, Malaysia finished second in the Macau meet in 1998. The final will be played at 1 p.m. tomorrow. However, the match for the third position between Singapore and Malaysia is doubtful as Singapore were adamant on leaving the city tonight to be in time for the flight from New Delhi tomorrow. |
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Ashish Bhatt no match for SK Thapa CHANDIGARH, Jan 24 — S.K. Thapa scored the first knock-out of the day on the second day of the All-India Invitation A.K. Misra Memorial Boxing Championship at the Sector 10 Skating Rink here today. Thapa of Assam Rifles, just a short while after the start of the first round in the fly weight category unleashed a powerful punch on Ashish Bhatt of Uttaranchal around the ribcage which left Bhatt lay sprawling on the floor and grimacing in pain to win the bout. The contest between G. Parkash of Tamil Nadu and Mohammad Shabuddin in the featherweight section was unimpressive initially with neither being able to do much. Second round saw a completely transformed Shabuddin as he took his rival by surprise with a volley of solid punches. Twice he pinned Parkash on the ropes and subjected him to severe battering forcing the referee to award the bout to him. A piercing right which made Laishram Bikramjit wobble for a while which, in fact, proved to a wake-up call for him in his bout against H. Venkatesh of Karnataka. Bikramjit, the BSF pugilist, staged a determined comeback and mauling Venkatesh badly afterwards with left-right combination he ‘outclassed’ his rival. Surendar Tanwar of Haryana fell as a result of a powerful left jab from Rocky Meeti of Assam Rifles. Tanwar threw a couple of punches but by and large failed to connect in the first round as Rocky was swift with his footwork. The Assam Rifles boxer went on the offensive at the start of the next round hitting potent punches from both sides and earning a knock-out verdict in his favour. Suresh Kumar of Pondicherry was at the receiving end as Delhi boxer Vikas landed most of the punches on target to emerge a run-away winner. Saranjit of Assam Rifles looked tentative to begin with in lightweight category bout against Kulwant Singh of Uttaranchal but managed to seize initiative with a couple of punches. Though Kulwant hit a few in the next round, Saranjit maintained the edge with deftly-hit left punches. The bout continued in the same vein as the referee ordered stoppage of the bout in the third round adjudging Assam Rifles boxer the winner. H. Deven Singh of Assam Rifles slammed solid punches on hapless R. Tirkey of Rourkela Steel Plant in the light weight section forcing him to retire in the first round while Raj Kumar of Karnataka and Tej Karan of Punjab had almost an equal number of exchanges which the latter won. Results: Fly weight: K Murali (Pond) b BSK Swami (Vizag) on points; N Angou Singh (BSF) b Narinder Saini (Pepsu) RS IInd; D Kannan (AP) b Sahish Kumar (UP) on points; Trilok Singh (Del) b Masnood Alam (RSP) on points; Amarjit Singh (HP) b Raj Kumar (SRC) on points; M Senthill (TN) b Parmjit Singh (Chd-Y) on points; Ashish Bhatt (UA) loses to S K Thapa (AR) KO 1st. Feather weight: Amandeep (Pb) b Baldev Singh (UA) on points; G Parkash (TN) loses to Md Shabuddin (AP) RS OC IInd; H Venkatesh (Kar) loses to Laishram Bikramjit (BSF) RSC OC 1st; Surandar Tanwar (Har) loses to N Rocky Meeti (AR) KO IInd; Suresh Kumar (Pond) loses to Vikas (IGS) RSC OC 1st; Raju Yadav (UP) b Y Gope Reddy (Vizag) retd IInd; Manoj Kumar (HP) b Sandrav Singh (Chd-G) RSC 3rd. Light weight: Saranjit (AR) b Kulwant Singh (UA) RSC 3rd; Anil Kumar (IGS) b Dhanabir Singh (BSF) on points; Dilip Kumar (UP) loses to G Ramesh Kumar (TN) RSC 1st; Joginder Singh (SRC) b Mangal Singh (Har) on points. Light welter weight:
H Deven Singh (AR) b R Tirkey (RSP) retd 1st; Raj Kumar (Kar) loses to Tej Karan Sharma (Pb) on points; Subodh Kumar (Har) b Heera Singh (UA) RSC 3rd; Ram Kumar Gautam (IGS) b Sukhjinder Singh (Pepsu) on points. |
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Yugoslavia face tough task KOLKATA, Jan 24 (PTI) — Title aspirants Yugoslavia may find the going tough when they cross swords with arch-rivals Bosnia in the final of the Sahara Cup football tournament at the Salt Lake Stadium here tomorrow. Both the teams, who appear to be quite balanced on paper, will no doubt rely on their natural attacking game in what promises to be a thrilling encounter of skill and nerves. Bosnia caused an upset of sorts by ousting tournament favourites Chile with a solitary goal win in the first semifinal, while Yugoslavia had to overcome some anxious moments before edging out a determined Japan 1-0 in the second semifinal. Bosnia, formerly part of Yugoslavia, became a football entity in 1993 and are fully capable of springing a surprise on their fancied opponents who have a similar style of play. Ranked 78th in the latest FIFA rankings, the Bosnians have been quite impressive in the 13-team championship so far and their triumphs over strong contenders Uruguay and Chile must have boosted their morale. Yugoslavia, ranked ninth in the FIFA ranking, still retains a rich football heritage despite being fragmented and it remains to be seen whether they can live upto their awesome reputation on the morrow. The Yugoslavs have not really lived upto their reputation in the tournament so far and the victories have not looked very convincing. Coach Ilija Petkovic will be a little worried about the form of the players many of whom have not shown the kind of soccer they were capable of even against weaker teams. With both the teams familiar with each other’s style of play, soccer fans in the city, who have generally stayed away from the tournament, could look forward to an afternoon of enterprising soccer Bosnian coach Husnija Arapovic was confident that his boys were capable of winning the title. “We are looking forward to the match against Yugoslavia. We will play our natural game and we are confident of doing well”, he said. The Bosnians have displayed a great deal of cohesion and their touch-play have really been a treat to watch. They build up their moves with deft passes and the understanding among players has been remarkable. But the Yugoslavs, who have a strong defence cordon, were unlikely to give too much room for manouvering inside the box. Their arch-rivals have to work hard to pierce the defence and come anywhere close to the goalmouth. The Yugoslavs will rely heavily on their strikers Igor Bogdanovic and Dejan Osmanovic to deliver the goods upfront. The duo have worked in tandem to pose a threat to their opponents. The Yugoslav defence, manned by Vuk Rasovic, Ivan Ilic, Goran Trobok and Dragoliub Jeremic, has generally looked solid though they seemed a little vulnerable in the semifinal encounter against Japan. The midfielders have been hard-working and have moved upfront to support the forwardline to give more thrust to attacks. The free-flowing Bosnians will depend on Mirsad Beslija and Almedin Hota, both of whom have done the bulk of the scoring for the outfit, to find the target for the team which appears to be quite determined to lift the title. The Bosnian goalkeeper Adnan Guso, who is more than six feet tall, has been very impressive under the bar and has seldom allowed anything to go past him. |
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Join probe or face dismissal, Waugh told MELBOURNE, Jan 24 (Reuters) — Australian Test batsman Mark Waugh will be dropped unless he agrees to take part in a worldwide investigation into corruption in cricket. Australian Cricket Board (ACB) chief executive Mal Speed said today that Waugh, brother of Australia’s captain Steve, had been given 24 hours to change his mind or face automatic suspension. “It’s disappointing that we got to that stage but we weren’t able to resolve it any other way,” Mr Speed said. “We have a duty to the public to ensure the matter is being dealt with effectively.” The International Cricket Council’s (ICC) anti-corruption unit, which is due to visit Australia next month, wants to speak to Waugh following allegations he took money from an Indian bookmaker in exchange for information on the team during a six-a-side tournament in Hong Kong in 1992 or 1993. Waugh was among nine non-Indian players, including former Test captains Brian Lara, Alec Stewart and Martin Crowe, named in an Indian Central Bureau of Investigation report into match-fixing last November as having connections with bookmakers. Waugh and team-mate Shane Warne were fined in 1995 after admitting they had accepted money from a bookmaker in 1994 in exchange for information on pitch and weather conditions. But Waugh has strongly denied these latest charges and had previously said he wanted to co-operate with the investigation to clear his name. But the 35-year-old announced earlier this week that he had changed his mind after discussing the case with his lawyers and would not face the investigators, leading to widespread calls for his immediate dismissal. The ACB, which has pledged to do everything it can to stamp out corruption in the game, held an emergency meeting after Waugh’s about-turn before deciding to issue him with their ultimatum. “I have written to Mark on behalf of the directors, asking him to reconsider his position,” Mr Speed said. “The board implores Mark Waugh to change his view and submit to the interview process.” The letter, which was released to media, included specific details of exactly what the corruption-unit wanted to speak to Waugh about. These were: — The number of occasions Waugh met a bookmaker (or bookmakers) and received money for the provision of information about cricket. — The total amount of money he has received from any parties (other than bona fide media) for the provision of information about cricket. — The identification of the bookmaker or bookmakers with whom he had dealings with respect to the provision of information about cricket and a description of those dealings. — The identification of current or former international cricket players with whom he had dealings in relation to his contact with a bookmaker or bookmakers and a description of those dealings. — Clarification of his recollections of any meeting with a bookmaker in Hong Kong in 1992 or 1993 in light of the CBI report and his response to the references to him in it. Waugh had flown to Adelaide with the Australian team ahead of Friday’s one-day match against the West Indies when he was told of the ACB’s decision. He refused to comment on the matter and did not attend the team’s afternoon training session. “Mark did not appear to be unduly surprised by it. I think the best I could say is that he took it on the chin,” Mr Speed said. |
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Anand escapes with a draw against Leko WIJK AAN ZEE, Jan 24 (UNI) — Viswanathan Anand escaped with a draw in the ninth round of the Corus 2001 Grandmasters Chess Tournament here
yesterday. In his ninth round game against Peter Leko of Hungary, Anand was held to a draw in 34 moves following a Sicilian defence. This was Anand’s seventh draw in a row and he now has five points from nine games, surely much below expectations. Leko has four points. Though there was no real danger of him losing, Anand, towards the end, had no alternative but to play for a draw. He was a pawn up for quite sometime but then had to give it up. In the end he had twin knights and a rook for his rivals strong twin bishops and a rook. Both also had four pawns each. Peter Leko is not exactly an easy player to beat in the best of times and right now Viswanathan Anand is not exactly fresh and bouncing as the past week has shown. The result in ninth round gave ample evidence of it, as Anand drew for the seventh time in a row at the De Moriaan Centre in Wijk Aan Zee. In nine rounds,
Anand has drawn eight games, the first and then third to the ninth. In between he had a win over Sergei Tiviakov in the second. A score of five out of nine would be way below Anand’s rating and personal expectations, but at this stage, it becoming increasingly clear that he is somewhat tired less motivated after the tremendous high, if having won the World Championships only last month. Some pointed out that back in 1998, when Anand had just come after an exhausting schedule in Groningen and Lausanne — where he lost in the Super final to Anatoly Karpov — the Indian Grandmaster was in tremendous form when he came almost straight from there to Wijk Aan Zee. Anand won the title that year, but in the two editions since then the man, who has emerged victorious has been Garry Kasparov. Talking of Kasparov, the world’s highest rated player is out to prove that he is indeed the very best. Against Alexei Shirov, the tournament leader, Kasparov dominated Shirov to join him in the lead at the top of the table. Anand, playing white, faced the Sicilian defence and it went into the Anderssen variation with the fourth move Nf6 from Leko. Anand castled on the 15th move, but his idle knight proved to be his achilles heel. It may not have cost him anything major, but it certainly did not help his situation today. Anand’s attempt to open up the f-file by making Leko capture his g3 pawn succeeded and the Indian Grandmaster got an extra pawn around the 20th move. |
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Sterling display
by Sandipan UBEDA (Spain), Jan 24 (UNI) — Young International Master Sandipan Chanda gave another sterling display to hold Russian Grandmaster Mikhail Kobalija to a draw in the third round of the ‘Ciudad-de-Ubeda’ International Open Chess Tournament here. Taking on the Russian Grandmaster with the white pieces, Sandipan followed the recently played Leko versus Kramnik game to and held a tight bind on the central squares. In the tense struggle that followed Kobalija came up a good pawn move on the Queen side and Sandipan was forced to exchange the central
pawn. A few moves later the exchange of the Queens and the minor pieces became unavoidable. The players continued a little further in an equal Rook and pawn endgame before agreeing to a draw on the 35th move. In an All-Indian encounter Dinesh Kumar Sharma won over his higher rated rival IM R.B. Ramesh to move to two points. Playing the ‘Open variation’ of the Ruy-Lopez Defence with the black pieces, Dinesh found himself in difficulties soon after the opening stage with Ramesh launching a Kingside attack with his Queen and Knight. |
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Vishal upset BANGALORE, Jan 24 (UNI) — Vishal Uppal, the lone Indian who survived the first-round, was shown the door by fourth-seeded Rik de Voest of Russia in the pre-quarterfinals of the third leg of the ITF Men’s Futures Tennis Tournament here today. Fourth-seeded Rik De Voest, second-seeded Martin Spottl of Austria, eighth-seeded Dimitri Mazur of Uzbekistan, sixth-seeded Juraj Hasko of Slovakia, Hendri Susilo Pramono of Indonesia, Anton Kokurin of Uzbekistan, Ivan Cerovic of Croatia and James Auckland of the UK entered the quarterfinals. De Voest, who had defeated Oliver Freelove of the UK yesterday, keeping up his tempo, trounced Uppal in straight sets 6-3, 6-2. Uppal failed to maintain his tempo and virtually gave away the game after committing many mistakes. Second-seeded Martin Spottl of Austria defeated Viktor Bruthans of Slovakia to enter the last eight stage. |
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North start favourites against Central NEW DELHI, Jan 24 — Defending champions North Zone, sitting pretty on 18 points, start as firm favourites when they take on Central Zone in their last league match of the four-day Duleep Trophy Cricket Championship, starting at the Ferozeshah Kotla ground here tomorrow. North Zone are buoyed up after their crushing 237 runs victory over East Zone at Guwahati last week, which earned them eight points. Central, who have gathered eight points from two matches, however, are no pushovers, but North boast of a team with a lot of variety, to suit any occasion. With the Ferozeshah Kotla ground being the “home” of many of the North Zone players, the hosts certainly enjoy a decided advantage. North captain Vikram Rathore has plenty of talent at his command to juggle with, and understandably, the slightly green-top wicket on an otherwise brownish Kotla ground, is intended to aid the hosts’ medium pacers. Winning the toss is important, as either way, North will be a deadly side to deal with for Central, as the hosts have tremendous depth in both batting and bowling. North had put on display their awesome batting strength in the opening match against South Zone when opener Akash Chopra cracked a century in each innings (110 and 125 not out), Vikram Rathore slammed 143 and 69, Dinesh Mongia hit a double century, Virender Sehwag struck 108, and Yuvraj Singh hammered home 80 not out (in the second innings). Why, even off-spinners Harbhajan Singh (41 and 38) and Sharandeep Singh (28) exhibited their batting flair. Surinder Singh Bagal showed his deadly bowling stuff, with a haul of 5 for 115, and but for some tenacious batting by the South players, North could even posted an outright victory. The North team continued their good work against West Zone in Mumbai, in which pacers Ashish Nehra (4\103) and Surinder Singh (4\80), and batsmen Akash Chopra (54) and Virender Sehwag (162 not out) stood out. And Ashish Nehra also provided the cutting edge in the crushing victory over East Zone, with his career-best spell of 7\14, and 3/76 after Test player Debashish Mohanty had put the North batsmen on the backfoot, for the first time, with his 6 for 57 haul in the first innings, though Mongia had stood amidst the ruins to make a brave 72 runs. Rathore, Yuvraj, Vijay Dahiya and Sarandeep all got among the runs in the second innings to lead North to a facile victory, and the sweet, fresh scent of that success will prompt them to go for a similar feat against Central too. But Central also have some doughty players in the hard-hitting Jaya Prakash Yadav, talented left-hander Amit Pagnis, the dashing Mohd Kaif and consistent Raja Ali, who had all gone on a run riot against West Zone in their Duleep opener at Nagpur. Shalab Srivastava’s 4 for 62 haul helped Central take the vital first innings lead, to ensure a minimum of five points. And against East, Yadav, Amay Khuraisya, Kaif and Murali Kartik wielded the willow with aplomb, while Kulamani Parida (4/126) provided the bowling breakthroughs. With so many talented players rearing to go, and catch the spotlight and attention of the cricket aficionados, the North-Central clash promises an interesting fare. |
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