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| Sunday, February
18, 2001, Chandigarh, India   
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Sanghvi, Nehra restrict Aussies Controversy over Ganguly’s
temple visit Selection panel
meeting put off What is Dalmiya’s real
motive? East Bengal scrape
past Bagan 1-0 Stage set for ATP Challenger
meet Henman eliminates Ulihrach Leander Paes
bows out |
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Salgaocar
triumph India placed in
easy pool Venus, Maleeva in semis Vijay Kumar maintains
lead Rs 8 cr grant for
stadiums, hostels Beijing’s Olympic bid questioned 21-member
powerlifting squad named
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Sanghvi, Nehra restrict Aussies
Shiv Sunder Das put on 36 runs for the opening wicket with Ramesh before being run out for 12. Nehra gave India ‘A’ a dream start when he dismissed opener Michael Slater (5), Justin Langer (8) and captain Steve Waugh (0) with just 25 runs on the board. Mathew Hayden and Ricky Ponting then stabilised the innings somewhat with a 91-run fourth wicket stand in 17.4 overs before Ponting top-edged Harbhajan Singh to be caught by Debashish Mohanty at short mid-off. The dismissal of Ponting, who scored a quickfire 56 off 58 balls with nine fours, saw another batting collapse. Hayden, who missed his half-century by just one run, became the first victim of Sanghvi after Harbhajan Singh had dismissed Damien Martyn (6), smartly caught by Shiv Sunder Das at short leg, just after lunch. Sanghvi had the dangerous Adam Gilchrist caught by Harbhajan Singh for five and it seemed Australian innings was nearing its close. However, Gillespie and Kasprowicz got into the rescue act and put up a defiant performance aided by some slack Indian fielding. Mohanty put down Kasprowicz’s attempted pull off Harbhajan Singh when the batsman was on 20 and total on 165 which cost the Indians dearly. Kasprowicz, who had already hit Harbhajan Singh for a six, made the most of his chance hitting two more sixes and 12 fours as he, in the company of Gillespie, frustrated the Indian bowlers for 162 minutes. Sanghvi provided the much-needed breakthrough when he caught Gillespie (57) off his own bowling and had Damien Fleming caught by substitute Mohammad Kaif off the very next ball. He then capped his performance with the wicket of Kasprowicz who was caught behind by Mongia. India ‘A’ innings started on a fine note with both Das and Ramesh middling the ball well. They put on 36 runs before Das was needlessly run out for 12. Steve Waugh’s throw from the deep found Das, attempting a non-existent second run, well short of his crease. Ramesh, who was hit on the helmet by a Gillespie bouncer when on 25, played some sweetly timed cover drives and used his feet well to play a few lofted shots on the off-side against off-spinner Colin Miller. He has hit nine fours so far and added 35 runs for the unbroken second wicket with Laxman, who was batting on six. Scoreboard Australians (Ist innings): Slater b Nehra 5 Hayden c Mohanty b Sanghvi 49 Langer lbw b Nehra 8 S Waugh c Mongia b Nehra 0 Ponting c Mohanty b Harbhajan 56 Martyn c Das b Harbhajan 6 Gilchrist c Harbhajan b Sanghvi 5 Gillespie c and b Sanghvi 57 Kasprowicz c Mongia b Sanghvi 92 Fleming c sub (Kaif) b Sanghvi 0 Miller not out 0 Extras (lb-4, nb-9) 13 Total (all out, 69.1 overs) 291 Fall of wickets: 1-6, 2-24, 3-25, 4-116, 5-128, 6-128, 7-133, 8-288, 9-288. Bowling: Mohanty 12-2-62-0, Nehra 13-2-78-3, Harbhajan Singh 20-3-63-2, Sanghvi 18.1-8-40-5, Balaji Rao 6-0-44-0. India ‘A’ (Ist innings): Das run out 12 Ramesh batting 43 Laxman batting 6 Extras (lb-4, nb-6) 10 Total (for 1 wkt, 18 overs) 71 Fall of wickets: 1-36. Bowling:
Gillespie 5-2-19-0, Fleming 5-1-17-0, Miller 4-0-14-0, Kasprowicz 4-0-17-0.
PTI  |
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Controversy over Ganguly’s
temple visit Chennai, February 17 The 28-year-old batting star is said to have gone to the famous Shiva Temple at Srikalahasti in nearby Chittoor district to perform ‘Sarpadosha’ puja. Dona Ganguly, his childhood sweetheart whom the ‘Prince of Kolkata’ married three years ago despite opposition from the two families, had left for the West Bengal capital on Thursday night. The usually media-friendly Indian captain was in a different mood today refusing to talk at the end of the training session at the IIT Chemplast grounds here. “I have been advised by coach John Wright not to talk to the media on daily basis. I do not want to talk today,” he said and added he was being misquoted by the media.
PTI Selection panel meeting put off Nagpur, February 17 “The meeting scheduled to be held here on the last day (February 19) of the ongoing three-day tie between India A and Australians, will now be held in Mumbai on February 20,” Selector for the North Zone and former India allrounder Madan Lal told PTI today. Citing
non-availablity of skipper Saurav Ganguly and coach John Wright, who will be having nets at the 2Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai, till the start of the first Test on February 27, Lal said, “We are forced to postpone the meeting as both the Indian skipper Saurav Ganguly and coach Wright will not be able to make it to Nagpur”.
PTI
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What is Dalmiya’s real
motive? Chandigarh, February 17 In fact there are reports that the president of the BCCI, Dr A.C. Muthiah, did try to end the controversy over the alleged remarks made by Mr Bindra both at the disciplinary committee meeting, which was convened to give a “hearing” to Mr Bindra and the PCA, through its secretary, Mr M.P. Pandove, as well as the working committee meeting later where the recommendations of the disciplinary committee were considered. But his efforts did not bear fruit. It was at the working committee meeting has Mr Jagmohan Dalmiya, one-time secretary of the board at a time when Mr Bindra was president and now chairman of the Asian Cricket Federation representing the Cricket Association of Bengal, and Mr P.M. Rungta, a one-time treasurer of the board representing Rajasthan, insisted that the general body be specially convened to hand out ‘‘punishment’’ to Mr Bindra and the Punjab Cricket Association. It is obvious that Mr Dalmiya has an ulterior motive for insisting that the general body be specially convened. It is known to all that he aspired to hold the highest office in the BCCI once Dr Muthiah finished his tenure as BCCI president. Having already served two terms, Dr Muthiah is, as per the conventions of the board, eligible to serve one more year before it is east zone’s turn to elect the board president. And this is where Mr Dalmiya is planning to step into Dr Muthiah’s shoes. But there are indications that certain units of the BCCI will use the Chennai meeting next week to test the waters for the annual general body meeting of the board which is held at the end of September every year. It is in this meeting that office-bearers of the board are selected on a year-to-year basis. There are at least two persons who have the credentials to become the BCCI president. The first name which comes to mind is that of the Union Law Minister, Mr Arun Jaitley, who now heads the Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA). And the second man is Maharashtra strongman Sharad Pawar, who has recently taken over as president of the Mumbai Cricket Association. Going by the rotation used to elect presidents of the board it will be north zone’s turn to elect the president after east zone, that is in the year 2005, while west zone’s turn will come even later. But will Mr Jaitley or Mr Pawar be willing to wait so long before they can occupy the highest post in the most powerful sports body in the country? In the past units have proposed names of persons for the top board post from outside the zone to circumvent the rotation system. Also, sitting presidents have been unseated in the number game. There are reports that Mohammad Azharuddin as well as Ajay Jedeja have been ‘‘instigated’’ to file cases against the BCCI for the ban imposed on them for their role in betting and match-fixing. These two cases might see mudslinging among the high-ups of the board. And it must be remembered that Dr Muthiah is himself involved in a corruption case along with AIADMK leader Jayalalitha. Nobody can deny the good work done by Mr Bindra for the cause of Indian cricket. It is this goodwill which might have a major role to play at the Chennai special general body meeting specially with people not taking kindly to the efforts of Mr Dalmiya to interfere in Indian cricketing matters. In case Mr Bindra is not handed over a harsh sentence, the person who will feel the most will be Mr Dalmiya who has carried on a vindictive campagn against the former BCCI president. Mr Dalmiya is being cornered specially since his effort to organise matches at Sharjah between India and Pakistan to raise money for the Gujarat quake victims was not accepted either by the Government of India or the BCCI as it was in the midst of preparing to combat the Australians at home. The Chennai meeting could well turn out to be Mr Dalmiya’s Waterloo. |
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East Bengal scrape past Bagan 1-0 Kolkata, February 7 Custodian Kalyan Choubey’s blunder shortly after the interval sealed the fate of a fighting Mohun Bagan in a fast paced and exciting encounter watched by about 70,000 spectators. Striker Omolaja Olalekan struck the match winner for East Bengal two minutes after the lemon break as he gently placed the ball into a vacant goal as custodian Choubey failed to collect the ball cleanly. The green and maroon brigade, who enjoyed territorial advantage for most part of the second session, had themselves to blame for the debacle as not only Choubey made a costly lapse but their forwards also frittered away a number of scoring opportunities. With this victory, East Bengal forged ahead of their traditional rivals Mohun Bagan on the points table having logged 16 points from seven outings. Bagan have collected 14 points from an equal number of matches. Both teams adopted a rather defensive strategy in the opening session but the second saw the outfits stepping up the pace of the game and managing to make forays into the rival citadel. The lone goal was the result of a fast counter attack, which saw the hard-working Omolaja Olalekan collect a loose ball but Bagan’s Brazilian recruit Amauri De Silva blocked him well, allowing the ball to roll towards goalkeeper Choubey. But the generally reliable Choubey failed to collect the ball cleanly and Olalekan had only to place the ball into a vacant goal as the ball rolled towards him. Bagan packed their defence to counter the East Bengal attacks in the first session which saw both the teams failing to come anywhere close to the rival goalmouth. After conceding the goal, Bagan played their hearts out in a bid to fetch the equaliser but missed all the chances that came their way, failing to play the final passes rightly.
PTI |
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Stage set for ATP Challenger
meet Chandigarh, February 17 Meanwhile, Mr Rajan Kashyap, Chairman, Chandigarh Lawn Tennis Association, told that the CLTA will also launch its website www.cltaindia.com which will carry up-to-date exhaustive information on tennis.The website designed and created by Trident Infotech Corporation, Chandigarh, will be updated every evening. Mr Pere Torras from Spain, acting supervisor, has already taken the charge of the technical aspects of the meet. Mr Vincenzo Bottone of Italy and the tournament supervisor alongwith three other ATP umpires will be reaching the city on Monday morning. After the opening ceremony tomorrow at 4.30 p.m., first round matches of the main draws will begin at three synthetic deco turf courts on Monday at 10 a.m. onwards. Four Indian players — Syed Fazaluddin, Prahlad Srinath, Mustafa Ghouse and Prakash Amrithraj, son of Vijay Amrithraj — have been given wild card entries. Prakash (17) trains in the USA. In the qualifying rounds having a draw of 32 today Pawan Kapoor, the local player, gave a tough time to D. September of the USA before bowing out The results of second round are: Gerald Mandl (Austria) b Todd Perry (Aus) 6-1, 3-6, 6-3; JF Hemmes (Ned) b Bjorn Rehnquist (Swe) 6-4, 6-4; Donavan September (USA) b Pawan Kapoor (Ind) 6-4, 6-2; Noam Okun (Isr) b C. Mohanty (Ind) 6-3, 6-2; Dmitri Mazur (Uzb) b A. Kokurin (Uzb) 6-3, 6-4. |
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Henman eliminates Ulihrach Copenhagen, February 17 “I felt I had to step up a gear against a player like him and I think that I did that,” said the Briton. “I am 99 per cent happy with my performance.” The one moment of dissatisfaction for Henman came early on when he broke his Czech opponent only to lose the advantage immediately and much of the first set turned into a tense battle yesterday. But in the eighth game, Ulihrach, a finalist in Doha last month uncharacteristically dropped service to love and Henman become a man transformed. After serving out for the set, Henman broke again immediately and for the rest of the contest played with such skill and tactical variety behind his serve that in five service games in the second set he did not drop a point on his delivery. Henman rarely served and volleyed, but came forward via different routes, sometimes with short angled balls and sometimes with heavily struck deep ones. He occasionally tried to drag Ulihrach forward too, in order to pass him. “You know with him that he has a lot of feel and power from the baseline and I knew I didn’t want to rally with him from there,” explained Henman. “And I realised all through that he had plenty of ammunition and I was eager to finish the job.” Henman plays left-hander Jan Siemerink in the semifinals. The Dutchman missed four consecutive match points in the second set but recovered in the decider to beating American Cecil Mamiit 6-4 6-7 6-2. Defending champion and fourth seed Andreas Vinciguerra of Sweden outplayed German Lars Burgsmuller 6-2 6-4 and Russian Mikhail Youzhny survived a trial to brinkmanship against Swede Magnus Gustafsson before winning his quarter-final 4-6 7-6 7-6. Vinciguerra, the only player not to have dropped a set all week, might well have won his match more easily. He dominated the first set, achieving an early break, hustling Burgsmuller with his scuttling court coverage, and hitting hard-to-read forehands even from wide on the backhand side. Reuters |
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Leander Paes
bows out Mumbai, February 17 In a battle lasting two hours and 10 minutes, Paes spurned a four zero lead in the first set tie-breaker to lose 4-7 and then saved three of the four match points in second set tie-breakers before succumbing to the fourth at 5-7. Paes, ranked 233 in the world, had ominous start losing his first service in the first set, but fired by a houseful of free spectators, he broke back eventually losing to a player ranked 247. The Indian had to settle with 22 ATP points and prize money of $ 1,255. The finals will be an all-Italian affair as in the first semi-finals Stefano Galvani shocked second seeded Vincenzo Santopadre 6-3, 6-3. Paes yesterday played the match of his life when he outplayed top seed Filippo Volandri of Italy in straight sets 6-0, 7-6 to enter the semifinals. PTI Salgaocar triumph Bangalore, February 17 Alvito D’Cunha scored the all-important goal for Salgaocar in the 12th minute of the first half. Despite the win, an air of gloom masked the Salgaocar camp, following slapping of “red card” on its substitute goal-keeper, Juje Siddi by referee K.Shankar a couple of seconds before the final hooter. Shankar, who displayed the yellow card to Siddi initially, pulled out the red card when the keeper persisted with his arguments over a decision on a foul. Surojit Chatterjee completed the formalities of goal keeping amid protests by Siddi, who came out of the field in a huff. Salgaokar coach Marcus Pacheco, who was upset by the decision, protested and was seen arguing with football federation authorities for reversal of the decision. “We (Salgackar) accept five yellow card decisions, but not the red card”, Pacheco said. What fills the cup of misery of Salgackar is that its goalkeeper Abubekar is on the injured list. With Siddi too getting a match suspension, it would have no regular keepers for the next match against mighty Mohan Bagun. Salgaocar, with the back up by Indian internationals increased their point tally to 15 from seven matches. Salgaocar had pretty good chances of finishing today’s engagements with ITI by a bigger margin had its shooters not missed at least half a dozen chances. However, the credit of preventing Salgaocar from scoring goes to ITI keeper N. Nalaji who effected accurate saves. ITI who have been out of form, however, began their campaign on a promising note, having close calls on the Salgaocar goal mouth in the initial minutes.
PTI |
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India placed in
easy pool New Delhi, Feb 17 Asian Games gold medallists
India, who have won the World Cup only once way back in 1975, are clubbed with the
USA, Egypt and Wales in Group A in the 16-nation qualifier. India,
winners of the eight Olympic gold medals, look almost certain to make it to the World Cup to be played in Kuala Lumpur in July next year as first nine teams will qualify for the event. Interestingly India’s only World Cup victory was also in Kuala
Lumpur. This is the second time that Malaysia is hosting the mega event. Atlanta Olympic silver medallists Spain are in group C with
Japan, Chile and hosts Scotland. Seven teams—hosts Malaysia and the first six teams from Sydney Olympics— Holland, South Korea, Australia, Pakistan, Germany and Britain—have already qualified. Holland are also currently the
world champions. UNI |
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Venus, Maleeva in semis Nice, February 17 After struggling over two sets in her second round clash on Wednesday with France’s Anne-Gaelle Sidot, the Wimbledon and US Open champion had a tight match before prevailing 6-4 7-6 (7/2). The 20-year-old Williams was pressed hard by tiny 21-year-old Californian Tu, who dumped sixth-seeded compatriot Amy Frazier out of the tournament in the first round. “Meilen played well, she really got into the game and it was very difficult for me,” said Williams. The American next meets Bulgarian Magdalena Maleeva who booked her third semifinal spot in as many weeks when she pushed fourth-seeded Russian Elena Dementieva out of her second tournament in a week.
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Vijay Kumar maintains
lead New Delhi, February 17 The surprise of the day, however, came from Rafiq Ali, when he carded in a stunning round of seven-under 63. Rafiq has now climbed to the second position with an aggregate of six-under 204, to join Mukesh Kumar, who shot a two-under 68 and Shiv Prakash, who made a par round of 70. Two strokes behind at third position with a four-under 206 were Feroze Ali and Rohtas Singh, who both shot a par round of 70. Vijay was not very happy with his round as he felt that his putting was very bad. Rafiq Ali made birdies on the first, third, eighth and 15th holes. Mhow-based Mukesh Kumar missed an eagle opportunity on the par-five 12th with an 18-feet putt only to make a birdie. His other birdies came on the seventh, 11th and 17th holes. The young Jaiveer Virk, playing consistent golf, came in with a two-under 68 while local pro Mohd. Nawab added to the eagles of the day by making one on the 12th with a 25-feet putt. |
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Rs 8 cr grant for
stadiums, hostels Shimla, February 17 This is for the first time that the Sports Ministry has released such a big grant for Himachal Pradesh. The Minister for Sports and Excise, Mr Parveen Sharma, told the TNS here today that the stadium in the ice skating rink will consist of three blocks and will remain functional round the year. At present, the rink, which is the only open space in the town, is utilised for ice skating for only about three months during winters. He said the Centre would bear 75 per cent of the total expenditure on the sports infrastructure, while the state government will provide 25 per cent of the cost. He said that a sum of Rs 2.41 crore has been sanctioned for an indoor stadium at Una which will also have a physical fitness centre. Besides, an 80-bed hostel for sportspersons would be constructed at a cost of Rs 99 lakh. Mr Sharma said that an indoor stadium would be constructed at Dharamsala at a cost of Rs 1.35 crore and an athletic track costing Rs 35 lakh would also be laid down. A hostel will also be constructed at a cost of Rs 75 lakh. He said that the state government intends to spend Rs 1.50 lakh for developing playgrounds and providing sports equipment in 70 high and senior secondary schools in the state in the first phase. Schools in all blocks will be covered later. |
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Beijing’s Olympic bid questioned Beijing, February 17 “We demand that you meet with us when you are in Beijing on your inspection trip and hear the cases of our families as you reflect on the circumstances in which prisoners of conscience are treated in Beijing,” the relatives said in an open letter to the International Olympic Committee. The letter also urged the IOC to raise the cases of the dissidents, Fang Jue and Jiang Qisheng, with the government, and demand the pair be treated in accordance with the Chinese constitution and international norms of human rights. While supporting hopes that one day a Chinese city could host the Olympics, the relatives said it was the responsibility of the IOC to evaluate the living conditions and circumstances of citizens as it inspected the city’s technical capabilities to host the Games. |
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21-member
powerlifting squad named Patiala, February 17 The Team (Men):
Ashok Kapur, Neeraj Giri Goswami, Avtar Bambra, J.S. Cheema, Rakesh Kumar, Munish Kumar, Mandeep Singh, Karamjit Singh, Munish Kumar (junior), Balbir Singh, Maninder Pal Singh, Raminder Singh Hara. (Women): Narinder Kaur, Sunita Rani, Babita Rani, Mandeep Kaur, Neelam Rani, Arpana, Beant Kaur and Rupinder Kaur. Meanwhile, the association has also selected the squad which will take part in the Northern India Powerlifting Championships, to be held in Lucknow from March 2 to 4. The team (Men): J.S. Cheema, Munish Kumar, Rakesh Kumar, Karamjit Singh, Mandeep Singh, Ravinderpal Singh Dhillon, Gurinder Singh, Ashok Kumar, Neeraj Giri Goswami, Piara Singh. (Women): Narinder Kaur, Sunita Rani, Babita Rani, Beant Kaur, Neelam Rani, Mandeep Kaur, Arpana, Maninder Kaur,Asha Rani. |
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